Chapter 30: Meanwhile...

“What?!”

Fernand rose from his seat reflexively upon hearing the report from his subordinate.

“Kaoru is in the Kingdom of Jusral right now?”

The report stated that the messenger and the Goddess Celestine had appeared in the neighboring Kingdom of Jusral and had saved it from imminent danger. Not only that, but the messenger had been running a medicine shop in the royal capital of Jusral for some time.

“It’s Kaoru! I don’t know whether it’s alpha or beta, but that doesn’t matter. In any case, we must find her and bring her back here. Prepare to leave immediately!”

Fernand, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott, was certain that “Alfa Kaoru Nagase” was the same Kaoru who had been working as a waitress at that restaurant.

There couldn’t be two women like her...

Indeed, there were the battles in the Aligot Empire, at the peace conference, and the many episodes over the course of the four years after. Those were more than enough confirmation.

Her stopping by the restaurant she used to work at as she passed through Brancott couldn’t be a coincidence, either.

I’ll bring her back, no matter what... Fernand resolved to himself, but Fabio had a disapproving look on his face as he watched Fernand.

If Kaoru had been a citizen of his country... And if she had been an ordinary person... If that was the case, Fernand could have applied pressure to get what he wanted, being the crown prince of a powerful kingdom.

But being from another country and having been given superhuman powers by the Goddess Celestine, as well as permission to use them as she pleased if she happened across injustice, Kaoru wasn’t someone who would be cowed by demands simply because they came from the son of the ruler of a kingdom of men.

...This wasn’t going to end well. But no amount of reasoning would convince Fernand to give up. Fabio had known him long enough to understand this.

Besides, the chances of it working weren’t necessarily zero. Even if they were one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, they were still greater than zero...

＊　　　＊

After stuffing my face with seafood at the seaside, I proceeded down the main road for a few days, eventually ending up at a medium-sized city. The city faced the sea, and even though it had a small port, it wasn’t exactly booming with maritime trade. Ships, the sea trade, and large-scale fishing still hadn’t developed enough in this world. The Aligot Empire was the only nation that had proper blue-water sailing vessels up to this point.

But many of these ships were currently in construction in various countries, and once finished, maritime trade would likely prosper, leading to the rapid development of existing and new port towns. Moreover, it was said that a new type of ship was being constructed in this town with the combined effort of the entire country behind it.

I was thinking I wanted to get a look at it when the ship entered port. It was small by my standards, but everyone here would consider it to be a properly massive ship. Also, the sailing ship was equipped with a strangely familiar figurehead with scary-looking eyes at its bow...

Yes, it was certainly the Aligot Empire’s new-model sailing ship. It wasn’t all that impressive yet, but it was capable of crossing the ocean while loaded up with crew and goods, putting it a step above the boats that had been used up until now.

Yes, I helped raise that thing! No, really. I contributed in various ways, like providing model ships I created as potion containers and suggestions on improving their shipboard compasses.

...When they started asking about the firing holes for the cannons, though, I somehow managed to avoid mentioning their real purpose. Right now, they’re being used as windows for letting in light and fresh air. Someone may eventually realize their true purpose and use them as firing holes for arrows, spears, and ballistas, but that’s on them, and certainly none of my concern.

I’d seen the inside of a ship from the Aligot Empire in the past, when I stopped by the Kingdom of Balmore’s northern port. It was pretty much the same model, so I didn’t much care to look at this one. More importantly, I didn’t want them to notice me and start making a fuss.

So, even though I wanted to check out the current construction of this world’s first large-scale sailing ship, I decided not to bother visiting the imperial shipyard.

...But then I found out that, not only had the ships of this country not been rigged yet, but that it would be some time before even the hull was finished being built.

Though, thinking about it, I guess it wasn’t really that surprising. Even when some higher-ups suddenly order you to start working on such a project, you can lose months on problems with the budget, rights and interests, facilities, engineers, and plenty of other obstacles.

Even the Kingdom of Balmore and the Kingdom of Aseed had just recently finished small prototype ships and were still working on their large-scale models, so it made sense that other countries still had a ways to go.

The Aligot Empire was the truly abnormal one, what with having large-scale sailing ships already in service. Well, I suppose other countries could hardly compete when, to the Aligot Empire, failure isn’t an option, and they’d consequently poured all of their resources into the project.

All right, I’m skipping this city and moving on to the next.

“Lady Kaoru!”

Gyaaaaaa!

“Y-You must have the wrong person...”

“No, there’s no mistaking those eyes!”

Shut up!

Looking more carefully, I realized that I recognized this person. He was one of the Aligot Empire’s engineers. I remembered the discussions we’d had before.

Using only model ships as references, I remembered having heated debates about how to use square sails and fore-and-aft sails, about dynamic lift and drag, about how to maintain the shape of the expanded sail, and about how to suppress the loss of air current against the sails. I was an amateur, and one who only had knowledge gleaned from movies, novels, and manga, while they were engineers who lacked firsthand knowledge but made up for it with abnormal sharpness, and we had spent our days testing our theories with small boats.

...Those were fun times.

