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Chapter 87: The Flying Princess

The fleet continues on its journey toward the commercial city of Livonia.

The Kingdom of Algeas’ galleys take the lead, with Princess Sophia’s large galley positioned mid-fleet, and we, the Barbar, bringing up the rear.

The great river flows downstream, toward Livonia, so we don’t need to row. It’s a relaxing ride.

From the bow, our captain Gauche voices his irritation.

「Hey, Gaia! Can we move ahead?」

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

「Algeas’ ships are too slow! Keeping pace with them is killing me!」

「Now that you mention it… they’ve been zigzagging.」

The Algeas Kingdom’s ships are trying to go straight downstream.

But our Viking ships are steering diagonally to the right, then turning left, sailing in a zigzag pattern.

Apparently, we’ve been adjusting our course to match their speed.

Gauche must be feeling the strain.

He frowns, continuing,

「Gaia! We’re far enough from the capital now. Don’t you think we’ve let them save face long enough?」

Gauche had deliberately let the Algeas fleet take the lead to preserve their pride.

If we Barbar had overtaken them in front of the capital, Quinpera, it would’ve completely humiliated them.

I appreciated Gauche’s consideration.

「Thanks for the thought! We’re out of sight from any onlookers now, so go ahead, steer however you want.」

「Understood!」

With Gauche’s command, our Viking ship points straight downstream and begins moving forward.

Two more Viking ships fall in behind us.

The three vessels, in single file, accelerate smoothly.

The Kingdom of Algeas uses stubby galleys.

Among them are large vessels sailing down the center of the river.

They’re letting the current carry them without using oars.

This makes it easy for us to overtake from either side.

Gauche steers toward the right side of the river.

Soon, we’re right behind the last of the Algeas fleet, and we start overtaking them.

Jessica, seated beside me, tilts her head curiously.

「Gaia. Are we allowed to pass them?」

「Yeah. Their ships are too slow. We already know where we’re docking tonight, so there’s no problem going ahead.」

「Why are they so slow?」

「Probably the shape of their ships… especially the hull.」

「The hull?」

「Yeah. The Algeas galleys have flat bottoms.」

I’m no expert on ships, but with the knowledge from my skill 【Sma-ho!】, I understand the difference between our ships and theirs.

Our Barbar ships are Viking ships, built around a keel.

Planks extend outward from the keel, creating a V-shaped hull.

This shape reduces water resistance, letting us sail faster.

In contrast, Algeas’ galleys have flat bottoms.

The larger surface area creates more friction with the water, slowing them down.

Jessica listens intently, nodding with admiration.

「I see! So our ships are more advanced!」

「In overall performance, I’d say ours are better. Especially once we hit open seas, the difference will be huge.」

「How come?」

「Our Viking ships have keels that cut through waves, keeping the ship stable even in rough waters. That stability gives us speed.」

「But galleys aren’t stable?」

「Not with flat bottoms.」

「They felt stable when I rode one, though?」

She must be referring to the galley we rode in the Vaffancrow Empire when we were hired as mercenaries.

「The sea was calm then.」

The sea south of our continent is known as the Blue Sea, calm and gentle.

It connects to the southern continent by ship.

It’s a lot like the Mediterranean from my previous life.

Although, the people of the Vaffancrow Empire call it Mare Nostrum.

Which, translated, means Our Sea.

「Galleys do have their strengths. You can build them bigger, so they carry more. Plus, with more rowers, they get a quick burst of speed in battle.」

「True. More cargo is definitely nice.」

Jessica glances toward our own ship’s hold.

Our Viking ship is superior in many ways, but in terms of cargo capacity, it can’t match a galley.

(A cargo ship with a keel… we’ll need one of those.)

As I talk with Jessica, I’m already thinking about our next ship.

Our vessel continues overtaking Algeas ships, drawing closer to the center of the fleet.

On the deck of a particularly large galley, someone’s waving their hand.

「It’s Sophia-chan!」

Jessica stands up and waves back vigorously.

Princess Sophia is shouting something, but we’re too far to hear her.

I give Gauche a directive.

「Gauche, get us closer to Sophia-sama’s ship.」

「Got it!」

Slowly, we pull up beside the large galley carrying Princess Sophia.

Because of the size difference, we have to look up at her, and she leans out over the rail to see us.

Important-looking figures and guards around her also lean over to look.

Princess Sophia calls out loudly,

「Everyone from Barbar, what happened?」

I shout back.

「Our ship’s just faster!」

「Is that so, !?」

「We’ll go on ahead and wait for you!」

「I’ll come with you too, !」

「「「「「Huh?」」」」」

Everyone, Jessica, me, and the Algeas people around Sophia-sama, freeze in confusion.

『Come with us? What does she mean?』

Jessica and I tilt our heads.

「Here I gooo!」

With a cheerful shout, Sophia-sama jumps from the rail!

「「「「「Whoa!」」」」」

Everyone watching gasps in shock.

The galley she was on is massive, like jumping off a two-story rooftop.

Even if she’s landing in the river, it’s way too dangerous!

「Rosso!」

「On it!」

Rosso, who was at the helm, bolts into action.

He sprints across the narrow Viking ship and positions himself at her landing spot.

「Eeeek!」

「Gotcha!」

Sophia-sama descends with an innocent smile, and Rosso catches her securely.

Only someone like Rosso, of the strong Lizardman tribe, could pull that off.

「Thanks, Rosso!」

「You’ve really turned into a handful, haven’t you?!」

Rosso sets her down, scratching his head as he returns to the helm.

「Sophia-chan! That was dangerous! You mustn’t do that!」

「Okaay, Jessica-oneesama!」

Jessica and Sophia-sama exchange a lazy sisterly banter, but I don’t have the luxury to enjoy it.

Looking up at the Algeas galley, I see chaos.

「Princess! Uuuuuh…」

「Eek! Get ahold of yourself!」

「The maid fainted!」

「Princess, please return!」

「You jump too!」

「No way I’m doing that!」

The maid has fainted, the dignitaries are shouting, and the guards are panicking.

I turn to Captain Gauche.

「They’re yelling at us to return her… Gauche, can we?」

「Nope. We’ve already overtaken them. Our ship’s too fast to match speeds now.」

「So towing her back with a rope is out too…」

Our Barbar ship is now ahead of the Algeas galley.

Of course, this isn’t like overtaking a car, it’s slow, since it’s on a river.

But there’s still a speed gap, and we’re gradually pulling ahead.

We’ve already passed more than half their ship.

「No choice. We’ll just have to take care of Sophia-sama until the next port—」

「Someone else just jumped!」

I hear a shout from the stern while I’m talking with Gauche at the bow.

I turn and see someone jumping off the galley we just overtook.

The figure is tucked in tight, arms and legs drawn in like a ball, arcing through the air.

We’ve already passed the galley, but they’re just barely going to reach our stern.

(It’s Yupa-sama?!)

I shout at the top of my lungs.

「They’re gonna land on the stern!」

「「「「Aaaahhh!」」」」

The Barbar crew at the stern quickly clears the area.

Rosso, gripping the helm, braces himself and steadies his stance.

The figure lands cat-like, extending their limbs just in time to touch down on the Viking ship’s stern.

「「「「「Whoa!」」」」」

The impact shakes the ship.

When Sophia-sama jumped, it was just a fall.

This one came in at an angle from the overtaken ship, much more forceful.

The impact lifts the bow like we’d hit a wave, rocking the ship back and forth.

「Are you insane?! That could’ve wrecked the ship!」

「What if it broke?!」

The Barbar crew is furious.

I push through them to the stern.

There, I see a familiar face.

「You’re… Karanos!」