Chapter 39: Fair Winds

When our carriage rolled past the gates of the Marineburg I couldn’t help but be amazed at this city. The capital of Regus was quite nice in a medieval sense but honestly compared to Marineburg it seemed so… dead. The streets here were filled with people, bustling back and forth, shop owners advertising their goods at the top of their voices and merchant wagons trundling along the streets.

I guess this was to be expected from a trade hub, Regus was filled with either nobles with their noses in the clouds or the commoners trying to look more important than they actually were. Well them and the destitute poor in the slums…

From what I read this place also has a rather large slum, apparently this place was a place of opportunity. Many commoners come here to try and seek their fortunes. Many make it rich here, many more lose everything and can’t even find the money to leave. Well according to Charlotte in a place like this with lots of opportunity for profit and no social welfare policies. The income gap would be quite extreme. Throw in a medieval era crappy technology, a level cap that restricts your life potential, education being a non existent path to social mobility and you end up with entrepreneurship being the only path to success that is open to everyone.

“You know Katsuro, it's refreshing to see a good example of the aristocracy in this world.” Charlotte said from my right.

“Huh? What?” I reply as Charlotte’s tears me from my thoughts.

“Lord Orien.” Charlotte replied with a bemused smile at my confusion.

“Yeah, what about him?” I ask, still trying to sort out my train of thought.

“Well he did ask us to meet him directly at the port. It is nice he decided not to waste our time with tea or some other pointless show of pride.” Charlotte said.

“Yeah, I was expecting him to at least ask us to stay the night to rest before we head off.” I replied.

“We can rest on the ship, if I recall colonial era sail ships have nice rooms for those of import so I’m sure we can get a comfortable rest...” Charlotte said as she paused and tilted her head slightly as if pondering something.

“What?” I ask.

“Provided none of us get sea sick, do you get sea sick Katsuro?” Charlotte asked.

“Not really, I’ve been on ships before and so far nothing. Then again the ships I’ve been on are usually really large ships that rarely move that much. Thus far I’ve only been on a cruise ship and this massive troop transport, both of which didn’t really rock in the waves.” I replied as I scratched the back of my head. Trying my utmost best not to think how embarrassing it would be for the great Dark Hero, Chosen of the Lord of Death, Ender of Nations, Slayer of Demons, to be puking his guts out over the side of a ship…

“Have you ever been on a ship, Charlotte?” I ask, trying to switch the topic.

“Quite a few times, my father owns a yacht and we sometimes go on trips in the Baltic sea. I didn’t really enjoy them; the open sea was a bit too cold for my liking.” Charlotte replied.

“What about you guys?” I ask as I look at Jacob and Ivan.

“I get air sick, not sure about sea sick. Never been on a boat.” Jacob said.

“I have never been on a boat. There were no bodies of water where I lived.” Ivan said.

“Well I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes then.” I say as I look back out the window.

We should be reaching the port within the hour, as I look at the gathered crowds around the street it struck me how different this city was. In Regus there would be throngs of people all cheering as our carriage left the city. When we returned from the first Rift there was a bloody parade complete with flower petals raining from the nearby rooftops.

Here no one seemed to even care beyond the occasional curious onlooker. Everyone was busy running their business or getting to where they needed to go. Honestly I kind of preferred this, I don’t really like large groups of people cheering and shouting outside the carriage.

“Quite different isn’t it?” Jacob said as he too looked out the window.

“Everyone here looks so much more busy, I guess everyone in Regus just has too much free time, Northedor too as well I guess.” I say.

“The people of Northedor were probably happy with our arrival because the demons were almost at their door. We must seem like saviours to them.” Charlotte said.

“Yeah that makes sense, no one is happier than when someone comes to fix your problems for you.” I replied.

“Well I can tell you these people have a lot of hustle in them.” Jacob said.

“Hustle?” I ask as I turn to face him.

“It’s a saying used by the blacks back in my world, it means to get money through any means necessary.” Jacob explained.

“Blacks? Do you mean African-American?” Charlotte asked in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

“Yeah why?” Jacob asked as he turned after hearing Charlotte’s tone.

“No it’s just we avoided using the word Black to describe those of African ethnicity in my world. We deemed it offensive and racist so we just stopped saying it.” Charlotte explained.

