It feels like riding a see-saw.

The violent shaking tilts the entire floorboard, after cras.h.i.+ng into the right-side wall, now they’re knocking into the left side, everyone’s trying their best to maintain their balance. I, too, am holding the girl we brought out from the bottom of the s.h.i.+p. I want to cus.h.i.+on her as best as I can, after all I still have some muscle on me, while she’s so thin her bones might just break with a ‘snap’!

“This feeling is like ‘that’… the FLYING PIRATES at the theme park!”

“What FLYING PANTS… What a naughty young man you are, still thinking perverted thoughts at a time like this.”

“Don’t try to show off your half-baked translating skills… Ow! I bit my tongue.”

As the man at the helm makes a sudden, short sound, the girl in my arms instantly holds her breath—maybe in their language, that sound is a sort of insult?

Not long ago this s.h.i.+p was handed to the s.h.i.+nzoku man we brought out from the bottom of the s.h.i.+p to steer—that is, one of the ‘slaves who got s.h.i.+pwrecked near Shou s.h.i.+maron’, according to Saralegui. The way I see it, they’re refugees who abandoned their home country, but to someone who was educated since young to become a king, they’re no more than ‘slaves’.

No matter what the truth is, now isn’t the time to be arguing about it. After all when faced with a life-death situation, anyone who can do anything must play their part. Since he’s an experienced sailor who’s traversed these waters before, then he must be more reliable than a new rookie.

To Sara, he’s just a slave; but to me, he’s someone who can lend me a hand.

“Can we possibly survive this storm?”

“From the day I was born, I’ve always felt like I’m living in the vast ocean. I’m the Girl on the Sea, Gurrier… Whoa!”

“Waa—Sorry! I accidently hit your chest.”

“He… Hehe… Young Master, what a powerful hit that was!”

Is it just me, or are there tears in Josak’s eyes?

“But with such bad turbulence, even people other than Wolf would find it hard, right? I don’t usually get seasick, but now my stomach’s all bloated, and I feel like I’m going to vo-vo-vo-vomit—Mph!”

Before tragedy can strike, I clasp my hand over my mouth, my throat full of bitterness. Thank goodness I didn’t just eat. Just then the girl leaves my arms, reaching her hand out to the navigation map on the wet floorboards. The Shou s.h.i.+maron crewmen, huddled together and s.h.i.+vering uncontrollably, see her action and follow suit, because they want to know our current location no matter what.

She uses her weak fingers, with those slightly protruding joints and worn-out fingernails to point at a spot on the simple map. While trying to keep our balance, we crawl over to look. On the map full of waves there’s a fish surfacing from the sea. Quite a few simple markers are connected, circling a continent.

Could that be the ocean borders?

The girl knocks the soaking wet map twice and then uses the same finger to point directly out of the helms room. Outside the window, in the direction she’s pointing, we can see different colored waves.”

“…It’s over there.”

When the Shou s.h.i.+maron crewmen, Josak and I look at the surprising phenomena outside the window, we all can’t help but gasp.

That’s the ocean borderline. I have no idea what magic nature used, but there’s actually a clear borderline on the surface of the sea. The cargo s.h.i.+p is right now on the heavy grey water, and beyond that line is a bright, light green.

“So the dangerous waters end there? So beautiful, and so clear… Who would’ve thought that the sea was so miraculous!”

The girl’s golden eyes are trained on me. But because of the language barrier, I really can’t answer her, even though I do feel her suspicions.

“The waves on those waters are really stable, maybe we can reach Seisakoku like that… Wait a sec, how far away is it from there? It’s so hard to gauge distances on the sea! Mn—About two hundred meters?”

“Young Master, I don’t know how long one of your meters is, but I’m sure it’s not so close by! Because there aren’t any obstructions on the sea, that’s why it looks really near. But the way I see it, it must be at fifty boats away, right? If it’s the land even beyond that… Mn—About three times that distance? But that depends on the accuracy of the map, too.”

Although I don’t know how long a standard boat is, but it shouldn’t be just two or three meters, should it? Just this cargo s.h.i.+p I saw on the deck, from stern to bow it was 90 meters, if we use a number that’s easier to count:

“100 meters x 50 s.h.i.+ps… That’s 5000 meters… Is it really that far!?”

And land is even further than that, since the target is big enough, so if I squint a little I can still see it, but it’s anything but nearby.

“After all we’re on the boat, even if we don’t ask how many knots we’re going at, as long as we get past this obstacle here, and set sail for the calm seas, perhaps we could even reach there by nightfall.”

Just then the shoulder that was always leaning on me suddenly moves, and the girl crawls towards her male companion. The two of them yell at each other a few times, pointing at me and saying something I have no clue about. The s.h.i.+nzoku man holding the s.h.i.+p’s wheel turns his head aside, his expression careful and wary, his golden eyes peeking my way now and again.

It’s very obvious that he doesn’t trust me.

I can’t blame him, because to them, I’m a friend of the Shou s.h.i.+maron king. They were determined to escape even if it cost them their lives, but now they’re forcefully being deported back by Saralegui, so there’s no way they’ll let their guard down even a tiny bit around me, the king’s friend.

“Boat!”

“What?”

The girl suddenly turns back and grabs my hand, even saying a word I understand. Maybe she remembers a few commonly-used nouns?

“Boat!”

She says it again, pointing behind me with her finger. I can’t tell if she’s pointing at the vast ocean behind me, or calling Sazae-san’s mother[1].

“What about the boat? Surely you’re not asking us to turn back now… Ah! Don’t tell me you guys want to take over this cargo s.h.i.+p, like those hijacking sailor-uniform pirates!?”

The girl must have felt my alarm, because she quickly shakes her head sadly in denial. I never thought that not being able to communicate could be so nerve-wracking. I hurriedly look around me, and see the Shou s.h.i.+maron’s ace helmsman has a cylindrical object that looks like stationary in his front pocket, so I quickly ask and take it, drawing a small ‘?’ on the side of the wet map. But, I don’t think Earth’s symbols can be used to communicate here either.

