As a 'Half' Sequence 2 of the Sailor Pathway, such minor waves naturally posed no threat to Edward. He immediately waved his wand, returning scattered items to their places and drying everyone's clothes, restoring them to normal.
Only then did Bernadette turn her attention to the surroundings. She looked at the various ruins around them, noting that their styles and structures were completely unlike anything she had seen in Trier. Curiously, she asked, "Are these ruins remnants of the Divine War? Did the Divine War happen a very, very long time ago? Which gods participated in the battle? Why did they fight...?"
From the very start, she launched a barrage of questions—evidently, she was well-suited for the Mystery Pryer Pathway.
However, Edward selectively answered only the simplest questions she could comprehend. Bernadette propped her chin on her hand and listened with great interest for a while before saying, "Hmm, I don't really understand it. It's not as fun as fairy tales."
"Huh?"
She suddenly looked up at the sky. "I remember it was still morning not long ago. How did it suddenly turn to dusk?"
"That's because this sea area is affected by some mysterious power," Edward explained seriously, "the time here doesn't synchronise with the outside world. Sometimes, it even seems a bit chaotic."
"Oh."
He continued in a solemn tone, "If it gets dark later, you must fall asleep immediately. Otherwise, you'll vanish into the night and never return."
"Ah?"
Bernadette's small face tensed up. "But it's not like I can fall asleep just because I want to."
Edward shrugged. "Then there's nothing we can do. Either we go back now, or you'll just have to disappear."
She was stunned for a moment but quickly realised Edward was teasing her. Pouting, she said, "Then Mr. Sparrow can just knock me out with a stick when the time comes."
"Fine."
A club as thick as an arm suddenly appeared in Edward's hand.
Bernadette: "..."
"Hmph!"
She turned her head, choosing to ignore Edward.
For the next period, the Fairy Tale sailed rapidly across the deep blue sea. The ocean looked the same as the outside world at first glance—vast, silent, and boundless waves undulating endlessly.
Occasionally, they passed a cluster of ruins, or a derelict pirate ship drifting aimlessly, or even saw bonfires floating on the sea surface. Yet, there was no trace of any marine life anywhere.
Everything was so desolate and lifeless that it made one feel uneasy.
At first, Bernadette remained enthusiastic, treating it all like a fairy tale. But as time dragged on, she began to yawn while leaning over the prow. "Do mermaids really live in a place like this?"
"Exactly, but they should be even deeper," Edward replied.
"Oh...yawn~"
She yawned again, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, clearly nearing the limit of staying up.
Edward patted her head. "Alright, it's time to go back to sleep."
"Huh? But we haven't seen any mermaids, nor is it dark as you said."
She yawned once more mid-sentence. "But if it turns dark now, I wouldn't even need you to knock me out with that stick—I'd just fall asleep by myself…"
"Mr. Sparrow, can you tell me another fairy tale?"
"...What do you want to hear?"
"I don't know."
Edward thought for a moment. "Then, how about 'The Old Man and the Pirate'?"
Her spirit perked up instantly. "That sounds interesting."
"Ahem, I got the name wrong. It's actually 'The Old Man and the Sea.'"
The two sat side by side by the railing. Edward retrieved the book he had collected earlier, opened it to the first page, and began reading: "A man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated."
"That's the theme of this book," he explained.
Bernadette tilted her head, half-understanding.
"Once upon a time, there was an old man who made his living by fishing. He sailed a small flat-bottomed sailboat, fishing alone in the bay. However, it had been eighty-four days since he last caught a fish..."
Bernadette murmured drowsily, "If he hasn't caught any fish for so many days, what did he eat?"
"...If you don't want to hear it, I won't continue."
She didn't speak again but gradually grew more drowsy as Edward continued telling the story. In less than ten minutes, her head tilted and rested against Edward's shoulder, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Edward narrated for a few more minutes before closing the book. Looking at her small face so close, he couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek. "In the future, I'll tell you stories to lull you to sleep; in the past, I still have to tell you stories to lull you to sleep."
Bernadette, half-unconscious, patted his hand away and murmured, "Mermaids…are really beautiful."
"That's enough. It's time to go back."
With a thought, Edward made all the fairy tale characters on the pirate ship vanish, restoring it to its original form. He picked up the slumbering Bernadette in his arms, ready to put away the Fairy Tale and teleport them back.
But just then, darkness suddenly enveloped the surroundings! The sunlight disappeared from the sky, quickly swallowed by thick shadows. Bernadette, who had been murmuring just moments ago, suddenly became silent—clearly, she had entered the black monastery world in her sleep.
"Tch. Of all times, night had to fall just as I was about to leave..
If Bernadette hadn't been pulled into the Black Monastery, Edward could have simply carried her out with a teleport. Now, he had no choice but to follow her in.
