CH 178

Warning: Passing mention of child abuse.

I finished various inspections by yesterday, and from today I’ll start working in Caan territory in earnest. The original schedule was to arrive in Caanburg today and head to Cien tomorrow, but we arrived in Caanburg earlier than expected, so it has been brought forward a little.

“Then let’s all go to the dock today and take a boat to Cien, shall we?” I said.

“Huh… we’re going by boat?” Mikoto asked.

What the? Didn’t I tell everyone my plans? Mikoto looks puzzled, so I looked at Katharina, but she silently shook her head.

“Mikoto… didn’t you hear about the schedule earlier?” Alexandra asked.

“Was that part of it? I didn’t hear much either,” Claudia said, looking like she doesn’t remember, either.

When I looked at Louisa, she nodded, so I guess that means she remembers.

Well, even if the two don’t remember the schedule, there’s no change in what we’ll be doing, and those who don’t care about what we do won’t have any complaints about what we’re about to do. For example, if you think that you absolutely hate traveling by boat, when you hear about the schedule, you will definitely remember it. It wouldn’t be strange for them to ask for another travel method on the spot.

I’m not very interested in the fact that they weren’t told, let alone remember it. In other words, the people themselves thought that there was no problem even on a boat trip.

“If there are no people who suffer from severe seasickness, is it fine to proceed as planned?” I asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Claudia said while Mikoto silently nodded.

So, it seems that their reluctance to go on a boat wasn’t seasickness. In that case, we’ll go to Cien by boat as originally planned.

After finishing breakfast and leaving sometime later, we immediately headed to the dock.

We arrived at the dock at the eastern end of Caanburg. What’s moored here now is not a regular passenger ship. A chartered ship for us to board… it’s a bit different, but it’s like that.

If it’s a charter, isn’t it supposed to be something that is borrowed for exclusive use? However, this is a ship owned by House Caan, and to put it in extreme terms, I’m just moving on a ship that I own. But since the ships owned by House Caan usually operate as cargo ships and passenger ships, is it still a charter ship if you bring in one vessel from that fleet?

Well, I don’t care about the details of the definition, but it’s troublesome if the general public rushes to board, so it’s like having us ride on the first cargo ship this morning.

No matter how much I am the owner and manager, I can’t move a single ship just for personal transportation. So we also have luggage bound for Cien with us. That’s why it’s like we’re the only ones on a special cargo ship bound for Cien.

“Woaahhh~~! It’s sooo biiiggg~~~!” Claudia said.

“Amazing!” Louisa said. “I’ve never been on a ship like this before!”

However, Claudia’s way of saying something is a bit… no, Claudia shouldn’t have such intentions. It’s probably because my heart is dirty that I take it that way.

“Hmm… if it’s just the size, it’s the biggest I’ve seen so far,” Mikoto said.

If the Princess of the Demon Country told me that, I would be terrified. The Demon Country has a strong influence on the northern Kingdom of Del and other neighboring countries. Of course, if you don’t cross the sea, you can’t reach those countries, so it means that she has an intimate opinion about the sea and ships. Even the Princess of the Demon Country should be proud of their maritime industry.

“Uuu…” Alexandra groaned. “Is it possible for something so large to float? Won’t it sink?”

“Alexandra…” I said.

Apparently, Alexandra has never been on a very large ship. When she heard that we were going down the river by boat, she might have thought it was a smaller boat.

“Well, never mind that!” Mother said. “Let’s get on quickly!”

“Mother…” I said.

And for some reason, my parents who are tagging along are quite adamant about boarding right away. We, a large family plus servants, friends, plus Gabriella, immediately boarded a boat and decided to go down the Dierbe River.

“It’s so big, but it’s so fast!” Louisa cried.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Yeah! Very much!” Louisa said, giving me a dazzling smile.

With regards to Louisa, she reacts very frankly, so it’s worth surprising her with this. She will be overjoyed even if it is a trivial gift, and she will respond honestly like this even if it is a little thing.

“Fu-fuhn!” Mikoto huffed. “I guess it’s also good at speed!”

I wonder what Mikoto is arguing against… well, in a sense, there is a possibility that our ship and the Demon Country’s ships will fight in the future…

“You’ll all soon see Lubek…” the Captain said.

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“I see,” I said.

The Captain was also staring at the tip of the bow. The Hulk Sea is still blocked by Kingdom of Hollant ships. I’m thinking of cleaning them up during this vacation, but I’m not sure it’ll be done by then.

We cross the Dierbe River, pass by Lubek, and exit to the Hulk Sea. A ship that looks like a small bean can be seen far off on the horizon. At this distance, it is impossible to tell with the naked eye whether it is a ship of the Kingdom of Hollant that’s part of the blockade or a mere trading vessel.

No matter how much the sea is blockaded, it doesn’t mean that the Hollant Kingdom’s ships are always in front of Lubek. They just roam the waters near the Hulk Sea and occasionally attack merchant ships. Therefore, it is not necessarily the case that ships cannot be launched, and there are merchant ships that are prepared to take risks.

Above all, with Lubek’s focus on trade and business, it’s a matter of life and death if it cannot send out ships or trade even less cargo with more vehicles. It is not possible for Lubek to suddenly change its backbone from marine transportation and maritime trade to overland transportation, instead.

Caravel ships of House Caan are faster than those of the Kingdom of Hollant, and the carrack ships are too different in size to attack. Our ships have never suffered any damage and are playing a role in driving away the Hollant Kingdom’s ships. However, there was no direct large-scale conflict, and even if we approached, the other side would just flee.

If things go well, a caravel ship will catch up with them, but there’s no way to fight them. It’s a big deal if you carelessly chase too far and our caravels find themselves surrounded by enemy ships fighting as one.

