Captain’s Log.

Things were as always been, the sea dancing, the boat roving, the fishes leaping like desirable food. The ship mateys had been doing pretty much nothing. Perhaps that was just how it was when trapped in this moving prison. The heat during a bright day was somewhat bearable, but no one knew how long before the scorching heat would go into everyone’s head.

Strange occurrence was afoot. During the night, ominous growls could be heard from the surfaces of the sea. Stand on the deck in solitude and you would hear distant whispers, and yet so close. Look into the water, and you could feel like something was gazing back at you. Slowly, at every second, something was encroaching into a man’s mind. It twisted your brain. Ghosts? No one knew what could be the causes of all these. No one could even verify if it was even ever true. Indeed, no one could ever verify it. Was it because it was a total mystery? Or you could just never find it because it could never be found?

No. It cannot be true.

Why?

Because I made it the fuck up!

Ahoy mateys! Captain Estelia here, writing her captain’s log of insanity. Mentally of course. What? Curious about that story just now? Weird creepy stuff happening? Yeah, no. Nothing like that ever happened. This wasn't some Lovecraftian or eldritch story where you would slowly be driven into insanity, where incomprehensible horror was running about.

Nope, this was Captain Estelia’s venture into the sea! Where we would sail into the distant horizon in search of a booty! Arrrrr. Grab me my eyepatch you scallywag!

Um, how else do pirates talk again?

Although we were not exactly a bunch of pirates here. But hey, let me cherish this. Ships in my old world were boring! People and their machines, metal devils. Throw the accursed metal devils into the sea! Arrr! Okay, gotta stop that.

Anyway! Been a while, huh? I was feeling a bit better now. Things were a bit rough recently, but hey, at least I’m back! Estelia’s sea sailing arc! Where I was the captain of a ship, plundering whatever ship that goes their way — just kidding. And, I guess my seafaring arc would only be days long. Boohoooh. But hey, maybe next time.

Now, what was Captain Estelia up to now? Well, the ultimate goal of the journey was to reach the booty, as I have mentioned. This booty was mainly the grave of my goddess mother. It was where I would evolve into a true divine being, which would ultimately save me from dying, and also win a lot of merits. Power and eternal life. Cool. Very cool. And to reach that would be a long journey.

After the sea, we would need to travel around the Shinoroa archipelago. I couldn’t tell how long this journey would be exactly.

I hope I’ll get back to the kingdom in time.

I was dying. I could feel it in my body. I felt weak sometimes, cold, and in pain. If I strained myself even further, I feared that I would end up in a critical condition. So, no same level of fighting as that demon. Otherwise, I should be fine in low-level combat. Medium use of Physical Enhancement was also fine. Highly powerful magic spells, on the other hand, were risky. Must only use them during crucial times.

I cannot die. I mustn’t die.

I had died once already, never again.

At any rate, time to get out of my room. I changed into one of the sailing outfits available in the captain’s quarters. I had to choose the smaller size, which the former captain surprisingly had. But I still had to tighten them, as they were a bit loose. But hey, I still looked pretty in baggy clothes.

I fixed the sleeve as I stood in front of the mirror. As for the boots, yeah I had to use my own boots. As for the combat outfit, I had to let it free for now when there was no fighting whatsoever. Otherwise it would get dirty.

I had fixed my clothes. But dammit, I didn’t have a coat! The coats were too big. There must be one somewhere on this ship. That aside, there was still one missing piece. A crucial piece. And that was the pirate hat!

I grabbed the tricorn hat placed atop the drawer and gently placed it on top of my head.

“Hehe.”

Captain Ja — Captain Estelia in the house, yo!

Yeaaah, now I was looking the part, a pirate! Although we were not exactly a pirate crew. This ship didn’t even have a plank, can you believe it?! Absurd. Damn, I could only imagine how it would be in a pirate crew. Ordering around a bunch of scumbags, raiding and plundering. Would have been fun. But alas, here I was.

Hm, maybe I can rob you…? Hand over yer gold now, ye scurvy dogs! Else the plank with ya!

