Chapter 190 - A Strange Current (2)

There was a single pole poking up above the fog-filled sea.

Vlad had called it an antenna, but in truth, it was a periscope that allowed one to look out from under the sea.

"... Damn."

After guiding the Zemina, Vulcanus had returned to his original watch duty, and his eyes widened as he saw the shadows approaching from far away.

Ships that, at a glance, seemed to number more than ten.

He hurriedly adjusted the periscope's angle and looked up, and from the ships' sails hung splendid flags emblazoned with a golden sword.

"... Barbosa!"

Once Vulcanus confirmed who they were, he clenched his teeth.

There had been a few scouting ships sent by humans before, but never once had they dispatched vessels on a scale like this.

"What direction are they headed?"

At Vulcanus's order, the dwarf beside him hurriedly judged the direction in which the ships were advancing.

Because, unlike before, the sight of them moving straight ahead without the slightest hesitation filled him with unease.

"They are proceeding in a straight line westward."

"West?"

"... Precisely toward Lemnos Island."

Realizing the source of his unease, Vulcanus quickly sent hand signals to the crew.

It was the signal for an emergency dive.

"Return to the island as quickly as possible!"

"Understood!"

At Vulcanus's urgent gestures, the sunfish-like vessel rapidly sank beneath the sea.

At the same time, the sound of the pedals the crew were stamping down on began to creak urgently.

"We have to arrive before those bastards do. Full speed ahead, everyone!"

Dense fog where even the sun could not reach and the stars of the night sky could not be seen.

It was a place where there was no way to find one's bearings unless by the terrain beneath the sea, yet Barbosa's ships were advancing straight toward Lemnos Island as though they knew the way.

In the great waves created by the ships, the wreckage of vessels trapped among the reefs began to be pushed away helplessly.

* * *

The day after the banquet that had been like madness, Vlad was drinking tea with Varadis.

Though much of the awkwardness among the party had faded during the journey here, Vlad was still the only one who could approach the elves' side.

"In Deirmar and everywhere else, children follow you around wherever you go."

"That's why it's such a pain."

Vlad let out a sigh and looked down below.

As seen from the balcony, the place was full of dwarf children standing there with sparkling eyes, just as Varadis had said.

"Why not wave to them at least once?"

"In my experience, that just makes them cling even more."

Vlad glared sourly at the children, but even that seemed to stir their curiosity.

And though Vlad did not know it, among these children were a few of the children he had rescued in Nassau.

"What do you think? Are there traces of spirits left here too?"

"Hm. I should tell you about that first."

The elves had followed the traces of the Mother World Tree all the way to Lemnos Island.

Their leader, Varadis, set down his teacup with a meaningful expression at Vlad's question.

"I saw no spirits at all. If there is anything I can sense, it would be the little lizard in the smithy."

"I see."

"But there is something more important than that."

As if worried the children below might hear, Varadis drew close to Vlad and whispered.

"The island is dying."

"... What?"

"The flow of life is gradually being cut off. As if it were suffocating."

Vlad was momentarily flustered by an answer he had not expected at all, but Varadis only pointed to various parts of the island as if telling him to look over there.

"I thought it had become that way because of indiscriminate logging, but not only the trees, other plants are dying too."

"..."

"For now, keep this to yourself. I need to investigate a little more."

Indeed, wherever Varadis pointed, there were desolate patches all across the island, as though something had eaten them away.

He had not noticed at a glance, but once he looked carefully, there was certainly more than one such sight.

"Vlad."

While Vlad was frowning and looking around, someone carefully entered the room.

It was the one-eyed knight, Jager.

"Spare me a moment. Lord Joseph is calling for you."

"Yes."

Jager greeted Varadis, who had been drinking tea, with a slight nod, then called Vlad out with a careful gesture.

"What is it?"

"Hm."

The corridor was filled with bright sunlight.

But Jager's face as he walked down the corridor was stiffly set, unlike usual.

