We entered the Commerce Guild, thanks to being registered in the Merchant Guild, it wasn't hard to register, but the line was enormous, so we had to wait thirty minutes to get there. The registration was easy as paying a fee of one gold coin. When we were done with that, we simply had to buy the services of available captains willing to go to the "Frost Island", which is what was called the surrounding "island" made through the frozen ocean surrounding the Frost Tower, which was as big as a small island. That place had a small port and a small town, but it seems that not many captains were willing to go there, especially because they already had clients. They often moved towards other faraway ports of this continent or the biggest ships went to other continents through special routes covered with small islands and archipelagos to make stops to recover food and other necessities.
"To the Frost Island?! You crazy or something? It is said that there's an underwater dungeon in the safest route there. Giant Ocean Snake pop up occasionally. The port there and the small town is mostly made up of insane people that is constantly trying to challenge that place." Sighed one of the captains. "Getting there is… I mean if you're strong enough you surely got money, right? There's some premium magic ships captains that ask a fortune to get there. Magic Ships are more resilient to monster attacks and the like. Some can even fly up the sky for a bit."
"I see, thanks." I said. We slowly walked across the port and decided to take a break, sitting outside a small restaurant.
"Why don't we just go flying?!" Asked Yuki. "Or more like, can't Drake just freeze the water and we can walk through it?"
"Yeah, but that would stand out a lot, don't be dumb, Yuki." Sighed Tisha. "Drake doesn't want to stand out, he wants to not be seen as a target of glares, this also makes it so our enemies don't notice us so easily."
"Hm, yeah, someone walking over the sea will surely make a commotion. I guess we can just fly there and camouflage ourselves using magic… But Benladann wants to go through the sea as an adventure, and I can't help but agree in that desire, I also want to do the same to be honest." I said.
I really just wanted to traditionally set sail into the sea. If I don't limit what I can do, life begins losing the fun part. Yeah I could just walk over the sea or fly through the skies, but where's the fun in that? Sometimes getting everything easily is boring. Kind of takes away what life's all about.
"Well, let's keep looking for thirty minutes more, if things go badly, we can do what Drake said about flying." Said Benladann. "Sorry everyone for boring you so much…"
"Don't worry about it. Yuki is just the annoying brat here." Said Pekora.
"Indeed, don't mind her." Said Tisha.
"I also want to go in a boat if possible, it is nostalgic to me when I was in my younger blacksmith years and I traveled the world, haha! We are finally getting there now." Said Rakasha.
"Is that true?" I wondered.
"Yeah, I often came back to this port plenty of times before… Ah, I met a lot of captains, made good friends. But we haven't found anybody of the old friends I used to visit. I guess the times are different now, they probably retired, there are mostly young blood around here." Rakasha said.
"Hm, well, let's try to keep looking for someone." I said.
And like that, we continued our search for an available captain with a decently sized ship. We walked across every nook and cranny of the port, continuing our perilous search. All captains were already with too many clients to decide to go somewhere nobody goes. Finding an empty ship was hard, especially because captains already made reservations for their client months in advance.
However, as we were almost about to give up, someone showed up. It was a decently sized ship, made completely out wood and reinforced with metallic, magic-infused plates. It was a rather beautiful yet not so fancy-looking ship and seemed pseudo magical in nature. So I was wondering why it was empty. I approached a random passerby and asked them.
"Hey, what's wrong with that ship? Isn't it nice? Why doesn't it has any clients?"
"Ah, that guy over there has bad reputation, they say his ship is cursed or haunted, or something. When people get in, they get terrible luck and constantly get attacked by sea monsters. His ship has something on it that really makes monster just try to sink it. Even after he has reinforced it, it has just those bad vibes… Nobody wants to do business with the captain, some say he's cursed by the God of the Sea, Njord." Said the man, as I gave him a silver coin as thanks.
"Thanks for the info, good man. I think we found ourselves a chosen one." I said with a smile, looking at the ship in the distance.
"That ship's empty? For real?" Asked Miranda in shock.
"Look, it's really empty…" Benladann said.
"Eeeeh? I thought we were going to fly… Ugh, damn it." Yuki sighed.
"Yeah, let's go there. He seems to be ideal for us!" I said with a smile.
When we reached the ship's harbor, we found a single young man cleaning the ship's floor with a mop. He was a human with rough brownish hair, sharp emerald eyes, and seemed to be wearing some basic sailor clothes, a white shirt, brown pants, black boots, and a red bandana.
I called to the young man, as he seemed to be ignoring me.
"Hey! I am talking to you!"
He continued ignoring me…
"Why are you ignoring me, kid?!" I roared a last time.
"Eh? Me? Y-You're really calling me?" He asked in shock.
"Yeah, who else is in this ship?" I sighed.