Chapter 50
The Lazybones, steered by Captain Maurice, was equipped with a magic tool. Magic generated wind, and the ship steadily picked up speed.
"Having a magic tool aboard is quite something."
Impressed, I walked over to Captain Maurice, who was gripping the wheel.
A single magic tool was expensive enough to buy a house. Moreover, only a mage could use one. Captain Maurice was a mage with magical power as well.
"Miss, how are you enjoying the ride?"
"It's comfortable. Still, for a ship this fast, you'd never guess it from the name 'Lazybones.'"
I thought back to the languid figurehead and the ship's name. It was anything but lazy—quite the hard worker, in fact.
"No, no. We usually keep pace with the other ships, so we spend most of our time lazing around."
Captain Maurice opened his bearded mouth wide and laughed. He looked livelier than he had at the port, exuding the air of a true man of the sea.
"I can use wind magic too. I'll help."
Ray planted both feet firmly and braced himself. His body began to glow faintly green, and wind swirled around him. It was Ray's specialty, wind magic.
Ray raised his right hand in front of his chest. Wind whipped around them, sending dust swirling.
"How's this?"
Ray extended his arm toward the sails and sent the wind he had created at them. However, although the ship should have caught the wind, it did not speed up.
"Hey, what's going on? The ship isn't going any faster."
"Huh? That's strange."
Al gave him a withering look, and Ray looked back and forth between his hand and the sails.
"Hahaha! Having a mage soldier aboard is quite something. But, soldier, this takes a little knack. I use a wind magic tool, but I ain't creating the wind itself. I control the wind that's already blowing and direct it into the sails. You have to read the flow of the wind."
At Captain Maurice's words, Ray's eyes widened in surprise.
Al and Ray could use fire and wind magic, respectively. However, they had never seen any other mages, nor had they received any formal instruction. Ray was simply astonished by the idea of controlling wind rather than creating it.
"Controlling wind... Wind..."
Ray gazed up at the sails in a daze. Almost as if guided by an unseen force, he reached out his right hand toward them. His body glowed faintly green, showing that he was using magic. However, no strong wind blew as it had before. In fact, the wind raging around us weakened. But after a while, the ship began to accelerate. Ray was controlling the wind around him and directing it into the sails.
"Well, I'll be. To think you could learn to read the wind this well in such a short time. You've got a natural talent. How about quitting the army and working aboard my ship? You could become a fine sailor."
"Thank you. However, I still want to continue working under Romelia-sama."
In response to Captain Maurice's invitation, Ray bowed.
"Goodness, I got turned down. But winds and tides change, too. If you ever change your mind, just let me know."
Captain Maurice laughed heartily, gripping the wheel with his right hand while raising his left toward the sky.
"Now then, Ray-san. Can you tell that a strong wind is blowing over there?"
"No, I can't. How am I supposed to know about wind blowing so far away?"
"You create a little wind and send it out to collide with the wind over there. When you send magic against something, you can feel the impact, right?"
Captain Maurice's words described a sensation I could not understand, since I could not use magic. Ray, who could use magic, seemed to understand, however, and nodded repeatedly.
"Then reach out toward it with your hand and control the wind."
"I see... Like this!"
Ray stretched his hand toward the sky. The ship accelerated again.
"Oh, that's it! You really do have a gift. You're the second person I've seen do this after just one lesson."
Captain Maurice exclaimed in admiration. I had not expected Ray to be capable of this much, either. Then a voice of admiration rose beside me.
"It's wonderful that you can use magic!"
The excited voice belonged to Paula-san. She stared intently at Ray while beckoning Gatt, who was nearby.
"Hey, Gatt, is Ray-san seeing anyone? Do you know anything?"
Paula-san asked without taking her eyes off Ray, but Gatt himself was staring at her wide-eyed.
"Hey, Ray-san. How do you use magic?"
Paula-san spoke in a brighter voice than usual and ran over to Ray. Gatt was left behind, his head and shoulders drooping in utter dejection.
"Yeehaw! Faster, faster!"
A brilliantly cheerful voice rang out overhead. Looking up, I saw that Al had somehow climbed onto the latticework of ropes supporting the mast. He looked thoroughly exhilarated in the wind, but being high up on a swaying ship was unbelievably dangerous.
"Al, don't blame me if you fall."
"I'm fine, Captain Romelia!"
Al laughed, jumped down from the ropes, and landed on the deck. His agility was impressive, especially on a swaying ship.
"See? I'm fine, right?"
"It's good that you have so much energy, but don't blame me if you get seasick."
"No worries, I'm fine!"
Al answered brightly. Behind Al, who was still laughing, Zeze, Jini, and Borel were also trying to climb the ropes.
There wasn't really any work for them to do aboard the ship, so I didn't mind letting them play. Still, it would be something to see how long their energy lasted.