Volume 4 Chapter 26 First Love
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Weather’s gettin’ busy. Engine ladies still onboard?” I called out, passing two mages from the Engine Department.
Janet, a research student, and Claudia, an undergrad — both had been sick as dogs during the last storm. They swore they’d jump ship in the middle of the Norden Sea. Since I hadn’t seen ’em since Sicilia, I’d figured they’d already gone.
”Associate Professor.” Janet’s voice was flat. “If we landed on some island where nobody speaks our language, how’d we get home?”
Fair point. They could maybe talk to Celt immigrants — close languages — but the natives? Different system entirely. The only way back to Schweilitz was a Celt merchant vessel, and those blokes doubled as pirates half the time. A safe voyage? Doubtful.
”My, what a painful sight. What happened to your leg?” Claudia pointed.
It’s my left heel — pressure ulcers, still not right. Sharp pain whenever I put weight on it, enough to make me walk with a limp now.
”Well, yeah. Held my ground back there so the Captain and the lads could win. Call it a medal of honor.”
”You certainly have a way with words,” Janet shot back. “Our Associate Professor rushed ahead, started a fight, and got himself captured. Chief Katarina went ballistic — thirty sticks of dynamite like a proper madwoman.”
The facts were getting twisted here.
”And you nearly died, didn’t you? Karma catches up!” Claudia sneered.
These girls…
”Kai was looking for you. Wants you to settle your debt,” Janet said.
”Debt?”
Now she mentions it — I did make some promise.
”That girl’s still a virgin, yeah?” Janet whispered.
”Nobody else can handle a girl built like her. Another legend’s about to happen,” Claudia giggled.
Kai’s not what you two think — probably.
Still — you were my students. I wish you’d turned out a bit more decent.
In the Dining Hall, Pole and the deck crew were eating. I joined ’em.
”Chief, we’re hiring pirates tomorrow,” Pole said.
That topic had been the big one.
”Heard that. More like pilots, though.”
Pole’s helped me plenty. I don’t talk down to him. Not that it matters — these blokes never pay attention at briefings anyway.
The Suez Canal’s narrow, less than a tenth the width of a continental strait, and shallow too. A big river’s distributary runs straight in, so sediment builds up constantly. The safe channel shifts every year. That’s why we’re paying local pirates who know it to guide us.
They all stared like it was news. Pretty sure Fredys already told ’em.
”So we follow that bloke’s orders?” a crewman grumbled.
”We’ll furl sails and run on engines. The ship’s deep-draft — the channel’ll be tight for us. Sails’d be a nightmare. Your watch and shifts stay the same, though.”
Compared to full sail, deck crew shouldn’t be scrambling.
”Wonder what they’re like. Barbarossa fleet?” Pole asked.
”If it’s Barbarossa, we’re in trouble. We sank one of their ships.”
I told ’em these were Barbadia Pirates — Turkic Empire’s influence. Not Barbarossa.
Pole got it, but the rest of the Schweilitz crew couldn’t tell the difference if their lives depended on it.
After the pirate talk died down, conversation shifted to the only thing left with just men — women.
But one of my department girls was on guard nearby, and voices dropped low.
They talked about the women we’d rescued from the triremes off Palermo. Those women, plus the boys saved with ’em, were captives under salvage law. Basically slaves.
I’d been too sick to meet ’em myself and braced for something crude. It didn’t come.
Turns out one of the rescued women was Pole’s first love.
It was a bittersweet romance in a sweaty military mess hall, and it felt dead wrong.
When Pole was a kid, every time he visited Palermo, they’d play together. “Innocent” didn’t cover it — they never even held hands. Just picking up seashells, climbing cliffs to stare at the sea.
Her mother’s family were gaperotti1 (middle-class rulers) — a rich clan with a big house in the eastern district. She was visiting when Charle’s pirates grabbed her.
”So,” Pole sighed, “tried asking the Captain if I could buy out her contract. Release her.”
He’d been desperate to ask early, but the Captain was too busy.
”And?”
”Just the release — ten gold coins. Million yen.”
”We could scrape that together,” a colleague said.
Pole’s salary was about a hundred eighty thousand yen a month. He lived in barracks in Kure with zero expenses at sea. But “just for the release” caught my ear.
”They said I can pay when we dock in Kure. But military regs say I gotta pay a month’s expenses upfront for long-distance civilian passengers. Another two hundred eighty thousand yen.”
That covered room, board, and admin — military vessel security included. The total might shift with voyage length, but it was still doable.
”Problem is… I got no money left.”
Huh?
While I blinked, the crew crossed their arms, frowning.
”This idiot got cleaned out in Palermo.”
