Chapter 737 ·The Eastern Countries and the Federation of Western Countries

Chapter 0737 The Eastern Countries and the Federation of Western Countries

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

After leaving Vamos Island, the Skidbladnir sailed straight west, heading for the mainland of the Dark Continent.

“Are the Dark Continent’s ‘Eastern Countries’ the name of a country?”

As usual, Ryo asked from the deck of the Skidbladnir.

“Originally, no, but these days it has effectively become the name of a country in the sense of a confederated state. The Bardael Emirate is at its center.”

“And the west is the Western Countries?”

“That side has formally become a federal state called the Federation of Western Countries.”

“The ‘Eastern Countries’ and the ‘Federation of Western Countries’? That’s complicated.”

Abel answered precisely as a king, while Ryo grimaced and shook his head.

“If you’re involved in a country’s diplomacy or foreign affairs, you need to know the formal name of the country, but otherwise, Eastern Countries and Western Countries should be enough, shouldn’t they? Ever since they parted ways more than a century ago, I believe that is what people have generally called them.”

“I see. That makes it easier to understand.”

Ryo accepted Abel’s suggestion.

Easy to understand was best.

To begin with, country names tended to change quite frequently anyway...

“The Kingdom of Knightley has been the Kingdom of Knightley for a very long time, right?”

“Yeah. Ever since King Ashton, the founder of the kingdom, established it, the name has never changed.”

“King Ashton, King Richard the Restorer, and now Abel...”

“What?”

“It must be hard being compared to such great kings.”

“No, comparing me to those two is ridiculous.”

For some reason, Ryo crossed his arms and gave his lofty assessment, while Abel grimaced and voiced his dissatisfaction.

“Once you become king of a country with such a long history, you must become a king who surpasses all the kings before you! I thought perhaps you had that kind of spirit.”

“I don’t.”

“If that is what Abel desires, I won’t be unwilling to cooperate by restoring my once-a-month cake privilege to once a week...”

“Right. I don’t need your cooperation, so I’m not restoring it.”

“Damn... Recovering a privilege once lost is difficult.”

Ryo’s expression was filled with anguish.

Yes, the deck of the Skidbladnir was as peaceful as ever.

As they were talking about such things, Captain Paulina approached.

“Your Majesty, the port town of Borne in the Bardael Emirate should come into view in less than an hour.”

“Borne? If I remember correctly, it’s one of the Emirate’s largest port towns.”

“Yes. Not only within the Emirate, but across the Eastern Countries as a whole, it is among the five largest. For that reason, any ship above a certain size is always subject to a boarding inspection.”

“With the Skidbladnir’s size, that means without fail.”

“Yes. A patrol boat will come.”

“Understood. As I said at Vamos Island, if my identity needs to be verified, have them check my plate or do whatever else is necessary. I’ll leave everything to you, Captain.”

“Thank you.”

After Captain Paulina left, Ryo asked Abel a question.

“Abel, you actually know quite a lot about the Dark Continent, don’t you?”

“Do I?”

“To begin with, you even speak the language of the Dark Continent.”

“I learned that at the royal castle. It was a compulsory subject at the Royal Academy as well.”

An elite education.

“But the Central Countries and the Dark Continent don’t have any direct exchange, do they?”

“No.”

“Then why learn it?”

“I learned this through royal family history, but apparently, long ago... several hundred years ago, there was exchange.”

“What? No, I mean it’s ridiculously far away. How would they even...”

“I’m certain it wasn’t a sea route, so it must have been over land. They likely traveled by land as far as the Western Countries, then crossed to the Dark Continent by ship from there.”

A trade route that had fallen into decline with the passage of time.

What came to Ryo’s mind was Earth’s Silk Road.

Trade routes long enough to cross cultural spheres were difficult to maintain.

If political upheaval, war, or the destruction of a country or city occurred somewhere along the route, the route would be severed.

“And now we are trying to revive it.”

“Yes. By sea rather than land.”

Both Ryo and Abel looked toward the horizon with deeply moved expressions.

After some time, two ships approached from ahead, from the direction of land.

“Heave to. We are patrol boats of the Bardael Emirate. Submit to this vessel’s boarding inspection.” (TLN: Heaving to is a sailing maneuver used to park or slow a vessel significantly by balancing opposing forces from the sails and rudder)

The voice could be heard even on the deck of the Skidbladnir.

“He’s shouting in an incredibly loud voice.”

“Well, it comes with the job, I guess.”

“They should make him an alchemy tool that amplifies his voice...”

At Abel’s rather harsh words, Ryo felt pity for what must surely be a painful working environment and shook his head slightly.

“If they made an alchemy tool like that, wouldn’t the man doing the shouting lose his job?”

“They could assign him to more humane work...”

“Well... it must be hard on the throat.”

There was no such thing as an easy job... perhaps that was what it meant.

The Skidbladnir accepted the patrol boats’ order to stop.

One of the two patrol boats came alongside, and five officials boarded.

“I am Nau, captain of the Third Patrol Unit of the Bardael Emirate.”

“Thank you for your work conducting the inspection. I am Paulina, captain of the Skidbladnir, belonging to the Kingdom of Knightley.”

