Chapter 13

The two of them were sitting on a bench and were eating food that Wilhelm bought from the stalls. Celestine was feeling less moody. You could tell that that was the case since her eyebrows were relaxed.

The food she had made her change of mood. Most of them were sweets, and since she loves sweet stuff it made her happy just by eating them. Wilhelm kept himself quiet to avoid any form of potentially flaming the fire.

They decided to continue with their stroll until sundown.

Wilhelm had finally decided to head to the island.

after seeing the sunset.

He stands up and offers his hand and says, "Shall we go?"

His face was a little bit flustered, and he was feeling shy about it, offering his hand to Celestine. She was holding her smile, she couldn't help it. It was the first time he initiated. She was like, 'Is this for real? Oh my Gosh!' As she reached for his hand.

They were holding hands as they walked to leave outside the town. The same guards saw them and started clapping for Celestine.

"As expected of you young miss!"

"Keep it up! You're doing great!"

They cheered for her.

"It makes me wonder what you talked about the other day. They seemed to be fond of you despite you being new here." Wilhelm said.

"That's not something you have to know for now. Fufu~"

Wilhelm used his teleportation magic. They were at the shore near his house.

"I'll summon Dale. We're going to go there by flying."

The giant bird appeared out of the summoning circle. It started to approach Celestine moving its beak to hear hands asking to be petted, and she didn't think twice then started caressing his smooth feathers.

"I think Dale really likes me."

"I guess you could say that."

"Does that apply to the owner as well?"

" . . . don't know beats me"

Dale looked at him in dismay. His summon was more honest than he is. Celestine finds it funny. She noticed that he would always look away when he wanted to avoid something out of embarrassment.

The giant bird stretches his wing to the ground making an elevated position for them to mount his back. He doesn't wear riding gear because he finds it uncomfortable, and Wilhelm doesn't like the idea of putting gear on his summons.

He would just enforce himself with magic so that he doesn't fall off. Celestine can do the same thing. Making it easier for them to ride the giant monster without gears.

They flew northwest towards the vast ocean. The golden color of the sun is being reflected by the waves of the deep blue sea and the clouds from the distance look heavenly.

There were flying creatures flying by the horizon, searching their way back to their nests. They traveled quite a distance, the moon had already ruled the sky and everything started to darken.

Celestine saw a giant Prunus tree in the middle of the sea on top of a large stone arch. It was glowing gradient luminous colors, and each leaf shone with a different glow.

The roots branches were spreading wide and the roots reached the bottom of the ocean. The smooth melodies of singing were heard it was like filling a space inside the heart.

"Don't listen too much to the beautiful songs. You might get hypnotized by it."

"Are those... Harpies?"

"Yes."

"They look creepy."

"You could say that way and below them are mermaids"

Harpies are part bird part human they usually have blue-colored feathers and are well-known for their alluring songs. Mermaids, on the other hand, are half human half fish, and are known as the people of the sea.

The sight of the giant bird made them stop singing and start flapping their wings toward the center of the tree. It looked dangerous since a couple of hundred Harpies were gathering.

Dale's wings fold and sped up towards the middle of the gathering of Sirens, spreading his wings as they reach the landing spot. A cool entrance to impress the crowds.

"Greetings Lord Magician, it has been long since your last visit, what brings you to the lair?" The leader of the Harpies asked.

"Just to have a sightseeing."

"You came here with your mate?"

The Harpy asked as she peeked at Celestine. Wilhelm didn't know how to reply to that. The siren was left waiting for an answer. He finally gave her one but it was an unsure answer,

"She's uhm-- more like a friend... I guess." The Harpies started shaking their wings, indicating that they were glad.

"You guys do what you're doing and just ignore us," Wilhelm said.

They continued with what they were doing. Singing and flying, and some of them were nesting on the branches with their found partners. While there are some that are trying hard to impress each other, looking for their love.

"Are they usually friendly with humans?" Celestine asked.

She heard that they are extremely aggressive with other races that come near them.

"No, they are not. I'm a different case. They'd normally attack human ships that venture into the area. Those creatures are primarily carnivores and eat most likely any living creatures in sight. They use their songs to hypnotize and make their prey asleep then they'll tear them to pieces."

Many people would question why Wilhelm doesn't eradicate these creatures since they can cause harm to the human race but the answer is very simple, Wilhelm respects the cycle of the world. He is not a patriotic hero who is obliged to exterminate threats to humanity.

Wilhelm respects their way of life as he believes, that being open about culture enables him to understand magic better from different perspectives.

Just imagine helping a frog that was caught by a snake. Would you help the frog?