“…Boat…”

Taking the stationary that looks like a pen, the girl draws a human-figure on top of the ‘?’, and draws five of them lined up, then she draws a triangular container underneath them. Judging by the size, it’s more of a rowboat than an actual s.h.i.+p. And then she draws the same thing again, and before the ink on the lines spreads, she quickly presses the finger that was on the human-figures back to her chest, as though saying ‘this is me’. A little distance away, she draws a large triangle, and this time she points at me and Josak. Those golden eyes stare straight at us, desperately trying to get the message across.

“Sorry, I’m not really…”

“I know!”

Josak, who was watching quietly, smacks his chin with his fist.

“She wants a lifeboat!”

“What? Lifeboat? Oh—that’s it, I was wondering why that boat is so small, turns out it’s a lifeboat. Then, this big one is the cargo s.h.i.+p… Then, what you mean is you want me to let you guys escape on a lifeboat?”

I have no idea if she understood me or not, but she’s nodding her head, hard.

“It’s already come to this, so why do you still want to escape? Your own country is right there!”

“Seems like Your Majesty guessed it.”

Maybe it’s because the rocking has gotten slightly more stable, so the spy leaves my side, saying,

“They… and those people underneath the boat, they should be the same. They may be trying to say that, rather than returning to their home country, they’d rather brave the stormy seas, right? Even if they have to ride on a tiny boat that might capsize at any moment.”

“Eh!? Wait, you guys plan on going back? Stop joking! How can a small lifeboat cross such a scary and rapid current! Won’t you be just like a leaf bobbing on the surface of the vast, turbulent ocean?”

I stand up from beside the navigation map, staring at the skinny girl,

“About that, I’m not trying to curse you or anything. Why don’t you land on Seisakoku first, then do your preparations before challenging the seas again? If the king there or Saralegui object, then even if my power isn’t much, I’ll still put in a word for you.”

The man at the helm shakes his beard, yelling over here. The girl raises her right hand to stop him, shaking her head slowly, so we can tell that she more or less understands my suggestion, only to reject it instantly.

“Why? Do you think I’m so unreliable? Do I look like a man who doesn’t keep his word? Josak, say something for me!”

“Me?”

The usually cheerful spy grabs his orange hair, looking as though he wants to bluff his way through. Water drips from his biceps.

“What a bother… Young Master, I just can’t! What do you want me to say? If you want me to tell these people who came out here with their lives on the line to go back to that place filled with nightmares, I just can’t say it.”

“Filled with nightmares…”

“Since they abandoned the home they grew up in, they must surely have their reasons, so I really can’t think of anything to say that can persuade them. Even though I have to obey whatever orders Your Majesty gives me, this is a bit too much!”

Maybe he’s remembering his own experiences, because Josak can’t help but frown and sigh. He who suffered because of his mazoku bloodline, also experienced escaping from s.h.i.+maron to s.h.i.+n Makoku before. Maybe that’s why he feels this way?

Even so, I can’t accept her request. Even if I help these s.h.i.+nzoku leave, like she hopes I will, it’s simply impossible to cross the stormy seas in that little boat. Even if Lady Luck smiles on them, their chances of survival are practically zero.

“Speaking of which, how many lifeboats do we have? F-four?”

The Shou s.h.i.+maron crewman raises four fingers, even if they can squeeze in thirty adults, it’s still far away from the number of s.h.i.+nzoku we have.

“No matter how you squeeze it’ll still be overloaded, right? When I saw you guys at the Saralegui War Port, I already thought you guys were squished so tight… Hey, wait a sec… speaking of your people…”

The images from several dozen days ago appear in my mind suddenly, that time when ‘Friends on the Sea’ saved two s.h.i.+nzoku children. s.h.i.+nzoku of all ages squeezed onto a tiny, sinking boat. The adults who aren’t holding little children, desperately waving their arms; tiny children grabbing onto their parent’s or sibling’s knees to prevent being tossed into the sea by the waves. It’s nothing short of a miracle that a boat like that, which could fall apart at any moment, managed to make it all the way to the s.h.i.+maron continent. After finding out about the conditions of the Seisakoku waters, I finally understand what a dangerous thing that was. But there’s something bothering me: exactly how many people are stuffed into this boat?

“How many companions do you have down there? No matter how I look at it, it seems there are even more than those seeking for help at the port… And…”

I desperately recall the heavy atmosphere underneath the boat. Though there’s oxygen there, it’s also filled with the suffocating smell of seawater. There wasn’t any talking, or any babies crying.

“What about the children? Where did the children go? That’s weird, just too weird. Although I saw less people at the port, but then there were adults, children, and babies. Technically there should be kids like Zeda and Zisha, who are younger than you. Where did all those kids go? There’s obviously more than twice the number of people here, but not a single child, so what on earth is happening here!?”

“Uhm…”

The ace helmsman whose pen was taken away raises his gaze, timidly trying to interrupt. In that instant when our gazes meet, he immediately s.h.i.+rks away, saying in a tiny voice completely unlike a sea man,

“I think—I think the children are probably under our military’s custody.”

“Military custody? Do you mean rescue? Doesn’t Saralegui think he’s rescuing the pa.s.sengers of a s.h.i.+pwreck? That’s why he wants to send them back to their home country! It’s just that I can’t forgive him for treating them as slaves, and using such a horrible att.i.tude too. And the truth is just like I antic.i.p.ated too, they weren’t s.h.i.+pwrecked, they’re real refugees.”

“That’s why King Saralegui sends the useless adults and old people back every year. Because once they’re around this girl’s age, it gets easy to tell their worth as a s.h.i.+nzoku.”

Worth?

