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Dan and I were just messing around when Glover-san appeared and interjected.

"It\'s great to see you all in good health, but how about saving that energy for when we leave...?"

"Ah, Glover-san. Good evening."

Being told so by Glover-san, Dan and I awkwardly lowered our fists.

"Still, you\'re already prepared, huh? So, after discussing our transport strategy with Olina-sama, I’ll be taking command here. This guy here is also a member of the Knight Order\'s Second Legion— Caster Burou. He and I are somewhat knowledgeable regarding ships. I recall you asked for one assistant; however, considering that you two need to get enough rest as well — we can\'t have you tired when we encounter something trouble — I decided that a four-person team would be for the best. Well, the cabin would be cramped, but our safe arrival is top priority."

"Feel free to call me Cass. Let\'s see this to the very end."

The other man, Cass-san, introduced himself and offered us his hand for a handshake.

He should be around 30 years old from his looks. Sporting long, quirky, brown hair, he gave off the impression of a mischievous person at a glance, but the brilliance in his eyes reminded me of Riyad-senpai. It was a sound first impression.

Our Sail Club\'s newly built ship — which was going to be used in this mission — was 25 meters in length, bigger than our previous ship. It had quite the width in the middle compared to a typical vertical sail ship to give it more stability — it was to make sure that the ship remained straight on its path without rolling around too much — while the rest of the ship was made to be as slender as possible. Consequently, the cabin was also small.

Well, we never thought we would ever use this ship for long-distance transportation missions. The addition of one new helmsman meant increasing our food stock and other vital supplies, but this should also lessen the strain on us, allowing us to work better.

The ship also had a big and improvised keel (centerboard)— a wing-like part that stretched out from the sole of the ship to the water. The purpose of the keel was to prevent the ship from rolling around too much when the restoring force granted the ship a forward pull. The keel was quite heavy, and the bigger it was, the lower the ship\'s center of gravity, thus increasing the generation of the restoring force. We wanted the ship to remain as stable as possible when we began using our devised technique, hence this was one of our solutions to that. (T/N - Just in case, Restoring Force is an act to bring the body to its equilibrium (stability). In short, like how a rubber band would return to its original position after being stretched, imagine a ship sailing across the sea and a wave struck it, changing its direction from perpendicular (straight line) to tilted angle. Now the restoring force would act to bring it back to its straight line (an equivalent would be wobble toy/dancing toy).

Another of our solutions to the stability problem was making watertight spaces on the exterior of the ship, called Bulges, to make sure that the ship\'s direction during travel doesn\'t go awry. At the same time, it also acted as defense against monster attacks. We couldn\'t risk another iteration of the orca incident or something similar, after all.

This had also served as an assurance for Mimosa and her company\'s employees. We saw the worry in their eyes, so this was one way to ease it. Every improvement had been to increase water resistance and reduce speed, prioritizing balance.

Speaking of which, I guess we should use the supplies as crutches to shift the ship\'s center of gravity instead of the ballast which was often the main tool for this. Of course, changing the center of gravity while the ship was riding the waves wasn\'t risk-free, and could destroy the ship’s balance which could consequently lower the dynamic force or result in losing control over the ship\'s movement, but we had the wind under our command to manipulate its speed, so this should lower the stakes. However, yeah, training was indispensable for this.

Anyway, there were still many places to modify, but I believe we should be able to get enough speed.

"Woah, I\'ve already seen it before, but this ship is really quite something! A beauty is better seen up close indeed."

"Beautiful... huh?"

Cass-san\'s impression was quite striking, so I couldn\'t stop myself from parroting his words. I mean, the ship only had the crest of the Serene Sea Co. in the name of decoration — it didn\'t even have the so-called figurehead — so I was unable to see the beauty he saw in such a simple design. I assume he was quite a nerd for ships.

When he heard me speaking, the glint in Cass-san\'s eyes brightened as he nodded and confirmed.

"Indeed, it\'s a beauty in the making. It\'s nothing short of a treasure, showing how meticulously it had been worked upon. I can’t tell what the designers or builders were feeling when they gave shape to this ship, but it is undoubtedly one of a kind, displaying a sense of harmony at a glance. Ah, I might have fallen in love with it."

Ahh! Another wild, eccentric person has appeared!

His words went over my head, but this made me look at him in an even more positive light.

"I\'m Daniel Serdos. It\'s a pleasure to meet you too. By the way, Burou... Is it that Burou Maritime Transport...?"

