Chapter 379: Northward (2)

The southern New Continent’s coastline was different from the Old World from the very beach. The clear sand, free from any fishing activity by civilization, was spotless without a single piece of trash.

In Britainia, seashells discarded after eating since prehistoric times were piled everywhere.

The beach itself wasn’t very wide either. Go a little inland and crooked palm trees immediately rose, with dense jungle stretching behind them.

“This is truly land untouched by human hands.”

An Avarim elf exclaimed in admiration as Homi handed him a coconut. She had thoughtfully already punched a hole with her partially transformed nails.

“Drink it. It tastes good and is highly nutritious.”

“Thank you.”

The elf cautiously pressed his lips to the hole, and his eyes went wide.

“Sweet, isn’t it?”

“It’s like juice squeezed from soft fruit!”

The elf ignored the looks of his companions who also wanted some, draining it to the last drop.

“Is it that good? I had a chance to try coconut once, but I threw it away after one bite.”

Sigurd looked puzzled, and Homi handed him a second coconut.

“…!”

He too ignored his subordinates’ hungry gazes and drained it alone.

Despite its appearance suggesting excellent preservation, coconut went bad surprisingly quickly. There was a world of difference between freshly picked and eaten from a good variety locally, and one that had survived various hardships during transport.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a sea that suits the expression ‘warm and gentle’ so well.”

“Your Majesty! The first day of a voyage is the most important. Today seems auspicious, so give the order to set sail!”

Eugene held back the excited crew.

“Days like today are the norm here. Tomorrow will be auspicious too, and so will the day after. Everyone, calm down.”

Some crew members collected sand and soil from the beach as souvenirs in small bottles. Requests to bards accompanying the expedition to paint portraits with the sea as background also circulated.

As Eugene moved with the Moving Castle, campaign merchants weren’t needed, but bards were irreplaceable.

Though they couldn’t fight, they excelled at all sorts of miscellaneous skills. Sometimes selling songs, sometimes painting, some even cooked, did laundry, or provided prostitution.

“I really want to show the compatriots of Elenost too. If they saw such magnificent forests, they’d shut up about isolationism.”

“That wouldn’t be good.”

Eugene cut off the excited Avarim elves immediately.

“If you show them this first, their desire for isolation will multiply. Inwardly, it’s terrifying.”

Around that time, Homi had climbed a palm tree again. She couldn’t stand the sight of crew members looking dejected at the coconuts abandoned on the ground.

“Hail Lady Homi!”

She reached the top in two seconds, and with each swipe, coconuts rained down, drawing cheers from everyone.

“How dare they be so rude…”

“It’s fine. They’re about to embark on a life-or-death voyage. We should cut them some slack.”

Eugene stopped Otto.

“Now, even if we discover a new continent, we must return here for reports. Give gifts to the locals and get to know them. If you come back sick or injured, your lives will be in their hands.”

“We’ve prepared with the utmost care.”

Donkey carts descended from the Moving Castle, loaded with carefully selected daily necessities and alcohol.

*

“It’s been a year, Count.”

“It’s good to see everyone healthy, Theodore.”

The dwarves who had left the mountain range to work under the sun had turned bronze-skinned. They were already sturdy fellows, but with the tan, they looked truly strong.

“But what you’re wearing on your heads…”

Theodore studied the fairy-tree crowns that radiated presence on Eugene and Valda’s heads.

“He is now the King of Britainia. After conquering Midgard, which had long threatened the land and people, he was enthroned by universal acclaim. Her Majesty Valda has also become queen of the Great Elven Forest, successfully ending the crisis there.”

This kind of thing was embarrassing to say about oneself. Homi, looking like her wish had come true, laid it all out in detail.

“Thus, an unbreakable royal alliance has been established between the two kingdoms, may its glory endure forever.”

“…?”

Theodore and the dwarves wore blank expressions.

“Your Majesty, no, sire. Isn’t it just one year since we last met?”

“That’s a lot to have happened in one year.”

“This is more than ‘a lot.'”

The Moving Castle completely eliminated the time and cost of travel. As a result, even the chroniclers were startled by the compressed narrative being built.

“But who are those? I don’t recognize them.”

The dwarf village had grown since they left a year ago. Various beastkin races were living together throughout.

“Once the Raksha were confirmed gone, the original inhabitants who had been hiding deep gradually returned. But their original homes had already been destroyed or occupied by dangerous creatures. They drifted here looking for safety.”

“They must find dwarves unfamiliar and frightening, yet many have settled.”

