One ship was sailing straight toward Salkenia. It was a small-to-medium vessel made of dark brown timber. When it emerged from beneath the shadow of a cloud, it shone like wine imbued with moonlight. Its triangular sails, reminiscent of sharp wings, and low hull gave it a very nimble impression.
"Have you checked its flag or deck?"
[The visibility is too poor. I think we must get closer to make them out.]
"It does seem like a pirate ship, given how aggressively it is coming at us in the middle of the night."
I had said I would catch pirates, but facing one made me somewhat nervous. I had fled twice from a Maritime League ship and Leon Dias, but this was my first time confronting another vessel.
"It is a medium caravel."
Lorenzo, who had somehow come out of the cabin, stood beside me. His hair stuck out sideways, perhaps because he had just woken up. Caravels were a type of ship renowned for their excellent mobility and handling.
"They are sailing into a headwind. How are they coming that fast?"
"Triangular sails are strong against headwinds. Those scale-like sails cut through the wind. Caravels have good maneuverability because of sails like those. They are excellent at changing direction as well."
"That is cool!"
Perhaps because of its nimble triangular sails, it resembled a swallow. Salkenia, who had remained silent, spoke quietly.
[Square sails have their own advantages.]
All of Salkenia's sails were square sails. It seemed she had taken notice of my praise for triangular sails.
"Still, square sails are cooler than triangular sails."
Had she heard my mutter? Seeming pleased, Salkenia straightened a little. She only thrust her chest out a fraction more from her usual rigid, upright posture, but because her posture was always so consistent, it stood out.
"Can we fight immediately?"
[Because the caravel is on the small side, we should be able to jump aboard the moment we come alongside.]
"What about the distance?"
[There will be no problem if we maintain our position alongside it, but Salkenia cannot be operated once we use the sailors as combatants.]
The skeleton sailors lost their strength and collapsed if they moved far from Salkenia. In other words, if the ship fled, we could find ourselves in a difficult position.
"Then, Salkenia, come with me. Climb on my back."
There was only one solution. By joining the fight, I could speed up how quickly we subdued them, and by carrying Salkenia on my back, I could extend the skeleton sailors' limited range of action.
"I'll get ready too."
Lorenzo clenched both fists as he spoke. His body trembled slightly, and it did not seem to be from excitement.
"Lorenzo, guard the ship."
"I can help too. We are short on people."
"We need defenders too."
"It is not because I am young, is it?"
I had only just begun learning dagger fighting myself, but I was reasonably confident in my shooting. Then what about Lorenzo? Having wandered the streets, he probably was not completely unable to fight, but.
"If you get hurt or die, who will show me the way?"
It was not that I was not nervous, either. Pirates were groups of thieves who operated in an organized manner. They would be more systematic and more adept at combat than the punks in Lindana, even than the robbers in Semeln.
"If you die, Captain, who will pay my wages?"
"You will not get paid."
"Then do not die."
Lorenzo looked up at me as though he were a little dissatisfied, but he did not insist.
"I am saving up to buy a gun."
"Whether you buy one or not is up to you."
As I watched the approaching caravel, I spotted something strange.
'Was there a battle?'
Perhaps it had been hit by cannon fire, for the stern was completely damaged. It was nearly half-destroyed. The sailors on deck were also moving about quite busily. Had it been attacked by a sea monster? Then Salkenia relayed Perero's report.
[Captain, Perero says the flag of the approaching ship is flying upside down.]
"The flag is upside down?"
I looked closely at the mast. It was hard to see in the dark, but the flag bearing a bird was indeed flying upside down. Lorenzo spoke.
"Flying a flag upside down means they are asking for help."
Soon, another ship emerged from the shadows of the night sea.
[It is a new vessel. I estimate it to be a sloop.]
It had triangular sails like the caravel ahead, but unlike the caravel, which carried two sails, it had only one. It was somewhat smaller than the caravel, but there was not a great difference in speed.
"It looks as though the sloop is chasing the caravel."
"This is turning interesting."
When the wind that had ominously brushed over the water's surface shifted capriciously, the caravel adjusted its sails.
[The caravel has slowed down.]
"Because of the wind?"
[No. It is slowing down deliberately.]
We were close enough to see not only the ship's outline but its entire form. Salkenia would also be fully visible from the caravel. In other words, it had slowed down after seeing Salkenia.
"What will you do? If you want to help them, lower the sails halfway and approach slowly."
"Lower the sails halfway? Why?"
"It signals that we do not intend to fight. If we fully unfurl the sails and approach, that declares an intention to clash. They will understand because they have hung their flag upside down."
"I see."
It seemed to be a signal tacitly established between ships.
