Louise, clearly scared, asked, “What about Prince Wales?”
Wardes shook his head. “I’m not sure. He seems to be alive.....”
“Wait... isn’t the harbor completely taken over by the rebels?”
“Yeah.”
“Then how can we contact the Royal Family?”
“We’ll just have to fight our way out. It takes only a day on horseback from Scarborough to Newcastle.”
“Fighting out of the rebels?”
“Right. That’s the only choice we have. They can’t really openly attack the Tristainian nobility, I think. We’ll have to find a chance to break out of their circle and run straight for Newcastle. All we have to think about then is riding in the dark.”
Louise anxiously nodded, and asked, “Speaking of which, Wardes, where’s your griffin?”
Wardes smiled. He leaned out portside, and whistled. From right under the ship came the sound of the griffin’s wings. It landed onto the deck, scaring some of the sailors.
“Can’t we just get to Albion on the griffin instead of the ship?” asked Saito.
“It’s not a dragon. It can’t fly that far.” Louise answered.
Saito sat near the mast and closed his eyes. Looks like we’ll be in danger again soon. Oh well... I’ll just go to sleep. he thought. With the talk between Louise and Wardes like a lullaby, he fell asleep.
Saito woke up to the sailors’ noises and blinding light, and a bright, blue sky in front of him. Looking down the ship, he could see floating clouds. The ship sailed right above them.
“Albion in sight!” the lookout bellowed.
Saito rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked down again. All there was were clouds. Ground was nowhere to be seen.
Louise, who seemed to have been sleeping beside him, stood up.
“I can’t see ground anywhere.” Saito complained.
“There!” She pointed up towards the sky.
“Huh?” He followed where she pointed, and gasped in shock. A huge... well, nothing but a huge sight greeted his eyes.
From between the clouds he could see dark land. It continued to expand under them. Mountains carved the landscape, and rivers flowed down them.
“Did that frighten you?” Louise asked him.
“Ah... I’ve... never seen anything like this before.” Saito’s jaw dropped as he stood gaping.
“Albion, the floating island. It floats in the air, just like that, usually over oceans. However, it passes by over the Halkeginian continent a few times every month. It’s about the size of Tristainia, and it’s nicknamed ‘The White Country’.”
“Why ‘The White Country’?”
Louise pointed towards the island. “The water from the rivers flows off the island into the air, and while doing so becomes white fog, covering the bottom part of the island. The fog turns into clouds, which give Halkeginia its rainfall,” Louise explained.
The lookout yelled again, “Ship approaching starboard side!”
Saito looked towards that direction. A ship was, as he said, approaching, and it was many measures larger than the one they’re on. Cannons jutted out of holes on its portside.
“Ah... they even have cannons.” Saito spoke his thoughts.
Louise frowned.
“Not good. A rebel... or is that a noble vessel?” Behind deck, Wardes and the captain looked at where the lookout was pointing.
Black paint signaled that the ship was made for war. Twenty or so cannons aimed at them.
“Albionian nobility? Tell us if they ship cargo like we do.”
The lookout hoisted the signal flags as the captain told. The black ship did not respond.
The co-captain entered running, his face pale, and reported to the captain, “That ship doesn’t have any nationality flags!”
“Then... are they pirates?”
“Can’t be wrong! I heard they got really active after the rebellion began...”
“Run! Full speed!” The captain wanted to run from them as quickly as possible, but they were too late. The black ship began to sail parallel to them, and fired a shot directly ahead of them.
BANG! The cannonball disappeared into the clouds. The black ship’s mast then hoisted a four-color signal.
“They’re ordering us to stop, captain.”
The captain winced in his decision. It’s not like his ship was completely unarmed, but all they had were three movable cannons on deck, which were no more useful than decorations when up against a full broadside of over twenty pointed at them. The captain looked at Wardes for help.
“All my magic’s used on the ship. We can only do what they say.” Wardes answered calmly.
The captain mouthed, “There goes my fortune,” and gave the order.
“Wrap sails. Stop the ship.”
Louise, seeing the black ship fire a shot, closing in on them, and their ship stopping, held close to Saito, who only uneasily watched the black ship.
“We are pirates! Do not resist!” a man onboard the black ship yelled with a horn.
“Pirates?” Louise was shocked.
On the black ship’s port, men lined up with bows and rifles. They aimed and shot hooked lines, grabbing onto their ship’s starboard. More strong men, about ten of them wielding axes and curved sabers, slid over the ropes and onto the ship.
Saito held his sword, but his wrist still hurt from the previous night’s battle, and he couldn’t use his strength.
“Saito...” Louise said silently. He heard her, and tried to hold onto his sword harder. The marks on the back of his left hand glowed. However, Wardes, who somehow appeared behind him, put his hand on his shoulder.
“They’re not just armed barbarians, Saito. They have a lot of cannons pointed at us. If you want to live on the battlefield, you’ve got to accurately measure their strength and yours. They might even have mages on their side.”
Wardes’ griffin, which was sitting on front of the deck, was also frightened of the pirates and growled. Its head was then covered with blue-white smoke, and it fell onto the deck, fast asleep.
“A sleeping spell... so they do have mages.”
At an order, the pirates landed on their ship. One of them was dressed quite exquisitely. He wore a shirt that looked like it used to be white, but was dirtied black from sweat and lubricant. One could see his strong and well-tanned chest muscles in the shirt’s openings. A patch covered his left eye. This man seemed to be the pirates’ leader.
“Where’s the captain?” He commanded in a rough tone, looking around him.
“Me.” The captain, shaking but still trying to keep composure, raised his hand.
The leader walked to him in large steps, took out his saber and rapped it at the captain’s face. “What’s the ship’s name and what does it carry?”
“Tristainia’s Marie Galante. The cargo is sulfur.”
A gasp came from the pirates. The leader sniggered, picking up the captain’s hat and putting it on his head.
“I’m buying everything on this ship then... the price being your lives!”
The captain shook in shame. Then, the leader noticed Louise and Wardes standing on deck.
“Oho, we have noble guests!” The leader approached Louise and raised her chin with his hand. “We have a beauty here. Would you like to be our dishwasher?”
The men made rough, low laughs. Louise slapped his hand, and glared at him like she was about to explode into flames. “Get off me, you low-life!”
“Oh, she called us low-lives! I’m so scared now!” The men laughed loudly.
Saito wanted to take out his sword, but Wardes stopped him, whispering, “Hey, familiar. You look like you just can’t quiet down.”
“B-but... Louise...”
“What’s the use in raising a racket now? Their cannons and arrows would just turn Louise, you, and all of us into swiss cheese.”