He’d been living like a king on hazard pay, wandered into a gambling den, and lost every coin.
”House wouldn’t lend him credit — foreigner. Bleeding stopped when his pockets went empty. But man, what a wreck.”
So Pole lost his head gambling. Grateful he saved my life, but the kind of bloke you don’t get financially tangled with.
”Hey Chief, lend him the cash. Pulling in big bucks, yeah?”
”I’d love to. Left my bankbook at the estate in the Royal Capital. Got kidnapped from my house, dragged to Kure. Got maybe three silver coins. Already in debt.”
Every last one of them glared daggers.
”Couldn’t you borrow from Foreman Katarina?” one pleaded.
”Mad? That woman’d rip my balls off. If you’re desperate, ask your own boss — Foreman Fredys.”
Every single one looked away.
”What’s with that reaction?”
It got awkward as hell when people started acting shifty.
”Chief… you don’t know why Foreman Fredys and Division Chief Roland share quarters?”
Fredys was an older woman. Roland was a Dwarf — a man. Sharing a single cabin was not natural.
”Listen, Chief. Fredys is a shotacon. Roland’s into men. Put ’em together — zero risk of workplace romance. But imagine a young man dragged into that cabin after handing ’em massive financial leverage.”
I chose not to imagine it.
”Come on, can’t be that bad.”
”Oh yeah? Those four boys we rescued off Palermo…?”
No way.
The deck crew just stared, shaking their heads grimly. It was ghastly. If my first time had happened under those conditions, I’d’ve killed myself.
”Right. Time to go.”
I stood. Pole shot me a desperate look. No, mate. Absolutely not.
”Give it up, Pole. She was married when they took her.”
”Yeah. Pirates put her through it. Severe tearing. Let it go.”
”Even back in Kure — gambling debts to clear. Can’t pay the Chief back. And if you marry, you gotta move out of barracks. What’s the plan?”
First love’s precious. But buying someone’s freedom with no plan was misery for everyone. Good bloke, but…
”What’s her name?” I asked, quiet.
”Rafaela.”
”Hey Chief… nothing you can do?”
”Nah. Would be bad manners to sleep with Pole’s first love.”
I returned my tray and walked to the girl from my department on guard. Behind me, whispers flared.
”Holy crap… at his age, he’s already riding Katarina, Pamela, Nikole, and Sergeant Bebel?”
”Yeah. Now stretching toward the slave girls. Absolute monster.”
”You don’t know half. Already done it with Kai from the Engine Department. Advanced-tier degenerate — doesn’t blink at bedding Dwarves. Slave girl’s an appetizer,” Claudia said.
”Is that the standard? Gotta be that savage to become Department Chief? Count me out.”
Making up whatever garbage they pleased. And I hadn’t done anything with Kai.
”Hmm… I wouldn’t mind lending him pocket change,” Katarina murmured late that night in bed.
She’d heard about Pole and offered to front the money.
”Don’t bother. He’ll be drowning in debt even after Kure.”
”But he risked his life to save you.”
She rolled onto her side, fingers tracing my chest.
”That amount’s couch money to you. You’re not expecting him to pay it back, right?”
True — my account held several hundred million yen. A million three hundred thousand was easy, and I could throw in a bonus. He’d stormed a rocky fortress to rescue me, and his aunt had looked after me during recovery. I owed him.
”It’s fine. I have plenty of money. Not gonna demand anything crazy in exchange.” She switched to telepathy.
No one around to hear, but she projected into my mind. Her lips latched onto my nipple, suckling soft. Was she dangling financial favor for a second round?
’Body’s not recovered. Second round’s off the table.’
’I know. Didn’t demand anything intense, did I?’ Her tongue teased my nipple into a knot.
’Just a little bit…’
’Good grief.’
I pulled her slender frame tight. Reached down to cup her heavy breasts. Soft weight jiggled in my palm. A wave of raw desire rippled through her consciousness. Her cold hand slid toward my lower abdomen. She tilted her face up, silent begging for a kiss. I obliged. The thick, musky scent of an aroused woman flooded my nose.
’I told you. We can’t.’
’But I’ve been holding back so long…’
Her expectations leaked through the link, leaving me with no choice. I moved my hand from her breast, slid my index finger into the cleft of her backside, found the small circular sensitivity point, and pressed down firm, channeling a massive pulse of Mana into her nervous system.
Katarina convulsed violently in my arms. Her consciousness went blank — a dead faint.
”Like I said… my body can’t handle anything intense. Sorry.”
I manipulated her limp body onto her back, parted her long legs, and slid inside. Finished with a perfectly ordinary, vanilla rhythm.
