Onboard

An hour passed.

Unfortunately, the men did not talk about anything particularly useful. Even now, they were having a blast discussing how they would use the money from selling Allen to go gambling.

'Mm, doesn't look like I'll get much more info. I still have no idea where we are. Let's move on to taking stock of what I've got at my disposal and figure out how to secure an escape route.'

Allen's mithril sword was probably still back in the mansion where he had dropped it when he lost consciousness in the middle of fighting the kidnappers.

All he had with him currently was the short sword that Dogora had given him and the iron balls. Even if he were to start fighting, getting away with Cecil would still be top priority.

One of the men said he had business to take care of and stood up.

'Oh? Is he leaving? Let's go with him.'

Under Allen's instruction, one of the Bird Gs that had been hiding behind a wooden box flew out. The two men remaining in their seats immediately noticed the bird flapping its wings, but it ignored their stares and darted straight through the open door.

'Did that seem suspicious? Oh well, doesn't matter. It's a fair price for figuring out where we are.'

"Huh? What's a bird doing in a place like this?"

"Some rich asshole probably brought their pet bird onboard or something. Must be nice to be them."

"You mean, sucks to be them! Their damn bird just got away. Hah!"

'Wait, "onboard"? We're on a ship?'

Allen kept an eye on the field of vision from the Bird G that flew out while continuing to eavesdrop on the kidnappers. He had thought this was a storeroom somewhere in town and had expected the door to lead outside. Instead, it turned out to be a long hallway with a ceiling about two meters high.

The bird shot past the occupied kidnapper and found a staircase at the end of the hallway. The Summon immediately flew up it.

'Does this lead to a higher floor? The storeroom itself was rather spacious. If this really is a ship, it must be huge.'

The staircase opened up to another long passageway. Bird G proceeded down its length and quickly found a door on its right. It had a round glass window that could be peered out of.

'Oh? Does this door lead outside?'

It was all dark on the other side of the window. Allen tried to look through it from various angles, but he still could not see anything.

'Why's it all black? Wait, those are stars...and that's the night sky! Which means I am looking outside, it's just nighttime now. But that's strange: where's the ocean?'

When Allen squinted, he realized he was looking at a starry sky. The kidnappers had attacked before twilight, which meant several hours had passed by now. However, if this was a ship, then the light from the stars should be reflecting off the surface of the water they were sailing over. Yet, there were no such reflections.

'What?! The room's shaking!'

As Allen was occupied with analyzing what he was seeing through Bird G's eyes, the room he was in jerked violently all of a sudden.

"C'mon, least they can do is fly this piece of junk properly."

"I second that. Screw this turbulence shit or whatever it's called."

Just as the men were complaining among themselves, an announcement similar to what Allen had heard in his previous life rang out.

[Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the turbulence our magic ship, the Bahona, is currently experiencing. This won't affect our steering ability, but be aware that the sudden jerking might cause you to lose your footing and fall over. We recommend that you remain seated.]

'What?! So we're on a magic ship right now?!'

As it turned out, Allen and Cecil had already left Granvelle City and had been brought on board a magic ship that was currently making its way through the night sky.

'What should I do?! There's no place to run if we're up in the air on a magic ship. I guess I really do have to take out our captors. Actually, no, let's look around the ship a bit more first. Intel first, then fight.'

The Bird G turned away from the window to explore the interior of the ship. Allen realized that he and Cecil were located in the belly of the vessel where the passengers' luggage was stored.

'Interesting how they have a door for going outside that's accessible even when the magic ship is flying. I mean, it is true that this thing is flying a lot slower than airplanes.'

The fact that he could see the night sky through the door from earlier meant it led outside. Perhaps it was a maintenance door for checking on the outer wall of the vessel. Either way, unlike planes in his previous life, the door was operable even during flight. Opening it and jumping outside was still suicide, though.

At the other end of the corridor with the door was another flight of stairs that headed up. It led to a floor lined with doors at regular intervals in a design similar to a business hotel.

As Bird G continued down the corridor, it picked up lively sounds up ahead. It eventually burst into what looked like an onboard restaurant.

'Damn, there're so many people! So food is served on magic ships. Pretty funny how this is how I get to experience my first time riding one.'

Multiple passengers noticed the bird and pointed, but Allen ignored them and continued surveying the place.

As Bird G continued deeper in, there was a marked shift in the clientele. Judging by the formal outfits of the passengers here, this was a separate area for the rich. Elegant noblewomen lounged on comfortable-looking sofas, chatting with each other over glasses of wine.

Just as Allen was about to conclude that there was no further information to glean, he spotted two men seated at the far end through Bird G's eyes.

'That's Viscount Carnel and the Royal envoy!'

The two men were also lounging on comfortable sofas and enjoying an expensive vintage. They appeared to be tipsy, so Allen had Bird G surreptitiously approach and duck behind the shade of a nearby lamp to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The Viscount seemed to have caught sight of the parrot for a split second, making Allen's heart skip a beat, but the man looked away almost immediately, apparently thinking nothing more of it.

