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The loud horn of the ship echoed from the large horn, and the ship began to leave the dock. Avoiding the passing ships and breaking through the breakwater, the large waves of the open sea soon began to fiercely hit the lower part of the bow.

On the deck, swaying due to the waves leaving white foam, Conra was preparing to practice Sphere Exercises as usual. Practicing Sphere Exercises on a swaying ship had been a crucial training method that greatly influenced Conra’s sense of balance and combat.

Now, Conra naturally took out the sphere whenever he boarded the ship, and he felt a sense of regret if he didn’t practice Sphere Exercises. This time was no different, as Conra was about to take out the sphere when Sophia stopped him.

“Sorry, Conra. From today, you won’t need to practice Sphere Exercises for a while.”

“Huh? Master, what do you mean…?”

“From now on, we’ll be doing a slightly different training for a while. It will be difficult to practice Sphere Exercises during this time, so consider it postponed.”

Ignoring Conra’s bewildered expression, Sophia led him into the cabin. Along the way, she spotted Maria and called her over as well.

Conra felt uneasy, wondering what was going to happen, but he knew that arguing with Sophia in this state was futile. All he could do was silently await his fate.

As expected, Sophia gave a bizarre instruction as soon as they entered the cabin.

“From today, Conra, you will spend each day with one of your five senses sealed. You must not unseal the sense during training, meals, bathroom breaks, or even sleep. Let’s start with vision today.”

“Um, Master, if one of the five senses is sealed, daily life will become impossible, won’t it?”

“Of course! That’s exactly why I called Maria. Until you get used to living with one sense sealed, Maria will be responsible for assisting you in your daily life.”

Finally understanding why Sophia had called Maria, Conra was shocked. Even if it was just for a day, making a perfectly healthy disciple experience a physical disability!

As he tried to turn and escape, his vision was suddenly blocked, and everything went dark.

‘It’s Master’s doing!’

Literally blinded for the day, Conra realized it was Sophia’s doing and stood there pouting, grumbling.

“Ugh, proper training is out of the question for a while.”

“Hmph, nonsense!”

Sophia chuckled at her disciple’s grumbling and added, “Do you think I would make you practice something I haven’t tried myself? Just follow my instructions, and you’ll feel the effects of this training within a few days.”

Hearing Sophia’s words, Conra finally quieted down. If she said so, it must be true. All he could do was sincerely commit to this new training method.

Conra soon accepted his fate and used his staff as a cane to feel the ground. He planned to rely on his remaining senses and Sphere Play to compensate for his lost vision.

“Understood. Start by walking around the cabin. Don’t practice Sphere Exercises for now; just do Tai Chi Sphere Exercises in place. Maria, watch over Conra and assist only when necessary.”

“Yes, Master.”

Maria, who had been worriedly staring at Conra since Sophia sealed his vision, approached him as instructed.

Sophia watched as Conra adapted to his blindness and Maria assisted him, making mistakes along the way. By evening, when they seemed to have gotten used to it, Sophia went out to the deck.

The ship was sailing east. Behind the stern, the western horizon was already burning with the last light of the setting sun, while the eastern sky, where the bow was headed, was already tinged with purple, and faint stars began to appear.

Sophia, standing on the deck, watched the natural harmony for a moment before turning her gaze to the presence approaching her. It was Hildegard, holding an opened bottle of Plymouth Sparkling Liqueur.

“You’ve betrayed me, Hilda.”

“Huh, this isn’t betrayal. It’s my rightful claim. We never made a promise, after all.”

Sophia glared at the bottle, already opened and losing its fizz.

“Darn it, once the bottle is opened, the bubbles start to escape. Are you really planning to enjoy that refreshing drink alone?”

Hildegard shrugged. “Haha, of course not! Once opened, this drink must be consumed on the spot. Besides, you’re the only one on this ship who can appreciate a good drink with me.”

Esiocles, being a man who avoided alcohol for fear of losing muscle, wouldn’t understand the joy of drinking. So, Hildegard’s drinking companion was essentially limited to Sophia.

Sophia smiled contentedly and raised her hand. An invisible telekinetic force swirled in her palm, and soon, an ethereal glass formed, visible only to her.

“Here, pour me a glass.”

“Yay~, I’ll pour you a glass~.”

Hildegard tilted the bottle into the air as if pouring it onto the deck. However, the amber liquid didn’t spill onto the deck but followed a strange arc, landing safely in the ethereal glass in Sophia’s hand. The carbonated bubbles clung to the sides of the glass, fizzing.

Sophia brought the glass close to her eyes, examining the sparkling liqueur that seemed to float in mid-air. After a moment, she downed it in one gulp.

“Ah…!”

The refreshing sensation of the sparkling liqueur was something she hadn’t felt in a while. While beer also had bubbles, its flavor was more bitter and robust, whereas the liqueur had a balanced taste of alcohol, residual sweetness from secondary fermentation, and a hint of herbs and fruit.

“Not bad. I was a bit worried about sparkling liqueur.”

“Right? It’s so good that it’s hard to believe we’ll finish it in one night. Plymouth Brewery really knows their stuff.”

“Hey, it’s a monastery. Correct yourself.”

“Oops…! The impression of the brewery I saw was too strong, I slipped up!”

Hildegard corrected herself, tapping her forehead. Sophia clicked her tongue and turned her gaze away from her drunken companion.

The sun had set below the horizon, and the sky was now covered in a deep blue darkness. The night breeze was gentle, likely coming from the direction of Franquia and Caledonia, brushing past their ears.