Even though I’m a normie and an amateur, I felt like I had become a cutting-edge engineer at the forefront of scientific development. I got to experience what it was like to be one of the top-class technicians of this world.

Having top-secret meetings and conducting experiments with the Aligot Empire’s design group, while trying not to get caught by the Kingdom of Balmore’s own engineers, had been incredibly thrilling.

I had so much fun...

As I stood, reminiscing, the engineer seemed to have lost his patience and opted to make a bold move.

“If you insist on denying it, you leave me no choice!”

With that, he drew in a deep breath, and...

“Ah! It’s the great friend of the Goddess, Kao—”

“Stop that!” I quieted him with a swift punch to the gut.

He crumpled in pain, clutching his stomach, but that wasn’t my problem. He deserved it!

“Th-That was cruel...” he said, with a reproachful tone, after finally recovering from the blow. He had basically blackmailed me, so I didn’t apologize.

“That’s what you get for trying to make such a disturbance when I’m keeping a low profile!”

“I’m sorry...”

The people of the Aligot Empire should really have known by now that it’s not a good idea to make me upset. Even if he was desperate to keep me from escaping, he also seemed to realize he had made a mistake, and was very apologetic about the whole situation.

I supposed I could forgive him...

“So, what is it you want from me?”

“Oh, no, I don’t need anything in particular. Of course I’d want to talk to you when I happen to see you at a place like this! I would love for you to see this ship, because we’re incredibly proud of it, and if you could possibly offer some opinions and advice...”

I could hardly blame him for thinking that way. I guess that wasn’t too much to ask...

And so, I took the others with me to board the ship. Yup, without cannons on board, it was more like an army ship than a naval battleship. For naval combat, they must have used marine soldiers, and if it came down to it, the members of the crew could have picked up swords and fought.

I figured the main purpose of this ship was transportation of goods and men, anyway, not combat. It may have been military men operating the ship, but maybe it was more appropriate to call it a transport.

After taking a closer look, I thought they had accomplished a lot in such a short time, what with using only a model ship as reference and having none of the basic technology beforehand. A professional must have done the strength calculations and such, but there were fewer leaks than I expected, and the sails had been upgraded from the time I had been there to help plan out the design.

Yeah, they were doing a good job. I was the one who had raised these ‘kids,’ after all!

“Kaoru... This figurehead...”

Okay, let’s get out of here!

What are you all doing? It’s time to go! On to the next city!

Damn it!

＊　　　＊

“What? She’s already gone?”

Fernand, Crown Prince of Brancott, had finally arrived at the neighboring Kingdom of Jusral’s capital, Litenia, only to find that all that was left of Layette’s Atelier was an empty storefront. Caught by surprise, he had his attendants search the surrounding shops, but they all said the same thing: the Angel had departed to fulfill her next mission.

Fernand’s group had gone straight to Layette’s Atelier, despite having claimed that this was a courtesy visit to the king, and he finally decided to head over to the royal palace. This was, of course, to gather information about Kaoru.

“What? She left the country already?”

He even asked about Kaoru during his audience with the king.

This was considered extremely rude, of course, but the king quickly surmised what this was all about from the way Fernand acted and therefore responded with a forced smile. Fabio and Alan, who had accompanied Fernand, bowed their heads apologetically behind their crown prince.

They felt quite anxious about the whole thing, given that it had the potential to devolve into a major diplomatic faux pas. Fortunately for them, the king was a gracious man.

Fernand was no fool. Normally, there was no way he would act in such a manner. He was generally able to handle most diplomacy flawlessly, so Fabio hadn’t been worried about this meeting with the king, and thus the error had come entirely unexpectedly. It seemed that all of his reasoning abilities flew out the window when it came to Kaoru.

Alan pinched Fernand’s butt from behind, shocking him back to his senses. Fernand finally paid his respects with all proper courtesy, but still asked about Kaoru again later on.

“I see. So, wishing to avoid a commotion, she has headed east without returning to the royal capital...”

“Indeed. To think, she may have decided to stay here if that had not happened... It truly is a shame. But it would have been truly arrogant to ask for such a thing after she saved our kingdom from danger. Upon saving us, the Angel has departed to fulfill her next task. All we could do was give her our full appreciation...”

“...”

The king wanted to tell the young and inexperienced prince that he should not be so attached to the Angel, and that even though Fernand was royalty, there were some things he must not try to make his own. However, the message didn’t seem to get through to the crown prince, and the king could only force himself to smile again.

Fabio and Allan had picked up on the message, of course, but remained exasperated by Fernand, who suddenly turned into an idiot when it came to matters involving Kaoru.

When the group had expressed their gratitude and was preparing to leave, the king called out to Fernand.

“When you return, would you be so kind as to pass along a message to your father?”

“Yes, of course. What would you like to tell him?”

The king replied, “Good. ‘If you wish for me to forget about your son’s many discourtesies, hand over half of that secret wine collection you were boasting about a while back.’ Please tell him I said that.”

“Huh...?”

At that moment, Fernand finally came to understand how remiss he had been with his lack of etiquette during this visit, and that his attitude had completely given away that he had only come to gather information on Kaoru.

