CH 268

After we follow the small ship that is leading us inward…

“Woah~… this is amazing,” Claudia said.

“Indeed it is,” I said, nodding.

Things are different from Steltin’s port.

I’m not saying that Steltin’s port is bad. That is, for better or worse, an ordinary harbor of this era. It’s not particularly good, but it’s not bad either. Just as Karl said, “As expected of a free city,” it’s enough and normal for a port in that sort of settlement. The Port of Cobenhaven is unique in comparison.

I don’t know how deep the water is, or if it’s made to allow large ships to dock. What we can tell at a glance is that the town of Cobenhaven is made up of waterways.

There is a land route along the edge of the waterway, but the buildings are lined up in close proximity to it. To put it simply, it feels like waterways, roads, and buildings are lined up in rows. This town was clearly built around the water routes.

Ordinary citizens probably leave their homes, cross the land paths, go out to the waterways, and get on boats that float on the waterways. You can see at a glance that this town has such a close relationship with waterways and water transportation.

I can see that the waterway is also drawing us into the town. For the residents here, the waterway may be a natural thing that is indispensable to life.

“Get over there!” a voice yells from the small boat.

Looking at the direction he was pointing, it was a place where even a large ship could stay. I don’t know how deep the water is, so it’s a scary place, but…

Well, a galleon ship has a shallow draft, so I think it’s fine, but a carrack ship with a deep draft might be in danger. It’s not just here, it’s everywhere…

""

I was nervous because I didn’t know the bottom of the sea, but somehow I managed to reach the shore without running aground. The water may be deeper than I think. Schwartz and other sailors will gather information if necessary. And if I, a non-specialist, say something, it will only confuse the scene, so I leave it to them.

“Wait for a while here,” the small ship’s speaker said.

“Aye, aye,” Schwartz answers.

Maybe they’re calling someone who knows Mikoto or something like that. It would be a problem if we landed without due diligence and then ran amok. That’s why we’re probably going to be withheld until they get confirmation.

The ship is also docked, so I can’t do anything bad from here. A ship that is docked and unable to move is a good target. If they’re prepared to trade blows, we can shoot as many cannonballs from the Caan cannons as we can, but even if we do that, the ship will be sunk and there’s no way to escape. By the time we docked at a place like this, we were better off not resisting.

“How long are they going to keep us waiting!?!” Mikoto yelled.

“There, there…” Claudia says, soothing her.

Claudia has a lot of roles like that. Is it because she intends to play a male role? It’s a man’s job to calm down a woman when she’s upset… I don’t want to and I’ve never done it…

“From now on, we will be calling one important official,” someone who seemed to be the small ship’s commander said. “Don’t do anything strange.”

“Yes, understood,” I said.

It seems that they’ve already called someone who will know if it’s Mikoto. An old man was climbing up the lowered ramp.

“Oh… oooh! Princess Mikoto!” the old man said.

“Long time no see, Johan,” Mikoto

As the old man came up, he saw Mikoto was waiting for him, and then bowed his head while trembling. It seems that he is an acquaintance of Mikoto’s.

“I apologize for our rudeness,” Johan said. “We will welcome you to the royal palace immediately.”

“It’s alright,” Mikoto said. “Come on, let’s go.”

Even though she was upset until a while ago, she suddenly said such a generous thing. Who was it that just asked how long they were going to make us wait…?”

“Please have those who are accompanying you wait at the port,” Johan said. “I will let Dorte and Bengt guide you.”

“Huh?!” Mikoto yelled, offended. “What are you talking about? Floto and the others are already coming with me!”

Whaa~at~… I have a bad feeling… to put it bluntly, we are not welcome. Well, I guess that’s just so. Mikoto is the Princess of the Demon Kingdom, which is the protector country of the Kingdom of Del, but we are a ship of a mysterious power that does not belong to the Demon Country. Little wonder we’re not welcome.

“My apologies,” Johan said, bowing his head. “Even if it’s Princess Mikoto’s words, I can’t obey them. Only you, Princess Mikoto, can be brought before the King.”

