Chapter 130

Chapter 130

It wasn't the time to be picky about this and that. Because there are people waiting, and things to be done.

Rickart quite liked the exotic southern city, but couldn't stay long.

At dim dawn, Rickart packed his bags and left the inn. Perhaps because the daily temperature range was large, the wind brushing the tip of his nose was quite chilly.

Inside his backpack were only simple rations and spare clothes, sewing tools and first-aid medicine, and the Flame Knights' reliquary and the Viking gold bracelet. Right now this was everything Rickart possessed, and the weight of his life.

His red cape fluttered continuously in the sea breeze. Rickart moved his steps toward the port, and sailors busily carrying cargo since dawn could be seen.

Asking them to find the ship named 'Marlin', he moved his steps. Far away, the horizon sky burned red and yellow, and mixed to purple.

Arriving at the ship he was to board, the sailors were in the middle of loading this and that. The ship was small compared to large ships, and large compared to small ships, and with a pointed bow it had a sleek shape.

Rickart approached them and said.

"I am Rickart, who agreed to escort the Mage of the Wastelands."

Then the rough sailors stared blankly at Rickart. And abruptly handed him a lemon. Not knowing what it meant, he just took it.

Stepping on the plank to board the ship, although it wasn't rocking that much now, it definitely felt different from standing on land.

In the center of the deck there was a mast, and along the railing seats for about twenty rowers were arranged in a row. It seemed to be a kind of galley, but where is the mage?

"The mage is below the deck."

Just as he was wondering, Barbara approached and said. Like he saw last evening, he was wearing luxurious clothes, a flashy belt, and a cutlass.

"About how long does it take to Armosa?"

"Well, it depends on what the wind permits. We might briefly anchor somewhere else in the middle. It won't take more than two days so don't worry."

Barbara said while showing a somewhat suspicious smile.

"And it seems you have one misunderstanding; your job isn't to escort the mage. If an unexpected situation occurs, it's to kill the people below the deck."

"People, plural?"

"Well duh, to sail a ship this size, do you think only sailors board?"

"Is it a slave ship?"

"Nah, we don't use such terms. Just a merchant ship."

Even if it was in name only, anyway under Imperial law slave trading was illegal.

"And that, it's good to eat it now."

Barbara said gesturing with his chin at the lemon held in Rickart's hand.

"Why?"

"Just like a superstition. That eating it prevents you from falling ill during the voyage."

Rickart thought for a moment, took out his dagger from his bosom, and cleanly cut the lemon in half. Then tilting his head back and opening his mouth, he squeezed the two halves perfectly to eat them.

It was incredibly sour, but not a single expression changed. He tossed the two lemons into the dark dawn sea and said.

"If by chance you plan to screw me over, you will have to risk your life."

"I'll keep that in mind."

How much Barbara kept that in mind couldn't be known, but Rickart went below the deck for now.

Below the deck was dark, gloomy, full of moisture, the wood was rotten, and water was even sloshing on the floor.

And along with the sloshing water excrement floated around, and rats flailed their limbs as if swimming.

The ceiling was low so he couldn't stand up completely and had to bow his head, but the most shocking thing was that there were some people in such a space.

Whether they were all being sold as slaves or just chartering the ship couldn't be known, but their age groups varied, and some were gathered in family units while women also gathered amongst themselves.

Each gathered closely with people they knew, covering themselves with all-wet blankets, and some were ceaselessly coughing as if suffering from an illness and about to die soon. Most of the skin on their faces was peeling off here and there, making them red and blotchy.

Even pigs would find it hard to endure in such an environment, but is it okay for people, for humans to be like this. Is it okay to receive such treatment.

But the job Rickart received in exchange for the passage fare was to kill them early on if they showed signs of inciting a mutiny on board.

Whether they knew that, the people just glinted their terrified and wary eyes like beasts, never taking their eyes off Rickart.

The Mage of the Wastelands was in the very corner, and naturally locked inside an iron cage, biting a gag in his mouth.

Rickart first went to him and sat on a box next to him. Water sloshed at his feet, it looked perfect to catch athlete's foot if he stayed long.

"They say you only need to endure for about two days at most."

Rickart said. Then the gagged mage smiled subtlely. The meaning of that smile couldn't be known.

However, in a place he didn't want to be for even 1 minute, the time of two days felt like it would be as long as 2 years. Above the ceiling, the sound of sailors walking clomp-clomp could be heard without a single bit filtered.

Occasionally there were thud! thud! sounds, and voices mixed with profanities could all be heard.

In Rickart's life, it was the worst place and space. Noisy, uncomfortable, and dirty. It was to the point of going crazy wondering when on earth they were departing. Two days wasn't a short time at all.

