Chapter 99. The Moonless Sea
Early dawn, at the docks of Wigma Academy. A massive ship was moored there. At its prow stood a siren statue stained with blood, and crimson sails were rigged above.
Yul and Lucian gathered there. Even at this early hour, sailors were unloading cargo.
But there were also people doing nothing at all.
“Why are you all here?”
While participating in club activities, it was rare for all the mbers to gather in one place.
Still, he hadn’t expected every single mber of the club to assemble for the Sea Horror exploration.
“Huh? Yul, didn’t you hear? All of our club mbers are going.”
In order, there were Lucian, Brodin, Yera, and Frenda Utenia.
“Seriously?”
“There was talk about sending people in groups who already knew each other. After seeing the recruitnt numbers, Professor Schmidt bundled us together and processed it that way.”
“But she doesn’t have a contracted Seaborn, does she? I thought only Sinkers were being mobilized for tracking.”
“I volunteered! And my artifact will be helpful.”
Frenda wasn’t a Sinker.
“An artifact?”
“It’s a wide-area acoustic survey and analysis device. Still a prototype, though.”
“Huh?”
That’s basically sonar.
“Seaborn can recognize and see each other clearly even underwater, right? But humans can’t sense anything at all.”
“Oho.”
It seed her goal was to take the functions Yul inherently possessed and standardize them into a chanical device.
“It still has many shortcomings, so I’m getting help from my brother.”
Hearts were practically spilling from her eyes. Lucian scratched the back of his head shyly.
So this guy Lucian had been analyzing the Black Card, building a runefra in the workshop, handling a double major and assignnts, and even dating? He must be a madman.
“Yaaaawn.”
“Why is she here?”
“I didn’t want to co either. I’m bound by contract.”
As she said that, Yera Mul, with a carbuncle perched on her head, stepped onto the sailing ship first.
“And why are you here?”
“Ah, well… the bounty….”
Brodin spoke awkwardly while glancing at Yul. He seed perfectly fine talking to others, but whenever he faced Yul, he was still awkward.
He’d thought it would get better with ti, but it was actually getting worse.
“And I also wanted to explore Deep Sea. I’ve learned so new techniques.”
“Hmm. Alright.”
“Alright, you lot, listen up!”
As they conversed and stepped onto the deck, a red-haired female captain appeared from inside.
“I’m Carn! Welco aboard the Bloody Siren, Sinkers! I’m a privateer captain under contract with the Kingdom of Britain.”
So she’s a pirate? A female captain missing an arm and an eye. She seed to be observing Yul with particular interest.
“My ship, the Bloody Siren, always demands a single drop of blood from those who board. No special reason. It’s tied to my Unique Magic.”
All captains in this world were mages.
“My Unique Magic, 「Bloodline」, is a spell that imbues blood with binding force. Those sails were woven from blood.”
“You’re saying the red sails aren’t just dyed?”
Soone shouted in surprise. The crimson sails above were not simple fabric, but a magical textile made of blood.
“Letting a drop of blood fall onto the sails is the condition for staying aboard my ship. If soone boards without marking it with blood, they’ll experience the dreadful pain of being crushed from above across their entire body.”
Though Carn hadn’t explained it, Yul realized that even the material of the ship itself differed from ordinary wood.
The Bloody Siren was clearly no ordinary wooden sailing vessel.
“Lower the sails! Collect the guests’ drops of blood.”
The club mbers each pricked a finger and let a single drop fall.
“You too. You’re a Seaborn, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Yul lightly pricked his finger and let the blood drip. Thanks to his regeneration, the wound healed instantly.
“Hehehehehe. Handso, aren’t you?”
With that, Carn turned away. Yul felt a slight chill. It felt like a shark opening its jaws.
“Alright, the contract is complete. Everyone is now permitted to board this ship, so we set sail. You idiots! Move it, move it!?”
After Carn disappeared, Lucian spoke with so concern.
“The captain seems a bit rough. I hope it’ll be alright.”
“If anything happens, I’ll carry you back to land.”
“Ah, I’ll pass on flying!”
With that shout, Lucian headed toward the cabin.
Each of them was assigned a private room. Yul checked Lucian’s room first. It was an ordinary cabin.
“Well, nothing special.”
“Right?”
Lucian said as he set down his massive luggage. It must have been quite heavy, but thanks to reaching Communion Level 2, he didn’t seem physically burdened at all.
Lucian’s luggage contained the upper-body components of the runefra.
They had been separated into gauntlets, arms, and breastplate sections.
“If you’d completed the lower half, you wouldn’t have needed to do this.”
“True.”
He said keeping it assembled for too long caused instability, so he planned to assemble it onboard when needed.
“If you brought the entire runefra, it would stand out, so this isn’t a bad option.”
“Yes. I’ll also be able to experience so trial and error with the runefra at sea.”
Yul had nothing much to carry—just a backpack on his shoulder and his bare body—so there were no issues.
As soon as the Bloody Siren finished preparations, it swiftly departed from Weimar Wigma.
Not long after setting sail, a sailor knocked on the door.
“If you’re all done unpacking, the captain invites you to dine in her quarters.”