“The chicha we brew seems to suit the local palate perfectly.”

Dwarves meant beer, and beer meant dwarves. However, since barley cultivation was difficult in this region, they had to brew other types of alcohol, and easily obtainable corn was the first to be studied.

Chicha could be made simply without a distillation apparatus, had a rich flavor concentrated several times over corn tea, and the right amount of intoxication. It was becoming more popular among the locals than even chocolate.

Survivors who had lived scattered in tribal units gathered from all directions, making it a veritable fur exhibition.

‘As expected, no humans survived.’

Among the beastkin of various furs, humans were nowhere to be seen.

“So many different beings gathered together, yet no trouble?”

“Not at all. They’re actually far more polite than those who call themselves civilized. This is a land where isolation means immediate death.”

Sniff! Sniff-sniff!

The dog beastkin, ready for the hunt, twitched their noses and disappeared into the jungle.

“They’re excellent hunters. Thanks to them, we can procure meat easily.”

Tracking prey by scent on all fours, the dog beastkin kept their heads to the ground. But they could also check their companions’ scents, so no one strayed from the group.

Rabbit beastkin, smaller than dwarves except for their ears, were at the bottom of the food chain in terms of combat ability. The dwarves were thick-bodied and strong, but they were so delicate they seemed ready to fly away in a breeze.

Especially their 50cm-long ears were densely packed with nerves. When tall enemies like the Raksha grabbed their ears, they couldn’t move at all, like leashed slaves.

“They’re the finest herbalists we’ve ever seen. But as you can see, they have no talent for fighting, so they need the protection of other villages.”

“You’ve done well in accepting them. The Goddess will praise that tolerance.”

“We help each other live. Having neighbors you can interact with over such distances is good in itself.”

From their extremely small builds, you could already guess—rabbit beastkin had stronger animal genes than human ones.

Like real rabbits, their footpads were elongated, yet they walked upright. Waddling along with herb baskets tucked under their arms, they were exceedingly cute.

“As expected, His Majesty scared them too much. To ease their tension…”

“So there are people living here after all.”

“So much fur… heh heh.”

Eugene watched his crew members’ misconceptions grow and facepalmed. Though most threatening creatures had been eliminated by now, when they first arrived, it had been hell for survival.

Determined to give them a thorough re-education before departure, he went to check on the year’s results.

“These are 1kg gold ingots. As Your Majesty ordered, we’ve only compressed them with no further processing.”

Theodore opened a small box, and heaven was revealed. Gold ingots refined over the past year filled it.

Smack!

Eugene picked one up and kissed it deeply.

“…”

“…”

He tossed it to Otto, Sigurd, and the crew members behind him who were staring blankly at the gold ingots. They caught it hurriedly, exclaiming in admiration as they examined it from all angles.

“Is this your first time seeing gold ingots?”

“How could mere sailors like us ever touch something like this? We’d beam just from seeing a silver coin occasionally.”

“The unknown land you’re heading to—no one knows what it holds. Maybe there’s an even more spectacular gold mine than this.”

Humans were visual creatures. Hearing about the New Continent’s potential in words versus touching real gold ingots and talking about it were completely different.

All were practical-minded people who had spent long lives at sea. But seeing the gold ingots piled up, their expectations had grown beyond the original.

*

“Good! The bow is submerged! Lead group, clear the logs and move aside!”

Two ships finally entered the waters off the southern New Continent.

“Aaah!”

“That actually works!”

The dark elf ladies crowded on the Moving Castle’s balcony cheered. For nomadic peoples, the sea had always been a mysterious domain.

The sight of a massive sailing ship gliding into the sea and standing tall was enough to inspire awe.

‘Human willpower overcomes nature.’

This was the most symbolic proof of that, as ships embodied.

The crew began transporting supplies. Food, medicine, and consumables that would be their lifeline in a voyage of unknown duration.

Normally, they would have painstakingly passed everything by rope, but this time was different.

“This field crane is really convenient. I wish we could have brought one of these too.”

Otto and Sigurd both marveled at the portable crane. This special device loaded supplies onto the ship from the beach in pallet units.

“40 boxes of salted pork!”

“40 boxes of ship biscuits!”

As supplies were loaded onto the ship, crew members swarmed from all directions to move them, and the quartermaster recorded the items in his ledger.

“Whiskey and brandy going up! Make sure the sealed corks don’t come loose!”

“Check the numbers on the barrels! Stack them with the low numbers facing out!”

For long voyages, rum was immediately thought of, but it was replaced with other alcohol.

