Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 32: Chapter 22 Inland Sea

After Bandit Gull was loaded with sugar and tobacco in Tanilia, it was cutting through the waves toward Vineta. Its bow stirred up great sprays of water, splitting the waves aside along the hull and leaving a faint trail at the stern, as if it were the only vessel left between heaven and earth.

Bandit Gull swayed side to side with the rhythm of the sea, the amplitude of swaying greater at higher positions. At the top of the mast, the swaying even exceeded the width of the ship's body.

Winters looked up to see the sailor who had asked him for a drink a few days earlier scaling the mast without any protective gear, nimbly like a monkey, and he quickly reached the topmost yardarm.

"Seems like I don't have the talent for working on a ship. I couldn't do that job," said Andre, watching the sailor working high above, with heart pounding.

"Neither do I," Winters said as he watched the sailor climb so high, his hands and feet tingling. "What's he going to do up there?"

"He's going to tie up the square sails. We will be sailing into the wind on the next leg of the journey, using only the jibs and staysails," the first mate of Bandit Gull enthusiastically imparted some nautical knowledge to Andre and Winters.

Senas Bay is normally tame, sheltered by land on the west side and shielded by the Tanilia Archipelago on the east, so there usually aren't any strong winds or big waves.

The terrain of Alliance Country slopes from high in the west to low in the east, and the rivers that flow down from the western highlands drain into the sea here, forming many flat and fertile estuarine deltas along the coastline. Cities like Sea Blue and others are situated on typical alluvial plains.

Therefore, ships that sail in these waters, to be able to enter shallow seas and river mouths, usually don't have a deep draft.

Bandit Gull is neither an ocean-going vessel nor a coastal ship; it belongs to a "hybrid" breed, adopting whatever design is useful, a prime example of pragmatism.

Although Bandit Gull has a shallow and flat hull like coastal ships, it is equipped with a keel designed to withstand wind and waves. For the sake of speed, Bandit Gull has three masts on a not-so-large ship, greedily equipped with both square sails and triangular fore-and-aft sails.

"Does sailing into the wind mean we'll be going against the wind?" Winters took the opportunity to ask a question he had been pondering while there was a naval expert at hand.

"We don't say 'against the wind' or 'unfavourable wind' on the ship; we call this situation 'sailing into the wind.' And yes, next we have to sail into the wind," the first mate reminded him of the language taboo aboard the ship.

"Alright, sailing into the wind. But I don't understand why the ship can sail into the wind?" This question had left Winters completely puzzled.

"It's actually quite simple," the first mate explained to Winters. "Angle the ship and the sails to the wind, and the ship will move forward at an angle."

"But why exactly can angling the ship and sails to the wind make it move forward?" This was the real question Winters wanted to understand.

"Uh..." This question actually stumped the first mate: "This... I don't know why myself. I just know that doing this allows the ship to sail at an angle into the wind, but as for the specifics, I really don't know—I've never thought about it."

"Then it seems that you too are a spellcaster," Winters said with a laugh. "You too can wield a power that you can't explain yourself."

A few passengers who were taking this ship from Sea Blue to Vineta were also on the deck for some fresh air, standing behind Winters. Overhearing Winters' comment, one of the men stealthily sized Winters up.

"What is a spellcaster?"

"It's a mage."

"Ha ha, if I were a mage, I would conjure myself gold that I could never spend in my lifetime."

"If you could just conjure gold at will, gold would no longer be valuable."

A series of urgent bell rings interrupted the two men's casual talk, as the lookout at the top of the mast loudly reported, "Port side, forty degrees! Sails! Port side, forty degrees! Sails!"

The first officer, upon hearing there was a ship to port, quickly ran to the forecastle, and Winters followed.

"I can't see anything," Winters squinted, only to see the sea and sky.

"When the lookout atop the mast can see the other ship's mast, we can't see anything from our position. We have to wait until the lookout can see the hull before we can see their mast," the first officer added, "Not seeing is good, it means the other ship is also circling around us."

At that moment, the captain of the Bandit Gull also arrived at the forecastle. The captain was a plump middle-aged man, a rarity among seafaring men to have such a round face.

"Forty degrees to port, the lookout has spotted sails," the first officer briefly reported the situation.

"The other ship has taken the windward position." Without any hesitation, the stout captain immediately ordered the helmsman, "Turn with the wind! Adjust the mainsail!"

The helmsman immediately turned the wheel to the right, and the Bandit Gull began to list leftward, the wooden frame groaning under the pressure. The ship left an arcing wake as it adjusted to a downwind course.

"Let's give them some room, then return to our original course, maintaining a distance from them." The fat captain held considerable respect for the army officers, and seeing that Winters and Andre were puzzled, he took the time to explain: "If the other party doesn't harbor ill intent, they'll also be concerned about our intentions and keep their distance."

This made both Winters and Andre look at each other in surprise.

"Harbor ill intent? Are there really pirates on the inner sea?" Andre found it hard to believe. Senas Bay could be described as the Alliance's bathtub, fishpond, and backyard, colloquially known as the "Inner Sea." Could there really be pirates in such a place?

"It might not necessarily be pirates, considering this is a busy shipping route." The fat captain sounded quite relaxed: "But pirates are always around, and because of the inner sea's busy trade, there are actually quite a few pirates."

He chuckled, "Besides, wasn't the Alliance Navy originally just a bunch of pirates? If you all helped me rob other ships, then the Bandit Gull would become a pirate ship too."

"Would anyone bother to rob a small ship like the Bandit Gull?"

"The Bandit Gull is not small. Even smaller ships get robbed. Pirates favor light ships. Large ships have more crew, making them hard targets for pirates and therefore safer."

"But surely the navy patrols the inner sea with warships?"

"The navy doesn't have many pure warships; they're mostly like the Bandit Gull, nominally merchantmen. Shipbuilding has to be profitable, after all!" The fat captain began to share some business wisdom with Winters and Andre: "A ship must earn back its building cost for the owner to break even, and that's after deducting wages and maintenance costs for the net profit. The money made after breaking even is the real earnings for the owner. Warships that don't carry cargo are pure expenditure, a guaranteed loss."

"Doesn't the navy fight the pirates, then?" To Winters, if there were brigands, shouldn't they just be dealt with? While the Standing Army wasn't large, it didn't hinder the military from clamping down on organized robbery gangs.

"Merchant ships are all armed. When armed merchantmen have evil thoughts, they become pirates; when they earnestly run ships, they are businessmen. You can't eradicate them completely." The fat captain seemed to enjoy enlightening these young soldiers and patiently explained: "To truly eliminate piracy, you must start with the fencing operations, which the Alliance can't control."

"The Alliance allows pirates to fence their goods on its own soil?" The news was more shocking than the last.

"Not within the Alliance, but in Tanilia. After robbing, pirates fence their goods in Tanilia – it's a well-established process." The fat captain revealed a meaningful smile: "Who knows? There might even be stolen goods among this cargo. After all, pirates are the source of cheap goods, right?"

"Then… what if you get robbed?" The fat captain's symbiotic philosophy with pirates left Winters and Andre speechless.

The fat captain answered composedly, "I just have to not get robbed. Don't worry too much; it's not so easy to encounter pirates."

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The lookout sounded the urgent bell once more, his voice hoarse as he reported, "Aft direction! Hull!"

The people on deck quickly rushed back to the stern castle, and this time, they saw the sails.