With everything sorted out regarding their relationship and future interactions with the CP9 agents, Benezia painstakingly goes over various strategies, taking into account the countless possibilities that may or may not unfold.
Jewel, doing her best to stay awake, is repeatedly assaulted by Biotic pulses, snapping her, and, along with her, the innocent Alex awake.
"If you keep this up, my head's gonna snap. Jewel, this is your last warning—either stay awake or get off my head so Benezia can punish you alone!" Alex complains, annoyed to be caught in his pet's mess and constantly taking collateral damage.
This is abuse! Princess Jewel does not deserve this! Jealous Asari!
"... Please just shut up, if not for your sake, do it for mine!" Alex pleads, while Benezias displays a calm, frightening smile.
The next day, after a decently long rest, Alex wakes up with Jewel still clinging tightly to him. Despite her earlier nap, she had managed to sleep like a rock, not moving even once.
As he gets ready for the day, he sighs loudly.
"Man, so much happened yesterday, and instead of relaxing, we've got this mess on our hands!" he finally grumbles.
Princess Jewel does not have hands, but she does have a few spare sets of legs!
"Better not piss off the blue-skinned devil or you might lose a few," Alex mutters.
Princess Jewel is not afraid!
"...Just don't hide on top of my head when you confront her," Alex says, letting out a loud sigh.
Finally, after the usual tasty, almost high-class breakfast prepared by Menchi with ingredients making it far superior to what they could buy—which Alex, of course, enjoys, and Jewel absolutely loves, despite the Chicken Sea King not tasting like chicken at all—the group decides to go over their plans for the next few days.
Despite Iceburg's disappearance and their recent cooperation with the CP9 agents, Benezia says calmly, "We'll continue doing what we've been doing all along. We've obtained a lot of funds, but we need even more, which is why we should focus on earning money instead of wildly searching the city for a person who is most probably untraceable. If those CP9 agents, with all their experience and resources, can't locate Iceburg, then our chances are close to zero. As much as we want to solve this hidden quest, we simply shouldn't waste our time."
"I still remember, what my mother once told me, when I was a little child," Benezia says, looking a little melancholic. "Do not fight against the waves of destiny, but embrace them and let them carry you through the universe."
"I like it! That's quite simple to understand, even for someone like me. Anyway, abandoning Iceburg, huh? It's a little harsh... but I guess you're right," Alex says. "We shouldn't panic and turn into unpaid servants for those idiots. As you said, the odds are really low, and most likely we'll fail. We need to see what happens and rely on the CP9 agents. We can look for him, but we shouldn't waste our entire focus on that task."
"Indeed," Benezia nods. "Menchi, you might as well shift your focus a little. Instead of surveying the CP9 agents, concentrate on looking for the mayor—but beyond that, keep pushing sales. Sell as many dishes as you can. We'll be working together."
"I, along with Tereza and the little one, will help you. Our priority now is earning as much money as possible. We need to leave this city fairly soon, and we still need to hit 300 million Belly before that," she adds.
"Wait a minute," Tereza says, looking confused. "What about Alex?"
Alex sighs... once again.
"..."
"I already know what I'll do," Alex says, looking frustrated. "As much as I hate to admit it, it's a great chance. I'll be using my new Conjuration ability to explore the ruins of the Old Water 7."
Princess Jewel disagrees!
"He'll survive a while without you, don't be sad. You can sit on my head for once," Tereza says with a grin.
Princess Jewel feels insulted! What a tremendous downgrade! She would never abandon her favorite place, but she is grateful for the Peasant's gesture, nonetheless.
"You little!" Tereza says, trying to grab Jewel, who skillfully jumps from Alex's head towards the ceiling, easily evading her.
"Don't even bother... that was pretty kind for Jewel's standards," Alex calmly says.
"Any suggestions?" he asks, glancing at Benezia. "I don't want to waste my time."