“Then what do you all call it?” Jacob asked.

“Oh we just don’t refer to people by their appearance. We don’t say like Black Americans or Black British, we just say Americans and British. When we do have to bring up race for specific reasons we just say people of African descent.” Charlotte explained.

“Sounds like a mouthful.” Jacob replied.

“A few extra syllables is better than being offensive, Jacob.” Charlotte said with a scowl.

“I’m sure they don’t mean anything by it Charlotte, probably just a difference in nomenclature.” I said as I tried to soothe the brewing argument.

“What about your world Katsuro?” Charlotte asked as she turned to face me, although I realised she turned a little faster than usual…

“We mostly just call them Gaijin.” I replied tentatively.

“Gaijin?” Charlotte asked as I realised that word wasn’t translated for some reason. I guess there is no equivalent for Gaijin in german.

“It means foreigner and outsider, it’s like a word with a dual meaning, with an additional exclusionary undertone. There are so few foreigners in Japan we kinda just lump them together. Not sure if there is an exact way for us Japanese to describe other races. Honestly I never got to know any foreigners that weren’t Chinese or Korean.” I replied with a shrug.

“Oh so Japan is mostly monoethnic then? I guess there aren’t that many foreigners.” Charlotte said.

“Yeah if I recall the foreigners are like 1 or 2% of the population, we kinda just relegate them as outsiders since there's so little of them. We like to keep to ourselves mostly.” I replied.

“Would you say the Japanese are open or closed towards foreigners?” Charlotte asked.

“Erm, I guess we like to keep to ourselves, so closed I guess?” I reply getting a bit confused at the path of this conversation.

“Why all the questions?” I ask.

“Oh well, I was thinking since we would be visiting the Alvs and they have been in isolation for a hundred years it would be good to have someone who understands an isolationist culture. My home nation was quite open to the outside world so I suppose it would be hard for me to understand wanting to seal yourself away.” Charlotte replied.

“Ah I see, well I expect I’ll be doing a lot of the talking anyway, afterall I’m the one in charge of all the war stuff in this group.” I say.

“I suppose it is good that you are Japanese, most of the cultures in the distant past were quite isolationist or imperialist. I expect we’ll be running into a lot of xenophobic cultures in this world. I suppose having someone understand what it’s like to view outsiders with distrust would be beneficial.” Charlotte replied.

“Would you have any insight on how to get past that xenophobia?” I ask.

“I think the best way for that would be the approach of Cultural Relativism. That is the ability to see a culture from its own perspective rather than passing judgement from the perspective of your own culture. It’s easier said than done, like how I got a little uncomfortable by how Jacob referred to African-Americans as black. In general the idea is to always assume their way of doing things has a good reason, we just need to find out why.” Charlotte explained.

“Ok I get it, then again what do you do about really crazy stuff like cannibalism or something. There has to be a bottom line right?” I ask as I ponder the extreme examples.

If a nation like Regus is blatantly wrong, using slaves, xenophobic to the core, a nation that exists to serve the rich and powerful. What do you do about them? They may have good reasons for it like past conflicts and wars. So do you respect that? Or should you make your own judgement and tear it all down?

“General rule is cultures must respect the basic rights of everyone, if a culture endorses slavery or open conflict with other cultures then intervention is needed. The idea is to set the bar as low as possible. In my world, the only requirements was no slavery, respect basic human rights and no wars of annexation. The League of Nations in my world allowed discrimination against sexes and sexual orientation, censorship of free speech and even some forms of caste systems. As long as people had the rights to their own bodies then we were fine with the rest.” Charlotte said.

“Wait wait wait, you guys were ok with stuff like homophobia and lack of free speech?” Jacob asked, looking quite aghast at the thought.

“Well I personally don’t like it but my moral values and cultural beliefs are no more legitimate than any other culture. I believe we can’t force our way of thinking onto others, cultures should have the right to develop their societies in the ways they see fit as long as they do not impede the rights of others. Shoving your cultural beliefs down the throat of another culture is just cultural imperialism.” Charlotte replied.

“But don’t the gays and the people have the right to speak their minds?” Jacob asked.