"It's nothing much."

"Yes."

"The captain and the mage have been arrested. The black fellow too."

At the words he heard, Vlad stopped for a moment.

Jager turned around, confirmed Vlad's strangely hardened expression, and shrugged.

He had prefaced it as nothing much out of his own consideration, but it was indeed news that could not help but startle him.

"... Why?"

"Lord Joseph is looking into that now."

"Understood. Let's hurry."

Haven, Nibelun, and Otar as well.

At the news that those three had been thrown into prison, Vlad's feet, which had paused for a moment, began to move faster.

Because those three were people whom Aureo, not Bayezid, had to vouch for.

* * *

-According to Captain Vulcanus's report...

-Let's start by grabbing the humans and beating the hell out of them!

-What if we drop that crystal ball or whatever it is somewhere else even now? They followed it here, didn't they?

It was supposed to be a solemn council, but all sorts of shouting were flying back and forth.

And in the midst of those shouts and raised voices, Joseph alone was facing down their fierce gazes.

The tribal chiefs had been amiable up until yesterday's banquet, but now they were glaring at Joseph as though they would tear him to pieces.

"Enough, everyone."

At the great chieftain Olmukar's restraint, the other chiefs began to close their mouths.

"I believe we need an explanation regarding this situation, Joseph of Bayezid."

"..."

Sharp gazes approached after the silence.

They had found evidence of a spy among those who had come as guests, so the current hostile mood was only natural.

"We have no time. The person I am right now must prepare countermeasures for what comes next rather than determine who is right or wrong."

The sound of an axe haft tapping against the floor was bleak.

The enemy was approaching, and the location of the island they had to protect had already been exposed.

Realizing they could no longer hide within the fog, Olmukar was looking at the guests, whom he could not tell were enemies or allies, and pondering how to deal with them.

"I am Vlad Aureo!"

At that moment, there was a man who entered while announcing his own name before the guards could introduce him.

Blond hair, blue eyes, and a cloak made of sable fur.

He was a man who had entered without anyone's permission, but Olmukar only nodded without saying anything.

"I heard there has been a misunderstanding."

"I will decide whether it is a misunderstanding or not, Knight Vlad."

The northern knight said to have saved the children in the city of Nassau.

Indeed, just as he had heard, he was young, and he possessed as intense an impression as he appeared to.

"If you cannot persuade me now, all of you will go to prison. I have no intention of leaving uncomfortable things behind my back."

But right now, they were not benefactors, merely suspicious suspects.

Olmukar's eyes began to turn fierce with the distrust toward humans he had built up over a long time.

"In that case, please give us a chance to prove ourselves, great chieftain."

Watching the silent Vlad, Joseph took one step forward on his own.

Because though he had taught him much, Vlad likely had no resistance to a complex situation like this.

"It is already known to everyone that Duke Barbosa of the South has close ties with the Dragonblood Duke, so there should be no reason for us, as northerners, to join hands with the Golden Duke."

"And why should I believe those words?"

Their carefully hidden nest was under threat.

Seeing Olmukar still refusing to withdraw his suspicion, Joseph sensed that persuasion would not be easy, but now there was only this method.

"I will remain here."

"What?"

"I will remain here, so take them to the battlefield and give them a chance to prove their innocence themselves."

With one action rather than ten words.

Vlad could not hide his startled expression as he watched Joseph say he would become a hostage himself.

"Would Joseph of Bayezid not have sufficient value as a hostage?"

"... He would."

When one went to another land, one was supposed to follow its customs.

Watching Joseph speak like a dwarf rather than in the language of nobles, at least for now, Olmukar sank into deep thought.

Because he could see that there was not the slightest lie in Vlad's still-startled expression.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Vlad. I should have paid more attention."

"..."

In the middle of the bustling harbor, Vlad retied the strap of his scabbard.

Seeing Vlad silently tightening the strap, Haven, who understood how he felt, only quietly stepped back.