It is unlikely that we will be attacked as soon as Mikoto comes ashore. We don’t want to force ourselves to meet with the king of the Kingdom of Del, so let’s just have Mikoto go.

“Mikoto, we are fine, so please just go with him,” I said.

“… I’m sorry. I didn’t think Johan would be so ignorant,” Mikoto said.

No… I think that Old Man Johan’s judgment is probably correct. If you think about it normally, it would be unthinkable for the King of a country to meet a mysterious guest on the same day. If Mikoto were my guest, I’d probably meet her, but there’s no way I’d welcome unidentified individuals or likely enemies.

“We can’t invite you to the royal palace, but we can guide you to the city of Cobenhaven,” Johan said. “Dorte, Bengt.”

“”Sir…”” a young woman and a woman said as they came out, one by one.

The man is the commander-like person who has been giving orders from the small ship since a while ago. Even though the man still looks young, I think he’s in his 30s or older.

The woman is younger. Even if she’s in her 20s, it feels like she’s in her early 20s. Both the man and woman were armed. These two are clearly military. It seems that they are both guides and soldiers monitoring us. In order to prevent us from doing anything suspicious, we will be carefully monitored under the pretext of guiding us around.

“Alright,” Schwartz said. “You bastards! Let’s take their word at its face and let them entertain us! Half-board landing!”

“”””Ouh!”””””

The crew members raise their voices in reply. The two people introduced to us, Dorte and Bengt, are frowning. I guess they didn’t expect us to land in earnest.

A half-board landing is to split the crew in half and alternately land and rest. If all the crew gets off, we cannot respond to an emergency. Especially when you’re in the middle of enemy territory like this, you never know what will happen. So half of us wait on the ship and half take to shore so that we can respond to emergencies.

The Kingdom of Del side must have thought that we wouldn’t get off the ship because we were afraid of coming ashore. But my bastards have big nerves, so they accepted it with dignity. I thought it would be fine if they didn’t come ashore, but I can’t help it if my subordinates come with me when I’m already leaving.

“Then Mikoto, please go and say your greetings,” I said. “We will let Ms. Dorte and Mr. Bengt entertain us.”

“Kuh!” Mikoto went.

""

I haven’t been introduced to who is who, but judging from their names, the female is Dorte and the male is Bengt. Hearing my words, Bengt frowned even more.

No matter how much the Kamaal Alliance and the Caanza Alliance are in a hostile relationship, they have to treat them properly because they said they would guide us and host us. If something happens, it will be the fault of the Kamaal Alliance and the Kingdom of Del, and it will stain their names.

It would be fine if they were going to pretend that they didn’t kill all of us, but if even one person escaped and spread such information, it would be the death of their reputation. They can’t do anything as cowardly as harming us even if it was a mistake to have extended their hospitality.

“Is it really okay?” Mikoto said. “I’m angry at the way the Kingdom of Del has been treating you, but don’t start a war, okay?”

“I know,” I said. “I won’t do that without you, Mikoto.”

I never thought Mikoto would warn me not to start a war. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s as rational and not good at resorting to violence as I am… Mikoto would rather try to solve everything immediately with violence or power.

Mikoto and the old man named Johan Ranzau headed to the royal palace of the Kingdom of Del. What do we do in the meanwhile?

“Would anyone like to land? First of all, I will go ashore, as I think it is almost safe, but since the other party has such an attitude, I can’t say for sure. Will Lord Reingen be staying?”

“Mother would like to go ashore. It’s an interesting townscape, you know?” Mother said.

It was my mother who reacted immediately. We get a view of the town from the deck. It is certainly an exotic townscape. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested either. I want to experience a foreign country because it is a good chance.

“It will be alright,” Alexandra said. “If something happens to us, it will be a grave shame for the Kingdom of Del. Let’s all get off.”