Ahem! Hehe. Anyway, time to get out and get some fresh air. Witness my grand ship ye blasted sea dog!

I’m running out of pirate vocabulary here.

I got out of the room.

And the raw saltiness of the air immediately assaulted my face. The water splashed loudly on the ship — my ship, by the way, did I already mention that? I just like mentioning that part. The sun above was barely covered by the white clouds. There were a lot of people on the deck, and compared to before, the mood was lighter now.

It was like they were relieved of a heavy weight on their chests. Looks like my actions did really help them. That was good. Very good. Didn’t want to keep things depressing all the way to the end of the voyage.

I noticed the two Cursed Children at the corner, but ignored them for now.

Just as I was about to savor the view of the vast ocean before me, a bothersome fellow suddenly got into my peripheral vision. I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.

“Sup?” the mangy bilge rat casually said to me.

“Taneva… Honestly, I don’t mind talking to you sometimes. But, please, you got to read the room.”

“What?”

“I would like to enjoy the morning alone.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you’re anti-social.”

Hey now, that’s just rude.

But he wasn’t wrong. Sometimes I just want people to leave me alone, you know.

“You could have talked to someone else,” I said.

“I already did. I just ran out. In any case, I’ll be leaving you alone then. Enjoy your… moment of solitary solitude.”

“Never mind, the moment’s gone.”

“Oh, my bad. It just gets boring on ships.”

“So you talk to me the moment I get out of my room?”

He casually shrugged with a smile. This fucking asshole, this wasn’t him getting bored or just wanted to get friendly. Somehow, I felt he was just trying to annoy me. The guy had no fear of irritating me at all.

“If you’re so bored, you could perhaps try cleaning the floor. It’s getting dirty.”

“He-he, you may be the captain, but no way I’m doing that.”

“Aren’t you a lazy one?”

“Eh.” He shrugged.

“Then get drunk or something. Isn’t that what sailors do?”

“During the day, in this heat? Seriously, Estelia? Who drinks at this time?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

What was wrong with that? Do people truly have a preferred time to drink? True that most people at least drink during the night, but really? Being choosy about the time, place, and temperature? That's a thing? I would not know. I ain’t a drinker.

“Besides, I don’t drink much. I’m all over that phase of my life.”

“Huh… That’s a lie.”

“Uh, it’s not. Not like I go around places and try drinking their local liquor.”

Yeah, that’s definitely what’s going on.

“Why do you even lie about that?”

“... Alright, I was just playing around. Hehe.”

This guy…

“But I’m not really a heavy drinker.”

“Hm.” I narrowed my eyes at him for a moment before walking away. “Anyway, I’m going to talk to the others.”

“Guess I’m coming with you!”

I resisted the urge to sigh. If only he would stop annoying me, it would have been fine. What was he trying to do, anyway? To provoke me or something? Should I annoy him back? Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to do that right now. So I was just going to enjoy the weather and the piratey stuff.

There was a group of young women gathered, standing at the edge, watching the view and talking with leisure. I carefully approached them with a small but friendly smile.

“Hello.”

Caught off guard by my presence, they stiffly turned towards me. They seemed rattled, looking at each other as if asking for help. Surely I wasn’t that scary? I was trying to be so friendly here.

“P-Princess, how may we help you?” one of them nervously asked.

I looked at them with kind eyes. “I just wanted to check on you. How are things?”

“What…do you mean?”

“I meant how you are doing. Are you feeling good lately? Are things more peaceful?”

They looked at each other.

“Things are going well, Princess…”

“There’s nothing much to be scared of anymore.”

“I didn’t get nightmares last night, so everything’s alright.”

I nodded with a happy smile. “That is great to hear. It’s important nothing is troubling you now.”

Then they took a better look at me, going up and down. They were looking at my outfit, they must be a bit surprised or puzzled.

“P-Princess, is it alright for me to, um, mention something?” one girl asked, struggling to speak formally.

“What is it?”

“There are clothes below deck. I suspect they were meant to be sold. I think there will be clothes fitting you there.”

