"Huh?" Simbady twitched his lips, staring at Rex suspiciously. Even a clansman from a small tribe like him knew that Fjords people were notorious for their craftiness and trickery. They were all cunning merchants expert in sailing, who had an insatiable l.u.s.t for money.

Many Mojins in the Iron Sand City had been scammed by Fjords merchants, so every Sand National knew they had to be extremely careful when dealing with them. Their stereotrype of Fjords people was further confirmed by what had happened in the Festive Harbor. Simbady did not believe a single word Rex was saying. He said gruffly, "Are you done? I'm busy here. Go talk to someone else!"

With these words, Simbady cast Mulley a glance, eyeing her to come with him.

"Hold on!" Rex said immediately. "I'll pay gold royals to you, regardless of the result."

"Simbady, just let him finish," Mulley said, grasping his hand. "I find it very interesting. He doesn't look like a fraud."

Simbady felt his heart pumping in his throat violently as Mulley touched him. He said hesitantly, "But..."

"Ten gold royals! As long as you tell me the exact location, I'll pay you ten gold royals!" Rex said breathlessly. To show he was not lying, he produced one gold royal from his pocket and proclaimed, "This is the deposit! If you could help me, I'll pay 20 more. How about that?"

Simbady was stiffened for a second. It was unusual for a Fjords merchant to pay upfront, let alone paying 30 gold royals in total. Simbady quickly revolved the idea in his head. It would probably take him at least ten years to earn such a large sum of money with his current salary.

"I also want to buy some new clothes for the children in the clan..." Mulley said imploringly while blinking her big sparkling eyes.

Unable to turn down Mulley's request, Simbady agreed resignedly, "I see. OK then. But if you dare scam us..."

"You won't lose anything," Rex confirmed quickly and tossed the gold royal at Simbady. "You just need to answer some questions of mine, and that's it. There's no better deal than this."

Simbady now saw how Fjords merchants tricked people. He caught the gold royal and asked, "What do you want to know from me? Why are you with Mulley? What do you mean by improving the reputation?"

"I have to start from the beginning," Rex said on a clearing throat. "Let's talk as we go. First, what do you think of the sea?"

"What do I think of the sea?" Simbady echoed. "It's the mother of Three G.o.ds, the cradle of everything, and it's... volatile."

"I find it mysterious," Mulley said brightly. "n.o.body knows how broad and how deep it is. There are a lot of places in the Southernmost Region not trodden by human beings yet. It may take us more than 1,000 years to fully explore the sea."

"You're both right. However, Fjords people view it as a treasury." Rex said smilingly, "There are numerous treasures down at the bottom of the sea, including tons of gold and silver royals, and the lost ancient ruin. n.o.body is guarding them. They're just waiting for us to salvage. I won't be surprised if someone gets rich overnight. That means the one who gets the treasures will be the richest person in the world!"

"You sound it so simple," Simbady shot back contemptuously. "n.o.body's guarding them? The ocean itself is a huge obstacle. How can you dive to the bottom of the sea as freely as a fish?"

"That's right. That's exactly what our problem is!" Rex replied in excitement. "The mission of the Society of Wondrous Crafts is to make everything impossible possible. This time, I want to show everyone that the Society of Wondrous Crafts isn't an organization of nutters, and certainly not an organization of cravens! Although we aren't explorers, we can do just as well as them... No, we'll do better than them!"

"I don't quite follow you — "

"A great invention." Rex revealed his secret anxiously. "I call it a 'diving suit'. With this, men can stay under water as long as they want like a fis.h.!.+"

"What?" Simbady exclaimed in dismay.

"I found them stay under water for quite a while when I went picking sh.e.l.ls at the beach. They stayed there for more than a person normally can," Mulley rejoined. "That's why I went to ask him what they were doing."

" So it's Mulley who talked to him first... " Simbady thought, feeling a bitter jolt in his stomach.

"I was very surprised at the beginning, because I know Sand Nationals fear and respect the sea," Rex continued. "I've been testing this diving suit for several days. It's been working really well. Needless to say, this will change the entire salvage industry. A job that used to highly depend on luck now become an adventure everybody could partic.i.p.ate in!"

"Since you've already succeeded, why did you ask for my help?" Simbady asked in bewilderment, trying to suppress his disappointment and jealousy.

"Ahem... the thing is, Mr. Simbady... that this diving suit just needs a little bit of exposure. We can take advantage of King Roland's campaign to advertise it. That's why I need to get some real good stuff before anyone else — something that will catch the King of Graycastle's attention," Rex said while clenching his fist. "Once I'm granted the honorary t.i.tle, thousands of people will jockey for my invention!"

He broke off at this point and then continued, "But I don't know where the treasures are. His Majesty's post doesn't indicate what exactly he wants. Technically, anything strange or insteresting is fine. Apparently, the king won't be interested in any random thing. He doesn't want to collect the c.r.a.p you would normally find at the beach or in the corals, so we don't know where to go. All we can do now is to slowly search along the beach. Then I saw Miss Mulley, and I had a ray of hope. She told me you saw a strange cave once. You saw water reflect off light on a moonless night. I want to know where it is!"

In other words, these Fjords people came here because of the chief? Simbady said irritably, "I did see it. It's at the bottom of the cliff. The cave is only visible when water recedes. Having said that, the seawater is several meters deep, and n.o.body knows exactly how deep it is. It might only be an ordinary cave, and the light may be just a bunch of jellyfish."

"Don't worry. I'll still pay you even if we don't find anything," Rex returned.

They had just reached a beach beyond the port.

There was a knot of people.

"Those are the sailors I recruited who have nothing to do with the test. They only run errands for me," Rex explained. "I only have two a.s.sistants: Eyemask and Tophat. They're also members of the Society of Wondrous Crafts."

Simbady thought they had really strange names. He swept over the man and the woman at the center of the crowd and finally fixed his eyes onto the strange suit in front of them.

The suit had a huge metal helmet that did not coordinate with the rest of the outfit. The top and the bottom parts were connected, making it very hard to wear. The most distinctive feature was two tubes sticking out of the helmet which reminded Simbady of two shrimp ta.s.sels. They were incredibly long, with the ends connected to a large black machine.

Simbady had seen the same machine on Neverwinter s.h.i.+ps before. Sailors called it a steam engine.

"Is this what you talked about..."

"Ah, yes," Rex said self-importantly, "This is the 'diving suit', my most ingenious invention!"