The Vogel continent is sometimes likened to a bird spreading its wings.
This is because the land stretches out to the left and right, and the slightly protruding areas at the top and bottom can be seen as wings, head, and tail.
Our Ardrasia Empire claims the central part of this Vogel continent, which is essentially the body.
And from there, Leo and I are being dispatched to the tail part.
The country located in the southern part of the continent is the Principality of Rondine, one of the two countries in the tail section.
"One of the two countries that emerged victorious from the Southern Warring States period..."
I was on a ship, reading the documents about the country we were heading to.
This was the imperial envoy fleet, led by Leo, the plenipotentiary ambassador. It consisted of two ships, each carrying gifts for Rondine.
Leo was on one ship, and I was on the other, just in case of an accident. However, the sea around here was relatively calm, so the likelihood of an accident was minimal.
On the ship I was on, there was one person who was shaking violently.
"Shaking on such a calm sea means you won't be able to go to other seas, you know?"
"I, I don't need to go to other seas..."
The person shaking under the blanket on the bed was Elna.
Why she was here and why she was shaking.
Well, it wouldn't be a long story.
Simply put, it was customary for the imperial guard knights to accompany the plenipotentiary ambassador. Her siblings had recommended Elna for this role. They probably wanted to keep her, a cooperative person, away from the capital. I had anticipated this and left Linfia with Fine as a precaution. It would be fine.
However, sending a member of the Dukedom family, who can wield the Holy Sword, abroad was quite problematic. On the other hand, it also demonstrated our seriousness about this goodwill mission.
In the end, Father accepted the recommendations of the three. He probably saw it as one of his strategies.
By the way, the problem was that the Dukedom family, who can wield the Holy Sword, is one of the empire's most important forces. If they were dispatched, other countries would have no means to defend against them. Another issue is that the Holy Sword cannot be used abroad without the emperor's permission. This was a safety mechanism put in place by the first Duke to prevent betrayal and the Holy Sword falling into the hands of other countries.
This was not widely known, as it was rare for members of the Dukedom family to leave the country.
"I'll curse you...! I'll hate you...! I'll never forgive those three...!"
"Your threats aren't very convincing when you're shaking like that."
The reason she was shaking was simply because she was afraid of the sea.
Elna was fine with baths, but she was terrified of rivers and the sea. She had aquaphobia. It was her only weakness, or rather, the only weakness she couldn't overcome, despite her competitiveness.
"However, I'm surprised you managed to keep it a secret for so long. I thought it would have been discovered by now."
"Well, people from the Dukedom family rarely leave the country... The empire is mostly land, so I knew. That's why I went all out to be able to summon the Holy Sword at twelve... I didn't want to sail..."
Elna shed a small tear.
She was the first to summon the Holy Sword for such a trivial reason. And all that effort was for nothing, which was quite amusing.
"You, you laughed just now...! It's terrible to laugh at a childhood friend who's scared...!"
"Thinking about how you developed your aquaphobia would make anyone laugh. Especially me."
"Ah, Al is partly to blame...! I became afraid of water because I saw you almost drown...!"
That's right, when we were about eight. We were in the bath together, and I said something that upset Elna. She hit me with a body blow, and I fainted and almost drowned.
For some reason, she thought the water was scary after seeing that and developed aquaphobia.
It was the most unreasonable reason ever. Even the most tyrannical king wouldn't be that unreasonable.
"It's your own fault. I could have developed aquaphobia too. It's divine punishment, divine punishment."
"Ugh... That's so unfair..."
Elna looked unusually weak and almost cried.
Honestly, if she was that scared, she should have declined.
Why did she come along?
"I think Father would have considered it if you had told him."
"W, what if it became a scandal that the Dukedom family's heir is afraid of the sea...! Besides, saying I'm afraid of the sea feels like admitting defeat..."
"Defeat against what, exactly...?"
As I was thinking this, the ship shook slightly.
It wasn't a big shake, but it seemed to shock Elna.
"Kyaaaaa!!? It hurts!!?"
She rolled off the small bed and hit her head, crouching down.
The scene was so unusual for land that it felt refreshing.