She was basically saying, what the hell are you wearing as a princess? Change your clothes!

Yeah, my maids would chide me for this. But wasn’t this fine, though? Pirates were meant to be rough and stuff. Especially the clothes. Rough, but still cool. Wasn’t I cool? But I guess it was a bit strange for a princess to look like this. I mean, my clothes were way better looking than before.

“As a trading ship, I suppose it’s expected that they have clothes to sell,” I said. “They must be of a pretty good quality.”

These girls were neat looking, and their clothes were decent. They must have gotten them from the supplies.

“Yes, they seemed expensive.”

“And they feel good to the skin.” One touched her own sleeve.

These clothes I was currently in were of good quality, too. They were the captain’s, after all. Except, it was a bit baggy on me.

“I see,” I nodded. “Are there coats?”

They appeared baffled by my strange question.

“Coats?”

“Yes, coats,” I replied.

“Yes, there are…”

“Splendid! I’ll go check it out immediately. Thanks for the help.”

“Eh — Um, of course. I’m glad to be of help.”

I waved at them as I walked away. There was a bit of awkward air there. They were stiff and all. They were reluctant to freely talk to me. I supposed they were feeling wary and scared of me a bit. Not because of negative fear or anything. It was more like they were wary of disrespecting and offending me. Like how one would talk to their strict boss. But I wasn’t strict at all.

I internally sighed. It would seem letting go of the pure princess act had some drawbacks. If I remained acting all innocent, they maybe would have been less restrained in front of me. Oh well…

“That went well,” Taneva commented from behind me.

“I was trying to be friends.”

“And I said it went well. You’re in a higher position, so they’ll be less casual with you.”

“I know that. Still, I’m younger than them. It’s strange to be treated like this.”

I was still, like, in my mid-teens. I should be treated like a junior or something. But I guess my show of power last time really made things hard to be more casual. And it wasn’t like they always faced a royal, so… Guess we’re stuck like this.

But as long as they saw me as a good person, all would be well.

“If you would have interacted with more of the common people, you would see how common this reaction would be.”

I frowned. Never had any intention of immersing myself with them. And I have no regrets whatsoever!

I’m a busy person, hmph!

Then I came across Velar, who was just coming up the stairs. With him was Hartwin, the poet. These two appeared to be getting along so well, ever since we met. I supposed they were best friends now. The soldier, and the poet. Bizarre.

“Princess?” Velar curiously looked at me. Perhaps it was surprising where I was heading.

“Oh hi,” I greeted. “Are you guys doing well?”

The two of them stared at each other, seemingly surprised.

“Of course,” said Hartwin with a grin. “Everything’s great.”

I nodded. “I see. I heard you found clothes from the supplies.”

“Oh yes,” Velar answered. “Do you need clothes? We can take you there.”

“I’m looking for coats.”

“Coats? As far as I can recall, there should be a few that fit you.”

“Good. Can you please lead me there? I’m quite unfamiliar with the layout of this ship.”

I didn’t really venture around this place, did I? And I’m a shy person.

They agreed and led me down below deck. There were a lot of people here. But unlike before, the dark and negative atmosphere had completely disappeared. Now, they were casually talking to each other, smiling, and laughing. Things were chill now.

Once I went past them, they greeted me respectfully.

I’ll give them an A for their efforts!

Once we got further into the corridor, I casually spoke out.

“Everyone looks better.”

“Yup,” Hartwin nodded, pleased. “Turns out it is easier to be friends when you went through the same kind of hardships. And the removal of the culprits also greatly helped them.”

“I see… So, what do they think of me…?” I wanted to get an idea of what impression they had of me. I already had an idea, but I needed confirmation. Do they see me as a tyrant? A dangerous person? Unfriendly? As the captain of this ship, I must get along well with the crew!

Must inspire loyalty!

At least, I hoped to achieve that. But was that even really important? I mean, I would only be here on this ship for like several days, then I would be running around Shinoroa. From there, this ship would have nothing to do. And they could just sail right back to their Eventon Republic from there. And we would never see each other again.

