I quickly left the mansion of the Ek Household which I had been offered accommodation.

'Should I go for a little sightseeing in the town of Suomi, and then, stay overnight at the inn?'

While thinking about that, I headed to the harbor. In the harbor, people were moving in a lively way. This harbor was used by Harold as a trading hub with Ireland. It had prospered in trade with various towns on the other side of the mountain. s.h.i.+pbuilding was also thriving.

It was only during this time that the first prototype of celestial navigation was completed. A medium-sized precision watch was recently completed. It was expensive, but for the time being, we were able to set up the mechanism.

'If there's celestial navigation, I will be able to navigate the vast open sea freely. At least, it's not so difficult to go back to the place I've been.'

While walking along the masonry embankment and looking at the sea, a vagrant was sitting on the embankment, watching the sea where the sun set. There was beard on the whole face, and his unkempt hair was fluttering by the sea breeze. He was wearing a muddy cut that also fluttered together with the hair.

'When it comes to manga, this kind of character is either a surprisingly genius military expert or a famous philosopher or maybe a martial artist who becomes the master of the main character.'

'How nostalgic…'

With that in mind, I heard the vagrant humming a phrase like he sang when I was about to pa.s.s by.

"…The Lord said. Return what's in the sea to the sea, and what's in the mountains to the mountains. If you don't want to hit the road to h.e.l.l, leave it at the place where it was born. Otherwise, you will get lost. And…" (Vagrant)

He recited a pa.s.sage in the Holy Book of Isus. Of course, it was spoken in Telor language.

I was startled, wondering whether that person was Kuran. When I had a doubt, I looked at the ear. I couldn't see the ears because of the hair, which had grown long.

I held the dagger that I was holding on to my back. Everything was too suspicious.

"Oi, who are you?" (Yuri)

I called him out in Telor.

The man's face, which turned around, was tanned and red. The whole face was as if the skin that collapsed by sunburn and became grey.

"What?" (Vagrant)

The man, who replied with hollow eyes, had a familiar face.

"You… Aren't you Harold Harrell?" (Yuri)

"…Ooh, it's you." (Harold)

Harold, who I hadn't seen for a long time, uttered a voice that seemed to be soulless.

—

I pulled Harold and forced him into a nearby bar.

"What happened to you?" (Yuri)

The beer that I ordered was already on the table.

"…" (Harold)

"Answer me. Look, you can have this beer." (Yuri)

I pushed the beer mug toward Harold. He drank it right away when he had the mug, as if he was hungry for alcohol.

"Geh, gahah, gohoo…" (Harold)

He coughed hard, spilled the beer he drank with great pains, and made his coat dirty.

'Did it stick by the throat?'

However, when he tried to drink it again, he managed to drink it without coughing this time.

"Excuse me." (Yuri)

I stopped a waitress, and…

"Can I have another beer, please?" (Yuri)

…and I said so.

"We have only distilled alcohol." (Waitress)

'Oops, she got an order from a guy who drinks free alcohol.

"…Sorry, I'm not having beer then. So, can I have distilled alcohol in a mug, please?" (Yuri)

'Let's make him drink as much as he wants.'

"Uhm, in a mug, is it?" (Waitress)

Waitress replied as she was surprised. It was probably not many asked for distilled alcohol in a mug.

'Well, if he dies by mistake in the amount drunk, it's time to move on.'

"Yes, in a mug. Also please also provide meat as an accompaniment to alcohol. Not so spicy. I'll pay with this." (Yuri)

Tsumami

I had her hold three pieces of silver coins.

'As expected, when it comes to distilled alcohol in a mug, the price should be quite high, so it's better to pay in advance.

"Coming right up." (Waitress)

I waited a little, and a mug contained distilled alcohol arrived. I opened my mouth after seeing Harold drinking it.

"So, what happened?" (Yuri)

"…My fri-end… my fri-end… are all gone." (Harold)

Harold said it in a drunken voice.