Especially since the only person he knew was the Mage of the Wastelands, he couldn't even kill time chatting so it was even more agonizing.

Then finally they must be departing as the ship tilted heavily, and the water sloshing on the floor began to sweep around left and right in earnest. Along with it, lumps of excrement moved here and there.

Amidst that, one person who was sweating cold sweat as if suffering from a fever retched and vomited on the floor.

Rickart tightly closed his eyes. And tried to recall beautiful memories with all his might. It wasn't easy, but if it could help him endure even a little.

As the rowers began to row, a loud creak, creak sound echoed so loudly he wondered if the ship was breaking. That repeated in a constant rhythm without resting.

At first it moved so slowly he wondered if the ship was even going, but later around the time Rickart was half losing his mind, they lowered the sails and moved quickly riding the wind.

Then every time the waves surged once, seawater rushed in below the deck with a splash and went out, and dirty water splattered everywhere. Rickart pulled his cape over to cover below his eyes.

I feel like I'm dying. Whether it takes a month or a year I'll travel by land, or I won't go at all, I will never take a ship again, Rickart promised to himself hundreds of times.

Inside, he couldn't tell the sun rising and setting. He just roughly knew by feel.

He might know if he observed carefully, but being dizzy, it was correct to say he had no energy to care whether it was night or day.

This was a place where time had stopped. Feeling like 1 hour had passed but actually only 1 minute did, or feeling like already a day had passed but not even 1 hour had.

Rickart experienced the limits of his mental strength several times. While trying to accept reality, the thought of wanting to throw everything away flared up abruptly.

But surprisingly, what kept Rickart enduring was a sense of responsibility. Whether he knew it or not, since there was a job he agreed to do, it was about not leaving below the deck.

But even looking at the people, a mutiny on board seemed like an unfounded worry. What mutiny could such sickly people incite.

However, that was an ignorant notion. Because humans pushed to their limits could display astonishing power even when feeling like they would soon die.

Anyway, it seemed to be night now. Without lighting a fire it was full of pitch-black darkness, and whether it stank or not now he didn't know, but the dirty water continued to slosh.

Given one wondering if they could sleep in such a place, feeling exhausted, Rickart dozed off nodding like a sick chicken.

But how long had he dozed off, suddenly someone shouted loudly on the deck.

"Enemy ship! Enemy ship! Southwest direction! Enemy ship!"

What? Enemy ship? What are they talking about? Rickart blinked his eyes blankly. The sound of people wandering around in a flurry on the deck could be heard.

Having no presence of mind at all, Rickart hurriedly walked to where the hatch cover was. And pounded his fists on the ceiling hatch cover, shouting.

"Hey! What's going on!?"

However, because it was so frantically noisy no one answered him. So Rickart pounded the hatch cover even harder, and shouted louder.

"Hey! I'm asking what's going on! Open this!"

"Shut up! You son of a bitch!"

Someone stomped loudly on the hatch cover!

Then Rickart finally reached the limit of his patience and drew his sword. In the pitch-black darkness, golden flames blazed along the blade.

Swinging the sword he cleanly sliced off the lock like cutting paper at once, and roughly threw the hatch cover open with a bang.

The first thing that caught his eye was the bright, glowing moon. Next, the sight of the sails burning caught his eye. An incongruous flame burned the dark night. Something really had happened.

Rickart hurriedly went up to the deck. And bumped into a sailor running around the deck frantically.

Rickart was merely pushed slightly, but he fell on his behind. So he frowned and threw a tantrum.

"Don't just stand there idly and step aside! You son of a bitch!"

"You step aside!"

As Rickart also frowned and shouted loudly like a roar, he was startled and firmly shut his mouth.

Rickart quickly looked around and grasped the situation. He had no knowledge or experience of naval battles, but instinctively he quickly realized that they were in immense danger right now.

Two ships stuck close to the side and the rear respectively, hooked grappling hooks, laid down planks, and enemies were coming over wildly.

Rickart didn't know about anything else and forcefully shouted below the deck for now.

"Everyone come out! Come outside!"

And immediately ran to Barbara and grabbed him firmly.

"Hey!"

Then he was startled, turned around, and reflexively tried to stab Rickart with his sword, and Rickart simply grabbed his arm to block it and shouted.

"What is this......!"

But just then something caught Rickart's sharp senses. An arrow flew in piercing the darkness. Without even looking, Rickart hurriedly bent his upper body to dodge it.

But coincidentally, the arrow Rickart dodged ended up hitting Barbara's temple directly.

Thwack!

"Gack!"

As the arrow pierced through, his left eyeball popped out abruptly. And he fell, seemingly dying instantly.

Rickart was dumbfounded and bewildered, becoming dazed for a moment. But soon quickly recovering his senses, he randomly slashed down the enemies swarming in from the side of the ship.

