Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 22 Cargo Ship Brokers
Four days later, at a pier on the main island of the Taneria Islands, Winters, Andre, and Bud stood idly on the top deck of the ship's stern, competing to see who could throw a stone the farthest.

"You two are blatantly bullying the injured." Winters, who was injured in his dominant hand, could only compete with his left hand and was currently in last place.

"You're allowed to admit defeat, are you?" Andrei swung his pebble with all his might, sending it flying in a graceful arc before landing on the water's surface far away.

Bard didn't say anything. He tossed the stone in his hand, steadied himself, and used his waist and abdomen to throw it out with a mighty hurling motion. The stone landed on the shimmering golden water in the distance, its landing point barely visible.

Seeing Bard's new record, Winters began to look around, thinking that he would only have a chance to turn the tide if he could find some materials to make a simple sling.

"Aren't you from a monastery? Monks practice shot put too?" Andrei was a rough and careless person who said whatever came to mind.

“Monks don’t throw shot put,” Bard said with a smile. “But I’ve herded livestock for monks.”

Winters sighed; there wasn't a suitable thin rope around.

Warrant Officer Winters is now practically a cripple: the spot on his left shoulder where Ike hit him has turned from bruise to purple, and it hurts whenever he touches it;

He got a hole in the sole of his right foot from a barbed wire spike, but since he hasn't developed a fever, it's probably not a big problem. Cleaning the wound and wrapping it with a clean cotton cloth was enough.

The most terrifying thing was the knife wound on his right arm, left by some unknown madwoman. After several attempts to stop the bleeding, the wound reopened and wouldn't close. The flesh was turned inside out, constantly oozing blood.

The officers all knew the wound should be stitched up, but none of them dared to do it. In the end, Major Moritz, after downing a bottle of rum, used a fishhook and thread to give Winters a dozen or so crooked stitches.
The pain from the phantom limb, originating from the "third hand," had lessened considerably, but then it started to itch. And the itching was even more unbearable than the pain.

Moreover, Winters still cannot use magic; even slight concentration triggers intense phantom limb pain, making it impossible for him to maintain a spellcasting state.

In a single day, Winters went from cadet to warrant officer, and was also wounded three times and temporarily lost his magical abilities.

"How long has this ship been sitting here? Why hasn't it set sail yet?" Winters just wanted to get home and get some sleep.

Andrei also lost his usual energy and hung his head dejectedly, hugging the railing.

The ship they were aboard was named "Skuas," a communications vessel under the Blue Ocean Navy's Inner Sea Fleet. Instead of taking the trainee officers directly home, the Skuas carried them eastward across the Gulf of Cenas to the Taniri Islands.

Upon arriving at the Taniri Islands, the Skua waited overnight at anchor outside the harbor. The next morning, it docked at the same pier. And it remained there for a whole day without the captain making any move.

Because Brigadier General Layton had strictly forbidden any officers from disembarking, Winters and his two companions could only watch the vibrant world ashore longingly, unable to go down and explore. Finally, bored out of their minds, they stood on the stern deck and started throwing stones.

"Soon, almost there, the cargo ship broker will be here soon." The first mate of the Skua climbed up to the stern deck and walked over to Winters and his two companions with a smile.

Winters and his two companions exchanged glances, unsure whether to salute him. While Winters racked his brains trying to recall the naval rank system, Bard spoke first: "Who are these cargo brokers you're talking about? Who's in charge of leaving and entering port?"

The first mate didn't answer the question first, but instead conjured up several yellow fruits with a flick of his hand and handed them to Winters and the other two: "Try them, a specialty of Taniria."

Winters and his two companions had never seen this before, and they accepted the fruit with some skepticism. They dared not eat it, nor did they know how to eat it.

"You can eat it directly, or you can peel it." The first mate took out another fruit and demonstrated to the three warrant officers how to eat it. He peeled off the skin of the fruit, revealing the yellow flesh, and ate it in a few bites.

Winters followed the First Mate's example, peeling open the fruit and tentatively taking a bite. It was sweet, juicy, and delicious. He devoured a fruit in a few bites and wanted another.

"What's this fruit called? I've never eaten it before." Winters was seeing this fruit for the first time.

"It has no name; the locals just call it 'sweet water,' and it's a type of berry found on the island."

“I’ve never eaten it before, I’ve never even seen it,” Andrei added, and Bad nodded in agreement. Clearly, they both liked the fruit very much.

"They're hard to store; they rot in less than a day after being picked from the tree," the first mate said casually. "So, apart from the locals on the island, only we sailors can get our hands on them."

"What were you asking just now? What do cargo ship brokers do?" The first mate took out some fruit from his backpack and handed it to the three of them, explaining earnestly, "Cargo ship brokers are people who help ship owners sell or buy cargo. We don't have time to sell off the cargo in the hold little by little, nor do we have time to buy cargo slowly, so we go to cargo ship brokers. They all have connections and can empty or fill a ship in one go."

“Wait a minute…” Winters keenly sensed the contradiction in the information he had gathered: “Aren’t you warships of the Inland Sea Navy? Why are you needing to buy and sell cargo through a cargo broker?”

Winters' question made the first mate burst into laughter: "How could we be the navy? Look at me, do I look like a naval officer? And look at the Skuas, do I look like a warship?"

