Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 110.5: The Sailor Girl II

Chapter 110.5: The Sailor Girl II

How long have they been walking?

It felt like it should already be dawn—a seemingly endless span of time.

On the endlessly stretching night beach, Fol continued to walk.

Following behind Lunamare, who led the way.

But after walking for such a long time, Fol noticed something was wrong.

This uninhabited island where they had temporarily stayed was not very big.

Yet, the beach continued indefinitely, which was impossible.

This uninhabited island was small enough to circumnavigate in an hour, but the beach extended to the horizon.

She didn’t know the exact time, but it felt like they had been walking for at least half a day—yet the moon still reigned directly overhead, shining unusually brightly.

Fol, who had followed Lunamare in silence until now, could no longer keep quiet.

“Enough already, Luna. How much further are you going to make me walk? And more importantly—where is this place?”

Fol’s suspicious voice was met with silence from Lunamare.

“Hey!”

Fol raised her voice in anger, and Lunamare finally stopped.

Lunamare slowly turned around.

“You’re too slow to notice.”

Lunamare, who had switched back to the spirit language at some point, continued with an exasperated expression.

“Sure, I told you to follow quietly… but it’s been half a day. This place… you can’t just follow someone to get in. You need to realize it yourself.”

Lunamare stretched her curled tail tiredly and pointed behind Fol.

“Huh?”

Frowning, Fol turned around and widened her eyes.

Where the endless beach should have been, there was now a large rocky area.

Rocks, black and jagged, which hadn’t been there earlier.

Sitting on top of one of the rocks was a man.

He lazily held a fishing rod, the line cast into the water.

Ignoring the confused Fol, Lunamare flew over to the man.

“Luna!?”

At Fol’s voice, the man responded with “Huh?” and looked their way.

“Wha—?”

Immediately, the man was startled by Lunamare’s tackle and fell back, landing on his backside.

“Are you okay!? Sorry about her!”

Fol quickly jumped onto the rock and ran over to the man.

“Ouch…”

The man, sitting on the ground, rubbed the back of his head.

He had clear golden hair tied back, and a prominent scar that ran from his mouth across his right cheek to his ear. His rugged appearance made him look formidable.

His upper body was bare, showing off well-trained muscles and numerous old scars, clearly marking him as a warrior.

This obviously unusual man looked up at Fol with a puzzled expression.

“Who are you?”

“That’s my line… Luna, stop clinging!”

Fol pulled Lunamare away from the man she was still clinging to.

“Seriously, what’s gotten into you? You’ve never been this friendly with anyone but me…”

Lunamare usually showed no interest in humans.

Sometimes she played with Fol, but she had never shown such clear affection.

Or perhaps, this was more than she had shown Fol—

The man looked curiously at Fol and Lunamare, then suddenly noticed the cutlass at Fol’s waist.

“Hey, that’s mine.”

“What? No, it’s mine.”

Fol frowned and instinctively stepped back, trying to hide the cutlass.

The man then widened his eyes as if he had realized something and leaned in to closely examine Fol’s face.

“What are you doing?”

Uncomfortable with the man’s close scrutiny, Fol pulled back even further.

The man ignored her discomfort and continued to stare, murmuring softly.

“Are you… Fol?”

“What?”

Fol was bewildered by the man suddenly calling her name.

She didn’t know this man.

With a scar that crossed his right cheek, he had such a distinctive appearance that she would not have forgotten meeting him.

“How do you know my name…”

Frowning, Fol abruptly stopped her sentence.

This distinctive scar crossing the right cheek—she had seen it somewhere before.

The memory that came to mind was from her childhood.

When Fol was small, she had met a man with this scar.

It was her grandfather, who had died of illness during her childhood.

Her grandfather had this same scar on his right cheek.

“Wait, could it be… Grandpa?”

At Fol’s murmur, the man’s stern expression turned into a smile, and he spread his arms wide.

“So it is Fol! You’ve become a beautiful woman!”