The youngest-looking guy on the s.h.i.+p, holding the ace helmsman’s left arm, has an expression that says ‘any citizen of Shou s.h.i.+maron would know something like that!’ as he continues,

“Amongst the s.h.i.+nzoku, there are people with powerful houryoku and people with no houryoku. Anyone who’s around this girl’s age and still doesn’t know how to use houjutsu is a useless s.h.i.+nzoku. Maybe if they put in more effort like us humans, they may still be of use someday, but they would still be worthless as s.h.i.+nzoku. To be blunt, they’re trash, bottom-feeders. After all, all those guys are good for is their powerful houryoku. If they don’t know how to use houjutsu, and can only plainly work hard, they’ll be sent to the mines under the shelter. That’s all the use they have.”

“What a horrible way to think.”

“Eh!? P-please, forgive me!”

It could be that I unconsciously frowned. Although he apologizes, he doesn’t seem to plan on shutting up any time soon.

“And these years a lot of people end up adrift on the sea, so now it’s supply over demand. After all, even slaves have to eat and sleep, so now that we’re suddenly stuck with so much trash we can’t sell off, what’ll we do if they eat us to bankruptcy? That’s why we took this chance to gather them all up and send them back as local produce, but babies and brats… children are different!”

The crewman’s tone is getting harsher and harsher, and, the girl’s shoulders start shaking, her hands pressed on the navigation map. Technically she shouldn’t understand what we’re saying, but she lowers her head, biting her lip. The young man doesn’t notice her appearance at all, and even swings his ponytail forcefully.

“Children and babies have unlimited potential! So as long the refugees who drift over have kids, the military will take all of them under custody.”

“You say custody… for what? Are you going to adopt them and educate them, or give them tests?”

“Adopt? Im—po—ssi—ble—”

The star helmsman nudges his subordinate, who’s laughing and waving his right arm, maybe he’s nervous over his too-casual att.i.tude? But the young man only frowns, unhappy with his boss rough actions, and continues carelessly,

“Of course we’ll sell them!”

“Sell. Them?”

“That’s right. Sell them to the merchants while they’re still babies, then increase their houryoku and teach them houjutsu then sell them to the armies of other countries! And they can be sold for a high price too! Of course that’s after we, the Shou s.h.i.+maron army, choose the best of them for our ranks.”

The young crewman continues ranting, “It’s just that recently there’s been too much brain drain, a few of the excellent teachers and trainers were headhunted to the other countries—previously when s.h.i.+nzoku were mentioned, then they must have been trained by Shou s.h.i.+maron; ironically, I heard that we’ve eve started importing them recently—”, but my brain is desperately trying to process those completely unreal words.

When I heard about the slaves from Saralegui back then, I should have thought something like this would happen. Shou s.h.i.+maron is selling those drifting s.h.i.+nzoku as ‘stock’. Come to think of it, the s.h.i.+nzoku twins I met in the plains—Jason and Freddy are also like that. So they’re probably the so-called strong houjutsu users, that’s why Nigel Weizs Maxine bought them and started dragging them around with him?

They left their country when they were just babies, and were raised with a so-called education, so they have no clue at all about their hometown. They obviously don’t know a thing about Seisakoku, and yet they cried, saying that they wanted to go back.

“But, after these trash s.h.i.+nzoku are deported back, forget their original lives as slaves, they’ll probably be treated even worse, as deserters! Considering that, no wonder they don’t mind a precarious lifeboat, and just want to escape no matter what…”

“You guys… are so horrible!”

The horrible one is me, I never learned my lesson, and still can’t control my temper.

Maybe he’s shocked by the words I say and the sound of something hitting the floorboard, because the young Shou s.h.i.+maron crewman’s brown eyes go wide with fear.

“How can you say it so confidently, that’s human trafficking, you know!? That’s a crime, and it’s something a human shouldn’t do, right!? Has no one scolded you? Not one?”

“Your Majesty, you mean…”

Seeing his subordinate shocked into stillness by my furious expression, the elderly star helmsman replies in their stead,

“But they are slaves.”

“You guy, all you say is slaves, slaves, slaves! You’re adults who should have gotten your moral education, don’t you think saying something like that is embarra.s.sing!?”

He replies, looking confused,

“To us, that’s a matter of fact.”

“Matter of fact?”

“He’s completely right, Your Majesty.”

Josak, who previously kept his silence, says in a lecturing tone behind me,

“Since you guys already know it, then stop doing it. After all if no one pointed out if what you’re doing is right or wrong, you yourselves won’t notice it. Like me, I used to think that I’m just like cattle or horses, nothing more than livestock. Until a certain someone reminded me, only then did I change that way of thinking.”

“But Josak, this is human trafficking! It’s really… it’s really a crime. From a humane point of view, how can this be treated as a matter of fact!?”

“It’s true!”

The elderly helmsman interrupts. Only he uses a voice so small it’s barely audible. His cheeks, blown to redness by the sea wind, are trembling, but I don’t understand why.

“It’s a matter of fact. We think… of them as slaves, as living creatures beneath us.”

“So you guys don’t care at all, and just treat them as stock?”

This last minute excuse, heats me up from the bottom of my throat.

Even if I scold the c.r.a.p out of a couple Shou s.h.i.+maron people here, there won’t possibly be a change in the situation. Even if I take out my anger on the people in front of me now, all it’d do is show how petty I am. I keep trying to convince myself in my head, ‘now isn’t the time to be driven by emotions’, but still things don’t go according to plan.

“Hmph! You don’t judge a person by hitting percentage and defending percentage, but by their worth as a person. I really don’t understand what kind of basis do you have for judging! I hope you really must tell me. Just take him as an example…”

The s.h.i.+nzoku man gripping the wheel tightly opens his eyes wide when I suddenly point at him, and s.h.i.+rks away timidly.

“Take him for an example. He has an ability none of you experienced seamen have, he can navigate these evil seas. But you treat him as inferior to s.h.i.+maron people, keeping him in the bottom of the s.h.i.+p and putting a price tag on him to sell, deporting him if he can’t be sold. I really don’t get it, I don’t understand at all, how on earth is he inferior to you? Please explain!”

