Klein and Ophelia were unaware of everything happening in the royal capital.
By now, they had arrived at Silver Scale Harbor.
The harbor faced the sea.
Klein had lived inland for a long time and had never seen the true ocean in this life.
There was the sea in the memories of his past life, but those were only memories after all.
He stood at the edge of the pier, his gaze passing over the layered masts of ships to land on the blurred horizon in the distance.
The sea breeze hit his face, carrying a salty, fishy scent.
He squinted his eyes.
The sky was a dark, dull gray-blue, and the clouds hung very low, as if they might fall at any moment.
A lead-gray light shimmered on the surface of the water, and waves surged toward the shore in layers, crashing against the reefs with a low roar.
The sound was rhythmic.
It was like the breathing of some giant beast.
Klein stared at that stretch of sea for a long time.
He couldn't say what exactly he was looking for.
Perhaps he just wanted to confirm what the difference was between this sea and the one in his memories.
Ophelia stood beside him.
She did not speak.
Her golden ponytail swayed gently in the sea breeze, and the edges of her clothes fluttered slightly in the wind.
Her gaze fell on the side of Klein's face, lingered for a moment, and then turned toward the sea.
She was used to such scenery.
During the days she was stationed on this coast, she had faced this sea every day.
Back then, there were sea monsters in the water.
There was pollution.
There were countless life-and-death struggles.
Looking at this sea now, a certain indescribable feeling still rose in her heart.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't disgust, either.
It was more like something was urging her to draw her sword again.
The feeling wasn't strong, and besides, a knight's sword should not be drawn lightly.
"It's magnificent."
Klein finally spoke.
His voice was scattered by the sea breeze, sounding somewhat muffled.
"It's just, it's more... than I imagined..."
He paused, seemingly searching for the right word.
"More oppressive."
Ophelia turned her head to look at him.
"Oppressive?"
"Yes."
Klein nodded.
"I thought the ocean would be... open and free."
He raised a hand and pointed into the distance.
"But now it looks more like some massive, incomprehensible entity."
"It's just sitting there. You can see it, but you don't know what it's thinking, and you don't know what it will do."
Ophelia was silent for a moment, the gray light of the sea reflected in her golden eyes.
"You're right. The sea has never been a symbol of freedom." Her voice was calm, yet it carried a profound weight. "It is an abyss."
She paused, her gaze fixed on the distance. "Once, I had to patrol the coastline every day to monitor the movements of sea monsters. Sometimes they would appear suddenly; sometimes they would lurk for a long time. You never knew when the next attack would happen."
"So we couldn't relax. Even if we were just looking at the sea, we had to remain vigilant."
"Are there still sea monsters?" he asked.
"No more." Ophelia shook her head, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her tone. "They've retreated into the deep sea."
The sea breeze grew stronger.
Klein's black robe snapped and fluttered loudly.
"We should go find the contact Raymond arranged," Ophelia said.
"Yeah."
Klein withdrew his gaze and took one last look at the sea.
Waves continued to surge on the gray-blue surface. In the distance, the sky and the sea merged into one, their boundaries indistinguishable.
That blurred horizon was like a certain boundary.
On this side of the boundary was the world of humans.
On the other side...
Klein didn't know.
But he had a vague feeling that Bernhaveis's disappearance might be related to that boundary.
...
The two of them walked along the pier toward the inner part of the harbor.
The sound of people around them gradually increased.
Porters carried sacks out of ship holds, their footsteps heavy and sweat pouring down their necks.
Merchants stood by piles of goods, ledgers in hand, haggling with captains.
Sailors crouched at the edge of the pier mending fishing nets, their fingers moving nimbly through the mesh.
The harbor was bustling.
Much more bustling than Klein had imagined.
It seemed that after the Silver Scale Chamber of Commerce took over this coast, they had indeed made the business thrive.
At least on the surface, normal order had been restored here.
However, Klein noticed that in certain corners, traces left by the Sea Monster War could still be seen.
Charred wooden pilings.
Stone walls pitted and eroded by corruption.
And those restricted areas cordoned off by red ropes—no one was willing to say much about what had happened there.
"Master..."
A voice suddenly rang out.
Klein turned around.
At the edge of the pier stood a middle-aged man wearing an old-style robe.
His hair was mostly gray, and the wrinkles on his face were deep, as if carved by years of sea winds.
Seeing Klein approach, he froze for a moment. His eyes reddened slightly as he hurried forward.
"Young Master... no, I should call you Master now." His voice was somewhat raspy, carrying a suppressed excitement.
Klein stopped.
He recognized this man.
This man had worked for the family while his father was still alive. Later, he was sent away to handle matters that couldn't be brought into the light.
Counting it up, they hadn't seen each other for several years.
He hadn't even made it back for the funeral of Klein's parents.
"You can call me whatever you like," Klein said with a wave of his hand. "It's enough that you still remember me."
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, a small smile forcing its way onto his face.
But the smile was strained, and his eyes hid exhaustion and unease—along with a type of fear that Klein couldn't quite place.
"Having you here puts my mind at ease." He said in a very low voice. "I received the letter from Mr. Raymond saying you were coming personally to investigate the matter of Bernhaveis and the others."
He paused, looked around, and lowered his voice further. "It's not convenient to talk here. Follow me."
...
The three of them walked down a narrow alley toward the interior.
The alley was tight, with warehouse walls on both sides covered in blue moss, and the air was thick with the damp smell of mold.
After walking for about five minutes, the middle-aged man stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden door.
He pulled a key from his breast, opened the door, and motioned for Klein and Ophelia to enter.
Inside was a small room.
The furnishings were simple: a table, a few chairs, and several wooden crates stacked in the corner.
The windows were covered by heavy cloth curtains, and the light was dim, with only an oil lamp on the table barely illuminating a small area.
"This is where I usually meet my contacts." The middle-aged man closed the door and turned to look at Klein. "The last time Bernhaveis and the others were here before they disappeared was in this very room."
Klein scanned the room.
There were some cluttered papers on the tabletop—the investigation records left by Bernhaveis.
He walked over and flipped through them.
The information inside was disorganized.
There were records of the Silver Scale Chamber of Commerce's commercial transactions.
Statistics regarding the disappearances of harbor sailors.
And some notes about strange beliefs and legendary creatures.
Monster-like islands, sea serpents covered in scales, or gods symbolizing whirlpools.
Klein flipped to the next page.
This page wasn't quite as fantastical; it featured a dragon that actually existed in this world.
It looked like a lizard with wings on its back.
He stared at the crude sketch for a few seconds.
The lines were messy, but he could tell the artist was trying to capture something specific—the texture of the scales, the skeletal structure of the wings, and those vertical pupils.
"Bernhaveis drew this?" Klein asked.
The middle-aged man nodded. "The last time he was here, he said he'd heard some rumors near the harbor. People had seen giant shadows on the sea."
"Giant shadows?" Ophelia walked over, her gaze landing on the sketch. "Sea monsters?"
"No." The middle-aged man shook his head. "The characteristics of sea monsters are very distinct; the people here wouldn't mistake them."
"So Bernhaveis thought the dark shadow might just be a dragon flying over the sea."
"After investigating a bit, he left this drawing."
Klein flipped to the next page.
This page recorded a list of missing workers.
Densely packed names were annotated with the time and location of their disappearances.
The earliest case happened half a month ago, and the most recent was just two days before Bernhaveis vanished.
"All these people disappeared at sea?"
"Not all of them." The middle-aged man's voice dropped even lower. "There were also workers on land."
"A few surviving sailors said it was a song from the sea that made them lose themselves."
Klein looked up. "A song?"
"Yes." The middle-aged man swallowed hard. "It sounds very beautiful, but everyone who's heard it says... that voice makes people want to walk into the sea."
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
Klein continued to flip through the pages.
The next page contained records regarding the Silver Scale Chamber of Commerce.
Bernhaveis had underlined several names in red ink—all of them high-ranking members of the chamber.
Beside them were brief annotations: "Frequent voyages," "Whereabouts unknown," "Refused to accept investigation."
"Bernhaveis suspected the Silver Scale Chamber of Commerce?" Klein asked.
"He said there was definitely something wrong with the chamber." The middle-aged man nodded. "But he didn't explain exactly what the problem was. He just told me to keep a close eye on their ships and record the time and route of every voyage."
Klein closed the record book.
He turned around and looked at the middle-aged man. "Where do you think Bernhaveis went?"
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time.
His fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop a few times, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.
"I don't know." He finally said. "But I have a guess."
"Tell me."
"Perhaps during the full moon, the things in the sea strengthen their influence."
"So he might have gone out to sea." The middle-aged man looked up, fear in his eyes. "He was also influenced by that voice."
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