A Ship on the Horizon

One day had passed since we set sail for Merka Island. The weather was perfectly clear, with no hint of rain or storms. The sails billowed in the wind, and the Lazybones cut through the Mebyum Inland Sea.

Amidships, I felt the wind rushing past. The breeze and sunlight were wonderfully pleasant.

Looking aft, I saw Ray standing beside Captain Maurice at the helm. Ray's body glowed faintly green, making it clear that Ray was using magic.

Ray had further improved the ability to read and control the wind. The ship was moving faster than it had yesterday, and Captain Maurice had said that at this rate, we would reach Merka Island sometime after noon. Arriving early would hardly be a problem, so it was a pleasant surprise.

I raised a hand to shade my eyes and looked up at the sky. White sails billowed against the beautiful blue sky, and merely looking at them lifted my spirits.

At the top of the mast supporting the sails was a small lookout platform. Two men were stationed there, one facing forward and the other aft. One of them was Al, with his red hair.

As Al had said yesterday, he really did overcome his seasickness in a single day. For some reason, he wanted to learn about ships, so he had learned how to tie knots from the sailors and volunteered to stand watch.

There was no need for Al, a soldier, to learn a sailor's work. Still, I couldn't bring myself to stop him from trying to learn. Besides, it might prove useful someday, when I built a large fleet of my own—though I had no idea how many years that would take.

When I turned my gaze back to the deck, I saw Jini, Zeze, and Borel at the bow. They still had not overcome their seasickness, and their faces were haggard. Even so, they looked a little better than they had yesterday.

"How are you holding up with the seasickness?"

I walked to where Zeze and the others were at the bow and called out to them.

"Ah, Romelia-sama. I'm managing, somehow."

"Yesterday was awful. I was completely wiped out..."

Jini scratched their head, while Zeze smiled, their face pale beneath their blond hair.

"By the way, Romelia-sama. What's this?"

Zeze was looking at a white board attached to the gunwale. The white-painted board had rounded cutouts on both its outer and inner edges and was mounted flush against the side of the ship. Identical objects could be seen at various points along the gunwale.

"Ah, that's a lifebuoy. If someone falls into the sea, you throw it to them and help them get back to safety."

When I explained it to Zeze, they nodded.

"Then what's that?"

Zeze pointed to a piece of equipment attached to the ship. But I was hardly an encyclopedia.

"Well, what could it be? I'm sure one of the sailors would know."

"Then I'll go ask."

Zeze flashed a bright smile and headed toward the sailors in the middle of the ship.

"Hey, don't run. You'll fall into the sea. Good grief, even seasick, Zeze can't sit still."

Jini watched Zeze run off with a sigh.

"Come to think of it, you and Zeze are close. Have you known each other for a long time?"

"Yes. We come from the same village. When Zeze decided to become a soldier, I was worried, so I came along too."

I nodded as I listened to Jini. It certainly would be worrying to leave Zeze alone.

"Jini! How do they lower that boat?"

Zeze, who had supposedly gone to ask about the equipment, was pointing at a small boat lashed to the gunwale. It was used when the ship could not come alongside. We had used it when boarding the Lazybones.

"You rode in that on the way here."

"Oh? Was that so?"

Jini walked toward the excited Zeze with an exasperated look on their face.

At the bow, only Borel and I remained. Borel was leaning against the gunwale and gazing out at the sea.

"What happened to Gatt?"

When I asked, Borel gestured with a thumb toward the cabin beneath the stern.

"Gatt is laid up—the exertions of yesterday caught up with them."

"I told Gatt to rest, but..."

"Paula's taking care of Gatt now."

"Oh my, oh my."

Borel grinned, and I returned it. I wanted to go take a look, but I didn't want to intrude. I'd have to settle for teasing them later.

Just as I was exercising my iron self-control, a voice rang out from overhead.

"I see a ship!"

I looked up and saw a sailor on the lookout platform atop the mast, pointing ahead and to the right. Al, who was also standing watch there, leaned out from the platform and looked in the same direction as the sailor.

Borel and I looked ahead and to the right. No matter how hard we strained our eyes, we couldn't see anything. After a while, however, a ship appeared beyond the horizon. It was heading straight toward us.

"They mean to make contact with us."

Thinking this might be trouble, Borel and I headed toward Captain Maurice at the stern. Zeze and Jini joined us along the way.

We climbed the stairs leading to the stern and hurried over to Captain Maurice. He had drawn out a tubular spyglass and was examining the approaching ship. Ray was also staring intently at it beside him.

"Captain Maurice, is that a ship from Merka Island?"

"No, that's a ship from the Vahl Archipelago."

Maurice lowered the spyglass, but kept his eyes fixed on the approaching vessel.

"So they're in the same line of work?"

Al grabbed the rope around the mast and jumped down from the lookout platform beside me.

"In some ways, yes, but in other ways, no. It's true that we're all based in the Mebyum Inland Sea. But our territories are different. The Vahl Archipelago is near the Hameil Kingdom, and lately they've been doing whatever they please, taking advantage of the Hameil Kingdom's protection."

Captain Maurice glared at the approaching ship, his face twisted into a bitter grimace.

Though Captain Maurice put it mildly, ignoring territorial boundaries and doing as they pleased amounted to piracy.

"The man at the bow is... Bohn, that bastard!"

Captain Maurice peered through the spyglass again and muttered. I squinted at the approaching ship as well and saw a man at the bow wearing a long blue coat.

"Captain Maurice, will this turn into a battle?"

I asked the question that mattered. If this was going to become a battle, we had to prepare for combat.

Neither Al nor the rest of us had any experience fighting aboard a ship. We wanted to avoid fighting at a disadvantage, but if an enemy was coming, we'd have to steel ourselves.

"No, I don't think it will come to a battle. Miss, can you leave this to me?"

Captain Maurice looked me in the eye. His gaze was full of determination.

"Understood. While we're aboard, we'll follow the captain's orders."

I nodded and shifted my gaze to Al and the others.

"As you heard, unless they attack us, we are not to make the first move. Is that clear?"

At my stern command, Al and the others all nodded firmly.