That blasted Al!
Here I was, putting every fiber of my body and soul all to uphold the lofty goal of protecting the smiles of this kingdom's denizens with nothing but a selfless heart, and what was he doing? Flirting at this time?!
And of all things, one of them happened to be the silver-haired super beauty Onee-sama archetype, while the other was a mischievous, petite magician lady!
What in the devil's name was happening in this world?!
Promptly, I flashed the hand sign for 'We're switching to maximum speed' to Dan.
Kukuku!
Don't blame me, Al...... This is a necessary sacrifice to protect everyone's smiles. We must get as much of a head start as possible right now while we still have plenty of stamina.
Dan promptly gave a thumbs up, signaling that he was ready. Immediately, the ship made a creaking sound as it cut through the water sharper than ever.
I changed the direction of the wind to the utmost, lowering its flow inside the ship. Immediately, the sail yard rotated while at the same time, Dan reacted by tightening the line of the sails in the same rhythm, thus giving a boost to the dynamic force.
The end result was— our ship took an abrupt turn while its speed sharply rose, as if someone had stepped on the accelerator.
Al took a full dive into the ample bosom of the magician lady when it happened.
"I-I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine, don't mind such a trifling matter. Just focus on getting better for now since there's so many things we need to talk about."
On the other hand, the magician lady even gently hugged Al, and rubbed his back for him.
W-What in the seven hells......?!
Oh my god, since when did Al have the extraordinary passive skills of those protagonists from love-comedy stories?!
I was baffled.
"Tsk, so it was just seasickness. And here I thought you were plagued by some insane trouble... What has the world come to...? A Class-A student of that Academy is working as an explorer, huh?"
The explorer from before— the middle-aged uncle who had taught Al the ways of the world — grumbled as he walked toward the restroom in the rear deck.
"Fer real, Donji-san. I believe you should have folded that naivety of his and thoroughly taught him what it means to be an explorer in this world. He really is taking this as a field trip, for crying out loud."
As I urged the Uncle to be more strict with Al — all to protect the smiles of this kingdom — he made a confused expression for a short moment, before seemingly understanding the situation and shaking his head.
"Again, I'm Dongo, not Donji. And I mean, seasickness is just one of those inevitable things. I still remember the time when I first took a request requiring me to travel to a distant place, and I puked in the carriage. My seniors at that time gave me quite a harsh scolding, and I also had to clean up my mess.
......But anyway, I presume you're a member of the Knight Order's third legion given that mantle, eh? I'm surprised you know so much about the custom of explore...rs...? Hmm... A young member of the third legion wearing a mask named Allen means—"
The Uncle mumbled so and came to a halt while looking as if he encountered a Unicorn.
Ack, crap! He acted so much like a veteran explorer with an easygoing attitude that I accidentally lost myself and entered my explorer mode.
I mean, one reason I wore a mask during my knight tasks was to save myself from being doxxed in case someone recognized me as explorer Ren. Incidentally, this was something I requested Mimosa to buy for me in Kirika town, and it was the new edition of that myriad expression middle-aged uncle mask line-up. It cost 49 real.
This time, the mask had two holes in place of the eyes, allowing one to see. And when you stared into those eyes as a thin smile was spread on its lip like that of a venerable Buddha, it would give an impression of peeking into another cosmos.
I felt like I was Sun Wukong, who appeared from the arms of Shakyamuni, when I wore it. Honestly, this was one of my best purchases.
Immediately, strength left my knees and I collapsed on the spot like ash.
My mana capacity was still nearly full. However, we had been sailing for 8 hours. It was a series of delicate actions like controlling the wind to ascertain the movements of the waves while keeping the rhythm of the ship the same. A single mistake could have resulted in us capsizing, after all. And considering we left the capital at 8 PM, we had been traveling for 12 hours.
We also shortened the 14-hour journey that I had first speculated to 12 hours as well. So it was more of mental exhaustion than physical exhaustion, for various reasons.
"Are you alright? Phew, that was a ghastly sight, to be honest. Your aggressive style of sailing even gave me the illusion as if you were possessed by «Syd», the god of destruction in the fables.
...Anyway, you two should rest for now. I’ll take care of the docking and loading."
Leaving those words, Cass-san returned to the cockpit to free Dan from his duty as well.
A bizarre atmosphere shrouded the ship as Dan and I exhausted ourselves for the people and the kingdom.
Glover-san and Cass-san were veterans, so they were immune to seasickness by now, but the other seven accompanying mages had pale faces.
It wasn't just Al; many people turned to the river to vomit.
After a moment, Glover-san approached me with a complex expression, and nodded.
"Your schemes sure run deep, huh? Now I find myself questioning if that carefree vibe of yours before our departure was just another mask of yours as well.
You know, the second tough task besides arriving earlier was how to bring this mismatched group under our command. A crisis may be upon us, but the members had all been hastily arranged, after all. However, your do-or-die attitude while navigating the ship, as if you were facing the battlefield itself, has inspired everyone, including me.
We're already a team. As the one representing the Knight Order that has taken an oath to protect the kingdom no matter what... and, as one of its citizens, I am very much thankful for your determination."
......What was he talking about? I had no idea, so instead I made up a reply.
"...............It's just for the harmony of the cosmos."
I had just replied when Dan came closer, his expression appeared weirdly refreshed. He extended his hand straight, the palms of both his hands facing the sky, and repeatedly closed and opened them.
The skin of his palms bore signs of rope burns, chafing, and blood. They were even slightly convulsing.
"So even you're all motivated, huh, Allen? I had been thinking about how we could make it to the end point if we couldn't even sail through the relatively calm waves of the river. But I’m amazed that we actually managed to pull it off so splendidly, truly."
Dan flashed a dazzling smile on his potato face, appearing content with our cooperation.
T-Too dazzling! That smiling potato face was so bright, so dazzling that I had to close my eyes.
Adrenaline was clearly pumping through his veins, like a runner's high situation.
"Y-You idiot! Look over there!"
I swiftly pointed at Al and his pink surroundings.
"Hmm? Oh, fret not, I know. Just like us, he's here to follow his path. However, our task is not to worry about him, and slow down just to make it easier for him. We're here to reach our destination faster, even for just a second.
I’m going to give it my all to achieve that! This is my determination."
Dan nodded assertively and gave me a thumbs up.
I was talking about their flirting scene though...... Damn that thumbs up.
E/N - Dang dude, Al's ecchi protagonist luck is going strong! To think he's got two older sister types fawning over him. All he needs now are the ‘Ara ara~'s.