263 – Smuggling (3)
On the morning after the Chester family stowed away on the ship, the noble forced them to board the ship they had prepared earlier to return to their hometown. Made with
“Are you going back home?”
“Yes. In order to sell well, you can’t blindly prepare only good things. You have to make a way to sell things with good people.”
The noble patted Rowan on the shoulder and said.
“So are you. If you want to succeed as a hero, try to have a better human relationship than those mercenaries.”
After saying that to Rowan, the nobleman boarded the ship with the other slaves, leaving behind the female slaves who had no interest.
* * *
“…… Don’t you think the rumbling in your stomach has gotten worse?”
Trapped among the luggage and unable to see outside, the Chester family felt their boat rocking violently and wondered.
Could it be that the ship has already departed?
“I heard the sound of hurried loading in the middle of the morning. Did something happen to set sail in a hurry?”
It is impossible to look outside because of all the luggage around. The only thing I can understand is the shaking of the ship and the sound of the sailors coming from above.
“It’s good to start early! Chester, let’s eat.”
“Is that so?”
It is very dark here because there is not much sunlight. To do something, you need to light a lantern. However, if you turn on the lantern too brightly, you can get caught, so turn it on very lightly and live by relying on that insignificant light.
Today’s meal is two slices of bread. Tongdan A spread made by crushing soft fruits from the continent and mixing them with spices. A bit of dried jerky.
Since the Chester family prepared more than enough emergency food whenever and wherever they went, there was no worry about food for a while.
Of course, food will disappear someday. That’s why you must find a way to get food inside this ship.
“This is delicious.”
“Isn’t it?”
Although the beef jerky was a bit too hard, it was still edible.
The problem is more about drinking than food. Beverages are inevitably bulky, so it’s not easy to bring.
I prepared a type of alcohol that can be stored for a long time in advance and brought it in using Rex, but considering that the amount of water a person needs to drink per day is more than expected and the amount required fluctuates depending on the environment, I don’t know if the alcohol I brought will be enough. Can’t
“Eat this for now, let’s explore the stomach a little bit from tonight. The location of the warehouse where the rum is stored is not too far from here.”
After eating, Chester opened a bottle and carefully tasted it.
From noble mtl dot com
“Um.”
After drinking moderately, I gave it to Monia, and after Monia drank, I gave it to Rex.
When Rex and Senna were sharing drinks, Chester took out the water he had prepared and handed it to Ant according to the palm of his hand.
While eating, Ant hurriedly licked the water from Chester’s palm and drank it with his tongue.
He couldn’t get Ant to drink, so he got some water. However, water is easily spoiled during long voyages, so water is not usually stocked on ships.
The reason why they drink rum is that it is cheap and does not spoil in large quantities, and at the same time, drinking rum prevents them from getting scurvy, which is inevitable at sea.
People get scurvy if they don’t eat fruits and vegetables. In ships where it is difficult to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, rum is used instead of fruits and vegetables.
‘I hope Ant arrives on land before he dies.’
This is the part where we have to pray that the route of this ship will not be long.
Long voyages last for several months. Of course, if the voyage is too long, the stress of the crew can build up and lead to a mutiny on board.
Mutiny on board is not uncommon, and it is a frequent story, and for this reason, ships sailing long distances must plan to stop at ports in other lands in between to take a long break and relieve the stress of life on board. Put
“Ant, let’s save water as much as possible. Got it?”
Hoping that it wouldn’t be too long, Chester put water in her palm again and gave Ant a drink.
* * *
Living in a dark and confined space is a battle of patience and mental strength.
The Chester family used a small space to take various difficult postures and exercised to relieve stress.
They carved wooden blocks, drew pictures, hummed songs in a low voice so that they could not be heard from above, or played simple games.
“My top is not spinning well.”
It’s been a week since the voyage started. It’s been a week since I stowed away. Recently, the Chester family has been learning the traditional game of Tongdan Continent from Sena.
What we are learning now is a top, and Chester carved the top needed for play.
“I don’t run at all.”
Rex was the one whose top did not spin the most. Because the force is so strong, the top does not rotate, but collides with the floor and bounces off.
Next, Monia. She turns well when she spins well, but because she hasn’t mastered her senses yet, the top spins more often than it does well.
The fiercest competition was Chester and Senna. Chester uses his senses and Senna turns the top with appropriate force, and the two clash fiercely.
Currently, Chester, who took advantage of the shaking of the ship appropriately, won 10 wins, and Senna, who has more experience with tops, won 13 wins.
A popular game besides the top was the ball game. You can do it with only five stones, so it was nice to be able to do it by yourself in a small seat when you feel like you have nothing to do, unlike a top that needs to make a wider seat.
In addition to that, while teaching a number of games that can be played in a small space, Sena said this.
“Actually, there are more games to play while running around, but I can’t run here.”
“Still, there are many games I don’t know about, so it’s fun. What does Chester know? I don’t know much about this.”
“Play?”
Chester thought of some games he knew.
“A war game?”
“What is that?”
“It is a game in which village children form teams and fight by beating them with sticks or throwing stones.”
“…… Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It’s dangerous. There was a child whose head was always broken and bleeding every time he played.”
“Be scared. Won’t your parents stop you?”
“Even though they scolded me if I got hurt, no one stopped me. It was better for the kids to get hurt while playing among themselves than to have other accidents.”
Even if it wasn’t a war game, there were many dangerous things.
Playing in the mountains and swimming in the river, there were frequent cases where they were torn or broken and injured.
“Cure? How do you treat If I just let it go, big things will happen.”
“I just let it go. Or, I would pluck some useful grass from the grass on the side of the road and apply it. That was all. At least I was fine with my father because he had some medical knowledge. The other children also received help from their father from time to time, but it was burdensome to keep their father busy who feeds the village, so I just put up with it.”
Monia, lost for words at Chester’s past environment, which was worse than she thought, turned her story to another place.
“Well, wasn’t there a bit of a calm game?”
“It’s a gentle game. There was a house play.”
“Oh, I know that.”
Monia also knew about playing house.
“It’s okay to decide between mom and dad and play with each other, honey~”
“Yes.”
Monia said, sticking close to Chester.
“Shall we do the same? Huh? Baby.”
When Monia called her, Chester laughed and said,
“Why, honey?”
“…… Ooh, this won’t work.”
When Monia, her face flushed, tried to pull her body away, Chester pulled her into her arms.
“… ….”
Senna looked at her friend couple who stopped talking about her play and fell into their own world.
“Oh, really. Where should I settle down and start a family? ….”
Senna. She was in her mid-twenties, and in terms of the current era, she was close to an old woman who was well past the age to marry and have children, but she didn’t lack the confidence to grab a man anywhere.
She was confident that her skin, appearance, and hair quality would not be inferior to young children.
‘But there’s no one I like.’
“Is Sena leaving?”
As Senna talked about her marriage, Rex asked Senna with her weeping face, wondering if her Senna was breaking up with them.
“Huh? No, it’s Rex. I’m not leaving.”
Of course, since she was only impulsively spitting out thoughts after seeing Chester Langmonia, she had no intention of marrying a man seriously.
She still liked her freedom.
* * *
“… ….”
The sailors who climbed up the observation deck and observed the sky and the distant sea that overlapped the ship’s route through a telescope frowned at the unusual shape of the sky.
And slit his throat, he shouted so loudly that the sailors wandering around the deck could hear him.
“It’s a typhoon! A typhoon is coming!”