Leon Dias was aghast. Now that the lights in the night sky had gone out, the ghost ship had vanished completely from view. It was only natural that the sailors would fall into confusion.
"The moon! The stars are gone!"
"It's not cloud cover! We have to run!"
"It's the Unknown!"
Terrified, some sailors hid inside the ship or fell to their knees to pray. Leon was shaken as well, but not to their degree. Unlike the sailors who had spent their lives along the safe coast of the blue sea, Leon had memories of sailing farther seas.
"Do not panic!"
At that resonant voice, the sailors on deck came to their senses for an instant. Leon did not miss that brief opening.
"Reduce speed and turn to starboard!"
"Reduce speed and turn to starboard!"
Jerry repeated Leon's command in a booming voice. Given a short-term objective, the sailors turned their eyes away from the confusion and carried out the order. As the sails were raised, the Blue Lion slowed further and gradually turned right.
"Do not leave the lighthouse's light!"
All light in the night sky had been extinguished. The light spreading from Semeln's lighthouse was the only remaining source of illumination, but it did not reach the sea of waste.
‘Strange.’
Light and darkness were perfectly divided by some invisible boundary. Leon stared at the darkness beyond the section that remained lit, then turned toward Jerry, who was holding a spyglass to his eye beside him.
"Can you see anything?"
"No. I really cannot see anything."
Jerry was the best lookout Leon knew. If the ghost ship had disappeared from the sight of a lookout with such keen eyes, then for all practical purposes, they had lost it. Even if they could ascertain the ghost ship's location—
‘Entering that darkness is not a particularly good decision.’
The light pouring from the ship could not secure a wide field of vision. Because they could not see, people used their imaginations in the dark to create primal anxiety. Moreover, the sailors were already greatly shaken.
"What shall we do?"
Leon was bold, but he was not an imprudent captain. After agonizing over it, he let out a long breath and gave his order.
"We will return to Semeln. We will resume the search as soon as the sun rises."
Before long, two rumors spread through Semeln. One was that a ghost ship had appeared in Semeln, and the other was that a Maritime League ship had fled after seeing it.
***
Salkenia glided slowly across the quiet night sea as though swimming through it.
[I believe we have shaken them off.]
Salkenia opened the hand she had been holding closed. A cluster of firefly-like lights scattered from her gloved hand in every direction, and the stars in the sky flickered before shining brightly again.
"That was amazing! Was it magic?"
Salkenia, in turn, seemed puzzled by my question.
[Magic?]
I nodded.
"I heard that in the age of swords and magic, there were wizards who wielded all kinds of mysterious powers. They called those mysterious powers magic."
After considering it, Salkenia gave an ambiguous answer.
[Perhaps it is.]
"You did it, but you don't know what it is?"
[Regrettably, I do not. If humans call this magic, then it is magic.]
Salkenia acted as though it did not matter whether what she had done was magic. Whether it was magic or not, only the name changed.
[I lost my head and forgot everything. Even my name.]
"But you remember your name."
Salkenia had introduced herself as Salkenia.
[It is one of the few things I barely managed to remember over the long years. That the skeleton sailors there are Salkenia's sailors. That a captain is needed to put out to sea.]
I had seen elderly people lose their memories over and over. So I knew, at least a little, how sad and frightening that could be.
"If you recover your head, will you recover your memories, too?"
[I hope so.]
Until now, I had thought of the sea as nothing more than a waterhole larger than a lake. But the sea I faced in person was vast enough to be called a world unto itself. Somewhere in that vast expanse, Salkenia was searching for her head.
"All right. I'll find it for you."
Salkenia gazed at me. I knew there was nothing inside her veil, but there was no other way to describe it.
[Excuse me. Salkenia thought the captain might run away.]
"Why?"
[Now that you have come back to life, has the reason to help me not disappeared?]
"You have to keep a promise."
It was not merely sympathy. This was already a concluded transaction. I had received a ship and a life, and I had to pay the price for them. I was not a robber.
"Why did you make me captain if you thought I might run away?"
[Because no one had ever put so much effort into Salkenia.]
Effort? Could she mean the cleaning? Looking toward the prow, Salkenia spoke.
[Captain, I believe it would be better to alter our course.]
"Ah. Right."
Now that we had shaken off the Maritime League ship, we had to turn toward Lindana. Looking closely up at the stars, I turned the ship's wheel and altered our course.
[Do you know astronomy?]
"No. Not really. Why?"
[I asked because you judged your direction by the moon and stars.]
"I picked up a little by watching others during my travels."
Separate from their lack of self-awareness, the skeleton sailors were excellent sailors. At Perero's direction, they turned the sails, furling and unfurling them as needed to aid our voyage.
‘Sailing isn't as hard as I thought.’
***
It took less than three days for me to retract that arrogant thought. I only stared blankly down at the blue sea. My mouth was so dry that words would not come out properly.
‘I'm thirsty.’
It was absurd: I was floating on water, yet there was no water to drink, and I was swallowing the saliva I gathered. I remembered the sailors in Semeln carrying crates and barrels by the armful.
‘I wondered what they were loading so much of.’
Perhaps it had been water and food. I should have bought at least some water. I looked up at the sky.
‘It doesn't look like it'll rain.’
The sky was clear to an almost heartless degree. Because there was not a single cloud, the sun blazed hotly onto Salkenia's deck. The heat made me thirstier, so I fled into the captain's cabin.
