NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30 - Evil Spirits of the Old World
< Chapter 30: Evil Spirits of the Old World – 3 >
The seas of the Ropan World were nothing short of harsh.
If I had to cross the winter North Sea again after this trip, I’d rather grow a mustache.
Our ship nearly got wrecked by a drifting iceberg, and a giant octopus almost rammed us.
Despite being a fantasy world with no mana, the climate and vegetation were excessively extreme, and it nearly caused a disaster.
‘Still, we finally arrived.’
The ship docked, looking like a wreck.
#
The dock workers murmured among themselves.
“It’s a miracle it didn’t sink.”
“Did a Kraken show up again? Was it a juvenile?”
After disembarking from that cursed ship and looking back, I saw clear marks where the giant octopus had dented the steel.
‘They call that a juvenile?’
In the midst of a storm at sea.
The memory of that hellish night when the monster octopus, about seven or eight stories tall, raised its head above the ship’s deck lingered vividly.
– “Get the power weapons ready!”
– “Connect the engine! Pressure at 100%!”
Extra output from the steam engine was channeled through pipes to start the ‘power weapons.’
Though their utility had become somewhat ambiguous after the last war, things were different in seas teeming with giant monsters and massive marine creatures.
There were a few heavy-duty steam saws and steam pile bunkers rolling around on the ship, and we barely managed to cut off one of its legs after a frantic struggle.
I recalled the original narrative.
「Creatures born with the so-called ‘Black Heart’ were all vicious. Retaining the primordial power, they were once worshipped as gods or spirits in ancient times.」
‘Thinking about it, am I also a human-monster hybrid?’
The Black Heart said to reside in Eugene Hastings’ body. I placed my hand on my chest once again.
…I didn’t feel anything in particular.
At that moment, a young sailor from the ship hurried down the gangway.
He was the lunatic who had foamed at the mouth, ready to ram the octopus’s belly if necessary.
“Down with the Reds!”
The young madman saluted with a look of joy that bordered on ecstasy.
Congressman Roche and Lize Carter were shocked enough to drop their tired expressions, but I calmly returned the salute.
“Down with the Reds. Are you a military man?”
“I served as a proud Royal Navy cadet on the Lusitania! I came here to once again pay my respects to your brilliant achievements, Colonel!”
Ah, the Lusitania.
The ill-fated ship that sank so absurdly at the end of the war.
Before taking the commissioning exam, it meant that the war ended and the friend’s military career flew away.
If he’s a cadet, he must be from the Naval Academy.
No matter how badly the Royal Army was defeated, it was rare for such an elite to be steering a ship for a small private shipping company.
“Haha, calling it a remarkable feat is a bit much. At best, I just cut off one of the octopus’s larger tentacles. Luckily, the octopus decided to leave on its own.”
Trying to end the conversation appropriately, I glanced at the name written on the navigator’s chest.
It was always better to end a conversation with a voter in a more personal and friendly manner.
Minus 10 points for being from the Royal Army. Minus 100 points for being a filthy seal.
The total of minus 110 points made the probability of them picking me close to 0%, but who knows?
Reading the name with that mindset, I flinched.
“James… huh?”
“Oh, do you know me?”
The navigator’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
No, that’s not it…
I chuckled and read his full name.
“James T. Kirk. Sounds like a name for a famous captain.”
“Thank you!”
The young navigator responded with a salute, not understanding the situation.
…The New Deal policy includes the construction of ‘a certain battleship.’
It’s a large project that we might be able to proceed with during the ‘second phase,’ but we will probably need to call in a large number of personnel from the old Royal Navy.
‘Of all names, it just had to be that one.’
I stroked my chin.
“Lize. Please gather some information on that friend when we return to the mainland.”
“You mean that second mate?”
“We need many young officers from the old Royal Army for the naval reconstruction project. Now that the Royal Navy has virtually disbanded, we should give priority to friends like him who have been working in the private sector without any gaps.”
Lize looked at me with admiration.
“…You always have national affairs on your mind. I will take care of it.”
It’s not really to that extent…
In fact, I had the opportunity to choose the code name for the shipbuilding project. Without much thought, I just borrowed the name of the most famous ship in the world.
‘Enterprise.’