If I was in j.a.pan living a normal life, I would never have considered anything like this. Anything about slave merchants, buying people just like ourselves with money, that stuff only happens in history books or countries far, far away.

But, right now it’s happening right in front of my eyes.

I still have the blood letter from Jason and Freddy in my pocket. Right before me are people desperate to leave the land they grew on, and would rather dive into the terrifying waters than go back.

Is Seisakoku h.e.l.l?

To them, is it a terrifying place that is meaningless to return to?

And I actually sent two young girls back to such a terrifying place?

It’s not an easy task, trying to calm down the anger that suddenly hit boiling point. But afterwards, those rash emotions turn to self-loathing.

“d.a.m.n, if that’s so, of course they wouldn’t want to go back.”

I raise my cold hand up to press my forehead, my entire body slumping down to sit on the wet floor boards. The girl, probably thinking I’m not feeling well, holds my left hand with her thin fingers. Those thin and pale fingers, without much flesh and mostly joints. I suddenly remember the fact that, just a few weeks ago, I got a girlfriend in j.a.pan—

At Murata’s high school festival, that school where everyone aims for college, I just happened to meet Has.h.i.+moto, who graduated from the same middle high as me. Though her hands had callouses from holding tennis rackets, but they’re obviously warmer and softer than this girl in front of me right now.

They’re obviously girls of the same age, but there’s such a big difference in the feel of their hands.

“Thank you, I’m fine.”

The little bit of heat I feel from that slight skin contact, makes me feel a gentleness I can’t put to words. Even after she was treated so inhumanely, she still worries about my health.

“…I’m fine, and I’ll never take you back to that place.”

Just then the crewmen suddenly look up in shock, and then they take off for the cabin door just like that. But before they can make their move, a certain someone immediately kicks the wet floorboards, making a sound.

“Mph-eek!”

“All right~ Don’t panic, don’t panic—”

The spy with the superfast reflexes raises the corners of his lips, and quickly uses his feet to keep the control room door shut, his stance saying clearly that before this is all sorted out, no one’s to leave the room. Having given up reporting to Saralegui, the star helmsman speaks up decisively,

“You want to give the lifeboats to these people?”

“Unfortunately, star helmsman, I don’t plan to do that at all! How can such a tiny boat cross such a dangerous stretch of sea?”

Come to think of it, just the fact that the worn-out boat Zeta and Zuusha rode could make it to Shou s.h.i.+maron is a miracle of miracles. If they didn’t just happen to meet the current’s stable period, many people would surely have died.

How can I let something like that happen in front of me?

As I contemplate, Josak says from above my head,

“If we want to send them off on a larger boat… Then all we can do is give this cargo boat to them. But that white and fluffy boy king would never stay quiet about this. Ah! That’s right.

"We’ll just say that these s.h.i.+nzoku are rebelling! And then they threaten the owner of this cargo s.h.i.+p, planning to chase us away. As for the role of the hostage, leave it to me!”

I try imagining those skinny s.h.i.+nzoku, pinning the healthy soldier in the long-sleeved ap.r.o.n from behind so he can’t move his arms. No matter how you look at it, this hostage looks unnatural. Even if a dozen of them attack at once, I don’t think they’d be a match for Josak.

To be nice, you could say that man is gentle, to put it bluntly he has no aura at all. It could be because they were imprisoned under such horrible conditions, but even if you provoke them, they would never have the guts to rebel.

“Mn—To call them pacifists doesn’t feel right either. No, wait, Gurrier. Never do something as dangerous as inciting a rebellion. Whatever happens, we must make sure this is a bloodless battlefield, a bloodless boat…”

Just then I glance out of the window, seeing the border on the surface of the sea as clearly as though it was drawn on with a pen, If we can just make it past that line to the area of the sea where the color is darker, we can probably make it to Seisakoku easily. By then, it’s okay even if we’re on small boats.

Even if we’re on lifeboats.

“Josak.”

“What is it, Young Master?”

“Later I’ll be saying some very scary lies, don’t look down on me.”

“What do you mean, look down on you, you’re over-exaggerating again.”

He keeps his long legs pressed against the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest, even flexing those gorgeously-lined biceps underneath the long-sleeved white ap.r.o.n—the body of an outer fieldsman that deeply mesmerizes me.

“Lies and disguise are the essence of the intelligence sector, you know! They’re Gurie’s fa~vorite! But if it’s coming from the Young Master, then in the eyes of an experienced intelligence officer like me, it wouldn’t even count as a lie!”

Although this has nothing to do with disguise at all, I’m not so naïve as to believe the words of a person who’s supposed to protect me.

“No, I think it’s a lie. For all you know, it’s an evil lie that may lead to life and death.

At first I wanted to put my arms in front of my chest, but at the last minute I bring them to my forehead, because if I didn’t do that, I would laugh out loud from the embarra.s.sment.

“What a bother, I’ll steal something later too! Looks like you really can’t underestimate the old sayings(1). I’m horrible, huh, a king who lies.”

“Mn—You shouldn’t blame yourself so much anymore. Besides, Gurrie has recently been working with silent, stoic superiors, so…”

The loyal s.h.i.+n Makoku spy cracks his knuckles as he looks at the Shou s.h.i.+maron crewmen, the dangerous expression of spotting a prey and being so happy he’s shaking on his face.

“…I’m just in the mood to show off my acting skills.”

The lower half of the captain’s quarter door has decolorized due to the beating of the waves.

I knock the wooden door lightly with my fists, opening it without waiting for a reply. The quick crewmen have already started running up and down the stairs leading from the deck to the cabins.

“It’s bad! Sa…”

“Yuuri, what’s up…”

Saralegui turns around, holding two s.h.i.+ny things, and there are lots of clothes on the bed. Colorful cloth sticks out of the suitcases by his feet, too.

Seeing this overly peaceful scene, my legs can’t help but go weak.

“In an emergency situation like this, what are you doing now?”

