Published: July 4, 2025
The Rondark was able to safely avoid the large flock of flying fish and the kraken that must have been lurking beneath them.
It seemed like a tumultuous voyage, but it turned out to be otherwise.
For the next two days, they encountered no significant problems.
“Where do you think the pirate ships and ghost ships are hiding?”
“Suddenly, what are you talking about?”
After lunch, Ryo and Abel were leisurely sipping their post-meal coffee on the deck when Ryo suddenly brought this up.
Of course, the Rondark had neither been attacked by pirates nor encountered any ghost ships.
“I think that during such voyages, it's common for pirate ships to attack or for ghost ships to be encountered, but we haven't run into any.”
“Is that the usual way of thinking? Generally, pirate ships wouldn't attack a warship.”
“Hmm… now that you mention it, that’s true. In that case, we would assist if they were attacking a merchant ship…”
“While that’s not out of the question… If it's on land, people generally travel along the main roads, so it might be possible to help at the scene of an ambush. I'll admit that. But out here in this vast ocean, I wonder…”
At Abel's words, Ryo's eyes widened in surprise.
Usually, he would say something like, “It’s impossible for thieves to appear so frequently given the country's security,” but this time was different.
“Abel, your expression has softened.”
“What do you mean by that? Even in a decent country, it cannot be denied that thieves appear in the outskirts or borders. The Naitorei Kingdom has relatively decent security, but not all countries are like that.”
“It’s even more so at sea.”
“Yeah. According to sailors, the routes and fishing grounds they use are almost predetermined, so even in a vast ocean, it seems they do encounter each other. But honestly, I don't understand it.”
“I see.”
At that moment, one of the crew members who had climbed the mast and was scanning the surroundings with a telescope shouted.
“Captain! A ship sighted to the northeast! Just one!”
In response, Captain Gorik ran to the bow and pointed his telescope forward.
Ryo and Abel also rushed to the bow.
Last time it was “something visible,” but they didn’t know what it was.
But this time, they were saying “ship shadow,” so it was certain it was a ship.
“Abel, could this be…?”
“No, it’s just one, right? Even if it’s a pirate, if they realize it’s a warship, they would probably flee.”
“No! It might be a ghost ship!”
“I don’t know about that either.”
The two of them conversed in low voices, knowing full well that even the king had no information about ghost ships.
However, knowing the term "ghost ship" might mean there are ghost ships in Fai too.
“You know the term ghost ship, huh?”
“Of course. I know it because it appears in various stories, but I’ve never seen one, nor have I heard reports of anyone seeing one.”
It seems that ghost ships are indeed rarely encountered.
Though the crew member up on the mast likely hadn’t heard their conversation, he continued to shout updates.
“The ship type appears to be a large island-style vessel! Continuing on its current course. It’s heading in our direction!”
“Is it flying a national flag?”
“It seems to be fluttering at the top of the mast, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet!”
“Continue!”
The crew and Captain Gorik shouted back and forth.
Of course, amidst the sound of waves, various noises were flying around the deck of the sailing ship.
The shouting volume was unavoidable.
“Ah, Abel-san, Ryo-san. We aren’t sure yet, but it seems to be a warship from one of the island nations.”
“Island nations? So it’s different from the countries in the Archipelago Sea Region?”
“Yes. There are several islands and small nations scattered between the Archipelago Sea Region and the continent. If we were on the planned route, the countries along the way would be accustomed to it, and we would be as well…”