"Oh, could it be...?"
For a wizard of his caliber, freezing wine was hardly worth calling a technique, but it was enough to startle the sailors.
Usually, only soone of a captain's rank would be qualified to directly deal with esteed individuals like wizards.
Though he hadn't revealed whether he was a knight or nobleman, to re sailors, either would be like a master from heaven.
"So, to have such an esteed person in this humble place..."
"Please speak comfortably. I'm the one requesting employnt."
"No, that's a bit..."
The sailors seed even more uncomfortable with Turan's polite manner.
Human nature is such that when the powerless bow their heads, it's seen as servile and looked down upon, but when the powerful bow their heads, others beco flustered as if they've done sothing wrong.
This was one of the things he had learned while eting people in the world.
"So, is it possible?"
"Pardon?"
"About boarding the ship as a passenger. Of course, I'll help repel any pirates or rfolk that might attack."
"That's a decision beyond my authority."
"Then I should et with the captain."
"I'll call him right away!"
At Turan's request, the sailor who had ntioned going to the Enril Desert hurriedly stood up.
The person sitting opposite looked at him with a pitiful expression as if begging not to be left alone, but the standing sailor simply fled.
"Surely he's not really running away?"
"S-surely not, haha..."
The two spent nearly ten minutes sitting silently at the table without exchanging a word.
Fortunately for the sailor, the silence was broken when his departed colleague returned with the captain.
"Well, I'll be going then."
"Let's drink again soti."
While the two sailors exchanged farewells, the one who had left returned with soone who sat opposite Turan and politely bowed his head.
A man in his forties with an eye patch over his left eye.
His darkly tanned skin and deep wrinkles suggested years of experience.
"I'm Pires, captain of the Blue Marlin."
"I'm Turan."
Perhaps because soone of his rank had t many wizards before, Pires looked at Turan with an observant gaze rather than cowering like the sailors.
After exchanging silent glances for a mont, Pires spoke first.
"I heard you want to board my ship."
"Yes."
"First, I'd prefer to talk sowhere quieter. Waiter! Do you have any private rooms available?"
"Yes, Captain."
Pires seed familiar with this tavern, and through the waiter's assistance, they moved to a small room.
Once seated, the first topic he brought up was Turan's identity.
"First... are you a nobleman, or a knight?"
"I'm a knight."
Turan lowered his status because he thought the captain might be too frightened otherwise.
While a rebellious knight might be dealt with by dozens of ard sailors charging with spears and swords, for a nobleman, that would be rely after-dinner exercise.
As expected, the captain seed more at ease after hearing Turan was a knight.
"Given that you've chosen such an unofficial route, I assu you're not affiliated with House Kamain. Perhaps your business in Enril is...?"
"It's personal."
"Well, of course."
When Turan showed his unwillingness to answer, the captain nodded readily, as if he had just been testing the waters.
Captain Pires suddenly lowered his voice significantly and said.
"While we do need a knight as you ntioned, to be honest, I can't hire you unless I know if your combat abilities are sufficient."
While knights didn't differ much from nobles in terms of magical power, that didn't an their combat abilities were similar.
It required various elents, from hand-to-hand combat and weapon skills trained to compensate for lacking magical power, to magical ability and combat experience.
And to Pires, Turan didn't seem like a particularly reliable expert.
His youthful face, likely around twenty at best, was without a single scar, and he only carried a single dagger at his waist.
If there was any positive point, it was his sturdy physique that seed well-trained.
"Combat ability, how would you like to prove it?"
"While I'm not a wizard, I know several essential techniques that those who work at sea must learn. Can you handle water and ice?"
These happened to be techniques he had practiced on the way.
Turan called a waiter to bring a glass of water, then demonstrated so simple manipulations in front of Pires.
Starting with moving the water around, then instantly vaporizing or freezing it, transforming the ice's shape, and finally moving the ice around.
While it was nothing compared to the House Kamain bloodline's ability to freely control water and ice, it was enough to satisfy the captain.
"Impressive skills. Have you worked at sea before?"
"No, this is my first ti at sea."
