The day came sooner than I thought.
I woke up early in the morning. Most of my things were already packed and I just had to get fresh, and go. Yet, for some reason, I couldn't find the strength to get up from my bed.
Well, I suppose it was no longer my bed. There was a good chance I wouldn't be coming back this year. And an even greater chance that I wouldn't be coming back at all.
I don't want to go, huh?
"Yawn," I heard some sounds from the window. "Leaving?"
"Pretty much," I said, sitting up. "Feels weird."
"Kinda does, yeah. You'll get used to it though. Just like you got used to here," Gerar said.
He was right. When I first came here, I quickly got used to it. Part of it was because I'd already gone through similar things but much worse things in the past. And part of it was because I was mature now and had better control of my emotions.
However… this time things were a bit different. I wasn't going away to study. I was going to get my parents back.
Doesn't matter if you want to or not, you're going.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I jumped off the bed, and grabbed my bag. "See you around?"
"Yeah." He shoved his hand through the window.
I grabbed and shook his hand.
We had a somewhat mediumship. About twenty meters in height, roughly two stories high, and three meters wide. Kind of narrow in my opinion but not that bad.
We were going to use the river nearby (the one with the cursed ships) and travel to Sun port. After stocking up at Sun Port, we would set sails for reals. I thought we were going to travel to sun port by foot or maybe by a carriage but I guess using the river was a better route.
What about the cursed ships though?
"This is Albatros," Alustur said. "He'll be our captain."
"Nice to meet you," We shook hands.
"You know, you really don't have to come with me," I said.
No, having him onboard this journey was going to really put my mind at ease. However, he really didn't have any reason to help me and I wanted to make that clear to him.
"No, I have to come with you. You know nothing of the world."
"Well, you have me there; but I did travel with Den you know."
"I know."
Oh yeah, Alustur was with us back then.
"And these are the crew, from the right; Jackson, Braile, Jalik, Morty, And Barbus- he's a demon."
The first three were human. Morty, an elf, and Barbus was a demon. They all greeted me by taking off their hats.
"Soler A. Barack," I said.
"Baron at such a young age," the captain wondered. "Welcome aboard the Kissing Duchess my lord," he said, finally taking off his large pirate-like black hat. Soft white hair, almost like a fluffy cloud; a medium beard and a rather large tummy.
Kissing duchess? I took another look at the very front of the ship and well… it had two mermaids kissing. And no, one of the mermaids wasn't even humanoid.
Anyway, that said, I casually boarded the ship. Or would have if the damn thing didn't have a rope ladder as the only entrance. Lately, I'd been stress eating a lot and that might or might not have made me a bit fat…
Luckily, Alustur picked me up and hoisted me into the air. One of the sailors caught me like a sack and brought me down on my feet.
I felt like an object but moving on.
Anchors lifted, the sails flowing hard, the ship started moving.
I waved at the shore and the few people who came to see me. They were already distant. I actually didn't get to talk to them this morning. Mostly out of anxiety and the fear that I'd want to stay here if I spoke to them. But only now I understood, that was utterly disrespectful. But I had faith they would understand.
So, I just silently waved and got some waves back.
"Come back home after this!" And a scream.
Nisa. She had kitty in her arms. When had they gotten so close?
"I WILL!"
Huh, guess she didn't come.
***
"What about the cursed ships?" I said.
Although there wasn't enough space on the deck, they had some hammocks and even chairs. All bolted on.
The crew members were carrying the luggage and our limited supplies across the ship and into the storehouse. Or maybe into the rooms?
"They're further down the stream."
Meanwhile, we were heading upstream. Soon we'd see our first city but we wouldn't be disembarking. It'd take Just two days to cross this river bit and then our journey to Moon Port would take roughly two months. Sometimes it took even four months.
"Would it be bad if we came face to face with them?"
"Unless you're foolish enough to board them, no."
"I see."
"Let me show your quarters," Alustur said, leading me down the ship's narrow stairway.
Although narrow, this place was clean at the very least and smelled like Maple.
Very new.
"Does this ship also use a magical device?"
"It does," he said.
"Then it'd be best to watch out for mermaids, accidentally stealing it."
"Everything's accounted for."
There were four rooms on the second floor. The third floor was the engine room- or rather the magical device room and off limits for obvious reasons. I was going to share the room with Alustur.
Didn't look that much different from my dorm room… but we're going to share this small room? They had some barrels of food and other stuff in the corner.
Oh well, at least the small round window was clean. It wasn't half submerged either, just barely touching water.
For some reason, Rexy fell flat on my bed and started sleeping. Guess she was tired.
"Now," Alustur said. "What shall we do about the stowaway?"
"The what?" I said.
I could have sworn I heard one of the barrels thud ever so lightly.
A bit late but my brain picked up on what was going on. No wonder she didn't show up but her parents did.
Sigh.
"Throw her in the river, or something?"
"Hey!" A head popped out of one of the barrels. "That's not how you should-" she paused; her frown broke into a half smile as she awkwardly stared.
"We could always just head back," Alustur said. "Besides, the viscount would be worried."
"I left a letter. I'm sure they'll be fine," Shia said. "And even if you throw me in the river, I'll hold onto the ship's wood till I either die or my fingers fall off!"
"You don't have to be that graphic," I said. "What do you think we should do?" I said.
"Not my call," Alustur said.
I guess he was right. It wasn't. It was mine, or rather… Shia's?
"Let me come with you," Shia said. "I always wanted to explore the world. This is my only shot before they marry me off."
Yeah, I doubted that. Barack Senior loved his daughter. He wasn't going to just marry her off.
Still, she is the first daughter of a viscount family. And the first son of a Duke had taken quite the interest in her. I didn't think Sharmon was going to sell his daughter but considering the financial distress he was going through there was a slight chance….
"Alright. But be sure to not get in the way."
But that wasn't why I agreed.
She smirked. "Damn right."
I had a feeling… she didn't have any plans to be obedient in this journey.
Sigh… oh well.