“Urk.”
“Are you alright?”
“No… Blegh.”
The weather was clearly sunny without a single cloud, yet the waves were frighteningly rough. Rowy, gripping the bow of the ship, vomited relentlessly. Having moved early and eaten nothing, his eyes reddened as he continuously spat out only pale gastric fluid.
Van stuck close to Rowy’s side, frantically moving about—patting his back, offering him water. Since yesterday, the person had been burning with fever, and now he was so out of it and seasick on top of that—at this rate, something terrible might really happen.
“Ha, are we still far?”
“I told you it’ll take three more hours. We just left.”
Van had asked about the arrival time exactly eight times now. Despite the repeated questions, the captain gave a reasonably kind answer. It was service for customers who had paid a lot of money.
“Can’t you sail the ship more gently? At this rate, you’ll kill someone.”
“It won’t help. That young master gets seasick like that even on calm days.”
The captain, who had transported Rowy several times already, shook his head.
“Ugh, just knock me out instead…”
“Should I?”
“Please make it not hurt…”
“Good grief.”
The captain, who usually transported Rowy traveling alone, clicked his tongue at the sight of the two sitting close together. Where did he pick up something like that?
“Ha…”
In the end, whether he really knocked him out or what, Van laid the collapsed Rowy down in the inner cabin and approached the captain with a sigh.
“So we just have to go two more hours?”
“I said three hours about ten minutes ago.”
“Is the resort island originally this far? I could clearly see the island from the mainland….”
“We passed the resort island ages ago. You got on the boat without even knowing where you’re going.”
“Pardon?”
Van asked, puzzled.
“I naturally thought we were going to the resort island.”
“Did you really follow along without knowing anything?”
Van nodded. Well, he just goes wherever his master goes. Besides, what islands do nobles live on near Seraphila other than the resort island?
“Then where is this ship heading?”
At those words, the captain, who had been taking out a cigarette, grinned.
“We’re heading to… a cursed island right now.”
* * *
“The waves are too strong to bring the ship close. I’ll carry you on my back and cross over. Get on.”
“Ugh, are we there?”
“Yes, let’s get off for now. You’ll feel better once you’re on land.”
Van forcibly hoisted up Rowy, who couldn’t focus and was dazed, and splash—jumped into the sea. Lest Rowy’s feet get wet in the knee-deep water, Van held him securely and pushed forward through the waves. With Rowy on his back and luggage in his arms, Van still crossed the sea without much difficulty.
Taking large strides to reach the shore, Van immediately leaped up along the rocky mountain. It was a path Rowy could never have walked up alone. To bring the ship as close to the island as possible, there was no choice but to climb this way. If they had docked the boat elsewhere, Rowy would surely have gotten completely soaked in seawater.
He couldn’t let Rowy, who was still running a hot fever, fall into the water. Fortunately, Van knew how to climb the pathless rocky mountain while easily carrying someone of Rowy’s weight.
“You have to go toward the dock to see the castle….”
“I’ll head that way. Get some sleep.”
“Mmm….”
Van’s back climbing the mountain was more comfortable than the rocking ship. Rowy buried his aching head in Van’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Van hoisted up the now-quiet Rowy once and headed toward the path with even more careful strides than before.
‘The dock…’
Van, who had climbed the mountain and entered the forest, looked around to find the place the captain had explained.
‘He definitely said to follow the mountain path….’
But… he couldn’t see a path. He looked around, but all he could see were dense trees. Perhaps because the island was located much farther south than Seraphila, it was full of trees with particularly large and lush leaves. Van panicked at the situation where he couldn’t see a proper path ahead, let alone a road.
“Did I climb up in the wrong direction?”
“Ugh, no. You just have to go that way.”
“That way? There’s no path.”
“The trees grow fast here.”
“The trees grow so fast that they cover up even the path?”
Rowy had no answer to Van’s question. After pondering for a moment, Van drew his sword and began to clear a path.
“……”
Even while walking and clearing the path, something felt strange. The forest was this dense, yet strangely, he couldn’t feel any signs of life. Not hearing even the common sound of birds. Van tensed his body completely as he pushed aside the thick grass and moved forward.
Rowy seemed to have fallen completely asleep now. Van walked a bit faster. They had definitely said it was a very small island, but it took quite a bit of time to advance while clearing the grass with luggage on his front and back. Step, step. How long had he walked like that? Finally, the trees and grass began to thin out.
