Chapter 117: The Tin Knight and The Land of Sea Breeze (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117: The Tin Knight and The Land of Sea Breeze (6)
“Hoh.”
Cap’n Bill’s golden skull twisted bizarrely.
As if to substitute for the muscles and skin it lacked, the skull warped and morphed, creating a new face.
If not for the fact that it was made of gleaming gold, it would have looked like a clay sculpture changing in real time.
“The apprentice lady’s personal servant, you say? For a personal servant, I’ve never seen your face before.”
“Oh, my.”
Sophia put on a look of surprise.
Her movements were so deliberately exaggerated that anyone could tell she was putting on an act.
“That may be so for you, Captain, but I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“Hoh? About me? From whom?”
“Why, from Lady Franka, of course. She would go on and on, complaining about how she wished you’d change your attitude, even if she acknowledged your skills.”
“Wait a minute!!”
Franka cried out in shock, but Cap’n Bill simply let out a hearty laugh.
“My apologies for that. I’m a rough sailor at heart. To a precious young lady from a rich family, I’m sure I didn’t seem very refined. But is it really all right for a servant to be spilling her lady’s secrets like that?”
“I believe that teaching my lady life lessons is also part of my duty as a servant. In this case, the lesson is that one must always be careful, as you never know when or where gossip might spread.”
“Right, right. Truer words were never spoken. One must always be careful with their words. Ahaha! Look here, apprentice lass, it seems you’re blessed with good people!”
“Isn’t she? But my lady is so ashamed of me that she keeps me hidden away, which makes me terribly sad. Managing one’s subordinates is a talent of those in high positions, you know.”
“Indeed! Anyone who can't properly manage their own subordinate has no right to be a leader! Look here, apprentice lass, if you treat your servants too poorly, they’ll stab you in the back. Just like now!”
Franka wore a look of utter disbelief.
And who could blame her? Cap’n Bill’s initial suspicion about Sophia’s identity had vanished, and now the two of them had teamed up to tease the ‘young lady who can’t even handle one loyal servant.’
“But, personal servant… Sophia, was it? What’s the deal with those two, then? No matter how I look at them, they don’t seem like ordinary servants.”
“That’s because they aren’t. They’re people who were sold off to pay their debts.”
“Hoh?”
Finding the story intriguing, Cap’n Bill’s ears perked up.
Sophia continued her explanation nonchalantly.
“Before that, Captain, are you well-versed in the subject of mana?”
“Well. I know what I need to know.”
“I see. I, myself, don’t know much about mana, but my lady tells me those two possess incredibly powerful mana. It’s just that, perhaps intoxicated by their own talent, they used their power recklessly and broke a few things. They ended up in debt trying to pay for it all, and…”
“Ah, I see. I understand. It’s a common story. But why are you taking them with you?”
Sophia hesitated for a moment.
Just as those around her tensed, wondering if her glib tongue had finally met its match, she glanced in Dorothea’s direction and then moved closer to Cap’n Bill.
She then whispered something in his ear.
The only ones who could hear her were the two of them and Adelaide, whose hearing was enhanced.
—Because, of course, the Witch of the West will be pleased. With mana that strong, she’ll surely have more than enough uses for them. They themselves believe they’re acting as bodyguards against sea monsters to pay off their debt, but the truth is… you understand, don’t you? If we drag this on, the precious gift for the Witch might catch on that something is amiss, so please, play along.
A sly grin appeared on Cap’n Bill’s lips.
Adelaide was horrified.
After putting some distance between them again, Sophia spoke.
“Is that explanation sufficient?”
“Yes. I wish you the best of luck!”
“Thank you, Captain. If all goes according to plan, I will ask the Witch of the West to shorten your contract, if only by a little. With my lady’s permission, of course.”
“Hahaha! If that happens, I couldn’t ask for more! The problem with this blasted contract is that the closer it gets to the end, the slower time seems to pass!”
Laughing jovially, Cap’n Bill spoke to Franka.
“Our talk is over, you may pass! Ah, but apprentice lass, you’d best be careful about one thing. You may be the youngest apprentice now, but if things go well, that might change. So work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen!”
“What? Wait! What does that—”
Franka couldn’t finish her sentence.
The moment Cap’n Bill raised his hand, his ship shot back up to its original height.
The resulting waves rocked Franka’s caravel violently.
From high above them, Cap’n Bill’s booming laugh echoed.
“Alright! I grant you passage! Let’s set sail, boys!”
“Aye, Captain!”
The massive ship departed on the churning waves.
Only the brilliant gleam of the impossibly magnificent golden sails continued to shine in the darkness.
*
“That was quite the bluff you pulled. And you don't even know anything.”