Thanks to this, Allen could now hear everything the two men were saying.

"Seriously, how can His Majesty support someone from the Academy Faction for Judicial minister?" the Royal envoy complained, clearly already quite drunk.

"It's a travesty, that's what it is," Viscount Carnel agreed.

'Huh? What's the "Academy Faction"?'

"That seat is supposed to be ours. We must help the Vice-minister gain the position no matter what it takes."

Because Allen had dropped in halfway through the conversation, he had no idea what the two men were talking about.

According to what he gathered by listening carefully, the position of Judicial minister in the government would become vacant this year. The next person who would fill the seat was a noble belonging to a party named the Academy Faction, but these two men wished to change that arrangement as a political maneuver.

The Viscount took a swig of wine and sighed with satisfaction. "The look on Granvelle's face makes any wine taste better."

"He was getting full of himself after his mines started back up, wasn't he? Let's just say that keeping the lesser nobles in line is also part of my duties as a Royal envoy."

"Thank you very much for pulling strings and getting the Vice-minister to help with the contract."

"Oh, don't mention it. I only did what was natural, considering our relationship. But still, that White Dragon couldn't have picked a more inconvenient time to move. We're already spending enough as is, trying to change the appointment for Judicial minister."

The Viscount bowed obsequiously. "I'm truly sorry for burdening you with this matter at such a time."

'I see, so it was Viscount Carnel who had planned the whole scheme with the contract suggesting joint management over the White Dragon Mountains.

'And this is probably how his family's been using their mithril money for the past hundred years or so—throwing it around "forging relationships" with other nobles and government officials to do whatever they please.'

"You are sure that you have things under control, yes?" the envoy asked.

"The palace is far from being entirely on our side. Without the contract, the Baron is able to make as much of a fuss as he wants and His Majesty would be unable to intervene. Things could get very messy. Make sure you get the Baron to sign that contract, no matter what."

"Of course, my lord. That's why I kidnapped his precious daughter. Oh, how he dotes on her. So, I made sure to leave him a letter to ensure he doesn't do anything stupid."

'So this is why the envoy's attitude suddenly turned sour when the Baron said he would be visiting the palace.'

"As long as you get him to sign, nothing else matters."

"If he doesn't, we can simply send him one of his daughter's arms."

"And when Zenof comes attacking, your hit man will kill him?"

"That is the plan, yes. Though I do hope Zenof doesn't end up winning and going on a rampage in my realm."

"You could spin that to your advantage too, couldn't you? If a Knight Captain makes a scene in another realm, then his lord can be convicted and forced to take responsibility. After all, rioting is a serious crime. If Zenof does end up going off the handle, perhaps you should thank him instead."

"Brilliant idea, my lord!"

"Of course, you know why I've gone to all this trouble for you, right?"

"Absolutely, my lord. As promised, a portion of the mining rights is yours."

'Hmm, so Viscount Carnel's got the upper hand with his political influence, and the law's on his side since there's no way to prove he's behind Cecil's kidnapping. The Baron's hands are tied as long as she's held hostage.

'And the reason for this attack and kidnapping is mithril mining rights. I guess that just goes to show how much money there is in mithril.'

The conversation he had just overheard shed significant light on a lot of things. Allen was about to slowly consider what action to take next when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Mmmph!"

'Oh shit, Cecil's come to.'

"Did you just wake up? Shut it, girl!"

"MMMMMPH!"

Upon realizing that she was tied up, Cecil protested furiously, her face red with anger. However, she could not move nor speak due to being bound and gagged. She then noticed Allen was close by.

"MMPH! MMNNGH!"

'Cut it out! Stop kicking me! How're you even doing that when you're tied up?!'

Cecil was clearly under the impression that Allen was still unconscious. She pulled her legs in and extended them sharply multiple times in an effort to wake him up. However, he was determined to show no reaction, as he was pretending to be asleep.

"Shut up already! Your attendant's knocked out cuz we drugged 'im. We'll be arriving in Carnel City soon, so be quiet."

'So this magic ship is heading for Carnel City. Makes sense, with Viscount Carnel being onboard. He'll be able to do whatever he wants as soon as we land. I've really gotta do something... Okay, seriously, stop it! It hurts! Ow!'

Naturally, Carnel City would be filled with Viscount Carnel's men. Escape would be much more difficult once the ship arrived. While Allen was thinking furiously, Cecil continued kicking his rear by flexing like a shrimp.

Marcus grimaced. "Helgei, go shut her up."

"Oh, all right. Hey, stupid brat! Shut the hell up if you don't want me to knock the living daylights out of you!"

"MMMNNNGH!" Cecil continued kicking Allen in desperation. She probably thought he would be able to take care of the situation somehow as soon as he woke up.

'Seriously, I need to do something... My card distribution is fine, so...let's do this.'