It took almost an hour from when the townsfolk pushed the First Light into the water that everyone had boarded the ship and was ready to set sail. The food from the small hunting cabin further into the island’s woods had been loaded up, along with a supply of water and a few other essentials.

Everyone was decked out with their thickest winter coats, on top of layers of other clothing. Layers saved lives, not just for Alisa. The hunters knew that having multiple different levels of clothing on was the best way to regulate temperatures.

While a few of the older hunters went back into town to pay their final respects, Roth and Alisa boarded the ship, accompanied by Anpo and Jeren. The dark-haired Anpo wasn’t crying anymore, but his eyes had massive dark bags hanging beneath them.

“Captain Roth, what do you think about setting sail right now? All of the merchants always stop coming by in early November.”

Roth glanced over at Jaren, then down at the ship beneath his feet. His confidence of piloting the ship… was still at 0. He was under no delusions of being skilled enough of a captain to lead a ship through a winter sea that even experienced merchants avoided. As he walked around the boat, though, he didn’t feel total despair.

When Holl and Cundy toured the boat shed with Roth shortly after they arrived at the town, Holl had identified the First Light as an expedition ship. Despite not having a motor, this ship had a much better shot of making it to another town than Holl’s old fishing boat would’ve.

Expedition boats were what explorers used. They mapped new lands, forged fresh trade routes, and went where no other boats dared to. Considering their job, expedition ships were built differently, too. Reinforced hulls to push through ice floes, abundant storage space for provisions, and a cabin that could be easily heated.

Three sails- a central one square rigged, and the others fore and aft rigged- would allow the boat to continue traveling, even if the wind wasn’t blowing in the optimal direction. It was the perfect type of ship for the current situation.

On actual expeditions, they would be staffed by experienced, professional crews. Roth didn’t have that, but he also wasn’t hoping to discover any new lands. Losten Island was close. Close enough that it was feasible to travel there in a small fishing boat, much less a sturdy boat like this one.

Apparently, the only two townsfolk who could read and write were Jean and Alisa, and the former claimed to have no idea where to sail to reach the nearby island town. Alisa and the other townsfolk were more helpful. Almost all of them had been to Losten before, either with merchants or with other townsfolk, like the ones who brought the mist jars previously. Everyone who could properly navigate there was now dead, but Roth was still able to get a decent idea of where they needed to sail.

Alisa was also partially helpful, having traveled over the frozen sea with her sled dogs a number of times. The frozen, icy landscape could look a lot different though, and Roth eventually decided to use his map to confirm their destination.

“I think we’ll be fine. I’m not confident in being a captain, but making it to somewhere we can shelter for the winter should be possible.”

Roth walked over to the cabin of the ship, pulling open the heavy wooden door and ducking inside. He paced around the room, double checking all of the supplies. It was something he’d seen Cundy do before they set out with the fishing boat, and he’d seen Cundy catch missing items multiple times.

“Food, check. Water, firewood, rope, extra wood, …”

Roth paused as he noticed a large reinforced wooden chest. It was the same one that had previously been used to move the jars of mist. He lifted the hefty lid up, only to see the top layer filled with a few charred-looking objects.

“Eh? Stuff from the fires?”

The other three arrived in the room, and Jeren peeked over Roth’s shoulder.

“Yep, Jean asked me to gather some stuff for everyone who survived. Now they will have something to remember the lost with.”

Roth gently brushed his finger against one of the objects in the chest, a small wooden rocking-horse toy. Charred black marks had eaten away at the previously finely sanded wooden surface. As Roth shifted it, the corner of a piece of paper poked out from beneath the next toy down, but Roth was already setting the wooden horse back into its place, and didn’t notice it.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

After closing the chest, Roth made his way over to another door on the opposite side of the cabin. Alisa was already standing next to it, and she pushed it open and stepped in as Roth approached.

Inside was a small gathering room, similar to the one Roth and friends had rested in when they were on the Algo. Just a few steps past the gathering room and through one more doorway was the wheelhouse. In the center of the room, a large spoked wooden wheel stood upright.

The walls were lined with windows, and there were a few benches placed just beneath the foremost one. There was a distinctive taint to the color of the glass, but it wasn’t so much as to obstruct Roth’s vision.

