Chapter 1063

Siegfried pointed at Albion and shouted, "Get him!"

“

Kraaagh!”

“Kieeee!”

“Kyaaak!”

At Siegfried’s command, dozens of sea monsters lunged at Albion at once.

“

You damned land beast!”

Albion cursed and instantly dove beneath the surface to escape the sudden onslaught.

“

Hmph!”

Siegfried scoffed after seeing the sperm whale dive back down.

What good would diving do? Siegfried commanded nearly forty sea monsters, and each one of them was a terrifying predator.

A sperm whale was nothing more than a pushover for these sea monsters.

Thus, all Siegfried had to do was simply let the sea monsters go after Albion and wait.

He figured the sea monsters would haul the sperm whale back to him soon enough, so all he had to do was wait for them to do so. Besides, he couldn’t stay active underwater for very long due to a lack of oxygen anyway.

However, the confidence he had in his army of sea monsters started wavering soon enough.

“What’s going on...?” Siegfried muttered.

Thirty minutes had passed, yet there was still no word, no movement, no sign of anything beneath the waters.

“Is something not going according to plan?” Shakiro asked with a hint of concern.

Plenty of time had passed, but the water’s surface remained eerily calm as if nothing was happening beneath it.

“

Hey, what are you guys doing? Hurry up and hunt him down already.”

Growing impatient, he sent a telepathic message to the sea monsters, trying to urge them into action.

Another ten minutes passed, yet there was still nothing. There was no response from the sea monsters, nor any traces of Albion.

“Is it because they went too deep?” Siegfried wondered.

It was then.

A massive shadow began to rise toward the surface.

“...!”

Siegfried and Shakiro both stared intently at the shadow, thinking that it was probably Albion’s remains.

“Wait a second! That’s not a whale!” Siegfried exclaimed, his face twisting into a scowl.

The remains that floated up weren't Albion's remains. It was the remains of one of Siegfried's sea monsters. Of course, it wasn't the only thing that surfaced. More bodies started to surface, one after another, bobbing lifelessly with the waves.

“What the hell?! Don’t tell me... they’re all dead?!” Siegfried shrieked in shock after seeing all of his sea monsters wiped out.

All of the sea monsters he sent to chase down Albion were dead, a result he did not expect at all.

“This doesn’t make any sense—”

“

You pitiful fools!”

Albion roared, breaching the surface of the water about two hundred meters away. He was glaring at Siegfried and Shakiro.

“Did you honestly think sending those minnows after me would be enough? Pathetic!”

The sperm whale looked surprisingly intact. His body was covered in wounds and bleeding in several places, but no matter how one looked at it, none of the wounds were fatal.

Somehow, the sperm whale was strong enough to take on and defeat a swarm of sea monsters.

‘

This guy isn’t just a normal whale,’

Siegfried thought. He finally realized what was going on. Albion was not just some oversized sperm whale. From the very start, it had been strange that a sperm whale could even use telepathy.

And now, it all made sense.

“

You’ll never catch me! Eat this instead, dipshit!”

With those words, Albion blasted a torrent of vomit in Siegfried’s direction.

Bleuuurgh!

Siegfried narrowly dodged the oncoming sludge. He managed to dodge it, but he was left seething in rage.

“You damn son of a fish!” Siegfried roared in anger and hurled aura blades at the sperm whale, but he was a step too late.

“

Nice try, dipshit! You’re too slow!”

Albion mocked Siegfried before diving back into the ocean and vanishing beneath the waves.

Siegfried trembled uncontrollably, his whole body shaking from rage.

“That’s enough. Calm down now,” Shakiro stepped in to restrain him. Then, he patted him and said, “There’s nothing we can do if he’s made up his mind to hide underwater. We can’t catch him once he is—”

“Yes, I know,” Siegfried cut him off. Then, he grumbled through clenched teeth, “But I’m still too pissed off to let this go.”

“I understand how you feel. That sperm whale was quite rude, and honestly, he was just toying with us this whole time and trying to provoke us into—” Shakiro trailed off mid-sentence, cutting himself short as he caught sight of what Siegfried was doing.

“Oh dear lord! This precious thing!” Siegfried exclaimed, scooping up the sperm whale’s vomit with his hands.

A whale’s vomit, also known as ambergris, was an extremely expensive luxury commodity. When dissolved in alcohol, ambergris could be turned into a premium-grade perfume more valuable than gold.

Even in the real world, a single large chunk of ambergris could be worth hundreds of millions, so it was only natural for Siegfried to rush to scoop up every bit of Albion’s vomit.

“...He’s still trying to make money in such a situation?” Shakiro muttered, baffled once again by his disciple.

Just moments ago, Siegfried had been seething with anger, yet now, here he was, scrambling frantically the moment he saw something he could sell for a hefty profit.

***

However, Siegfried had not given up on capturing Albion.

“I’m going to chase you down till the ends of the world.”

He hunted down the sperm whale while aboard the patrol ship he took from the Holy Alliance. It was now possible for him to track the sperm whale with the help of the Guardians, so there was no reason not to follow.[1]

However, Siegfried did not stop there...

— So you need an artifact that will let you breathe underwater?

“Yes.”

—

Ahem!

Such artifacts that allow the user to move freely underwater require highly advanced technology...

“Is it impossible to make?”

— I am ashamed to admit that it is not my area of expertise. That sort of thing would be the specialty of the Autonika Workshop.

“

Oh?

Is it?” Siegfried recalled the workshop that he had almost forgotten about.

He previously had close ties with all three major workshops on the continent, but ever since his relationship with Quandt and the Bavarian Workshop grew to the point that they moved shop to the Proatine Empire, he had naturally drifted away from the others.

Whatever he needed, Quandt could craft it for him, so it was only natural that his business with the other workshops would decrease.