When the flaming sword flashed in the middle of the sea on a moonlit night, enemies were sliced away like a farmer cutting grass with a sickle. Naturally it couldn't help but stand out, so both allies and enemies' eyes widened.

Not stopping there, Rickart jumped onto the plank the enemies had placed and ran to the enemy ship.

Shaking wildly it was hard for an ordinary person to even balance, but no matter how much his body shook, his head was fixed like a chicken's head as if he was running on flat ground.

Rickart instantly boarded the enemy ship and struck down with his flaming sword towards an enemy just loading a crossbow. And split him from the crown of his head to his chest in one breath.

Snatching the crossbow the enemy dropped, he fired it at an enemy standing blankly.

Pew! Pow!

Accurately piercing the glabella, he just threw the crossbow on the floor. And swung his sword again; the series of processes was natural like it was pre-planned.

At the astonishing martial prowess, people briefly lost their minds and stared.

Rickart intended to just seize the enemy ship and ride it. Because the flames continually spread on his original ship, it seemed it couldn't be put out now.

However, while massacring the enemies for a while, there was something that suddenly came to mind. The Mage of the Wastelands!

There was no loyalty or anything to protect him. But Rickart's body moved first before he could even make a judgment.

The image of him locked alone inside the iron cage merely floated in his mind. If so, who will save him?

Since allies were frantically crossing over via the plank, Rickart instantly crossed the taut rope hanging between the ships with quick steps like tightrope walking.

It was such a staggering sight that people watched not even knowing they were in danger right now. Tightrope walking is one thing, but the ship is shaking tremendously.

Whether people were surprised or not, Rickart went down below the deck again. In the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible, the Mage of the Wastelands was still sitting gagged, locked inside the iron cage in the corner.

Rickart approached splash-splash, swung his sword, and cleanly cut the iron bars. And untying the ropes binding his hands and the gag in his mouth, he spoke hurriedly.

"You are free now. Survive on your own. You may follow me for now."

But the Mage of the Wastelands showed no thought of coming out and merely looked at Rickart calmly.

Then he opened his mouth to speak, and it was a voice somehow very deep and clear.

"Watch your side."

"What?"

Just then, as if it had been hiding in the darkness of the night, a large ship abruptly appeared from somewhere and rammed straight into the side of the ship Rickart was on.

Crash! Crack!

Instantly the ship was split in two, and Rickart, who was below the deck, fell into the sea without knowing the context. If it had hit his body he would have died instantly, but fortunately that wasn't the case.

Still, it was such a massive shock he felt his consciousness would blow away. But surprisingly he didn't lose his grip on his consciousness until the end, and held his breath in that urgent moment.

But whether due to the shock, his body wouldn't listen. Is something broken? It was hard for Rickart to distinguish which way was up or down. His physical decline while below the deck couldn't be ignored either.

Just then, the moonlight and light pouring from the surface through the broken debris was so beautiful, Rickart, sinking into the sea, was captivated by it.

In the muffled sounds, in the chaotic situation, sudden calm peace seemed to have found him. Rickart's blond hair swayed like seaweed, and his sword drifted slowly nearby.

He had to hurriedly swim and go up to the surface, but unexpectedly Rickart felt the thought of wanting to enjoy this tranquility more right now. Because his mind and body were completely exhausted and then suddenly entirely relaxed.

Merely very slowly, he sank into that endless abyss. Death, life, ties, lingering attachments, all into that deep abyss.

Then somewhere, a very high-pitched, mysterious sound was heard. It was an incredibly heterogeneous sound he had never heard before, and couldn't even imagine. It was somehow somewhat beautiful, mournful, and also fearful.

Rickart turned his head in the direction the sound was heard. And, he faced a massive whale.

Rickart had also heard and knew about the existence called a whale. However, he had never seen a drawing of it, and facing it actually now, his knowledge about whales completely flew away.

He was merely overwhelmed by its immense size and wonder. Is it a giant of the sea? Or did God transform and appear?

The moonlight and light that passed the surface settled softly on the whale's black back. Between Rickart and the whale, there were no barriers or safety devices. They merely fully faced each other.

The whale, seemingly slowly, seemingly quickly, approached Rickart smoothly. They had never conversed, and conversation wouldn't work anyway, but he couldn't feel even a single point of hostility. Through communion, he clearly felt it was trying to help.

The whale slowly brought its large fin close so Rickart could grab it. Rickart grabbed that fin. And a bit quickly, went up to the surface.

Rickart felt the sensation of swimming in the night sky, in space. Is this a dream now, or reality. It was truly a magical moment.

Enveloped in overwhelming emotion and wonder as if his heart would burst, his mind became dizzy, and Rickart momentarily lost consciousness.