It was still pitch-dark before dawn.
Logan stood alone on the forecastle deck, staring at Peridereo Island shrouded in mist.
Perhaps it was the aftermath of the unofficial talks that had continued throughout the night, but his face was steeped in utter exhaustion.
Of course, with a Sword Master’s stamina, staying awake for several nights was nothing.
But even he could do nothing about the mental exhaustion caused by a problem for which there was no easy answer.
‘I have to reach some kind of conclusion before noon.’
Only then could he either persuade General Lysandros to help the Manta Tribe or withdraw the fleet before the Relic activated again.
Neither would be particularly easy.
In truth, there was also a third option: stop the Relic completely and subjugate Lord Manta as a Magical Beast when she went berserk from the pain.
But—
‘That’s impossible.’
Perhaps it would have been different if he had known nothing.
But now that he knew they possessed reason and emotions just like humans did……
They had even been driven into such desperate circumstances that they were asking Logan, who had come to subjugate them, for help.
He could not bring himself to commit such a merciless act against them.
‘Lord Manta…….’
Logan slowly went back over the things he had heard from the mackerel-patterned Manta.
In truth, his actual meeting with the Manta Tribe had not lasted very long.
There had simply been no need for the exhausting process of probing one another’s hidden intentions.
Logan could not understand the language of the Manta Tribe, but he could…