Published: July 4, 2025
"Seems that eighty guards on the darwei side have withdrawn, and instead, they are recruiting adventurers."
"Adventurers?"
Princess Shio Fen tilted her head at Mifa's explanation.
However, she soon nodded.
"Normally, they would dispatch soldiers from the daimyo of Randa, but they judged that there’s a high possibility of saboteurs being mixed in among those soldiers. So, hiring adventurers is... cautious or bold?"
Princess Shio Fen said this with a slight smile.
Mifa agreed and nodded slightly before replying.
"Well, it seems that Deputy Snus has requested a reassignment. The newly hired adventurers are said to be on the Ninth and Tenth ships."
"When it comes to adventurers, Abel-sensei and Ryo-sama must have boarded the merchant ship that followed behind, right? Did they disembark in the town of Randa?"
"It appears so. After disembarking from the Sue Koo, I saw them walking with the crew toward the bank."
"I see. If we're going to hire adventurers, it would have been ideal to have those two."
Princess Shio Fen said with a laugh, and Mifa also gave a wry smile.
The two in question are still unaware of being in the same fleet...
Ryo and Abel were sitting at the corner of the first deck on Ryo's ice chair.
Abel had a book open on the ice table and Ryo was writing something on an ice board with an ice pen.
Initially, Abel was deeply engrossed in reading, but he started to get curious about what Ryo was writing... and finally spoke up.
"Ryo, what are you writing?"
Ryo immediately hid the ice board with his body.
"Why are you hiding it...?"
"I-I’m not hiding anything!"
"No, you definitely are."
Without meeting Abel's gaze, Ryo insisted it was a misunderstanding.
Of course, his claim had no persuasive power whatsoever.
"I was just a bit curious, that's all."
"I can’t show you because I haven’t signed a non-disclosure agreement with Abel."
"What kind of agreement is that?"
"It’s because I’d be in trouble if information leaked from Abel..."
Ryo looked at Abel with suspicion.
Of course, there’s no fact that Abel has leaked any information in the past.
It's just Ryo's usual unfounded assumptions.
"Well, I was just a bit curious. My bad, please continue your work."
"This isn't work; I'm writing a research paper."
"Research?"
"Yes. It’ll be finished soon, and once it's done, I’ll let Abel know too."
Ryo said with a grin.
"I have a feeling it’s something useless..."
"How rude! This includes a theory that might change the principle of the world... or so I feel... it's a revolutionary hypothesis."
"Already, just the current content feels off..."
"Don’t worry. It’s not about Abel’s ecological study or anything like that."
"Yeah, I hadn’t anticipated that at all."
At least, on the ship, both of them had the leeway to talk about such things.
"There was also the matter of carrying luggage in the request, but it seems there’s enough room to work on the ship."
"Carrying luggage means moving food onto the ship after arriving at the port, right? Of course, it would be boring on the ship."
By the way, the space where they were was secured by Ryo through negotiations with the crew.
Each ship had about forty crew members operating it.
As the crew would pass by, they waved at Ryo.
"Ryo, you really are a people magnet."
"That's not true. I’m not good at socializing. Being a Type O Pisces, I probably just seem kind."
"Pisces...? I don’t really get it, but the crew seems happy."
"Well, that’s thanks to my bribes."
"Bribes? Did you give them money?"
"No, something even better."
Ryo said with another sly grin.
"A shower privilege on the deck without restrictions."
"So that means you can bathe in as much falling water as you like?"
"Exactly. Freshwater is precious on the ship. Of course, even bathing is restricted, and even wiping yourself off with a cloth has limits. But I can make it rain as much water as I want, so I told everyone they could take a shower together, and then I became popular."
"Impressive."
"I’m deeply honored by your praise."
Ryo bowed respectfully in response to Abel's admiration.