Alcohol was needed on voyages not only for its purification effect when mixed with contaminated water but also for boosting crew morale during grueling sails. Rum had been popular because it was cheapest.

-If the purification effect is the same, give them the good stuff.

-Everyone will praise His Majesty’s generosity!

Eugene crossed out the rum in the budget Otto had submitted with a red pen, replacing it with whiskey and brandy.

He planned to secure varying maturity levels to enable quality consumption.

“Sauerkraut 20 boxes! Limes 20 boxes!”

“What? Limes? You even loaded that stuff?”

“Are you kidding? We should have loaded more meat instead…”

The crew’s disgruntled reactions made Eugene look at the two captains.

“Still complaining about vegetables?”

“I’m sorry. We’ve been training hard, but sailors are stubborn as mules…”

“Shouldn’t you have threatened them with lashes?”

“They’re the type who’d rather be whipped while chewing meat.”

Otto fidgeted as he answered. He seemed to feel he had disappointed the king before a joyous departure.

“Your Majesty. As Otto says, sailors aren’t the type to listen to words.”

Sigurd, on the other hand, was calm.

“Scurvy is painful but not immediately fatal. Rather than persuading them with words, it’s more effective to let them see blood once and then feed them.”

“…I’ll leave crew control to the two captains. Just make sure they don’t secretly throw things away.”

“Leave it to me.”

Supplies continued to go up onto the ship. As the voyage was backed by the king’s great interest, even the smallest items were of the finest quality.

Squeak.

Squeeeeak.

The edible rats Eugene had introduced to Britainia also went aboard in cages.

Visually far more horrifying than the vegetables loaded earlier, the crew’s gazes were favorable. Everyone had tried them multiple times during the ship’s construction period.

“Oh! Our pretties!”

“How do they have everything we need so perfectly?”

As long as they could replace the salted meat that made you feel homesick just looking at it, their appearance was a minor issue. As rodents, they ate food waste well, gained meat easily, and didn’t need sunlight. They were perfect voyage partners.

Grain flour for porridge and dried fish also went aboard in quantity. The former was Britainia’s traditional voyage preserved food, and the latter was the combat rations Vikings enjoyed.

Now that they were one family, their experiences and techniques merged, creating a new type of preserved food similar to dried fish hand-paste noodles.

“How’s the reaction?”

“As long as we can avoid bean stew, we can eat anything.”

Eugene had worried the crew might not accept the Korean-style soup flavor, but it was an unnecessary concern. Familiar with the infamous tasteless preserved food, everyone gave positive reviews.

“Careful! Distinguished guests coming aboard!”

And among the provisions, the star of the show went up. The crew reverently received the honey.

Foods preserved with little more than salt completely transformed in taste when coated with honey.

Moreover, honey’s antibacterial properties and high density inhibited microbial growth, making long-term storage possible. It was virtually non-perfect preservation.

A perfect food for voyage provisions, but its single drawback—high price—held it back. Only captains or individuals brought small amounts for personal use.

But this voyage was personally supervised by Eugene, so he poured money without reservation. The crew moved the honey in elven wooden kegs to the storehouse like treasure.

*

The royal military band finished playing a rousing march. The crew standing at attention wore tense faces. The actual voyage they had only imagined for a year was now just ahead.

“The exploratory voyages until now were for securing silver, spices, or slaves. But the journey you embark on today is different.”

The crew listening to the briefing wore uniforms personally designed by Eugene. Those like Otto who had been in the smuggling trade or Vikings who had sailed longships to raid felt awkward in the noble attire, but showed no dislike.

Even as servants, it was more reassuring to work for a successful noble family. Moreover, with the Britannian royal family as backing, there was no reason to refuse the uniform.

Though armor was meaningless in the age of cold weapons, that was only on land. For a navy operating at sea, uniforms had value as daily wear as well.

“This voyage is to turn to the next page of history. Without your guidance, the Moving Castle and I would remain in the Old World. But if you find new land, a thousand-year kingdom shall be established there. It is an honor to see you off today.”

After the briefing, Otto and Sigurd each turned to their subordinates and shouted.

“Board the ships!”

“Board the ships!”

Crew members took their positions.

“Cast off the mooring ropes!”

The ropes securing the two ships were released.

“Set sail!”

After Otto’s cry, the ships slowly began to leave the shore. The countless drums played by the military band sent them off, and Eugene did not lower his salute until the ships disappeared from view.

A voyage that would change the course of history in any direction was now beginning. May the Goddess’s blessings be with them.