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Volume 5 Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2 Landing

Perseta, Port City of Falvis

A small ship was floating on the harbor pier. The cargo has been brought in, with Aishela, Irvin, Luna, Emma and Priscilla already on board. The preparations for the departure had already been completed.

The wind from the inland has just begun to blow towards the sea.

Siluca held her hair and looked at the sea. There were waves present, but they were not enough to interfere with their voyage.

「Please be careful on your journey! 」

Baron Radovan Torias, the Lord of the city of Perseta, said with a worried expression.

「Thank you. 」

Theo nodded at him with a smile and shook hands with Radovan.

They boarded a small boat arranged by Radovan and will now cross over to Sistina, otherwise known as the Demonic Island. Their goal was to liberate Theo’s home island from the Rossini family’s oppression within a year.

If they’ll fail to achieve that goal, Theo intends to give up on the idea of being the master of Radovan and Petr, as well as Count Lassic David and the leader of the entire Artuk Treaty.

「I look forward to your early return. 」

Radovan bowed to Theo respectfully.

「Let’s set out. 」
Siluca called out to Theo.

「Yes, let’s go! 」

Theo tightened his expression and nodded. The two crossed the pier and boarded the ship.

Aishela moved and untied the moving net, while Irvin instructed Emma and Luna to set sail on the mast.

Theo took the helm. According to what he himself said, he used to be a sailor during his days as a wandering Lord, so he knew what he was doing.

Siluca was standing a short distance away from Theo so as not to interfere with him manipulating the rudder.

「So the time has finally come, huh? 」

Siluca felt nervous. Perhaps he felt her nervousness as well, because Theo called out to her.

「Come to think of it, didn’t you say that you were not all that good with ships? 」

「Yes. Ships rock easily, get wet, and then sink. And also… 」

Siluca nodded, but then she paused for a moment.

「I am fine when it comes to travelling by carriage, but on ships, I get sick easily. 」

「I see… 」

Theo made a satisfied expression.

「So that’s why you suggested that we should go overland while suppressing the Lords of Falvis and Clovis from going to attend another Lord’s Conference organized by the Fantasia Union. 」

「Well, yes, but… no, no, that was not the only reason. 」

Siluca said in a hurry.

Back when Waldrind’s prestige was greatly shaken and the Factory Alliance was in turmoil, it mobilized a large army at once in order to improve its situation. That’s why Siluca believed that if they could suppress Falvis and Clovis from rioting against them, Artuk and its neighboring allied nations will be able to escape from a potential crisis. That’s why she made such an offer. She also wanted to encourage the weak-willed Lords of the Union to finally make up their minds. However, there was no doubt in Siluca’s mind that deep down in her heart she really did propose that simply because she wanted to avoid taking the sea route towards their destination as much as possible.

「Isn’t there anything you can do about it wit your magic, or by getting yourself drunk in the worst-case scenario? 」

「I could numb my senses with magic, but that would bring us all sorts of problems further down the road, and me flying to our destination by myself on a broom is absolutely out of the question. 」

Riding a broom and flying in the sky are the types of magic that witches, Shamans that are native to Artuk and its forests specializes in, and Siluca also learned it from Elder Zelma, and has improved at it considerably. It’s not impossible to fly without a broom, but it’s much easier to imagine oneself riding on top of something and flying through the air with it.

「If worse comes to worst, that might be the best thing for you to do. 」

「It would, except that’s not going to work. The seas near Sistina are surrounded by demonic seas where monsters migrate and Chaos Vortexes frequently occur. That’s why we don’t know when the ship might sink. 」
「Then leave it to me! 」

Aishela, who was standing at the bow of the ship, turned around and said as such.

「Oh, that’s right. 」

Before Aishela started working for the Mages Association, she was hailed as a Child of the Sea God because she often took jobs that focused on protecting travelling merchant ships from Chaos Disasters.

「Then, are you going to be okay with the piloting?」

During this voyage, they must sense Chaos and prevent accidents before they happen. It can be said that whether or not they’ll be able to land in Sistina depends entirely on that.

「When it’s no good, it’s no good! 」

Aishela said with a laugh.

「I guess that’s true… 」

Siluca sighed.

It’s not always possible for her vent her frustrations like that, so she should take every chance she might get to do so.

「If a time like that does end up coming, then all we can do is to pray to God for his divine protection. 」

As Priscilla knelt on the deck and folded her hands across her chest, she began to pray to the heavens above.

「I don’t like the idea of leaving something so important as our safety during travels to things such as luck or God. 」

In reality, the truth is that fate often end sup depending on such things.

Siluca also prayed for a miracle to happen when they were fighting against the Heavy Knights of Waldrind in Veltava, but she wants to not have to rely on miracles and the like as much as possible.

This is a measure for that exact purpose. If it comes down to it, she’s just going to have to use emergency measures.

Siluca looked at the small boat fixed on the deck to make sure. However, Priscilla continued to pray earnestly as if she did not even hear what Siluca was saying the first place.

(I can’t believe she’s coming with us this time…)

Priscilla must have known that during this journey she’ll have to risk her life as well.

Siluca assumed that when she first visited Theo, it was for the purpose of getting her own Crest and territory all the while she continued to spread the convenient doctrines of the Order of the Crest that have already caught many of the Lords and the common folk in their clutches, thanks to which the Order quickly increased the ranks of their believers.

Siluca could even picture the hierarchs of the Order as they concocted a scheme of sending a young, big-breasted priestess to a young Lord such as Theo.

However, Priscilla didn’t tempt Theo with her body, didn’t ask for anything in return, and was always doing everything she was told to do.

Although she is passionate about preaching, she has no intention of joining Thao as his subordinate, and she has no territory for herself at the moment. From the perspective of the Order of the Crest, it can be said that she didn’t achieve any of their possible goals.

Even so, Priscilla decided to accompany them to Sistina, so if not for anything else, then she must be appreciating Theo and everything he has done so far at least that much. As complicated as her circumstances might be, she is still an excellent healer, so Siluca had no doubts that she is going to be of help to them more than once in the coming days.

The ship was cutting through the waves and out of the harbor. The waves began to rise around it and the small boat began to be rocked up and down.

「*Waaahn*~! 」

Luna, who has climbed to the top of the mast, howls excitedly while looking at the horizon.

「So fast~~! 」

Emma, on the other hand, was sitting on the sail, her legs flapping in the air. Since they were both Werewolves raised in the forest, this was their very first sea voyage, but they seemed to be enjoying it so far.

「Ugh, g-good for you… 」

The ship was bobbing a lot to the sides and Siluca was already starting to feel sick in her stomach.

「Are you going to be okay? 」

Perhaps her complexion has changed as well, because Irvin asked that of her worriedly.

「Yeah…for now…… 」

Siluca answered him weakly.

「Would you like to rest in the cabin? 」

「Only if it becomes too unbearable. 」

Siluca replied, but the rocking soon became too unbearable for her to handle, so she reluctantly retreated back to the hold of the ship and wrapped herself tightly in a blanket.