Dan seemed to have thought of something as he asked Cass-san. The latter confirmed it with a nod saying \'Yes, it\'s my family\'s company.\'

I had no idea before this, but from what I could gather from Dan and Cass-san\'s conversation, the Burou Maritime Transport was quite a big transport company in this kingdom. Either way, they seemed to get along well as they lost themselves in conversation. Cass-san eagerly asked for the details of the ship like where the lumber that was used for it came from, or the details about the bending angle, joint, and adhesion among other stuff that went half over my head.

"Umu, I really don\'t understand a word of what all of that meant, but you guys sure have the makings of the pervert cliché."

Hearing the remark that I murmured with a straight face and arms crossed, Dan\'s expression twisted into a scowl.

"......Come on, you could have at least said eccentric. Putting me aside, you\'re being rude to Cass-san..."

So he said. However, Cass-san, still wrapped in an air of enthusiasm, shook his head, his breathing rough.

"Huff This ship really has a fantastic rear. It’s a curvaceous beauty for sure. Don\'t you agree, Captain?"

"......"

◆◆◆

By the time the clock ticked 7 PM, the loading of the supplies had almost finished, and the ice mages had also been gathered.

It was just one more hour until our departure.

The Ice Mages was a gathering of miscellaneous groups. Beginning from the top, we had two mages from the Knight Order. Originally, the army would have its members divided into the knight group and the mage corps due to the underlying difference between their stamina and proficiency with Magic and Body Strengthening Magic among other things. However, there was no such distinction in the Knight Order.

All the mages of the Knight Order boasted above average stamina after all. Stamina — or Endurance — was the primary factor that influenced the pace of a march. To put it in ever broader strokes, their endurance was the key factor in the number of tactics an army could deploy. While there was no doubt that knights specialized in Body Strengthening Magic excelled in stamina, a team would undoubtedly be divided into vanguard and rearguard groups when the time of battle came. Plus, mages capable of emitting mana above a certain standard were naturally proficient in Body Strengthening Magic.

It was on account of such situations that the Academy had set one of its policies: there was no place for mages who could only perform from a safe distance in the Academy.

Aside from the two Mages from the Knight Order, we had one person from the Mage Corps of the Central Military Force, and another who was a civilian— a researcher of Emission Magic.

They also issued an urgent nomination request seeking expert water mages to the Explorer Association, but there was no confirmation as to how many it could provide.

I believe they must have put up a hefty reward. However, it depended on whether they could get in touch with the association, if they would accept the request, or if they would even be able to make it on time. All the preparation would become moot if we couldn\'t even arrive on time before the Hellrowcast eggs hatched, so our departure time was set in stone.

Those who we\'d be able to meet on the way via the sea route or ports would be adequately contacted through Magic Bird.

5 minutes before departure— A carriage dispatched by the Explorer\'s Association made its way to the port. Three explorers got off from it. And—

"Allen!? And Dan too!? What\'re you doing here?"

Al was one of them.

I kind of expected him to be here. He was definitely a prodigy of a generation when it came to Ice Magic, plus when you put filters like \'Must be readily contactable\' and \'Have commendable strength\' within a limited time frame, he was someone who couldn\'t be passed over. Of course, it would normally be impossible to mobilize a Royal Academy student, but as long as there\'s a request for \'Explorer Al\' and the consent of the person himself, it was a cinch.

I recall it was these extended requests from the Association that caused Riyad-senpai to fall from Class A to Class B.

"We, the Sail Club, have been requested by the collective power of the Kingdom to carry out this transport mission. What about you, are you alright with leaving the Academy for that long?"

"Huh, ah, yes. I mean, if there are people who can be saved using my magic, there\'s no way I can stay out of it as the President of the Mage Club, right? Seriously, the more I stay near you, the more my mind pushes me to think about what I want to do, or want to be, you know?

Anyway, I already confirmed it with Godorfun-sensei just to be sure, and he said he’ll count this as an extracurricular lesson, and that the Academy will have no problem with it either."

As expected, that geezer sure was a prime reference to learn 101 methods of how to abuse your authority...... Though I guess he gets a pass this time given it was for a crisis affecting the entire kingdom. Then again, I doubt anyone would be yapping about the rules given the situation, and he himself had the might to push them away.

You could only have what those in power have decided. Oh well, I don\'t care about the result, so whatever.

"Enough about me, you said something about... a request from the kingdom? I thought the Sail Club was just a pastime, Allen?"

Al questioned with a sharp gaze. I brushed him off with a chuckle and gave him a thumbs up.

T/N - Somehow, the image in my mind is like ‘tehe’ and giving the thumbs up. On the side note, if patreons are facing problems, please let us know via the discord server. It has been a patreon api’s error where you may may not see chapters after login. It has been fixed for now. But feel free to contact us in such situation.