"Isn't the JS Jaeger a naval communications ship?"

"It's just a title; the Navy is just a small boat owned by the Skua."

"Then why was it the Jaguar that took us home?" "It was a job commissioned by the Navy. We usually do passenger transport work in addition to cargo transport. Like this time, besides you, didn't we also carry a few other people?"

Winters finally understood what those men on the Skua, who were neither army soldiers nor sailors, were doing. They didn't interact much with the trainee officers; he had initially assumed they were ship owners, but it turned out they were just passengers.

"No wonder," Winters sighed. "I was wondering why the navy's warships were so small."

In Winters' opinion, the Skua was indeed not large; Winters had seen many merchant ships much larger than the Skua.

The Skua only has two decks. The top deck is an open deck, there is a deck inside the hull, and then you go down to the bottom of the ship.

Furthermore, due to the low freeboard of the Skuas and the fact that the second deck was already below the waterline, the cabins below the open deck could only have a small ventilation opening at most, and there was no way to open windows, so naturally, there was no way to mount cannons.

The small boat had neither a dedicated gun deck nor any cannons. Winters wandered around the boat for a while, but couldn't find a cannon, or even cannonballs. Now he finally understood what was going on.

"The navy doesn't really have many real warships; they're mostly merchant ships like the Skuas." Hearing others say bad things about the Skuas, the first mate was a little unhappy. He tried to point out the Skuas's advantages: "The Skuas isn't actually that small. It can carry a hundred tons of cargo, so how can it be small? Besides, the Skuas's cable design is quite good. It's easy to handle, and a dozen or so sailors can manage it."

“A dozen or so sailors can manage, so if we cram in thirty or more people, it’ll be suffocating.” Andrei fired another shot.

The Skuas's cabins are designed for cargo, and while they could theoretically be used for living, they are poorly ventilated, poorly lit, and offer extremely unpleasant living conditions.

For this reason, a forecastle and two sterncastles were built on the open deck to improve the living conditions of the sailors.

The second floor of the stern deck is a separate small room, which was originally the captain's room, but the highest-ranking officer on the ship was obviously Commodore Layton, who naturally took the best private cabin without any hesitation.

The first floor of the stern deck was a large room, which was given to Winters and the other wounded spellcasters to stay in;

Major Moritz and the captain stayed together in the foreground.

Other probationary officers had to squeeze into the cabins with the sailors. After leaving the rain zone, the warrant officers simply followed the sailors' example and slept on the open deck.

Because life at sea is arduous, in the past, students from the Hai Lan academy always traveled home by land, never by boat. Traveling by boat is not only risky, but also a poor travel experience. Traveling by land allows them to stay at transit stations and enjoy food and drinks along the way until they reach home.

This year, they were told that "the road is difficult to travel" and the trainees had to go back by boat. The trip, which was supposed to be fun, turned into an ordeal, and every time they thought about it, all the trainee officers were furious.

"Although the space is a bit small, the Skuas is very fast," the first mate insisted.

"What's the use of going fast if you're going in the wrong direction?" Andrei persisted.

The first mate, realizing his mistake, admitted defeat: "There's nothing we can do. We don't make much money running the direct route between Ocean Blue City and Guitu City. Merchant ships in the Sea of ​​Cenas all run the triangular route. Don't worry, we'll set sail directly to Ocean Blue City from here."

"Thump, thump, thump," Major Moritz climbed up to the stern deck, there to ask the first mate for help buying some rum. Because of Brigadier General Layton's curfew, Major Moritz couldn't disembark. His rum stock had been emptied two days prior, partly for his own consumption and partly for the spellcaster students' "medicinal use."

Without the water of life, the major's spirits have noticeably waned in the past few days.

"First Mate, could you please replace the freshwater barrels on your ship with new ones? The barrels are covered in green mold, and they feel slippery to the touch. Aren't you afraid of getting sick from drinking this water?" Major Moritz hadn't drunk any liquids for two days. Without alcohol, he simply couldn't stomach the freshwater stored on board.

Upon hearing the major's description, Winters felt a chill, because he had been drinking fresh water from the ship for the past few days.

"Okay, okay, I'll have the sailors wash the buckets right away." The first mate hurried off.

Near the dock, there were many vendors selling local fruits and vegetables to the sailors on small rafts. The major whistled and called over a small raft.

The major made a gesture, indicating that he wanted them all. No one saw where he took out the small silver coin from, but with a light flick, the coin slid precisely into the merchant's hand.

"Go down and bring up the food and drinks he sold, and distribute them to everyone." The major was clearly experiencing some withdrawal symptoms: "I need to rest for a while. Wake me up when you've bought the alcohol."

He had just tossed out a silver coin, but now the major had another one in his hand. He unconsciously fiddled with the coin as he left the stern deck.

"A magician?" Andrei peeked out at the vendor, then looked back at the major. "He didn't conjure up the silver coins he gave out, did he?"

"How could that be? It's just another one. I think that trick of tossing a coin into someone's lap is pretty impressive."

Later that day, the Skua emptied the ironware and leather that had been brought from Guido, reloaded itself with sugar and tobacco in the Tani Islands, and sailed towards the Blue Sea.

(End of this chapter)