Questions

The conversation between Arthur and Cattleya wasn't anything spectacular. They talked about the current situation at sea, and around the continent. The Pirate Admirals, the navy, and the churches. Illuminated by the lamps scattered around the room, the atmosphere between the two was, if not friendly, amiable.

Then came the part Arthur was dreading. Cattleya, no matter how wary she was of the person in front of her, was still loyal to Bernadette Gustav. It didn't matter to her if her life was at risk if she could help her benefactor in the end. Now came a mysterious man, who might be a person from the past, who maybe had the answers that her Queen needed.

"I would like to ask you something, Arthur," Cattleya said, suddenly more serious.

"Go ahead, but I don't promise to answer them."

Cattleya gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Do you have knowledge about Emperor Roselle?"

'There it is… Now, how to go about this?' Arthur thought. His problem was if his answer got Bernadette looking for him. He didn't think she would do anything bad to him, but he didn't have all the answers.

'It doesn't matter in the end… My knowledge is limited, and there are certain things I can't even say to her now,' Arthur thought.

"What do you want to know?"

"Is he alive?" She asked, dreading the answer. Not for herself, but for Bernadette.

"Yes, but his situation isn't good," Arthur said.

Cattleya was immensely happy. Just the knowledge that Roselle was alive was enough to take some burden from Bernadette.

"Where is he? Why isn't his situation good?"

"For your first question, I don't have an answer. I only know he's on an undiscovered island, so to speak," Arthur answered. It was the truth, he truly didn't know where the island was, it's not like the novel would give a detailed description of the route one should take to get there. "As for your second question, he got corrupted. Don't ask me how in your sequence the knowledge itself is enough to corrupt you."

Cattleya felt a shiver. She, like Arthur, had experience with receiving knowledge that may corrupt, but this was different. From Bernadette, she knew that Roselle at the time of his disappearance was at the very least a Sequence 1 Angel.

'For an Angel to be corrupted…' She thought, discarding the idea of knowing the answer. She already knew enough to ease the worries of the Queen, so it wasn't a big deal.

Another thought occurred to Cattleya and she couldn't help but ask.

"As far as I know, Emperor Roselle was at least a Sequence 1 Angel when he disappeared. If he was corrupted at that time, how come you're not?"

"I never said he was corrupted by knowledge, I said you would be corrupted," Arthur answered. "To possess this knowledge and not go mad, one needs to be an Angel. Nothing would have happened to Roselle if he hadn't gone looking where he shouldn't."

"What do you mean?" Cattleya asked, perplexed.

"Sorry, but I won't be answering that," Arthur had his reasons to not tell her, and by consequence Bernadette, about Roselle's trip to the moon. He couldn't remember at the moment if Bernadette knew about the Outer Deities, but in case she didn't he didn't want her doing the same mistake as her father.

Cattleya didn`t ask any more questions about the subject. They continued to chat about mysticism, ritual, and magic, till it was time for Arthur to go back to his ship.

Both crews said their farewells, and with each in their own ship set sail, the stars in the sky their companions.

…

Early next morning, the Pearl was once again docked. This time, their location was somewhere Arthur actually knew, even if only by name.

Pritz Harbor.

At this moment, Arthur could be seen enjoying some fried fish. Even though his clothes painted him as a pirate, no one bothered him, for no one could recognize him from any wanted posters.

Sabrina had opted to stay on the ship with Franck and Lara, while Jack, Amanda, and James went to buy supplies. Arthur still had the money he got from Calico, so it wasn't a problem.

From some information he got at the bar earlier, tonight there was a Beyonder gathering.

He didn't know yet if he was going or not. It depended on the conversation he planned to have with his crew in the afternoon. Even though a month had not passed, Arthur had decided to accept Jack, Amanda, and Franck. With that decision, came what pathway they would like to follow.

Arthur didn't know what they would choose. He was also curious to know the effects of a potion on Sabrina. They already knew that at some point, she would get a real body. Would drinking a potion beforehand affect the process? They didn't know and weren't willing to risk it.

He also wondered if he should go on an adventure, or participate in some Beyonder event.

It's been some time since Arthur transmigrated, but he had never participated in anything related to Beyonders besides his interaction with Calico and Cattleya.

He didn't have any experience fighting with powers after all, even if he didn't have any offensive one yet.

'Maybe I should find some fighting ring where I can digest the potion faster… Afterward, as a Warlock, I should gain some offensive powers besides some good close combat.' Arthur thought.

"Did you hear? Those idiots at the dock are saying that One-eye Sam found some treasure chest in an island," Arthur heard a man at the table next to him say. They weren't speaking very loud, but to Arthur, they might as well be shouting. He didn't know who this Sam was, and truly he wasn't very interested in knowing.

However, if what he was hearing was true, then Sam had found a treasure. Arthur thought this was a good target, a relative no-name pirate who probably wasn't a Beyonder, or if he was, it wasn't anything beyond sequence 8 or 7.

Arthur thought that after his crew became Beyonders, he could go and hunt this Sam down. And perhaps other pirates too.

…

"So, do we have everything?" Jack asked, looking at one of his bags.

It had been a few hours since they left the Pearl to buy food. The sun was high in the sky, the clouds drifting. Jack, Amanda, and James were each a few bags.

Even though their crew was small, they still needed to buy a lot of food since they spent so much time at sea. They were buying enough for a month this time.

"I think so, at least everything that Sabrina wrote on the list," James answered.

"Then we should be on our way," Amanda said, tucking a strand of hair. "No need to continue strolling around here. Besides, the captain said he had something to tell us."

"True," Jack agreed. "What do you think it is about?"

"No idea, maybe he has a destination in mind this time? Since we have, as far as I know, just wandering around at sea."

"We will know when he says, now let's go!"