‘Are we almost there?’
Van squinted at the suddenly open view. A small path that one carriage could barely pass through. And at the end of that path, a half-collapsed castle revealed itself.
* * *
“Yawn. Butler, hello.”
Rowy, who regained consciousness only when they nearly reached the castle, greeted the butler who was waiting at the castle gate.
“Master.”
The middle-aged butler bowed deeply. Van watched the scene with interest. From the one called butler… came a strong scent of a seaman. His characteristic hair color, completely faded from contact with seawater, as well as the build and muscles that couldn’t be hidden even under his neat clothes.
‘When I think of a noble house’s butler, I imagined someone like the staff at the Seto inn.’
Someone who used polite and refined speech, who moved silently and elegantly. However, the butler before him… if you dressed the captain of the ship they’d taken in formal wear, he’d look exactly like this.
‘Did he make a nearby seaman into a butler?’
But why on earth? A noble so wealthy surely couldn’t have been denied people sent by the family. No, why was he made to live in a place like this in the first place? For Rowy to live in, this castle was too….
“Butler. This is Van. Organize the luggage and, is there a room available? Anyway, this and that… Yawn. I need to sleep for a bit first.”
After a halfhearted handover, Rowy slipped right into the castle.
“How do you do.”
“……”
The eyes of the left-behind Van and the butler met. Van gave a friendly greeting, but no answer came back. Van was flustered, but the butler only silently helped carry the luggage.
“Haha… It’s fine. I’ll carry it.”
Even at Van’s words, the butler remained silent as ever. The butler, with a stubborn face, picked up the luggage and strode into the castle. Van awkwardly followed behind him. The first impression of the castle encountered this way was….
“The castle is… a bit old.”
Van carefully chose his words. Even when viewing it from outside, he had seen it was half-collapsed… but the inside was even more of a sight. The inside of the castle was divided into two sides based on the main entrance—the left staircase leading to the second floor was completely broken with a door dangling in midair, and even the relatively intact right staircase was reinforced haphazardly with wooden supports. In this situation, the cracks in the walls seemed like nothing. Though there were quite a lot of cracks.
‘Is it okay for people to live here?’
What if it collapses while walking? Van moved his steps carefully. From what he could see, there seemed to be stairs going down to the basement too, but in this condition, even if the floor they were standing on collapsed, there would be nothing to say. Van’s steps gradually slowed as he walked slowly, worried the ground might cave in. Meanwhile, the butler was already stepping on the staircase leading to the second floor. Van deliberately followed even more slowly behind him.
‘If both of us go up and it collapses, that would be bad.’
Someone light and fluttery like Rowy could jump on the stairs without issue, but for two large men covered head to toe in muscle to climb… the condition of the stairs was far from good. Creeeeak. As soon as he stepped on it, the stairs screamed. Startled, Van practically flew up the stairs.
‘The second floor is… intact.’
The second floor he reached this way was very neat, making the ruins of the first floor seem like a lie. Time inevitably showed in the wallpaper and interior decorations, but there were no cracks, and it was clean without dust or soot. Van realized this was where Rowy mainly stayed.
“You can stay in the room in front of the master’s.”
As Van approached, the butler opened a door with antique engravings carved into it and spoke.
“Is that room the master’s room?”
At his words pointing to the door directly across, the butler nodded.
“For meals and such, find the dining room in the opposite hallway. There’s no way up from the first floor, so go around from the second floor.”
“Please speak comfortably.”
Van spoke warmly and received the luggage from the butler’s hands. The taciturn middle-aged butler just stared blankly at Van.
“Please call me if you have any tasks too. Like repairing the stairs.”
People could get hurt, you know? Van smiled and kept talking. Since it seemed he’d be living here for a while, he intended to befriend the butler. However, the butler still showed no reaction. Still, Van didn’t give up.
“Haha, I wonder if the master is alright. He got very seasick… When he wakes up, I’ll take care of his meal.”
The butler, who had been watching such a Van for a moment, opened his mouth.
“…The young master doesn’t go to the dining room much. I bring meals to his room.”
“Yes.”
“Then.”
The butler turned around as he was. Before closing the door and leaving, the butler, who had paused for a moment, spoke in a low voice.
“…Van, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t leave the master’s side at night.”
“Pardon?”
Van asked back at the sudden words. And the answer that came back was….
“This castle is cursed, you see.”
There it was again. A curse. Van’s expression stiffened awkwardly.