With a flash, Edward reappeared in the captain's cabin, placing her on the bed. Then, he sat back in a chair, and aided by cogitation, swiftly entered a deep sleep.
The next moment, he opened his eyes in a dim, gray world. He was standing in the same spot as when he had first entered before—a monastery-style complex of black buildings. Looking down from his vantage point, many pirates and sailors stood near the monastery entrance.
Each of them appeared dazed, performing incomprehensible actions.
Soon, Edward noticed a small figure standing by the monastery entrance, wearing an expression of confusion and fear. She glanced around as if searching for Edward, and then followed the crowd that parted the gates into the monastery.
Strange.
Bernadette was only about six or seven years old. How could she possibly remain conscious here?
A sudden jolt in his spirit gave Edward a premonition. He immediately activated his Spirit Vision and just caught a strange eye flickering past behind Bernadette's head.
"!!!"
The Hidden Sage?
No way. She wasn't even a Beyonder now. How could the Hidden Sage be focusing on her?
Had she already been targeted by the Hidden Sage in her original history, or was this some change brought about by his presence?
Edward's guard tightened. He stepped forward into the monastery.
Just like two hundred years later, there were still two dim towers, and rows of black buildings connected by covered walkways, surrounding a wide grey stone plaza.
The plaza was riddled with craters and embedded with gigantic arrows. A few bonfires still burned, suggesting an attack had occurred there.
Bernadette stood there, staring blankly at everything, biting her lip as if forcing herself to remain composed.
Edward approached her. "Bernadette."
At the sound of his voice, her body trembled, and she dashed into Edward's embrace. "Mr. Sparrow!"
"Uh, don't be afraid."
"W-Where…where is this place? Why am I here? I was just on the ship listening to your story."
"Do you remember what I said earlier? In this sea area, once it gets dark, you must fall asleep. And once asleep, you enter this world."
"This is the dream world—a collective dream shared by everyone in this sea area."
Bernadette suddenly understood. "No wonder everything feels like a dream." Then, she sensed something was amiss. "But why am I conscious?"
Ding.
Edward tossed a coin. "Bernadette has caught the attention of the Hidden Sage."
The coin slipped from his hand and clattered onto the floor. The divination failed—but the failure itself already spoke volumes.
"Perhaps you're special," Edward remarked half-jokingly, rapidly analysing why the Hidden Sage targeted Bernadette.
Suspicion aside, one explanation stood out: as the direct rival of the God of Steam's path to the Great Old One, it made a twisted sort of sense for the Hidden Sage to mark the daughter of the Steam's chosen one.
In the future, Bernadette would even form the Elemental Dawn specifically to oppose the Hidden Sage—perhaps indicating a long-standing grudge between the two factions.
The current problem was how to deal with the Hidden Sage's gaze upon Bernadette.
Klein, who also possessed the Sefirah Castle, could use the Card of Blasphemy's power to bless others—so theoretically, Edward could do the same. But he didn't have the Card.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Edward suddenly slapped his forehead: Wait, I don't need to worry about this at all.
Regardless of whether the Hidden Sage targeted her because of the God of Steam, once Roselle knew about it, He wouldn't ignore the matter. As soon as Roselle learned his precious daughter was under the Hidden Sage's watch, he would naturally seek help from the Church.
"Mr. Sparrow, can we go over there and have a look?"
Bernadette's curiosity returned. She pointed at the magnificent city that seemed to float in the air in the distance.
"I'm afraid not," Edward said, taking her hand and sidestepping the others. He entered an empty room and said, "We'll stay here. Don't go anywhere, and just wait until we naturally wake up and leave this place."
"Why?"
"Because it's too dangerous. Although this is a dream world, any harm you suffer here directly affects your real body. As I said, this is a shared dream for everyone in this sea area—no one knows what kinds of dangers might be lurking here."
Bernadette looked somewhat disappointed but didn't argue further. "Alright."
She turned to inspect the small room, about ten square meters in size. It looked somewhat aged but was meticulously clean. Opposite the door stood a desk and chair, and on both sides were dilapidated bookshelves stretching to the ceiling. The shelves held a scattered collection of old books and ornaments.
"Can I look at the things in this room?" she asked.
Edward divined for confirmation and found no issue. "Of course."
She strained to drag a chair to the left bookshelf and climbed up to curiously examine the various objects. But most of them were glanced at briefly before being returned to their original spots.
Edward, having nothing better to do, wandered over to the other bookshelf and began leafing through its contents.
Most of the items were outdated trinkets, appearing antique in design. The books were primarily written in Elvish, Ancient Feysac, and Ancient Hermes.
While some contained relatively rare, extraordinary knowledge, none were particularly useful to Edward.
"Eh?"
At that moment, Bernadette suddenly voiced her curiosity.
"The words in this book…"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.