"You're really useless on water. If pirates attacked, you'd be done for."
"D, don't make fun of me...! If it comes to that...! Kyaaaaa!!? That was a big shake! Did a hole open in the bottom of the ship!?"
"You'd be useless even if it came to that. There's no way a hole would open. Unless a sea dragon appeared, that is."
The most terrifying thing at sea is the sea dragon, the king of the sea.
A dragon adapted to the sea, and a dragon, already a top-tier monster, rampaging in the sea. Its terror is even greater than on land. Countless sailors have died from shipwrecks caused by sea dragons.
There have even been cases where fleets from two warring countries were sunk together. Of course, Elna knew these terrifying stories.
The moment sea dragons were mentioned, her expression completely broke.
"Am I... going to die here?"
"You're not going to die, you idiot. You're acting like a completely different person. How are you supposed to be a guard knight if you can't fulfill your duties?"
"But...!"
"Ha..."
I could understand her not wanting to show her weakness. Besides, we weren't going to fight at sea, and no pirates would attack a well-guarded envoy ship.
Once we return to land, she'll be back to her usual self. I'll stop teasing her for now.
Feeling satisfied with my revenge, I secretly cast a barrier to isolate the room from the outside. This should reduce the shaking. Normally, she wouldn't notice, but in her current state, she wouldn't realize it.
"It seems the shaking has calmed down a bit..."
"It wasn't shaking much to begin with."
"Ah, Al is so insensitive... Have you never thought about what would happen if the ship sank?"
"The imperial envoy ship has only sunk twice in its long history."
"But there's no guarantee it won't happen a third time today..."
Unlike her usual self, she was unusually negative. Why was she scared by the information I gave to reassure her?
It was pointless to say anything more. I'd let her be scared as much as she wanted.
As I was thinking this, a polite knock was heard.
Elna reacted to the knock. Since she couldn't respond, I did it for her.
An elderly knight, one of Elna's subordinates, entered.
"Come in."
"Excuse me... Where is the captain?"
"S, she's alive..."
"Can you go up to the deck?"
"Are you telling me to die...!? I'll drown if I'm blown off by the wind...!"
"Do you think it's a storm out there? It's a clear day. Look, it's obvious."
I sighed and looked at the subordinate, who smiled wryly. He seemed to know about Elna's fear. It was impossible to keep it a secret, after all.
"Then, just the report. The Principality of Albatro is requesting a meeting. We and Prince Leonardo's ship have already dropped anchor. What should we do?"
"The Principality of Albatro. We're already in their waters, huh."
The Principality of Albatro is a neighboring country to the Principality of Rondine. It is a maritime nation and a major player in maritime trade. In the past, it assisted other countries during the empire's wars, leading to a strained relationship with the empire.
A meeting at this time. They probably don't want us to go to Rondine. This "meeting" is essentially an inspection.
"K, keep all the knights in the room... It's not good to stimulate her..."
"I agree. What does Leo say?"
"It seems Prince Leonardo is also feeling unwell... So they thought to ask the captain for an opinion."
"Ha... No choice. I'll pretend to be Leo and handle it."
With that, I left the room.
Leo's ship was next to mine. If we accepted the meeting, the Principality of Albatro would board our ship.
They probably wouldn't search the entire imperial envoy ship, so it should be fine.
I moved to Leo's ship and headed to his room.
There, I found Leo with a slightly pale face. He couldn't attend the meeting looking like this.
"Hey, you don't look good. Seasick?"
"Yeah... I guess..."
"You're not Elna, so pull yourself together."
"Sorry..."
"I'll pretend to be you. You rest on the other ship."
"But..."
"Just go. Tell them Prince Leonardo is feeling unwell."
"But, saying that will affect the prince's reputation..."
"It's fine. It won't change now."
After telling Elna's subordinate, I moved Leo to the other ship, posing as Prince Leonardo.
I tidied my hair and clothes and stepped out of the room with a stern expression.
"We accept the meeting. Prepare for it."
"Yes, sir."
And so, I swapped places with Leo at sea.
Now, how will I handle things in a foreign country?
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