The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

The fishing rod moved, and the line grew taut.

I quickly reeled in and caught a fish as thick as my forearm.

Though calling it forearm-sized was a stretch as it was thinner than a mackerel.

“Wow, this place is a gold mine.”

“Young master, what’s a gold mine?”

At Precia’s question, as she cast a fishing rod next to me, I pondered for a moment on how to explain it.

“Um… Roughly, it means an area with a lot of profitable things. In this case, it means there are a lot of fish.” (TN: I don’t know, fam. The joke doesn’t work well.)

It was thanks to the power of Rami, the water spirit, that we could locate the fish and dangle bait in front of them to catch them, but it was true there were plenty of fish.

“I see. This place is a gold mine.”

“It certainly is a gold mine.”

Precia and Gilbert also kept catching fish.

The tank was soon filled with fish.

I’ll have to clean them later and put them in the food storage.

“Fishing is more training than I thought. It’s quite hard to fight the currents and move the line.”

At Precia’s words, I looked at the fishing rod she was holding and felt a faint mana from it.

Precia was freely manipulating the fishing line right now.

Goodness. I couldn’t believe she could do that with a line that wasn’t even made of mithril. Amazing.

Gilbert must have noticed too as he whispered to me.

“Lady Precia is quite fe- impressive.”

“You were about to say fearsome, weren’t you?”

“Haha, don’t you think the same, young master?”

“I can’t deny that.”

At my and Gilbert’s whispers, Precia fake coughed and glanced at us.

To hastily change the subject, I asked Silua and Jade.

“When will the analysis be done?”

“It’s almost finished.”

“The mermaid’s magic is new to me, so I need to analyze the structure first. Give me a bit more time please!”

If it was taking long with both Jade and Silua working on it, the mermaid must be quite an extraordinary being too.

“Alright, take your time.”

There was still plenty of time left until sunset.

Even after the sun set, we had Eunha so we could make it bright as day.

The only one waiting impatiently was Agni.

“Getting antsy won’t let you go in any faster, so why not fish with us.”

At my suggestion, the old fisherman smiled and grabbed his worn fishing rod.

“That’s true. But understand me. How can a man who has aged for 40 years stand confidently before her? Plus, didn’t you say she’s still fighting the kraken?”

A hint of fear was felt in his words.

Understandable, as mermaids were famous for aging slowly.

From his perspective, standing before a lover still young wasn’t an easy thing to do.

“The analysis is done. I’ll open the path.”

Right then, Jade and Silua finished deciphering the magic.

As Jade waved his magic staff, a crack opened in the whirlpools surrounding the archipelago, creating a narrow sea path.

Unlike his old age, the old fisherman rowed vigorously without hesitation, squeezing through that gap and entering.

“Finally…!”

The old fisherman steered the boat towards the island he had wanted to return to for so many years.

***********

At the port of Akra, which had grown dark beyond sunset, ten hooded figures appeared.

“Captain, preparations are complete.”

On the pier, a small man called out to them from atop a large fishing boat.

Three middle-aged men who looked like fishermen were tied up on the boat.

“The boat and sailors to pilot it that you mentioned.”

At the small man’s report, the giant man called the captain nodded as he boarded.

“Good work.”

Following the scarred man who was the leader, the subordinates also boarded the boat.

The subordinates raised the anchor and drew their swords to untie the bound fishermen.

The fishermen didn’t dare resist the armed strangers who had suddenly kidnapped them.

The scarred man drew his sword, placed it at a fisherman’s neck, and spoke.

“Steer the boat to the White Wave Archipelago. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

“Huh…? Wh-where is the White Wave Archipelago? This is a fishing boat, so we can’t go too far out to sea- eek!”

At the fisherman’s words, the scarred man pressed the sword deeper. The fisherman’s flesh split and blood flowed.

“Are you resisting-“

“Ah, captain. Contrary to the report, the White Wave Archipelago is currently called the Whirlpool Archipelago.”

At the words of the small man who had scouted the city beforehand, the scarred man awkwardly withdrew his sword.

“Is that so? Tsk, the information department should update their intel faster. You can pilot the boat to the Whirlpool Archipelago, right?”

At the scarred man’s question, the fishermen nodded vigorously.

“Then hurry up and go.”

The fishermen swiftly unfurled the sails to catch the land breeze and headed out to sea.

Seeing them quickly move away from the port, the scarred man sat on the railing.

“Um, captain.”

As the small man hesitantly spoke, the scarred man removed his hood and looked at his subordinate.

“What is it?”

“It’s about this mission. Is it alright?”

At the subordinate’s question, the scarred man furrowed his brow.

The subordinate who asked hastily waved his hands in a fluster.

“Ah, no, I mean, you know. According to the information department, there’s a kraken in the Whirlpool Archipelago, right? It won’t be a problem for you captain, but won’t me and the others just get in the way?”

Seeing his fearful subordinate, the scarred man grinned and replied.

“It’s fine. The Kraken’s main body was already killed 40 years ago by the Sage of Ten Thousand Soldiers and the mermaid. What we’re going to retrieve now is the jewel the Kraken left behind – the ‘Defiled Energy of the Sea.’”

