Chapter 10

Swaa. Swaaa. Swaa.

Serpens. Lucas. Rail.
The ship carrying the three cut through the sea and moved forward.
It had already been three weeks spent aboard the ship. Slowly, land began to come into view even with the naked eye.

“Huaaaa……”

Serpens’s light brown hair fluttered in the wind.
With his hand placed on the bow as he looked out at the distant sea, he seemed to others as if he were enjoying the romance of it.

‘I’m seriously going to die.’

But the person himself was in a serious situation.
It felt as if his insides were being mixed together.
Seasickness he simply could not get used to.
Thanks to that, Serpens was feeling the greatest crisis of his life.
At least it was fortunate that he had changed his clothes.
If he had been unable to change out of the clothes from the gorge for three weeks, with seasickness on top of that…….

‘Suicide. It would be suicide.’

It was the kind of pain where death would be preferable.

“He said the day would come when I had to ride this again……”

There was something Lucas had said not long after they boarded the ship.
The reason they had come to Killip Gorge was for Serpens’s growth.
Though they had ended up leaving the gorge in a single day because of Rail, Lucas had said that once the matter was finished, they would return to the gorge.

It was not that he disliked training. The problem was this pain he felt every time he rode a ship.

“I really hate it. I really hate it.”
“What do you hate?”

Rail, who had quietly approached, smiled.
Perhaps because he had received simple treatment regularly, most of the wounds on his face had disappeared.

“Seasickness. Seasickness. Maybe because I’m a country bumpkin, it’s really bad.”
“A country bumpkin? Where are you from?”

At the question asking about his origins, Serpens paused for a moment.

“Do you know Satus?”
“Satus……? I am sorry. I do not know it.”

Serpens waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine. Not knowing a place like that won’t affect your life.”
“I see……”

Rail’s voice weakened at the end.

“Anyway, what brings you here?”
“Ah. Sir Lucas called for you. Since we will arrive at the port soon, perhaps he wants us to prepare to disembark.”
“Mm……. All right. Let’s go.”

The ship heading to Port Navigatou was unbearably chilly.
It had an atmosphere where one might get stabbed for making a pointless racket.

There were two kinds of people who boarded a ship leaving the gorge.
Those who had not had the courage to set foot in the gorge. Those who had survived that gorge.
The sense of shame from lacking the courage to enter the gorge, their final option.
The emptiness of having survived the gorge, but having lost much in exchange for survival.
It was an atmosphere where people carrying those two emotions mixed together and had to watch themselves before saying a word.

“You called me, Lucas?”

A secluded spot at the back of the ship.
Lucas, wearing a face similar to the others, was wiping his greatsword.
Of course, he felt no sense of shame or emptiness.
At least not toward the gorge.

“We will arrive at the port in about an hour. That port has a different atmosphere from Litoret, so keep your wits about you.”
“How is it different?”
“You will know when you see it.”
“……Well, I suppose so.”

The endlessly repeating time soon approached its end.
The opposite continent that had felt so distant. He could finally set foot there.
It had taken three weeks from Killip Gorge, located at the southernmost end of the continent, to Port Navigatou.
And even that was possible only because the weather was good and there had been no trouble with the voyage.

“Are we finally getting off……?”

Serpens, already thin to begin with, showed a face that had become even more haggard.
It was because of the pain from seasickness.
Three weeks. A length of time where he had even given up counting how many times he had retched.
The aftereffects were truly terrifying.

Buuuuuuung!

The horn announcing the ship’s stop blared loudly enough to split his ears.
The anchor was lowered, and a plank connecting to the land was laid down.

Dadadadada.

Serpens ran faster than anyone.
How welcome the land was.
If he could, he wanted to hug it tightly.

Lucas also came down onto land while maintaining his pace.

‘……Nothing has changed.’

A bustling port. Merchants selling food and equipment. Residents walking around with cheerful expressions.
If seen narrowly, it looked similar to Litoret.
But its scale was different.
Litoret was a village that had developed because of its port. It was larger than the surrounding villages, but it could not compare to Port Navigatou.
Before being a port, this place was the territory of a count family. Also, it was not a village, but a city.
The size of its area and the speed of its development could not help being different.

“Wow. Beggars here must have it pretty livable.”

What entered Serpens’s eyes were shops full of openings.
Even if they were talking to customers, they left their blind spots open far too easily.
Were they asking to be robbed?
The lump of desire in his heart began tempting him to reach out his hand.

“Does it look that way? That is a relief.”
“It’s a relief that beggars look like they would live well?”

Serpens narrowed his eyes.
It was because of words he had not expected to come out of Rail’s mouth.

“You thought it would be livable because, if one set their mind to it, it would be easy to steal things from the shops, right?”
“……That’s right.”
“Haha. The reason people can be that relaxed is because the idea that they are safe from crime has settled in their minds.”
“Mm……”
“To brag a little about our territory, punishments for illegal acts here are quite severe. For example, if one steals something, not only must they pay ten times the value of the stolen item, but part of their body may even be cut off.”
“……Isn’t that too harsh a punishment? Beggars steal bread because they are too hungry.”
“Many people think that way. But I believe that because the punishments are harsh, we were able to create a territory where the majority can live comfortably like this.”

Rail’s smile.
Serpens forced a smile, trying to hide his aversion.

“Enough chatter. Move.”
“Alright, Lucas.”

Rail took charge of guiding them.
Serpens glanced around and scanned the territory.
Lucas indifferently looked only ahead.

‘I think I know what he meant.’

Serpens thought as he looked at the people passing by him.
The reason Lucas had told him aboard the ship to keep his wits about him.
There were an astonishing number of people.
It didn’t feel like the day of a special event, nor did it seem like an honored guest had arrived.
Even so, every street was packed with people.
If he spaced out even a little, he might lose his group.