'Friend. Are his friends gone? He looks so sad. No, was it something else?'

'Is it about his friends? Is his s.h.i.+p gone? The fact that he is so depressed makes it like his s.h.i.+p has sunk.'

"Have you been attacked by pirates?" (Yuri)

"No… how to say it, there was re-be-lli-on against me and Houhoihi-jii-chan, and we were thrown away from the s.h.i.+p." (Harold)

'He talks about him and Houhoihi-jiichan, s.h.i.+p re-be-lli-on…'

'Uhm, is he talking about rebellion? Is it about revolt that made the navigator's old man and him thrown out of the s.h.i.+p in distress?'

'It is a common story in manga about a captain was killed or thrown out when there was a rebellion on a s.h.i.+p, but this is the first time it has happened to someone I know. I guess that's it, huh?'

'However, it would be hard to blame the crews. In the first place, it is reckless to go to the open sea by intuition.'

'Going out to the open sea is different from sailing in the inland seas where land can be seen from all sides and the coast where the sh.o.r.e is always visible. If you get lost, you die. Since you can't drink seawater, if you run out of food and fresh water, you will starve and die without question.'

'In such a situation where land is not visible, food and water will decrease day by day. Sailors will become anxious.'

'It's normal if you don't reach land even after twenty days in the place which was said to be the voyage of ten days beforehand. Since they are in distress, it is also extremely difficult for sailors to accept explanation.'

'As a result, once the food and fresh water exhausted, it won't be a joke if they become the seaweed of the sea. That is a matter of course. In fact, he got lucky if he only get thrown out of boat.'

"Then, the s.h.i.+p is…" (Yuri)

"They… re…not… go-ing… to… re-turn…" (Harold)

'It seems that his s.h.i.+p will not return.'

'They're dead. At this time, I wonder if he is carrying starved sailors, ghost s.h.i.+ps, leaving the sea in the ocean current. Or is it sinking on a rock wall or reef, piercing the bottom of the s.h.i.+p, or got caught by a storm? Oh G.o.d.'

'However, it's ironic that it's better to be thrown out of the boat and into the open sea, and still got back alive. He might not have been given food, and he might have landed in the immediate vicinity from the point where he was thrown out.'

'Did the navigator know the direction of the land?''

"Well. You've had it hard." (Yuri)

'While saying that, I feel that he is the one who seek trouble.'

'I don't know if he was aware of what he was doing but he basically shoots a distant target with a gun and losses all property if he misses it. It's that kind of game he played. This is not a matter of not getting on a s.h.i.+p because of the language, let other people do it, and get only profit. You can't do that kind of job. Naturally, you will have to put your life on the s.h.i.+p. That means that you can't escape doom in the future.'

'No matter how good you are at gunnery, no matter how many times you try to hit, you will eventually fail. At that time, your life will be taken away. Prior to the risk, it was already a failed business model.'

'When you removed the gun, you lost all property, but you were fortunate that your life wasn't taken away from you.'

'The return s.h.i.+p of the Island of Aisa or Iceland is also doing something similar. The survival rate of the round trip is about fifty to seventy percent, so it can be said as a voyage of death. It is a miracle if they succeed ten times since the probability of dying is thirty to fifty percent.'

"It's over… tell Eissensei that I died in the sea…" (Harold)

'What's with this guy? I don't want to do that.'

"Just do it again." (Yuri)

"No… I've spend all money for it… so I have none." (Harold)

'This b.a.s.t.a.r.d… What should I do?'

"Well, for the time being, it's a good idea to hold a woman when you're depressed, and then, you can get back on your feet again. Do you want to go to a brothel?" (Yuri)

'It's like saying 'You can have a soapland body was.h.i.+ng with them'. No, actually, that's the way it is.'

'However, there may be men in the world who are no longer willing to die because of the prost.i.tute's comfort. Maybe…'

"No, I don't need a woman." (Harold)

'Oh my.'

