Chapter 211
Chapter 211
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Sailing to Olivia
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Shwaaaaa!
Massive ships sliced across the ocean, leaving endless trails of pristine white foam in their wakes.
Jean Paul, who had surrendered to us in Death Valley, was once again demonstrating his exceptional talent.
Just as he had navigated flawlessly from the Dragon Mountains to Elunheim in the past, he was now charting a ghostly precise course from Elunheim straight to Olivia.
How could a man who had only sailed ships at the edge of the Northern Empire have any experience on the seas of the Southern Continent?
The Western Sea, in particular, was a treacherous expanse riddled with countless reefs and capricious currents.
And Olivia was a southern territory to boot. With its warmer waters, it was an entirely different environment from the cold Northern Sea where Laurent Port lay—different in every way except that both were called "the sea."
'Gaining Jean Paul and his sailors was truly a stroke of heaven-sent luck.'
I stood at the prow of the rocking ship, gazing out at the ocean, then turned my eyes to the deck.
There, the Blizzard Knight Order was training in close-quarters combat without their armor.
It was preparation against rust from the salty sea breeze on their gear, but also drills tailored for battles against the nimble archipelago pirates.
Not a single knight suffered from seasickness amid the flurry of fists and feet in individual and group sparring.
Who could look at them now and imagine the stern northern knights who once commanded the inland heartlands?
It was all thanks to Jean Paul and his sailors assisting with the onboard training at Lake Dozmari.
Papapapang!
The increasingly heated melee among the Blizzard Knights had evolved into a one-on-one duel between Captain Beskin and Vice-Captain Ravins.
"Go, Vice-Captain! Fighting!"
"Show the captain—who's been skipping training to goof off—what for!"
The knights fervently cheered for Ravins, still harboring grudges from all the times he had tossed them into the lake while tagging along with me everywhere.
Was it the fruits of their training? On solid ground, Ravins could never match Beskin, but here on the ship—where their proficiency differed—he was holding up remarkably well against the captain's onslaught.
No, he was even landing counterattacks now and then.
Slip!
"Kuh!"
Just as Beskin slipped on the wave-tossed deck and lost his balance for a split second.
"Opening!"
Ravins seized the moment, aiming straight for Beskin's gut.
This was a do-or-die instant where Ravins' fist would land true.
Crack!
"!"
His slipping leg froze solid in place, and Beskin's other foot whipped up to smash Ravins' face.
Thwack!
"Kwaaack!"
Ravins spun through the air with a bizarre screech before crashing unceremoniously onto the deck.
Splat!
Face planted on the deck, rear sky-high—the knights stared blankly before unleashing a chorus of boos.
"Ch-cheating!"
"We said no aura, Captain!"
"Booo!"
Beskin averted his eyes from the barrage and offered a lame excuse.
"...Ahem. I didn't use it offensively. Just a bit of improvisation."
...As if that flimsy justification would fly with them, even from afar.
"Boooo! Lame!!"
The boos doubled in intensity, as expected.
'Hmm, a bit much.'
Beskin had mellowed considerably these days, but he had once been the only Hexagon knight too proud to choose a master, with a personality as cold as ice.
So if the jeers kept up...
"Booo! Cheating...? Whoaaa!"
Splash!
One knight, flung—not fallen—into the sea, began flailing in the current.
"...You're right."
"C-Captain?"
"My training was lacking, and I've shamed you all."
"Huh?"
"So, you who've trained hard—help me out."
Grab! Whoosh! Splash!
Like a farmer yanking radishes from the field.
Beskin seized knights by the scruff and hurled them into the sea one by one.
"Aaaah!"
"Captain's lost it!"
"Damn it, gang up on him!"
The Blizzard Knights charged Beskin, unwilling to take it lying down.
'They've fully become sea dogs now.'
Thinking back to our first deployment to Nile territory together, this lively bunch was unrecognizable.
Back then, even casual chit-chat between members was rare.
"Quite the sight, isn't it, Baron?"
"Ah, Sheriwon."
Sheriwon, his skin bronzed and handsome from long sea drills, sidled up as if reading my mind.
"Well, this rowdy bunch is a far cry better than before."
"All thanks to you, Baron. Haha."
Sheriwon grinned as Beskin panted and chucked another knight overboard.
"As you know, our order was never one for casual talk. We inherited our icy captain's temperament."
Splash!
"But after meeting you, Baron, he changed. He started smiling, gained a broader view and more leniency. And our long lake drills bonded us tighter."
Splash!
"You apologized for the inexplicable sea training, but none of us resent you. It forged an even stronger brotherhood."
Splash!
Sheriwon bowed, eyes brimming with trust.
"We'll keep following you, Baron. Please lead us well."
"...!"
Smooth.
Sheriwon felt a gentle hand on his bowed head.
The moved baron patting him for a job well done? But he was the senior...
"Don't think you can slack off by buttering up the baron."
"!"