“M-My apologies! I-I’ve displayed such insolent behavior... I do beg your forgiveness...” Fernand desperately bowed his head, but the king waved his hand with a laugh.

“It’s no matter... Well, I suppose I shouldn’t say that. Listen closely. If I had been any other ruler, this could have been a major incident, or you may have been subject to punitive demands in response. Although, knowing him, having half of his beloved wine collection taken from him may be more than enough punishment.

“In any case, you must be more conscious of your position and of the responsibilities you carry on your shoulders. Otherwise, you may lose something far more important than your father’s wine. Be it your honor, the lives of your people, or something else entirely... Take this to heart, crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott! And do not forget to pass along my message about the wine!”

...That would’ve been a nice speech if he had left that last part out.

And so, Fernand checked into a room at the finest inn in the capital. He had, of course, made a reservation before coming out here. This was merely a courtesy visit, and he hadn’t come as an official guest, so he couldn’t stay overnight at the royal palace.

“What will you do, Fernand?”

“...I have no choice. Even if I headed east now, Kaoru will already be gone. If I had laid the proper groundwork in my visit here, I may have gotten away with saying ‘I happened to meet up with an old friend, we hit it off, and so we went back home together,’ but if I go to yet another country without any warning, act suspiciously, then take a girl from a foreign land back with me, I’d have serious trouble when the national authorities found out...”

“Ah, it seems you still have some capacity to think rationally. I’m relieved.”

“Now listen here...”

Fernand looked displeased at Fabio’s expression of relief. But with the near-incident he had been responsible for at the palace earlier, he couldn’t get too upset.

“Then shall we return home?” asked Fabio.

Of course, Fernand hadn’t come with just himself and his two friends. It was an official courtesy visit by the crown prince to a neighboring realm, so they had a decent-sized party with them, one that included attendants and guards.

They had to return as soon as they were done with their business, or they would create endless trouble for the attendants and other staff who were performing their regular duties without the rest of their colleagues. He had brought them this far for his own benefit, despite the trouble it had caused. He couldn’t continue to be selfish like this.

“I suppose I have no choice...” Fernand said, then a voice spoke to him from his side.

“...I’ll go.”

“Huh?” Fernand and Fabio blurted in unison.

“Allan? What are you...”

“It’d be problematic for you to go around without making prior arrangements first, Fernand. Besides, all these attendants and guards make you incredibly conspicuous, and sneaking around with just the three of us sounds fun, but it just wouldn’t fly. If you had been a third son or something, maybe, but you’re the crown prince...”

Fernand stayed silent, a sour expression on his face.

“So, I have an idea. I, holder of the title ‘least noble-looking guy in the world,’ who is often said to look like a simple huntsman or guard behind my back, will go after her by myself. Once you get home, I want you to write an official letter assigning me the task of pursuing the Angel, and hand it to my father. That way, I can act freely, since I’m on an official mission from the crown prince. And since I’m just the son of an ordinary noble, it won’t be an issue if I go to other countries without prior notice. What do you think? Good idea, right?”

“Allan, you...”

“...You just want to do this because it sounds like a fun adventure, don’t you?!” Fernand and Fabio shouted in unison.

Fabio followed up with another accusation.

“And you wouldn’t even come back if you do manage to find Kaoru! You’re plotting to stick with her and follow her on her travels while leaving me to take care of Fernand!”

A bead of sweat rolled down Allan’s head as he averted his eyes.

Then Fernand turned to Fabio, shouting, “What do you mean ‘take care of’ me?!”

Their room was rather noisy, despite it being late at night, but no one dared complain...

＊　　　＊

When Fernand awakened the next morning, Allan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found a single letter...

“Send that letter to my father for me. I’ll handle the rest!”

“He got us!!!” the two remaining men yelled.

Allan had snuck out of the inn late in the night, taken his horse out of the stable, and ridden off onto the main road with glee. He was headed, of course, east from the capital.

There had been only starlight illuminating his path when he had left, but he was under no particular time constraint, so it was safe for him to travel as long as he went slowly. Fernand’s group wouldn’t pursue him, anyway, and he only had to make enough distance so they’d think he had gotten away completely, and therefore he decided to walk his horse at a leisurely pace until daybreak.

He would pass through the village Kaoru had saved, continue east, then head to the neighboring country. Judging by Kaoru’s movements up to this point, it was clear that she was staying in each region as long as she felt like doing so, rather than rushing off to a certain destination.

This meant that Allan had no reason to rush, either. His task was quite simple: he just needed to look around the local inns, medicine shops, and boxed lunch shops for any unusual rumors whenever he stopped in a mid-sized city.

Kaoru left traces at every stop, almost as if she had no intention of hiding her whereabouts. Maybe she really didn’t. She was just traveling around and helping people, seemingly at random, and it wasn’t as if she was running away from anyone. Allan had a feeling this was an opportunity to say goodbye to a boring life. This thought put him in a good mood.

Allan continued along his path, humming as he did so. He passed through the village to the east, then continued moving eastward until the intersection with the road stretching to the north and south, then...