He could see clear through the obscenely thick glass and out to the calm sea outside. Deep, gray-ish white clouds shrouded the skies, warning that the freezing rain and snow from the previous days might not be completely finished with the town.

In one corner of the small room, to the right of the door, there was what looked like a desk. It was a bit of an unusual fixture from what Roth knew about ships, but when he looked at it strangely, Alisa opened her mouth.

“Captain’s quarters in the wheelhouse. Fairly normal for smaller ships like this one.”

She gestured over to the opposite side from the desk. Almost flush with the ground, there was a small, cushioned bed. There weren’t any sheets or pillows on it, but the stuffed fabric looked relatively comfortable.

“Why… hm, never mind.”

Roth looked back up at Alisa as he guessed the purpose of having accommodations in the room. Someone needed to be in the wheelhouse at all times when captaining a ship, lest it start to stray off course.

From what Roth knew about ships, most of the watches would be covered by more seasoned members of the crew, with higher positions.

If there was someone sleeping in here, there would also have to be someone awake with them in the room, to keep watch on the navigation. It’s pretty much the opposite of what Alisa has been saying… unless it’s always people with no Regards who are sleeping in here, wouldn’t the sleeping person be at risk?

Remembering Captain Wilson and his crew, Roth was pretty sure that not only the captain, but also some of the other crew members had Regards. Roth thought for a few moments, but still just came up with blanks.

“It’s for when the ship is docked. Designs like this are from the end of the Shattered War.”

Alisa walked back over to the deck, then tapped on a small drawer near the bottom of it. When she pulled it open, Roth could see a few layers of oddly colored wood lining the drawer. There was just enough room inside of it to accommodate a standard sized piece of paper.

“The winter merchants use something similar on important deliveries. It activates an alarm if a Regard is used to tamper with whatever is inside. Even in port, if there was someone resting near it, they would be able to awaken and hopefully stop the attack.”

Roth could see that Alisa didn’t appear to know much more about the subject, but he was a bit surprised at the answer she’d provided.

After looking over the room for a bit longer, the group of four left the wheelhouse and slowly explored the rest of the ship. Considering how long it’d been stored in the boat shed, it was in remarkably good condition.

Even when the townsfolk were under the control of the corrupted artifact and refused to waste the time and money on even basic resources, a few of them had still maintained this boat.

Most of the townsfolk started gathering on the boat, and while a small group went out to fetch a bit more firewood just in case they ended up adrift for days, Roth held a small meeting.

He was one of the youngest people there, but all of the older hunters seemed to more or less accept that he would be the captain of the ship. After a short discussion, it was suggested for Anpo and Jaren to serve as the quartermaster and first mate, respectively.

Still only really trusting Alisa, Roth tried to appoint her as the first mate instead, but she stopped him before he could voice anything. In the end, she ended up taking a position more similar to a second or third mate.

Aside from one older hunter who offered to handle any carpentry repairs if something went wrong, the rest of the townsfolk didn’t take up any specific roles. The meeting ended, Roth did a roll call to make sure everyone was back from fetching the last of the supplies that could be salvaged from the town, and they set off.

The First Light slid calmly through the short waves, escaping just before the biting cold outside could freeze the water’s surface. The decks cleared off almost as soon as the ship began to move, and everyone hunkered down in the warmth of the cabin and lower section of the ship.

Anpo took control of the massive steering wheel, and quickly got the hang of adjusting the ship’s direction. While he handled that, Roth and Alisa went over to the desk, then sat down side by side on a small bench in front of it.

Pulling a sheepskin scroll out of his backpack, Roth laid it out across the table, then brushed his finger over it until it was zoomed out, showing a huge area around Marie Island. Anpo didn’t even seem to notice the changing map, instead completely focusing on the wheel in front of him.

“Captain, where do you want me to steer us?”

Roth whipped out his ink pen, then very lightly drew it across the surface of the map, in a location Alisa was pointing at. A moment later, the ink morphed into a few depth lines, showing a cut of an upwards slope. A very weak rush of blood shot to Roth’s head as he drew, but it was nothing compared to the first time he’d done something similar.

As I suspected. I can use the map much easier now. Survival just got a lot more likely.

“South southeast. We should be able to find Losten easily, we just need to get close.”