They walked like that, and walked some more.
Until they somewhat escaped the discomfort of the crowd.
Until Serpens’s seasickness gradually began to recover.

Dudududu.

“What’s that sound?”

Serpens turned his head left and right.
A sound came from not far away. A faint tremor in the ground could be felt.
It didn’t give him a particularly good feeling.

“Do not be tense. It’s only three or four horses running over.”

Lucas said quietly.

Dududududu.

The sound gradually drew closer, and eventually, two cavalrymen armed in armor arrived before their eyes.
Behind them, a horse with no one sitting on it had also been prepared for Rail.
One of them held a blue flag. On it was embroidered the same golden flag emblem as the one on Rail’s clothes.

‘A flag embroidered on a flag……’

Serpens wondered.
Out of countless possible emblems, what they chose was a flag inside a flag.
Perhaps because a craftsman’s touch had been added, it did feel luxurious, but that was all.

‘It’s incredibly lame.’

He could find no appeal beyond that.

“We greet Young Master Rail. We are relieved you have returned safely.”
“Yes. It feels like a miracle to me too.”
“And these people are……?”
“They are my lifesavers. If not for them, I would not have been able to return to the territory.”
“We greet the honored guests.”

The cavalrymen bowed at the waist.
His thoughts on the flag were brief, and at the treatment he was experiencing for the first time, Serpens didn’t know what to do with himself.

Serpens sent a look toward Lucas.
It was a silent boast asking if coming here had not been the right choice.

“…….”

But Lucas answered with silence, as if asking what he was supposed to do about it.

‘Right, he lives in a fancy house too, huh?’

Perhaps this kind of treatment was new only to Serpens himself.
It also meant it might be treatment Lucas was used to.
But what did it matter?
Was it not enough that it was new to him?

“Now, now. We have made our honored guests walk too long, so let us hurry back.”
“Understood. Robin! Get down from your horse. You can walk back, right?”
“Yes!”

One soldier got down from his horse and approached Lucas.

“I apologize. We did not expect there to be honored guests, so we only brought one horse. Would the two of you at least ride this horse together?”

At the other party’s politeness, Serpens also tried to observe manners he had never learned.
Standing at attention. That was the best form of manners Serpens could think of.

“It is fine.”
“Huh?”
“Ride the horse. This one and I will walk.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”

The boy’s manners collapsed quite easily.
Ten seconds. It was surely the most polite time of Serpens’s life.

“Ah, why! This person is even offering to give us the horse!”
“Lower your voice.”
“Tch. There are no monsters here, you know? Why are you trying to kick away kindness that rolled right in, and kindness without any dark intentions at that…… are……-”

Lucas’s eyes turned coldly toward Serpens.

Gulp.

‘Act up any more, and you’re dead.’

Sensing the killing intent, Serpens hurriedly closed his mouth.
He avoided Lucas’s gaze and gestured to the soldier who had brought the horse.

‘What unusual people.’

Honored guests who refused kindness. And not just any kindness, but the offer to ride a horse.
At the attitude of an honored guest he had never seen before in his life, the soldier could only be flustered.

Dageudak. Dageudak.

And so the three horses ran off.
Dust drifted away into the distance.
Serpens moved his body with a resigned expression.

‘Walking. It’s walking. I walked like crazy, and now I’m walking again.’

“Hahahaha.”

A laugh came out.
He could only laugh.

Slam.

The enormous door of the Navigatou Count Family opened.

The one who entered was Rail.
His golden eyes were mixed with excitement and worry.

‘It has been a while……. A very long while.’

About one month.
He had set foot in Killip Gorge to strengthen his position within the family.
Catch valuable monsters, improve his skills, and build fame by subjugating problematic individuals.
That had been the goal.

‘Though I couldn’t accomplish all three……’

He had nearly died to monsters, gotten injured while trying to improve his skills, and nearly died to the problematic individuals.
To discuss his position with such results? Forget his position, he might be driven out of the family.

Knock, knock.

The count’s office, reached after climbing the stairs.
Whenever he stood before the door, which seemed both splendid and antique, he always grew nervous.

“Come in.”

A voice from beyond the door made his stiff body move.

Click.

“Second son Rail Navigatou greets Father.”

Rail bowed to a man with blond hair like his own.
An elegant hand turning documents on the desk. A sharp and intelligent appearance.
He was someone with an impression completely opposite to Rail, who looked playful.
Kerel Navigatou, the master of Port Navigatou.

“Yes. Your results?”

He asked about results without even asking after the son he had seen for the first time in a month.
It felt almost inhuman.
Rail had not expected anything.
Because it had always been that way.

“All I managed to preserve was my own body.”
“…….”

The eyes that had been scanning the documents turned toward Rail.
Were those truly the eyes of someone looking at his son?
Rail felt as if he had become one of the documents on the desk.

“The soldiers you took numbered twenty-five. The resources spent on them were one month’s worth of food and equipment per person. Not to mention the advance payment of wages given to them.”

Slide.

Kerel pushed his chair back and stood.
One step. Another step.
He approached as if tightening around Rail’s neck.

“It was a month filled only with losses. During that month, your elder brother went to the front line and raised the family name. Do you still think you can discuss the position of Family Head?”

From the beginning, it had not been a relationship between son and father.
The family head and the second son of the family. The two could not become any closer than that.

“I did have some expectations. You, who had only been dawdling within the territory, said you would bring back an achievement for the first time.”

Tap.

Kerel’s fingertip poked Rail’s chest.

“And yet you bring me disappointment.”