They introduced themselves to each other.

Because the person responsible for a ship was, first and foremost, its captain, Paulina introduced herself.

Then she handed Captain Nau the documents.

“A crew certificate, then. I’ll verify it.”

Nau said this and began checking it with practiced hands.

While he did, the four men who had boarded with him glanced around the deck.

They did not move about.

They still did not know what kind of ship this was or who was aboard it.

Even if they were conducting a boarding inspection, they could not simply ignore procedure and walk around a ship they already knew belonged to another country.

“According to the crew certificate, the fifty crew members are citizens of the Goslon Duchy, while the eighty people aboard are citizens of the Kingdom of Knightley... But the Kingdom of Knightley is not in the Western Countries, is it?”

“No. It is in the Central Countries.”

“The Central Countries? The Central Countries are... the group of nations far to the east of the Western Countries, are they not? Why is a ship belonging to such a country off the coast of our continent?”

“The Kingdom of Knightley is currently cooperating with the Van De Vie Theocracy to open a sea route between the Western Countries and the Central Countries. This ship is one of the survey vessels for that purpose. This time, we were supposed to sail from the Central Countries to the Western Countries, but we encountered a storm along the way and were blown to these waters. Therefore, at the discretion of the person responsible, we decided to visit the coastal states of the Dark Continent before proceeding to the Western Countries.”

“After going around the Dark Continent? For what purpose?”

“To lay the groundwork for future trade negotiations.”

“Hmm.”

Paulina had answered perfectly, but Captain Nau tilted his head.

To be frank, he did not seem to understand.

Nau looked around the ship from the deck.

“I occasionally see ships from the Goslon Duchy, but this is the first time I’ve seen one this large. They possess the shipbuilding technology to build something of this scale?”

“No. This ship was built in the Republic of Mafalda.”

“The Republic? No, ships built in the Republic are only operated by republican trading companies or the republican government, aren’t they? I remember hearing there was a law like that.”

“That is correct. This ship... became a ship of the Kingdom of Knightley in the Central Countries through several exceptional procedures.”

Paulina answered.

Hearing that, the patrol captain tilted his head again.

“A ship built in the Republic of Mafalda, operated by sailors from Goslon Duchy, with a registry in the Central Countries? What in the world is that?”

“That should let you imagine it, shouldn’t it? This ship is an important vessel involving the intentions and interests of multiple countries. And the one aboard it is His Majesty King Abel the First of the Kingdom of Knightley, a great power among the Central Countries.”

“That makes even less sense.”

The patrol captain grimaced.

Then someone called out to him from behind.

It seemed to be one of the patrol captain’s subordinates.

“Captain, King Abel of the Kingdom of Knightley, isn’t he the one from that song? You know, the one people have been talking about...”

“That song?”

“‘The royal capital has fallen. It has fallen to the king’s brother and the Empire. The people’s lament covers the Kingdom’s skies’... that one.”

“Oh, that. The one the minstrels have been singing lately...”

“He’s in it. ‘A new king is born in the Kingdom. His name is King Abel. He shall rise in the frontier city.’”

Paulina must have heard the conversation between the two men,

because she cut in.

“Yes, that is the man.”

“Hey, hey, hey...”

The instant Captain Nau said that... in his field of vision, he saw a man walking over from farther within the ship, accompanied by a man in a robe.

He was certainly not dressed in gaudy clothing.

However, unlike the ship’s crew or the knights, one could tell at a glance that his clothes were well-tailored and of high quality... yet easy to move in.

Yes, he was a man dressed in the sort of clothing the lord of this region might wear in daily life.

When Nau lifted his gaze from those clothes and saw the man’s face, he almost knelt on reflex.

But he somehow stopped himself through sheer force of will.

He needed no explanation from anyone.

He could tell that this person was an extraordinary man.

If he had to put the impression into words, it would be dignity.

The man was not giving off a hostile air by any means.

But he was not someone with whom one could become familiar either.

He approached one step at a time.

And with each step, Nau wanted to retreat.

The man was not hostile, but the closer he came, the more Nau felt as though he were being crushed.

And then...

“Thank you for carrying out your duty, Captain Nau.”

“Yes, sir.”

At the words spoken by the man, Nau bowed his head.

Nau was not the only one who lowered his head.

The four subordinates behind him did as well.

One of them nearly dropped to one knee by reflex and then hurriedly straightened himself.

“As Captain Paulina has explained, I am Abel, king of the Kingdom of Knightley. I have come to lay the groundwork for future trade treaties with the Dark Continent. Will you permit us to land in your country?”

“Y-yes... ah, yes, Your Majesty... I-I do not have the authority to make that decision...”

“Who does?”

“Th-the lord, Borne-sama, I believe...”

“Hmm. I have heard that the town of Borne is one of the Eastern Countries’ leading port towns.”

“Yes... It is a port town second only to our Emirate’s capital...”

“I see. Then would you guide us there?”

“...Understood.”

In the span of barely ten or so seconds of conversation, Captain Nau’s upper body was drenched in sweat.

And so the Skidbladnir put into port at Borne, a port town of the Bardael Emirate.