If the frog were to be free due to your interference then the snake would starve and may eventually die. You were helping the frog by making it difficult for the snake. You could say that you may kill the snake if it can't hunt because of starvation.

And you can't say that you can help the snake by killing the frog. Your interference will only benefit one party, the snake will flee at your sight and will flee. That's why in respect for the way of life, one must not interfere.

Celestine started to look around the place. The tree looks old but has fruits and flowers in some branches.

"Those are Berloyn Fruits, they have a nice flavor and just the right juiciness to be enjoyed, you should try them." Wilhelm plucked out a fruit and handed it to Celestine. "They also recover mana after being consumed. Pretty convenient for mages right?"

The fruit is a blue-colored, bell-like shape with a twirl of green sepals attached to its surface. She bites the fruit, the sound of a delicious crunch, and juices drip from each bite. It had a sweet fruity taste and she could feel the flesh of the fruit being soft like pudding.

Wilhelm showed her around the tree from the highest branch to the roots below. The Harpies didn't mind them, treating them like one of their own and letting them explore the place. They are convinced that they won't plot anything that could cause disturbance or harm the tree.

As they reached the ground it was quite the view to gaze at the glowing tree and in front of them lies the ocean. The sound of critters beneath, the songs of Harpies above, and the playful swims of the mermaids. It was like a peaceful festival.

"Does this happen every night?" She was curious and asked him.

"Yes, this happens every night. Their songs are different for our case, if there were unwanted visitors with bad intentions they'd be singing eerie songs and mermaids won't even swim above water."

"I could tell, they even greeted you when we arrived. Although the greeting was a little bit scary considering the features of the Harpies. But you can hear the delight sound of their voice. Just what did you do to make them welcome you warmly?"

"I helped a little with the vegetation of the place. I picked out seeds threw them on the ground and used magic to grow them. This place used to be a dead island where plants won't grow."

"The Harpies would hunt for fish or any creatures around the area excluding the mermaids. They had a record of attacking human towns back in the day. It was for them to feed themselves. Lagus asked me to do something about them in exchange for a magic spell and it was about

a year when I helped them"

"Now I'm curious how you met Lagus"

"It was unexpected, to be honest."

"How so?"

"Well, I was studying magic about the four main elements and discovered that there were creatures with specific elements having a hierarchy from common spirits to guardians."

"There are four elemental guardians for Reptiles. We have Lagus the Sea Serpent, Malak the Wind Dragon, Grama the Fire Salamander, and Welrok the Earth Tortoise."

"The easiest to find was Lagus because he resided in Rowas Island. It almost took me forever to have contact with the rest. I plan to search for the guardians that are mammals or birds to have contact with them next."

"You seem to have a good relationship with Lagus out of them"

"Well, yeah. He has the least patience out of his brothers. He can't stand boredom and would usually have a chat with me. I think he's currently taking a nap right now"

The sound of water crashing and a giant serpent with sharp horns submerges from the deep ocean. The slithering sound of his tongue, as his glowing sharp eyes stared at them. It was taller than any wall Celestine had ever seen. It was frighteningly beautiful.

"Who said I was taking a nap?" It talked and slowly moved near the arch. "I have kept watching you since the moment you arrived"

"Couldn't help but show yourself? You do know that we are just visiting 'the island' and not you, Lagus"

"Really? I thought you were going to introduce me to your bride"

"Wha--? No! I'm just showing her around! Don't get the wrong idea!"

"That's some nice showing around for a 'friend' Not even your best friend Tepht has ever stepped on the island. She must be really special to you"

"It was just her request! I'm just bringing her here because she--"

"Because she told you? You must be jesting Wil" Lagus giggled. "A person who prefers to remain in his room to read books and talk about magic just 'magically' allowed himself to have a 'date' around my area"

"Stop that you worm! This is not a date!"

"Then explain 'what' this is if not a date"

"This is just me showing her around!"

"You can fool yourself Wil but you can't fool the people around you"

"Shut up! Just drop it already I don't want to talk about it!"

"Just be honest, what is she to you?"

"Argh! Damn it, just drop it already!"

"Not until you give me an answer"

"Fine! She's someone special! Okay?! Now drop the talk about it!"

"Oh wow~ You're being defensive. Did you forget that you are with Celestine?"

Wilhelm remembers. It was beyond his limit of being embarrassed. Lagus was enjoying himself, you could tell since his tail was making a wiggly motion creating a whirlpool. It was very interesting for him. Wilhelm avoided looking at Celestine's way.

On the other hand, Celestine was enjoying it as well, seeing how embarrassed he was, and how he wouldn't look her way because of his flustered face. It was very cute.