Published: July 4, 2025
Life on the ship is, in a sense, orderly.
You eat breakfast, study the languages of the Eastern Nations, have lunch, immerse yourself in alchemy and sword practice, eat dinner, and then go to bed.
To practice, you converse in broken Eastern Nations language with the passing crew members...
At times, Ryo sometimes offers 'water'.
During long voyages, fresh water is precious.
Even though surrounded by water, it is all seawater.
You can’t drink it, nor can you wash your body...
However, this time there is a mage with a water attribute!
What’s more, they inexplicably boast an inexhaustible supply of magical power...
Ryo enjoys seeing people happy, so sometimes the deck becomes a makeshift shower room.
Watching the cheerful crew, he nods with arms crossed, looking quite dignified.
By the way, there are two female crew members on the Rondark.
The first officer and the head chef.
Of course, Ryo assists by creating a giant ice bathtub for the two of them to enjoy their baths.
The first officer is the second in command on the ship, next to the captain.
The head chef wields power over the most important meal.
It's best to have them on your side!
"Well, helping someone is a good thing."
Understanding Ryo's mindset of 'if there are fish, there will be water', Abel praises his actions.
He is honestly just complimenting him, but for some reason, the mage seems suspicious.
"Of course, behind that, there is the cunning plot of a hungry swordsman."
Ryo says this in a voice too loud to be merely a mumbled aside.
He deliberately wants Abel to hear it.
"What’s this about a cunning hungry swordsman?"
"He's making me study restoration alchemy so that he can repair his armor when the time comes."
In the Archipelago Sea Region's alchemy, there exists a technique for perfectly restoring leather armor.
Ryo has been reading a book recommended by an armor restoration craftsman and even brought a cheap leather armor on this trip.
He repeatedly damages and repairs that cheap leather armor to hone his skills.
By the way, the 'restoration' category is something Ryo spontaneously labeled.
"Just as I thought, Ryo. You see right through my thoughts."
"Flattery won’t get you anything for free, you know!"
"What do you want? Grilled fish? I can hand you some grilled fish in advance!"
"Grilled fish is already served at our daily meals on the ship... I don’t need an advance."
"What a selfish mage."
"I don’t want to hear that from Abel!"
It seems that sometimes their roles of joking and retorting switch.
There is a possibility they might evolve into a double act with alternating jokes...
However, that peaceful time was suddenly interrupted.
"Captain! There’s something on the northern horizon!"
One of the crew members, who had climbed the mast, shouted after scanning the surroundings with a telescope.
In response, Captain Gorick ran to the bow and aimed the telescope forward.
The ship was heading north towards the continent.
In other words, the northern horizon is where the ship is headed.
Ryo and Abel also went to the bow, but neither of them had a telescope, so they couldn’t see clearly.
Straining their eyes, they thought they saw something, but...
It seems that even Captain Gorick couldn’t make a judgment, as he stared for a while...
"Helmsman! Full starboard! Quickly adjust our course to true east!"
"Aye, sir!"
The helmsman replied to Captain Gorick's command.
Seeing Gorick firmly grip the rail, Ryo and Abel hurriedly did the same.
In that moment, the Rondark made a sharp turn.
It was the first time for both of them to experience such a maneuver since boarding.
Something urgent must be approaching, and they needed to avoid it.
After the turn, Gorick was once again peering through the telescope at the northern horizon.
"Abel, it seems something serious is happening."
"Yes, it seems so."
"In such cases, there are stories around the world that say offering a sacrifice can help avoid disaster."
"...I can see where this is going."
"Let's offer Abel as the sacrifice..."
"I thought so!"
Ryo's plot was accurately read by Abel.