The j.a.panese oceans ripped apart by a typhoon.

The scenes I saw on TV during September, are now being reenacted before my eyes.

The only difference is I’m on a boat, standing in the middle of the storm. Although I say storm, the sky is clear and blue.

The clouds are moving a bit quickly, but all you see is the clear winter sky, even the winds aren’t that strong.

But the surface of the sea has waves cras.h.i.+ng into each other and whirlpools.

The waves beating on the sides of the s.h.i.+p sweep across the deck, tall ones falling over our heads even ram continuously at the mast.

The guard s.h.i.+p patrolling around us has been blocked by the fierce waters, trapped in the distance.

Looking and the sky and the sea now, gives me the false impression of looking at heaven and h.e.l.l.

“It shouldn’t be… a giant squid, huh?”

“Of course not. Around the continent of Seisakoku, there’s a special current known as the ‘natural defense’. This side of the sea is only calm for little over ten days every year. If you miss that period, no matter how skilled the voyager, no one can reach their country. It’s like having an invisible s.h.i.+eld as hard as rock! It’s also why they were able to stay in lockdown for the past few millennia.”

Soaked to the bone by the water spray, we move to the control room.

As the s.h.i.+p is already slanted beyond any more slanting, we are forced to hold the rails on the walls and inch our way forth.

This feels a lot like the pirate s.h.i.+ps I used to ride in those familiar amus.e.m.e.nt parks.

But Sara loses his grip on the slippery surface, and almost falls onto the slanting floor.

“Careful, Sara!”

Before I even reach out, Lord Weller has already grabbed his slender shoulder and pulled him back to his side.

Oh, right, because he gives off a very delicate feeling, I subconsciously feel like protecting him.

Problem is, he already has a dependable bodyguard by his side. He doesn’t need an amateur like me worrying about him.

On the other hand, my bodyguard put his right hand over his eyes, s.h.i.+elding the light as he looks into the distance.

“What a shame, looks like I don’t have the chance to show you my giant squid exterminating skills anymore. Ah—I get it. This isn’t a squid monster’s doing at all, it’s Seisakoku’s famous current, ain’t it?”

“Whatever you say, Josak, but it’s dangerous for you to stand so far ahead! Come back here quick, come back! Even if your biceps are really strong, if you’re swept down there by the waves there’s nothing for you to hold on to!”

“How mean, Your Majesty, do you only emphasize on my body?”

It’s hard to tell who’s the bodyguard, exactly.

Backing up to the entrance, Josak looks at me with a worried expression,

“…The guard s.h.i.+ps can’t be seen with the naked eye anymore, and that’s both s.h.i.+ps. Logically it’s impossible that they sunk, but it looks like they’re quite far away from us now.”

“What… does that mean?”

“We’re being forced into entering enemy territory without any weapons at all.”

I see, being a natural-born soldier, of course he would feel uneasy without a blade by his side for self-protection.

But we’re a peaceful amba.s.sadorial envoy, if someone coming supposedly for peace shows off an exaggerated array off weaponry in self-defense, wouldn’t that be getting everything upside down?

Of course I’ll pray that the guard s.h.i.+ps don’t get in any trouble, but even if they’re not coming along, I don’t mind.

“But first we have to safely get to Seisakoku. Anyway, if we don’t get past this obstacle, we’ll probably end up as food for the fishes.”

The control center of the boat is already soaking in water.

The three crewmen holding tightly onto the s.h.i.+p wheel are using all their weight to steady the s.h.i.+p’s direction.

To prevent the s.h.i.+p for flipping over, they must cross the waves at the right time.

“Who’s the star helmsman here?!”

That’s like the term they use in the culinary world. Hearing Saralegui’s voice, the man with the deepest colored hair turns around and says,

“It’s me, Your Majesty! But for safety purposes, please retire to your cabin and protect yourself with something soft!”

Saralegui presses his spectacle frame to stop his gla.s.ses from flying off on impact, asking,

“Do you have experience crossing these waters?”

The star helmsman raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes, looking surprised.

“Of course not, Your Majesty.”

“What about the captain?”

“Me neither, Your Majesty. Nationally-owned cargo s.h.i.+ps can’t approach Seisakoku.”

The boy king ‘tsks’ unhappily, muttering,

“So at the end I’m the only one.”

I don’t understand what he means by him being the only one.

I look around to see if anyone else heard him say that, but the crewmen are putting their all in keeping the s.h.i.+p steady, looks like no one heard it.

By now I unconsciously grip my fist, telling them,

“Hang in there! No matter what, just hang in there! If there’s anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to tell me!”

“Thank you… However, as the guest you had still better return to the safety of the cabin…”

The short man next to star chef murmurs, gritting his clenched teeth.

Sensing someone moving behind me, I turn around just in time to see Lord Weller walking out of the room.

