At the south-eastern edge of Westirifer, there were situated two towns. One of them was Velticore City, which shares its southern border with Florence County. But at the south-east side, there was the Bay of Grace, where all three major rivers of Westirifer — River Ursula, River Buanwo, and River Venessa — meet together. And this Bay of Grace lies in the Sea of Fionacracy.
Just like Velticore City, the other town was Vitaclare City. This city was present at the extreme south-east of the duchy and, just like Velticore City, it was also a port town of the duchy.
In both of these towns, the survival of the people mainly depends on the sea. While these two towns were also famous for tourism as well as for sailors and shipping work. About twenty percent of the total revenue of the duchy came from these two towns. Due to this, it is not an exaggeration to say that these two towns were the monetary and capital hub of the duchy.
In both towns, there were many ports and harbors used for docking ships and liners that follow the concept of steam engines and mana engines. Ticket prices vary from 20 copper coins to 5 silver coins depending on the quality of the ship one chooses to travel on. Meanwhile, small boats used for fishing and other purposes dock near the public beaches.
Due to the beaches being for public use and always busy, there are seldom any sights of Oceana Kingdom creatures like mermaids and kelpies.
Currently, at the far end corner of Nikon Beach, there were three people sitting on the soft and slightly wet sand. All three of them wore clothes, which was a very rare sight for the locals as well as the tourists, who were used to living perfectly naked.
In the group of three people, there was a man who had black hair as well as black eyes. He had a muscular body and if someone were to guess his age, it could be said that he was around 35-40 years old, which was quite young. He wore a full metal chainmail armor and had the aura of a seasoned warrior.
Other than him, there were two young and mature girls who looked quite beautiful and mesmerizing. One of them had pink-colored hair reaching up to her waist and blood-red eyes. She wore a pristine white leather armor above her white gown, which accentuated every contour of her beautiful body.
The other one had violet ombre-colored long hair reaching her waist and golden-colored eyes. Along with it, she wore a golden gown on which something was embroidered with red-colored text. If someone were to see it from close, they would be able to read the embroidered words, which were: "Dad's Love".
The man had a neutral expression on his face while both girls had cold expressions. All three of them were none other than Commander Vance and the two shadow-daughters of Lucifer, namely Mara and Zyrelia.
And currently, all three of them were contemplating about how to cover the distance between the duchy and the port city of the Risen Kingdom, also known as Bawalia, which is 3458 miles away.
If they had to cover the distance by land, then they didn't feel much issue because on land they could run with the speed of thunder and sound. Covering 3458 miles was nothing but the work of 6-7 hours, and even if they decided to take a little break, the time would vary from 7-8 hours at most.
But the main problem was that they had to cover these 3458 miles on the sea and in the minimum possible time. For covering this distance, they only had two options: either they had to swim, or they had to run as usual but on water — which they weren't sure about how to do or if it was even possible.
While thinking all this, Vance looked toward Mara and said, "Princess… What do you say? Should we swim… or should we take these mana and steam engine ships?"
Listening to the options given by Vance, Mara said, "Sir Vance… Think wisely, aren't you a commander? You have given me two options to choose from… one is swimming and the other is going via ship. Well, swimming is an option and we all could swim as fast as we can run… But travelling via these ships will lead to utter loss of time. They mostly move at a speed of 12-16 nautical miles at the fastest and need maintenance and rest time at intervals. Calculate yourself how many days it will take just to arrive at Bawalia Port."
As Vance listened to Mara's analysis, he said, "You are right, Princess… It will take more than a week just to arrive at Bawalia Port… But we only have a week to complete the mission given by my liege."
Just as Vance finished his words, Zyrelia said, "Yes, we can swim as fast as we can run… But I'm not gonna swim. Not in this water, otherwise I'll ruin this beautiful gown given to me by Papa."
Listening to Zyrelia, Mara also nodded and said, "We share the same feeling, little Zyrelia… As Dad has given you the gown you are wearing, I also wear the one given by him and don't want to ruin it by swimming in this sea."
As both of them expressed their unwillingness to cover the distance via swimming, Vance thought of something and said, "Well… I have an idea. How about we run on water?"
As both of them listened to it, Mara asked, "And Sir Vance… How are you gonna achieve this feat? Don't you sink down under the water?"
To this, Vance said, "It is possible that I may fail to run on water… But once I heard from my liege that if the speed is appropriate enough with proper technique, one can run on the surface of water. I still remember that he gave me the example of some lizard which can run on the water surface for a short period of time… and my liege also demonstrated this technique to me. He was running so fast and stealthily on the water surface of Lake Hermine, to which I felt like he wasn't even running but floating."
When both of the father-con daughters heard Vance's claim that once Lucifer had run on water, both of them fully believed it, because for them there was nothing that their father, Lucifer, couldn't do.
And due to this, Zyrelia said, "Sir Vance… Demonstrate to me what you learned from Papa."
To this, Vance said, "Princess… I may not perform it just like my liege… But I do have an idea…"