Next morning, Katarina woke in a towering rage — a foul barrage of profanity and a direct threat to murder me if I didn’t perform exactly how she wanted next time. By then, my health’d be fully restored. Probably.
* * *
Today was the day — straight into the Suez Canal. After a tense breakfast with a still-fuming Katarina, I stationed myself on the bridge alongside her and Foreman Tatyana from Artillery. The Captain was already there with Foreman Fredys, Division Chief Roland, and — rarest of all — Chief Gida from Maintenance. I gave a formal salute, and the Captain glanced around at the gathered officers with a dry remark about the bridge getting crowded.
Small and large sailing vessels dotted the horizon. Since Palermo, any large ships had veered away the moment we appeared, but today there was no running and no hiding. The Captain pointed toward the Southern Continent off our front-right and the Sinai Peninsula to the left, and I peered through the forward ports at a faint silhouette of land — terrain flat and featureless, hard to distinguish. Foreman Fredys muttered anxiously that the pirate pilot should’ve approached by now, yet no ship was moving toward us, and every sailing vessel in sight had furled sails.
”Maximum alert,” Fredys murmured.
The Captain barked orders to light the boilers and set a course slightly west. Claudia’s voice crackled through the speaking tube as the sails were tucked away and a thick column of black smoke erupted from the funnel behind the bridge. Belching black smoke like that would make ’em twice as suspicious, but the Captain didn’t care — he kept glancing up at the mainmast crow’s nest for shallow reef reports even as he assured us the ship could navigate the strait without a guide if needed.
Then the lookout shouted from above — “Ten o’clock! Small hand-rowed vessel closing in!” — and the Captain shot a quick look at Fredys and me. Fredys leaned halfway out the window and ordered the rope ladder dropped.
Katarina and I received our Coilguns and gun-belts from Foreman Tatyana, who I instructed to deploy artillery personnel across the deck as planned, keeping the fixed-wing drones tucked away in their transport crates. No unwanted attention.
The small boat observed the rope ladder, pulled ahead to match our momentum, cut speed, and glided alongside. The rowers raised their oars vertical as inertia brought the craft flush against the hull. Right as the boat bumped near the ladder — both vessels still moving — a man with a signal flag transferred his weight onto the ropes and scaled the side in seamless, practiced motion. Deprived of its passenger, the small boat drifted backward into our wake, and a deeply tanned man with sharp features shouted in a formal, clipped military tone as he hauled himself over the rail:
”I am Francis of the Barbadia. Here to pilot your vessel. I need an immediate audience with the Ship Captain to formalize our contract.”
—
Summary:
Limping across the ship’s deck due to unhealed severe pressure ulcers, the Associate Professor encounters his former students and crewmates contextually organizing for the impending Suez Canal passage. Rumors about his promiscuity circulate fiercely among the deckhands while Pole grapples with a high financial cost to purchase his enslaved first love’s contract. The vessel initiates engine navigation amidst high localized maritime alert, culminating in an assertive tactical approach from a specialized Barbadia pilot whose exact political allegiances remain an unverified variable.
—
Trivia:
The protagonist is suffering from severe pressure ulcers on his left heel due to his prior capture, causing him to walk with a distinct limp.
Janet and Claudia are mages from the Engine Department who suffered from extreme seasickness and planned to leave the ship.
Pole’s monthly salary is 180,000 yen, but he lost all of his hazard compensation money in a gambling den in Palermo.
Releasing a captive civilian requires a contract buyout of ten gold coins (1,000,000 yen) plus upfront administrative transport costs of 280,000 yen.
Foreman Fredys and Division Chief Roland share quarters intentionally as a security measure to eliminate any chance of workplace romance due to their contrasting sexual orientations.
The Barbadia Pirates operate under the covert geopolitical influence of the Turkic Empire, differing distinctly from the Barbarossa fleet.
Fixed-wing drone units are intentionally kept hidden inside transport boxes to avoid raising suspicion among local vessels navigating the strait.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Claudia – A former Royal Capital researcher and student of Camillo, this Engine Department Mage and Kisaragi crew member grew from a chubby youth into an unstable beauty. As the protagonist’s subordinate, they teach boiler maintenance alongside Janet, once questioned him about his wives, participated in the crew’s betting pool, and relayed a message to the protagonist about Kai.
• Janet – An unstable 22-year-old Mage, Camillo’s pupil, and former Bizan Academy researcher. Now the protagonist’s gossipy former subordinate, she works in the destroyer Mutsuki’s Engine Department, managing maintenance via speaking tube, joining betting pools, and relaying messages about Kai. While constantly prying into the protagonist’s life, she battles severe seasickness and wants to leave.
