"Going straight to the green sea from here is impossible."
I discussed our next destination with Lorenzo. Choosing the destination was the captain's job, but the navigator was the one who laid out the route.
"Why?"
"We lack personnel and supplies. At a minimum, we need either a sea monster hunter or cannons."
"Could Ines temporarily serve as a sea monster hunter?"
Lorenzo shook his head.
"A sea monster hunter is not simply someone who fights well. A sea monster hunter identifies a sea monster's weaknesses and tells us how to deal with it. Since you are a capable fighter, Captain, you might have managed somehow in the blue sea, but the green sea has all manner of sea monsters. It will be dangerous."
Lorenzo was right. Salkenia had merely bought the bare minimum of supplies in Lindana and made herself presentable. She still lacked a great deal for a proper voyage.
"What about cannons?"
"If we need sea monster hunters to catch sea monsters, cannons are essential for naval battles. The reason we had no choice but to flee like that was that we had no cannons, was it not? Considering pirates or disputes between ships, we absolutely need cannons."
They would help when hunting some large sea monsters as well. Lorenzo added that as though he had forgotten to mention it. I considered it.
"Salkenia asked me to buy cannons, so I looked at some in Lindana. But they were too expensive."
"What is the budget?"
"Just under one platinum coin."
Lorenzo slapped a hand to his forehead.
"Will you even be able to pay me properly?"
"No. Still, there won't be a problem for a few months."
"You are not going to employ only one sailor. A helmsman, sail handlers, a watchman, a sea monster hunter...... A ship does not run for free. I take back what I said about armaments being urgent. We urgently need funds."
Having worried about money ever since Lindana, I had no choice but to agree with Lorenzo.
"You're right. Money."
Ships brought in money. They could load and transport cargo in quantities too great to move by wagon. Especially in trade between countries not connected by land, the danger of the sea was worth enduring. The problem was.
"I'm wanted. Wouldn't trade or transport work be difficult?"
"Trade and transport are not the only ways to make money at sea. Do you know how the Maritime League dominates the sea?"
"Because it has immense capital and overwhelming military strength?"
"That is close, but the important point is what it does with that capital and military strength."
"Wait. Let me guess."
I thought it over. I knew well of the Maritime League's standing, but not what it truly did.
"Maintaining public safety?"
"Close. You got about half of it right. The answer is route management."
Route management. I immediately understood why they dominated the sea.
"They create safe routes so merchant companies and private vessels have no choice but to use them."
"Exactly. The Maritime League has a Sea Monster Hunters' Guild as one of its divisions, which is why it can do that. Of course, the routes cannot be called perfectly safe. The sea is that kind of place. But roads are safer than forest paths, aren't they?"
Would one take a forest path teeming with bandits and wild animals, or a road patrolled and inspected regularly? Most people would choose the road even if it cost them a little.
"Most ships carry cargo or passengers. If they have much to lose, they will not want to take a risk. That is why almost every ship uses the Maritime League's routes."
"If they hunt sea monsters for you too, those routes are certainly worth using."
The only sea monster I had encountered was a Drowncatcher, but even cleaning away the slime it had left behind had been a miserable ordeal.
'It was a good thing Kalena was aboard and the sailors handled it well.'
Using the Maritime League's routes might be the natural choice in a sea crowded with more dangerous and troublesome sea monsters.
"But why are we suddenly talking about this? I can't use the Maritime League's routes anyway."
"That is right. If a Maritime League ship on patrol catches sight of you, it will chase us like it did in Lindana. What I want to talk about is what lies outside those routes."
"Hmm, sea monsters, the Unknown, and pirates?"
"All correct. And those three have one thing in common: they are dangerous, but profitable."
Sea monsters made money. The byproducts obtained from them were used as materials for weapons, armor, and luxury goods. Even their blood could be used as a raw material for saltpeter.
'I should have kept the Drowncatcher's corpse.'
It had smelled awful, so I threw it overboard, but I regretted it a little.
"I understand sea monsters. But what do you mean, the Unknown makes money?"
"Some instances of the Unknown have bounties placed on them. The famous one around here is the Fog of Ashen. If you find a way to break through an instance of the Unknown that is obstructing a route, you can receive a large reward."
"Who pays that reward?"
"Naturally, the Maritime League. I understand it has an organization beneath it that handles only the Unknown."
"Then even if I break through the Unknown, it will be difficult to get paid."
"There is a way to use a broker, but it would still be difficult. You have to prove the method of breaking through it, and that is hard to trust."
I frowned.
"Then sea monsters are all that remain. You said we need a sea monster hunter to catch sea monsters. Are you suggesting we hire one?"
"That is my opinion, but I only present the paths. Choosing is your responsibility, Captain."
"A sea monster hunter......"
I would see more sea monsters in the future, so it would not be bad to gain some experience hunting them in advance. The skeleton sailors would not die easily, anyway.
'If necessary, I can hide through Salkenia or use the Key That Opens the Night.'
Experience. Accumulated experience became flesh and blood. I had to hunt sea monsters in the blue sea before I could face the sea monsters of the green sea. The sailors had acquired new weapons, even if they were only cutlasses, so it was worth attempting.
