Setting Sail (2)
"Ugh, this is so boring..."
"That's what sea voyages are like," I replied.
Madly rowing the oars, then eating, starting a mutiny on deck if things went wrong and feeding the officers to the fish, playing captain for a while. Without any of that special excitement, boredom was inevitable.
"Young Hero Ha-jin, how much longer until we reach port?"
"It will take half a day and a little more to cross the Qiongzhou Strait between Hainan Island and Guangdong Province. And you may speak comfortably."
"If that's the case, then I will."
The Qiongzhou Strait, huh.
To be honest I knew almost nothing about the geography of China, so no matter what I heard I could only nod along with a vague oh, I see. The only city I knew was the truly famous Wuhan.
The reason it became famous... better not to think about it.
"I'm going inside to rest."
"Go ahead."
"Aren't you coming in, Mister?"
"I think I'll enjoy the sea view a little longer."
I had no desire to shut myself in a cabin from the middle of a bright sunny day. There would be nothing to do inside anyway, so it was better to feel the sea breeze and stare blankly at the horizon.
I adjusted the straw hat on my head.
It was something Ha-jin had given me because I was a Westerner. He said that while it might be fine on Hainan Island, revealing myself as a foreigner in the Central Plains could cause trouble.
Well, this wasn't the twenty-first century but a medieval martial world, so it wouldn't be strange for the natives to show racial discrimination.
"...Then I won't go in either."
"Do as you please."
What is she, a child?
I leaned against the railing and propped my chin on my hand. Nothing but sea filled my vision. Occasionally something resembling an island appeared, but most were small and not worth looking at from this distance.
...Which meant the only thing left to do was chat.
"I'm bored... Mister, don't you have any interesting stories?"
"My stories wouldn't be very interesting."
I couldn't talk about anything before my possession, and the only tales I could share were from the past two years. Honestly, they didn't seem very fun. It went without saying that I couldn't speak of killing and being killed.
"What about stories of where you live, Mister?"
"I'm from a tiny backwater village."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"For such a remote village to produce a great hero like you, it must have been a dragon's lair and tiger's den."
"Well..."
In truth I had no idea where this body's original hometown was.
The moment I opened my eyes, I had already been conscripted and thrown into a training camp. From there began a survival story that couldn't be told without tears.
I learned meditation techniques, tumbled around building my body, and studied how to handle weapons.
Then, after a month and a half, I was sent to war.
Half a year later, all my comrades were dead.
The fact that I had talent beyond expectations and grew quickly enough to join the knight order was the only piece of luck I could claim. Even that lasted less than a year and a half...
"Mister?"
"What?"
"Look over there!"
Hye-ryeong pointed toward the distant sea. I followed her finger at once. Just as she said, something that hadn't been there before had appeared at the tip of her finger.
"An old ship."
"Indeed."
"Isn't it coming toward us?"
Now that she mentioned it, it really did seem so.
We watched the ship slowly growing larger, absently fingering the weapons at our sides.
Meeting another vessel in the middle of the ocean was common enough, but for it to approach us in a straight line? There was practically no possibility other than pirates.
A merchant ship would have no reason to close in, a military vessel wouldn't look so battered, and it was far too large to be a fishing boat.
"I'll go inform the captain that pirates are approaching."
"We'll have to prepare for a fight."
Of all the rotten luck.
Why did it have to be this ship?
When I turned to check the passengers' expressions, they had begun to notice the vessel yet showed no signs of panic or fear.
Well, with martial artists from the Hainan Sect aboard, who would be afraid?
If there was one thing the Hainan Sect specialized in, it was beating pirates until they were sick of the sight of them.
"Do you get a bounty for catching pirates too?"
"I heard they give a reward if you cut off their heads and bring them in!"
To say such things so casually with that adorable face. As expected of a martial arts world, it really was a martial arts world. I rested one hand on the hilt of my longsword and stared ahead.
"It looks like they'll be close in about the time it takes to burn one incense stick."
The deck vibrated. It seemed the martial artists of the Hainan Sect had all come out. Including me there were roughly seven, but every one of them was a skilled fighter.
Against mediocre pirates they wouldn't suffer so much as a scratch.
The captain, whose face I had never seen, clearly understood this as well; I could feel the ship's speed dropping noticeably. There was no need to flee.
"It's been a while since I've fought on a ship."
"You've done it before?"
"Before I drifted ashore."
