Wortenia Senki Vol 4 Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Chapter 4 Episode 1

 

 

 

*Unedited*

 

 

Noon, Day 6th, 10th Month, the Year 2813, Western continent calendar. 
 

A galleon ship named Atalanta was running at full speed towards the northeast. 

The ship was receiving a favorable wind direction. 

In fact, its sail was greatly swelled out due to the strength of the wind. 

"Report! Sirius harbor already appeared on the northeast." 

Land began appearing on the horizon. 

 

"Understood. I will call captain Braz now." 

 

The moment the lookout crew shouts out loudly, the crew underneath him goes inside the ship. 

 

 

"Uhuh, indeed that is the city of Sirius. Oi! We're already close, prepare the anchor!" 

 

After checking the port using the telescope he had, the captain with black skins gives his order to his crew.

 

(On top of not waiting for the wind to blow, we actually ended up with a constant favorable wind huh?...) 

 

Braz thought of such feeling while he folded his telescope. 

 

He had left Mispoz city by the end of the 9th Month, they had calculated that they would arrive at Sirius city in 4 days. 

But unlike his last route, He had chosen the route that did not navigate close to the coastal line, it was a route that goes straight across the ocean, but despite that, he managed to arrive earlier. 

 

(I was wondering about what would happen but, listening to the young one suggestion seems to be the correct answer... I thought they were an amateur, but, I guess I lost this time huh?...) 

 

A bitter smile appeared on Braz's face. 

While the young one showed a certain respect toward Braz who was a senior and a veteran sailor, the youngster actually had the guts to order the shipping route in order to shorten the voyage time. 

Normally they would need seven days for the trip, that includes the waiting for a good wind to appear, for them to arrive within five days were already doubtful. 

 

Braz turned his gaze toward the group. 

At the time when they headed toward Mispoz from Serius city, all of these youngsters had become seasick and ended up useless during the trip, but this time was different. 

All of the youngsters were actually very young. Their ages were around 15 years old or even less. 

Furthermore, they were not sailors. 

They dressed in black leather armor, they were soldiers belonged to Baron Mikoshiba. 

Although they were amateur sailors just a few days back, now their skill was not less than skilled sailors. 

 

"Captain Braz, how is the wind? Should we strengthen the sail a bit more?" 

 

Noticed Braz gaze. 

A girl from the youngsters' group talked. 

 

"No, if we strengthen it more than this, there's the possibility that the sail would break. Besides, our destination is already this close. No need to be in hurry. Thank you Melissa-dono." 

 

Braz answered Melissa with polite words despite her being the same age as his daughter. 

 

"Understood. If that the case then we will maintain the current speed." 

 

Braz showed a gentle smile toward Melissa who responded to him with such a bright smile. 

Just like how he usually responded to his own daughter... 

 

In this world, the ship that usually being used was a sailing ship or a Galley ship. 

Both had different advantages, but Galleon ship was usually used for trade and transport because it had a large load capacity. 

The biggest drawback of a Galleon ship was the needed wind strength to pull the ship. 

Most ships including Galleon ship were using several sails to go forward. 

Although fortunately in addition to the square sail, there was also development in regard to a vertical sail, but once the wind stops, ordinary sail ships have no choice but to wait for the wind to blow once again while being swayed by the wave.  - 

 

It is impossible for a human to control the weather, so the only thing the humans can do was to pray to G.o.d. 

Yes, that was until now... 

 

Melissa and the others did not do anything spectacular. 

They only used an elementary level magic art belonged to the wind magic that caused a gust of wind. 

Normally it was used as an attack magic, it was a fundamental basis for wind attribute users, which used the compressed wind to perform an attack. 

But rather than compressing the wind and release it all at once, they diffused the wind little by little. 

Of course, such wind won't cause any damage, but it was enough for the ship to move. 

Since it would be unusable if the wind were too strong and ended up damaging the sails. 

 

They might have been new magic users, but at the same time, it was making what they did quite meaningful. 

And for Melissa and the others, after having seen the usefulness of their immature skills it caused them danced in joy. 