"Are you OK with that?" (Yuri)

"I don't need it." (Harold)

'No good, huh?'

"Why? Do you have a reason?" (Yuri)

'That's strange. I thought he would jump in no time because he has been acc.u.mulating stress.'

"Eissensei forbids fornication for the purpose of pleasure…" (Harold)

'Is it EisSensei?'

'Did he say 'I don't think I should be naughty' to EisSensei? Speaking of Isus believers, did he just become one recently?'

'Even if there's such a doctrine, she isn't working as a clergy. So, it's probably to the point of greetings and saying 'good job'.'

"Then, you can't commit suicide too?" (Yuri)

"No, I can't…" (Harold)

'Didn't you say what would you do if you die earlier? So, you're not going to commit suicide? This is difficult.'

Then, the grilled meat that had been well made was brought. When the waitress saw Harold being drunk, she gently put her index finger on her mouth, winked, and quietly left the meat.

'This bar is good.'

"Hey, have a drink." (Yuri)

"Shut up!" (Harold)

"I'm going to eat the meat too, you know." (Yuri)

I took a piece of grilled meat that had been poured in oil. The steam came out warm from it. When I put in the mouth, the gravy spread. It seemed to be grilled with herbs in it.

"Hey… that's mine…" (Harold)

Harold gave up. Then, he took the grilled meat from the plate and ate it. After that, he finished the meat on the bones in a matter of seconds, and got another.

He ate one after another and finished the whole dish. As expected of a self-proclaimed drink master, he drank up the alcohol in no time.

"I need… more… Good." (Harold)

After ten minutes, Harold lied down on the table and slept.

'Human becomes sleepy if they become full and drunk. Well, since he is a man with physical strength, he won't get fever if he is thrown outside the bar.'

—

"Excuse me." (Yuri)

I called the waitress.

"Yes, what is it?" (Waitress)

"Can you let him sleep here somewhere until tomorrow?" (Yuri)

"Yes, it's fine." (Waitress)

'Really? I thought she would be a bit reluctant, but she easily agreed.'

"Since he's not a dangerous person, I'd like to put him in a warehouse where it's fine to bring some garbage." (Yuri)

"No, no. Harold-san helped me before. But recently… he seems a bit lost." (Waitress)

The waitress looked a bit lonely.

'Was Harold a regular here? Is he popular here because he drinks a lot of alcohol? I guess that's because of dead sailors.'

"I'll come back tomorrow morning, so please take care of him." (Yuri)

"Aah… yes." (Waitress)

"By the way, do you have a broom and a dustpan?" (Yuri)

"Hmm? Are you going to clean the floor?" (Waitress)

"No, that's not it. It's too much to do that. I'm thinking to clean him up while he is sleeping." (Yuri)

I pulled Harold from behind and laid him on the floor. I pulled out a dagger from my pocket.

"Hiiik." (Waitress)

The waitress screamed briefly.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to shave his hair." (Yuri)

I wet Harold's beard with the water I was drinking, grabbed the hair, fixed it and slid the dagger.

'As expected of a sharp dagger. If it is a razor, the blade becomes useless after shaving quickly.'

"Aah… pfftt… ehehe… will he be fine?" (Waitress)

"It's fine, it's fine." (Yuri)

I slipped the dagger from Harold's jaw and shaved his head.

'I should leave the eyebrows, right?'

After shaving the hair in the ears, made it very nice, I lifted his head and shave everything behind his head. Then, the hair collected was like a thick mountain.

"Aah, let me clean that up." (Waitress)

When I tried to clear the hair with a broom, the waitress stopped me.

"Are you sure? In that case, I'll move him away first." (Yuri)

I dragged Harold and threw him in a barn-like place. I didn't want to go back to the secondary residence, so I dipped into a suitable inn and spent the night.

—

TLN: