Chapter 874: The Sea Witch’s Response
The summer air grew stronger with each passing day.
Even in this northern land, near the Dark Mountains, the heat was beginning to press in.
The study’s window stood open, carrying the sounds of birdsong and insects chirping from the courtyard. A gentle breeze stirred the papers scattered across the sunlit desk, lifting a few pages slightly—only for a hand to reach out and gather them, flipping through the documents with care.
From the direction of the door came a steady tapping. Without looking up from the papers, Gawain said, “Come in.”
The door opened quietly, and Tyr shuffled in, yawning. She first eased her upper body inside, then skillfully curled her several-meter-long tail bit by bit, coiling it into a large heap on the floor. The once spacious study suddenly felt a little cramped once the sea witch fully entered.
“Rare to see you awake at this hour,” Gawain glanced up at the deep-sea slacker with a smile. “Something going on?”
“There’s news from Antavien,” Tyr yawned again, then straightened up, trying to look alert. “The signal you picked up earlier wasn’t sent by the sea witches—the queen has already started investigating its source.”
“So it really wasn’t from the sea witches…” Gawain stopped flipping through the papers, frowning slightly before shaking his head. “Anything else?”
“The queen asked me to pass on her thanks,” Tyr said, trying to look serious and official. “She’s pleased humans are willing to share the principles of the magical network communication. It’ll help us repair Antavien’s main antenna in this world’s magical environment. Also, our technicians say that if the repair goes smoothly, communication between Antavien and Cecil might become easier—maybe even direct communication. But whether that’s possible depends on the tech experts.”
Hearing this, Gawain raised an eyebrow. “Ah, that’s really good news…”
Tyr gave a half-hearted “same here” before stretching her five-and-a-half-meter-long coiled tail with a lazy yawn, her eyes still heavy. “So, if there’s nothing else…”
“There is,” Gawain cut in quickly before the deep-sea slacker could fall asleep on the spot. “Wait a moment—I need your help with something.”
“Ah?” Tyr’s face fell in disappointment but she nodded. “Go ahead.”
“You know we’re building the North Port in the empire’s northern border, preparing to restart the sea routes,” Gawain said calmly. “The infrastructure there is already halfway done…”
“I think I know where you’re going with this,” Tyr glanced at him knowingly. “Further technical exchange… that was part of our agreement. Now that you’ve shared more magitech with us, we sea witches should respond in kind.”
“We need to return to the sea,” Gawain nodded seriously. “That requires more advanced shipbuilding technology—and ways to avoid dangers and find safe routes on the ocean. You know the Typhon people have already made some progress in this area.”
Tyr looked at him, then shrugged. “Don’t worry, we’ll help as promised. Your magitech has proven valuable in repairing Antavien’s antenna, and the queen is very pleased. She’s agreed to send more sea witches to Cecil as ‘consultants,’ including professional deep-water technicians who are far more skilled than me—after all, my specialty is just making waves at sea.”
More sea witch consultants—Gawain’s face finally broke into a satisfied smile.
He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
The technical exchange between Cecil and the sea witches had been ongoing for years, but building genuine trust between two such different races was never just a matter of time. Add to that the vast distance and the sea witches’ notoriously lax sense of time, and progress had been slow. For years, the only “sea witch tech consultant” Cecil had was Tyr—and she wasn’t even a technician on their side. By her own admission, she was a combat specialist in sea witch society…
It was like sending a security captain as a tech advisor—and having her stay for years.
The kicker was that this security captain’s rudimentary knowledge was surprisingly enough for the “backward human world.” While it met Gawain’s technical needs, the situation was undeniably awkward and cramped.
Especially now that humans were setting their sights on the open sea, aiming for long-distance voyages, that security captain’s elementary knowledge was no longer sufficient.
But now, everything was finally changing. Cecil’s magitech had proven its worth in sea witch society, and recent advances in communication technology had impressed the deep-sea creatures. While land civilization’s tech might not be the most advanced overall, it had unique strengths in certain fields—and that uniqueness had finally convinced the sea witches to send more consultants.
“I should thank Her Majesty Petia,” Gawain smiled. “When will the new consultants arrive? How will they come? The same way you did?”
“The sisters will follow the ocean currents, traveling along the seabed,” Tyr said. “I know you’re probably hoping for the ‘fold-jump technology’ we used when hunting that deer, but Antavien is entering a critical phase of restarting key facilities. There’s no extra energy to open fold-jump gates, and sea witches generally lack motivation for anything beyond hunting. But don’t worry, we move fast in the deep sea, and we have speedy deep-water shuttles. They’ll arrive in a few days. As for the route…” Tyr shrugged. “You don’t need to worry about reception—the sisters will go straight to North Port.”
