Book 5: Chapter 40
Book 5: Chapter 40
Vol 5: Chapter 40
** Saint Knight Kingdom, Port Town Zackerhafen **
The wind blowing in through the open window carried the scent of the sea water. The cry of the black-tailed gull was heard in the distance, and Zackerhafen, one of the best port towns in the Saint Knight Kingdom, was enjoying a peaceful afternoon—but the air in the room was tense.
An elderly man, wearing a habit, wiped the sweat on his forehead.
「It seems that your body is quite weak. There is nothing else you can do but eat nutritious food and get ample rest. Do you have an appetite?」
「…………」
A girl who was being treated with【Healing Magic】- L’Arc, shook her pale face sideways.
「That won’t do. A good diet is important in nourishing the body. Magic only helps the body hasten natural recovery.」
「…………」
「I will come visit you every day during your stay. Eat well. Take care, alright?」the man said, standing up.
The man then exited the room together with another sky pirate. The sky pirate used to be a mountain bandit previously, and even before that he was a furniture craftsman.
「Will that suffice, Kook-san?」the man wearing the habit asked.
「Yeap. Doctor, is the young miss’ condition that bad?」
「Um… I wonder just what on earth would cause someone to lose that much vitality? It’s almost like a melting candle. Kook-san, where is her family?」
「Right now, we are the closest to a family.」
「I see. Please spend as much time as possible together. I will visit as soon as possible.」
Those words are only given to patients who can no longer be saved. Surprised that Lark’s condition was that bad, Kook cast his eyes down.
「Thank you for today, doctor.」Kook said, offering a pouch of gold.
「I can’t take this much–」
「Can you please keep this a secret? We want to spend our time in peace.」
「Um… if that’s the case.」
The monk accepted the pouch, and left the inn.
「Fuu… What else can we do? Even our money is limited.」
Kook heaved a sigh. Not wanting to show Lark such a gloomy face, he decided to go to the inn’s dining hall. There was no one there. Kook sat on a shabby wooden chair with no backrest.
「Brink me sake.」
「Good heavens! Already drink during the midday? What happened to the sick young lady?」
「Shut up, hag. Bring it here already.」
「My goodness. To think I have to serve a good-for-nothing who drinks sake instead of caring for the child. But this is also part of the business, so I have no choice but to serve it.」
The old woman at the inn brought an ale in a mug. Kook gulped it down. A burning feeling washed down his throat.
「Well, then. What should we do…」
The reason they escaped from the Lev Magic Empire was because there were people from the Keith Gran Federation there. Lark was so conspicuous that it’s already obvious that her skill is the【Shadow King】mined at the Sixth Mine.
Keith Gran Federation didn’t try to capture her in the midst of the Empire’s crisis, but it’s easy to imagine that they would make their move as soon as the Red Gate problem was already solved. That was why Kook and the others decided to escape the day right after the Red Gate was closed.
It was exactly as Reiji had guessed.
「But the sudden trip seems to have worsened the young miss’ condition.」
It seems that Lark was able to prolong her life thanks to the treatment of a noble lady. But if a problem arises with the Keith Gran Federation, even the noble would have to abandon Lark.
In any case, Lark’s life was extended by a noble lady. Lark managed to travel from the Empire to the Saint Knight Kingdom, but her energy was exhausted during the trip and she could no longer move.
Kook could no longer count how many times Lark had vomited blood. There were even times when she vomited 3 times in a single night.
「Even though we’re so close…」
Lark’s last hope of being cured is the existence of a “sage” who is said to be well-versed in medicine.
They came to the port town for that reason, but there were two problems.
「Can the young miss endure the ship voyage? The voyage would last for a few days. Moreover–」
「Boss, you started drinking at midday?」
One of the sky pirates who went out to the town had returned. He was the engineer who operated the Queen of the Night.
「How did it go?」Kook asked.
「Haa… Not well at all. All the fishermen said their boat won’t sail there. We won’t be able to search for the “sage” at this rate.」
Another problem was that they couldn’t get a ship.
It was not a matter of money. Kook saved up money little by little by pestering the treasurer while back in the Empire. He already had this plan thought up way before.
Then why can’t they get a ship?
「An unidentified monster in the sea, huh…」
「The guys in this town are calling it “Umibozu”.–Oh, please get me a drink too, onee-san.」the engineer casually gave a shout.
「My goodness, the whole bunch is drinking during midday.」the old woman said in a complaining tone, but she excitedly brought a mug as she was called “onee-san”.
「What was the saying…”The ghost, when examined closely, is withered silver grass”, was it?」
「What’s that?」the engineer asked, and took a gulp of his drink.
「It’s the words left by an old poet. Maybe this thing called Umibozu isn’t really that big of a deal? For example, it might just be a temporary swell of an ocean current, a whale, or a shadow of a cloud…」
「That might be the case right, but we can’t do anything if the sailors don’t want to get out into the sea. They won’t sail into the open sea when the Umibozu appears. They will just fish on the coast until Umibozu disappears, it seems. And none of us have any experience in controlling the sails of a ship.」
「Hmm…」
Kook looked up at the ceiling with his thick arms crossed.
「I’ll try to think of some kind of solution, but you shouldn’t slip a word of this to the young miss. Knowing her, she’ll probably say something like…」
「…I’ll get rid of that Umibozu thing.」
「Exactly. That’s what she would–」
Kook looked back in a hurry to the voice from behind. Lark, who should be in bed, was standing there.
「Young miss!?」
「Oi, adults are already drinking ale during midday? Give me some too.」
「Ah–」
Lark stole Kook’s mug, and gulped down the drink down her thin throat.
「Puha! That was good! No wonder they say “sake is the best medicine of all”.」
「Young miss… it’s not good for your body. And you’re still a kid.」
「I’m already 17. It’s not unusual around here.」
「Maybe, but there is also a saying that sake is the cause of all illnesses.」
「There it is, our boss’s mysterious knowledge of the world. Where did you learn all that?」
「Oh, shut up. I’m just an educated sky pirate.」
「You don’t even have an airship anymore, though.」
「That may be right, but… No, wait a second.」
Kook clapped his hand.
「…You are an engineer, right?」
And he gripped the arm of the engineer sitting next to him.
「Whenever you ask that question, it is usually followed up by something unreasonable! Leave me out of it!」
「Just listen to what I have to say… It’s easier to operate a non-flying ship than a flying ship, right?」
「Like I said, controlling the sails require experience–」
「I’m not talking about sails.」
「Huh?」
「I think it is a more realistic approach than defeating the Umibozu for us…. to steal a ship. I know there are only a few of them, but we should be able to find a magic ship somewhere.」