"Just listen to me for a little. That friend kept asking me about the culture and customs of Hellasium, well, he's a bit nosy, you know?"
Diego said a bit, but he has been speaking for a long while now. Ikshid thought silently, but didn't bring it up.
"Well, the story went deep and lengthy. I mean, you know, at first I answered all his questions dryly… but eventually I released all the saga which happened previously, including the life stories that I faced while travelling the continent."
It wasn't just because the atmosphere became comfortable, but the curiosity of them grew big, and everyone on the island flocked to one area, listening to his story all night long.
However, Diego did not necessarily mention it.
"It was then when I remembered the time when I struggled to fulfill my mission by crossing the continent to satisfy my eagerness for knowledge, but we'll, I finished my duty successfully, and sacrifices weren't in vain. Your Highness, maybe doing something for the second time, and experiences are invaluable properties that cannot be exchanged for anything."
Diego smiled brightly and gulped down the tea next to him at once. Tashian and Ikshid looked at Diego with their absurd eyes.
"So it turned out that the writer was acquainted with the pirate captain?"
Ikshid still asked Diego, unable to relate the story on how he escaped from the pirate squad.
"No way. The author trembled like a person who was scammed by a pirate and ran away just by taking out the pirate's moat."
"Then how on earth meeting the author, telling him your stories has some connections of you escaping from the pirates?"
Diego's blue eyes shone and pushed his head close to the prince and Tashian. Of course, Tashian was quick and leaned back as soon as he did.
"Well, in order to know that, you need to listen till the end of my story! As I talked about my old stories with them inside that dark dungeon, I found people who were interested in my stories one by one."
Diego scratched his temple as if recalling what happened back then.
"At the beginning, I was only a prisoner next door, and the author was from Miremba, but was of course caught by the pirates. The next room next door, and even the front room I'd the room to it! That went on naturally, that even the guards were intrigued and joked with us, as I talked to them endlessly."
Diego added in a mean manner.
"Well, they must have been bored, too. Believe me, a person locked up in jail wouldn't only eat food."
Tashian was patient and listened to him hard.
"So. You made me swim in the pile of documents, and you were enjoying the travelling, you mean?"
Diego welcomed his words as he waved his hand at him.
"I'm not sure about that. Just listen to me until the end! You don't know how humans can be persistent sometimes. The people inside the cells begged me for my next story, I didn't even know how many times I repeated it for them. You don't know how it was so annoying for me!"
However, the touch of salvation was not long before. Rusti, the author who had been next to Diego since the beginning of the situation, compiled his story into a book. To be exact, it was written in small letters on a piece of worn-out parchment.
Ikshid asked with his curious eyes.
"So, did you get out of the prisoner status with the money you have for selling your book?"
"Selling, my foot. The pirates there were all black eyes, so they won't be able to read it nevertheless. The problem is that my story has reached the ears of the noblemen from Austuralch, who was on a vacation to that island next door."
Ikshid clapped his hand against the wall and shouted.
"Right! That book must be in the hands of that noble."
"Your Majesty is right. It seems that the Mister, a noble man who showed interest in the strange story of a captain from Hellasium from a neighboring island, has somehow obtained a piece of paper that cannot be called a book that combines the pieces of parchment. One day, he came to see me."
Diego closed his eyes gently as if recalling the time and looked down on his own.
"Wow..! I really didn't look like a human at all that time. It was probably the first time in my life that I've ever told them the stories of my life. At that time, I was only thinking of one thing, and that was how to get out of that hellish prison by somehow showing off to the great noble Mister."
"… That was how you managed to get out of the notorious Warawi pirates' den alone?"
Diego nodded with a solemn look at Ikshid's words that was uncommon.
"That's it. After arriving in Austuralch following the noble, I immediately recruited sailors and set up a rescue team. And it was only to save my colleagues that were trapped on the island too."
Diego finished speaking with a calm face as if this was enough for his explanation.
Ikshid and Tashian were speechless.
As expected, people can be successful if they just take the risk. Even if Diego was lucky enough to be caught up by the pirates, he also met the Author who was eager to know his hometown, biography, and not only him, even the neighboring island were curious about his story. It was only to escape from that prison, and became a storyteller instantly, in order to dazzle Aristocrats from Austuralch.
Tashian asked a sharp question as if he had found a loophole in the story.
"Why did you come here alone? Where are the other members?"