“Alexandra…”

It’s rare for Alexandra to say that much. It probably means two things. One is that Alexandra is also interested in foreign countries for their own sake. The other was that she was angry with the response of the Kingdom of Del. She was telling these two guides that if something happened to us, everyone would know. As evidence of that, the two of them still have expressions that looked like they were chewing on something bitter.

“That’s right… let’s enjoy the Kingdom of Del while it’s a good opportunity, shall we?” Karl said.

So it was decided. All the main members, such as my wives, Mother, and the members of House Reingen, were to leave. The crew is then half-shifted.

“Then let us guide you,” Dorte says as we disembark.

Schwartz remains because both my mother and I are ashore. Someone who can command must remain. Schwartz said he’ll take his turn going to shore when we get back.

“We’ll use the waterways of Cobenhaven,” Bengt said. “Get on this.”

Bengt arrives on a smaller ship than before. It looks like a small boat for navigating the waterways of the city. Not all sailors work together, so only the main members board the small boat. It seems that the sailors are guided by other Kingdom of Del sailors to places like taverns or restaurants.

We will tour the town guided by Dorte and Bengt. You can really go around town on the waterways. It’s a strange feeling. I’ve never been there, but I wonder if Venice on Earth is even more amazing than this. Even in this town, it feels strange enough…

It’s interesting, but I can’t imitate it in my territory. There is no merit to imitating it. Rather, considering future development, it would be difficult later if it was full of waterways. It may remain a tourist attraction, but considering future development, even if it is good now, it will be disadvantageous in the future.

Well, is it okay to have such a naive idea now? Now let’s enjoy this mysterious town together.

They offered to let us stay overnight in town, but I declined because I had to take turns with Schwartz. When I said I was going back to the ship, most of my companions came back, so in the end I only went ashore during the day.

Schwartz is now going somewhere guided by Bengt. Why don’t you have fun in the town at night anyway? We have Dorte. Even though I’m back on the ship, it’s as if Dorte is watching us, or rather, we’re being watched, but I can’t get away from it.

“Do you think Ms. Dorte will be with us when we rest here at night?”

It doesn’t matter to me. Because Dorte is a pretty girl. She’s not a great beauty of a woman, she seems to be a fairly senior officer in the military, and she’s tanned and has a stern expression, so it’s a bit difficult to approach her. But she’s got a pretty face.

Above all, her facial features are slightly different from those of the Kingdom of Ploiss. After all, even if it is only this far away, it makes me realize that foreigners are foreigners, and their facial features are subtly different. Polsky also had a different face, hair, and skin type common to its people. When you’re in Japan, you probably don’t think much of it, but when you’re in a foreign country, it’s easy to see how your face and physique change just by moving a little further away from somewhere.

“That’s right… I’d like to borrow a cabin somewhere,” Dorte said.

Are you serious…….? I jokingly asked if she would sleep with us, I thought she ignored me, but it seems that she intends to sleep on the Santa Maria.

“My, my,” Mother said, “then how about we treat you to our territory’s alcohol today as a thank you for showing us around?”

“………… Huh?” I asked.

Hey, hold a moment, Mother… I don’t know if that’s your territory’s product…

“Here you go,” Mother said.

“No… because I’m on duty…” Dorte said.

“Here you go,” Mother said, again.

“Uu… then just one drink…”

Dolte receives the clear liquor poured out by Mother and drinks it.

“Wha?! What is this alcohol!? I’ve never had this kind of alcohol before!” Dorte yells.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?” Mother said. “It’s my favorite. To be honest, Mother wants to drink more of it, but I can’t drink much because Flora dear refuses.”

Just as I thought! That’s House Caan territory’s alcohol, not Carruthers! Isn’t that the imitation sake that we make at home!?

“We don’t have much, so we can’t serve it very often, but today is special. Come on, have another drink,” Mother said.

“Ah……”

And Dorte seemed to like it a lot. Are sailors drinkers after all? Her mother and Dorte started drinking heavily. Karl joins the party and the night in Cobenhaven goes on.