The wood creaked. There was a murmur of voices, and the iron lamps were swaying left and right. The sails flapped about. There was billowing on the ceiling, and the lamplight was killing his eyes.

He turned his focus back on writing his journal. His writing stick on hand and the smell of paper on the front. There was a smell of salty cool air on that entered the gaps on the hull. But it didn't beat the smell of paper that had smelled funny. He wondered if he could get rid of the funny smell.

As Gabrio thought of the smell. He recalled smelling something familiar on his travels around the United Continent. The smell belonged to the trees in Calah Region. He had journeyed there using passenger ships. Compared to those ships, the Milostiv was the only ship that had not made his clothes become wet. The Galleon was a work of art compared to those crude vessels. But then again, this Galleon, was created with human engineering and Elven. And was greater than the ships he had used in the past. Comparing those ships to the Grand Galleon felt like a joke.

"Would I be able to see Aon again?" Gabrio thought. He had not seen most of the United Continent. He had met many people, experienced cultures, but he was sure that he had not seen it all. There were so many cultures around Aon that it would take a lifetime to explore the continent.

A colleague of mine had traveled the lands, and he made it his mission to understood and record the cultures of Aon. Merlin was the name of that person. He was a person who would spend his time on the red pastures of Ukid. Wandering the pastures with a notebook, sketching animals, and making records of plants. He would check the stems, plants, and measure how tall the grasses are. When they reunited on a bar inside a town in Ukid, he was theorizing that the pigment inside the plants was the cause. That the redness came from the water and the soil. Gabrio didn't understand why he had come to that conclusion. And in honesty, Gabrio hadn't bothered to understand. When he told Merlin this, he widened his eyes at Gabrio and then pointed at him as if he was a criminal.

"No! We must understand these plants if we intend to make use of them! Imagine if we are ignorant of these plants and then said plants are a curse to a plague or a source of food we can eat? Did you know that we thought of wheat at first as only golden grass? Do you? Gabrio, how could you be so ignorant despite being a man of science!?"

He had to explain to Merlin that he wanted to understand the intentions behind his studies, not mock it. Merlin calmed down after hearing him out, and though it was shameful. Gabrio had to ask Merlin a favor, which led to Merlin putting a smug look on his face.

He told Merlin of his dream about a plant. The same plant that was in his cabin. Merlin knew the lands well and within a few months, he found the plants. He carried three samples. One was sweet when roasted and the other needed to be deep-fried and salted to make it delicious. The last sample was for him to study.

For all the complaints that he had for Gabrio's sudden request. He whooped with joy and clapped Gabrio's back for finding the plant.

The last time Gabrio had seen Merlin was when he visited his farmstead. Merlin took the plants and created an entire farm for it. He started calling them 'spuds' and had given Gabrio some for his journey. He insisted that Gabrio should take the spuds. Gabrio took the basket of pots and now they were inside his cabins, filling his room with two kinds of spuds.

It was still the 20th of the Third-Cycle of the Year 1500. It had been only a few weeks yet he had started missing Merlin. He should be used to this, but even in his travels, he knew that he was going to be in the same land where his friend lives. Yet knowing that he might not meet that smug bastard saddened Gabrio. He came to this Galleon because of no reason other than he wanted to help the people. He was a Doctor. That was his life's purpose. He had no sad reason to throw his life away. He wanted to work on the Galleon and that's all there was to it.

He would heal while he would leave the others in the pointing of weapons to the leaders of the voyage.

The banner that appeared when the destruction happened. The grand fleet that has a thousand soldiers in it with orders from the Chancellor. The Elven Lady of Roan. The Ark was accompanied by merchants ships. And there was also the group of Caldor Ando.

They had secrets and he accepted that it was not a mere trip. But it doesn't mean that he was no unafraid.

What worried when coming to this ship was the creatures that live in the depths of the ocean. The Dreaded Seas of the Thousand Islands had been a cause of worry. Generations of sailors had tried to get past the line of Dread, but none of them have succeeded. Those who have managed to escape through luck have were not seen again.

The Dread Line was also the graveyard of the ships destroyed by the sea creatures. The ships destroyed on the dread line would drift to a location called as Tascam's Point.

There were many attempts to circumnavigate the Dread Lines. Only for their ships to be shipwreck because of shallow waters. Not to mention the gigantic sea creatures called the black-scaled were destroying ships. Of course, there were many attempts to round the world, only for those ships to never return. Those who did return only told of empty flat seas and endless storms that could crush a man's morale. Even if they do get passed the endless sea, the route itself would take a lifetime to complete. By that time they would starve to death.

That was why with the new technology, the Reconnoiter Company intends to crush the Dread Line. Dominate the seas themselves and reach a thousand islands with their power.