— I believe it would be best to place a request with the Autonika Workshop this time. Honestly speaking, I wish I could do it myself, but unfortunately, that kind of technology is not something that we can master overnight.

“Understood. I will try asking the Autonika Workshop this time,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

Then, he immediately contacted the Autonika Workshop.

— Y-Your Imperial Majesty! How long has it been? I hope you have been faring well!

The head blacksmith of the Autonika Workshop, Boothroyd, bowed deeply the moment he answered the call from Siegfried.

Others would probably think that Boothroyd was overreacting, but his reaction was perfectly understandable as they were keeping up with news of the industry.

The Bavarian Workshop suffered a tremendous decline after suffering financially and politically, but they achieved even greater growth than ever before upon receiving Siegfried’s

favor.

Looking at the market share of the three major workshops, the Bavarian Workshop held about forty-five percent of the current total market. In contrast, the Mercedes Workshop held thirty-six percent, and the remaining nineteen percent belonged to the Autonika Workshop.[2]

Thus, Siegfried was a client that the Autonika Client regretted missing.

If they had only maintained a closer relationship with him earlier, then perhaps that overwhelming market share now held by the Bavarian Workshop could have been theirs.

Therefore, it was only natural for Boothroyd and the Autonika Workshop to welcome Siegfried’s call with open arms.

— How may I be of service to Your Imperial Majesty?

“I’m currently in a situation where I...” Siegfried proceeded to explain what he needed. Then, he asked, “Do you think it would be possible to craft such an artifact...?”

— Why, of course, Your Imperial Majesty! Please leave it to us! Whatever artifact you require, we will craft and deliver it as quickly as possible!

“I will need it in no more than five days.”

— We will do our best to deliver it sooner than that!

“

Oh?

I’ll be grateful if you can do that for me. But how much will it cost? Is it going to be expensive? I mean, it’s a custom-made artifact and a rushed order, so...”

— Cost? Far be it from us to charge Your Imperial Majesty! It is a great honor for our workshop to be entrusted with such a request! How could we possibly ask for payment from the hero of the continent?”

“

Eh?

That’s a bit too much, no? Just be comfortable and tell me. How much will it cost?”

— If my lord may continue to show favor to our humble workshop, then that is more than enough for us! We require no payment whatsoever from Your Imperial Majesty! Free! Free of charge! This is on the house!

“Really?”

— Please just think of it as a special gift or a sponsorship from our workshop!

“Okay then... I’ll take you up on that, if you really don’t mind.”

— Your grace is immeasurable!

And just like that, Siegfried secured a sponsored item from the Autonika Workshop that would allow him to breathe underwater. With power and influence, even specialized items could be custom-made free of charge. Both in this game world and in the real world, being successful seemed to really make all the difference.

‘

Time to chase that bastard down nonstop and wear him out until the item is done. Once he’s tired and the item gets delivered, that is when I’ll really strike.’

With that thought in mind, Siegfried continued the whale hunt.

***

A few days later, Albion was utterly fed up with the human who had been hunting him down nonstop.

‘That damn land beast... How many days has it been already...?’

Every time he surfaced to breathe, that cursed human would somehow sense it and come chasing after him like a ghost.

Due to that, Albion had no choice but to take a quick breath and immediately dive back into the deep sea.

‘

But how the hell does he know where I am?’

Albion couldn’t understand how he was being tracked down so precisely. He was diving for over two hours at a time, covering at least several dozen kilometers while submerged. Yet, every single time he came up for air, the human would appear right on his tail, as if he had the whole ocean floor mapped out.

Of course, he was completely unaware that his movements were being monitored by a satellite, so he was on the verge of losing his mind.

The relentless pursuit had completely worn him out both physically and mentally. After days of being chased with no rest permitted, his stamina had already hit rock bottom.

No matter how mystical or powerful he was, diving into the abyss nonstop for several days without proper rest was not something even he could do without it taking a toll on him.

Meanwhile, Siegfried had already realized that Albion was exhausted.

“

Kekeke!”

he cackled like a villain.

It was now obvious that Albion was completely drained.

However, Siegfried waited. He was in no rush to attack, as he knew that tailing Albion was enough to gradually wear him down.

Just then...

Vroooong!

A small light airship quickly dove straight down toward the patrol ship he was on.

“Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty!”

A former air force pilot turned courier saluted Siegfried.

“I am here to deliver an express package from the Autonika Workshop!”

“Thank you for coming all this way.”

“I am simply doing my duty, Your Imperial Majesty. Please accept this package and sign here.”

Siegfried signed the paper and accepted the package.

‘

Good! It’s finally here!’

he smiled, knowing exactly what was inside.

It was the artifact that would allow him to breathe underwater that he commissioned with the Autonika Workshop.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

At that moment, the communication device went off, notifying of an incoming call from the Guardians.

— Your Imperial Majesty! We have just detected the whale’s position! It is currently about thirty kilometers from the patrol ship!

The report from the Guardians came before Siegfried could even open the package.

‘

Time to move.’

Siegfried instantly kicked off the deck and soared into the air, heading straight toward the sperm whale’s location.

He had yet to open the package, but he was confident that the Autonika Workshop had completed the artifact he needed.

Thus, armed with an artifact that would allow him to breathe underwater, capturing the arrogant sperm whale was only a matter of time now.

‘

Just you wait. I’m going to teach you some manners. Kekeke!’

Grinning from ear to ear, Siegfried raced toward Albion’s location. He was determined to finally bring an end to this exhausting game of cat and mouse that had been dragging on for days.

1. I think what the author means is that the Guardians had no idea where Albion was previously, but now that they

locked in

on him, they could track his movements using the satellite. ☜

2. Fun fact: This is roughly the same market share percentage in South Korea for imported German cars (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi). ☜