After leaving the Sea Elven Queen's palace, Marvin was drifting alone in the sea.
The Sea Emperor's Crown was producing a faint light as it controlled the sea currents.
The current was carrying Marvin comfortably toward Bass Harbor.
But when he thought about the agreement he reached with the Sea Elven Queen, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The Sea Elven Queen had always been one of the huge powers in the sea. All the queens of the Sea Elves had aimed to unify the Sea Races during their lifetimes, and the set of three Sea Emperor's items was a shortcut to reach this goal.
It was rumored that after gathering the entire set, one could control the sea.
Marvin had thought that offering a gift as precious as the Sea Emperor's Crown should be enough to show his sincerity.
But he didn't expect that even though those Sea Elves yearned for the crown, the Queen herself didn't seem to care.
Marvin was greatly taken aback.
What he felt was particularly absurd was the agreement they eventually reached: As long as it was within the domain of the Sea Elves, the Queen would definitely lend a hand in the fight between Marvin and his enemies.
The prerequisite was...
'Well, can't really do anything about it. Seems like I can only sell off my friend.'
'Ivan, I'm sorry. The Sea Elven Queen truly is devoted.'
Marvin smiled bitterly.
Just thinking about the startled and restless expression Ivan got whenever the Sea Elven Queen was mentioned gave Marvin a headache.
How could he match this pair of Elves together?
Marvin felt that it would be very difficult even for a Master Matchmaker!
Fortunately, the Sea Elven Queen didn't give Marvin a hopeless task.
She only asked Marvin to create three opportunities to be alone with Ivan.
Three opportunities. It shouldn't be too difficult.
Marvin felt relieved. It shouldn't be considered betraying Ivan?
But when thinking about the Sea Elven Queen's possessive smile, Marvin couldn't help but shudder.
He imagined the scene of the two alone together… and the Sea Elven Queen forcing herself onto Ivan.
Uh… Nothing he could do, he needed the queen's strength.
'I don't know if the Great Elven King will secretly interfere…'
Marvin suddenly thought of how during the battle of the Decaying Plateau last time, the Great Elven King seemed to have been wounded. In this trip to Thousand Leaves Forest, he had to see if he could take a look.
Marvin left straight for Bass Harbor with the Sea Emperor's Crown.
Only the Sea Elven Queen and another beautiful girl remained in the Sea Elven Palace.
"Big Sister, why didn't you want the Sea Emperor's Crown?"
"Even if Brother-In-Law is an Elven War Saint, if you two join hands, you still wouldn't be able to rule the seas, right?"
The young girl had a puzzled expression on her face.
The Sea Elven Queen smiled, "The Sea Emperor's Crown is quite good, but it is currently sealed. Unsealing it is very difficult. It would violate our ancestor's oath as we can't leave too far from these waters. But he can. Maybe one day this human will be able to unseal the Sea Emperor's Crown. It wouldn't be too late to request it from him at that time.
"As for your brother-in-law… This involves our clan's biggest secret."
"The requirements of the [Sea Elven Rebirth] skill are rather harsh…"
The Sea Elven Queen smiled as an azure radiance flashed on her chest.
If Marvin was here he would recognize that heart-shaped stone hanging around her neck. It was known as the Sea Emperor's Heart!
Sea Emperor's Heart, Sea Emperor's Crown, Sea Emperor's Scepter... these were the items in the Sea Emperor set.
The morning sea in Bass Harbor was peaceful. More than a dozen ships were anchored at the dock, and the sailors were already busily making preparations.
These cargo s
hips were to leave for the North. They still had to pass through the Great Devil Strait before it froze due to the winter.
They would stay in the North till the 4th or 5th month of the next year, waiting for the Great Devil Strait to melt so they could return.
Thus, this was a pressing matter. The captains were analyzing the weather while the merchants kept urging everyone to work faster.
And on a temporary pier not far off, a rather dazzling ship was docked.
[Sword Harbor 1]!
No one knew the origins of this ship. It had apparently arrived the night before. The people on the ship showed a few proofs of identity and were welcomed with a smile by the official in charge of the harbor.
This wasn't the treatment an average ship would get. Only the most favored people in the Alliance could enjoy this kind of polite reception. This made the rest of the sailors and captains on the dock curious about their identity.
But nobody came down from the ship, so they couldn't ask.
When Marvin arrived at Bass Harbor, it was already noon. Anna had already made all the important contacts. This time, the Alliance's inspection and approval was extraordinarily quick and efficient.
This might be related to Hathaway previously organizing things. Even though Hathaway had already turned into an ice sculpture at Dark Phoenix's Black Coral Island, few people in the South knew about this. Even in the Alliance, only a few high ranked people were aware of it.