Furthermore this method also a perfect way for practice. 

Knowing they were being needed, they begin to show a self-confidence. -

Other than that, the happy feeling of returning to Serius city after a few months being away must be quite high within her. 

Despite the city located at the place where many people hated it, the city itself was without a doubt a second hometown for her. - 

 

"Listen! I know you guys already being told by Lady Simone, but don't forget, don't ever tell anyone about what we going to see here anywhere else. Understand?" 

 

Contrary to his usual gentle att.i.tude, Braz ordered his crewmen with a tough voice. 

The seamen nodded in silent toward their captain's order while preparing to anchor the ship. 

This was the second time they had performed this voyage. 

Although the sailors were feeling fed up being told those words repeatedly, they also understand why they were being told that over and over again. 

And they also understood what they should never spoke about. 

It was to that extent how surprised they were when they first saw Sirius city. 

It was a well-organized cityscape. 

The city had a well kept wide paved roads. 

The wall surrounded the entire city was also quite extensive. 

And of course, that alone was not the things that caused them feeling surprised. 

Looking at the scale, one would easily saw something like that in this continent if they go to a territory belonged to an affluent aristocrat family. 

However, the thing they felt surprised about was the place where the city was being build, it was being build on the Wortenia peninsula. 

All the more surprising when they found out that the city was being built just a few months ago. 

 

"Captain... is by any chance, my eyes broke?" 

 

A sailor talked to Braz while rubbing his eyes when they saw Sirius city that gradually appeared in front of them. 

Braz did not need to ask the matters in detail. 

He himself was also unable to believe the sight which spreads in front of him. - 

 

"Don't worry. Your eyes are good..." 

 

"I see... Then I was right..." 

 

Braz nodded his head in affirmation. 

 

"Indeed... The city has become bigger..." 

 

Clearly, the scale of the city had become bigger compared to the first time Braz saw it. 

Even the size of the harbor was 1.5 times bigger. 

 

(I can't tell anyone about this. If I do, they might doubt my sanity instead...) 

 

Such thought crossed Braz mind. 

- 

It might be possible to build such city if one were to use tens of thousands people to work, but having to build such city in a place called Wortenia peninsula might cause every people to say such task as impossible. 

Around two months ago, together with another ship owned by Simone named Melanion, Braz had delivered 1,000 slaves, but, even with that, it was impossible to build such city with just that. 

Not to mention, the slaves that Braz had delivered were just some young boys and girls. 

Those children who had received the harsh treatment of their slave merchants had a weak body. 

Of course, they had been giving the slaves a proper meal on the ship during the trip, but it was impossible to recover one's health in one go. 

 

(No wonder my lady warned us about it. I can't tell anyone about this...) 

 

Braz then directed his line of sight toward Melissa and the others. 

Vaguely he understood the mechanism behind this impossible scene. 

 

"Oi you guys, what are you doing. Work faster! Prepare the anchor!" 

 

Braz scolded his crewmen who looked stunned due to the spectacle. 

Although he understood their feeling, he also knew that curiosity killed the cats... 

 

 

The city's name was Sirius. 

In Greek, it had the meaning of the "shinning/glowing/brilliant" one. 

 

"Ryouma-sama. Atalanta has arrived." 

 

"Understood. Is there any damage to the goods?" 

 

Responding to Ryouma's question Sara directed her eyes toward the parchment. 

 

"Captain Braz have reported that the guys under Melissa command were useless during the voyage toward Mispoz due to seasickness, but on the returning trip, they seemed to have contributed enough..." 

 

"Seasickness? Is that why they ended up late than planned? I did not see that coming..." 

 

Certainly, it was impossible to ask someone worked on the ship while it was their first time ride on one. 

There were people who had a const.i.tution that made them hard to get seasick, but it seemed like the guys that were being put on Braz ship this time had a body const.i.tution that made them easy to get seasickness. 

In fact, it was quite surprising that they all managed to overcome their seasickness during the return trip.

 

(Well, I guess it can't be helped since it was their first time. I guess I can't get angry over this... They said that those who easily get motion sick are those who have a strong mental spirit...) 

