“Is there anything wrong?” Jeremiah asked, bewildered by the way they were staring at him. If the sea area was some core secret of the Gilded Kingdom or an area that concerned the interests of the Gilded Kingdom, they ought to be looking at him with their guard up, or even have some hostility in their gazes. However, they were looking at Jeremiah with derision, making him feel like an idiot.
The nobleman of the Gilded Kingdom whom Jeremiah posed that question to also seemed to feel that his behavior was a bit inappropriate, and quickly restored his usual attitude. He said with some mysteriousness, “Prince Jeremiah, I think it’d be better for you not to know about it. I’ll head over now and introduce a few friends to you later.”
Looking at the nobleman who left with the wine glass, Jeremiah felt that he seemed to be evading the question, which piqued his curiosity further. The nobleman’s behavior made him feel that there was something that he couldn’t say, and that he wasn’t hiding it because he wanted to. Hence, what exactly was there in that sea that the people of the Gilded Kingdom were unwilling to mention?
Of course, Jeremiah would not just give up like that. After the nobleman of the Gilded Kingdom left, he looked at the others present at the gathering, constantly recalling the identities of the ones whom he had just met recently. When he found one whose status seemed similar to that of the nobleman who had just left, he would go up and chat with them before eventually shifting the topic to the sea.
In normal circumstances, Jeremiah’s identity as the prince of the Ledin Kingdom would make him the limelight of the gathering as everyone would be eager to talk to him more. However, Jeremiah was completely neglected this time, and whenever he tried to find out about the sea area, the people he asked would find an excuse to leave. Those who were nice would just remind him not to be curious about that part of the sea.
Jeremiah was on the verge of losing his mind in the face of such a situation. Seeing that there was nothing he could find out during the gathering, he decided to inform the host that he would be taking his leave as he intended to look for someone of a higher status to inquire.
The host of this gathering was Pedro, the son of Jefferson, the minister of maritime affairs of the Gilded Kingdom who also held an important position in the First Fleet—the kingdom’s ace fleet. Although his status was inferior to Cantory’s, he was also said to be the best among the younger generation.
“Prince Jeremiah, why do you want to leave so early? Did someone offend you? I was planning to introduce a few friends to you.” Upon hearing Prince Jeremiah bidding goodbye, Pedro was puzzled, and he thought that a mindless person had offended his distinguished guest.
Jeremiah had asked Pedro about the sea area just now, but he, too, only gave him a reminder. Upon hearing Pedro’s answer, Jeremiah shook his head, and said, “No, it’s nothing much, but whenever I ask about that part of the sea, everyone starts avoiding me like I’m the plague. That makes me really curious. You guys know about it, but I don’t, so wouldn’t that make me a fool? If you were in my place, what would you think? I’m not in the mood to continue attending the gathering, so I came to tell you about it in advance lest the ambiance is affected.”
Of course, Jeremiah’s statement was also a little exaggerated; in fact, not all the nobles at the gathering knew about the sea region that he was asking about. Besides, even if they knew about it, it didn’t mean that they were obliged to answer. Jeremiah was more or less being unreasonable.
However, after hearing Jeremiah’s explanation, Pedro didn’t think much about it, and he looked a little embarrassed. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “Prince Jeremiah, since you want to know, let’s go over. However, before telling you about it, I have to give you a kind reminder. I hope that you will stop being curious after this.”
“Haha, what a joke, I just don’t want to be here. I’m the only one who’s being kept in the dark. Even if there’s some amazing treasure in that sea, I’d need a boat to go over.” Seeing that Pedro was finally planning to tell him the answer, Jeremiah’s mood seemed to have gotten better too. He joked while walking towards a corner in the hall.
Besides, Jeremiah was telling the truth too. Given the Ledin Kingdom’s standards in sailing, it was already quite a difficult task for them to go to the Gilded Kingdom to attend the celebration without any problems, what more to explore the sea.
The two of them went to a somewhat quiet place where Pedro took a sip of red wine, and frowned a little before saying in a deep voice, “Shocking treasure? Prince Jeremiah, I have to say that your imagination is too rich. Unfortunately, there are no treasures there. The reason that they are reluctant to mention that sea area is not that they’re trying to hide anything from you, but because that area is really unknown for us.”
“Unknown?” That indeed exceeded Jeremiah’s expectation. He had originally thought that if it was not the core secret of the Gilded Kingdom, it should be a place that could bring about great benefits for the kingdom, or perhaps a gathering place of some terrifying marine magical beasts.
However, the people of the Gilded Kingdom actually called it the land of the unknown. Apart from the great dangers that were lurking there, it also meant that it was a place full of unknowns. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have to give him a vague description. They could instead just state clearly what kind of dangers and marine magical beasts there were.
“Yes, Prince Jeremiah, are you still interested in listening?” Pedro swirled the red wine in his glass and looked at Jeremiah smilingly.
Honestly, Jeremiah would really have lost interest in listening in normal circumstances because there was a large bunch of unknown lands in Anril. However, although Jeremiah lost interest in the so-called unknown land, he was very interested in the nautical map of the Gilded Kingdom that Lin Li had. Hence, even if he wasn’t very interested, he still wanted to get a clear idea of it.