“Not if the rest of the society disagrees, the good of the larger society comes first. The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. Too many people saying whatever they want can cause societal instability.” I replied, as I thought about how the Japanese are bound by our culture of conformism. Society has expectations for every individual and each person strives to meet those expectations. Much like myself, who I need to be is more important than who I want to be...

“So what, we should just let them be oppressed? Let them be punished for something that isn’t even their fault?” Jacob argued.

“That’s why back in my world we came up with a middle ground. In my world we had a few nations known as haven nations. Like my nation is called a gay haven, basically in some parts of the some world gays are labeled by their societies in some way or another. Their testing is usually quite robust, able to tell homosexuals from the heterosexuals and bisexuals using medical tests. So my home Germany and most of Europe allow homosexuals from across the world to migrate freely to our nations if they so choose.

It’s not a perfect system, as result of this there are quite a lot of homosexuals in europe, more than usual but luckily it's not that severe considering only the most homophobic cultures even have such a system to prove sexual orientation.

Most of the asylum seekers come from areas of the world that are highly religious, mostly from Christian and Islamic countries” Charlotte explained.

“Well I suppose if they are allowed to leave freely then it's not that bad.” I replied.

“Yes the League of Nations forbids travel restrictions based on things like sexual orientation, religious belief, race and other similar classifications. The only downside to this is that these people have to find the money to migrate in societies set against them. Some gays also live in silence in these nations choosing to pretend to be heterosexual rather than leave their lives behind. It’s quite tragic but we felt this was the best we could do without forcing everyone to conform to our line of thinking.” Charlotte said with a sigh.

“I don’t know, I just can’t make myself agree with that, these rights should be afforded to everyone.” Jacob said as he shook his head.

“Then we’ll agree to disagree, that's the whole point of Cultural Relativism isn’t it. There are a lot of things we don’t like, learning how to live with them is just a part of life.” I reply calmly, my two years of conflict resolution in Sapporo coming in handy here.

“Yeah sure whatever.” Jacob said irritably as he turned his head and began looking out the window.

I looked over at Charlotte and saw her looking down as she bit her lip. She had a strained expression on her face, I know she hates conflict. She would much rather everyone just got along happily, but sadly that's not how the world works…

I reach over and take her hand, she looks up and gives her a reassuring smile. I give her hand a soft squeeze and she smiles slightly. These kinds of disagreements are going to happen more and more as time goes on. We are the heroes and when the Rifts end this whole world is going to look at us for guidance. We need to send a unified message or we risk this world fragmenting into pieces. Cultural differences are going to be there between the races, I mean the Alvs live for hundreds of years their lifespan alone will create cultural differences between the shorter lived races.

I have a feeling we are going to have to navigate an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape as things go on. We are going to resolve these issues if we want to have any hope of beating the Rifts. Alliance will have to be signed, we are going to have to learn to work together. The first rule of war is simple, united we stand, divided we fall…

When we finally reached the port I was the first to disembark from the carriage. The first thing I saw was Lord Orien and Ophelia sitting under an umbrella drinking tea. When Ophelia saw me I saw a wide beaming smile appear on her face as she stood up.

“Greetings heroes.” Lord Orien said as he stood up.

“Lord Orien.” I replied with a nod of my head.

“The ships are prepared, I have a few questions for the Alv however.” Lord Orien said.

“What questions?” I ask, slightly suspicious of him. I know he is trying to help me but I don’t trust easily.

“Just some details about the sea serpent, I plan to send some lighter ships to escort the troop transports. I was just wondering if that would be wise.” Lord Orien replied.

“Alright, hang on a moment then.” I say as I turn and see the rest of my party getting off their carriage. I motioned for them to come over and they began jogging over.

“Ella, Lord Orien has some questions.” I say as I look over at her.

“Yes, Lady Alv. I am planning some lighter warships to escort the troop ships. I was wondering if that would be a problem with regards to the sea serpent. Fear not; those ships are primarily equipped to deal with pirates and potential airborne assailants. I have heard from my advisors that the demons will at some point obtain flying demons. I would like to prevent my convoy from being swarmed if possible.” Lord Orien said with a gracious smile.

Ella paused as she looked at him, I could see the distrust in her eyes as she debated internally on how to reply.

“Can you stop the giant water snake from sinking the ships?” I ask, trying to move the conversation along.

