Chapter 008: At Sea
[Unlike the Empire, which is led by the Emperor's powerful centralized system, the Kingdom was, from its inception, a coalition of nobles.]
[Where does the power of the Kingdom's nobles come from? Their families and territories.]
[Prominent nobles feared that their family's influence would wane due to the division of inheritance and unnecessary succession disputes.]
[Where did all the sons excluded by the principle of primogeniture go?]
[They became the ancestors of the wandering knights known today as ronin.]
[Thus began an era of warring heroes and chaos.]
[At the heart of it were the knights.]
[Cervantes is a knight of Elderwood.]
⋅
⋅
⋅
The middle-aged broker provided me with a private cabin on the ship.
It’s amusing to call someone a guest on a smuggling vessel, but in any case, there were many others aboard besides me.
Most of them lived and ate cramped together on the deck, so my situation was akin to enjoying the luxury of a high-class inn.
There was another reward for rescuing Hermann.
This book, Knights of Elderwood.
Flip.
In the quiet room, only the sound of old pages turning and the flickering of the lantern echoed softly.
To my own surprise, I was utterly engrossed in this chivalric literature.
‘I don’t even know how many nights have passed.’
I stretched vigorously while seated at the desk.
Muscles accustomed only to swinging a sword screamed in protest.
There wasn’t much fatigue in my eyes, but I covered them with my interlocked hands and calmly organized my thoughts.
To someone, Knights of Elderwood might just be a common adventure tale.
Many parts could even be dismissed as cheap romantic fiction.
‘It was different for me.’
Cervantes, the knight of Elderwood, was a man who pursued “justice” alone in a Kingdom riddled with violence and chaos.
The world mocked his justice as foolish conviction, meaningless stubbornness, or absurd dreams.
Yet Cervantes pressed forward.
Even if the next step led to a cliff, he advanced without hesitation.
All for the sake of the justice he believed in.
[The first chivalry, Cervantes.]
I reread the novel’s final sentence several times.
Now, I vaguely understood what chivalry meant.
‘…….’
The lingering emotions soon turned hollow due to the gap between fiction and reality.
At least in my memories of my past life…
There was no Elderwood in the Kingdom, nor was there a Cervantes.
Not even knights who followed him existed.
‘Could that Old Knight have been Cervantes?’
My mouth felt bitter, and my chest heavy.
The aftereffects of over-immersion.
I left the cabin.
As soon as I climbed the stairs to the deck, the blazing sun poured down on me.
“Ah, there he is. The most esteemed guest of this voyage.”
A man who appeared to be a sailor grinned at me.
It was harmless flattery, so I ignored it and moved on.
The moment I stepped onto the deck, the gazes of people lined up along the ship’s railing turned to me in unison.
Their eyes, filled with gloom, resembled livestock being sold off.
To avoid the burdensome stares, I found an empty spot and gazed at the distant horizon.
The open scenery and the resounding cries of seagulls cleared my stifled mind.
“Wow! Finally meeting you, Young Master?”
I flinched at the sudden voice.
I had just adjusted to the heavy atmosphere on the deck.
A woman with a bright, unblemished face, matching her lively voice, smiled broadly.
“Seriously, you’ve been holed up inside for five days straight. I was worried something had happened! What were you even doing in there?”
“Do I have to answer?”
“…No? If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to. Why make me feel awkward by asking that?”
Click, clack.
Each step the woman took made the pointed heels of her shoes jab into the deck.
Come to think of it, I recalled that around this time, these peculiarly designed shoes started trending in the Empire’s high society.
She sat on the railing, shading her eyes with her hand as she alternated between looking at the sky and the sea.
Her dark brown hair fluttered in the breeze.
“People have a duty to soak up sunlight like this. Didn’t you know?”
“……”
“…Oh, I get it. You’re just someone who relies on your looks.”
Stunned, I stared at her.
I’m a moderately conservative person.
I’m neither generous enough to overlook the sarcasm of an Imperial commoner to my face, nor so authoritative as to take offense and demand respect.
“Ahem, ahem.”
I turned my head so she could clearly see the left side of my face and coughed loudly.
The Outer Hoop earring dangling below my earlobe tickled my jaw as it swayed.
“Pfft.”
…She didn’t just laugh, did she? As I subtly showed my discomfort, she slid off the railing, pinched the hem of her skirt, and slightly stepped back.
It seemed like a deliberately clumsy imitation of noble etiquette.
“I’m Jewelina Gunbel. I apologize for not recognizing a fine heir of a martial family sooner.”
“Gunbel? Are you talking about that Gunbel Trading Company?”
“Oh! You know it. Ugh, if I’d known, I would’ve been more respectful.”
…I knew it well.
During the Empire’s invasion of the Kingdom, the Gunbel family practically monopolized guiding routes and supplying local resources.
Even in the midst of the war, the head of the family and trading company was summoned by His Majesty the Emperor, returned to the homeland, and received a noble title and a medal of honor—an anecdote quite famous at the time.
Despite not being a soldier, the Gunbel Trading Company’s leader held such influence in the Imperial military that it was said their rank was just below the seven corps commanders.
‘I heard their trading company was small before the war…’
I glanced around.
Only then did I notice that the emblem prominently drawn on the sail, marked with the Imperial flag, matched a memory from my past.
“…So this is a Gunbel Trading Company ship.”
“Yes, that’s right. Wow, I’m a bit surprised. You look so young… I mean, a noble of such a youthful age, yet you’re so knowledgeable about external affairs?”
“And you, who seems around my age, are handling such rough business quite well.”
“It’s because I have to inherit the family business.”
“So, you’re the daughter of the trading company’s head.”
“Yes. The only daughter, at that.”
