Chapter 1154

Thankfully, Harald returned in time to save both of them. Harald informs his people that he heard about the disasters overseas and he asked the countries they are aligned with for help, and they responded with banding together to provide enough food for all of them, and in turn, Harald promises to provide aid when they need it as thanks. Shortly after Harald returned, Estrid finally passed from her illness, but she continued to deny her son to the very end. As such, the people believed Estrid died from Loki’s “curse”, and by the time Harald could hold Loki himself, he had become forced to wear bandages over his eyes, the guards claiming he had a “condition” that affected his eyes. In addition, Loki did not smile in the presence of his father, as he had already given up on the idea of love, though Harald never seemed to know what Estrid did to him.

Though Harald’s diplomatic mission paid off and helped his country survive the long winter, it ultimately took up too much of his time, and Loki was forced to be raised by Estrid’s brother, who hated him just as much as she did. As for Ida, she opened up a bar in the Underworld welcome to all to visit, hoping that it will aid Harald in his goals. Seven years later, Harald spoke with Jarul in his home where he told him he was at the Levely thanks to someone sneaking him in disguised as a soldier, but the council refused to listen to him, and if it had not been for the “incident” that resulted in a death, his cover would have been blown and he would be imprisoned. Changing topics, Jarul asks Harald if he has ever heard of “Galleila”, a group of giant shipwrights. Harald says he has, though he thought they were just a myth, but Jarul confirms they existed, but after sailing to distant shores they sent back a letter saying they had been captured, which perplexed him as some of them were ancient giants.

Harald asks Jarul if he thinks the World Government was behind it, but Jarul is not sure; he knows their people had a great enemy in the past, but their history sank into the sea. The point that Jarul was trying to make with his story, though, was that he suspects Harald’s inability to foster a good relation with the World Government is not due to him, but because of some ancient history between the two, as their people are seen as a threat to the rest of the world. As time passed, Harald had eight branches built on Elbaph to unify the country and promote trading, while people’s dislike of Loki continued to increase as the lucky horse was found dead and later his uncle, though there were some who acknowledged him as the country’s prince instead of Hajrudin. Harald, however, had become known as the best king their people ever had due to his dream of connecting Elbaph to the rest of the world and making it safe for their kind to live peacefully. Whenever Harald left on his trips, Loki would attack the villages with an army of beasts from the Underworld. Hajrudin tried standing up to him saying he needs to respect their father’s decision to work with humans, but Loki refused to acknowledge them and strikes Hajrudin for talking back to him. This led to the future members of Hajrudin’s crew running to his aid, which causes Loki to call Hajrudin and his friends losers for trying to look after each other. Nonetheless, despite all the harm and chaos he spread, nothing Loki did could fill the hole in his heart his mother left with her cruel words. One day, Loki decided to kill himself by jumping from the Sun World to the Underworld but his strong body protects him, leaving him despair that he cannot die. That same day would be the day Loki first met Rocks before he became captain of the Rocks Pirates, as he had come to Elbaph to visit Harald. It turns out the two had met earlier at the Levely, and the “incident” that took place there was Rocks killing an Admiral, which made him a wanted man. In a surprising twist, Rocks is also stated to be the father of Blackbeard, as his face is finally shown bearing resemblance to him.