The third day after the pirate siege.
The moment of departure had finally arrived.
Aiven boarded the merchant ship "Yellow Crane," temporarily docked in Leopold for supplies, by himself.
Destination: The third largest military port on the Phaletis West Coast — Gabred.
Standing at the stern, with seabirds circling and calling overhead, a slightly salty sea breeze blew softly on his face. White waves disappeared behind the ship, just as Leopold, the place where he had lived for five years, gradually faded from view.
Before leaving, Aiven had told no one, departing silently. But he believed that when he returned next time, everything would be different!
"Mr. Aiven, let me take you to the cabin. The weather has been nice these days, and the waves aren't high. The captain says with full sails, we can reach Gabred in less than two days." A very young sailor walked up to Aiven, enthusiastically introducing him to the voyage.
After all, Aiven's seat was booked and arranged by Viscount Andrea, so naturally, the crew took extra care of him, uncertain of his identity.
Aiven nodded gently and followed the young sailor into the cabin.
Inadvertently owing the old man a favor, Aiven felt at ease instead. As the saying goes, when debts are many, one stops worrying. Finding a ship to Gabred in such a short time was indeed not easy.
The Yellow Crane is forty-two meters long and holds a crew of two hundred. It's a very mature three-masted sailing ship.
Even though Aiven was about to join the navy, this "Yellow Crane" was, in strict terms, the first large seafaring vessel he'd boarded. The small dinghies and fishing boats he'd previously taken were hardly better than a simple plank of wood in comparison.
So, after setting down his luggage, Aiven couldn't resist returning to the deck to explore this big craft.
Knowing this passenger's special status, even the most dutiful crew didn't bother him.
Standing in a corner that didn't interfere with the crew's operations, Aiven gazed at the magnificent sails of the ship. The three masts — front, middle, and rear — were particularly impressive, with the main mast nearly as tall as a four-story building. Looking up from the deck was simply dizzying.
The four-section white sail, made up of the main sail, topsail, topgallant sail, and royal sail, was already filled with wind, starting to provide a continuous driving force for the ship.
The bearded sail master, directing his crew, continually fine-tuned the sails, striving to maximize the ship's stability while ensuring speed. Even though Aiven had grown up familiar with such tasks, seeing it with his own eyes for the first time still left him in awe.
The beard gave several glances to this curious guy staring at him, unable to figure out what this guest was about.
It seemed as though nails pinned his feet down; maintaining balance was as natural as eating and drinking, standing steadier on the swaying deck than the old sailors, as if he'd lived at sea his whole life.
Yet everything on the ship fascinated him, from a plank to a rope, even the pulleys on the mast caught his attention for half a day. If he hadn't been watching closely, it seemed this guy would have tried handling the ropes himself.
From that point of view, he looked like a thorough novice, which was truly puzzling.
Recalling the captain's special instructions, the bearded sail master directed his crew to watch over the sails and approached Aiven, who was enjoying the spectacle, asking, "Sir, are you interested in sailing ships?"
"Uh... yes, because I'm going to Gabred to join the navy and want to learn about life onboard in advance. Have I been disturbing you?" Aiven hesitated a moment, not finding it necessary to hide his purpose.
"No, no, not at all. Instead, if you're interested, I can introduce you to this beautiful big fellow beneath our feet!" The sail master, unexpectedly understanding, offered to introduce the ship to Aiven.
Aiven gladly accepted.
He likewise knew that the extraordinary treatment he received was entirely thanks to Viscount Andrea's influence.
What he didn't know was that Viscount Andrea actually held a share of the Yellow Crane. After loading some goods in Leopold, they'd fill the cargo hold in Gabred and join the fleet heading to the New Continent for an ocean voyage.
"Our Yellow Crane just turned four years old since its launch, and it's in its prime condition..."
The pleasant conversation lasted half an hour. During the tour, Aiven's data visualization openly modeled the entire "Yellow Crane," allowing him to understand it better than many old sailors who had worked on it for years.
Most surprising to Aiven was that the "Yellow Crane" wasn't just an ordinary cargo ship but a truly armed merchant ship.
According to the sail master, the ship's hull underwent special modifications so that from the outside, one couldn't discern the location of the gun ports. However, once the hidden panels were opened, the ship could reveal its fierce interior, giving any attacking pirate ship quite a shock!
Outwardly, Aiven nodded repeatedly, though inwardly, he didn't believe a word.
Defend against pirates? More likely, it disguised itself as an ordinary merchant ship to approach other merchant ships and then transformed into a vessel of plunder!
But since privateering was common practice at sea, as long as there was a privateering license and they only targeted enemy nations, there was no problem. Aiven wouldn't be foolish enough to expose them to their face.
During lunch, to which Aiven was enthusiastically invited by Captain Joseph, he discovered that he was the only passenger on the ship.
After some indirect questioning, Aiven learned that Viscount Andrea was also a shareholder of this ship, having arranged for the Yellow Crane to open a private cabin just for him, prompting a silent admiration for the old man's diligence!
Moreover, Aiven believed he'd only seen the tip of the iceberg when it came to Viscount Andrea, who was certainly a cunning old fox with many hidden depths.
As they were still navigating coastal waters with adequate supplies, the lunch was quite lavish. But today was not Aiven's lucky day; he was destined not to enjoy this meal.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
Just after tasting a mouthful of the appetizer soup delivered by a sailor serving as a waiter, the ship's continuous alarm bell suddenly rang. It was a warning issued by the sailor atop the main mast upon spotting danger.
On an empty commercial route, such a warning usually signified one thing: pirates!
Calmly wiping his mouth with a napkin, Aiven's red-faced, curly-haired uncle across the table said, "Just a minor surprise; I'll handle it. Mr. Aiven, you should stay in this room and wait."
With that, he picked up the sidearm from the table and strode out. Soon after, his commanding voice could be heard outside, along with the rhythmic sounds of crew members running around, tense but not panicked.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Soon, the sound of cannon fire echoed continuously. Although they did not hit the Yellow Crane, they caused massive splashes near the merchant ship, creating an extremely tense atmosphere as the water crashed back onto the deck.
"Pirates incoming, all non-combat personnel return to the cabin immediately, combat personnel to your positions! Anyone daring to target the Yellow Crane will get their jaw blown off!" Captain Joseph's calm voice was a tremendous encouragement to the crew.
Looking out the porthole, Aiven saw a fast-moving, single-masted ship with black sails adorned with a blood-red anchor, speeding toward them.
As the ship sailed, it slowly adjusted, aiming its ten side guns at them, firing intermittently, clearly trying to force to stop this fat sheep loaded with goods.
In the era of sail-and-cannon naval battles, sinking a similarly-sized ship through gunfire was very unlikely. A boarding fight would be inevitable; pirate raids aimed to capture the enemy ships.
Otherwise, there would be no benefit if they sank the merchant ship, so why bother?
Therefore, when the Blood Anchor Pirates were almost parallel with the Yellow Crane, most of the Yellow Crane's gun ports on one side weren't even open, only a few guns intermittently firing to intimidate the merchant ship.
Clearly, the Yellow Crane's disguise successfully fooled the pirates, leaving them completely unaware of the hidden threat within the seemingly ordinary merchant ship.
Blood Anchor Zack put down the handheld telescope.
Although the number of sailors on the opposing ship felt slightly overwhelming, it was only a small trouble. Given the prowess of his pirates, they could take on the ordinary merchant ship's crew even if outnumbered two to one.
Pulling out a protective talisman of crossed black wings hanging from his neck, Zack silently prayed, "God of Black Wings, bless us!"