“…Quite an impressive person.”
“Oh, no, I’m not that great yet…”
She sat back on the railing, scratching her head vigorously.
Her legs, peeking out from under her long dress, were spread wide apart.
She appeared free-spirited but not careless, with a youthful face yet a mature, alluring figure—a woman hard to pin down.
“Oh, by the way, may I ask your name…?”
“Bihen Benkou. The eldest son of the Benkou family.”
Her mouth opened silently, and she nodded slowly.
Her eyes subtly shifted sideways, as if avoiding my gaze.
…I didn’t feel like pressing her on what that meant.
Having gotten enough fresh air, I turned to leave.
“Hey, wait, wait! Since you’re out here, how about chatting with me a bit before you go? If it’s alright, how about a meal? I’d love to treat a distinguished guest who recognizes our Gunbel Trading Company. Hehe.”
“No need for that. When do we arrive?”
“Roughly a week from now, we’ll safely arrive at Breadport.”
Breadport was a port city in the eastern Kingdom.
It felt strange, as in my past life, I had landed in the western region and crossed the continent.
“May I ask why you’re heading to the Kingdom, Young Master Bihen?”
“No particular reason. Just a martial pilgrimage.”
“Oh, as expected, you’re no ordinary person. You’re right. The Kingdom is far more suitable for a pilgrimage than the Empire.”
I gave her a puzzled look.
Noticing my gaze belatedly, Jewelina widened her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean the Kingdom is more suitable for a pilgrimage than the Empire?”
“Huh? Well… I mean, the situation in the Kingdom is very different from the Empire. It’s practically lawless. Every village has some sword-wielding thug acting like a king. Didn’t you know?”
“…Tell me in detail.”
I’m not the type to plan meticulously before acting.
I’m better suited to jumping in headfirst than sitting and overthinking, which is why I got along so well with Hermann, who has a different temperament.
Given my nature, and heading to a Kingdom tied to my past life, I hadn’t even considered the Kingdom’s circumstances.
I plopped down on the deck and listened intently to Jewelina.
Here’s the summary:
The Kingdom’s knights are broadly divided into the “Langster Faction” and the “Sharon Faction.”
The majority, the Langster Faction, commit all sorts of atrocities, leaving the Kingdom in constant mourning.
“Knights are essentially the same as our Empire’s warriors—noble-born swordsmen. But the things they do? Absolutely outrageous. Especially the extreme Langster Faction knights—they’re no better than common bandits. Worse than a pack of magical beasts, that’s for sure.”
The Sharon Faction, their counterparts, were relatively more principled.
“But only relatively. Most knights bound by feudal contracts with lords tend to be Sharon Faction. They’re basically public servants.”
Amid the rivalry between these two knight factions, magical beasts were also growing more rampant, leaving no peaceful days.
“With the local lords’ power surpassing the royal family’s in the Kingdom, it’s not easy to manage.”
After hearing her explanation, I fell into a different kind of confusion.
I tried to match her lengthy description of the Kingdom’s state with my memories, but it was hard to find any similarities.
‘Except for the dominance of feudal nobles…’
Sharon Faction? Langster Faction? All completely new to me.
The issue with magical beasts was the same.
They were a nuisance but never to an extreme degree.
The Empire’s situation wasn’t much different, so it wasn’t noteworthy.
‘Could these problems have vanished like a lie in just a few years?’
Of course, I hadn’t had detailed conversations with Kingdom folk back then, so I didn’t know the full story, but an uneasy feeling lingered.
“Phew, talking so much made me hungry. Young Master, how about…”
“So what does the Gunbel Trading Company trade with the Kingdom? If the situation there is like that, yet you’re going through the trouble of smuggling, there must be significant profits to be made.”
“You want me to spill trade secrets?”
I turned to look at the people on the deck.
Their faces, clad in rags, were uniformly shadowed and grim.
“Those people don’t look like trading company laborers.”
For a fleeting moment, a glint passed through Jewelina’s usually cheerful eyes.
It looked like she was taken aback.
Perhaps aware of it herself, she deliberately forced a smile.
“Hey, why suddenly make things so serious?”
Out of habit, I scanned the surroundings further.
Armed sailors, while going about their tasks, were subtly keeping an eye on us, as if on guard.
“Young Master Bihen, this isn’t Imperial soil. It’s the sea. The sea.”
“I know.”
I’m a man lacking in many ways.
For instance, I’m not skilled at suppressing subordinates with noble authority or charming women with tact.
So, I had no choice but to act on instinct.
I leaned in close to Jewelina’s face.
“Let’s make sure there’s no trouble between us during this journey.”
“
Y-Yes, of course! Haha…”
“As you can see, I’m a swordsman. I prefer acting on instinct in one decisive move rather than overthinking things two or three times. But right now…”
I turned my head, locking eyes with the sailors who had been watching us and the people crouched on the deck, as if marking them one by one.
“…acting on my irritation might not be wise. If I mess up, I could lose my way to the Kingdom.”
“……”
“Let’s get along. We’re both from the Empire, after all.”
I, the heir of a minor martial family, wasn’t here to lecture about noble duties or uphold the pride of an Imperial warrior in the middle of the open sea.
Both would be laughable.
It’s just…
Though I boarded this smuggling ship of my own accord, the fact that its owner is the Gunbel Trading Company, destined to become a key player in the Imperial military, and that their current activities seem suspicious—it all bothers me.
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
As expected of a merchant’s daughter, she responded politely yet with composure. I could sense her confidence.
“Looks like we won’t be dining together today, huh? I’ll look forward to next time.”
Jewelina gave another clumsy bow, mimicking noble etiquette, and left.
I didn’t respond. This time, I wanted to maintain a noble’s dignity.