Published: January 17, 2026
As the ship started moving, it accelerated rapidly thanks to the wind magic. Being able to control the wind to blow in the direction you want is truly wonderful. Even if everyone else is moving awkwardly, the speed alone reaches top pace.
“Oh, a great success!”
Perhaps because we had a tailwind thanks to the magic, the wind didn’t feel as strong as expected. Rather, it was a comfortable sea voyage. Although the ship’s speed caused it to bounce and sway.
“A-amazing…”
“As expected, it’s different from a carriage’s shaking.”
Arte and Panamera shared these impressions while looking out at the sea from the deck. Then, I suddenly remembered Kamushin’s constitution.
When I turned around, there was Kamushin again, pale blue as ever.
“...L-Lord Van, the s-speed... the sh-sh-shaking...”
“Understood! Magicians! Stop the wind!”
Sensing a critical point was near, I immediately ordered the ship to stop. Rosso’s subordinate, a middle-aged man in a robe, nodded and halted the magic. The ship continued forward by inertia but gradually lost speed.
The shaking subsided, and Kamushin leaned against the railing at the deck’s edge, catching his breath.
“A-are you okay?”
“Shall I bring you some water?”
Til and I checked on Kamushin’s condition. Noticing our concern, Arte and Panamera, who had been watching the horizon, came over.
“You okay?”
“Your complexion looks...”
The two of them looked worriedly at Kamushin’s face, who kept turning pale and flushed in rapid succession. It was quite the struggle.
“N-no, I’m f-fine…!”
Kamushin’s face changed colors like a traffic signal—or rather, the speed was so fast it looked like semaphore signals.
While thinking that, Dee, who had been steering, called out to me.
“Lord Van, how far shall we go? Because of the unexpected speed, the shore has already become that far away.”
“Huh?”
Surprised by Dee’s words, I looked towards the ship’s stern and indeed saw the land growing very thin. In fact, I could barely make out the Tribute townscape anymore.
“Wow, really. So we’ve moved several kilometers away just now? This ship is definitely becoming the best means of transportation.”
Squinting, I strained to see the distant Tribute. No luck. I couldn’t even make out the shapes of large buildings. Just then, Kamushin let out a long, thin breath with his pale face.
“...Rosso-sama is still watching.”
“No way!?”
I asked back in shock at Kamushin’s words. There was no way I could see anyone. Recognizing people was impossible. Yet, Kamushin didn’t seem to be joking.
“What? No, Rosso-sama’s subordinates and Panamera-sama’s subordinates are also watching us…”
“That can’t be!?”
Kamushin’s serious report stunned me. Could he really recognize which knights in armor belonged to which lord? If his eyesight was rated as ‘ten,’ I would believe it.
While I gawked at Kamushin’s abnormal eyesight, suddenly there was commotion at the ship’s bow.
“Large shadow detected underwater! Could be a large demonic beast!”
“It’s huge!”
Arb and Row called out urgently.
“Huh? A large one...”
I was about to turn around, surprised by their report, but caught something at the edge of my vision that made me stop. A strange sense of discomfort. Something was there, even though nothing surfaced from the water.
Unconsciously, I turned my gaze towards the direction of that discomfort.
“Th-this is…”
Kamushin, who had been clinging to the railing all along, was the first to react.
On the water’s surface was a ridiculously huge shadow. No, it was what’s called a fish shadow. Something was submerged underwater, and its shadow appeared dark like a silhouette. Although it seemed to be quite deep, the size was clearly larger than this ship.
“...Isn’t it bigger than a dragon?”
I let out a laugh of disbelief at the absurd size. It wasn’t even a joke, but it was so surreal I couldn’t help but laugh. That’s just how enormous the demonic beasts in the sea were.