 

Ryouma lightly smiled while listening to the report. 

 

"There seems no damaged goods. Fortunately, due to the good weather, there were no goods destroyed by sea water or other cause." 

 

If one were to encounter a storm during goods transport voyage., some load might collapse or ended up getting covered by sea water, but it seemed like this time they have been lucky. 

 

"I understand. I want to prioritize on procuring the weapon and preserved food for now. As for the payment, is it alright if we use the fangs and leathers obtained from the monsters only?" 

 

"It seems to be enough for now. However, Simone-san also has written some letters, because there are not many suppliers, she wants to increase the number of fangs and leathers being delivered." 

 

"Increasing the quant.i.ty huh?" 

 

Ryouma entered a deep thought after he heard Sara's report. 

Many monsters inhabiting the Wortenia peninsula had high priced materials in them, and if one were to go to the market with those materials, it would without a doubt being sold at a good price. 

Ryouma had originally wanted to leave all the fangs and leathers he had acquired to Simone, but he cannot reduce the amount he had currently sold to the merchants from Epiroz either. 

If he reduced the amount he sold to Epiroz merchants, they might realize another trade route existed. 

 

"What about the new people that are currently under training?" 

 

"They only begin the training less than two months ago, thus it would be quite hard to push them into a real battle immediately..." 

 

Ryouma had thought of increasing the procurement of the fangs and leathers by increasing the amount of hunting, but if the soldiers were lacking in training they might have ended up as fodder for the monsters instead. 

 

"If that the case then we have no choice but to let Simone wait a bit longer..." 

 

Because the supply cannot keep up with the demand, it cannot be helped. 

 

(Also, it would be bad if the price collapsed because we sold too much of it too...) 

 

Ryouma had those thoughts while nodding lightly. 

 

"Also... There's something worrisome..." 

 

Ryouma frowned at Sara's words. 

When Sara said it like that, it meant something really bad. 

Of course, it was not her fault, it was just the way she wording it always caused some unnecessary anxiety. 

 

"Is this regarding the demi-humans?" 

 

"Yes, there's also regarding that matter written in Simone's letter..." 

 

Right now, Ryouma's biggest concern was the demi-humans existence. 

The other day, Ryouma had delivered the three girls rescued from the hands of the pirates to their leaders, but at the time he arrived at their place, he received a hard time...

 

In a novel, usually the other party would've ended up felt indebted to him, and immediately get along with each other, but the reality was not that sweet. 

It was not like they didn't show any grat.i.tude. 

It was just they seemed to be unable to trust the human named Mikoshiba Ryouma immediately. 

After all, they were races that have been discriminated by the humans. 

The heavy history of that persecution tied their heart. 

In fact they did not want to get involved with the humans. 

That was their true feeling. 

 

That was why Ryouma spent a considerable time to persuade them. 

For Ryouma, he could not leave this matter alone. 

He wanted to absorb them under his rule, he wanted to obtain their power. 

Otherwise, there was no point for him opening a base in Wortenia peninsula. 

Once he managed to maintain his maritime authority, the only way to invade Wortenia peninsula was via Epiroz. 

Which meant he can finally concentrate his forces to the south. 

This was one of the greatest advantages of the peninsula being situated in the corner of the continent. 

And it would have been impossible to do that if there were another hostile power within the peninsula. 

He needed to do this all because it was necessary for him to secure a certain amount of strength. 

 

That was why, Ryouma made a suggestion to Nelsios, one of their clan leaders. 

He suggested that Nelsios and the other clan's leaders visit Sirius city once every half a month, and have a dinner with him. 

Having regularly met and ate with each other, even if it was just a little, he wanted to amend some of the distrust they had harbored toward the humans. 

Although it was a roundabout way, but due to the distrust and fear toward the human was very strong, the negotiations itself usually broke down just because some slight demand was made. 

That was also why Ryouma had paid more attention regarding the demi-humans, well, other than that he had no other problems. 

Until he read the content of Simone's letter....