Book 13: Chapter 6
“Onii-sama, this is the ship we prepared to put in the water. Actually, we have put it in the water many times and have confirmed it is very safe before deciding to let you play with it. Of course, it is also to test how it performs on a long journey.”
Freya and I stood at the port. Eyes on the ship, she elaborated, “Naturally, in the future, this ship will be a warship. It is Lorana’s new work. She used mana-powered machinery to operate it. That way, we will be able to use as little manpower as possible to operate this huge warship. It is also very fast. With this warship, we can be considered the leaders of warships.”
“Since it’s powered with mana, there’s no need to use wood to build the frame. I think we can use metal, instead.”
“Metal? Miss Lorana had the idea, as well. However, she did not proceed with it, so use this ship for now. This ship has been modified a lot. It is very spacious, but is not equipped with many weapons. If you run into pirates or the sort, I hope you can leave it to the navy behind you to handle. Logically, please do not separate too far away from the navy guarding you. Needless to say, if you want to enjoy something more exciting, you can go and start a fight with a pirate ship. I think Royal Princess Nier would be very happy to.”
“No… I don’t plan to do something so crazy. Also, are there actually pirates out at sea? Humanity doesn’t have many routes leading to the sea, so why would there be pirates?”
Elves didn’t have a seaport, so they definitely wouldn’t be pirates. Humanity didn’t have many seaports. In the vicinity of the empire, Castor was the only city with a seaport, and there were no sea exports, so why would pirates exist in humanity’s domain? What would they rob, fishing boats? Boats at sea didn’t carry much money, and Castor had a navy. If there were pirates, they were eighty percent likely to be Castor’s people. The pirates didn’t even have anywhere to hide, so they couldn’t prosper.
I reasoned, “If there are pirates, then they would only prosper once there’s a flourishing market overseas, after discovering a new continent, right? There shouldn’t be any pirates now, right…?”
“Although logically speaking there should be no place for pirates to come about, Onii-sama, there are indeed records of pirates existing, and there are reports of them monthly. It is just that they are not powerful, nor have they stolen anything worth money. There was nothing they did not steal. They occasionally come to shore, resembling starving beggars,” explained Freya, smiling. “That is why you have a navy to guard you this time. You will not have many with you, though. There will only be a total of three warships, so you do not need to worry about being awkward. Besides the crew, the rest will be maids and servants. Hence, you do not need to worry about your wives… Ah, I do not think anybody would dare to harbour crooked agendas for Royal Princess Nier and Imperial Princess Lucia.”
I nodded, and then wrapped my cape around me. The sea breeze still chilled my bones despite the weather still being warm.