The night sky rippled below. Salkenia had dropped anchor and was moored in a suitable position. We had cast our fishing line, so there was nothing to do but wait for the time being. I passed the time with several tasks. First, I began learning dagger fighting from Ines.
[Ines says it would be better to lower your center of gravity a little more.]
The Key That Opens the Night was a powerful Relic. Especially when combined with Salkenia's Hiding, it could produce such grotesque destructive power as opening a cliff. Yet despite possessing two powerful Relics, I was not confident I could defeat Leon Dias in a head-on fight. There was one reason.
'I do not know how to fight.'
I was reasonably confident in shooting. I had managed somehow with a single gun during my journey to Semeln. But I did not have even the slightest knowledge of close combat, including dagger fighting. That was the problem.
'No matter how remarkable a famous sword may be, if an ordinary person holds it, they cannot defeat a lion.'
I had felt it when Leon Dias chased me. If we clashed, I would definitely lose. It was a similar sense of helplessness to when the robbers in Semeln subdued me.
'I thought guns were everything in this age. I had been trapped by that idea.'
I had outstanding weapons, but because I was lacking, I could not bring out even half their power. That was unacceptable. So I asked Ines, whom I could call the key's former owner, to teach me.
THUD!
And I crashed onto the deck. As Ines helped me up, she clacked. Salkenia translated.
[Ines considers you excellent for a beginner.]
"It feels like I got subdued without even doing anything."
[She says that attempting to do something is meaningful in itself.]
The greatest feature of dagger fighting was that it had to be used at complete close quarters. Most weapons enjoyed range as a major advantage.
'The reason knights wielding longswords could flourish in the age of swords and magic was that they wielded swords longer than other swords.'
The reason such knights vanished in the age of firearms and gunpowder was also the appearance of guns, overwhelmingly effective ranged weapons. But daggers did not have such an advantage in range.
[Ines stresses that the most important thing in dagger fighting is basic physical ability and recommends that you first build speed and strength.]
"Should I run around the deck?"
[She advises that climbing up and down the masts would also be a good method.]
Then what was the advantage of a short dagger? First, there was mobility and speed. Because daggers were light and small, unlike other weapons, they did not greatly obstruct movement. That allowed quick movement, feints, and successive attacks.
'The Key That Opens the Night is deadlier than any weapon.'
All I had to do was slash or stab, and it could open a cliff or even a stone pillar. But.
"I'll try again first."
None of that meant anything if I could not reach my opponent. As Ines had taught me, I gripped the Key That Opens the Night in reverse.
"I'll hit you this time!"
I lowered my stance and rushed at Ines. Ines also lowered her stance much like I had, extending an arm forward as though measuring the distance.
SWISH!
A thrust aimed at her neck. But Ines twisted her upper body aside as though she had expected it, evading the attack. Anticipating the evasion, I turned the reverse-gripped key so its tip pointed downward. I tried to drive it into her ribs, but.
THUD!
Anticipating even the variation in my attack, Ines pushed up my right wrist, the one holding the key, with the back of her hand. It had been a strike I had put serious thought into, but it was blocked far too easily.
'It is not over yet.'
I had not been subdued yet, so I still had a chance.
SWISH!
Ines turned over her hand and tried to grab my wrist.
"Ghk!"
I quickly pulled back my right hand holding the key.
'I need to avoid being grabbed!'
Ines completely overwhelmed me technically, so the moment I was caught, I was usually dealt with before I could do anything. I tried to pull back once and look for my next chance, but.
[Ines says not to step back. The core of dagger fighting is maintaining the distance you have closed, she says.]
Hearing Ines, I forcibly planted the foot that had been about to withdraw. Ines was facing me barehanded right now, but if I assumed an opponent carrying a weapon, it was absolutely right. Weapons like swords and spears were actually difficult to use at the close range where I could swing a dagger. She meant that I should not surrender the advantage of close distance because of momentum.
'I only have to hit her once!'
To find an opening in Ines's defenses while avoiding being grabbed, I watched her arms. But then.
JOLT!
The pain I felt was in my leg. Ines, who had been moving as though she were trying to grab me, suddenly shoved my shin.
"Huh?"
An attack at an unexpected time, from an unexpected angle, and against an unexpected part of my body. I lost my balance, and Ines pushed me in the direction I was falling.
THUD!
And so I crashed onto the deck yet again.
***
"Is it something like a skeleton hiding its strength? Why is she so strong?"
[She says that when she fought you, Captain, she had almost completely lost her reason. It seems she has regained her sense of self since becoming Salkenia's sailor.]
Back in the captain's cabin, I rubbed my wrist, which still tingled. Naturally, the part Ines had attacked most as she subdued me was the wrist holding the key.
