Chapter 43

★ Kingdom of Light Knights - Port Town Zackerhaven ★

The wind that blew in through the open window was rich with the scent of the sea. The cries of seagulls could be heard in the distance, and the port town of Zackerhaven, one of the most renowned in the Kingdom of Light Knights, was enjoying a peaceful afternoon—except for the tense atmosphere that hung in the room.

The middle-aged man in a monk's robe wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,

"…It seems her body is quite weak. She needs to eat nourishing food and get plenty of rest. Do you have an appetite?"

"……"

The girl, Lark, who had been receiving treatment through [Recovery Magic], shook her pale face from side to side.

"That's not good. Eating is the foundation of building a healthy body. Magic can only assist the body's natural recovery process."

"……"

"During your stay, I will come every day. Make sure to eat well. Understand?"

With that, the man stood up.

"May I have a moment? I believe you are Mr. Cook?"

"Sure."

Together with Lark, the air pirate—originally a mountain bandit and before that, a furniture maker—named Cook, stepped out into the hallway of the inn.

"Sir, how bad is the young lady's condition?"

"Hmm… I wonder what she did to drain her life force so much. She's like a candle that's about to go out. Mr. Cook, where is her family?"

"…Right now, we are her family, sir."

"I see. Try to spend as much time with her as possible. I will come as often as I can."

His words sounded like those spoken to a critically ill patient for whom all efforts had been exhausted. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Cook lowered his head and said,

"Sir, here is today's payment."

He handed over a leather bag filled with gold.

"I can't accept this much—"

"Please keep the young lady's condition confidential. We want her to have a peaceful stay."

"Understood… if that's the case."

The monk took the leather bag, put it in his bag, and left the inn.

"Phew… What can we do? Money has its limits, too."

Cook sighed. He couldn't show such a gloomy face to Lark, so he went to the inn's dining room instead of returning to her room.

The dining room was empty. Sitting on a simple wooden chair without a backrest, Cook said,

"Give me a drink."

"Oh, drinking at noon? What about the sick young lady?"

"Shut up, old woman, just bring it."

"Ugh, I don't want to. Having to serve a man who abandons his child to drink… But it's business, so I have no choice. What a nuisance."

The old woman brought a mug of ale. When he took a sip, it was warm, but it helped to calm his rough mood.

"Well, what should we do…?"

They had fled from the Red Magic Empire because the Keithsgran Federation was there. Lark stood out too much, and her innate ability, the [Shadow King Magic Sword Technique], which was mined from the "Six Heaven Mines," was already known. While it was unlikely that she would be taken during the empire's crisis, it was only a matter of time before the Keithsgran Federation demanded her once the Red Gate issue was resolved. That's why Cook and Lark had fled the empire—on the day after the Red Gate closed, to avoid being detected.

"But the sudden journey only made the young lady worse."

Thanks to a noble's daughter who had treated Lark, she had managed to survive. However, if they were to clash with the Keithsgran Federation, even the noble would have to abandon Lark.

In any case, Lark had used her remaining energy to make it from the empire to the Kingdom of Light Knights, but now she was out of energy and couldn't move. She had coughed up blood countless times, sometimes two or three times a night.

"Just a little more…"

The last hope for her treatment was the existence of a "Sage" who was knowledgeable about medicine. They had come to the port town for this, but there were two problems.

"Can the young lady endure the journey by sea…? It will take a few days. And—"

"—Boss, drinking at noon?"

One of his companions, who had been out in town, returned. This man had been an engineer when they moved the "Moonflower."

"How did it go?"

"Ugh… It didn't go well at all. The fishermen all said they won't set sail. We can't even look for the Sage."

The other problem was that they couldn't set sail. It wasn't a matter of money. Cook had saved up a bit of money by begging the treasurer for a little extra when he was in the empire. Despite his appearance, he was a rather methodical outlaw.

So why couldn't they set sail?

"Some kind of mysterious sea monster…?"

"They call it a 'Sea Monk' around here. —Hey, lady, a drink for me too, please."

The old woman, seemingly pleased to be called "lady," brought a mug despite grumbling, "I don't want to, all of you drinking at noon."

"'The ghost, when seen, is but a withered flower'—something like that."

"What's that?"

As the engineer brought the mug to his lips, Cook said,

"It's a line from an old poet. The so-called Sea Monk might not be anything serious. Maybe it's just a temporary sea current, or a whale, or a shadow of a cloud…"

"That might be true, but if the sailors won't set sail, there's nothing we can do. They won't go out to sea when the Sea Monk appears. They just wait for it to go away. Sailing requires experience, which we don't have."

"Hmm…"

Cook crossed his thick arms and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'll think about it too, but don't tell the young lady. She might say something unexpected."

"Like, 'I'll defeat the Sea Monk.'"

"Exactly. She might say something like that—"

He turned around in a panic to find Lark, who was supposed to be in bed, standing there.

"Young lady!?"

"Hey, drinking ale at noon? Give me some."

"Ah!"

Before he could stop her, Lark had taken Cook's mug and gulped it down, her thin throat making a gulping sound.

"Phew, that's good! 'Alcohol is the king of all medicines'—they say it for a reason."

"Young lady… It's not good for your health, and you're still a kid."

"I'm already 17. It's not unusual around here."

"Well, that's true, but there's also a saying that 'alcohol is the root of all diseases.'"

"There you go with your mysterious knowledge, boss. Where do you get it from?"

"Shut up, I'm an educated air pirate."

"Airships are gone now, though."

"That's not the point… Wait a minute?"

Cook snapped his fingers.

"…You're an engineer, right?"

He firmly grabbed the arm of the engineer, who had sat down next to him.

"Whenever you ask that, it usually means you're about to ask for something unreasonable! I don't want to!"

"Just listen… Understand? A ship that doesn't fly is easier to move than one that does, right?"

"But I already said, sailing requires experience—"

"Not sailing."

"Huh?"

"Isn't it more realistic for us to steal a magic ship? There must be one somewhere, even if there are only a few."

I wrote about the activity report and the special offer for the book version sale!

Amazingly… if you buy it at a bookstore, you get the electronic version for free!!!