His hair, shoulders and the back of his Dai s.h.i.+maron army uniform, have all been drenched and changed colors.

“Where are you…”

“Please return to the cabin, and Your Majesty Saralegui, too.”

Being forced under Josak’s protection, Saralegui makes a noise of displeasure, but he can’t stop me following after Conrad.

I think that he surely has a plan for the current situation, so I’m eager to find out as soon as possible.

“What do you want to do? Lord Weller?”

The pouncing waves beat on me mercilessly, if I’m not careful, there’s a high chance I will slip.

Just trying to catch up to him as I grab the rails is sapping me of my strength.

“Answer me!”

“I’m looking for someone.”

He walks down the stairs into the cabins, glancing at me.

After making sure that I haven’t been washed away, he sighs with an expression of resignation,

“I told you not to come with me, there really is no stopping you… It’s dangerous here, so keep closer to me.”

“This concerns the fate of the s.h.i.+p I’m on, of course I’d want to know how to face this. Besides, where I want to go is my own choice, right?”

“But by doing this, you’re forcing Josak to come find you after escorting Sara back to the cabins… You’re as good at troubling your guards as always… Be careful not to slip, watch your step.”

“I know that.”

I brush my soaked fringe away from my face.

Seawater has gone into my eyes and nose, and my throat feels tight and horrible too.

I clench my fist, trying to wipe away the stinging pain on my face, but the corner of my eyes just gets more and more painful.

“Ah, if you rub like that, you’ll…”

And after that Lord Weller falls silent, quietly crossing the pathway between the crates and lifting the floorboard from earlier to look into the dark s.h.i.+p bottom.

That’s the place the alleged slaves, the s.h.i.+nzoku are being kept.

The condition inside can only be described as ‘terrible’.

The water there is knee-deep, you can’t even sit down anymore.

Add that to the fact that there’s nothing st.u.r.dy and fixed in there to hold, so whenever the s.h.i.+p slants, people crash into the walls. Even so, they don’t scream. They just moan quietly and bear it.

“Hey.”

My voice attracts a few golden lights.

Those are the eyes of people who had risked their lives to escape Seisakoku, only to be deported back now.

“Are you all right?”

I really asked a stupid question, there’s no way they are all right.

If we don’t scatter them quickly, once the water comes in faster, they’ll all get three strikes and an out.

But how to explain to them in a language they don’t understand?

“Hey, if you don’t get out of here now, you’ll be in danger…”

Lord Weller turns back into the center of the s.h.i.+p, grabs a lit oil lamp and some paper he tore on the spot before jumping down, and I carefully climb down the ladder too.

“It’d be great if there are any seamen or former navy officers amongst them. Because if they are someone related to Seisakoku’s sea transportation, perhaps they might have the skills to overcome this obstacle. At least they would definitely understand these currents better than Shou s.h.i.+maron crewmen.”

“Ah, I get it! It’s the ‘Are there any doctors...o...b..ard?’ approach, right?”

I don’t bother about my rude ‘what, so it’s just like that’ expression, and start yelling with all my strength in the middle of the s.h.i.+nzokus.

“Please help us! If any of us can steer a s.h.i.+p… Ah—Seriously, the language barrier again!”

“Hold this for me.”

Lord Weller stuffs the oil lamp in my hands, and then starts drawing with the charcoal on the huge piece of paper. Uh—A sun?”

“Is that the sign of the electric source?”

"No!”

“Then what is it… Conrad, you don’t seem to very good at drawing… Ah~ I get it! It’s the s.h.i.+p wheel, are you trying to draw the wheel? Lend me that for a while!”

If art results can be cla.s.sified into an average five levels!

Being someone of approximately the second level, I reach over for the charcoal and draw a huge s.h.i.+p wheel on the back of the paper.

Drawing like this should be OK, right? And then I lift it like a round girl, high over my head.

“Can anyone here steer a s.h.i.+p?! We’re looking for someone who can turn the sort of circle on this paper!”

At first the s.h.i.+nzokus look at us like we’re monsters, but before long they leave the walls they were sticking to, and approach us slowly.

One man raises his hand timidly. His cheeks are sunken, and he looks like he’ll faint anytime now, but his deep golden eyes s.h.i.+ne brightly.

“Are you a helmsman? Thank goodness, Conrad, we found one, there really is one!”

“Yeah.”

“Actually I was sort of skeptical too!”

We usher the man up the stairs without even asking him his name, because we have to get him to the control room as soon as possible, and ask him to help us cross the turbulent seas.

Conrad climbed up ahead of me, and I grab his hand, ready to leave the bottom of the s.h.i.+p.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

“We can’t leave these people here.”

There are more than a hundred gazes trained on us, could this be the only exit?”