The hand belonged not to me, but Beskin.
"W-wait...!"
Whoosh!
Sheriwon flew farther than the rest—climbing back would be a workout.
"Tch, honestly..."
"Looks like it's not just you, Captain, Vice-Captain, and Senior Knight who mastered joint maneuvers."
Beskin paused mid-toss at my words, turning to me.
"Already figured it out?"
"When facing you, they came in threes. Seemed chaotic at first, but it's coordinated like a dance. Hard to pull off without joint training."
"Heh, you're too sharp, Baron."
Beskin straightened his clothes, his playful demeanor vanishing.
"Even with our training, we're up against archipelago pirates who've lived their lives at sea. We can't match their affinity. So we need something we do better."
Exactly. Pirates slept on decks, rocked by waves as lullabies.
No matter how continental folk trained, they couldn't bridge that innate gap.
"Hence the joint maneuvers."
"Yes. Even if we're outmatched, three on one tips the scales. And above all..."
Beskin's gaze softened toward the knights straining to reach the ship.
"They're like my brothers, my sons. I won't let mere pirates take them."
His resolve rippled gently in my heart.
This was a knight armed with towering pride.
Joint tactics against pirates? Unthinkable for his past self.
Yet here he was, humbling himself thoroughly for his men's lives.
"Beskin..."
"Pwah! Made it!"
Ravins hauled himself aboard first, gasping.
"Damn captain! Makes us suffer while chatting with the baron?!"
Dropping all honorifics in fury. Bad choice of opponent.
"Baron, excuse me."
Thud, thud.
Beskin stepped past me and grabbed Ravins' nape.
"Wh-what?"
Ravins' eyes widened in dread.
Whoosh!
"Aaaah!!"
Off he sailed again.
Beskin mercilessly yeeted every knight who climbed aboard after.
...Brothers and sons, huh?
Jean Paul's navigation bordered on supernatural, transcending human limits.
Otherwise, dodging this maze of reefs and currents en route south would be near impossible.
But skillful evasion didn't mean smooth sailing without a bump.
Though Jean Paul skirted the hazards, the path was far from serene.
Inevitably, the ship pitched and yawed wildly.
To sea veterans like Jean Paul, the sailors, and the Blizzard Knights, it was nothing.
But to landlubbers, those violent rolls were poison.
"Urp!"
Saladin, one such novice, bolted for the prow to spare his cabin a disaster from his churning guts.
"Urp-bleeech!!"
Splish! Splish!
Smooth—
After feeding the circling gulls for a good while, Saladin felt a pat on his back and turned.
"Th-thanks... Hack."
With Beskin tossing knights overboard, he figured it was one who snuck up.
But filling his vision was no salty knight—a golden-haired beauty.
"Hehe! No problem. Who knew Prince Saladin got seasick?"
"P-Princess... Urp!"
Saladin tried to speak, but the roiling nausea choked him off.
As he kept retching, Princess Seira gently patted his back.
"Oh dear, puking at the sight of a lady's face? That's hurtful."
"N-not that... Bleeech!"
His ashen face—if teased more, he might actually keel over.
"Hehe, your pale face reminds me of old times. Like at that monster hunt tournament, when you looked so..."
"Waaah!!"
Flail, flail!!
Too flustered to even wipe his mouth clean, Saladin waved his hands to cut her off.
"P-Princess! We agreed not to bring that up..."
"Pfft! Alright, take care."
Satisfied with his reaction, Seira dropped the teasing.
As she turned to head belowdecks.
-Aaaah!
"...Prince, I'll stop. No need to yell."
"Urgh... Pardon? What do you mean?"
Only after Saladin—mid-puke—asked back did Seira's expression shift oddly.
'Not Saladin's shout?'
It was shriller, more piercing than his barfing noises.
Less a yell, more like...
-Aaaaaah!
"!"
Clear as day this time.
Not just Seira—Saladin wiped his mouth with his sleeve, eyes sharpening.
"...Princess, that scream just now. Hear it?"
"Yes, crystal clear."
"Let's go. Jerome must've heard too."
Saladin beelined toward me without hesitation.
While watching Beskin and the Blizzard Knights' training, Saladin's retching made me grimace unwittingly.
'That guy's hurling like a champ.'
The sound nearly soured my lunch; I was about to block it with aura when Seira's words made me amplify my hearing instead.
-Aaaah!
'...!!'
A scream jolted me.
'Didn't trip my senses?'
Only audible after activating aura—meaning considerable distance.
I rushed to the prow, scanning left and right.
Even maxing my aura-enhanced vision, nothing but endless sea—no islands or shores whence screams might come.
-Aaaaaah!
"!"
Louder, clearer now.
'Not my imagination.'
Beskin halted his tosses—others heard too—as Saladin and Seira approached my deck.
'No land in sight, but screams persist... Then?'
One answer.
As if confirming my deduction, Ravins—clambering aboard—shouted urgently.