Currently, the mermaid should be left in the Whirlpool Archipelago, purifying the defiled energy of the sea.

“The mermaid is dangerous, but retrieving the kraken’s jewel isn’t a difficult task. If we wanted to, we could have done it long ago.”

At the captain’s words, the small-statured man looked puzzled.

“Then why are we retrieving it only now?”

“Because the Sage of All Ten Thousand Soldiers’ death has only recently been revealed.”

In the past, it was the Sage of All Ten Thousand Soldiers, Geor Philip, his wife Jaoelin Philip, and the mermaid Aili who dealt with the Kraken.

The death of Supreme Mage Jaelin was revealed 10 years ago through her two disciples who had her as their benefactor, but Geor Philip’s death was only recently disclosed.

No matter how much he retired due to illness and gave up his position as a sage, a sage was still a sage.

If they tarnished the achievement of subjugating the kraken that had elevated Geor, the former Master Mage, to an Honorable Mage, they would become enemies with Geor Philip. That’s why they couldn’t recklessly attempt retrieval until now.

“Really, it’s a good thing the Sage of Ten Thousand Soldiers announced his own death, otherwise we would have had to wait several more years for this easy and highly evaluated mission.”

At the scarred man’s words, the subordinate couldn’t hide his excitement and asked.

“Then will the captain also become an executive, an Arcana Numbers, with this mission?”

If he became one of the Numbers, Arcana’s core executives, he would be promised a high position and status in the ‘New World’ Arcana aimed for.

Of course, even if they didn’t wait for the New World that may come to fruition who knows when, if you were a Number, it wasn’t hard to gain wealth and power using Arcana’s connections and influence.

Both the scarred man and his subordinates were anticipating the latter more than the former.

At his subordinate’s presumptuous appearance, the scarred man calmly replied.

“This much probably won’t be enough.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“But Arisa and Nivel made a huge mistake recently, so if we succeed in this, we may be able to pull them down. At least entering the Numbers will become a real possibility.”

The scarred man’s eyes blazed with ambition.

Positions of other core executives were impossible no matter how many achievements you accumulated until there was a vacancy.

But it seemed possible to pull down a few like the young Arisa or the inexperienced Nivel.

Of course, even so, the Numbers who could be considered his superiors weren’t the only ones he had to compete with.

Among his fellow middle-rank executives, there were also monsters that couldn’t be ignored.

“If I have the Defiled Energy of the Sea, I will become the strongest. No one in this world will be my match anymore.”

The scarred man was certain of that.

Mooring the boat on the island, the old fisherman slowly looked around with eyes filled with both regret and longing.

“This place hasn’t changed. It’s like entering the dream I’ve yearned for my whole life.”

Agni stroked a rock on the beach.

Engraved by beneath his fingertips were these words:

‘Leaving my heart here, I depart. I shall soon return to find my heart.’

It was the vow his younger self had carved before leaving this island.

“I thought it would be quick, but it has been far too long.”

The young fisherman’s hands were wrinkled, his once vibrant eyes held deep resentment, and his thick brown hair had whitened.

“Indeed, there was a reason the mermaid sent you off the island, sir.”

At my words, the old fisherman turned to me as if asking what I meant. Jade explained in my stead.

“This island is filled with defiled energy. Krakens are monsters born from the defiled energy of the sea. If Lady Aili killed the kraken, that defiled energy would naturally leak out.”

It seemed to have been purified a lot now, but even I with not very keen senses could feel it.

If it was right when the kraken was killed, an ordinary person like me would have died from that defiled energy.

Agni and I were fine, but my other companions seemed quite distressed.

Having too good mana sensitivity has its downsides too.

I don’t know if I should like or pity this wretched body of mine.

“The whirlpools surrounding the island seem to have served to prevent the defiled energy from leaking out.”

“Good thing we didn’t break through.”

When Precia whispered asking if we should just cut through, I almost told her to go ahead. Good thing we waited.

Otherwise, the fishing industry in this area would have been ruined for the next few years.

Well, even if we broke the barrier, Jade would have found a way to handle it.

Since he properly dealt with the defiled energy even after killing the crazed mermaid.

“Young master.”

Precia put me behind her and prepared to draw her sword.

“The owner protecting this island has already noticed and come.”

Jade also took out his magic staff. And at that moment, water droplets filled the sky and water spears formed all around.

At the same time, a spine-chilling pressure dominated the island.

“An old saying goes, ‘those with good intentions do not come rashly, those who come on their own do not have good intentions.’ Leave, invaders. Otherwise, you shall not escape death.”

The woman descending from the coastal cliff with a harpoon exuded a terrifying fighting spirit.

Is this the power of a mermaid?

Indeed, she was a monster befitting to kill the legendary monster, the kraken.

“Threatening to kill us as soon as we meet, your wife is quite a fiery one, sir.”

At my joke, Agni laughed lightly.

“She does have a temper like the ocean’s warrior.”

“Eunha.”

At my call, the light spirit who had been hiding itself revealed its form and illuminated the area.

The now aged fisherman and the mermaid who still hadn’t lost her beautiful appearance looked at each other.

“Aili.”

“Agni?”

And even after decades had passed, the two recognized each other at a glance.