“What am I doing? I’m matching outfits, of course! After all we’re meeting the king of Seisakoku, so we can’t wear salty-smelling travelling clothes, right? Oh yeah, Yuuri should choose a suit from here as well. If you don’t mind, you can take them all! Right, Lord Weller, help me take that suitcase over there.”

Lord Weller is standing in the corner of the room that is not wide by any standards, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. There are pale-colored s.h.i.+rt hanging on his arms, making him a living clothes rack, as ridiculous as they come. No—I have no right to insult someone else’s guard.

“Matching what outfits… Please, it’s not like we’re going to a ball!”

Scolded by me, Saralegui looks a little agitated too.

“But Yuuri, it’s very important to leave a good impression, right? Although a young kid like me doesn’t have the pride of a king, but at the very least I have to pretend a bit on the outside, then I can overpower him by my presence!”

“That’s true, but…”

First impressions are indeed very important. Hearing Saralegui, who received kingly training, say so, even I have to deeply agree. But after glancing around, I realize that the official clothes he brought are all either s.h.i.+ny pieces of jewelry, or light floaty lace. If you put them on me, who’s only fit for school uniforms and sports clothes, forget the saying ‘people wear clothes, the Buddha wears gold’, it’s practically ‘the monkey wearing new clothes’!

“I’ll pa.s.s, thanks for offering.”

“Don’t say that, or do you want me to help you choose? Ah, but those black clothes still fit you best! Although people have been telling me that black is an evil and ominous color since I was a child, but my impression of it has changed completely since I met Yuuri! Or maybe it’s because those clothes were specially designed for a special someone?”

But in my current high school, there are almost 400 people wearing the same clothes.

“The waves have finally calmed down, looks like we should reach sh.o.r.e in less than a day now! We’ve already pa.s.sed the dangerous area, right?”

Seeing the way he tilts his slender chin, saying, ‘Are you here to inform me of that?’, I finally have a chance to cut to the chase, my mind automatically raising my hand.

“Sara, now isn’t the time to be picking clothes! Forget about all that for now, let’s escape from here!”

“Escape? Why?”

That golden hair so pale it’s almost translucent falls on those slender shoulders, the neatly-manicured pink fingertips pus.h.i.+ng up the pale-colored lenses.

“Have the slaves done something?”

At first he didn’t believe something like that was possible, but after zero point something seconds, his expression becomes extremely uneasy. That odd moment that I suddenly notice makes me want to frown, but I desperately hold myself in check.

But what was that split second change? This is the boy king Saralegui, who ruled the country since he was only seventeen and has kept on bravely, working hard to this day. His stand is very similar to mine, so I believe we can share our deepest frustrations, making him a friend that I can relax with, is around the same age as me, and a person fated to be king.

But I seem to have glimpsed another side of him.

“Could it be, they rebelled!?”

“No, it’s not that. This has nothing to do with the s.h.i.+nzoku, it’s the boat, the boat! Sara, listen to me, c-c-calm down and listen to me!”

I suddenly sort of wish he would retort, ‘You should calm yourself down first.”

Josak is yelling not far behind me, his character not only looking concerned for my safety, but also fanning the flames of agitation, causing the other crewmen to feel uneasy. Right now I can only put in more effort myself.

“The star helmsman reported to the captain, saying that this boat is in great danger, it’s gonna sink! You heard the creaking sounds, right? According to the guy in charge of the luggage, there are already quite a few leaks in the bottom of the boat. Looks like this normal cargo boat can’t cope with a dangerous current like that after all.”

Saralegui pushes aside the hair on his face with a finger, quieting down and listening intently. The ruckus on the deck disappears immediately, leaving only the sound of wooden boards creaking.

“Do you hear that? The boat’s sinking, you know!? I heard that if it goes on like this, in another ten minutes it’ll snap in half! So we have to escape from this boat as soon as possible! If you think you share a fate with this cargo boat, then that’s another matter. No matter what, stop picking clothes, you just have to bring the precious, necessary stuff!”

“But Yuuri, you say you want to escape, how do we… escape?”

“Aren’t there lifeboats...o...b..ard!? There shouldn’t be too many people, right?”

I run past the door into the room, flipping over the king’s suitcase. All the bright and beautiful cloths scatter onto the ground, and are replaced by what looks like coats and carpets--At a time like this, I’ll just use force.

“Yuuri, what are you doing!?”

“In weather like this we should take insulating clothes, and we have to make sure we’re not splashed on by the waves. If we throw away the things in the suitcase, we can even use it as a lifebuoy… Hurry, Sara, don’t just stand there!”

The boy who was trained as a n.o.ble since young seems clueless, so right now I’m rather grateful that I was born in a normal household.

“I’ve never ridden that kind of tiny boat!”

“Relax! Not only have I ridden inflatable rafts, I even experienced sitting in a swan boat ride with two grown men.”

“What to do? Young Master. Do you need me to lift the weak king, too?”

Holding the captain, who’s foaming at the mouth, by the neck, Josak runs in to ask, lifting him instead of dragging him on the ground. The voice is coming from not far behind me, so even if I walk in front, he can still reach me with his arms.

“It’s okay, there are no problems here on my side. We have to get everyone ready to abandon s.h.i.+p. Saralegui, we can’t always stay on a sinking s.h.i.+p, we still have to get to Seisakoku, right?”

“But Yuuri, what about the gifts and… those slaves? There’s no time now to move all the cargo to the lifeboats, right?”

“We leave them all here.”

In that instant a shadow seemed to flit past those eyes, hidden underneath pale-colored gla.s.ses. At first I thought he was surprised, but then Saralegui lifts his head, smiling slightly. I, on the other hand, speak stutteringly, though I just desperately practiced these lines a while ago.

“Although th-they’re very pitiful, b-but we have choice. After all, slaves… Saralegui. The situation is dire, right now…”

My mouth feels so tight, but I still hide it as best as I can.