“Whoa!”

Fol jumped back in surprise as the man tried to hug her.

When she dodged the embrace, the man pouted.

“Aw, Fol… After all this time. It’s been ten years since I died, right?”

“No… No, no, no, my grandpa wasn’t this young.”

The man looked to be in his mid-twenties.

Her grandfather had died at seventy.

The face in her childhood memories was full of wrinkles from age.

This young man looked nothing like him.

Besides, her grandfather had certainly died ten years ago, so he couldn’t be alive here.

Suspicious and wary, Fol looked at the man, who laughed casually.

“Hey, even grandpas were young once! By the way, why are you here? And you brought Luna with you?”

The man looked at Lunamare, who was nuzzling him affectionately, and smiled broadly.

“Luna? How do you know—”

Even if this man was her grandfather, how did he know Lunamare?

The man answered Fol’s question nonchalantly.

“How do I know? Because I named her ‘Lunamare.’ I’ve been taking care of her since she hatched from her egg.”

“What? Luna hatched from an egg…?”

Fol was confused by the man’s surprising revelations.

Was this man really her grandfather? Was he really Lunamare’s namesake and caretaker? Were spirits even born from eggs? Her mind was overwhelmed with questions.

It seemed like nonsense, but Lunamare’s affectionate behavior toward him was undeniable.

It was like a child reunited with their parent.

Lunamare, usually so aloof, was behaving so tenderly.

Lunamare muttered something in the spirit language to the man.

The man looked puzzled at Fol.

“Strengthen… Fol?”

“What?”

Fol was shocked that the man understood the spirit language.

Until now, no one but Fol could understand what Lunamare said.

Not even her father Greig or her brother Log, and certainly not the sailors.

Even Carla, who had magical abilities, couldn’t understand Lunamare’s spirit language.

Until now, Fol was the only one—aside from this man.

“Are you really Luna’s caretaker? And, are you really my grandpa?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I am your grandfather, Henry Loguebelt!”

The man boldly declared himself as Henry, Fol’s grandfather.

However, upon hearing Lunamare muttering in the spirit language beside him, Henry’s face contorted in shock.

“Wha—!? You’re kidding me!”

Henry, trembling, looked at Fol.

“Fol… is it true you’ve fallen for that Lightless kid?”

“…!? Luna! Why are you saying such things?”

Seeing Fol’s flustered reaction, the man held his head in his hands.

“Wow… that reaction makes it seem true… Why, of all people, Lightless? Stay away from that family.”

“Mind your own business! What do you know about Rofus anyway?”

“Rofus…? His son was named Rudens or something… Oh, his grandson?”

Henry seemed to be recalling someone, causing Fol to frown.

“…? Rudens… is indeed Rofus’ father’s name.”

“Ah, so it is his grandson. No doubt, he’s that ‘crazy’ man’s grandson.”

Henry spat out, making Fol grimace at the harsh words.

“…Did something happen between you and Rofus’ grandfather?”

“It was more than just something. That guy suddenly appeared where we were peacefully living at sea and attacked us without reason!”

“Living peacefully at sea… You were pirates back then, right?”

“Well, yes. But we weren’t causing any harm. We just robbed merchant ships that entered our territory.”

“That’s not just causing harm, it’s outright crime.”

“When I asked what we did wrong, you know what that bastard said? ‘For fun!’ He not only destroyed my proud pirate fleet but also stole my woman, that ‘lecherous maniac!’”

“My woman’? Grandma? Rofus’ grandfather did that?”

Fol was stunned, not only by the reckless behavior of Rofus’ grandfather but also by the revelation that her unknown grandmother had been involved.

However, Henry, who had been excited, suddenly calmed down, shaking his head.

“Oh no, Grandma Sophia and I got together after I quit being a pirate. The woman he took was someone I pirated with.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s not much better…”

Fol averted her eyes with a conflicted expression.

Though she had asked, she didn’t really want to know about her grandfather’s past relationships—especially not those besides her grandmother.