With Hathaway's prestige, Marvin and his White River Valley received the best treatment.
A temporary shipping route was quickly set up, and from now on, Sword Harbor 1 could hang the South Wizard Alliance's banner if they wished.
Marvin was very satisfied about this.
And Lola was also finalizing the matters with the cooperating trading company, so they should be able to unload tomorrow.
Aragon was very curious about the life at sea. He asked Marvin's opinion about staying on the ship for the time being.
That was something that suited Marvin just fine. Although there were already two Dark Knights overseeing the ship, how could he be against adding a level 18 Storm Swordsman?
Every since Aragon came to Feinan, Marvin kept examining him.
He made him act last time as a probe.
According to Marvin's observations, this peak genius of Arborea might be close to having a breakthrough!
He had always been a talented genius on the path of swordsmanship. At a young age, he reached the limits of the plane and if he hadn't been blocked by the plane's laws, he might have already progressed further.
Now that he arrived in Feinan, the limitation holding him back had been removed so he would surely progress soon!
It was just a matter of time before he became a Legend.
This was the result of knowledge and experience he accumulated for many years.
Marvin didn't stay too long in Bass Harbor. After making sure that Sword Harbor 1 wouldn't have any issues, he left for the Adventurer Guild, Ranger Guild, and other great powers to put up a pearl gathering quest along with some information.
The contents of the pearl gathering quest were very simple.
He offered high prices for strange pearls.
According to Marvin's request, these pearls had to have liquid inside, and inside the liquid there would be a small lifeform moving around!
That was exactly the description the Cursed Pearl he obtained before! In the past, he had carefully collected the pearls one by one.
Who knew how much time and effort he had spent gathering the six pearls?
Even if he didn't have as much time now, he had resources and prestige!
This was the advantage of being an Overlord.
This gathering quest was released so that others could do this task on his behalf.
In any case, the story behind the [Cursed Pearls] wasn't known by many.
With Marvin's fame, this quest would definitely make countless people frantic and eager.
Even if they didn't do it for the considerable reward, being able to get in contact with the "famous" Viscount Marvin was also good.
Everyone could see that White River Valley was thriving in the South.
Not only was it supported by Hathaway of the Ashes Tower, but River Shore City had apparently been annexed by White River Valley, along with a great piece of land in the South.
After a few years of development, if Marvin wanted to, he could easily establish a Dukedom!
The quest caused a sensation in Bass Harbor after it was issued. Quite a lot of adventurers took the quest and started looking for the Cursed Pearls.
A strange pearl was worth 500 Wizard gold!
This kind of reward definitely made the adventurers crazy.
As for Marvin, he had already rented a horse and gone on his way to Thousand Leaves Forest before the matter of the pearls created a stir.
Bass Harbor and Thousand Leaves Forest weren't far apart. He soon went past the villages where Humans and Half-Elves co-existed and arrived at the edge of Thousand Leaves Forest.
After dismounting, he followed his memories and soon found the place where he originally advanced.
The Night Monarch's Tomb.
When he advanced to Night Walker, he had only been an insignificant level 5 Ranger.
After a short period of time, he now returned here as a level 18 expert.
Thinking of this, he suddenly took out the Fate Tablet fragment from his Thousand Paper Crane.
Seven light yellow flowers were peacefully laying on the Fate Tablet fragment.
Twin Fate Flowers.
The Holy Flower of Arborea's Shadow Shrine. When Marvin was recovering, he'd ordered people to find these flowers. He then took out the half filled with Chaos power and used the light yellow half filled with the power of Order to nourish the Fate Tablet fragment.
From the look of it, the effect was decent.
The aura of the Fate Tablet had been strengthened a bit. It shouldn't take long before Ding reawakened.
Marvin let out a deep breath and put away the Fate Tablet fragment.
He then bypassed the Night Monarch's Tomb to look for a small cave.
He cleared away the vegetation and dust outside the cave, exposing a small door.
Marvin took out the old blacksmith's key and gently opened the door.
Behind it was a dark bottomless abyss.
This was a strange place.
Stones were floating in the void, and even if Marvin pushed his eyes to their limit, he couldn't see the end of the abyss.
'I'll reach the Night Monarch's Tomb by following the slate.'
'Only there can I obtain the [Ruler of the Night] inheritance.'
'... as well as the [Path to Legend] quest!'
After thinking of this, Marvin didn't linger any longer and jumped right in.
But he hadn't expected that after he stepped on a stone, it would start to disintegrate in two seconds!
Thankfully, Marvin reacted instantly and jumped onto another stone, avoiding a disaster.
'Not good. These stones actually break after being touched!'
Marvin was a bit depressed. The old blacksmith hadn't mentioned this.
He could only clench his teeth and speed up, continuously skipping further into the darkness!