Even as he watched Joseph go to prison in their place, Vlad had worn the same expression he did now.

"Your armor?"

"I left it for repairs."

"And you're going out without armor?"

"What am I supposed to do if I don't have it, then?"

Jager clicked his tongue as he looked at Vlad, who was about to go to the battlefield with no armor, wearing only a cloak.

He understood how bitter he felt, but that did not mean he should move this recklessly.

"Wear mine, at least. I don't need it right now."

"... But."

"Take it."

It was not as rare as lending out one's sword, perhaps, but lending out one's armor was also not something commonly done.

But seeing Jager offer his own armor without hesitation, Vlad could sense that he was not offering it merely because he had no use for it.

"Sir Vlad! Where is Sir Vlad?"

Dwarves were packed tightly around the ships in the harbor.

There was a dwarf man desperately calling Vlad's name as he pushed through the middle of the crowd.

"Hah! Hah! I finally found you! I'm glad your hair color stands out."

The dwarf blacksmith, carrying a great deal of baggage on his back, let out a rough breath in relief after seeing Vlad.

Judging by how he was raggedly saying he had finally found him, it seemed he had probably wandered around quite a bit.

"The master smith sends these. The repairs are done."

"His timing is precise."

At the dwarf's words that he had brought the armor, Jager tied up the straps he had been unfastening with an awkward expression.

"It was fitted to match the build of the existing armor, so the size should probably be right."

Fortunately, the elves' armor had returned just in time.

But Vlad ended up looking bewildered as he looked at the bundles of armor the dwarf man set down.

"I don't think this is mine."

"Excuse me?"

"No, my armor is silver. And it didn't look like this to begin with."

Because the armor the dwarf man lifted now was entirely silver-gray, unlike the old one.

Moreover, every part of the armor the dwarf set down looked extraordinary, but it clearly seemed different from the armor he had originally worn.

"Ah! The existing armor was too badly damaged, so there was no helping it. We had to tear it all apart and rebuild it, so it ended up like this!"

The dwarf blacksmith remembered Rukhta, who had kept grumbling even as he repaired the armor.

He had kept muttering, wondering what on earth one had to fight for armor to become such a rag.

"It will probably feel like new! But I can truly guarantee its quality! It is armor the master smith worked on personally."

The dwarf blacksmith lifted the armor as though telling him to hurry and try it on.

In an instant, the gazes of the dwarves in the harbor began to gather on the armor he was holding.

It was armor splendid enough that even Olmukar, who was aboard a ship in the distance, had his gaze stolen for a moment.

"... Please tell Lord Joseph."

"What?"

Vlad, too, had his gaze stolen by the armor.

But rather than the armor's splendor, Vlad quietly gauged the functions it would perform.

"That I will return as quickly as possible."

The armor he received from the blacksmith was lighter than before.

The armor of the elves had changed in appearance, in weight, and in the color of the light it reflected.

But if there was one thing that had not changed, it would be the phrase still engraved on the breastplate.

"I will be back."

"Yeah."

Back when I was a squire, the title of knight of Joseph was my pride, and the phrase knight who protected the breaths of children was my honor.

And now, with all of them engraved into his new armor, Vlad moved his steps toward the sea calling him.

A silver-gray knight advancing to prove his own name.

The crew, the elves, and a mage with a pack firmly on his back were following behind him.

For Joseph, who had made another chance for him even though he had left his embrace, Vlad tightly fastened the straps of the unfamiliar armor.

For Your Name

There was a man sitting alone in an empty prison, his head lowered.

The place where he sat and the place where he leaned were both a prison filled with cold chill.

Yet unlike the grim scenery around him, his expression somehow looked peaceful.

"They should have arrived by now."

"They should have."

Standing outside the bars, Jager quietly nodded at Joseph's words.

Indeed, by now, it would be about time Vlad had encountered the Golden Duke's ships.

"Are you all right?"

But the person Jager was more worried about right now, even more than Vlad out on the battlefield, was Joseph.

