Noon, October 6, 2813 in the Western Continental Calendar


　A galleon, named the Atalanta, was sailing northeastward in the calm ocean.
　The ship's legs looked as if they were catching a full sail of favorable wind.
　No, in fact, the ship's sails were swollen up to catch the wind.

'Report!　We can see the port of Seirios to the northeast.

　The land began to faintly appear on the horizon.

All right, I'll get Captain Brass. I'll get Captain Brass now.

　The sailor on watch shouted loudly, and the sailors below jumped into the ship.


'Hm, it is indeed the city of Seirios. ........Oi!　We're almost there, so start getting ready to dock.

　As the tanned, dark-skinned captain commands his crew to check out the harbor city through a telescope in his hand, he says to them, "We're not going to have to wait for the wind.
(So it's the equivalent of not having to wait for the wind and always having a tailwind.......so fast.)
　Brass muttered to himself as he folded his outstretched telescope.

　Since they had left the port of Mispos at the end of September, he calculated that they had reached the city of Seirios in about four days.
　Unlike the previous route, we chose a route that plunges straight through the open sea rather than sailing along the coast, but even so, it was fast.
(At first I wondered what would happen, but I was right to accept that young man's suggestion... I thought he was an amateur and thought he was going to talk shit, but it seems we lost.
　A bitter smile appeared on Brass's face.
　The young man showed a certain amount of respect to Brass, who had been a man of the sea for many years, but ordered him to designate a route and shorten the number of days of sailing.
　I questioned my sanity when he said five days, when normally it would have taken seven days including waiting for the wind, but I can certainly agree with him.
　Brass turned his gaze to the group at the stern of the ship.
　The voyage back to Missos from Seilios had been completely useless as it was the first time they had all gotten seasick, but this time was different.
　They were all uniformly young. They were all uniformly young, and I wondered if they could reach the age of 15.
　Besides, they were not sailors.
　Dressed in black dyed leather armor, they were soldiers of Baron Mikoshiba's family.
　They are amateurs who don't even have experience on a ship, but right now they are more important than skilled sailors.

"Captain Brass, how's the wind? Would you like to increase it a bit more?

　He must have noticed Brass's gaze.
　A girl from the group called out to Brass.

'No, if we strengthen our sails any further, there is a chance they might break. Besides, we're almost at the port of Seirios. It's enough as it is. Thank you, Lady Melissa.

　Brass returned the polite words to Melissa, who was so old that she could have been his daughter.

'I understand. Then we'll keep the wind speed at this rate.'

　Brass smiled serenely at Melissa, who lowered her head with a bright smile.
　As if she was looking at her own daughter....

　The ships used in the "Earth" world are either sailing ships or galleons.
　Both have different advantages, but due to their high payload capacity, galleons are often used for trade and transport ships.
　The biggest drawback of these galleons is that they are windy.
　All sailing ships, including galleons, use several sails to catch the wind and move forward.
　Fortunately, various kinds of auxiliary sails have been developed apart from the cross-sails and longitudinal sails, but once the wind has stopped blowing, ordinary sailing ships without oars have no choice but to wait for the wind to blow while being rocked by the waves.　
　It's impossible for humans to control the weather, so all a sailor can do is pray to God.
　Yes, so far....
　Melissa and her friends aren't doing anything difficult.
　The jutsu that causes a gust of wind belongs to the elementary level of the grammar jutsu.
　Normally, it is a basic attack method among the jutsu of the wind attribute, unleashing a compressed wind all at once.
　It does not compress and release this at once, but only diffuses the range and releases it little by little.
　It has no offensive power, but what the ship needs is a moderate amount of wind.
　A strong wind that would tear the sails off would be useless in reverse.
　They are still inexperienced as surgeons, but that's why it's so important to them.
　And the fact that their inexperienced techniques have a visible meaning made Melissa's heart skip a beat.
　It's the perfect way to improve the sophistication of the surgeons.
　The confidence that they are needed was evident on their faces.　
　Besides, the joy of being able to return to Seirios for the first time in months must have lifted her spirits.
　Even though others may be in awe of the magical world and hate it, the city of Seilios is definitely their second home.　

''Good!　As Lady Simone has told me, you will never speak of what you see here anywhere else. Do you understand?

　Contrary to his usual calm demeanor, Blass ordered the crew in a stern tone.
　The sailors nodded silently to the captain's words and began to prepare to lower the anchor.
　This is already the second trip from Mispos to Seiorios.
　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you want to do.
　And they also understand what will happen if they ignore this hush-up.
　So much so that their last voyage to the city of Seirios, their first time in the city, had taken them by surprise.
　The city was neatly plotted out.
　The roads were kept fairly generously wide and all paved with stone.
　The ramparts were quite high and surrounded the entire city.
　Of course, if that was all there was to it, it was not surprising.
　Because a city of the same size could be seen if you went to a slightly larger aristocratic territory on the continent.
　But if it was built on the Woltenia peninsula, everyone would be surprised.
　It's even more so when you hear that it was built in just a few months.

I'm not sure what's wrong with my eyes, Captain.

　As the streets of Seirios grow larger and larger, a sailor speaks to Brass, rubbing his eyes.
　What is it, Brass does not ask back.
　He himself could not believe what he was seeing in front of him.　　

"Don't worry. You're not going crazy.

Bye. Yeah.

　Brass nodded at the sailor who made a squeezing sound.

'Ah. The city's getting big, man.'

