CHAPTER 389: ENTRUSTED

Obviously, Nana was still just Nana. Silvanus didn’t react at all to her threat and simply said in a calm voice, "You heard it too, right?"

Nana scoffed. "Crying in the middle of the night and disturbing my sleep deserves having their tongue ripped out."

With that, she strode forward without hesitation.

Watching her decisive figure, Silvanus truly wouldn’t doubt her words.

He lifted Vivian onto his shoulder, then quickly followed after her.

The mist on the shore had yet to fade. Fortunately, the moonlight offered some visibility, though they still couldn’t see far. After walking for a while, they could make out a faint silhouette on the beach. The crying grew louder and louder.

By now, both Silvanus and Nana could feel something wasn’t right. They exchanged a glance and slowed their pace.

The cries intensified, tinged with despair, and then the tone suddenly shifted—melodic, hauntingly beautiful.

Nana’s and Silvanus’s eyes both began to glaze over.

Just then, Silvanus suddenly frowned, inhaling sharply from pain.

In an instant he snapped awake. Regaining clarity, he lowered his gaze. Sure enough, he saw Vivian biting down hard on his hand, nearly breaking the skin.

The anguished cries still echoed around them. Silvanus’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately grabbed Nana’s hand and yanked her backward. At the same moment, a loud voice boomed from behind them:

"Don’t go any farther!"

Nana snapped back to herself. She and Silvanus both turned to look behind them, where a faint torch flickered in the weak moonlight.

A young man rushed toward them. Wherever he passed, the torchlight scattered the mist.

A sound like something slithering back into the water faded away. On the sand remained only a smear of thick, pitch-black slime trailing toward the sea.

"You two don’t know the village rules? It’s dangerous to be on the shore at night!"

The reprimanding voice rang out.

Only then did Silvanus look properly at the torch-bearing boy running toward them.

The boy looked younger than them, perhaps only twelve or thirteen, yet his body was sturdy and strong. His skin was bronzed by sun and sea breeze, his expression firm and serious, and in his hand burned the torch that had driven the danger away. He stared at them now, brows tightly furrowed like a little old man.

Silvanus’s hand was suddenly flung aside, and only then did he realize he had still been holding Nana’s hand from earlier.

He didn’t pay it much mind and simply looked at the young boy, asking, "Rules of the village? What was that thing just now?"

The boy was still sweeping the torchlight around. Hearing the question, he glanced at Silvanus and replied in a low voice, "No one knows what those things are. They usually pretend to cry or pretend to drown to lure innocent people into the sea with them."

Nana frowned at that. "If that thing is so dangerous then why is a kid like you out here and not someone stronger?"

The boy bristled instantly, like a hedgehog puffing up. "I am capable! And if it weren’t for me you’d have been dragged away already, you rude woman!"

Nana raised her hand, but Silvanus quickly stopped her. "He’s not wrong. You haven’t even thanked him yet."

Nana shoved Silvanus aside. "Get lost."

Perhaps embarrassed and angry, she turned back immediately. Her icy expression was so severe that even the brave boy flinched a little.

Silvanus couldn’t help finding it amusing. He said softly, "Ignore her. She’s never wrong."

The boy murmured, "She must be a noble."

Silvanus said nothing.

The boy suddenly plopped down onto the sand, staring off into the distance with a gloomy expression.

Silvanus assumed Nana had hurt his feelings and said, "Don’t let other people’s looks get to you. She won’t be here tomorrow anyway, so just live your life."

The boy looked up at him, suddenly smiling with a touch of nostalgia in his eyes.

Vivian whispered beside Silvanus’s ear, "Feels like this kid has gone through a hundred tragic farewells already."

Silvanus pushed Vivian’s head down a little. No matter how many times he told her not to speak when others were around, she never seemed to learn.

At that moment, the boy spoke again. "I also have an older brother. He’s older than you."

Silvanus sat down beside him, quietly listening.

"He’s a skilled diver, and he’s very handsome. All the girls in the village adore him."

Silvanus couldn’t help imagining a tall fisherman with defined muscles and healthy sun-tanned skin.

Vivian pictured it too, quietly marveling, "Sounds very attractive."

Silvanus: "..."

The boy continued, "He was also incredibly kind, so he got deceived and dragged down into the deep sea."

Silvanus wasn’t sure how much of the story was true. Children often saw the world differently from adults. Still, he comforted him, "Don’t be sad. Your brother would definitely want you to live happily."

At that, the boy pressed his lips together, eyes shimmering with tears. "Everyone says the Queen of Aqualon favored him, that she took a liking to him and dragged him into the deep sea to make him her husband."

Silvanus: "..."

Did the Queen of Aqualon know about these rumors?

Then the boy suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Silvanus’s hand with desperate determination. "I saw you and that lady walking with the village chief. Everyone says you’re going down to Aqualon. If you see my brother, you have to save him! Please help me. I can be your slave for life!"

He even started to kneel.

Silvanus quickly stopped him, gently saying, "Enough. If I see your brother, I’ll bring him back."

Although Silvanus truly doubted he would meet any ordinary human in Aqualon, he added, "But if I don’t see him there..."

The boy lowered his gaze, nodding as though he understood. "I know. As long as you try to help, it’s enough."

He then began wiping his tears.

Silvanus fell silent. So the boy wasn’t foolish after all. He simply still held onto hope that his brother was alive. Their bond must have been very strong.

"So, can you describe what your brother looks like?"

Since he had agreed, Silvanus figured he should at least take it seriously.

The boy’s eyes lit up. "You’re so kind!"

Silvanus didn’t reply, and the boy hurried on, "He’s very tall, and he’s very fair-skinned, and he’s really handsome, super super handsome!"

Silvanus watched the boy gesturing wildly, talking nonstop yet saying nothing besides "handsome."

He couldn’t help commenting, "Kid, how many beauty filters are you using when you look at your brother?"

The boy immediately shot back, "It’s true! He’s definitely the most handsome person in the world!"

Silvanus: "..."

There was no saving this kid.