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Prologue to the : Law of the Sea
On a small island in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, there was a portly beastman named Zudai standing near the bay. He, like so many of the other islanders, made his living as a fisherman. Zudai’s family had always fished, and despite his lack of learning, he could throw a net further than just about anyone on the island. However, he hadn’t been out to fish in some time—there was nothing of real value to catch.
It had gotten so bad that if you caught a small fish, you were doing well. But now that it was highly dangerous to go out to sea, there was no hope of getting results that merited taking the risk. Because of that, the fishermen spent their days at home with dead eyes full of depression. Zudai was the same. He couldn’t take the boat out, so he’d cast a net near the rocks close to his home, hoping for some small fish at least. And every morning, when he went to check his nets, his shoulders slumped with disappointment.
On this day, too, he had walked over to the rocks where he had cast his net, scratching his belly as he went. Zudai pulled in the net, rubbing his eyes as he did. All he had caught were small fish the size of a finger, and small crabs. Another day of no fish worth mentioning... As he sighed in disappointment, a thought occurred to him, What? It’s awfully dark today... His house stood with the sea to its east, and normally when he came to the beach at this time of day, the morning sun made it blindingly bright. Looking up to see the clear blue sky, only to realize there was no sun in sight.
Mmmm... Hm? Nnnngh?! As Zudai’s mind woke from its still half-drowsy state, he was able to register how abnormal the situation around him was. It was bizarrely dark. There was no way this place should be so dark at this time of day. Realizing that, he looked to where the sun ought to be rising... Wha?! There was something huge in the sea where there should have been nothing.
Because the sun was behind it, the backlighting made the object look black, but it seemed to be a massive island. Zudai couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way that a place that had been empty sea yesterday could have spontaneously produced an island overnight. That’s no island. But what is it, then...?! I-It can’t be...! The conclusion Zudai came to terrified him. He got goosebumps, and broke into a cold sweat. His mind had only frozen up for a few seconds, but to him, it felt like hours.
“Ah!” Suddenly he snapped back to his senses, and shot towards his home like a bullet. G-Gotta run away! Gotta run away!
But... it was too late; there was nowhere to run to.
The island-like object let out an ear-piercing explosion, likely waking up everyone on the island. The sound of the thing that would take all their lives—the sound that started a tragedy.
On this day, one of the islands in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago became a desert isle.
— In the beginning of the 1st month, 1549th year, Continental Calendar — the sea near Lagoon City —
It was a time when the celebratory atmosphere of the new year hadn’t quite ended yet. There was a vessel patrolling the waters near Lagoon City—a domain overseen by now Commander-in-Chief Excel Walter. It was an orthodox cruiser by the standard of the Kingdom’s National Naval Defense Force, pulled by a single sea dragon. And on its deck was Castor, Captain of the island carrier Hiryuu, and Tolman, the General of the National Air Defense Force.
As rumors spread that war would soon begin with the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union over the fishing industry, Tolman had come to discuss the composition of the wyvern knights aboard the Hiryuu, as well as to visit Castor, who was his former master. Souma intended to deploy the Hiryuu, which was still his secret weapon, in the battle against the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union. That on its own showed how serious Souma viewed the coming encounter.
Once their meeting was over, Castor borrowed a cruiser and took Tolman on a ride around the waters near Lagoon City, under the pretext of patrolling. As he leaned against the railing, Castor asked, “How about it, Tolman? Cutting through the wind on a ship is nice, too, huh?”
“Ha ha ha, it is, yes. It’s refreshing in a different way than riding on a wyvern,” Tolman said with a laugh as he was buffeted by the sea breeze. “I see the ship can go quite fast, too. There’s the sound of the waves, and the smell of the sea... We don’t have any of that in the sky.”
“Once you get used to it, it’s hard to get away. Life on land feels like it’s missing something.”
“You’re a real man of the sea now, aren’t you? Are you aboard the Hiryuu all the time lately?”
“No, lately I’ve been clamping down on illegal vessels with this cruiser.” Castor touched the brim of his captain’s hat as he looked out at the sea spray. “Our liege’s plan didn’t just come out of nowhere. We’ve just been waiting to put it into motion, and keeping a keen eye on things to stop it from escalating to armed confrontation before then.”
Tolman looked to the east, stroked his goatee and asked, “Have the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago’s fishing vessels been very active?”
“Yeah. They come in groups to fish near our country. They drive off any of our ships that approach them, too.”
In this world, there were no international maritime borders, like “200 nautical miles from the coast.” However, by tradition, the seas near a country were believed to belong to them, and if ships from another state wandered in, they couldn’t complain if their vessels were seized, or sunk without question. Ships from the Archipelago were deliberately flouting this tradition.
“When we receive word from our fishermen, we send out a warship, but if we try to catch the fishing stragglers, there are armed ships that get in the way. Then, once the fishing ships have fled, the armed ones pull out, too.”
“...Is there fighting?” Tolman asked.
“No, the armed vessels are primarily just there to keep us in check.” Castor shrugged. “Their ships are light, made of wood and reinforced with metal. They’re pulled by horned doldons (dolphin or whale-like creatures with a single horn), which move fast, even if they don’t have the power of a sea dragon. Anyway, the point is that their ships are fast. If they focus on running away, it’s hard to land an attack on them.”
“I suppose that’s to be expected from the ships of a maritime state...” Tolman groaned.
“If it did come to a fight, they’d hit us with pirate-like tactics. They’d come in fast and hurl explosives, or perform a boarding action. With our old fleet, even if we had the numbers, it would have been a tough fight,” Castor said, as a grin appeared on his face.