“They think nothing ill of you, Princess,” Hartwin said. “They’re just… in a word, shy to speak with you.”

“I see.”

Guess I just had to be satisfied with that.

When we went down another deck, on the way, we came across wooden crates filled to the brim. I stopped and looked at their contents.

Wow!

There were a lot of fruits here, and vegetables too. There was also a lot of dried meat. In this era, I had thought this sort of importation of goods wouldn’t be to this amount. Wisteria, for example, was, for the most part, self-sustaining — ignoring the Empire’s sabotages. We had our own farms of vegetables, fruits, and animals. From what I knew, other neighboring countries were the same. True, there were imports, but not really a lot. Except for stuff that could only be obtained locally. I guess spices, too, were very important and common in trading, and there were a lot of them here as well. But in the boxes here were common fruits and vegetables. Not ones you would typically import.

Did Shinoroa have their own unique vegetation and thus were interested in things from other nations? Or was there something else going on?

I turned to my allies. “Say, what really is Shinoroa?”

Hartwin shrugged. “I just heard it’s a pretty messed up place. Pretty dangerous.”

“I heard the same,” Velar added.

I turned a glance at Taneva.

“That pretty much summarizes that place.”

“Expand on it, at least.” I frowned.

“Do you want the short or the long version?”

Seriously, we’re doing this?

“Fine, the short version.” Not like we had a lot of time. I still had to search up some clothes.

“It’s a barren wasteland, basically a dead archipelago. The landscape is dark and empty. Vegetation could barely grow there except for some special types of plants.”

That perhaps explained the amount of food here.

“Aside from a few edible animals running around the place, there are monsters. Mostly monsters, actually. And they’re pretty strong too. Humans are struggling there, but I guess they’re too stubborn to die and adjusted to the state of things. They have plenty of towns and cities despite the dangerous islands. But they also have to rely on imports in a lot of parts, in exchange for raw materials.”

“What happened to that place?” I couldn’t help but ask because of my curiosity. He didn’t mention it was like a desert kind of place. So he literally meant a basically dead archipelago.

“A lot of stuff. Let’s just say that place was forsaken because of some events in the past.”

“Forsaken?”

“Forsaken by the world and the gods. It’s next to the demon lands, after all.”

“I see…”

Dammit, sounds like I’m really going to a dangerous place.

A place full of monsters at that. I recalled the previous monsters I saw. Not good. Not good at all.

I nodded and continued on. We arrived at a particular room full of boxes of clothes. Jackpot!

Velar approached a particular box. “There are coats here.”

Wasting no time, I rushed to the box and rummaged through the different clothes. Many were too big for me, and the designs were not quite to my taste. The color too.

“Why do you want a coat specifically?” Velar asked. “There are other clothes you can pick here.”

“I’ll get to it later. But for now, the coat is first.”

“... Hm.”

He seemed puzzled about my actions, but I disregarded him. Then I grabbed a predominantly maroon colored coat. It wasn’t too big either. And the design of it really looked like what a badass pirate would wear. I grinned excitedly.

“This will fit!”

I quickly slipped into it and tied a belt around the waist. The edge of the coat reached my knees, but overall, I think it looked fine. It was big and long enough for my height of 5'7". Hear that? I’m quite tall, am I? I have grown around a couple of inches since I arrived here in this world. No, maybe I was almost 5'8" really, I think…?

There weren't any mirrors around to make sure my clothes were good. Still, I thought I looked fine.

“You’re taking that?” Velar asked. “It looks decent, but are you sure? There are plenty of clothes to pick from.”

“Aye, I’m sure.”

“Aye…?” The three of them looked at each other, looking pretty confused.

Shit, I slipped. I accidentally let out my pirate stuff.

“Ahem. Yes, I’m sure. I think I look well at it. Don’t you think so?”

They merely nodded.

“Splendid.”

I fixed my hat and straightened the coat.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.

Except I was not on a pirate ship. Dammit!

Anyway! I started leaving the room immediately.

Bring me that horizon!

Oh crap. Saying that inside the ship is criminal! It should have been said outside. Silly me.