Because even the air of winter was difficult for him, and he always used to cough dryly.

"Now that I know clearly what I must do, my body is suffering, but my mind is at ease."

"..."

Though he was somewhat pale, Joseph's face as seen through the bars truly looked at ease, just as he had said.

But Jager could not laugh along with Joseph's smile.

Because he knew how much thought had gone into that smile.

"I wish I had lived like this from the start."

The morning sun began to shine over Joseph's breath as he exhaled coldly.

When he chased it, the light only fled far away, but now that he was sitting still, it was instead a light that came to him.

* * *

RUMBLE!

A violent wave began to surge over the calm sea.

It was the sound made by one of Barbosa's ships shooting high into the air.

"... What the hell is this?"

The cold droplets striking his face felt like a dream.

Tolbin, the commander of this scouting force, stared blankly at the ship jutting upward at a bizarre angle.

Because even he, who had spent his whole life at sea, had never seen a sight like this before.

"The ship is falling!"

"Everyone, grab the railing!"

But things that fall have no wings.

CRASH!

The ship, which had aimed toward the sky despite being a ship, merely plunged downward as though crashing and shattered to pieces.

Between the shattered ship, the enormous chains tied between reef and reef swayed heavily.

"It's a trap, captain!"

"We have to get out of here immediately!"

It was a trap.

This sea zone where they were.

This place they had entered while chasing the red rose was surrounded by reefs on all sides, and on top of that, it was enclosed by enormous iron chains.

It was a trap that could not have been made without long preparation.

-Those bastards are out again!

-Everyone, keep your heads down!

THWIP!

Sharp arrows began flying once more toward Tolbin's stunned ship.

He did not know who had shot them, but even as they pierced through the heavy sea wind, the arrows had not lost any of their sharpness.

"Gah!"

"Urgh!"

The deck was filled with the dying screams of sailors.

Some of the bastards had already lost the will to fight and were lying flat under the railing, avoiding the rain of arrows flying in.

"... Get up! Get up! Everyone, get up and fight back!"

Tolbin, who had barely come to his senses, began shouting at the sailors at the top of his lungs.

No matter how much they were only a scouting force, there was no way ten ships could collapse so meaninglessly.

"Unidentified ship! Approaching again! This time from the stern!"

"... What?"

But though the unknown enemy had dealt them a heavy blow through the trap just now, it did not seem to have any intention of letting go of the momentum it had seized.

Indeed, just as the words said, there was a ship that had burst out of the fog.

It was a ship flying a red rose flag.

'It was in front of us until just now!'

Until just now, it had been luring them directly ahead, but at some point it had circled behind them and was aiming for the back of their heads.

At that incomprehensible, ghostlike maneuverability, a chill ran through Tolbin's liver.

"Prepare the cannons!"

"They're out of range!"

A ship that had suddenly appeared behind the fleet as though it had risen from beneath the sea.

Tolbin's sailors let out shrill screams as they saw the ship appear once again in a place it should not have been.

"Then why the hell do their arrows reach us?"

As if it had heard Tolbin's shout, the unidentified ship suddenly began to change direction.

With its head raised straight, it turned toward their side.

"Enemy ship approaching!"

"What?"

The ship with the red rose flag had lured the enemy, trapped them, and nevertheless had shown itself once more.

Watching the ship move this way and that, making full use of its small size, Tolbin's eyes bulged wide.

Its body was small, but the ram jutting out at its front was sharper than that of any ship he had ever seen.

CRASH!

* * *

"Everyone, hold on tight!"

"Hiiiieee!"

All sorts of junk was rolling across the Zemina, which was tilted so far back it seemed about to fall over.

Even the elves, who possessed excellent balance, had to hold onto the railing and endure with difficulty.

Even so, the ship was somehow maintaining its balance thanks to the precise calculations of the captain holding the rudder.

"Send some wind, mage!"

"That's not as easy as you make it sound!"