At the moment, naval battles are mainly hand-to-hand combat by boarding the opponent’s ship. In that case, the number of sailors and soldiers matters in a battle, so if one ship is surrounded by multiple ships and attacked simultaneously, there will be no holding their ground. In order not to cause unnecessary damage, we also have to maintain a position where we can cooperate with our allies without chasing too deeply.

It’s been like this cat-and-mouse game that’s been stuck in a stalemate for months now. However, the damage is increasing due to attacks on merchant ships. Merely banishing them is not a fundamental solution. In order to do something about it, Cien’s future plans will become important…

“Wow! Awesome! What an amazing port!” Louisa said.

“Your honesty is adorable, Louisa,” I said, patting her on the head.

“Huh!? What!?” Louisa went, confused.

Even though she should be 2 years older than most of us, she can still be childish in this sense.

“Hey, Floto! Isn’t it just Louisa trying to get an advantage!?” Mikoto protested. “What about me?”

“Yes, yes, you’re cute too, Mikoto,” I said, doing the same to her.

“Fu… fuhn! Of course, I am!” Mikoto said, her face turning red as she looked away, but she didn’t seem to be angry.

Well, this is cute. I thought I didn’t like tsunderes that much, but when I actually see them in front of me, I get a different impression.

Maybe it’s because I’m not as carefree as I used to be. If I was young and had a tsundere of the same generation as me, I probably wouldn’t have thought it so cute. She looks cute because I’m older than Mikoto and have more mental maturity. To put it simply, it’s the same as adults not getting angry when they hear a baby crying.

If you are an adult, you can afford to remove the cause of the child’s crying and try to stop them from crying. On the contrary, recently, there have been more cases of children being abused if they cry because of the increase in mentally immature parents and adults. If you don’t have room in your heart, even if an adult who is mentally a child takes care of a child, it will only develop into such a tragedy.

In that respect, since I have lived a considerable number of years since before I was reincarnated, I guess I have enough mental leeway to be patient with Mikoto’s tsundere attitude and her abrasiveness.

“Now then, let’s head to the house where we will be staying,” I said.

When we got off the ship that entered Cien, then headed to our base in the town. Cien also has a villa for House Caan. It’s not as nice as Manor Caan in Caanburg, but it’s a good enough house to operate while we’re here.

“………… Wait, what?” I asked.

Was the villa in Cien always like this? Isn’t this entirely different from what I remember?

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“It looks like this one has been remodeled as well,” Katharina said. “But I think it’s better this time.”

“Well, you have a point…” I said.

It seems that, just like Manor Caan, the Cien Villa was also expanded and remodeled at some point. I have nothing more to say…

“Then this is where we’ll be staying,” Katharina said.

“Yes… have a nice rest, everyone,” I said.

After entering Cien Villa, we took a short rest and left immediately. Originally, I was scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I wasn’t planning on this inspection, but my early arrival convinced me to fit it in.

I will ask everyone to rest in the villa. As usual, it was me, Isabella, and Oliver who went on the inspection. Actually, I wanted to ask Dominic because Oliver was troublesome, but Oliver followed me, and he said that he would alternate with Dominic as my escort, so I gave up.

The three of us headed in a carriage to Cien’s shipyard. It is also the latest large-scale shipyard that was newly established, and next-generation new ships that surpass carrack ships are being built here.

“How is the progress?” I asked as I entered the shipyard.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Sir Floto!” the Master Carpenter said with a smile. “Of course, it’s going well. In fact, we’re almost finished.”

As the master carpenter says, the new ship is almost complete. All that’s left is to load and install “that thing” that Eins had developed and it would be complete.

It is larger than a carrack ship, and the ratio of its overall width to the overall length makes it longer vertically. Because of its shallow draft, it can navigate in shallower waters than carracks, and it is also faster. However, the disadvantage is that the draft is shallow, so it is easy to capsize it.

By now, you should be able to understand. Yes! Everyone’s favorite, galleon ships!

In the image of Japan, the Age of Discovery is often associated with galleons, but in reality, it was caravels and carracks that built the Age of Discovery. The galleon was developed from the carrack. In addition, the galleon will develop into the frigate but that’s not important right now.

Just as their evolution, the frigate, and galleons are built with a battery of guns. Of course, the galleon ships in this world that I ordered to build are also equipped with artillery. After that, if the test firing goes well, we’ll load “that thing” from Eins into the battery and it will be completed.

With the speed to catch up with the fleeing Hollant Kingdom ships and the armament to decide victory or defeat before engaging in hand-to-hand combat, this new type of galleon will restore the freedom of the Hulk Sea.

After that, 4 ships of the same type as the galleon will be completed just by loading cannons, and are only waiting for that. These 4 ships are owned by House Caan, but in anticipation of the future, the Caanza Trading Firm and the Shipbuilder’s Guild are also constructing them. When these are completed, instead of taking back the Hulk Sea, let’s blockade the Kingdom of Hollant!

Well… it’s probably not possible…

I really want to reverse the blockade on them, but that would be politically difficult. Above all, if you want to blockade the Kingdom of Hollant, you will end up wandering around the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Frasia. If that happens, even the Kingdom of Frasia could claim agitation and aggression, so I can’t go with that. There is a higher possibility that King Wilhelm will tell me not to go because of his political judgment. I know that much, at least.

My anger is boiling over. But I want to remind myself of that. Since I can’t do that, I’ll make sure that the ships that are coming here are properly cleaned up. It’s not a matter where everything is fine because we haven’t received direct damage. I’ll show you what will happen if you mess with the Kingdom of Ploiss!