Late in the predawn hours.
Outside the window, before the sun had even risen, the world was still sunk in bluish darkness.
“Uuugh…”
“Get up. Hurry.”
One by one, movement stirred inside the room.
Because the ship was scheduled for the early dawn, everyone was dragging themselves up with half-open eyes.
The worst of them was, of course, Baldik.
Clutching the blanket tightly, he only groaned with his face twisted into a deep frown.
“You’re not a child, so what are you doing? Once the sun rises, the ship will already be gone.”
“Ugh, damn it. My happy dream…”
After barely managing to sit up, he squirmed about like a zombie crawling across the floor, as if he still couldn’t accept reality.
I pretended not to see and got dressed, then sorted out my pack.
“Mr. Baldik, at this rate we really will miss it.”
“Leave me. Just leave me behind…”
“Then we’re really going?”
“…Damn it.”
After wrestling with the blanket for a while, he finally gritted his teeth and flung it off.
The way he rose, stretching his body, made him look like a soldier who had just fought a battle.
“Haa, why does everything have to leave at dawn? Would it kill them to go a little later?”
“You were the one who went with us to make the reservation, Baldik.”
“Ugh, damn it…”
Everyone was packing with exhausted faces, but even then, each moved according to their own rhythm.
Sailun was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, yet his hands moved quickly, while Ranson had already finished getting ready and gone downstairs ahead of us.
“That guy’s seriously impressive. Is he a morning person or what?”
“He’s a merchant. It’s probably like a habit from going to the dawn market.”
I sighed and, lastly, picked up the bag containing Gerangi.
The blue spirit was still asleep, only occasionally letting out tiny breaths.
‘Will this guy even wake up…?’
Carrying our luggage, we slowly made our way down the narrow hallway of the inn toward the first floor.
It was still dark outside, and along the road leading to the harbor, the occasional sound of footsteps from people waking the early dawn could be heard.
The early morning wind was cold, but within it bloomed a tension and strange excitement for departure.
***
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
Baldik hunched his shoulders and curled in on himself.
“That’s sea wind for you.”
Sailun answered with a shrug.
The dawn air rode on the wind and slipped into our collars.
The cold sea breeze did not merely brush against the skin; it felt as though it pierced deep into the lungs.
Even so, the area near the harbor was moving quietly, but steadily.
Far out toward the sea, several ships with faint lights had departed, and near the pier, fishermen were busily gathering nets and loading cargo, beginning their day.
‘So cities really do develop when they’re attached to the sea.’
The thought came to me without thinking.
I carefully tightened the cloth wrapped around my neck a little more.
Since heat was usually the problem for me, cold like this was actually on the comfortable side.
The heat from my armor and protective gear was neutralized to some extent, making the perceived temperature just right.
“This is perfect. I’m not even sweating.”
“…Don’t say things like that right now.”
Baldik grumbled and pressed close beside me.
“Ugh, this is all because of the dawn ship. Does it really have to leave at this hour?”
“Well, it’s a regular route. It’s not like we’re in a position to choose.”
When I turned my eyes, I saw a ship bearing the flag of the Kendel Trading Company anchored at the pier.
The merchant company emblem hanging from the mast was shaped like a silver crescent moon, exactly matching the explanation we had heard earlier.
“That’s it.”
“It’s bigger than I expected.”
Everyone seemed a little relieved that the ship looked better than they had feared.
Now, once we boarded, all that remained was to travel toward our next destination, Kron Island.
“I don’t see Brother Chad.”
When Sailun said that while looking around, I also turned my head toward the city instead of the sea.
“You’re right. I sent a separate messenger yesterday. I wonder if it was delivered properly.”
“We told him to come here, right?”
“Yeah. I’m sure we told him we’d meet at the pier…”
We stopped talking for a moment and looked at one another.
It was still dawn, before the sun had fully risen. On the road from the city, not a single person’s shadow could be seen.
“Maybe something happened?”
Baldik muttered in a suspicious tone.
“Or,”
Ranson continued quietly.