From the enemy's bow to its stern.

Haven's steering, which bent the ship cunningly through the fog, was possible only because of the thick fog that obscured their vision and the mage's mystery.

"I can't do any more! I've used up all the wind I stored!"

"Goddammit!"

Nibelun had been sending wind with the strange bellows he had taken out from his pack, but it seemed that had now reached its limit.

Indeed, until just a moment ago, the sails had been swollen as though about to burst from the wind, but now they were visibly sagging down.

"Vlad. I can't do any more. If we lose speed, we'll be the ones who get taken down instead."

"Got it."

The Zemina had thoroughly ravaged the enemy's blind spots using the thick fog as shade, but now that attempt was at its end.

"Still, this much is enough."

But thanks to it, they had been able to break up the enemy fleet, so it was success enough.

The ships scattered beyond the fog, aside from those now trapped, would have become Nidavellir's prey.

"What should we do? Run now? I think this should be enough for the luring mission."

"No."

Raising his palm and looking far out, Vlad confirmed that the enemy ships, which had started as ten, now numbered only four.

And along with that, he saw Nidavellir's ships approaching from far away, as if they had dealt with the scattered vessels.

Seeing the enemy ships now even taking out their oars to try to leave the route, Vlad steeled his resolve.

"We take one ship."

"What?"

"I have to take at least one with my own hands, no matter what."

Crush their spirit decisively.

And if you have seized momentum, do not stop.

The secret of the one-strike sure-kill leading to victory was not necessarily limited only to the enemy.

"That way, I can wring an apology out of those dwarf bastards."

Thinking of the dwarves, Vlad was grinding his teeth.

He fully understood the current situation in which they had misunderstood them, but that did not mean he had accepted it in his heart.

Joseph, still imprisoned in a cold prison even now, was both a benefactor to Vlad and someone like the pride he had to uphold.

"..."

Vlad silently looked at the elves standing by the railing.

The elves of Aushrina, called natural-born archers from the moment they were born.

Those who had pierced one enemy without fail with every arrow nodded at Vlad's straight gaze.

"Let us see this through to the end. The price for saving the World Tree—I do not think we have repaid it with only this much."

"Thank you."

At Varadis's words, the elves drew swords instead of bows.

Seeing them, the sailors, who guessed what would happen next, took out their own weapons with flushed faces.

"... Never thought I'd live to see the day I ram Barbosa's ship."

A name that anyone who made a living at sea had heard at least once.

Golden Duke Kazan Barbosa.

Thinking that he would charge toward that enormous name from now on, Haven's head went dizzy.

"It's fine. Zemina was always good at headbutting."

"That's your Zemina!"

GRRRRIND!

Yes.

They were lives born at the bottom anyway.

Because they had been born with nothing in their hands, the back-alley lives who had nothing to lose from the start began shouting toward the fierce sea.

"This one is my Zemina!"

At Haven's signal, given with clenched teeth, Nibelun's bellows began to work once more.

Then the ship, filled with propulsion, began shooting toward Barbosa's ships.

"I'm going to die... We'll all die at this rate!"

Nibelun was working the bellows for the Zemina with a truly deathly feeling.

But the utterly exhausted Nibelun did not realize that the bellows he was stepping on with all his might had already served their purpose.

"Everyone, brace for impact!"

There were clusters of light clinging tightly together and pushing the Zemina from behind in place of the insufficient wind.

The squid that had swarmed here after the scent of the World Tree Vlad had drawn.

The strange current they created was flowing straight toward Barbosa's ships.

* * *

CRACK!

"Enemy ship... has struck us!"

The sound of wooden planks tearing was loud.

The deck beneath their feet shook as though an earthquake had struck, and several sailors who had failed to secure something to hold onto fell into the sea below.

It had been small, but because it was fast, the vibration it spat out had no choice but to be enormous.

"Why didn't a single cannon hit?"

"The enemy's maneuvering... Their speed was too great!"