"Hngh."
I had no strength at all, and as I slumped in the chair like a bundle of laundry, Salkenia came over and checked on me.
[Are you all right?]
"……No."
My throat was completely cracked. My tongue was like a dry piece of wood, and my throat stung as though it had been scraped with sandpaper.
‘If this goes on a little longer, I won't even be able to speak.’
With only my gaze lowered, I checked the nautical chart spread out on the desk.
‘I can't even estimate where we are.’
Unlike land, the sea had few landmarks that could serve as signposts. I could not even tell where Salkenia was now. We might have been near Lindana, or still halfway there. In the worst case, we might already have passed Lindana.
‘I can't fish, either.’
I tried to tear a long strip from a sail and make a fishing rod, but with no bait, there was no chance of catching fish. Hunger and thirst were followed by drowsiness. I felt as though I might die if I closed my eyes, but I had no strength to lift my heavy eyelids.
Clack-clack.
Perero appeared through the gap in the captain's-cabin door. As I spent time with him, I had become dimly able to read the emotions in the sounds of his clicking teeth. This one was an excited, rhythmic sound.
"……Are you laughing? Is this funny?"
Salkenia went out of her way to translate Perero's words.
[He is delighted that you are becoming one of his kind.]
I drew my pistol. Perero fled outside with his bones rattling. Becoming the captain of a ghost ship did not mean I wanted to become a skeleton or ghost.
"Hiss."
I blinked, fighting the drowsiness. Perhaps it was not drowsiness, but death.
[Captain. Captain?]
Salkenia's voice reached me through my hazy consciousness.
[Perero says he has spotted a ship.]
My eyes flew open. Meeting a ship on this boundless sea—it was unbelievable. I could not let the first ship I had seen in three days go, so I wrung out my remaining strength and ran onto the deck.
‘It really is a ship?’
Just as she said, there really was a small boat far away. It was so small that it seemed closer to a boat than a ship, but it was a vessel nonetheless.
‘I'm saved!’
Whether from joy or from my strength leaving me, my body swayed. My hands trembled.
"Toward the boat."
The skeleton sailors turned the sails, and Perero spun the ship's wheel. Going to the bow, I gripped the railing and watched the boat. But there was one strange thing.
‘What?’
The boat was moving away from Salkenia. It was running away.
***
With the wind behind her, Salkenia caught the small boat in an instant. The small boat, perhaps having given up on fleeing, stopped as well. I only wanted to get some water and food.
[Captain, I suggest that we hide the skeleton sailors for the moment.]
Salkenia's suggestion was reasonable. Ordinary people would surely be frightened at the sight of skeleton sailors. We might receive bullets instead of water.
"All of you, get inside."
I sent the skeleton sailors below deck. As the other skeleton sailors went below deck, Perero, standing at the helm for some reason, looked at them with a pitying expression.
"What are you doing? You go in, too."
Perero, looking shocked, checked whether I had really given that command to him, then shuffled into the ship in disappointment. It seemed he had expected special treatment. I felt sorry, but as long as he was a skeleton, it could not be helped.
‘Hmm.’
I wondered what to do with Salkenia. As long as she did not remove her veil, she should be fine, but still.
[You need not worry. Unless I reveal myself, no one can see Salkenia.]
That she was visible only to me was something I had not known until now.
Clatter.
After confirming that the skeleton sailors were no longer visible on deck, I lowered the ladder. The small boat slowly approached it.
‘I'm saved!’
I was desperate. I wanted to get even a mouthful of water. I sat down on the deck and waited for someone to climb aboard. Honestly, I did not have the strength to stand.
[She is coming up.]
The person who eventually climbed the ladder was a woman with red hair.
‘A flower?’
What was unusual was that flowers bloomed from the woman's body. At her right temple, left eye, and right shoulder. Gorgeous white flowers were in full bloom, using her body as their flowerpot.
Whoosh!
The woman rushed at me without warning and thrust something toward me. At a glance, it looked like a spear, but looking closely, I could tell it was a harpoon. Three red blades branching from its center shot forward at tremendous speed.
‘Fast!’
No matter how exhausted I was, I was not given even a moment to draw my pistol. The harpoon's blades stopped precisely in front of my neck. Salkenia spoke quietly.
[If it is difficult for you to give the command, I shall summon the skeleton sailors.]
The woman did not seem able to see Salkenia. I slowly shook my head so Salkenia could see, then raised both hands to show that I surrendered.
‘If she wanted to kill me, she would've.’
I did not sense malice like the robbers' from her. What showed in her eyes was pure wariness. Having checked the empty deck, the woman did not lower her harpoon as she asked,
"You."
Her voice was young despite her sharp impression. With the sunlight behind her, her face was shadowed. Though flowers bloomed from one of her eyes, it was her gaze that I noticed first.
"You'd better answer carefully. Depending on your answer, I may have to destroy this ship."
She was saying she would destroy the ship, not kill me. It was not something one person should say, but somehow it did not sound like a bluff. Studying me closely, the woman asked,
"Are you a sea monster?"
"I'm human."
"Why did you approach me?"
"To get some water."
Perhaps my voice sounded threatening because my throat was cracked. The woman did not lower her suspicion.
"Then how did you move such a large ship alone…… Ah."
Before I could answer her question, the woman saw my right wrist and frowned.
"You have a Relic."
"……A Relic?"