Chapter 61: Autumn Continent, I

The ship had completed its long voyage and docked at Dorment Harbor. Before the gangway could be lowered, someone leaped over the railing.

“…Land!” Pablo landed firmly on his sturdy legs. “Ohhh… Land… It’s land! So solid! And it doesn’t sway!”

He burst into tears as he felt the firmness beneath his feet. He then dropped to his knees and kissed the ground.

Passersby stared and whispered among themselves.

“…What is that guy doing?”

“Is he crazy?”

Pablo ignored their murmurs. Who cared what others said? The most important thing for him now was the scent of earth filling his nostrils. As he lay prostrate, reveling in this moment—

He didn’t care what others thought of him. The most important thing to Pablo at that moment was the scent of earth lingering on his nose.

As he lay prostrate, writhing with joy…

Whud!

Something landed squarely on his back.

“Ackkkk!” The sudden impact caused Pablo to thrash like a frog struck by a rock.

A child’s voice came from above him. “Whoa, what the heck?! Hey, it’s you, Pablo! I wondered where you’d gotten off to, but here you are doing…whatever this is.”

“Ugh.” Louis, who had been sitting on Pablo’s flattened body, blinked in confusion upon realizing their missing crew member was underfoot.

And then…

“Yip!”

“Yip!”

Two small figures dropped from above.

Whud, whud.

“Argh!”

The twins leaped off the ship’s belly and safely landed on Pablo’s back, courtesy of Louis. Unfortunately, it was Pablo who paid the price for their safe landing.

“Ohhh… My back…”

Despite how light the children were, falling nearly fifteen meters onto someone three times in quick succession would be hard to endure even for sturdy Pablo.

Unaware or perhaps uncaring, the twins started stomping on his back.

“Eeeek, this is fun!”

“Wow! Your back is huge, Pablo!”

“Ackkkk!”

Seeing Pablo’s back about to snap and potentially render him bedridden for life, Louis hastily pulled the twins off him.

Crack.

Pablo clutched his lower back as he struggled to stand upright.

“Ohhh… M-my back…”

“…Are you okay?”

“I think my spine is dislocated…”

“Well, who told you to stay there like that?”

“No one expected anyone to jump from the ship…”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it either, so let’s just forget this happened.” As Pablo muttered under his breath, “Who will be responsible for my back if we pretend nothing happened?”, another voice rang out.

“Louis! Where are you, Louis?!”

“Twins!” A raspy voice called out from the ship.

Louis flinched at the sound, and his eyes filled with urgency.

“That’s not important right now! Let’s get out of here first!”

“What?”

“What’re you waiting for?! We need to leave before those old folks catch up!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Louis grabbed one twin’s hand and bolted away. Caught off guard by their sudden departure, Pablo hastily followed them.

After Louis’s group disappeared, passengers started disembarking from the ship.

“Louis!”

“Our Louisss!”

“Twins!”

Voices continued searching for someone for quite some time.

Two hours later…

“…Are we good now?”

After running for quite some time, Louis finally slowed down and looked back once he was far enough from the port city. The town appeared tiny in the distance, and only then could Louis relax. He felt relieved to have escaped those elderly men at last.

“Oh man, I’m sick of those old geezers,” Louis grumbled.

“I know, right? Why did they keep hounding us when we clearly didn’t want any part of it?” Fin chimed in agreement.

For the past two weeks, three senior mages had relentlessly pestered Louis to become their apprentice. Well, technically, two of them tried coercing him while one pleaded the Louis’ siblings as apprentices…

It’s been such a tiresome ordeal.

But those days were behind him now. Once he escaped, how could they possibly find him on such a vast continent?

As Louis started to relax, something jolted him back to reality.

“No… No way! You never know what might happen!” Relaxing at any moment was always dangerous, and if they got caught here, it would be even harder to escape.

Louis, who had been taking a brief rest, suddenly yelled at his companions. “Let’s go!”

“B-but already? Why are you in such a rush? Let’s take a break first…” Pablo, who’d spent most of their journey at sea feeling like a walking corpse, couldn’t empathize with Louis’s plight. Had he known about the relentless harassment from the foolish old men, he wouldn’t have spoken up.

Louis clicked his tongue at Pablo’s whining. “Tsk, stop being such a baby! Look over there—they’re full of energy!”

He pointed to where the twins were climbing up and down a tree trying to catch squirrels. Despite their unsuccessful attempts, they wore bright smiles on their faces.

Pablo looked utterly dumbfounded by this sight. “…Yes, I guess I’m just being a big baby. My apologies.”

“That’s what you think.”

“…” Pablo pouted.

Regardless, Louis called out to the twins. “Kids, let’s go!”

“Louis, Louis! Mouse! We caught a mouse!”

“Leave it alone.”

“Look at this, Louis!”

“Hey, Khan! Don’t put that in your mouth! Geez, geez! I said don’t eat it!” Louis grabbed Khan by the ears as he tried to chomp down on the squirrel’s head.

Thanks to Louis’s intervention, the twins’ magic-beast squirrel managed to escape and scampered away.

With everyone under control, Louis gave the signal. “Let’s go!”

And so, their autumn journey across the continent officially began with the leader’s command.

Louis’s group’s journey through the fall continent started off chaotic. They hastily left Dorment Harbor and headed west. Why west? The answer was simple: The summer continent lay to the west of the fall continent.

