The most frightening creatures out on the open ocean were sea dragons, the kings of the water.
They were dragons adapted for aquatic life, top-ranked monsters who wreaked havoc throughout the seas. They were even more ferocious than dragons on land. Countless sailors had lost their lives after sea dragons had sunk their ships.
Sea dragons had even once sunk the entire fleets of two countries engaged in naval warfare. Naturally, Elna had heard that frightening tale as well. The moment I brought up sea dragons, she looked as if her spirit had been entirely crushed.
"Am I...going to die out here?"
"Of course you're not going to die, stupid. It's like you're a completely different person. Is it really appropriate for an imperial knight to be acting like this? You can't accept missions knowing you could negatively affect their outcome."
"But..."
I sighed. She was reluctant to show weakness, and I understood that. Besides, no pirates would deliberately attack the ship of a diplomatic envoy with such stringent security. The odds of her having to fight at sea were essentially zero. And once we were back on land, she would be back to her old self. I decided to lay off the teasing for the time being.
Satisfied at having said my piece, I secretly put up a barrier. It was an isolation barrier between us and the rest of the ship. The rocking would no longer feel as strong. I'd never be able to use such a barrier normally, but in her present state of mind, I was sure Elna wouldn't notice.
"I-it seems like the ship's not rocking as much now..."
"It was never rocking that much in the first place."
"Y-you're just too insensitive. Aren't you at all concerned about the ship sinking?"
"Only two times in all of history has the ship of an imperial delegation ever sunk."
"But there's no guarantee that we won't be the third, right?"
Unlike usual, Elna was being almost annoyingly pessimistic. How could she get even more scared over information I'd brought up to reassure her?
There was no point in saying anything else. I'd better just let her be scared.
A hesitant knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. The sound of it startled Elna. Since she was in no condition to reply, I did so for her, and a middle-aged knight under her command opened the door.
"Come in."
"Pardon the intrusion. Uh, how are you doing, Commander?"
"I-I'm alive..."
"Can you come up on deck?"
"Are you trying to kill me?! I'll drown if the wind blows me overboard!"
"Are you imagining some sort of storm outside? It's perfectly nice and sunny today. Geez... She's been like this the whole time."
When I looked at the knight in frustration, I noticed he was also grimacing. Apparently the knights under Elna's command knew of her affliction. Besides, it wasn't as if she could've hidden it at this point.
"Well then, I'll just share this update. A ship from the Grand Duchy of Albatro is requesting a meeting with us. We have dropped anchor, as has Prince Leonard's ship. How you would like to proceed?"
"Albatro, huh? So we're already within their maritime territory, then."
The Grand Duchy of Albatro bordered the Grand Duchy of Rondine. They were a seafaring nation engaged in widespread maritime trade. At one point in the past, when the Adrasia Empire was at war with another foreign nation, Albatro had provided assistance to our opposition, so Albatro and Adrasia were currently not on friendly terms.
If they were requesting a meeting, it was most likely because they didn't want us going to Rondine. And a meeting would serve as a de facto inspection of our ships.
"H-have all the knights return to their rooms. We don't want to appear aggressive."
"Agreed. What is Leo saying?"
"Well... Prince Leonard seems to be indisposed at the moment, as well. That is why I came for your opinion."
"Ahh... Fine. I'll deal with them while pretending to be Leo."
With that, I left the room. Leo's ship was right next to ours. An Albatro delegation was likely to come aboard as soon as we gave the signal agreeing to a meeting. Of course, it was doubtful they'd search every last nook and cranny of an envoy ship, so we'd probably be okay.
I crossed over to the other ship and headed to Leo's room.
When I got there, I was met by a pale-faced Leo. As I'd guessed, he was in no shape to conduct a meeting.
We were both wearing the same clothes, a black shirt and bright blue coat. It was the outfit of imperial ambassadors. Normally only the ambassador wore it, but this time, I also got the privilege since I was his aide. It symbolized that I was equivalent in status to an ambassador myself. At first I'd found this fact annoying, but in this situation, it meant that I could easily pull off pretending to be Leo.
"Hey. I hear you're not feeling too good, huh? Did you get seasick?"
"Yeah... I think so..."
"Ugh. Get a grip already. It's not like you're Elna."
"Sorry..."
"I'll pretend to be you for now. You can go lay down somewhere on the other ship."
"But—"
"Just go. ...Say Prince Arnold's feeling sick."
"But Your Highness, that will be yet another slight to your reputation."
"That's fine. It doesn't make any difference at this point."
After giving Elna's subordinate his orders, I had Leo cross to the other ship, pretending to be me, of course.
Once he'd gone, I fixed my hair and clothes, put on a dignified expression, and left the room.
"I accept the request for a meeting. Start the preparations."
"Yes, Your Highness."
And just like that, out in the middle of the ocean, Leo and I switched places.
2
It turned out Albatro had sent three military warships. These were sailing ships outfitted with magical cannons that could fire rounds using mana. They were cutting edge in terms of warship technology. Defending ourselves hand-to-hand if they boarded offensively would be hard enough, and we'd have almost no chance if they fired on us from a distance.
"There's no way they would attack us, right?"
"I would assume not, since if they did, that would mean war with Adrasia."
"Thanks for taking Leo over. How are he and Elna doing?"
"Like they're on their last legs. If this were a sporting event, the referee would be calling the match about now."
The knight had just returned from escorting Leo to the other ship. He was the only one who knew we'd switched places. It would be useful to keep him with me.
"Think I'll be disqualified?"
"You'll be fine, just as long as no one finds out."
The knight's responses showed surprising flexibility for someone under Elna's command. Actually, I wouldn't have minded having him on my own staff.
"All right. I guess I'll just have to give a perfect performance."
"Ready when you are, Your Highness."
And with that, the knight and I went out to greet the approaching Albatro ships.