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That being said, he did still decide to head all the way down to Boland again. It was also quite far, but the coasts of that country had very much needed his help while Vaeland and Korgum had not.

In Korgum’s case, it had the advantage of a natural mountain range along the coast, protecting it completely from the waves, while Vaeland apparently just had some incredible defenders to protect it. He might’ve liked to meet said defenders, but without having actually offered them any aid during the crisis, he didn’t feel like he had any right to do so.

He did wonder if it had all been Vaeland’s doing, though. Garovel ruminated on the subject a bit while they were in flight. Korgum was famous for having a strong Vanguardian presence, so perhaps they had gone down to Vaeland in order to protect it, since Korgum itself had no such worries. Coupled with the fact that the Nualist Repulic of Dozer--Korgum’s long-held enemy--must have been quite busy at the time with its own exposed eastern coastline, the reaper’s reasoning made for a compelling argument, Hector thought.

Vaeland would’ve also been a reasonable choice for the Vanguardian forces, since it was the one most in danger, given its many defenseless islands.

Or maybe it really was just Vaeland’s own defenders. The Vanguard did still have its hands full with the war, after all.

Whatever the real explanation was, he had plenty of time to wonder about it during the flight across the Gulf. But in the end, all that wondering just made him more curious to visit Vaeland one day and see for himself.

It also helped that it was supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world.

But oh well.

He was pleased to see that the coasts of Boland were finally calm. On the very first day of these outings, he’d found a giant cruise liner getting carried along the even-more-giant waves as if it weighed no more than a tugboat.

With the way the thing had been getting knocked around, Hector had dreaded to imagine what might’ve become of the poor passengers aboard, but he’d still done his best to steady it and pull it to safety. Unfortunately, it had been way too massive for him to just lift it out of the water and carry to safety on a hovering platform, but at least he’d been able to shield it from getting battered by any more waves.

That was, until it completely disappeared, right before his eyes.