“…C-compared to s-slaves, of course we should consider our own lives first. I pity them, and thought we could at least take the women and children with us… I tried to convince them, but I don’t know if they understand me, because not a single person was willing to come up with us. We can’t do anything anymore, so we just have to leave them here. All that’s left is for them to pray to G.o.d.”

“Mn!”

The slender chin moves back lightly, and Saralegui nods his head twice in satisfaction.

“Mn. Yuuri, you’re perfectly right. They’re slaves, this is their fate since they were born. You don’t have to worry about them, that’s what they mean by ‘each to their own destiny’.”

“Your Majesty Saralegui, although this has nothing to do with me…”

Lord Weller, who was previously quiet, suddenly clears his throat interrupting our conversation, and tossing aside the sparkling clothes on his arms. His expression is neither worried nor surprised.

“Since this lord has spoken as such, it seems best to leave as soon as possible.”

“See, even your lackey says so, it’s better to listen to your bodyguard’s suggestion, you know! Get onto the lifeboats with the captain. I still need to make a trip to the control room, to tell the helmsman to evacuate!”

After this Lord Weller will retreat with him safely, right? To him, it’d be a big problem if the person he was protecting were to sink into the sea. After saying those words, I hurriedly turn around and dash towards the deck, because I can’t stand that sense of disgust for a moment longer.

I just keep feeling as though, in that room covered with colorful, beautiful clothes, the dirty words from my mouth are still reverberating. As though they’re telling me, ‘You said those things with your own mouth’, making me unable to stay in the same room as Saralegui.

“I hate this--, it’s so dirty--! Not a single man will say the truth anyway—”

“Don’t say that in such a disgusting voice! The problem is those crewmen who know the whole story. We never offered anything in exchange, neither did we pay for their silence, so how do we keep them quiet?”

“No—problem, it’s too easy. As soon as things get tense, we can just sew their lips shut.”

“Waa! Just listening to it hurts! Please don’t crack any dark jokes at a time like this, you made me imagine that scene!”

Josak immediately moves to my side, teasing me quietly as he follows me, das.h.i.+ng towards the control room currently in battle. The angle of the deck is more stable now, and it’s easier to run across it. In fact, the tremors from the people running everywhere in panic is more intense than the beating of the waves. But even if the cargo s.h.i.+p is much more stable now, it’s still hard to maintain the right position in these waves, right? This needs a certain set of skills and knowledge. Anyway, right now I need to report the current situation as soon as possible, and then move on to the next stage of the plans, or it’ll be too late once the s.h.i.+p really sinks.

My war plan right now is:

Let Saralegui believe that the cargo s.h.i.+p is going to sink, moving all the Shou s.h.i.+maron crewmen onto the lifeboats, then using the maximum capacity and language barrier as an excuse, leave all the s.h.i.+nzokus...o...b..ard. Sara will follow us on the small boats to sail across the peaceful sea to Seisakoku, and the s.h.i.+nzokus can leave with the cargo s.h.i.+p, to seek refuge at a country other than s.h.i.+maron.

“To be honest… this plan is too simple, no one’ll fall for it, will they?”

“About that… If it were me, I wouldn’t fall for it.”

“Ah! I knew it—”

“But if you just want to trick that young king, hasn’t it gone quite smoothly?”

“You mean Sara? Why!? Is it because Sara is more honest than you?”

“Aiya~ Young Master, isn’t that really rude of you? Gurrier-chan is as honest and innocent as a priestess[2]! However…”

Josak poses like a sophisticated lady, pressing his pointer finger to his lips and raising his head to look upwards.

“Gurrier-chan knows that Young Master is relatively smart, but the other young master is another matter altogether! I think he seems to look down on Young Master a little! If you don’t lie a bit and trick him, he’ll probably step right over you.”

So he thinks that ‘I run really slowly, so I’ll just obediently run home, and won’t steal bases’?

“Hmph! Sometimes I try stealing too[3].”

The lock on the control room door has been broken, bending at an unnatural angle. I put my hand on it, quietly taking in a deep breath. There’s the smell of the sea breeze in the air.

“Will all the members on this s.h.i.+p please evacuate onto the lifeboats! I have something to request of the helms team--! Please don’t say out what we were discussing in this room… Eh?”

At first there were supposed to be three Shou s.h.i.+maron men and two s.h.i.+nzokus, five people in total, but now there are only three figures. Looking around for the other two, I’m surprised to find them on the ground, tied up and bound in hay mats. I just happen to stumble across the oldest star helmsman amongst the Shou s.h.i.+maron crew stepping on the younger crewman and tying him up, even carefully gagging him with a cloth. But I don’t ask him what cloth he’s using, to save him some face.

“Eh? Mn—What are you doing?”

Is this internal conflict, or mutiny? Though it seems a bit too small scale.

“Ah, Your Majesty. Forgive me! I let you s-see such an embarra.s.sing thing!”

“No, I should be apologizing. I’m still bothering you at a time like this… what on earth are you doing?”

Hearing someone from another country address me respectfully as Your Majesty made me feel shy, and I had to resist the urge to correct him, ‘Your king should be Saralegui, right?’

“I’m here to ask you to keep a secret… But from the looks of things something came up.”

“Yes. Ah, no… You’re right… Your Majesty from s.h.i.+n Makoku, we’ve already made up our minds, to live or die with this s.h.i.+p, which is like the life of a seaman. This is our collective wish as a crew.”

“Mm-gaah—”

The star helmsman kicks the bound young man to quiet him down. The thin girl and the man still holding the wheel, on the other hand, are standing and staring with their mouths wide open.

“Please convey this message to His Majesty Saralegui—This cargo s.h.i.+p… is old and worn out, and probably outdated by today’s standards, but it’s still after all an important boat handed to us by the previous king of Shou s.h.i.+maron, His Majesty Gilbert. Even if it’s just a small, dirty, broken-up s.h.i.+p in His Majesty Saralegui’s eyes, it’s still an important property of the country. Without the permission of His Majesty Gilbert and the people, we can’t abandon it so easily. So we three helmsman have decided not to abandon s.h.i.+p.”