The mercenary bastards had given me plenty of trouble with their swordwork. Of course the bigger issue was that I wasn't used to their weapons... A longsword was truly awkward to use aboard a ship.
Not that a poleaxe would have been any better. I'd left it with the Hainan Sect anyway. Carrying one around was cumbersome, and in the Central Plains with its endless forests and mountains it was a difficult weapon to employ. It couldn't be helped.
"Everyone, please go inside the ship! This place is about to become a battlefield!"
Ha-jin's voice rang out from behind us. If that was how the righteous faction did things, then so be it. They were protecting the civilians first. Busy footsteps hurried behind us.
No matter how certain victory seemed, no one wanted to trust their life to a stray arrow or blade.
Who would?
"Coming all the way from the distant eastern islands just to commit piracy. I don't understand it."
"With that kind of tenacity, they could have made decent money if they'd gone into trade instead."
Even measuring straight-line distance, you'd need to stack several Korean peninsulas together, yet they crossed it in crude medieval ships. In terms of seamanship, were they on the level of Vikings?
With such idle thoughts I glared at the pirate ship that had nearly reached us.
The pirate vessel could not be called good even as empty flattery. The hull was covered in traces of breaks and repairs, and moss and seaweed clung thickly to every surface.
They clearly hadn't maintained it at all.
Yet they somehow managed to sail the thing.
Maybe they simply stole suitable ships and used them. It occurred to me that the pirates' goal might not be treasure but the ship itself.
Ah, but a ship is treasure, isn't it?
"Great Hero. It's about time to move."
"Better to board quickly before they climb over."
"That would be best. Blood splattering on our own deck would be messy."
"Mu-gwang. Do not lose yourself in swinging your sword. If you do so in real combat rather than training, you will not escape death."
"Yes! Master!"
From behind came the voices of Mu-gwang and Elder Baek-hyeon. The pair who had been inside the ship had apparently come up to the deck as well.
Hakyung, with whom I had never spoken properly, and the reticent martial artist I had never exchanged a single word with, followed and took positions beside me.
"Roughly fifty on their deck."
"Their skill will be pathetic... but always beware of stray blades."
"Yes! Master!"
Everyone kicked off the deck and soared toward the pirates' ship.
"It seems they were driven by starvation and attacked us."
That was what Ha-jin said once the pirate ship had been dealt with.
As he said, the pirates' condition was terrible. Their faces were so pale it was a wonder they could even hold swords and fight. Whether they had failed to find a ship to plunder or had been plundered themselves, there was truly nothing aboard.
Just a few cheap iron swords.
These guys really had no luck.
If we hadn't been aboard, they might have succeeded in raiding.
Of all the ships they could have chosen, they picked the one carrying us.
Our group alone had three Peak-level experts.
With a mixture of ridicule and pity for the pirates, I wiped the blood from my sword with a cloth. After cutting human flesh, the blade had to be cleaned without fail.
You could shake it off with a swing, but sometimes the blood refused to fly free, so there was no choice. I carefully wiped the blade clean and sheathed the weapon.
Time to head back.
"Ugh, I'm tired."
"You'll be able to rest once we return, so don't worry. We'll need to change clothes first, though..."
"That's right. My clothes are soaked in blood. I want to change quickly."
What are you doing?
When Hye-ryeong shook her collar in irritation, I immediately looked away. If it were just the two of us it might be different, but other martial artists were present.
Being misunderstood would be troublesome.
"Tsk..."
"...It looks like we're about to head back. Let's prepare."
"Everyone, cross back to our ship!"
Elder Baek's voice echoed across the deck.
We once again unleashed our movement techniques from the deck.
Everyone except me.
Once I reach the Central Plains I really must learn at least basic footwork.
"Mister! Look over there! It's Seomun Prefecture!"
At Hye-ryeong's shout I looked toward the bow. Just as she said, a clearly prosperous harbor was drawing steadily closer.
"The Central Plains at last."
"It's only the edge, though!"
Hye-ryeong's face brimmed with anticipation.
Hainan Island could be considered a remote border region, so her longing for the Central Plains was only natural. I was looking forward to it myself.
Speaking of which, the Central Plains.
It finally felt like I had stepped onto the true stage of the story.
I pressed the straw hat I had removed back onto my head and gathered my belongings.
"Hye-ryeong, let's get moving."
"Yes! Mister!"
We arrived at Seomun Prefecture, a bustling port town at the southwestern edge of the Central Plains.