Our current goal was to check the ticket office and find out when the next ship to Kenli would depart. Walking side by side required too much attention, so I just hoisted Alice onto my back and carried her.
One, I didn't have to worry about her wandering. Two, if something sudden happened, she wouldn't fall behind. Three, the transparent barrier could shrink, making it easier to keep distance from others.
Alice was already asleep on my back. What a self-centered kid. Still, her sleeping meant she wouldn't bother me, so I counted it as a plus.
I moved carefully through the streets and eventually reached the ticket office—and froze.
Why were there so many people? And why was there zero order? Everyone was shoving and scrambling for tickets like it was a massive clearance sale battlefield. How did Jacob and the others manage to buy tickets without getting trampled?
The crowd completely surrounded the booth. There was no way I could squeeze in, and I couldn't risk entering the mass of people anyway.
After anxiously waiting for a while, the crowd finally thinned by about half. A woman passed by us, staring at the ticket in her hand.
"I finally got the last ticket to Kenli! Let's see… Ship 15, departing at 12 p.m."
My heart jolted.
I'd almost ignored her when she said "last ticket," but what came next shocked me. The ship number was the same one Jacob and the others had boarded.
That wasn't the shocking part.
The shocking part was that the ship was already back before noon?!
The distance between Bares and Kenli wasn't short. A round trip in an hour, powered by wind alone? That speed was ridiculous.
I quietly moved closer and strained my eyes to confirm the destination, ship number, and time printed on the ticket. She'd told the truth.
I pulled out my pocket watch. 11:41...11:41 a.m.?! Less than twenty minutes before departure. Just navigating around the crowd would take time.
I adjusted Alice on my back and rushed toward Dock 15. The traffickers were still searching, so stubborn. They could keep looking until nightfall and still never find us.
After fighting through obstacle after obstacle, we finally reached the dock. The ship had indeed returned. I checked my watch again.
11:55 a.m. We barely made it.
Passengers were lining up to hand their tickets to the inspector, but the density of the crowd was still too high for me to slip through. I had to wait until most of them boarded.
Eventually, we slipped past with the flow and stepped onto the ship.
"Attention passengers. This vessel is about to depart. Please stay clear of the masts and sails. Thank you for your cooperation."
A sailor's announcement. The passengers obeyed and moved away from the rigging, and I did the same. I headed to the rear third deck, which happened to be empty. After confirming no one was watching, I cancel the magic.
The ship launched.
It shot out of the harbor at an incredible speed—easily 25 miles per hour. I stared in disbelief. On the main deck, several sailors stood with their hands raised toward the sails.
At first I didn't get it. I almost laughed.
Then it clicked.
The wind around me wasn't strong at all. A ship shouldn't move this fast on natural wind alone. The answer was magic.
Of course. Why hadn't I thought of something so obvious? The sailors all had wind element. They weren't relying on nature—they were generating wind manually. They could leave whenever they wanted.
To reach this speed, the force had to be immense. Why didn't the sails tear apart?
The answer was simple, the material was insanely durable. And considering how dangerous the seas were, the fact that they could travel at this speed explained why this country's naval technology outclassed the rest.
Our immediate crisis was over. Time to wake the sleeping princess.
I shook my shoulders left and right.
"Alice. Wake up."
"..."
No response.
"Wake up."
"..."
Alice still didn't react. I decided to pull out the classic threat people use on heavy sleepers—figuring that should wake her up.
"If you don't wake up, I'm leaving you here."
"No…"
She reacted—but her voice wasn't normal. It was trembling with fear and sadness.
She started muttering in her sleep.
"No… don't… don't leave me… don't leave me!"
Her final shout snapped her awake. The volume at point-blank range nearly deafened me. My ears rang for several seconds before my head cleared.
I rubbed my ear and said flatly,
"...Get down."
"Huh?"
"Get off my back first."
"Okay."
She slid down, but her legs were still weak from sleep. She stumbled backward a few steps. I stretched my aching shoulders—carrying her that long had wrecked my upper body.
When I finished stretching, I looked at Alice. The things she'd been mumbling in her sleep were too strange, and I couldn't help getting curious about what she'd dreamed.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"...Yeah."
Her answer was soft and sad. But it didn't sound like a monster nightmare. It sounded personal.
"What was it about?"
She held her head and tried to remember.
"...I was chasing two people standing still… but no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch them. And… I can't remember the rest."
Remembering the core of a dream was already impressive.
I started analyzing it. Nightmares like that usually tied back to someone's past. The people she chased… were gone. Unreachable. Someone she'd lost.
Her parents, maybe? But she'd never met them.
"Alice, how old were you when you entered the temple?"
"I was born there. Why?"
"No reason. Just curious."
So she truly never knew her parents.
Then who were those two figures?
…Yeah, I was officially wasting brainpower on something that had nothing to do with me. Better to think about what triggered the nightmare—but however I spun it, the trigger was probably me, fine.
No reason to stay on the third deck anymore.
"Let's go down."
"Karen… where are we?"
She'd been awake this whole time and still didn't understand? I answered in the flattest voice possible.
"On a ship."
"What?! When did we board?!"
She looked around in shock like she'd just teleported.
"While you were sleeping."
"I'm sorry… I only cause trouble. I can't help with anything…"
Her head drooped. She blamed herself. Honestly, I never expected her to help. Not causing trouble was enough.
I bent down so our eyes were level and raised a finger.
"Listen. Don't wander off again. If you want to go somewhere, tell us. We'll go with you."
"I understand."
She smiled after saying that. I had no idea what she was so happy about.
We headed down to the main deck, leaned against the railing, and watched the ocean roll by while I casually taught her a few things about the sea.