“North Port?” Gawain blinked. “So they’re coming straight to work?”
“I know humans usually have formal handover ceremonies and welcome events, and it’d be nice for the sisters to show up in the capital, but we sea witches don’t like that stuff. I know you don’t either, so they’ll go straight to Byron. You just need to arrange reception there,” Tyr said casually. “Also, not all the consultants we’re sending are sea witches.”
Gawain frowned. “Not all sea witches? What do you mean?”
“Naga,” Tyr said. “Some naga will come along. Of course, this is just the queen’s plan for now. If you have concerns, Antavien can adjust the consultant team’s composition.”
“I want to confirm something first,” Gawain interrupted, looking her in the eye with a serious expression. “The ‘naga’ you mentioned—are they the transformed Children of the Storm…”
“There’s no more Children of the Storm left,” Tyr shook her head slowly. “Three days ago, the last one became a naga. It’s quite moving—humanity’s seven-century-long presence in the far seas has ended in this form.”
“…Fully transformed,” Gawain took a deep breath, steadying his emotions after hearing the shocking news. “So Her Majesty Petia is sending some naga over. In other words, these transformed naga are no longer dangerous dark cultists? What exactly are they now? A new deep-sea species? New members of the sea witch kingdom? Or mutated humans?”
“Probably a bit of all three,” Tyr said slowly. “Our scholars are still studying this. But one thing’s clear: the transformed Children of the Storm have lost their previous fanatical aggression. This seems to be due to multiple factors. The mutation changed their personalities and gave them some deep-sea knowledge passed on by the sea witches. We don’t know the exact mechanism, but this knowledge calmed them down. Plus, hormonal changes from their new life forms—all these factors combined have finally ended the centuries-long pointless conflict between sea witches and the Children of the Storm.
“Of course, not all naga are completely harmless. Some still have unclear minds, and a few remain extremely irritable after transformation. We’ve had to establish many ‘abnormal human containment centers’ to temporarily control them. I hope you’re not uncomfortable with this—I know you’re human, but my people have no better options.”
“Uh… I understand,” Gawain rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Looks like you’re sending the most lucid and harmless naga. I can guess the queen’s reasoning.”
He paused, then spoke with understanding: “Those naga were once human. She’s probably using this to show goodwill and to clear up any misunderstandings I might have about the naga. Also, the Children of the Storm were originally human ocean experts. While sea witches may have superior technology, the Children of the Storm know how humans build ships. They’ll be very useful at North Port. Lastly, she likely hopes to reassure the naga, giving these newly transformed ‘humans’ important roles. It’s a good way to comfort and show respect.”
Gawain’s clear analysis of the sea witch queen’s intentions made even the drowsy Tyr open her eyes wide in disbelief. “I don’t think our queen thought that much about it.”
Gawain gave her a wry look. “You think a queen spends all day like you—either sleeping or about to fall asleep, with nothing on her mind but salt and water?”
“All sea witches’ minds are full of salt and water!” Tyr shot back proudly, then waved her hand. “Anyway, whatever the queen thinks, do you have any objections to this plan? If you don’t trust the naga or don’t want them at North Port, I can tell the queen next time…”
“No need,” Gawain shook his head. “Don’t waste the queen’s goodwill.
“I trust Byron will keep order at North Port, and I don’t mind some… naga on imperial soil.
“After all, Cecil has always been a tolerant and inclusive nation.”
Tyr yawned one last time, then shuffled out of the room, barely able to keep her eyes open.
Gawain stood by his desk for a moment, then shook his head and murmured to himself, “So the signal wasn’t from the sea witches…”
After a few seconds of thought and hesitation, he raised his right hand and gently rubbed the mithril ring on his finger.
Familiar warmth and magical vibrations pulsed through it, and a gentle, elegant but somewhat unfamiliar voice came from the ring: “Hello, the Mithril Treasury is pleased to serve you, esteemed client Gawain Cecil.”
Gawain was about to respond out of habit, but upon hearing the voice, he frowned instinctively. “You’re not Melita… where is Melita?”
“I’m sorry, Melita is currently handling an unexpected collection task. Until she returns, I’ll be the one attending to important clients on her behalf,” the voice from the ring continued, calm and graceful. “You may call me ‘Noretta.’”
(End of chapter)