“Maybe he really did get recruited by the castle.”
“…That could be.”
Considering Chad’s skill, his background, and even his title, it was entirely possible.
But even so, he wasn’t the kind of person who would leave without saying a word.
I let out a quiet sigh and said,
“Let’s board for now. We haven’t completely departed yet, so if he does show up—”
“We can ask the captain to wait a little.”
“Yeah.”
And so, with a vague unease in our hearts, we moved toward the ship.
The departure time was drawing near.
***
“He really isn’t coming?”
“Right… Now we really have to board.”
Sailun and I lifted our heads at the same time and looked toward the pier.
In the distance, sunlight was beginning to faintly color the surface of the water, and the area around the ship was growing busier and busier.
Even so, Chad’s figure never appeared.
“…Did he pass out at the banquet?”
Baldik grumbled with a listless face.
“They say nobles lose track of the night whenever they drink and hold banquets.”
“Or he might really have been recruited.”
Ranson spoke calmly.
“You said he was a former knight of a count’s family. Would the castle simply let him go?”
“True… Though he also seems like the type who might leave halfway through because it was bothersome.”
I grumbled and checked the bags loaded onto the ship one more time.
Chad’s luggage was not among them either.
“…If he took his own things, then that means he’s completely out.”
Only then was I certain.
Chad would not be joining us on this journey.
Whatever his reason for not coming, we could no longer wait.
“In that case, I guess it’s just us.”
I looked toward the city one last time.
After confirming that not a single familiar helmet was in sight, I turned my head.
“Let’s go up.”
On one side of the pier, I saw a small office area made up of a simple tent and stacked wooden crates.
In front of it stood a stern-faced trading company employee, holding a bundle of documents as he checked the passenger list.
We approached and carefully spoke to him.
“Hello. We’re the party that reserved passage on the Kendel Trading Company’s ship. This is the route to Kron Island, correct?”
The employee raised his head, looked us over once, then flipped through the list with practiced motions.
“Name?”
“Sailun. Sailun’s party of five—no, four.”
“Sailun… here it is.”
He answered in a heavy voice and tapped one line of the list with a small finger.
“Do you have much luggage?”
“No, most of it is personal luggage. We’re leaving the carriage at the harbor.”
“Good. Put your luggage beside that ladder over there. Boarding will take place after we confirm the number of passengers.”
He stretched out his hand and pointed toward the cargo-loading area beside the ship.
“One thing before boarding. A merchant ship prioritizes cargo above all else. Passenger comfort is provided only at the bare minimum. Once the sails are raised, you won’t be able to go below deck, and there will only be one meal. You agreed to these conditions, correct?”
I nodded.
“Of course. As long as pirates don’t show up, I’ll consider it fortunate.”
“…That, I cannot say.”
He gave a short, dry laugh.
“Boarding will begin as soon as the supplies are loaded. We’re a little ahead of schedule. The captain is one of the company’s people, so there won’t be any special guidance. On board, follow the sailors’ instructions.”
At that, Sailun cautiously asked,
“What should I do about seasickness?”
The employee stared at Sailun for a long moment, then answered bluntly.
“Throw up. You’ll feel a bit better afterward.”
“…Ah, yes.”
We each adjusted our packs and moved our luggage beside the loading area the employee had indicated.
After carrying our belongings while avoiding the sailors moving cargo back and forth, a line had already begun to form toward the ladder placed against the deck.
The merchants climbing first went up the ladder carefully, and we followed behind them.
The wide wooden ladder was a little slippery from being wet.
There was nothing that could really be called a railing, and the ship was swaying lightly, but after somehow climbing while bracing my hands, I was soon able to step onto the creaking deck.
It was not large, but there was ample space.
On deck, one sailor was already checking the list.
“Sailun’s party of four, right?”
“Yes.”
He gestured toward a tent-like awning beside the cargo.
“Put your luggage under there and wait. We’ll be departing soon.”
We set our luggage down in the designated area and slowly looked around while feeling the sea breeze.
Beyond the horizon, which had begun to turn faintly red, the sun was just starting to rise.