“Yes…” Ella replied hesitantly.

“Then keep the escort to the absolute minimum, we don’t want the Alvs getting spooked.” I say to Lord Orien.

“As you wish Dark Hero. We will be sending two troop transports, may I suggest one escort each? That way in the event of withdrawal, each ship will have some cover from the demons.” Lord Orien suggested.

“What are the armaments of the ships?” I ask.

“The troop transports are equipped with broadside ballistas, the flag ship which is the one you will be taking, Dark Hero has an artillery platform with a trebuchet on it. It can provide limited shore bombardment if required. The escort ships are small with just a twenty man crew, they are equipped with small scorpions and aerial net launchers.

Overall I feel they would pose little threat to Alven ships considering the Alvs prefer small fast moving ships. The larger ships were designed to combat human ships, not Alven vessels. I can assure you that the anti Alven defense fleet will remain in harbour.” Lord Orien said.

“Anti Alven defense fleet?” I ask as I furrow my brow. I mean it makes sense for one to exist, afterall judging from what I can tell the only major naval threat to Regus would be the Alvs.

“Mostly medium ships built for speed, they have retractable blade hooks on the sides to snare Alven ships to allow for boarding parties. The Alvs prefer hit and run tactics, they are significantly less effective when they are tied down.” Lord Orien said to a scowl from Ella.

“Alright not a single of those ships leaves this port, will that be fine Ella?” I ask as I turn to her, Ella as usual hesitated for a moment and nodded.

With that we began making preparations to board the ships, it was decided that the Bronze Bulls and a portion of the Grey Eagles would sail with me on the flag ship. I wanted the mercenaries close and not on the same ship as Mages. I’m not saying I don’t trust a group of largely uneducated men who kill for a living to keep their hands to themselves… Actually, yes, I don’t trust them. What am I crazy? Put those women who can very easily blow their own ship sky high on this ship with a group of male mercenaries? No way in hell am I doing that!

So yes, the Bronze Bulls are with me on my ship so I can keep an eye on them. I’ll trust the Silver Lions to be tactful, but I had a word with Davis just in case. Jerome decided to ride with me on this ship to give me a hand in keeping the mercenaries in line.

Right before I got on the ship Ophelia walked up to me and I could tell she wanted to say something.

“Katsuro?” Ophelia asked and I noted she was slightly pink in the face. Whether that was a blush or just the heat from the sun I don’t know. But I do have a suspicion judging by the look in her eyes.

“Yes?” I ask politely, giving her a small smile. It’s best to stay in her good graces even if I don’t feel for her the way she feels about me. Still it would be best to maintain this relationship. Having the favour of the daughter of the lord of Marineburg is undoubtedly a good connection to have.

“I just wanted to wish you good fortune in the campaign.” Ophelia said.

“Well thank you but I don’t really believe in luck.” I reply with a small laugh.

That’s a lie of course, luck is more important than skill in wars. You could be the best soldier in the world but if you are unlucky a mortar shell might just land on you out of the blue. After that you’re paste and your family buries a closed coffin with only about half your bits in the coffin. Still a little joke and acting tough can be useful when dealing with a girl like Ophelia.

“Surely you aren’t that naive Katsuro.” Ophelia replied with a giggle.

“Of course not, I'd rather be lucky than good. If you are lucky enough you get past almost anything. But of course from my past experience fighting in hell I think I’m a bit of both.” I reply with another laugh.

“That’s good to hear, I will be praying for your safe return.” Ophelia said.

“Pray for our success, with luck I’ll be back with some allies in tow. I heard the Alvs are great archers, having a few thousand of them will certainly be a great help.” I say with a smirk.

“Then I shall pray for your success. Gods willing you will be victorious. Although I fear there will be many who will oppose allying with the Alvs.” Ophelia replied.

“Are you among those who would be opposed to that?” I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

“No, my house was never enamoured with the idea of human supremacy. The house of Orien remembers a time when we lived in harmony with the other races. In fact we took quite a financial hit when trading with the Alvs ceased.” Ophelia said.

Oh so house Orien used to trade with the Alvs, I guess it isn't that surprising, it must be hard to get trade convoys through the dense forest by land. So traveling by sea would be the most efficient method.