"Turn only the bow here! To port!"
I turned the bow to the side, so that the caravel faced Salkenia's starboard side. There was one reason I turned the ship this way.
'There are gunports along a ship's side. Salkenia has no cannons installed, but they will not know that unless we open the gunports. They will think we might fire cannons.'
Like settling into a stance before a fight, we had assumed a battle-ready posture. Of course, it was almost entirely a threat. If necessary, we would have to turn the bow and pursue the ship. Naturally, it was the caravel that reached the area first.
"Captain! They are asking for help. If we turn the ship like this!"
"I know. It will feel threatening."
"You did this knowing that?"
"Yeah."
"They are being chased. They are asking for help. This will only make it seem as though we have blocked their way."
I shrugged.
"I'm not the Maritime League. I don't have an obligation to help that caravel."
"That is true, but they are asking for help......"
Lorenzo seemed quite flustered. Watching the caravel, I spoke.
"If that ship were being attacked by a sea monster, I would gladly help it."
"Is this not much the same? They are being pursued one-sidedly."
"It's completely different. This is a fight between people."
***
After hesitating for a while, the caravel eventually approached Salkenia but turned its bow at an ambiguous position. However, perhaps because of the damage to its stern, its turning speed was slow for a caravel, whose advantage was maneuverability. In the meantime.
WHOOSH!
The sloop chased close behind the caravel. To make matters worse, the wind changed direction, and the sloop trailed the caravel as though stabbing its back with a dagger.
"The caravel will try to turn its hull as far as possible to present its broadside first. The sloop has cut in diagonally to prevent that. But the caravel turns too slowly, and the wind is on the sloop's side."
The sloop's port side, its gunports, faced the caravel's stern as the two ships crossed in a T. The sloop was in a position to attack the caravel one-sidedly.
BOOM!
With a flash like lightning striking, a powerful cannon blast struck the quiet night sea. I knew from using a pistol that gunfire was louder than one might expect, but cannons made a roar on an entirely different scale.
CRASH!
The caravel was violently shaken, and its already half-destroyed stern was completely smashed. But the caravel did not simply take the attack.
CREAK!
Even as it was bombarded, it forced its hull around and tried to take the sloop's stern in return. Perhaps it had decided that escape was impossible and meant to fight after all.
'I ended up blocking its escape route.'
It was my first time seeing a naval battle directly, and since I was a ship captain myself, I might one day be between ships like those.
"The sloop has adjusted its sails too! It is trying to follow the caravel's turn."
"So the key is to avoid giving them your broadside somehow. A ship that turns quickly would have the advantage."
"Not necessarily. Small ships like those turn quickly, but their firepower is weak. A large ship can half-destroy one of those ships with a single bombardment. If necessary, it can simply ram it and crush it."
It was easy to think a larger vessel was sluggish, but it could mount more cannons and unleash tremendous firepower for that very reason. Of course, cannonless Salkenia was an exception.
'It would have been difficult to force a boarding battle.'
I had not imagined that combat between ships would unfold like this. They could force themselves alongside each other, taking cannon fire, but it seemed they would have to accept considerable damage in the process.
"Huh?"
"Yeah?"
As I thought, the battle suddenly began to unfold strangely. The caravel and the sloop, which had both been trying to turn, slowed down at once.
"Why are they doing that?"
[Because Salkenia is in front of them, perhaps.]
"We're not doing anything."
The sloop had been intent on destroying the caravel heedlessly, but as it turned, it had unavoidably come close to Salkenia. The caravel and the sloop were both watching Salkenia's movements as they faced one another.
[Would a wolf and a wild dog try to fight before a dragon?]
"I see."
Both ships had entered Salkenia's range. Salkenia's gunports were closed. From their perspective, they had come close enough for a dragon to breathe fire while they quarreled. Lorenzo muttered.
"That must be scary."
"Come on. Salkenia may be a little big, but would they be scared even though the gunports are closed?"
"They have encountered Salkenia in the middle of the night."
"It could be a little eerie, but that scared?"
"Captain, you cannot see Salkenia objectively."
Sailors faced the Unknown and fought sea monsters. Would they really be frightened just by a ship's appearance? It was not as though they had met Salkenia directly like Lorenzo had. As the cannon fire subsided like a storm, a strange silence settled in.
"But should we not help the caravel soon?"
[Both ships are currently damaged, so if Salkenia pursues them, we can subdue them both.]
Salkenia and Lorenzo spoke over each other. Lorenzo could not hear Salkenia, so that could not be helped. The navigator and the ship had differing opinions, but the choice was ultimately mine.
"Captain?"
[Please give your command.]