Chapter 1730 - 240 - The Battle at the Black Pole (5)

She took the bottle from me and examined it for a little while, turning it around in her hand as though she were trying to figure out what exactly I had given her.

"This will allow you to gain feet, although the effect is only temporary. I also asked Trisha to make a few tweaks to it so that the effect would last longer than usual," I explained. "You don't have to worry about it. It's completely safe for consumption," I told her.

After hearing that, she seemed a little less worried. She hesitated for another moment before finally taking a small sip from the bottle.

"It's a little bit bitter... but strangely sweet as well."

She looked at the bottle again after saying that, almost as though she were trying to decide whether that combination of flavors was actually supposed to be there.

After a bit, the effect finally began.

"H-Huh?"

Her body suddenly sank beneath the water.

The reason was pretty simple. Since she no longer had her fish tail and had suddenly gained human feet, she couldn't immediately swim the way she was accustomed to doing. She had spent so much time relying on her tail for movement that suddenly having a completely different lower body threw her balance off almost instantly.

I immediately went over and pulled her back up before she could sink any farther.

She probably wasn't actually in much danger of drowning since only her legs had changed, but watching her suddenly disappear beneath the surface was still enough to make me react without thinking.

"Fuahhhh! T-That was scary..." she said after we reached the surface, immediately latching onto me while trying to catch her breath.

Once she had calmed down a little, she looked down toward the water and stared at her legs.

"I have human legs now..."

She seemed a little perturbed by the development, although she looked much more surprised than genuinely frightened. Considering that she had spent so long with a fish tail, suddenly having human legs must have felt extremely strange.

"Although, you still have to learn how to properly walk," I said. "Why don't you try it?"

Serune carefully climbed out of the water and looked down at her new feet. She cautiously placed one foot in front of the other, clearly unsure about how she was supposed to balance herself after spending so much of her life moving around with a completely different body.

She initially wobbled a little, and I honestly thought she was going to fall over.

Fortunately, she managed to recover her balance before that happened.

She slowly straightened herself and eventually managed to stand in a much more stable position. Her legs were still slightly shaky, but she was clearly getting the hang of it.

"Oh... I'm walking!" she said, sounding genuinely amazed by the realization.

I smiled while looking at her.

Seeing her reaction made me realize just how strange this must have been for her. For most people, taking a few steps would be something they wouldn't even think about, but for Serune, this was practically an entirely new ability.

Alright, now everything's ready.

***

We were at the border of Bethlan, and by this point, we were already aboard the ship heading toward the Black Pole.

The Black Pole was where we planned to stop because getting there would be considerably easier for us than attempting to travel directly toward the Mermaid Kingdom. Reaching the Mermaid Kingdom from our current position would be quite a stretch, and taking a completely straight route would also make the journey much more dangerous than it needed to be.

Serune had actually suggested this route herself. According to her, going to the Black Pole first would allow us to gain some momentum, and there was also a chance that we might meet someone there who could help us reach the Mermaid Kingdom.

"I was wondering why you made me build such a large boat for you, but now I understand it," Agneis said while looking over the ship.

"Yup, because it'll be useful in situations like this," I said.

Agneis seemed to accept my explanation without much argument, although she continued looking at the ship for another moment.

"Well, you said so, so I suppose I can believe you. Just make sure you don't let that child get sunk in the ocean, because if you do, I'm going to torture you."

The child she was talking about was the ship, not an actual child.

Apparently, she had started thinking of it almost like her own child since she was the one who created it. Considering how much effort she had put into building it, I could understand where that attachment came from.

Besides, calling it a simple boat didn't really do it justice.

This ship was a literal masterpiece.

I probably couldn't have properly explained just how impressive it was, even if I spent an entire day trying to describe every little part of it. It wasn't one of those ordinary ships that depended on sails and favorable winds, either.

It was basically a modern ship.

Well, saying that it was completely modern might have been stretching things a little, especially since Agneis had given it a rather heavy steampunk treatment. Still, compared with practically every other ship sailing across these seas, it was ridiculously advanced.

The difference was almost unfair.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, because I had absolutely no desire to find out whether Agneis was serious about the torture part.

After that, we boarded the ship and prepared ourselves for the journey ahead.

Once everyone was settled in, the ship eventually began moving farther away from the coast and toward the Great Ocean. The machinery beneath us started working, and the sound of the engines mixed with the crashing waves as the ship steadily pushed forward.

I had absolutely no idea what kind of things I would encounter once we reached the Great Ocean.

That uncertainty probably should have made me nervous.

Instead, I couldn't stop myself from feeling excited.

This would be the first time I had ever traveled beyond the continent where we currently lived, so naturally, I was pretty hyped about the whole thing.

I didn't know what awaited us beyond the horizon.

Still, whatever waited beyond that, I was ready to find out.