“Well the fools that oppose it will soon have to decide if they prefer non-humans or demons next door. I have a suspicion that the non-humans are the more reasonable of the two.” I reply jokingly.

“I suspect that may be true.” Opehlia said with another giggle.

“Oh yes, one more thing.” Ophelia said as I gave her a look at the sudden change of topic.

“What?” I ask.

“In the flag ship's cargo hold, there are four coffins. Within lie the remains of the Alv Princess’s guards. My father was busy coordinating the ships, but I felt I could do a little more to help you. The bodies have been cleaned and preserved to the best of our ability. I felt returning their remains to the Alvs would be a good gesture of goodwill. It is afterall quite tragic to be buried in a foreign land, their families should have the opportunity to have a final farewell.” Ophelia said her demeanor slightly more subdued and I could sense the faintest sadness within her for the tragedy. I guess the house of Orien might really be one of the nobles that weren’t racists.

“Oh wow, yes that’s great. I am sure Ella and the Alvs would appreciate that. Thank you really, this is a really good thing for us.” I say as I smile.

“There is no need for thanks Katsuro, I may not be able to do much to aid you in this war, but what little I can do, I will.” Ophelia said sincerely.

With those words I felt a pang of guilt as I thought of how I knew the next Rift will be here in Marineburg. It seemed like I would be spitting on her good faith by hiding this information… I should at least allow them to prepare…

What was that saying that Shuji always said...

Those who treat me with kindness

I will repay that kindness tenfold

Those that treat me with injustice

I will repay that injustice a thousand times over…

“Erm Ophelia, there is actually one last thing I wanted to talk to you about. I was planning to tell your father but I guess you can pass on the message.” I say as I lie through my teeth.

“Hmm what is it?” Ophelia asked.

“I heard a rumor from the Mage Councillors. They have been trying to peer into the demonic world when they sensed something wrong in the area around Marineburg. They suspect the next Rift will be somewhere nearby.” I say in a hushed tone.

At those words I saw Ophelia’s eyes widen in shock.

“Why didn’t they tell us?” Ophelia replied.

“I don’t know, but they told me Filianoreh knows. I think they are afraid that if they told you, house Orien won’t support this campaign.” I say.

“Well father might have refused to lend aid with an impending Rift… we do need the Alv’s on our side and the Rift at Alvuan will be unsealable if we leave it open any longer… Yes, I see why the princess hid this… perhaps this is the best course of action.” Ophelia finished with a sigh.

“You’re ok with this?” I ask, a little surprised.

“I don’t like it but in the long term it seems like the best path forward. I will make whatever preparations necessary. Princess Filianoreh will not sacrifice Marineburg, the destruction of our city will be a knife right into Regus’s supply artery. I have no doubt that Princess Filianoreh has already made preparations for this, she probably already has forces in position on other pretenses that would be poised to aid us.” Ophelia said.

“Well let’s hope you are right, I’ll hurry back as soon as I can. Until then stay safe Ophelia, there’s not that many decent and capable people here in this kingdom. I can’t afford to lose any of the few we have.” I say as I look her in the eyes.

“Thank you Katsuro, I’ll pray for your success.” Ophelia replied and I could see fear tinging her gaze. I immediately felt a twist of guilt in my gut as I saw that fear colouring her emerald eyes.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, just hang in there until then. The Alvs have lasted this long. I am sure we humans can too.” I say with a reassuring smile.

“If you think about it, Fililanoreh was confident enough to let the Rifts arrive without any warning. Like you said Regus cannot afford to let Marineburg fall. I’ll seal that Rift get stronger and get back stronger.” I say as I place a hand on her shoulder.

I feel her tense shoulder relax slightly and I see her eyes calm slightly.

“Alright? Back in a flash.” I say with a smile.

“Thank you for your kindness Katsuro.” Ophelia said as she gave me the strongest smile she could muster and I returned her smile with the confident one I give my troops on the eve of the battle.

With that I nod and turn away but before I could I felt Ophelia grab my cloak. I turn back and I see her shaking slightly.

“If you do not return in time and if my brother falls in Alvuan… you should know our words…” Ophelia said softly.

“You can tell me when I get back, House Orien has survived the last set of Rifts, it will survive this one.” I replied.

Still you should know our words

Fair winds and following seas...