Wolves of Hader

Chapter 27

Port city Mouk's dock.

The group stared in awe at the ship.

"Wow! It's huge!"

"Are we really going to ride that?"

"The structure looks pretty complicated."

Everyone had something to say.

I was just as surprised.

It was my first time seeing such a large sailing ship.

A bit off from the wharf stood the ship we would be boarding.

It looked pretty big to me, but I was told it belonged in the small ship category. I heard it was fast, but weak against storms and not very durable.

There were three masts.

A large central mast, with auxiliary masts at the front and rear. Countless ropes tangled around them like a spider's web.

Ropes supported the masts. Ropes for unfurling and furling the sails. Ropes to change the sails' direction. Ladders in the form of nets for sailors to climb the masts, and more.

The masts had crossbars with sails tied to them. Three on the main mast, two on the auxiliary masts. There were also sails tied at the bow and stern.

"Load the cargo!"

"Yes, sir!"

Sailors in a small boat carrying cargo rowed toward the sailing ship.

When they reached the bottom of the ship, other sailors used pulleys to hoist the goods aboard.

There were 14 sailors in total, busily carrying loads using both large and small boats.

Priest Roman and Urald also boarded the small boat with the cargo and went over to the sailing ship. Next, it was Donnie's turn.

Russell and I went to see Goose. We had already said our farewells to Ross and Rozie when leaving the fortress.

As planned, the ones making the journey together were Donnie, myself, priest Roman, and Urald.

/ / /

We sat across from Goose.

The down payment had already been delivered to the shipowner, so I just needed to pay Goose the remainder.

I also gave Goose a gratuity for his efforts.

Goose smiled with satisfaction.

"Do you know how much trouble it took to rent a ship?"

"Were there no idle ships?"

"It's not that—they're just too risky. The chance of losing a ship to pirates is extremely high. The shipowner wouldn't budge, so what could I do? I had no choice but to put up half the ship's price as collateral."

"And that's why you're asking for the money?"

"To be honest, you should pay it, but I've also made a fair bit thanks to you, young master. I'll cover that much. Still, if the ship is wrecked or seized, my losses will be enormous."

"All right. If there's a problem, I'll compensate you."

Goose laughed heartily.

"That's just like you, young master—decisive as ever."

This was why Goose had been troubled when I said I wanted to travel by boat. Ships traveling alone are prey to pirates.

That's why trading vessels form convoys and hire mercenaries.

"But isn't it a bit much to go with an empty ship?"

"You want me to engage in trade?"

"I doubt Ta-iki is inhabited only by fairies. People avoid it for fear of pirates and storms, but I'm sure there are people from other continents there too. I was thinking you could try pioneering trade."

Goose slid over a parchment.

It was a list of various goods to trade.

Spices. Alcohol. Ornaments. Weapons, and so on.

Actually, we had brought various items with us without telling Goose. They were for barter in Ta-iki or to trade if we met a merchant ship.

We even brought plenty of gold.

"Load them up. Just in case."

"They're probably already being loaded. Haha."

Goose rose heavily to his feet.

We exchanged a handshake.

It was a greeting style I had started in our house.

"Please return safely, young master."

"Thank you. I'll find something nice to bring back as a gift."

"I'll look forward to it."

I left the room as Goose saw me off.

Having exited the building, I walked toward the port.

Russell spoke.

"I'm sure you already told Master Ross, but don't worry about the fortress. He'll lead the house and the fortress just as you instructed and wrote down."

"Yes. elder brother Ross will handle it. There's just one more thing—about twenty days from now, it looks like we'll have mined all the iron ore. You need to send a few miners in advance to the northwest area to excavate the red gems."

"You mean rubies?"

"Yes. I postponed it for security reasons, but I think it's better to start mining now. I've marked the locations of the ruby ore on the map in my room. Only you should know about it."

"Of course."

I held out my hand to Russell.

He took my hand.

"Well then, safe travels."

"I'm counting on you to take care of the fortress, Russell."

We exchanged a silent nod, then I headed toward the ship.

/ / /

In the captain's quarters, there were three men. The one who was obviously the captain greeted me first.

"Good to meet you, young master. My name's Captain Thrall."

"Pleased to meet you."

"And this is Navigator Uta. And this man is the Deckmaster, Nas. They're both seasoned sailors; you just need to trust us."

"I'll be in your care."

The navigator and deckmaster greeted me expressionlessly.

They didn't seem particularly pleased—probably because they knew how dangerous this voyage was.

They hadn't been to Ta-iki either.

"We'll be setting sail soon, so please feel free to rest."

"All right."

Since they didn't seem very welcoming, I just greeted them and went to my cabin. Maybe because there weren't many sailors, I was given a whole room to myself.

Donnie, who had boarded earlier, had already unpacked.

"How's your room, Donnie?"

"The three of us ended up staying in the only four-person cabin."

"Did you look around the ship?"

"Yes. It's a three-deck ship—cargo and storage on the first and second decks, and the captain's quarters and cabins on the third deck. There are a lot of empty cabins."

"They don't have enough crew."

"Because of pirates?"

"Yeah. If anything happens, we'll deal with it then."

The sea is a lawless place.

Even the crew can get into brawls, sometimes deadly. If somebody dies, they toss the body into the sea and report them missing.

We could end up in conflict with the crew. If they refuse to go further because it's dangerous, it could cause serious trouble.

If things went wrong, a mutiny could break out.

At any rate, I had to experience this.

It was good to find the optimal route during this journey, and I could learn from the sailors.