But the Company has to survive the Dreaded Lines if they want to succeed in the Thousand Islands.

*****

When Gabrio still focused on writing his journal. A Constable came running to see him. He led Gabrio to one of the cabins. It was the block where most of the boatswains lived.

Entering the door Gabrio saw a man hanged by the neck on a crossbeam. His eyes were bulging, and his neck was purple. The smell alone made Gabrio conclude that it had been two days since he had hanged himself.

"Wiles, help me cut this man down," Gabrio said.

Wiles clambered up the beam and wrapped his legs on the crossbeam. He lowered his knife on the rope holding the man and used his free arm to lower the man down. Gabrio caught the cadaver by the armpit and laid him down. Gabrio took his knife out and loosened the rope around his neck.

"Go to the Constables, and asked them to prepare something to wrap him."

"Are we going to throw him out, Sir?"

"Yes," Gabrio said. "The Chaplain will see to it that he would anyway."

The Church had labeled it as a sin against God to take one's own life. This man was a heathen and because of his actions, his body will be forsaken to the mercy of the sea.

Searching his room. He found the man's journal with papers placed between the pages. Debtors, contracts, and waiver that told his life belonged to the Company was in these papers. From the papers alone had deduced that this man's only living relative lived on Old Carthan.

And know what had happened to Old Carthan. Gabrio could not blame the man for taking his own life. He had only one hope and that hope was then taken from him. Teardrops, alcohol, and his thoughts had led this man to his death.

Gabrio kept the papers to himself while waiting for Wiles. When Wiles arrived with the Constables, he allowed them to left the body and wrapped it with a winding sheet. Telling them to get out, Gabrio placed the man's journal on the chest and then had it clasped within the man's hands. Completing the wrapping, he wrapped the metal shackles on the man's legs. And instructed the Constables to carry to the topside. Along the way, they met curious stares and people who covered their noses in disgust. News travels fast in this Galleon.

Reaching the deck, Gabrio saw the Chaplain. The Chaplain's eyes stayed on the man wrapped in a winding sheet. The Chaplain sauntered to the man, went on both knees, and clasped his hands in prayer. He prayed for God to forgive the man for his sins. That surprised Gabrio, and he made a gesture of praying with the Chaplain.

"What caused this man's death?"

"His only relative died in Old Carthan."

"I see."

"Why pray for him?" Gabrio said to the Chaplain.

"Even the dead needed respect. It is not our role to judge the dead. We leave it to God now, Doctor."

"That's strange coming from the church."

"Indeed," the Chaplain said with a weary smile. "But as times changed, the church must also do the same without changing our core ideals. Do you know that one of the latest reforms had allowed those who serve under God to pray for the sinners? He had sinned, but it is not our duty to judge the soul of a man who had grief eaten him. It is now the role of God to do so."

"Is this a new tenet of the church?"

"It is, Doctor."

Gabrio and the Chaplain watched them carry the corpse to the edge of the plank. The Chaplain held his right hand for silence. The noise coming from the crew vanished, and left was the sound of the body hitting the water.

When the body vanished to the darkness of the seas. The noise around the deck started again. Gabrio and the Chaplain stared at the seas. Standing next to each other while the rest did their work.

"More will try to do this, Chaplain. He's not the only one who had left his family in the Old Carthan. Do we have a chapel inside the Ship?”

"Of course, we must have a place of God in this ship."

"Then please make sure that they are well-tended. It could do good for those who have lost to have their spirits renewed. I could tend physical wounds, but you are the one that heals the wounds that reside in the heart and soul, Chaplain."

"Very well, I will make a call for those who believe in the Church. If you have time then join us. The mass must happen before we reach Tascam's point.

After a time, Gabrio accompanied the Chaplain until the second deck. Gabrio then bid farewell to the Chaplain and walked back to his home deck. He listened to the sounds of the waves hitting the hulls. The chatter of the people in the halls and the groaning of the ship.

Upon returning to the deck, Gabrio greeted Wiles with his eyes. Gabrio then entered his cabin and seated himself near his desk. Opening his tome, he turned the page to the pages that read about the cause of hangings.

It had been observed about hangings, the tome reads. That the cause of death was usually not suffocation. It was the breaking of the neck. This creates rapid swelling in the spinal cord. Disrupting the blood flow and nerve signals in the brain stem, leading to a quick swift death. A momentary of pain for a swift death. Despite reading the tome, Gabrio couldn't understand.

There were still a few days that remained until the fleet reaches Tascam's point. Until then, Gabrio wanted to rid his mind of his thoughts. Because it reminded of the Surgeon who had let his student butcher him for the sake of knowledge.