The visit to Hilda ended quickly, as the lady still had to prepare for the so-called ceremony. Accompanied by Leanna, Lex and Midiya returned to the path leading to the sea.
Under the warm afternoon sun at five o'clock, as they passed a large tree whose name Lex didn't know, a cold gust of wind swept by, causing Midiya to pull her dress tighter.
Lex's Spiritual Vision was stirred. He was about to activate it, but then, remembering something, he abandoned the idea.
Instead, he asked, "What is the ceremony that Hilda mentioned?"
"It's a large sacrificial event where we offer sacrifices and pray to the great Astucca for protection." Midiya seemed to be in a good mood, probably because she heard that Hilda had once been to Backlund, which gave her hope.
She turned to look at Lex: "Unfortunately, outsiders aren't allowed to participate in this kind of ceremony. Otherwise, I would have invited Mr. Rayleigh to observe."
Lex chuckled and then said, "What kind of sacrifices do you usually use?"
"Living creatures."
Midiya said without thinking, "Most often it's fish, and then larger livestock like goats."
That sounds relatively normal. If she had said people, I would have to consider running away, Lex muttered to himself, then continued, "Where can I buy clothes from your Sea Island? I think they're quite distinctive, and I'd like to buy a few sets as souvenirs."
"That's simple! I know where to buy them, I'll take you." Midiya turned around and took Lex's hand. The Miss's brilliant smile made the sunset by the sea even more beautiful.
In Hilda's mansion, in the living room, the lady was smoking and waiting for something.
Suddenly, she pricked up her ears, listening intently, and then a smile appeared on her face.
Leanna, who had brought her a cup of tea, saw her expression and asked, "Are there results?"
Hilda nodded: "A few little things told me that Mr. Rayleigh behaved quite normally, and he's somewhat interested in our Sea Island's clothing. Barry's daughter took him to buy a few sets of clothes, and then he returned to White Windmill Inn."
Leanna smiled: "It seems we were too cautious."
Hilda took a puff from her cigarette and said, "The ceremony is coming soon, so it's always good to be cautious."
Leanna nodded slightly and walked towards the kitchen, then suddenly stopped and said, "Stop smoking."
Hilda paused, then a smile appeared on her face: "Okay."
In the evening, Lex wrote a letter to the Arbiter in Backlund, asking him to inquire about Fors in his spare time, but not to intervene casually if he found the Miss in any danger.
He paid another gold coin and had the headless butler deliver it.
After all this, Lex went to bed early. That night, he didn't feel any unusual spiritual fluctuations, but he still dared not sleep soundly.
In a blink of an eye, it was the third day since he arrived on the Sea Island. After lunch, Lex checked out and left the White Windmill Inn.
He came to the dock.
The dock was still the same, bustling with people coming and going. It seemed that due to the impending 'ceremony,' there were even more people at the dock, especially fishermen, who were unloading large quantities of sea fish from their boats and sending them to the town. Inevitably, this process filled the entire dock with an unpleasant fishy smell.
Lex covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and quickly went to his ship, where he met the Boatswain, Noah.
The Boatswain, who had a tin pot tied to his waist, saw Lex and enthusiastically said, "Are you leaving, Mr. Rayleigh? So soon! I really hope you can stay a few more days. I'll miss you and your wine."
"As you said, sir, I don't want to leave so soon either. Unfortunately, I still have to work for a living. I hope to see you again next time I come, noble sir."
Lex took off his hat and bowed.
The Boatswain laughed heartily, emulated Lex, took off his hat and bowed, then went to attend to other matters.
Lex found the small boat he had arrived in and looked around, frowning slightly.
It was already the agreed time, why hadn't Quincy appeared yet?
He took out his pocket watch, checking the time frequently. Time passed by, minute by minute, and in a blink of an eye, more than half an hour had gone by.
At this moment, Lex saw the Wavebreaker. It was anchored some distance from Windmill Island. Lex suddenly wondered if Quincy had returned to the ship on his own.
After all, he was a Beyonder of the 'Sailor' pathway. They hadn't gotten along well the past two days. If I were him, rather than sharing a boat with someone I didn't like, I'd rather swim back to the Wavebreaker.
It wouldn't take much effort anyway.
Lex shrugged, untied the rope himself, jumped into the small boat, and used an oar to propel himself back to the Wavebreaker.
As he stepped onto the deck, Roger pulled him up and then glanced at the small boat: "Where's Quincy?"
Lex was stunned: "Didn't he come back first?"
The Boatswain took two steps back: "Of course not. And, weren't you two together?"
Lex clenched his fist and coughed dryly: "We had different views on some matters, so we decided to go our separate ways."
Roger clapped his hands and said, "You two certainly have a good understanding."
Lex gave a dry laugh and didn't respond.
They had originally thought Quincy would return soon, but even as the sun began to set, there was no sign of him.
"This is very wrong."
The Captain, who had already heard about the situation, also came to the deck: "We suspect there's a problem with Windmill Island. Yesterday afternoon, we found the Sea Cow in the waters near Windmill Island, but there wasn't a single person on board."
"Judging from the direction of the ocean currents, the Sea Cow must have drifted from near Windmill Island. The pirates on the Sea Cow have probably met with misfortune. There seems to be some kind of danger lurking on that Sea Island, and we can't leave Quincy alone on the Sea Island."
Struck by Ken's words, Lex suddenly remembered the ox horn skull silver pendant he had seen in Hilda's display cabinet. He finally understood why he had felt it was familiar at the time, because it was an ornament worn by the Sea Cow's Captain; Lex had seen it in a photograph in the information Ken had given him!
If that necklace belonged to the Sea Cow's Captain, then whose was the bandana that so closely resembled Quincy's usual one?
Lex stood up: "I probably know where to find Quincy."
The Captain looked at him: "Where?"
"The residents of Windmill Island have a special faith. On that Sea Island, there is a High Priest. I visited her yesterday, and in her home, in a display cabinet, I saw the Sea Cow's Captain's necklace, and I also saw a bandana that closely resembled Quincy's usual one."
"Also, there's a 'ceremony' on the Sea Island recently, and the sacrifices are living creatures."