Arn, pretending to be Leo, set down the receiver of the magical voice amplification tool and exhaled deeply.
"I just hope this makes our work easier."
"I doubt it. Most of the victims we've rescued so far have been too weak to climb aboard on their own. We cannot hope for much more when they've been struggling to stay afloat for so many hours."
"I know, I know, Captain! Except for the minimum necessary crew on lookout, I want you to assign all other crew members to search and rescue operations!"
"Again with that kind of order?! What if a sea dragon comes?!"
"If we see one, we're already done for. We're better off concentrating on the rescue mission than wasting resources on keeping a lookout."
"What about other monsters?!"
"There aren't any nearby. And there won't be any coming near the area so soon after a sea dragon's passed by."
After that statement, Arn went off to assist the rescue operations.
He did so only because that's what Leo would do. As Arn, he would've preferred to keep an eye on the situation from afar and give orders, but unfortunately, he was Leo now. Convincing himself he had no choice, he went to work.
The crew had just pulled a group of four or five survivors onboard. All of them were shivering with cold, so Arn helped cover them with thick blankets readied for that purpose.
"You did well. You're safe now."
"Thank you... Thank you..."
The victims' tears of gratitude clearly showed him the degree of fear and suffering they'd experienced. As he continued to help out, Arn received new information.
"There's a group of survivors off the port side! About fifty of them!"
"Fifty?! We don't have room for that many!"
They'd already rescued about a dozen people. The ship wouldn't hold another fifty. A regular crew didn't even amount to a hundred members. In terms of space, there just wasn't enough for so many rescued victims.
Something had to be sacrificed, so Arn was forced to make his next decision.
"How would you like to proceed? There are more survivors than anticipated."
"I guess it's not a complete surprise. They had three ships compared to our one. This was bound to happen if there were a lot of lucky ones."
"So then have you also devised a strategy?"
Arn answered the knight's expectations with a bitter look. This was the last decision he wanted to make, but it had to be done.
"Except for the food supplies in the stockroom, throw everything else overboard."
"...Including the gifts for Rondine?"
"Everything."
The knight was left stunned.
This was Leo's ship, and the gifts on board were all much greater in value than those on "Arn's" ship. Included were the latest innovations in weaponry as well as precious gold and silver treasure, all destined to be presented to Rondine. Arn had just made the decision to throw that wealth of riches, an amount sufficient to provide a man an entire life of luxury, into the ocean.
"Are you absolutely sure, Your Highness?"
"I'm not sure about anything anymore. We can't go to Rondine with that many survivors on board. Our food and water supply won't last. That means we'll have to make a stop in Albatro for additional supplies, and at that point, we'll already be way behind schedule. On top of that, there's a sea dragon lurking in the area. Who knows when we'll actually make it to Rondine now. Anyhow, I decided that we would help the survivors, and now it's up to me to protect Leo's reputation. So that's what we're going to do, no matter what sacrifice it takes. This is nonnegotiable. You can't put a price on saving lives. We're not going to let a single survivor of that shipwreck die. Understood?"
"Y-yes, Your Highness."
The knight was so overwhelmed by the determination he saw in Arn's eyes that he momentarily faltered. Despite his surprise, another memory of Arn immediately came to mind. It was of the day he had removed his wristband for Elna's sake.
Elna had been assigned to accompany Arn during his participation in the Knight's Festival of the Hunt, and allowing him to be disqualified was unthinkable to her. Therefore, Arn had taken the initiative and disqualified himself before she could do anything about it, freeing Elna to go on without him. It had been a brilliant and commendable decision that most people would have never imagined being made by the one they called the Insipid Prince.
And once again, Arn was playing the part of Leo almost more perfectly than Leo could've done himself, and his orders were spot on.
"There's truly more to you than meets the eye."
"Did you say something?"
"Nothing of importance. I will see to it that everything except the food is disposed of."
"Thanks. ...Everyone, continue with the rescue! Save everyone who can be saved! I will take full responsibility!"
As he shouted out his orders, Arn looked at the approaching group of survivors. There were some sick and injured aboard a small boat, and Eva was among them. Julio was also swimming nearby.
"The princess and prince are alive. This gives us more fodder for negotiating with the grand duke."
While considering that thought, Arn threw a rope ladder down to Julio and his group. However, Julio made no attempt to grab onto it.
"Prince Julio! Hurry and climb up!"
"Take those who are injured first!"
Julio shouted back, gesturing to the people aboard the boat. Rescuing those who were unable to climb up on their own would take a lot of time, which would in turn delay the rescue of Julio and the other swimmers. Despite that, Julio and the others in the water wanted the sick and injured to be given priority.
"All right! Hang on!"
Rescuing the people in the boat proceeded at a breakneck pace as crew members descended to it, scooped up victims, and carried them back up to the ship.
All the while, survivors from other places were being rescued as well. Once Eva and all the other sick or injured victims were taken in, Arn cast a free rope to Julio.
Julio grabbed onto it, but the moment he did, his body went limp with relief. He had entirely exhausted all of his strength.
"Prince Julio?!"
Arn saw the unconscious prince start to sink and instantly leapt to action. Just like when he had rescued Finne, pure instinct took over before a conscious decision could be made. He jumped into the ocean, heedless of the sea dragon threat, and managed to pull Julio back to the surface. This threw the crew members from the empire into a flurry of shock and commotion.
"Prince Leo!"
"He just dove into the water!"
Although some of the crew had braved the climb down to the small boat and back, no one dared leap into the ocean. Even without the danger of sea dragons and monsters, it would've still been too frightening.
And yet the prince, whose safety was absolutely imperative, jumped right in. After seeing that, Adrasian crew members worked up the courage to jump in after him and expand their rescue efforts.
"Toss me the rope!"
"Right here!"
The one who threw over the rope was the middle-aged knight.
Arn tied the rope around Julio, who was still unconscious, and had him hauled aboard the ship. He then began climbing a nearby rope ladder himself. When he was nearly at the top, a hand reached out to help him. He gratefully grabbed it and was met by the exasperated gaze of the same knight.
"Thanks."
"No problem. I'm getting used to dragging you out of danger sopping wet."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You wouldn't remember. You were unconscious last time."
"Last time? What are you talking about?"
"When you nearly drowned in the bathtub at the supreme archduke's home, I was the one who pulled you out of the water. I was employed by the Amsbergs even back then."
"...Are you for real?"
"Absolutely. I joined the imperial guard at the same time as Commander Elna. Although I never imagined I would still be dragging you out of the water as an imperial knight."
"Stop making it sound like I did something wrong. That first time I was drowning, and this second time I was saving someone's life. I hardly think I've been that much of a burden."
"Of course not, Your Highness."
Arn saw the knight grimace and sighed. Learning he was affiliated with the Amsbergs was enough to make Arn think twice about thanking him for his past efforts. Then, after a moment or two of consideration, he realized something.
"By the way, I never got your name."
"I'm Marc Tiber, second-in-command of the third regiment of the imperial guard. It is an honor to officially make your acquaintance."
"That's nice. I for one hope our acquaintanceship doesn't last too long, Marc."
"One can only hope, Your Highness."