Currently, no one in Louis’s party had any detailed knowledge about this new land. Even Pablo, who had been active on the winter continent, was visiting the fall continent for the first time. As everyone struggled with how to proceed, Louis took charge.

If we head west, something will come up eventually!

It was a simplistic approach, but it made sense, so they blindly followed Louis’s lead. Their plan was to gather information once they reached a city before continuing their trek toward the summer continent.

On the second night after setting out, as everyone else slept…

While everyone else slept, Louis sat by the campfire lost in thought.

Fin watched him and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, nothing much. Go back to sleep.”

“You too, Louis.” Fin lowered his head slightly as he nestled closer to Louis.

Tak-tak.

After making sure Fin was asleep, Louis rummaged through his inventory space. Soon, Carrie’s siren necklace appeared in his hand.

Siren’s Tear…

Louis had a peculiar expression as he gazed at it.

Hmm…

Although he’d brushed off Fin earlier, this matter weighed heavily on his mind. It wasn’t something he could easily confide in anyone, not even his father, Genelocer.

The secret he harbored was that he knew what the future held.

It’s now within my grasp.

If his memory served him correctly, the Siren’s Tears were the key to accessing the underwater dungeon. Within it, the protagonist and his companions acquired the legacy of the Sea Monarch, which later played a crucial role in their battle against the Dragon King Genelocer. By securing the Siren’s Tears ahead of time, Louis had effectively weakened the protagonist’s group in the future.

But that’s not all.

One of the most powerful assets for the protagonist’s party was the martial art known as the Heroic King’s Martial Arts, wielded by the Sword Saint. Additionally, there was Luminary, considered the mightiest mythical beast, encountered during Louis’s journey across the winter continent—a future hidden piece.

Including the Siren’s Tears, Louis had already acquired three Hidden Pieces. Of course, many more remained undiscovered, but it was significant that he’d already connected with three of them.

This realization began to trouble Louis.

The Dragon King Genelocer wouldn’t appear for another 250 years, and the original novel covered events only after his emergence. Thus, Louis hadn’t paid much attention to the Hidden Pieces mentioned in the book until now.

As the saying goes, “In ten years, mountains can change.” And here, we’re talking about a span of 250 years! It was impossible to predict what state these future Hidden Pieces would be in by then. Consequently, Louis had resigned himself to living in the present, momentarily setting aside concerns about the distant future. Survival in the current moment took precedence.

However…

I’ve already acquired three of them.

Given this development, Louis had to reconsider his stance. Until now, obtaining Hidden Pieces was purely coincidental. However, he needed to actively seek out more for the sake of ensuring a peaceful and prosperous future.

There are still many Hidden Pieces left. Acquiring even one more could reduce potential threats by the time 250 years pass.

Of course, the best way to eliminate those threats would be not dying himself, as that would prevent the Dragon King from appearing altogether.

It’s always better to be prepared. There’s no harm in taking precautions.

Another reason Louis changed his mind about the Hidden Pieces was due to a recent development.

It’s too quiet… Way too quiet.

The death flags that had constantly plagued him throughout his life seemed to have vanished completely of late.

What could be causing this unease…?

He should’ve been relieved with no immediate threats to his life, but instead, Louis felt uneasy. The current peace reminded him of the calm before a storm.

I’ve experienced this feeling before.

Initially, he hadn’t fully understood it, but after encountering similar situations repeatedly, he’d come to realize there was some sort of pattern even amidst the unpredictable circumstances.

Back when he lacked power, minor death flags had posed significant threats, and forced scenarios occurred without warning at any time.

However, as Louis gained more power and learned to protect himself better, the frequency of death flags being raised decreased significantly. Despite this, when danger did strike, it was much greater than before.

It felt like…

Isn’t it similar to gathering energy for a finishing move?

Based on this observation, Louis developed a hypothesis.

There might be conditions that trigger improbable events.

He named these conditions “Forced Probability,” which he defined as the force behind creating situations contrary to natural laws.

What if the level of Forced Probability directly affects the severity of the situation?

Low Forced Probability would result in minor risks, while high Forced Probability would lead to significant dangers.

If Forced Probability accumulates over time…it explains my current situation.

His suspicions were confirmed after his battle with the drake on Cash Tower Mountain. Back then, there had been no death flags for quite some time before he faced such a significant danger.

This made him uneasy.

What kind of trouble is brewing this time to be so quiet?

There had been several incidents since Cash Tower Mountain, but none posed much threat. The last major event occurred five months ago. Since then, not a single death flag has appeared, not even once.

Louis wondered how big the upcoming event would be, given the prolonged silence, and whether he could handle it.

It was a significant concern for Louis.

“Sigh…”

As he exhaled deeply, Louis planned his future while storing the siren’s necklace in his inventory space.

‘Firstly… getting home should be my top priority, but if I have some spare time, let me occasionally investigate the Hidden Pieces. If I can acquire them… they could greatly assist me.’

He needed to prepare for survival, as it was uncertain what would happen next. Although the characters from the future had not yet been born, there might still be items among the protagonist’s party that could prove useful with thorough searching. Several possibilities crossed his mind, but currently, he lacked sufficient information.

‘Must gather more intel first.’

Having finalized his plan, Louis lay down and covered himself with a blanket. After some tossing and turning, he eventually settled down.

Soon, soft breathing could be heard near the campfire.

Hwoosh… Hwoosh.