“Tell her we’re coming.”
The captain’s quarters were far more luxurious than the ordinary cabins. Located on the upper deck, they were spacious and filled with sunlight.
Carn was waiting there. At a glance, she looked every bit the pirate captain. She seed like the type who should have a monkey on her shoulder—but she didn’t.
“You’d better eat fresh vegetables while you can. You won’t get them later.”
The cook brought out dishes made with vegetables and fruits.
“I wanted to exchange a few introductions with the guests on my ship.”
As they ate, they took turns introducing themselves. Lucian did most of the talking.
“Hmm. So, a prince of a minor kingdom, a royal without succession rights, a young noble lord, and a daughter from a wealthy family? That’s quite the combination. Doesn’t a magic academy have a class system?”
“It’s not that there isn’t one at all, but people are treated according to their ability.”
Lucian shrugged. Within the academy, status held little real power.
‘Though there was soone who made a fool of himself relying on it.’
After nearly losing his Seaborn, Yeruld, Brodin had changed considerably and no longer behaved like that.
“Anyway, interesting story. I plan to search for three months. If necessary, we can return to the Kingdom of Britain. I’ll take you wherever you want. Where do you plan to start the search?”
Lucian looked around at the others. Frenda had joined to test her artifact and had no opinion on where to begin.
Yera looked as if she’d truly been dragged here and showed no motivation at all, leaving only Brodin.
“? Nah. I don’t have any particular idea.”
“Then that works out. I’ve thought of sothing.”
“Where are we going?”
“Yul will tell you.”
As everyone’s gaze turned toward him, Yul took a glass bottle out of his backpack.
“……A parasite!”
Those who recognized it recoiled in shock.
“Aaaaah!”
“Y-you kept that in your backpack this whole ti?”
Brodin’s face turned pale.
“There’s no need to be so tense. This one is sealed inside the bottle.”
“Yes, don’t worry. This Sea Horror Parasite is irregular, unlike the others. Its skin is white.”
“You’re right, brother?”
“That’s rather fascinating.”
Even Yera, who had seed uninterested, ca closer to observe.
“His na is Puyo, and he’s agreed to guide us to Mother Nest.”
“Is that for real?”
Brodin stared in disbelief, and Yul replied,
“Whether it’s true or not, we don’t have a specific place in mind to start searching, do we? Then we might as well accept the guidance.”
“W-well, that’s true.”
Carn, who had been watching closely, spoke up.
“That grotesque creature is our guide?”
“It communicates through magic signals, so using human language won’t work.”
“Well, fine. Got it. So where are we headed?”
-Uh, it’s this way.
Yul translated Puyo’s magic signal into words.
“Northwest.”
* * *
They had reached roughly the midpoint of the Continental Ocean. After observing their direction for a long while, Carn spoke.
1
“This course leads to the Great Azure Ocean. This is correct, right?”
“It is.”
When Yul answered, Carn pulled out a map.
“There are a few threats in the Great Azure Ocean. First, pirates.”
The first to explore the Great Azure Ocean had not been nations. It had been private individuals who already possessed ships.
So of them claid newly discovered islands as they pleased. They made them their own and turned to piracy.
Carn’s map marked the locations of such pirates.
“There are islands commonly called pirate islands scattered everywhere. So you can approach without issue, but others will attack you the mont you draw near.”
“And second, untad Seaborn. They’re usually neutral, but if pirates tried to capture or attack them, they’ll definitely harbor hostility toward humans.”
“After that, there are the unknown, bizarre phenona spread throughout the entire Great Azure Ocean.”
“Bizarre phenona?”
It was the first he’d heard of it. Lucian pressed further.
“Strange things happen all across the Great Azure Ocean. In so places, shadows disappear. In others, no wind blows at all, or the sun itself vanishes….”
“Is that even possible?”
“Well, just keep it in mind for now. And you—Yul, was it? How much longer does that thing in the glass bottle say it’ll take?”
-We’ll arrive soon. At this speed, we should reach it by early evening.
Just as he said, they did not arrive until after sunset.
Following Puyo’s guidance, they reached a stretch of sea unlike any they had seen before.
“The moonlight… is gone?”
A full moon hung high in the sky. Its light illuminated the entire world, except for the sea region Puyo had indicated, which lay in complete darkness.
It almost felt as if darkness rising from the ocean itself was swallowing the moonlight.
Everyone aboard drew in a sharp breath. It looked like a space ford entirely of endless blackness.
The navigator spoke first.
“D-drop the anchor.”
Carn, staring at the moonless sea, kicked the navigator in the backside before the order could be carried out.
“Hey, idiot! The sea’s pitch-black. Even if you drop the anchor, do you think it’ll catch the bottom? Heave to! Tacking!!”
At Carn’s command, the sailors scrambled to haul the ropes.
The foresail caught the wind head-on, and the blood-dyed main sail was furled tight.
They turned the helm against the wind, bringing the ship almost to a standstill upon the vast ocean.
The nearly halted vessel began drifting slowly, as though carried into the darkness-stained waters.
User Comments
0 comments from readers