The Blue Road Home (6)

Here's to our friend!!

Following Captain Suin's toast, the sailors clinked their raised wooden mugs together.

Everyone drained their mugs in one gulp, then rushed to draw more liquor from the opened casks.

It was a truly savage banquet, but that was precisely what made it good.

I took a sip as well, but it was quite sweet.

Ah, this... Could it be sugarcane liquor?

When I think of sugarcane liquor, rum comes to mind—a distilled spirit made from molasses, the juice left after sugar is extracted from sugarcane—but this was something else.

It was probably a fermented drink made from sugarcane.

It was a rather interesting drink.

And it didn't taste bad, either.

After savoring the flavor, I took another deep swig and let it run down my throat.

Since it wasn't particularly strong, I could drink a fair amount.

Then I reached for the food, tore off a piece of meat from a rib, and devoured it.

At sea, meat was generally salted for preservation, so the rich, savory flavor of meat with plenty of fat, so different from what I was used to, was especially irresistible.

I had provided the liquor I'd obtained on Badomod Island, but Suin had spared no expense on the ingredients for the meal.

Apparently, anticipating that there would be a banquet aboard ship, Suin had made a point of procuring meat for it in advance.

As befits a first-rate merchant, he really was a considerate man.

But after eating such rich, fatty meat for the first time in a while, I found myself wanting to go hunting.

It wasn't just that I wanted a steak dripping with blood; I also wanted to savor once more the joy of hunting prey with my own hands and eating every last bit of it.

It would still be a little while, but once I returned to the central part of the continent, perhaps I could enter one of the forests.

Looking around, I unfortunately met the eyes of a sailor standing watch who couldn't join the banquet.

He looked away awkwardly, but I understood how he felt.

Anyone would envy a delicious-looking meal and naturally want to drink and join the revelry.

As for food, Suin would probably serve something decent to the sailors who couldn't take part in the banquet because they were on duty, if only to ease their dissatisfaction, so they would simply have to make do with that.

I took another sip of the liquor.

The sailors often came by to thank me for it, but it wasn't anything to make a fuss over.

I couldn't have finished that much alone anyway, so I enjoyed having a crowd help consume it.

Besides, we would be parting ways once we reached Mintar.

Then drinking and eating meat together to make another memory was hardly a bad thing.

"Hey, Forest-dweller-sama... No, Eisa-san. Why don't you stay aboard as one of the crew?"

In the middle of the banquet, Captain Suin came over beside me and suddenly said something like that.

I tilted my head, unable to figure out what he meant.

"Of course, I wouldn't make someone like you an ordinary sailor. I'd find some sort of position for you. The crew would be satisfied with whatever terms I offered you."

He hurriedly added, sounding flustered.

...Apparently, he was quite serious.

Ah, that probably wouldn't be bad, either.

Working aboard a ship that traveled to all sorts of places... Ah, I felt it might suit me rather well.

The straightforward nature of seafaring men appealed to me, and being surrounded by the sea and wind was pleasant; I could hear the spirits' voices especially well.

So I thought that, someday, working aboard a ship might not be a bad idea.

Or perhaps owning my own ship, rather than working on one, would be even more fun.

With help from the spirits dwelling in the sea and wind, I could reach anywhere in this world by ship.

That would be a wonderful journey; just imagining it made my heart race.

But precisely because of that, I shook my head.

"It's a kind offer, but I can't do that right now. There are still places on land I need to visit, and people waiting for me there."

Yes, precisely because I sensed it would be a wonderful journey, now was not the time.

If I boarded a ship and became absorbed in traveling from place to place, then before I knew it, almost none of my acquaintances on this continent would probably remain.

Ah, of course, that didn't include the immortal beings who lived in the deep forests of my homeland—the high elves, spirits, Golden Dragons, and immortal sages.

Even Airena and the other elves would die before I did.

Perhaps even the graves of my acquaintances would crumble before I did.

"I see. That's a shame. But I'll never forget, Eisa-san, that I once had a forest-dweller like you aboard my ship. ...Well, it'll still be a while before we reach Mintar, so let's get along until then."

After I turned him down, Suin held out his hand.

I clasped that hand firmly.

And just then, perhaps the alcohol had started to take effect.

A commotion broke out among the sailors who had been drinking.

Good. This was another event I'd been looking forward to, at least a little.

I let go of Suin's hand, pulled the leather gloves from inside my clothes, put them on, and clenched my fists tightly.

I would create a legend so that not only Suin, but every sailor, would be unable to forget me.

The goal: knock everyone out.

After smiling at the startled Suin, I plunged into the commotion among the sailors.