Moreover, she wasn’t particularly interested in hearing that her grandfather and Lofas’ grandfather had vied for the same woman; it felt like opening a can of worms.

“Anyway, that’s why you should avoid Lightless. He’ll probably, no, definitely cheat on you.”

“Well, sure, I hate cheating, but I’d hate not being with Rofus even more.”

“What’s with that attitude, like you’re some woman willing to tolerate cheating? Ah, my granddaughter has grown into a too convenient woman. I wish Grandma Sophia had been more like that…”

“You’re showing your true colors there, you dirty old man…”

After nearly ten years, she was talking to her grandfather again.

He looked surprisingly youthful, but his character was unmistakably her grandfather.

Questions still lingered—where exactly was this beach, why was her supposedly dead grandfather here in a rejuvenated state, and many more.

But before Fol could voice her questions, Henry stood up—holding a cutlass identical to the one Fol had.

“What…?”

Checking her waist, Fol saw her cutlass was still there.

Ignoring Fol’s confusion, Henry brandished his cutlass.

“Well then, let’s get started. No point in just talking.”

“Get started with what—? And what about the cutlass—how…?”

“Fol, do you know anything about this place? I, a dead man, am here. This isn’t a normal place.”

Henry imbued his cutlass with water magic.

“And how long are you going to stand there? Get ready if you want to get stronger—even if it means becoming more than human.”

Henry swung his cutlass, and Fol instinctively leaped back.

Instantly, Lunamare created a thick water barrier between them.

The water barrier was effortlessly sliced through, and the impact blew Fol and Lunamare away.

Thrown off the rock and rolling onto the beach, Fol managed to get up.

Lunamare, upside down, floated gently in the air.

“Damn it, what is that old man doing all of a sudden…!”

Fol glanced to her side.

The beach had been split deeply into the ground.

The cut left by Henry’s water slash was etched deeply into the beach, extending to the horizon.

“What…?”

What kind of power was that, Fol thought, paling.

Henry, standing on the rock, looked down at Fol, resting his cutlass on his shoulder.

“Magical quality thins with each generation. Grandma Sophia had no magic. Your father Greig inherited that lack. But Fol—you have my blood, though you only possess magic without knowing how to wield it…”

Dark, dense water magic seeped from Henry.

Black water—“Deep Water.”

Water so compressed it could swallow light from the ocean floor.

One of the ultimate states of elemental mastery.

Darkness’s “Abyss,” light’s “Polar Light,” fire’s “Azure Flame,” wind’s “Vacuum,” lightning’s “Heavenly Thunder”—attributes transcending natural limits.

“I have a rare genetic trait—magic closer to that of monsters, but you are different…”

Henry’s body transformed.

Spiral horns grew from his head, his golden hair lengthened into a mane, and his skin was covered in sharp, blue scales.

His appearance was—half-human, half-dragon.

Fol saw for the first time—an advanced demonic transformation.

Forty years ago, Henry, in his prime without aging, had fought equally with the “Dark Reaper” pirate.

Feeling the pressure of his power, Fol unconsciously stepped back.

Half-dragon Henry spoke in a voice no longer human.

‘I’ll tell you this: you don’t have the potential for ‘this.’ Your magic is too human. So here and now, find a way to get stronger. Confront your magic—its source and roots.’

Without waiting for Fol’s reply, Henry brought down his second strike.

＊

On the eternal night beach where the sun never rises, where time seemed to stand still.

Fol would spend about a year and a half here.

She returned to the uninhabited island where the exploration team was stationed the morning after she disappeared from the night beach.

Noticing the difference in time flow between the eternal night beach and the real world, Fol initially struggled but eventually stopped trying to deeply understand this strange experience.

The next day, Fol single-handedly defeated the disaster-class two-headed sea dragon, Sea Serpent.

The sailors who witnessed it spoke.

At that moment, Fol had clearly become something other than human.