“Mm-mm-gaa—”

“That’s right, this kid here is also saying, ‘Even if we have to die in these waters, we won’t leave this s.h.i.+p.’ Aiya~ Although his position isn’t high, he still is a seaman at heart, how impressive! Wahaha, wahahaha!”

Perhaps he’s trying to liven up the atmosphere, because the previously completely silent room is suddenly filled with awkward laughter.

The one to sink with the s.h.i.+p should be captain, right? Even I’m not sure if I should correct him.

“Uh—Hold on a sec, star helmsman. You should know that this cargo s.h.i.+p is fine, right?”

“More or less.”

“If so, you should know that right now we don’t need any tear-jerking famous captains, right?”

“I know. That’s why I don’t plan on doing what I said. I just hope you can convey my message to His Majesty Saralegui… Because, Your Majesty…”

The man looks troubled, drooping his eyebrows. He glances at the s.h.i.+nzoku at the helm, and then averts his gaze awkwardly.

“I’m worried that if we just leave them and the people at the bottom of the boat, the same thing might happen again. Even if he has the ability to cross this nightmarish currents, what about the voyage afterwards? Without a decent crew and a detailed navigation map, he might do the same thing as last time, and steer the s.h.i.+p towards Shou s.h.i.+maron.”

His fingers are playing with the ropes. It could be just me, but I feel as though even the roots of his ears are red. Looks like seamen are all rather innocent.

“I… That… I just feel that it’s such a waste to send this genius helmsman back to Seisakoku as a slave. Whatever… I’ll just say it honestly, truth is I refuse to admit defeat!”

“Refuse to admit defeat? What’s there to admit?”

The star helmsman stomps down on his subordinate in frustration, even the cracks between his beard turning scarlet.

“His ability—I envy the fact that he has the ability to steer this s.h.i.+p past these waves! As a helmsman, I hope to learn from him. I hope that before I die, I can learn how to traverse those currents safely, the skills to conquer the unconquerable!”

“But aren’t they slaves?”

I know it’s mean to say that now, but I can’t help my expression slowly melting, and continue with my hands on my hips,

“I remember you said that, right? You said that they’re inferior creatures. Something like that shouldn’t have anything worth learning from, right?”

“As expected of the Young Master. Your words really hit the sweet spot~”

Another even meaner line comes from beside me. Only his words inexplicably make my heart feel warmer. As for Josak, who’s almost laughing out loud, there isn’t any irony in his tone at all.

The Shou s.h.i.+maron crewman lowers his head. He’s just staring at his fingers, as though some important answer is written there. Being in a hurry, we don’t wait for his reply, crossing the room to prepare for the next action. Right then, he finally says in an almost inaudible voice,

“Because…”

“What?”

“We never thought that there are other people with skills and abilities in this world, we never even thought of them as people like us… Because we didn’t know, and we didn’t want to know.”

“Star helmsman.”

Aaah~ Right now I’m touched beyond words, but I don’t show it, and purposely act calm, patting the old hand helmsman’s shoulder. It feels as though the back of this seaman suddenly became so small.

“Since you know that, don’t call them slaves anymore…”

“Yes, sir!”

Josak roughly rolls up the paper by the window-side as he nods proudly.

“You fell in love with him, didn’t you?”

Even the two s.h.i.+nzokus with their language barriers protest ‘No way--!?’ at the same time. It’s not like that, right? It shouldn’t be, and even if it is I don’t plan on finding out.

“Now we should leave everything to the two key people who are deeply in love, because we have to go soon. Right! Emergency subst.i.tute captain, I found the navigation map for the outer seas! Please read it carefully, and lead these refugees to a suitable place. Mn—To get to Seisakoku we need this map over here…”

“Listen up, star helmsman, at the very least you need to get to Shou s.h.i.+maron… Ah~ that’s right! I don’t know if this is useful to you guys, but…”

I simply grab a piece of paper and start scribbling on the yellowed back. But because the paper was soaked in seawater, it’s tough writing.

“It’d be best if you could get to my country… But you might not have enough food and water supplies. d.a.m.n! It’s so hard to write… Whatever, no matter how hard I concentrate, my writing is still horrible anyway. Kaberkott, Sverera, Caloria… Mn, that’s right! Maybe the countries around s.h.i.+n Makoku can help out too. In any case, as long as you get to a country that’s not under s.h.i.+maron rule, even if you can’t land, they will still provide supplies, because I asked beforehand… Here! Although the handwriting is really ugly, at least there’s my signature on it.”

The hastily written essay on the back of a navigation map is just like the slip of paper next to the telephone—bad sentence structures, weird grammar, nothing more than a bunch of nouns. But at least it’s understandable, and there’s my signature too, so ugly no one can copy it. Not only the mazoku, now Mr Hyscliff and Flynn will also lend a hand.

My brain is small, and I can’t store a lot in my memory, so I always thought I could never remember this world’s words. After all, conversing is no problem, so it’s okay even if I can’t read. That’s why I was lazy to practice my writing. But it’s different now, now I’m extremely thankful for Günter, who taught me patiently.

Accepting the soaking wet handwritten letter, the star helmsman stares directly at my face.

“I didn’t think that the mazoku… No, I didn’t think that the other countries have fallen under Your Majesty’s rule without us noticing.”

“Rule? How can I let anyone fall under my rule? Although I’m the king, I’m still just a rookie who just started, who would obey a newbie like me? Oh, yeah, it’s better not to say that just now, my stuff doesn’t matter much.”

I grab the star helmsman’s usual hand, the one holding the ropes.

“You must finish this mission, I now appoint you as the emergency captain of this refugee s.h.i.+p.”

Holding his hand, I suddenly realize I don’t know his real name.