Above the pier where the waves splashed, roughly braided ropes clattered and shifted, and on the deck, the shouts of sailors passed back and forth without pause.
“Did you sort out the nets? If that gets tangled again, you lot might lose your fingers!”
“Cargo goes all the way inside! You have to leave room for passengers there!”
“Not that side! Over there! Against the inner wall of the hold!”
The man who seemed to be the captain looked as large and solid as the ship itself, both in build and in voice.
His forearms were covered in muscles twisted together like thick ropes, and his face bore deep traces of salt and sunlight.
No matter how I looked at him, there was nothing tidy about his appearance, but that much made it clear just how long he had been at sea.
“Passengers can gather in the corner of the hold over there. Don’t touch the cargo. And don’t make a fuss just because you get seasick. Got it?”
After saying that, he did not even wait for confirmation before whipping his head around and heading elsewhere.
“…The corner, he says.”
Carrying our heavy packs, we were guided into the ship, toward the cargo hold.
A few sailors did push the cargo to one side and organize it for us, but it was hardly a space one could call fit for people.
Sacks of flour, boxes of salted meat, and barrels filled with dried fish were stacked in layers, and between them, there was just barely enough room for a few people to sit.
“This… is a space meant for passengers, right?”
Sailun muttered as if talking to himself.
But no one answered. All of us agreed with him.
“They charged that much money for a place like this…”
“Still, at least we got on the ship.”
I set down my luggage and leaned against a wooden crate as I spoke.
Honestly, for what was supposed to be the most trusted trading company in the city, there seemed to be quite a lot wrong with it.
…We didn’t get scammed, did we?
“Next time, Chad should get a taste of this too.”
“If Brother Chad saw this mess, he definitely would’ve complained.”
Baldik grumbled as he threw himself down over a sack of luggage.
“Wow, it’s damp… I feel like I can smell rat piss from somewhere too…”
“Where wouldn’t you smell it? This is the reality of seafarers.”
Inside the wooden walls, where the ceiling was low and there was no ventilation.
From the gaps between the damp wooden planks, moisture seeped out, whether seawater or mold, I could not tell.
On top of that rose a complex stench, a mix of salty brine, the old fishy smell of something long left behind, and even the smell of people.
“Uup…”
Sailun covered his mouth and turned his head.
“I think I’ll throw up the moment the ship starts moving.”
“You ride horses, so why are you like this?”
Baldik snapped at him for no reason, but irritation was already seeping into the end of his words.
“That and this are different—urgh!”
“Uwaa, you bastard!! Don’t throw up next to me!!”
Baldik nearly jumped in horror and shoved Sailun away.
I quietly sat leaning against the wall of the hold and silently watched the scene.
The other passengers were in similar straits.
On one side sat an old couple wrapped in their coats as if they were blankets, and on the other, a peddler quietly leaned against the wall with his pack as a pillow.
None of them spoke to one another, but every gaze was marked by fatigue and endurance.
“Cast off!”
The rough shout from outside echoed through the narrow hold.
Along with the sound of heavy chains dragging across the floor, I could hear the sailors’ hurried footsteps moving across the deck.
“Raise the sails! Catch the northwest wind!”
“Hold the rudder steady and check the lines!”
Soon after, a hoarse voice bellowed out.
“We’re departing! Everyone to your positions!”
The entire ship lurched with a heavy thud.
Then, slowly, at an almost imperceptible speed, it began to move.
“It’s moving…”
Someone mumbled.
Like a large wooden box coming alive, the bottom of the ship vibrated and crawled forward over the water.
As the ship changed direction and cut through the current, a sharp salty sea smell rushed in through the cracks in the hold.
As though tightly bound ropes had been released, the vibration echoing through the floor gradually began to take on a rhythm.
Thud, thud.
And before long, I could clearly feel it.
The swell of the waves traveling up through the floor.
“…We’re going.”
I murmured quietly and shifted my posture.
Through the light entering from a small gap above the hold, I saw the pier slowly growing farther away.