Benezia pauses, her eyes closing for a moment before she responds. "Focus on the buildings near Shipbuilding Island, in the center of the island. Even back then, the outskirts were only sparsely populated. The center was always the core of the city. Since the Aqua Laguna causes the island to sink gradually, the people who once lived on actual ground would've taken their possessions with them if their buildings were in danger of being submerged. It's not an unexpected catastrophe, but something that happens regularly and can be predicted. Do you remember the old maps I requested? Here they are—take a good look and remember the layout, you will need every hint available to navigate the dark catacombs of this city. You can keep them."
Alex looks through the maps, but they all seem vague; the only thing remotely useful is a single marked building in the centre of the map.
That much I could have figured out on my own!
"Fine," Alex says, shrugging. "I can just jump into the canals right outside then and just go for it... these maps are helpful for a rough impression, but I need to do this on my own!"
Soulmate will succeed! Princess Jewel guarantees it!
After breakfast, the group splits up, and Alex, as announced, sits at the edge of the canal, his feet dangling toward the water.
Let me think this through again. The Aura cost of my new Conjuration is fifty AURA at base, while its duration is 210 minutes at my current level. Thanks to my various skills and items, both the cost and duration shift in my favour. My total AURA recovery easily offsets it as well, meaning as long as I barely use my AURA and only rely on En sparingly, I should be able to keep this up almost the entire day until I'm exhausted.
With a determined expression, he looks around, waits until nobody is in sight, and activates Sea King's Giant Plate Swimfin. The giant swimfin wraps itself around his lower body once more, looking like a mix between a fin and a tail.
Alex dives into the cold water and sinks toward the ground, the descent taking far longer than he expected, surprising him greatly.
As he sinks, he spots the silhouettes of buildings beneath him, all flooded, most tightly boarded up. Slowly but steadily, the light dims; the deeper he sinks, the darker the water becomes.
Kinda scary... I really should use En every now and then. Hopefully, there is nothing dangerous down here.
Soon, a large building rises into view. It's old, but its unique architecture stands out—clearly the work of someone wealthy enough to afford expensive stone, a skilled architect, and the builders capable of bringing such a structure to life.
Choosing to explore as much as he can, he stops his descent and strikes the old boards covering the windows of the imposing building.
The rotten wood gives way instantly, and Alex slips inside.
Despite his expectations, the interior offers nothing but complete darkness.
A quick use of En reveals nothing worth noting. Only rotted furniture, collapsed halls, and a few smaller fish that somehow managed to wander inside, probably hiding themselves from larger predators.
This... will be a long day...
Hours later, and dozens of buildings inspected already, Alex decides to stop checking structures on the middle levels. Instead, he dives as low as he can, eventually reaching the actual ground level of Shipbuilding Island.
There on the sea floor, he finally sees—more accurately, senses—the original foundation of the city.
Like any settled place, this island once had a clearly planned and well-constructed network of roads.
The submerged buildings surrounding him reach all the way to the surface, towering hundreds of meters high. Each flood had forced people to build further upward, the water reducing gravity enough to let even basic stone structures stretch to these absurd heights.
With his increased SNS, Alex can barely make out the centre building in the distance—a massive, towering colossus resembling a temple. Strangely, unlike every other structure, nothing has been built on top of it. Instead, a large stone plate hangs about fifty meters above it, almost invisible in the dark water.
Without hesitation, Alex swims toward it—his goal more than clear.
This will be it! That building clearly is the original city hall, or whatever it was called. This building is so massive... I probably need days to completely explore it. Since it's so dark, I need to slowly explore it. I can't keep using En, or I will run out of AURA!
He slowly and carefully explores the wide, imposing halls before him, but with every room he searches, his smile grows a little weaker before settling into a deep frown.
His extended use of En, combined with the Conjuration he must maintain once in a while, steadily drains his AURA. The constant loss makes him increasingly wary, forcing him to check his remaining AURA and the time over and over using his [Destiny Watch (Orbment) R2].
I need at least twenty minutes to get back up... I need to be careful not to drown! That would be the most pathetic ending ever.
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