　The city has clearly grown in size since Brass and his friends first came to Seilios a month ago.
　The size of the harbor on the coastline alone seemed to be one and a half times larger. The size of the port built on the coastline alone seemed to be one and a half times larger.
(I can't tell anyone about this, can I? You'll be laughed at through your nose.)
　Such thoughts pass through Brass' mind.
　A place is a place.
　It might be possible to squander tens of thousands of people like hot water, but the Woltenia peninsula makes that choice impossible.
　About two months ago, along with another galleon named the Melanion, owned by Simone, Blas transported a thousand slaves to the city of Seirios, but even if you take that into account, the scene in front of you is impossible.
　And moreover, the slaves they carried were all young boys and girls whose bodies were not yet ready.
　They had been treated harshly by the slavers, and they must have all been weak and not in a very usable condition for labor.
　They were fed reasonably decent food on board, but there was no way they would suddenly recover their strength.
(The young lady will remind you not to say anything else. I'm not going to tell anyone.)
　Brass's gaze turned to Melissa and the others at the stern of the ship.
　He was dimly aware of the caricature of this impossible scene that was unfolding before him.

'What are you blabbering on about? Why don't we get ready to drop anchor quickly!

　Putting a lid on the rising curiosity, Brass scolded the sailors who stared at him in dismay as he went.
　He knew that curiosity could kill a cat....　
　The city's name is Seirios.
　It is a city that means 'something that burns' or 'something that shines brightly' in Greek.


"Ryoma-sama. The Atalanta has just arrived from Mispos.

Yeah, all right. Any damage to the cargo?

　At Ryouma's question, Saara begins her report, glancing down at the parchment.

'Captain Blas reports that the voyage to Mispos was useless for everyone below Melissa due to seasickness, but the return served them well.

Seasickness?　So that's why we're later than planned. You didn't calculate that far.

　Certainly, it's impossible to put them on a ship and have them work all of a sudden.
　There are people who are not prone to seasickness, but none of the soldiers on Brass's ship seem to have such a constitution.
　No, it's more surprising that all of them overcame seasickness on the return voyage.
(Well, it's the first time I've ever been on a ship. It can be upsetting, or.......they say that motion sickness is a big part of the psyche.)
　Ryoma chuckled lightly and nudged the report.

There is no problem with the cargo. Fortunately, the weather has been good, and there has been no water damage or destruction of the cargo.

　If we have a storm, it can cause a load to collapse or water to enter the hold and ruin the cargo, but this time we seem to have had good luck.

'All right. Let me continue to carry mainly weapons and storable food. I'm sure you'll be able to pay for it with the tusks and skins from the monsters, as always.

'It seems to be enough to pay for it. But I understand from Simone's letter that she has a lot of orders from her clients, and she's running out of stock, so she'd like to see if she can increase the quantity.

Bulking up.

　Ryoma couldn't help but think about Saara's words.
　Many of the monsters 《monsters》 that inhabit the Woltenia peninsula are of a high rank, and they fetch a pretty good price if they are sold in the market.
　Normally, I would like to leave all the acquired tusks and leathers to Simone, but I can't reduce the amount I currently sell to the merchants in Ipylos.
　If we reduce it, there is a risk that they might find out that the sales channels exist outside of the merchants of Ipylos.

''What's going on with your training?''

I've only been training for less than two months.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this, but if you haven't completed your training to a certain extent, you'll only be feeding the monsters.

The only way to do that is to have Simone wait for a while longer........

　The supply can't keep up with the expanding demand, so it's inevitable.
(Well, it's useless to sell a lot of stock when the price falls, so it's just as well.
　Ryoma nodded to himself.

'And ... there's something else that's been bothering me.

　Ryoma frowned at Saara's words.
　As far as I'm concerned, it's usually not a good idea when Saara says things like this.
　It's not that she was wrong, but it was inevitable that she couldn't help but feel defensive.

''What does this have to do with sub-humans?''

'No, it's just what Simone wrote in her letter...'

　Right now, the biggest concern that Ryouma has is the sub-people.
　The other day, he handed over the three girls he rescued from the pirates' hands to one of the tribal chiefs, but Ryoma had to go through a lot of trouble to get there.
　In the novels, there are a lot of developments where they are grateful for being rescued and rapidly become friends, but the reality was not so sweet.
　No, they were not ungrateful.
　However, on the other hand, it is also true that they cannot fully trust the man Mikoshiba Ryoma.
　A long history of persecution by humans.
　The weight of that history has bound their hearts.
　Their true feelings are that they don't want to have anything to do with humans.
　It could be summed up in that one word.
　It took quite a bit of time for Ryoma to convince them of that.
　To Ryoma, sub-humans could never be left alone.
　At the very least, he wants to be inviolate, and if possible, absorb their power.
　If not, there is no point in using the Woltenia Peninsula, a remote area, as a base.
　If they maintained sea control, the only route of penetration into the Woltenia Peninsula would be on the Ipiros side.
　It would allow them to concentrate their forces to the south.
　That is the biggest advantage of the peninsula, which is located in the corner of the continent.
　And yet, there is no point in having forces on the peninsula that are not friendly to you.
　This is because it is necessary to secure a certain amount of forces as insurance.
　That's why Ryojin made one suggestion to the tribal chief, Nelsios.
　He proposed that Nelsios and the other tribal chiefs would visit the city of Seirios every half a month to have a meal with Ryouma.
　He said that by meeting regularly and eating together, he would try to dispel any distrust of humans.
　It was a far-fetched plan, but their distrust and fear of sub-humans was so strong that if they demanded more than that, the negotiations themselves would break down.
　That's why Ryoma is using his nerves against the sub-humans, but conversely, there shouldn't have been any other matters that would be a problem.
　Until he read what was written in Simone's letter...