Then Diego's face frowned as if it was difficult to answer him.
"That is quite long to explain. Once I got the chance, other sailors were also returning to their hometowns under the protection of the nobles I met. I also found the descendants of the Genova Royal Family, which was my real purpose there."
Ikshid, who had already known the rough situation through Diego's documents, shouted as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"Yes! The lineal descendants of the Genova royal family! Where in the world is she right now?"
Ikshid's eyes glowed with excitement. It was not written in the report prepared by Diego that kind of information that could not be left as confidential security documents.
"That's why I'm here right now, your servant. Well, there's a little bit of a problem, but it's good."
However, Diego was the world's best. He pushed his back deep into the chair and used his long legs to shake his entire body back and forth.
His languid appearance made Ikshid impatient.
"Can't you say it quickly? So, where is she now?"
And after a while, Diego poured out answers that surprised everyone in the room.
"Of course she arrived at Hellasium with me."
"What?"
"What? This bastard…!"
If he had brought him to Hellasium, the two men, who had expected him to be the first to show them, were astonished.
"Why are you only saying that now?!"
"Are you out of your mind?! You should have let His Highness know immediately and even the elders!"
Diego gestured as if calming down the two enraged people.
"Woah, woah! Calm down, both of you. She's doing well with the group of merchants."
He smiled broadly at the Duke and Prince, who looked at him with the same expression.
Diego spoke with sparkling eyes.
"Your Majesty, that's not important. I have something else to suggest to your Majesty. It is deeply related to the issue of exchanges with Austuralch at this meeting."
Ikshid nodded as if he would allow Diego to speak, looking at his serious expression.
Diego began to explain with a solemn expression.
"Although I was on my way to Austuralch to fulfill the special order given by Your Highness, I was able to see the customs and circumstances more clearly than anyone else as a prisoner. A city called Uberlin, the capital of Austuralch, located thousands of miles away and beyond the southern land and sea, close to the beach."
Ikshid nodded seriously.
"A lagoon city? I heard that it is the capital of the Kaumtranshi dynasty and a beautiful place with countless canals running through the city."
"That's the place. It was… the greatest and most mysterious city I've ever been to."
Diego praised Uberlin's beauty for a long period of time.
"There, five huge gates are located in the middle of the Capital, telling people the time and place. The area inside each gate was larger than our Cremons. In the center of the city, a large plaza was built while mansions, gardens and artisan shops were lined up in rows. They all said that they were run under the direction of the Seven Artisan Associations."
His explanation continued endlessly.
The main road along the main canal, carts passing over the bridge, and the scent of meat, fish, and spices carried by horses. Medicines, silk, pearls and various handicrafts displayed in stores on the first floor of the houses, and officials, merchants were wearing silk clothes on the streets. Uberlin, the city of water, with beautiful ladies wearing precious jade pins on their heads and jewel earrings on their soft cheeks, inside palanquins.
"The noble people who saved my life were the dignitaries of Uberlin. I stayed at the ambassador's house and received hospitality. He was positive about Cremon, the capital of Hellasium, where commercial exchanges with other countries are active."
A great light of interest shone in Prince Ikshid's eyes. He asked, urging Diego's next answer.
"So, what did you see and experienced there?"
"People say that if there is heaven in heaven, there is Uberlin in Austuralch. I was able to stay there for about a month and received a very precious treatment. There were also a lot of gifts from high-ranking officials and wealthy people from all over the street while following the ambassador. Ebonies, silks, spices, aloe, all kinds of luxuries, leather of musk roe deer, indigo seeds…."
Diego took a small booklet out of his arms. He opened his mouth with a stern face.
"Of course, I can't miss this either."
"What's that?"
Ikshid, let alone Tashian, looked at the mint print booklet with an overly tempered expression in Diego's hands.
"About the 〈Wonderful Place of Austuralch.〉"
"Oh…!"
Ikshid took the book with both hands, gathering his mouth like a person who had encountered precious valuables that he could not even see in his hands.
Diego added it with a more serious face.
"FYI, the author is me."
And Ikshid immediately dropped the booklet.
"Hey… You should've told me earlier! I was looking forward to getting some verified and proven information!"
"No, Your Highness! I had a hard time writing this…! Are you saying that you've heard all the stories I've told you so far in vain?"
Tashian slowly stretched out and held the fallen booklet in his hand, leaving the prince and marquis fighting.