“Of course, I have nothing else to do anyway. Just tell me what’s going on with this unknown land,” said Jeremiah as he sat down on the chair next to him, looking like he was all ears. It was as if he was planning to continue listening.
Seeing that Jeremiah was insistent on listening further, Pedro shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and sat down on the chair opposite him. He then placed the glass on the table, and said, “Actually, don’t blame them for refusing to tell you about it, because they only know that it’s a land of unknowns and are unsure of the details. I heard it from my father too. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you much. Strictly speaking, the unknown land does not refer to that sea, but to an island in that sea.”
“An island?” Jeremiah could remember very clearly that the sea area was extremely large as annotated on the mountain. The large sea area became a forbidden land because of an island. It seemed that it was not a false claim.
“Yes, it’s an island that has been cursed, and it used to be the territory of the Gilded Kingdom too. Although it isn’t as vast as Four Seasons Island, it is also one of the largest islands owned by the kingdom. Due to its location in the north, the island’s environment is relatively harsh, and it was used as a place of exile for the kingdom’s convicts in the beginning.” Pedro was rather slow in his speech, and it seemed as if he was trying to recall the relevant information along the way, perhaps because it had been a long time since anyone mentioned that island.
Although the Gilded Kingdom was almost the only place with pure land in Anril, especially during the Dark Age, the Gilded Kingdom was also composed of human beings who were inherently full of desires. Naturally, there would be violators of laws; hence, it wasn’t surprising that the Gilded Kingdom would have such a place.
Jeremiah did not say anything else, and simply continued listening to Pedro’s account quietly. Of course, he was no longer thinking about treasures, and he merely wanted to remember every single word that Pedro said so that he could report to Lin Li.
Pedro didn’t intend to tell Jeremiah a long story, either. After a brief introduction of the island, he soon got to the main topic. “Those sinners mined minerals for the kingdom on the island in order to atone for their sins, but it is said that some sinners discovered some magical items that contained powerful mana by chance just a few thousand years ago, probably during the so-called Dark Age of Anril.”
“The news soon spread in the kingdom, but no one took it seriously at first, as they all thought that the sinners were just getting up to some tricks. However, some adventurers from our kingdom and other places like Anril or the depths of the sea swarmed towards the island.”
Although Jeremiah was listening attentively, he actually felt extremely bored. However, when he heard Pedro say that they had found some powerful magical items on the island, he immediately perked up again, and hurriedly asked, “Really? Are there some ancient ruins or relics there?”
Fortunately, Jeremiah had been pretending to be attentive at first, and his sudden excitement did not arouse Pedro’s suspicion. Pedro took a sip of wine slowly before continuing, “Those people believed that there were Titan relics on that island, and were very likely to have come from the prehistoric times. Hence, that desolate island suddenly became livelier, and countless ships headed in the direction of that island in that period of time.”
“What about the Gilded Kingdom? Did you just let them go to that island to explore?” Jeremiah was a little anxious for the Gilded Kingdom, and naturally couldn’t be bothered to care about how the Ominous Land became cursed.
“Hah, do you think those people were able to get anything on the island?” Pedro smiled, seemingly finding their fervor ridiculous. “No, they couldn’t get anything, and ever since that news was released, everyone who went on the island ended up dying regardless of the size of their groups and their strength.”
“Well, ancient ruins are not just for anyone to explore. Back then, I personally went to explore the Sky Castle of the Immortal King, and I really had a close shave with death.” Jeremiah was the most proud of his own experience of exploring the Sky Castle. Although he played an unimportant role during the exploration, he made it to the end, after all, and even completed the task to bring the High Elven queen’s crown back.
However, Jeremiah’s bragging made Pedro immediately look interested as he said, “It turns out you’ve taken part in the exploration of the Sky Castle. I know that the Immortal King’s Sky Castle is said to be the most powerful of the seven Sky Castles of the High Elves. Why don’t you tell me about your experience of exploring the Sky Castle?”
Although Jeremiah was eager to show off, he knew what was more important to him, so he waved his hand, and said, “Don’t change the topic. I’ll tell you about this later, you’d better continue talking about that Ominous Land.”
“Alright.” Pedro nodded helplessly, and drank the rest of the wine in his glass before continuing, “They all died, and even several groups of adventurers who were famous in the Gilded Kingdom at that time did not escape the fate of dying on that island. The matter escalated, and the kingdom had to intervene. Hence, one of the kingdom’s fleets entered the sea, and sent tens of thousands of soldiers to that island. However, when those soldiers landed on the island, a disaster suddenly struck.”
Hearing Pedro’s words, Jeremiah could not help but tense up, vaguely feeling that the reason for the Ominous Land’s name was related to this disaster. However, what kind of disaster would make that area a forbidden land known as an Ominous Land for thousands of years? He really couldn’t imagine it.
“It was an extremely terrifying blizzard that descended on that island without warning, and the kingdom’s fleet didn’t have enough time to react. The area within a radius of hundreds of kilometers immediately became an icy land. All the battleships were frozen in the sea before they could retreat, and the tens of thousands of soldiers who went on the island turned into ice sculptures in an instant.” At this point, Pedro’s voice was no longer frivolous, but he did not feel much about it, either. After all, the legend dated back to a long time ago.