"Goddamn it!"

A speed so fast even experienced sailors would have difficulty managing it.

Breaking through the cannonballs streaking past, the Zemina finally struck Tolbin's ship and was lodged deeply like an arrow, showing no intention of coming loose.

"Prepare for boarding! Knights, go down to the hold!"

Tolbin shouted as though bursting with rage and slammed down on the rudder he had been holding.

It was ridiculous even to him that they were now caught by the ankle by one measly little ship, when it would already be hard enough just to avoid the dwarf ships charging in.

"Die, you bastards!"

"Push them back! Don't let them in!"

Right beside them were the dwarves closing in moment by moment.

And below them, enemy sailors were flooding in.

From the Zemina, which had wedged itself into the hold rather than the deck because of the low ceiling, rough-looking men began pouring out in an instant.

"Who the hell thinks they can stop who?"

The hole was narrow to begin with, so breaking through was difficult.

But if the one in the very front was a knight equipped with his own world, it would likely not be a great problem.

-Aaaargh!

-It's a knight! A knight using aura!

Blood as salty as seawater was sticking thickly to Vlad's armor.

But the reason it could not remain long and slid off was probably because of the secret art the dwarf blacksmith had engraved into it.

"Otar! Go free the rowers!"

"Got it!"

Using dwarves as slaves was not a privilege of the West alone.

The dwarf rowers, tied to one another and unable to move, were staring wide-eyed at Vlad, who had suddenly burst in.

"The rest of you, follow me!"

From the lowest hold up to the deck above.

Cutting and cleaving through the sailors blocking his path, Vlad was climbing upward.

"Don't get in my way, you sons of bitches!"

In the narrow space, the silver-gray armor flawlessly blocked the swords clinging to him without rest.

Every time Justia's Armor Magic deflected an enemy sword, without fail, the neck of some nameless man fell away.

"So you're that famous bastard child of Dragulia!"

"..."

Every step he took upward was, in the end, engraved with someone's traces.

If not for their help, perhaps he might still be in the mire even now.

No, he probably would be.

"... Who did you just call Dragulia?"

But the person I am now was able to shine while bearing the name I wanted.

Vlad's blue eyes began to glow toward the opponent who had called him by the wrong name.

"Who did you call Dragulia?"

CRUNCH!

"Aaaargh!"

Not swordsmanship, not a Sword Path, but pure ferocity.

The nameless knight who had blocked the stairs could clearly see the bright blue eyes tearing through his own world and entering.

"Uaaaaah!"

Vlad's sword, with rage hanging at its fore, did not lose the slightest momentum.

With the knight skewered on his sword, Vlad charged straight toward the deck.

A spray of blood striking around his eyes muddled his vision, yet even so, Vlad did not stop.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Vlad climbed upward, loudly smashing through the hold.

When Vlad's golden color, carved deep in his chest, lit up the dark interior of the ship, a clear path began to appear to the party following behind him.

It was the path upward.

CRASH!

With a loud sound, he broke through the door blocking his way and climbed up, and finally, fresh air began to linger over Vlad's cheek.

It was the deck he had wanted to reach, and the higher world he had aimed for.

"Wh-who are you?"

His arrival had been loud, but what greeted him was only quiet silence.

In front of the sword he swung as though shaking something off, the knight skewered on it began to split in half.

Blue eyes visible through that gruesome split.

Seeing that gaze only a born predator could possess, Tolbin swallowed without realizing it.

"Of Soara..."

Rain was falling.

Rain that washed away the flowing blood.

Standing over blood as sticky as the mire of the past, Vlad quietly felt the falling rain.

"... I am Vlad, knight of Joseph."

Today, in place of my own name, which I could speak proudly, he spoke in the name of another.

For Joseph, who had allowed him to stand here, Vlad raised his sword toward the golden flag.

It was a sword for Joseph, who, on that cold winter day long ago, had recognized the person he was even though he had stood there under another's stolen name.