To Franka’s remark, Sophia replied with a smile.
“When deceiving someone, audacity is more important than the content of the lie, you see. If you had hesitated in your response, Lady Franka, he would have been suspicious no matter what you said. Conversely, as long as you pay attention to your tone and expression, you can make anyone believe anything with nothing but empty packaging.”
I apologize if my meddling was unnecessary, Sophia added. Franka shot her a sour look but didn’t blame her further.
Perhaps, deep down, she knew Sophia was right.
Dorothea cut in and asked.
“So, what was that all about?”
“Cap’n Bill. I don’t know his real name. He was cursed a long, long time ago and turned into some kind of strange monster. To become human again, he made a contract with my master and is acting as her watchdog, just as he said. He's impossibly strong near water, so you must never fight him.”
“If something like that existed, shouldn’t you have told us beforehand?”
“I never even see his face usually! He only ever roams around inside my master’s world; he never comes out here like this!”
Adelaide, who was listening from the side, tilted her head.
She had heard a strange phrase in Franka’s speech.
But not wanting to interrupt the serious conversation between the two, Adelaide simply dismissed it, figuring she must have misheard.
“Anyway, we need to hurry. We might have gotten past him this time, but there’s no telling when he’ll file a report.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
The dazed sailors were spurred into action by Franka’s command, and soon the ship was on its way.
Contrary to their worries, no new obstacles blocked their path this time.
The problem, rather, came after they arrived.
“…This is it?”
There was an island.
An island made of a white sandy beach, a few rocks, and a small forest.
And that was all.
There wasn't even a shadow of a person, let alone a magnificent castle or even a small hut.
There was no chance they had missed it, either; the island itself wasn’t very large. It would take less than ten minutes to get from one end to the other.
While the others wondered if something was wrong, Franka briskly issued orders to the sailors who were closest to her, her trusted confidants.
“You have enough food and water, right? If I don't return by the set time, don't linger. Escape immediately.”
“We believe in you, milady. You will surely return.”
“Hmph.”
“Hey.”
Dorothea glared at Franka, her eyes demanding an explanation.
Franka answered simply.
“Stay close to me. It’ll be much faster to experience it for yourself.”
Though Dorothea didn’t hide her suspicious expression, she seemed to trust the effects of the ‘Blood Oath’ and obediently followed Franka.
Five sets of footprints were imprinted on the sand.
Franka stopped in front of a certain rock.
It was an unremarkable rock, save for the fact that it had a slightly greenish tint, either from the moss clinging to it or because that was its natural color.
With a flick of her wrist, a golden thread shot out from the bracelet on Franka’s arm.
She said, “Hold on to this. If you let go, you could be flung off to some strange place, so hold on tight.”
After confirming that everyone had a firm grip on the golden thread, Franka reached out and touched the rock.
And then, the group's vision distorted.
*
Amidst a wave of slight nausea, ringing ears, and dizziness, Adelaide instinctively closed and opened her eyes.
And she saw it.
An endless green forest stretching out before her.
Castle walls of staggering height.
A colorful village sprawling down the hill below.
“Huh?”
Adelaide rubbed her eyes without thinking.
But the scenery before her did not disappear.
Sophia muttered, as if in a moment of epiphany.
“I see. The names of the Four Great Witches are famous, but almost nothing is known about where they reside. …So it was in a ‘different place’ to begin with.”
Franka affirmed Sophia’s guess.
“That’s right. The island we first saw is just the entrance. The real thing is somewhere else.”
Mages who reach a certain level learn how to create their own personal workshop.
It is a laboratory for various experiments, a warehouse for storing precious items, and a barrier to fend off external threats.
A skilled mage does not necessarily have a vast workshop, but a vast workshop requires exceptional skill.
For a Great Witch renowned enough to go down in legend, it was no exaggeration to call her workshop a separate world.
Franka spoke.
“There are animals here, plants, and people. Most things you’d find in the outside world are here, too, and at the pinnacle of it all is the Witch of the West. I haven’t explored every nook and cranny myself, but it’s probably bigger than any decent-sized city. But its size is also a drawback. Even for my master, it’s impossible to watch over every single part of this vast place.”
Franka added that Cap’n Bill was originally supposed to be inside this place as well.
Dorothea replied, “Still, if this place itself is a giant barrier and a workshop, wouldn’t she know if someone entered?”
“If it were a complete outsider, yes. But I have an authentication magic I learned from my master, and since I twisted it for our use, we won't be discovered for now. As long as you have that thread, the same goes for all of you.”
Franka pointed to the group’s wrists.
A golden thread was now wrapped around each of them like a bracelet.
“Follow me. I'll guide you to the castle where my master lives.”