The Yorktown-class second ship that became a legend during World War II. And the ship named after that legendary ship, the flagship of the Star Trek series.
And James T. Kirk is the eternal captain of the Enterprise, which heralded the beginning of the Star Trek series.
Considering the nature of the original work, which was filled with unnecessary pop culture homages, ‘Mr. Kirk’ was undoubtedly an SSS-grade talent destined to become a captain.
Before taking the commissioning exam, it meant that the war ended and the friend’s military career flew away.
If he’s a cadet, he must be from the Naval Academy.
No matter how badly the Royal Army was defeated, it was rare for such an elite to be steering a ship for a small private shipping company.
“Haha, calling it a remarkable feat is a bit much. At best, I just cut off one of the octopus’s larger tentacles. Luckily, the octopus decided to leave on its own.”
Trying to end the conversation appropriately, I glanced at the name written on the navigator’s chest.
It was always better to end a conversation with a voter in a more personal and friendly manner.
Minus 10 points for being from the Royal Army. Minus 100 points for being a filthy seal.
The total of minus 110 points made the probability of them picking me close to 0%, but who knows?
Reading the name with that mindset, I flinched.
“James… huh?”
“Oh, do you know me?”
The navigator’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
No, that’s not it…
I chuckled and read his full name.
“James T. Kirk. Sounds like a name for a famous captain.”
“Thank you!”
The young navigator responded with a salute, not understanding the situation.
…The New Deal policy includes the construction of ‘a certain battleship.’
It’s a large project that we might be able to proceed with during the ‘second phase,’ but we will probably need to call in a large number of personnel from the old Royal Navy.
‘Of all names, it just had to be that one.’
I stroked my chin.
“Lize. Please gather some information on that friend when we return to the mainland.”
“You mean that second mate?”
“We need many young officers from the old Royal Army for the naval reconstruction project. Now that the Royal Navy has virtually disbanded, we should give priority to friends like him who have been working in the private sector without any gaps.”
Lize looked at me with admiration.
“…You always have national affairs on your mind. I will take care of it.”
It’s not really to that extent…
In fact, I had the opportunity to choose the code name for the shipbuilding project. Without much thought, I just borrowed the name of the most famous ship in the world.
‘Enterprise.’
The Yorktown-class second ship that became a legend during World War II. And the ship named after that legendary ship, the flagship of the Star Trek series.
And James T. Kirk is the eternal captain of the Enterprise, which heralded the beginning of the Star Trek series.
Considering the nature of the original work, which was filled with unnecessary pop culture homages, ‘Mr. Kirk’ was undoubtedly an SSS-grade talent destined to become a captain.
#
The bodies of the striking workers, torn apart like rags, hung from poles, fluttering in the wind instead of the national flag.
“……”
We ignored the corpses, blackened and dried by the salty wind, as we left the harbor and moved along the river.
“I visited Dumnonia as a child. It wasn’t like this back then.”
Congressman Roche sighed.
The old man’s eyes, gazing out the window opposite me, were as gloomy as could be.
The water surface he looked at nostalgically, perhaps remembering the river from his past, was now polluted with all kinds of chemicals and by-products of steam engines, emitting a terrible stench.
We passed through the city and headed to the outskirts.
A manor filled with bare trees on dry land awaited us.
###
The aristocratic society of the Logres Empire still follows the forms of the old century.
In spring and early summer, often called the ‘season of the social circle,’ the Empress’s palace opens to the nobility.
During this time, most nobles stay at their villas in the capital.
Since they are usually scattered across the empire and find it difficult to interact, they enjoy capital life during this period, making the social season the most important event for young men and women to meet and court in aristocratic society.
(※To put it bluntly, it’s like a long-term group meeting organized by the Imperial Marriage Information Agency.)
The ‘hunting season,’ which begins in autumn and continues into winter, is a time when nobles, whose estates are nearby or who have close relationships, gather in small groups to enjoy outdoor activities and the romance of country life.
The event we were heading to was part of this ‘Hunting Party.’
“By the way, Congressman Hastings, are you good with a rifle?”
“?”
At Congressman Roche’s question, I raised my eyebrows slightly.
It’s a bit embarrassing to say myself, but this old man might need to review my commendation records.
Even though I was in the unit that charged into enemy lines wearing ‘Power Armor,’ there’s no way a war hero, known for tearing through enemy lines alone, wouldn’t be good with a rifle, right?