“There’s no time now…”

“But what if the s.h.i.+p sinks? Staying down here, there’s no way they can escape. Everybody, this floorboard, this piece of wood here, it’s open! The situation is dire now, so there’s not a single guard. Please be prepared to board a lifeboat at any moment.”

But they just exchange uneasy glances, making me feel again the pain of a language barrier.

“Listen closely, this is open!”

“Your Majesty, please hurry.”

Hearing the familiar t.i.tle, I heave a sigh of relief, thank goodness we understand each other.

“Conrad.”

I lean on the sides of the wooden crates to make my way back to the cabins, but I still don’t get it, so I speak up to ask Conrad, walking briskly beside me.

“Why didn’t those people come out?”

That place is no different from a cave!

“Although s.h.i.+nzokus are different from humans… but they didn’t get a humane treatment. If it was me, I’d have long since lost it, and would even go complain to the authorities.”

“Perhaps they were always taught not to resist, but…”

Just then, the man walking in front of Lord Weller turns around and says something to his companion.

“What happens after today is anyone’s guess.”

He’s probably talking about those who stayed where they were.

Although there were a few lines purposely lower in volume, but soon they become agitated yells.

Even if I can’t understand the contents at all, but when the s.h.i.+p shakes abruptly, and the three of us are thrown onto the crates, he says a few words even I recognize.

Venera? This s.h.i.+nzoku man just said Venera?

That was the word that showed up in the letter to me.

Although we’re not sure if it’s the name of a place or a person, Günter did say it’s most probably a proper noun.

So even if I don’t understand the verbs he was saying before, I still get the noun Venera.

I clearly heard, in this thin man’s spittle-flying highly-agitated speech, the word I know.

“Hey, you said Venera?! You just said Venera, didn’t you?”

I grab his clothes and shake him hard.

His clothes are like the girl who distributed the food earlier, nothing more than a piece of cloth tied with a leather belt.

“Tell me, what is ‘Venera’? The only hope Jason said, the thing Freddy asked to ‘save’. Please tell me, how do I save it? What is Venera to you?”

“Your Majesty!”

The stick-like body seems to be in pain, the way I’m shaking it. Forget speaking, looks like he can’t even breathe.

“Yuuri!”

Conrad forcefully wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me away from the s.h.i.+nzoku man.

My chin even knocks into his shoulder, the pain finally clearing my mind.

“You can’t understand each other at all.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry… It was my fault… and this kind of question can’t be asked with my level 2 art results.”

The expression of the man who was randomly interrogated has become stiff out of fear and shock.

I don’t know if he can understand my apology this way, so I bow my head to him one more time.

“…Let’s go, or it’ll be too late when the s.h.i.+p sinks.”

“Does it start from the front?”

“Huh?”

His half-joking words make me forget about the crisis for a split second.

“When you say your art results are level 2, does that mean you’re second best from the front?”

“Don’t be silly, Conrad, of course I mean second last, counting from the back. It’s okay, you don’t have to comfort me.”

We chat lightly as we climb upstairs, but once we reach there it’s like the end of the world, because each of the crewmen is grabbing something to prevent themselves from being swept away by the waves.

Some of them even tied themselves to a pillar using thick rope.

If I’m not careful while advancing, I’ll probably fall flat on my face when the waves. .h.i.t me from the sides.

The surface of the sea is so turbulent, but the sky is so beautiful it’s otherworldly. The sunlight s.h.i.+ning down from above is bright and warm. It makes the few of us, being tortured by nature, feel like we’re being punished in h.e.l.l.

But, just when I want to take a deep breath, my concentration is broken.

I had definitely distanced myself from the edge of the deck, but a green wave a.s.saults me from above, hitting me on the face and loosening my grip on the corridor railing.

“c.r.a.p!”

Thankfully the rails on the edges of the deck blocks me near my stomach, preventing me from falling overboard, but I also have to thank Lord Weller’s reflexes, since he is holding on tightly to the back of my kitchen uniform.

He would probably ask me ‘are you okay’, as usual.

I sneak a peek at the surface of the sea I nearly plunged into, and having rushed to my side, Conrad also glances at the ocean with his brown eyes.

There’s a whirlpool there, a dark blue circle different from the surrounding waves.

“Are you okay…”

“So close, so close.”

I keep staring at the unnaturally bright blue spot in the middle of the whirlpool, feeling as though I’m being sucked in.

I remember this feeling, but I can’t remember where I felt it before, so it frustrates me.

Lifting my head to look at Conrad, now almost shoulder-to-shoulder with me, I realize that he seems to be thinking the same thing.

I even feel as though a white hand might come out from there, grab my neck and pull me down.

Maybe I will painlessly, without a single clue as to where I am, be brought down to the depths of the sea where my lungs don’t work…

It feels as though someone is calling my name from a distance, so I take an unconscious half-step forward.

Logically speaking, I wouldn’t have fallen in.

If someone hadn’t pushed me from behind.