Speaking of which, Sara’s flags.h.i.+p was called the Golden Salmon. I actually remember the name of a s.h.i.+p I rode for just a few minutes, but not the name of the vessel that carried me on this long journey.

“I’m such an idiot, I actually forgot to ask your name and the name of the s.h.i.+p.”

The corners of the Shou s.h.i.+maron man’s mouth and his beard start shaking, and he shake his head gently before grasping my right hand forcefully.

“Your Majesty, this s.h.i.+p is called ‘The Wooden Bear Carving and the Salmon’. As for my name, it’s not important.”

“Well, dammit, you’re too cool! Star captain, I promise you here and now, to remember your deeds, I’ll put a wooden bear carving at the entrance of my house for decoration.”

Truth is there was one there since ten years ago. Not only my house, but my cousin’s and Murata’s living rooms have one too. Looks like this s.h.i.+p was widely loved by the j.a.panese since ancient times.

“All right, Young Master, since we’ve decided who the new captain is, it’s time for us to scram.”

“Got it!”

Releasing the s.h.i.+maron man’s hand, I hold out my right hand to the two s.h.i.+nzoku. The man is still holding the wheel tightly with his stick-thin hands, looking too busy to shake hands with me, but I quickly notice the difference in habits. But even the girl whose golden eyes are filled with tears, has no intention of shaking my hand, maybe because our way of expressing emotion is different than that of Seisakoku?

“Do your best, I’m rooting for you! I’m sorry I couldn’t help much, and really sorry I can’t take you with me, so sorry.”

I really wish she could teach me any formal farewells the s.h.i.+nzoku have, but it’d be too hard to explain.

“I can’t help you any more than this, but your G.o.d will definitely follow you. Although I don’t know what kind of G.o.d it is, but he’ll definitely protect… Eh?”

The girl suddenly grabs my wrist, and rolls up the kitchen uniform sleeve, then she uses her stick-thin finger to press on it.

“That hurts, that hurts! That really hurts!”

Her fingernail is scratching the inner part of my arm forcefully, and it quickly starts swelling and bleeding. I want to pull my hand back, but she suddenly finds strength from goodness knows where, holding onto me tightly and not letting go. The girl’s fingernails are different from Saralegui’s perfectly manicured ones, worm till they’re round and short, and she uses then to draw lines on my arm. Her lowered chin and slender shoulders are shuddering, up and down.

The long wound becomes a curved line, soon turning into a five centimeter long hexagon, with lines connecting the corners inside to form a star, like a simple diamond sign.

“Venera.”

The girl’s golden eyes are sparkling underneath her long lashes, and she says it again, a smile on her face. Since we met, this is the first time she smiled so brightly, hopeful.

“Find Venera.”

“Tell me! What’s Venera!? Is it a person’s name!?”

“Your Majesty! That riddle might take years to solve.”

The spy rushes me, because we can’t linger any longer. Josak’s decision is right, so I resist the urge to grab her shoulders and shake her wildly. Still, I can’t keep my impulse completely under control, so I hug the girl’s body, so thin it could almost break, tightly.

“Wait for me, next time we’ll definitely meet in my country.”

Although we can’t understand each other, I still feel the girl in my arms seem to nod, though it could just be the shaking of the boat.

After getting onto four separate lifeboats, we wave goodbye to ‘the Wooden Bear Carving and the Salmon’. The star captain is standing on the helm of the cargo s.h.i.+p far away, waving a yellow handkerchief slowly, looking blissful.

The crewmen who don’t know the truth, some of them had tears in their eyes when they heard of the three helmsmen’s brave decision, while others tsk-ed and said ‘they sure like to act cool’. The captain, in charge of everything, looks cool; Saralegui, who counts as the owner of the s.h.i.+p doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in the incident, not glancing back even once.

He seems to have put all his thoughts into reaching Seisakoku, how outgoing of him!

We arrive at the calm waters, where the color of the sea is obviously different, but it’s not the same as when we saw it just now either, because now it’s been dyed orange-red by the sunset.

Soon the sky will turn dark. Since we’re unable to land, all we can do is drift on the little boats like leaves, welcoming the night in a foreign land.

The only thing that’s worrying, is that the people on the boats are too densely packed. Over a hundred crewmen are squeezed onto four lifeboats, Josak, Saralegui, Lord Weller and I have to ride on the same boat too- that is the slightly more stable one compared to the other lifeboats, No. 1 steered by the captain.

Even if I’m dressed like a weird chef, I’m still given the royal treatment. To keep me away from the s.h.i.+ps filled with young laborers, the captain saved me a spot from the very start. But to me, it’s more relaxing to sit amongst a group of straightforward men, and listen to them brag of their achievements.

And Lord Weller, with his arms crossed before his chest, is less than three steps away from me. That’s hardly surprising, since he’s Saralegui’s guard.

Josak’s expression isn’t pretty. He turns back and looks at the smaller boats behind us, his brow uncharacteristically creased as he says,

“It’d be better to sit on a boat with twenty string men.”

“Relax! There’s no need to be wound up.”

“But Young Master…”

“I won’t simply trust anyone anymore.”

Touching my left arm through my clothes, the inner part of my arm is slightly warm, but the pale red ring on my dominant right hand is as cold as ice. Who’d have thought that it couldn’t even fit on my pinky! When I realize that, that slight pain starts again, and my body starts s.h.i.+vering almost instinctively.

“Are you cold?”

“It’s okay.”

I wrap the insulating clothing I borrowed around my front. After the sun sets, it’s probably going to get even colder, so I can’t start complaining already. To look at the last remaining rays of sunlight, to get a little more warmth, I raise my head.

When our eyes meet, Lord Weller says something softly. At first I thought he was just mumbling to himself, but when I connect the parts that I can hear, I realize immediately that those words are aimed for me.

“Not bad, you’re a rather decent actor.”

We’ve been found out.

He’s found out that we worked together to put on a show, now we don’t know when he’ll report it to Saralegui, so we have to be careful of him.

Because Lord Weller Conrart is my enemy.