“But now we have the Hiryuu, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s not like they couldn’t counter it by loading anti-air repeating bolt throwers on their ships, but there’s no way they can beat it upon their first encounter. Though even after that, we’re refining our methods day and night. We’ve got plans for dealing with whatever countermeasures the other side comes up with.”
“The idea of a carrier is amazing, isn’t it?”
“It’s a terrifying weapon that will upend all our thinking about how naval battles are fought.” Castor gave a small smile, masking the pride he felt within. He was the captain of that carrier. It felt like his own child was being complimented whenever someone understood its magnitude.
Tolman smiled wryly at the way his former master was acting. “I can see that His Majesty was working on something incredible... Hm?”
Suddenly, Tolman noticed something in the corner of his eye. He had been looking at the horizon for a while now, but an object had just appeared on it.
As Tolman suddenly shaded his eyes with one hand and looked off into the distance, Castor cocked his head to the side. “What’s up, Tolman?”
“...I see a ship.”
“A ship?”
Castor took a look for himself using the binoculars hanging from his neck. When he did, he could see a ship heading towards them from the east. He couldn’t see it clearly yet, but it seemed larger than a fishing vessel. Once it got even closer, he was able to tell that it was probably a warship. There weren’t supposed to be any other ships of the National Naval Defense Force in these waters today. The other sailors must have noticed it too, because there was suddenly a lot of noise on deck.
“That’s not one of ours! It looks like a Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago ship!” the sailor up in the crow’s nest shouted.
On closer inspection, Castor could see it was built of wood with metal plates bolted on to raise its defense. But why just one ship? This has never happened before, he thought as he returned to the bridge and gave orders to the sailors. There were no fishing ships around for it to be defending, and it wasn’t one of the usual armed ones, either. So why was it coming at them alone? What were they planning to do, coming so close to the Kingdom?
If they tried to launch a raid on the Kingdom with just one vessel, they would be found by a patrol ship, like they just had been. Castor had already relayed information about them back to Lagoon City by messenger kui. Reinforcement would be coming in no time. Are they really planning to pick a fight with the Kingdom’s fleet using a single ship?
“Just in case, be ready to open fire immediately!”
Castor’s second-in-command shouted the order into the speaking tube, “Yes, sir! All hands, prepare to fire the cannons!”
Because they didn’t know what the other ship was up to, Castor changed course, placing his ship at a diagonal to the other ship’s heading, and prepared to open fire. They were getting closer and closer. Soon they would be in firing range. Is there no avoiding a battle now?
“Ready...” Castor began.
Just as he was about to give the order to fire in order to preempt the other ship, the sailor up in the crow’s nest voice came in through the speaking tube, “The enemy ship has cut loose the creature that was pulling them!”
“Huh?!” Castor cried out in surprise.
Cutting free the creature that was pulling your ship meant losing all propulsion. That meant they could no longer come towards them, or run away. Why would they do something so foolhardy now?
As Castor remained dumbfounded, the lookout continued, “The enemy ship has raised a distress flag!”
“Now it’s a distress flag?” Castor scratched his head. “They do it now...? Augh, damn it!”
Tolman, who was unable to grasp the situation, simply looked at Castor with a dazed expression.
After some time, Castor made up his mind and spoke, “...We have no choice. All hands, we’re going to rescue that ship.”
“Huh? You’re helping them?” Tolman asked, and Castor scratched his head.
“They’ve raised a distress flag. We have to help them.”
“Isn’t it blatantly suspicious? Couldn’t it be a trap?”
“Tolman... there’s this thing called the Law of the Sea that all sailors have to obey,” Castor said, sounding unamused. “Flags, smoke signals, special cannonballs... There are a number of ways to signal that your ship is in distress. But any ship that sees a distress signal is obligated to provide help, no matter what country the other is from, and no matter what kind of position they themselves are in... Even if their countries are at war.”
Anyone who falls into the sea has their life at risk. It was a place where, when the unexpected occurred, everyone came to help each other. Guaranteeing to aid others in times of crisis also guaranteed that they would help you in an emergency, too. This was the creed of the sea.
“Was there an international treaty like that?”
“No, it’s not something countries decided—it’s a custom that sailors came up with themselves. But if people find out we ignored it, we’ll receive pushback from sailors from every country. That includes our own, too. If they all strike, the flow of goods will be disrupted, and we won’t be able to get fish anymore.”
“I see... But aren’t there people who would abuse distress signals—such as a pirate ship looking to ambush another?”
Castor shook his head. “They’d be turned away from ports in every country if they did that. It’s only acceptable to ignore a distress signal from a ship you’ve already entered hostilities with. There’s a moral code we have to follow out here at sea. If you can’t do the bare minimum of respecting a distress signal, whether you’re a fishing ship, a warship, or a pirate ship, you’re not going to be able to continue operating out here.”
“I see... so that’s how it works,” Tolman said, acting convinced.
Castor’s ship approached the distressed one and pulled up alongside her. They laid ladders between the two vessels, and the Kingdom’s sailors boarded the other.
They were greeted by a young man and woman. One was a beautiful mermaid girl; the other was a young beastman man with white fox ears who carried a Nine-Headed Dragon katana at his waist.
“We will not resist. Please, lower your weapons.”
When the marines surrounded them, the young man laid his sword down on the deck, and raised his hands in surrender. The mermaid girl did the same. They were transferred to Castor’s ship without incident, and the Kingdom’s sailors began searching for other potential passengers.
Tolman asked, “Who do you suppose these people are?”
“Like I’d know. We’ll have to ask them.” Castor spat out in response.
As he looked at their two new passengers from where he stood on the bridge, he noticed the quality of the clothes they wore, and got a look on his face like he’d bitten into something unpleasant. These were clearly people of some significant status. Uninvited guests at a time like this... What kind of trouble have we come across here? Castor let out a little sigh as he anticipated the headache to come.