"Hmm."
The captain seed to be considering whether to believe Turan's words or not.
After a mont, he nodded and spoke in an even more gloomy voice than before.
"Well, your skills seem sufficient. However, as you've already heard... our ship lacks the budget to pay a salary befitting a knight."
The ship's owner wouldn't provide funds to hire a knight as a guard, or so he had heard.
Turan nodded in agreent.
"Since I have my own personal reasons for going to the Enril Desert, I can be satisfied with a low salary."
In truth, he was willing to pay if necessary, but he didn't ntion that.
No need to spend what didn't need to be spent.
The captain's face brightened slightly at Turan's words, but he remained just as serious.
"And one more thing, I apologize, but we can only pay your salary after we arrive."
"Why is that?"
"Because we have no money at all right now."
According to the captain's explanation, they had spent almost all their money buying the cargo currently loaded on the rchant ship.
Only after arriving at the Enril Desert and selling the cargo for profit would they have funds to spare.
Given that he was saying this even to soone willing to work for cheap, they really must be out of money.
"Well... that's fine."
"That's wonderful! It's an honor to work with you."
But as soon as he heard the answer, his serious expression suddenly broke into a bright smile.
Seeing such an expression on the face of what appeared to be a gruff one-eyed man, Turan couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
At any rate, he seed like soone with a decent personality.
==
After finishing negotiations, Turan spent the night at a well-facilitated inn nearby, recomnded by Captain Pires.
And since it would be difficult to get quality als on the ship, he ordered the inn's finest course al for breakfast the next morning.
"Your al is served, sir!"
The food culture of Abacha, bordering the sea, was quite different from what Turan had experienced before.
Starting with shellfish dishes, there were stead and grilled seafish, seaweed, pickles, and fernted seafood.
While things like oysters were too fishy for his taste, the grilled fish varieties were generally enjoyable.
After finishing his al, since he had so ti left, he went to the bookstore he had spotted yesterday and bought two books.
One was a book containing various legends about rfolk, and the other was a rulebook compiling various regulations for sailing ships.
By the ti he had attached two leather straps to his bag that had no space for books and tied them on, it was about ti for the appointed eting.
When he went to the previously ntioned location, he saw a massive three-masted sailing ship docked at the port.
Turan looked around and approached when he saw the sailor he had t yesterday giving various instructions to others.
"Put that at the very bottom! If you put it on top, it'll make the center of gravity weird... Welco, Sir Knight!"
"Can I board now?"
"Yes!"
According to sailing regulations, a knight responsible for the ship's safety was considered equal in rank to the captain, so Turan spoke informally to him.
Judging by his attitude, he also seed to be more comfortable with this arrangent.
"Co to think of it, we didn't properly introduce ourselves yesterday."
"I'm First Mate Osban!"
"First Mate? So there are second and third mates too?"
"That's right!"
Though it was just an offhand comnt, Turan nodded in response to the unexpectedly serious answer, internally taken aback.
When he jumped onto the deck with just two leaps, clearing several ters in height, all the nearby sailors turned to look at him.
"Wow..."
"Did you see that? Did you?"
"Impressive."
"Quiet! Does everyone have nothing to do? Want to scrub the deck again?"
Since it was apparently rare for knights to display such abilities, the Blue Marlin's junior sailors showed surprised reactions before scattering at their superior's shout to get back to work.
After chasing the others away, a man in his early thirties smiled and said.
"Pleased to et you, Sir Knight. I'm Deck Boss Lenak."
Though his speech was rough, it seed more casual and open rather than disrespectful toward Turan.
He welcod Turan's joining while rubbing his cheeks that were red as if drunk.
"As it happens, all the n who died in our last voyage were my direct subordinates. That bastard shipowner treats replacing the dead boys like filling holes in the ship with food – if it weren't for the captain, I'd have quit long ago."
Though his manner was rough, his affection for his subordinates was evident, so Turan internally gave this deck boss high marks.
He continued pouring out complaints about the shipowner while showing Turan to his quarters.
"Here it is."