"Still, I thought I'd touch her at least once. I didn't think I wouldn't even graze her."
[Are you frustrated?]
"I'm frustrated, but it's good. My sailor is strong."
[Conversely, that means you are weak, Captain.]
"That only means the only thing left is to get stronger."
I had only just learned the basics and been beaten one-sidedly, but I was happy to have something new to learn. First, I decided to make landing one hit on Ines my goal.
"Still nothing in sight?"
[Yes. I receive periodic reports from Perero on the sail, but he says there is nothing noticeable.]
"We're not fishing for minnows, so we should wait patiently."
I was not merely wasting time while I waited, and I had already prepared an alternative in case our fishing failed. Rather than growing impatient and striking at nothing, it was better to wait leisurely and reel something in when I was certain. I placed a block of wood on the desk.
[What is that?]
"My hobby."
I had spent much of our money on supplies, including weapons, but I had bought this purely for my hobby. Since it seemed as though this would be a long voyage, I thought it would be good to have as many things as possible to pass the time.
[It is elm.]
"That's right. How did you know?"
[My body is made of wood.]
"Ah. Right. But what kind of wood are you made from? I cannot tell by looking."
[I do not know that either.]
"What? You were acting as though you knew wood well."
[There are people who know others well but do not know much about themselves.]
"You're a ship."
[I only gave an example so you could understand easily. I did not say I was a person.]
I supposed she might not know. Judging by the fact that I, who came from inland, had never seen it, it seemed to be made of a very rare wood.
[So what will you do with that block of wood?]
"Wait and see."
I took out a knife. It was a carving knife shaped more like a pen or an awl than a blade.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE.
I began to carve the block of wood. Every time I pushed the carving knife with my thumb, wood was shaved away. Only after I peeled away a great pile of time's husk did the wood that had been merely a cube finally become distinct.
[It is a ship.]
"That's right. Hoo."
When I blew away the wood shavings, it still had only its shape, but it was recognizably a ship. A bowsprit stretching forward and a tall mast rising above a curved hull. Watching the carving in silence, Salkenia belatedly realized what ship it was.
[......Is it Salkenia?]
"Yeah. You recognize it?"
[I could tell because its characteristics are alive. This is not your first time carving.]
"That's right. I've done it since long ago. Since when was it?"
I searched through an old memory.
"There was something I wanted as a child, but I could not have it. It was probably a sword. Not a real sword, but a toy made of wood."
At the time, children my age each carried a wooden sword their fathers had carved for them. But I did not have a wooden sword.
"I started carving to make one. I picked up a suitable branch and carved it diligently. What I ended up with was something too shabby to call a sword, but it was fun in its own way."
As I reminisced, I could smell what I had smelled then. The scent of a rye field brushing my nose on the wind.
"From then on, I started carving things I wanted. I made ships most often. I thought I made them fairly well, but looking back, they may have been a complete mess. I had never seen a ship in person then."
But now it was different. I had seen several ships in person. Salkenia tilted her head.
[If you make the things you want, why are you carving Salkenia?]
"Because I still do not have all of you."
I carved Salkenia's figurehead. It was too small for detailed carving, and I had never seen it directly, but the figurehead had a head.
[Do you want my head?]
"Of course. That's why I'm looking for it."
[Is that your own desire, rather than because of your promise to me?]
"About half of it is. I might have gone to look for it even if we had not made a promise. Ah, I think being headless is not bad either. It gives you character."
[Then is the other half because of the promise?]
"Yeah. I think I would have looked for it even without the promise, but because we made a promise, it became my top priority."
[Captain...... You seem to be enjoying yourself.]
"Yeah."
I touched the nape of my neck. Salkenia muttered as though she could not understand at all.
[I too want to find my head, but I do not know whether the whole process is enjoyable.]
"You never know when you will die, so you should enjoy life."
[I am not a person, but a ship. The word life is not appropriate.]
"I was giving you an example so you could understand."
I stopped carving. Perhaps because I had sat and concentrated for so long, my body felt stiff. Or perhaps it was because I had crashed onto the deck over and over while training with Ines.
"Yaaawn."
I was getting tired. I interlaced my fingers, stretched them high, and tilted my body from side to side. I waited and passed the time in case there might be a bite, but it seemed that nothing would bite today.
'I thought they would charge at us just from the outline of the ship, since the night makes it hard to see.'
Were they cautious because poor visibility meant we could be a Maritime League vessel? Or had Salkenia simply not caught the pirates' eyes yet? I did not know.
'Time for bed.'
I rose from my seat and sprawled on the bed. Then, at that moment.
[Captain, a ship is approaching.]
Salkenia relayed Perero's report from his watch atop the mast. I had no choice but to get back up the instant I lay down.
"Right. Something always happens the moment I lie down."