In the readers' view, a ship that big—even if it really didn't break, just from long-term lack of maintenance, the end result would probably still be...
Fortunately, this time the emotional investment isn't deep: this scheme won't hurt me. Holding such thoughts, they continued reading.
The Traveler arrived at the third place that Miitoboru sensed, here even smaller—just a rock.
On the rock were only two wooden planks, with a bird's nest built under the planks.
Still no treasure; Miitoboru was still trying hard to make excuses for itself.
It said that on long voyages at sea, finding bird eggs on a rock was already a rare delicacy; for pirates, that was treasure.
Even the usually easily fooled Paimon didn't believe this statement.
Joking aside, Paimon is very gullible elsewhere, but when it comes to treasure, Paimon is sharp.
If it's not bird eggs, then the only thing left here is those two wooden planks; the Traveler tried touching them.
This touch triggered the illustration again; the Traveler's perspective switched to the ship's, seeing a sunny sky, the ocean shining brightly under the sunlight—it was at the seaside.
Dozens of people tightened ropes, shouting 'Hey!' 'Hey!' as they exerted force together.
These dozens of ropes were pulling a majestic great ship; the fresh paint on the ship gleamed more dazzlingly than the ocean under the sunlight.
The great ship splashed into the water, waves rippling on the surface, the biting chill eroding the hull—the ship was about to begin its journey to conquer the seas.
["Shrine maiden auntie, another impressive good ship! Give it a good name!"]
["I hope this ship can shelter you for a safe return—so, let's name it after this place..."]
The scene ended; Miitoboru's voice grew a bit heavier, no longer as cheerful as before.
[Miitoboru, low: "I've figured out where these wooden planks came from. Traveler, Paimon—you saw my memory."]
When a ship enters the water, it's generally the side planks that go in first, and the ones on this rock were precisely Miitoboru's side planks.
Plus, the Traveler's inspiration is strong; with Nahida's help, she saw that memory.
Miitoboru understood: what it sensed wasn't treasure—that was its sense of its own 'body.'
[Miitoboru gave a self-mocking laugh: "I was mocking that broken ship earlier, but in the end, the one being mocked turned out to be me—haha... this is embarrassing big time."]
It was laughing, but there was no mirth in it.
Just a moment ago, it was proudly recounting how majestic it was; now, it faced cruel reality.
Now it was Paimon's turn to comfort Miitoboru; although she's greedy for money and low on emotional intelligence, she's truly very gentle.
Miitoboru originally wanted to trade treasure with the Traveler; now with no treasure, the trade naturally canceled.
But Paimon said they were willing to accompany Miitoboru to the last two places it could sense—no need for any trade, because they're friends!
The readers inwardly cried trouble: why does it feel like the emotions are getting more and more off?
It seems like it's starting to get a bit moving? What's going on? They're not even that familiar!
The fourth place was on an island, where a group of hilichurls were digging something; the Traveler gently sent the hilichurls away, then discovered they had been digging up a wooden sword.
It looked just like a toy wooden sword; upon touching it, it triggered the illustration again.
Hundreds of feet of waves battered the hull; the great ship looked somewhat damaged because of battle.
Under the pitch-black night, a man whose face couldn't be seen leaped onto the deck.
["Give it up, Saemon—beg for mercy now, and you might still keep your life!"]
The man pointed at by the sword showed no panic; he was extremely calm, retorting:
["I am Saemon! I am Seirai's undying ghost!"]
["I am a proud man of the sea—I never eke out survival on the enemy's mercy!"]
The two men's blades clashed, the fight growing fiercer.
And in a place they didn't notice, a pair of purple wings spread open!
Suddenly, the dim sky flashed with a streak of brightness—it was lightning!
A cry resounded through the universe; purple thunder that pierced heaven and earth swept in.
Flash: the eyes were filled with blinding purple.
Thunder: the ears rang with unending thunderclaps, each one accelerating the heartbeat.
Waves: towering giant waves gradually turned into a vortex, disorienting the great ship; the people on board could only crouch on the deck, grasping at anything they could.
Finally, what could be seen before the eyes was a thunderbird; she streaked across the sky, as if heavenly might itself.
This segment everyone also knows: it was Asase Yuu releasing Kanna Kapatcir's lingering grudge.
What was seen before was from Seirai Yuu's perspective; this time, it switched to Ako Domeki's side's perspective.
Previously, it was either Seirai Yuu's incomplete perspective, or Kanna Kapatcir's own bird perspective, or Raiden Shogun one-shotting it with an arrow.
Now everyone got a more direct view of Kanna Kapatcir's power—and this was merely the remnant!
Such a terrifying thunderbird that even the Electro Archon one-shot! What more is there to say?
Although Kanna Kapatcir had gone mad by then, lost her reason and wouldn't dodge, being able to one-shot such an existence is still terrifying.
The memory fragment ended here; after the sky full of thunder and storm, the recollection cut off.
[Miitoboru: "Even just the lingering resentment has such terrifying power? Wow, it's really hard to imagine."]
But compared to this terrifying lightning, Miitoboru was more concerned about Seirai Island—its 'home.'
[Miitoboru's tone rarely anxious: "Traveler, have you been to Seirai Island? Do you know what happened to Seirai Island afterward...?"]
The Traveler really had been there, so she told Miitoboru about Seirai Island's current state.
[Miitoboru: "We stood up precisely because we didn't want our homeland ruled by the Shogunate—it was to protect the island's residents that we opposed the Shogunate..."]
["The Seirai Island we didn't hesitate to make enemies of the Shogunate to protect, in the end... Shrine maiden lady... why did it all happen like this...?"]
Yeah, why? Seirai Island wasn't protected, the Asase family's ancestral shrine wasn't protected, not even Ako Domeki could be said to have been protected.
Asase Yuu, look at what exactly you've protected?
Not only did Seirai Island vanish, even Miitoboru was gone—it was also destroyed in that thunderstorm.
The wooden sword from earlier was made from the materials of Miitoboru after it was struck and shattered, modeled after the sword in that wind shogun puppet's hand, just smaller.
From Miitoboru's words, everyone finally learned that the puppet from before was actually brought by Ako Domeki—this resolved the doubt left from the previous island story.
No wonder there was an Inazuma puppet on such a remote island—it was brought by Inazuma people.
After finding this fragment, the only thing Miitoboru could still sense was the last block fragment.
Upon arriving, the last fragment turned out to be in a seashell house.
This final fragment had been made into a xylophone; the Traveler struck it twice, and it seemed undamaged.
But because it hadn't been maintained for so long, a few wooden blocks' sounds were somewhat muffled.
As a musical instrument, this was already equivalent to being 'damaged.'