‘…Actually, that was all before I got possessed…’
I trust you, Eugene Albert Wulfric Hastings.
Muscle memory doesn’t fade that easily.
Congressman Roche awkwardly laughed.
From my expression alone, he accurately caught the message: ‘Who do you think you’re talking to?’
It seems I’ve managed to emit a presence similar to the depths of the sea.
“Hunting rifles and military rifles differ greatly in operation and technique. The hunting party is a unique culture of the Logres Empire’s aristocracy. I asked just in case.”
“I’ll do my best, but if I can’t shoot well, then it can’t be helped.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
However, unlike my light-hearted attitude, Congressman Roche wore a serious expression.
“It’s not that simple. Whatever results we achieve at the hunting party will surely reach the Prime Minister’s ears.”
“?”
“He’s an extreme traditionalist to a tiring extent. If we get treated as inexperienced and uncultured nobles before negotiations even start, life will become very difficult, don’t you think?”
This was driving me crazy.
Should I start practicing my shooting stance right now?
Regardless, the mansion was drawing closer every minute.
#
18:00
With the start of the hunt, the gazes of the empire’s nobles directed at us were roughly as follows.
「Hmm, aren’t these the incompetent fools who can’t even fight a war? And now, they’re idiots without even the ‘fundamentals’… Do they even know how to partake in the essence of noble culture, ‘hunting’?」
And time passed.
19:40
“Seeing the birds flying, this young count casually raised his rifle—”
“I’m a congressman.”
No one paid attention to my minor protest.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! But my goodness. There were three shots, yet ten birds fell?”
“Oh my!”
“They call him a war hero, so it seems his martial prowess is considerable? I thought those kingdom friends specialized in armored assaults.”
At this point, Congressman Roche interjected with a cheerful smile.
“Hunting is a fundamental virtue of nobility, isn’t it? Although our republic has changed many things, we haven’t abandoned ‘nobility’ itself. We’ve just slightly adjusted the system to suit the times.”
Thinking that it was a remark for the empire’s nobles who would find it detestable to converse with anyone other than a ‘noble.’
If they truly thought like that, even in their heads, we might need to develop something like a revolutionary spirit injector.
The Foreign Minister and his wife approached Congressman Roche, who was cracking jokes.
The Minister grinned and teased the Congressman.
“For all that talk, you didn’t catch a single one, did you?”
“Haha, at my age, knowing how to gracefully accept embarrassment is also a noble behavior, isn’t it? We need to give the young people a chance to shine. I had my glorious days long ago.”
Congressman Roche indeed ‘gracefully’ accepted his embarrassment, just as he had said.
He showcased his pitiful skills, not hitting a single shot, and received applause from the crowd for it.
We lit a bonfire on the dry ground and gathered the game we had hunted.
While the servants who followed their masters were preparing the game.
The nobles boasted about their new luxury daggers and melted natural wax sticks with the heat of the fire to apply to their jackets.
Amidst the laughter and chatter, my watch repeater chimed with a clear sound.
But it wasn’t just one chime.
“The same repeater?”
Precisely at 20:00.
Before the overlapping notification sounds had faded, a rustling sound approached the campsite.
“Precision is the hallmark of nobility. But I hope you’ll forgive me for being about 10 seconds late.”
A grumpy fat man greeted us with exaggerated gestures as he walked over.
Then he pointed at my watch and said.
“Congressman, you have a marvelous item there.”
I clearly saw the signature of the artisan engraved on the pocket watch he pulled from his coat.
The same artisan who had made my wristwatch.
I smiled bitterly.
Even though I had covered it with steel and deliberately made some parts out of metal, someone still recognized it.
Considering I had already broken one during the conference hall terrorist incident, which had brought me to tears, I decided it might be better not to wear it anymore.
“It was my small source of comfort.”
Gripping my aching heart, I stood up.
And I faced a man whose fashion sense cleverly disguised his physique.
By the standards of Earth in 2024, there were two people here who each owned a watch worth around 300 to 500 million won.
But compared to this man’s power, a 300 to 500 million won watch seemed rather modest.
“Nice to meet you, Prime Minister.”
I exchanged greetings with the brain of an old lion.