Turan's quarters were so narrow that he could touch both walls with his arms spread wide.
It contained just a bed placed lengthwise and a chest for storing belongings, with a window made of two wooden panels joined by hinges.
"It's a bit... narrow."
"Well... yes, it is. Actually, the captain's cabin is bigger, but he needs that space for various items he has to handle."
Even the boisterous Lenak showed an embarrassed expression on this point, having nothing to say in defense.
Still, thinking it was enough to have a place to lay his body, Turan simply unpacked by putting his bag in the chest.
Lying on the bed and looking at the sun shining through the window, various thoughts ca to mind.
Originally, when Turan first stayed with House Berk, his plan was to head south from the Dakein Plains, then east from near Maderi City where he had t Asiz, toward the Enril Desert.
This was also the route that appeared in the 'World Tour Journal', the first book Turan had ever read.
The problem was that this route had suddenly beco a battlefield between the dark elves who had risen up and House Arabion.
If caught by the dark elf army, he would be torn apart and beco a al, and Arabion would surely not welco a wizard of unclear house affiliation wandering nearby during warti.
In this situation, Turan's chosen alternative was to move straight east to the North Sea, then take a ship southeast to land on the northern edge of the Enril Desert.
'I wonder how isa is doing.'
The princess of Arabion, now likely in the midst of war with the dark elves.
That skeletal young lady was a powerful figure that the current Turan didn't dare think he could defeat, but even the strongest wizard wasn't invincible.
After arriving at the Enril Desert, he would need to gather news from that direction as well.
==
"Kiaaaaa-!"
In front of the burned fortress, the Arabion knight saw dark elf warriors charging toward him with grotesque screams.
Beings who couldn't handle undead magic due to lack of spirit power, no different from commoners in human terms...
But their strength and agility were not much different from those of skilled knights.
Due to the innate racial difference.
That's why they must have been able to trample and rule over humans long ago, before the descent of the Prea god-folk.
"Hyap!"
As he enhanced his sword's speed and power with magic, a dark elf's body was split in half.
The next one who charged in was burned in the face with flas, then another sword swing.
But there were too many of them to dispatch them all like this.
Two, four, six...
As his movents beca increasingly confused, attacks slipped through the gaps, tearing at his magically tempered flesh.
In his dizzy vision from blood loss, a longsword swung down toward him.
Just as he sensed death, a thunderous roar and flash of lightning pierced through the dark elves from the sky.
"Kyaaaak!"
A scream similar to before but mixed with more terror.
Above the darkened sky, a woman with a skeletal, gaunt face flew in.
The lightning bolt shot by isa Arabion instantly split into dozens of branches, burning all the dark elves to death.
"Th-thank you, my lady..."
"Return to your unit."
"Yes!"
After saving the stranded knight, isa looked down at the battlefield with a tired face.
The fight against the dark elf army was far from an honorable duel.
They repeatedly ambushed vulnerable parts of the Arabion army by sending regular soldiers through tunnels, and the knights' corpses that resulted were dragged underground to beco undead and used as forces by the necromancers.
While there was no one strong enough to face isa directly, having an enemy that wouldn't fight head-on ant that strength alone was useless, no matter how powerful.
"isa, are you unhard?"
"Yes, Uncle."
isa barely nodded in greeting toward the middle-aged nobleman flying toward her.
His na was Kadram Arabion, the house head's half-brother and deputy commander of this subjugation force.
"Don't overexert yourself. Your life is far more precious than one or two knights."
"I'm fine with this much. How's the battle situation?"
Despite isa's stiff tone, Kadram maintained his smile as he answered.
"Not bad. At this rate, we should reclaim this area soon. Though we haven't found the tunnels yet."
"Let know when you find them. I'll go myself."
"You should rest..."
Before Kadram could finish speaking, isa had already magically lifted herself and flown off in one direction.
"Tsk, what an ill-mannered girl. Brother raised her too loosely."
With no trace of his previous gentle attitude, Kadram clicked his tongue and glared at where isa had passed.
"At this rate, she'll end up like her mother and sister..."
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