Who knew if I'd ever voyage again.

I spread out the map I'd drawn on my bunk.

The shapes of the continents were pretty accurate.

There was a huge wall map in the guildmaster's office—I'd looked at it countless times.

Arshaire Continent.

Shaped like the letter 'ㄱ', stretching across the entire northern hemisphere and down to the south. The southern part extends past the equator into the southern hemisphere.

Beltern Continent.

Shaped like the letter 'ㄴ', located in the western part of the southern hemisphere. The northwest of Beltern touches below the west of Arshaire.

Between the two continents is a vast sea.

Ta-iki lies at the center of this sea, with the Divine Order—Priest Roman's homeland—located to its northwest.

The central peninsula of Arshaire.

The northeastern tip of Beltern.

The Divine Order lies roughly midway between those points. So our first destination was clearly the Divine Order.

Mouk is at the northernmost tip of the inland sea of Arshaire Continent. In the inside corner of the 'ㄱ' shape, Mouk sits where the land juts deepest into the sea—a spot most deeply embedded between the twin land branches.

In any case, we'd leave Mouk and follow the western coastline of Arshaire. Then, by heading south from the central point and venturing deep into the sea, we'd reach the Divine Order. Most likely it's one of those islands I know.

After dropping off Priest Roman at the Order, we'd head southeast.

After passing through an island chain, we'd enter pirate-infested territory.

I'd heard the storms were frequent there, and the sea was full of monsters.

If we could safely get through just that area, we'd reach Ta-iki.

We could also hug the southern coast of Arshaire all the way into the southern hemisphere, but that route would be far too long—unless there was a suitable port.

Originally, after finishing up in Ta-iki, I'd planned to go even farther south to check out the island continent Yan.

I was curious about the people there and wanted to buy some local specialties.

But I decided to postpone the trip to Yan.

It was unimaginably far from the northernmost to southernmost point, and dangerous besides.

People from Yan might attack us on sight.

I marked important islands on the map.

Which one would the Divine Order be on?

While I was looking at the map, Urald came in.

"Let's get out—sailing soon."

"Let's."

I left the cabin with Urald.

Donnie and Priest Roman followed.

We went down the corridor and up to the deck.

The sailors were bustling about. Some were untying ropes from the masts; others were securing the landing boats.

The captain stood at the helm.

The deckmaster strode about shouting, while the navigator stood by, holding a long feather and watching the crew.

When the captain nodded, one sailor shouted:

"Weigh anchor!"

"Raise the anchor!"

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

Three sailors pushed at the huge anchor winch. As the thick anchor line wound up, the ship began to move slowly.

Then the captain shouted:

"Set half-sails!"

With the command, the sailors moved busily. They pulled and released ropes from the masts and deck.

One by one, the sails began to unfurl. On the main mast, only the middle and lower sails.

On the auxiliary masts, only the lower sails.

As the sails fully caught the wind, the ship began to pick up real speed.

Since we were still near the shore, I supposed they weren't putting up all the sails yet.

Donnie, priest Roman, Urald, and I stood at the bow, joyfully facing the wind.

Before us stretched an endless sea. Just standing aboard a ship charging ahead, my chest swelled with excitement for no reason.

What kind of adventures lay ahead? What rewards and hardships would we encounter?

"Trim for northeast wind!"

With those words, the angle of the sails began to change. They adjusted ropes on the end of the crossbars.

Based on the starboard side, the forward and mid sails were set to 25 degrees; the rear sail to 45 degrees.

The triangular sails also unfolded from ropes connecting the masts.

In this way, they carefully adjusted airflow and resistance between the sails. The course of the hull kept shifting.

"Lock the sails in position!"

"Maintain current heading!"

It seemed they'd found the most efficient method. The ship no longer rolled or tilted, and its speed increased.

And so the ship sailed steadily onward.

/ / /

On the 14th day of the voyage.

The spring sea, just before summer, was calm. We had traveled along the continent's coast, and on the ninth day had finally headed into the open ocean.

We'd been on the ocean for five days.

All sails were open now, making us twice as fast. The sailors adjusted the sails' direction constantly as the wind shifted.

I learned that the big, square sails on the masts were called transverse sails, while the smaller, triangular ones scattered about were longitudinal.

Our group often came out onto the deck to watch the sea. When we got tired of watching, we'd train in a corner.

Donnie practiced martial arts, so we'd spar lightly too. Afterwards, we'd air out our sweat in the sea breeze.

Today, I watched the sea from the prow alone.

It was fun spotting familiar islands along the voyage. We'd passed quite a few, but I was happy to spot the one in view now.

It was Marks Island.

I'd visited it countless times for gathering ingredients.

There were three islands north of Ta-iki we absolutely had to stop at, and this was the most important one. We had to visit it on our return.

But... there were a few ships at Marks Island.

It was a pretty big island, so people were bound to have lived there since ancient times, I reasoned.

Not a problem.

The ingredient should not be depleted.

Wait, was our ship heading to that island?

There were three islands in this area, but the captain's navigation chart showed just one.

Come on!

Drawn like that, how am I to tell which island is which?!

Well, for an island that size, perhaps marking only one was reasonable.

So, is that island that island?

No way.

Maybe we were off course. If you set your route by the stars, you could end up somewhere weird...

"We're about to arrive at the Divine Order!"

What?!

I'd prayed this whole voyage that it wouldn't be this island.

So Marks Island was the Divine Order's island? That island is the Divine Order?!

But...

Was the ingredient's effect divinity?

It was a buff skill ingredient?!