"But even if we hunt sea monsters, we have to sell them. I understand that the Sea Monster Hunters' Guild buys them. Isn't the guild part of the Maritime League too?"
"It is. But in that case, I can pretend to be your errand runner. The guild does not carefully verify identities. What matters to them is the sea monsters. They also operate somewhat separately from the League."
This was not something to choose on impulse, so I took time to think. Was this the weight of being a captain?
"A sea monster hunter......"
"We need a sea monster hunter who can keep quiet about the ghost ship. The stronger, the better."
"One person does come to mind."
Kalena. She did not accept long-term employment, but perhaps I could hire her for a short time. The problem was that she was staying in Lindana.
'Leon Dias will be there. Since the cliff debris seemed to damage the ship a little, he will be regrouping.'
Regretfully, I had no choice but to give up on returning to Lindana and hiring Kalena.
"I don't want to hire a sea monster hunter."
"Why not?"
"I have someone in mind."
"......Someone in mind? Who?"
"Have you not seen her in Lindana? The woman with flowers blooming on her body."
"You cannot mean Kalena the Blood-Drinker?"
Lorenzo recoiled in horror. Why was he reacting like this?
"That's right. You know her?"
"Of course I do. It would be stranger not to."
"Is she famous?"
"Famous? She is a sea monster hunter who operated in the red sea! Anyone who works at sea has probably heard of her at least once!"
So she was famous. Then again, her appearance was very distinctive.
"She was skilled, too."
"She is. They say she destroyed a ship by herself."
"So that was why she said she would destroy my ship, too."
"You have met her?"
"Briefly, off the coast of Lindana."
Lorenzo trembled all over.
"But that person. I heard she drinks the blood of what she kills. There is a rumor that she is a vampire."
"She was not a vampire. But she did ask for blood."
"......You gave it to her?"
"Yeah. She enjoyed it."
When I joked, Lorenzo swallowed hard. No matter how mature and intelligent he was, he was a child in these respects.
"I do not intend to object. But I doubt that person's fee will be anything to laugh at."
"Really?"
"She did not originally operate in the blue sea. The more dangerous the sea where a sea monster hunter works, the more enormous their fee becomes. That means they are skilled."
"There's one more reason for us to make money."
"But if you do not want to hire a sea monster hunter, does that not mean you do not intend to hunt sea monsters after all?"
"One remains."
I had already chosen one of the paths Lorenzo presented. I had looked into what the other two paths were, but neither suited us right now.
"Pirates."
But Lorenzo reacted with some hesitation.
"Pirates are...... a bit of a gamble."
"Why?"
"Hunting sea monsters definitely makes money. The selling process is somewhat troublesome, but we can sell the byproducts regardless. But pirate bounties vary, and they might be carrying money, but they might have spent it all. Besides, ships have to clash, so the damage is greater than when hunting a small sea monster."
"That is true, but there is one definite advantage."
"What is it?"
"We can solve our armament problem."
Pirates were armed. Ships that put to sea had a minimum defensive system to protect themselves from sea monsters, and armaments were necessary to overpower and plunder such ships. At the very least, they would have firearms, and larger pirate crews might even have cannons.
"It is dangerous, but if we succeed, we can obtain supplies and armaments at the same time."
***
"Hmm."
Lorenzo frowned as he turned the nautical chart over. It was the nautical chart Perero had used as a hood, the one on which the locations of the Key That Opens the Night and Ines had been marked.
"It is old, but it is an intricately made nautical chart. In particular, reefs and small islands are clearly marked on the sea, so we will not have to worry about getting lost within these waters."
"I got lost while carrying that thing."
"You did not have a navigator then."
Lorenzo carefully drew a line across the nautical chart.
"I do not know the Maritime League's routes, but I can make an estimate. If we rule out the areas where sea monsters are likely to appear, then connect supply routes and places that could serve as landmarks to establish the shortest path......"
Before long, a new route took shape on the nautical chart.
"It should be like this. Of course, it is not exact. It is a prediction."
"So we avoid this route?"
"Yes. Avoid it, but do not go completely outside it. We sail nearby as though we feel lost. Then a pirate ship will certainly approach us. There are many pirates in the blue sea."
"It feels as though we are fishermen hooking people......"
Blindly attacking pirates ourselves was not a particularly good move. The pirates might bombard us and flee as we closed the distance, or call for reinforcements. But if we were attacked, it was a different matter.
"As you said, Captain, they will not bombard us first if we show no significant resistance. It is also in the pirates' interest to capture a ship intact if possible. The problem is."
"Salkenia's appearance."
Lorenzo nodded.
"They may not want to approach when they see how it looks."
"That's why we'll fish at night."
"That is a good idea. There have been plenty of clouds lately, so if we show dimly in the night light...... Oh, that would be even scarier, would it not?"
"But they still have to get close to check us out. We will strike then."
Salkenia slowly entered the area near the route Lorenzo had drawn. We slowed down and cast a fishing line onto the sea steeped in night. What we meant to hook was people.