“So,” Hildegard suddenly spoke, her tone more serious than before. Sophia straightened up as well.

“There’s something that’s been bothering me. I don’t have anyone else to discuss it with.”

“What’s bothering you?”

After a moment of hesitation, Hildegard slowly revealed her concerns.

The Beanstalk Dungeon incident in Plymouth’s square. The artifact bean that caused the Beanstalk to grow was kept in Plymouth Monastery, and someone had stolen it and fled.

Although the chaos caused by the Beanstalk Dungeon was eventually resolved, the culprit was never found. The identity, whereabouts, and motives of the culprit remained a mystery.

Hildegard poured out her worries about the unresolved issues surrounding the incident.

“At least in the chaos of the dungeon leak, or even inside the dungeon, I thought something would happen. But in the end, nothing happened.”

“It’s not like nothing happened…”

Sophia weakly smiled at Hildegard’s grumbling. In fact, Sophia had also noticed the presence of the culprit. After all, it was the culprit’s scheme that caused the early awakening of the Crow Dragon Haegis, which Conra encountered while exploring the dungeon.

‘Isn’t that right, Draig-Haegis?’

{Hmph, it’s a blow to my pride, but it’s true.}

Draig-Haegis, the former Crow Dragon and now a Spirit contracted to Sophia, reluctantly admitted. Despite being from the Bronze Age and not the Silver Age, Draig-Haegis had achieved the status of a Spirit, a testament to his high level as a Spellcaster. However, even with his pride, there were undeniable facts.

One was that Sophia was a far more powerful superhuman than he was in his prime, and the other was that someone had schemed to accelerate his awakening in the dungeon.

Realizing this, Sophia was able to rescue Conra from Haegis in time. If she had been even a moment later, Conra’s fate and the dungeon’s outcome would have been uncertain.

Hearing Sophia’s explanation, Hildegard’s eyes widened.

“That’s even worse! So, what happened to the culprit?”

“Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, they had already disappeared. After that, as I said, I was busy dealing with the senile chicken dragon and evacuating Conra.”

{Senile! My mind is perfectly sound!}

{Hmph, hard to believe from someone who caused a secret realm out of despair.}

{How dare a lowly pirate scum speak to me like that!}

{What, you senile chicken dragon?}

Ignoring the bickering between the Spirit and the Ghost, Sophia crossed her arms and leaned against the mast, pondering the situation.

At the time, she hadn’t accompanied them to Plymouth Monastery, so she didn’t know the details of how the Beanstalk incident unfolded. Because of that, her response to the suspicious signs in the dungeon was delayed.

If she had been more vigilant, could the outcome have been different?

‘No, this was the best possible outcome.’

Despite the twists and turns, the dungeon was successfully cleared without major issues, and Conra experienced dramatic growth. No matter how many times she simulated it in her mind, she couldn’t envision a better outcome.

If the events had unfolded differently, there was no guarantee that the dungeon would have been cleared without incident or that Conra would have grown so safely. Even if Sophia had caught the culprit, failing to prevent the dungeon leak or endangering Conra would have been a complete failure.

As she pondered, a milky-white figure condensed beside her, taking the form of a young girl. It was Gabrielle, Sophia’s contracted spirit.

[……?]

“Ah, Gabrielle. Did I worry you unnecessarily?”

Sophia raised an eyebrow in surprise but couldn’t help but smile lightly. As she uncrossed her arms and spread them, Gabrielle naturally hugged her and looked up.

“Alright, let’s stop with the complicated thoughts for now.”

[……!]

“Hahaha, is that so? Well, I think so too. Hmm, thinking about it again, worrying was pointless.”

“Huh? Did you figure something out?”

Hearing Sophia’s carefree laughter, Hildegard, who was still troubled by the same issue, tilted her head in confusion. For her, it was a rather unsettling problem, so her curiosity grew.

Noticing Hildegard’s thoughts, Sophia smiled faintly and replied.

“Their identity is a mystery, and we haven’t caught them yet. But so what?”

“What?”

Hildegard’s eyes widened at what seemed like a careless statement. But Sophia remained composed and continued.

“Think about it. Our duty is to eliminate threats to humanity. As long as we live, we will continue to fulfill this duty, right?”

“That’s… certainly true.”

“So, what does it matter if they hide well? If their schemes are aimed at opposing humanity, they will eventually cross paths with us.”

As she spoke, a golden light appeared between Sophia’s eyebrows, and her eyes glowed with a blue light. This indicated that her upper dantian and ethereal brain were resonating to their fullest, attuning to the movements of the celestial bodies.

At this moment, her words weren’t just about the culprits behind the Plymouth incident.

From Strasbourg, Bhyumat, Baden-Baden, Agnon, Ravenna, Cadiz, Bordeaux Port, and Saint-Tulari to Plymouth. All the evil forces they had encountered and would encounter in the future, Sophia spoke of their inevitable clashes as if prophesying.

Hildegard, a powerful Nun Knight deeply connected to the Pantheon, nodded quietly in agreement, her gaze meeting Gabrielle’s, who had also appeared.

Thinking about it, it was true. They had sworn to spend their lives eliminating evil and heresy threatening humanity. Worrying about an unknown enemy now was pointless, as they had already come too far.

The two Nun Knights, having reaffirmed their oaths, locked eyes once more.

That night, an empty bottle of sparkling liqueur was thrown into the sea.

 

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