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 halfdrowsy 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 NineHeaded 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 antiair 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.