• Schweilitz – The kingdom to which the protagonist is forced to return boasts towering academy spires and a full military arsenal—Royal Army troops and elite officers. Its ruler holds a captive the protagonist fears will be executed.
• Celt – In his twenties, this former tenant farmer and 303rd Unit militia leader is now a pragmatic, calculating Deputy Commander of the Town Guards—equivalent to a sergeant or officer—overseeing Strock Village’s fortifications. Dressed in simple work clothes, he quietly admires Teressa-san’s skill and serves as the village’s trusted gossip source, having earned his land with reward money. Once a sandal-maker and translator of Bours’s jargon, he maintains a careful working relationship with Larry while balancing political interests, embodying calm kindness beneath his disciplined exterior.
• Katarina – Larry’s 30-year-old subordinate, a tall, voluptuous mana-user in a sailor uniform, is a Flight Section leader and Chief Researcher. This volatile, lecherous comrade wields telepathy, a coilgun, and drones. The protagonist’s protective mistress, she shares a strained bond and punched them near death. Recovering from combat lung and bolt wounds, Kenze labels her a professor’s sex toy.
• Kai – A 20-year-old, diminutive Dwarf girl and Engine Department laborer with unstable mana who knows Mana Pentamers. She looks like an ash-covered, square-jawed young man with superhuman strength, yet has white, translucent hands. Joining Earnest’s party, she carries or teases the protagonist, makes dramatic apologies, loves tuna cheek, and is the subject of a ship-wide romantic betting pool.
• Fee – Larry Fee Getys is a 15-year-old reincarnated youth and titular Duke. Pragmatic and telepathic, this sharp-eyed young man leads the Getys household and rules Strock Village alongside Hans, Iffens, Teressa, and their maid Nico. While building a new nation, he enjoys prime whale meat and maintains crucial connections to Adolf and various underground networks.
• Pam – An escort to the protagonist who is observant and loyal.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Ed – A lanky refugee youth in simple farmer’s garb, Larry’s close friend and fierce protector is now a Military Academy student making claims about the Poll Tax and mortality. Formerly an associate of Captain Bours, he witnessed the Mauer Village skirmish, fled to Strock Village, and joined the militia to train spear-walls and ambush mercenaries, remembered for his quiet resolve to survive.
• Ho – Ho is the family name of Oliver, a 17-year-old deck crew member and comrade of the protagonist. As a member of the military unit that defended Garao Village, the young man was ultimately murdered during a night watch, slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Pole – An orphaned Celt Royal Army soldier and tough-acting mast house scout, this deck crewman knows the island’s language and terrain. Earnest’s associate, he enjoys gossip and betting on his superiors’ romances. Initially hostile after a hometown friend’s murder, he grew to respect the protagonist. He now serves as a rescue guide and seeks freedom for his first love.
• Fredys – Izumo’s female Engine chief, deck foreman, squad leader, and Turku interpreter is a protective supervisor with a decade of Inland Sea expertise. Forceful yet pragmatic, she manages logistics, defends subordinates, and runs betting pools. Though a professional anchor for her crew, she is rumored to be a shotacon and uniquely adopts refined, upper-class manners around Francis.
• Barbarossa – A naval combatant engaged by the ship.
• Palermo – A target location where a battle and reparations negotiation took place.
• Charle – A faction captain whose flagship and crew were involved in the conflict. A mercenary captain whose ship was targeted. An individual associated with a group of remnants.
• Abe – Childhood name of the Crown Prince.
• Mac – A component of the royal lineage, Mac-Morrow.
• Yan – Once a respected Larland General who dismantled its knighthood, this influential warlord now leads a powerful southern bandit army while besieging Trabius. Balancing a ruthless identity with restoration efforts, they navigate complex relationships with former allies, remaining a key political player.
• Roland – Heir to the Canaria throne and Queen Cecile’s younger brother, this quiet dwarf is an Izumo bridge supervisor and former Tsukushi captain. Wearing boy’s formal wear, his golden-blonde hair and beautiful face are easily mistaken for a girl. He carries a dagger, shares quarters with Fredys, and directs helm operations and combat rescues, retrieving injured comrades like Bebel and Katarina.
• Tim – Jarek Dvorak, 14, the village’s eldest son and recent graduate, has short dark hair, a lean build and thoughtful eyes. He arrived in Obernbach with his father, watches the Golem’s arrival with trepidation, and, as a sugar‑beet cultivator from a family that refines sugar, boasts of pleasures in the district. A carefree, slightly reckless friend of Larry’s.
• Rafaela – Pole’s first love from Palermo; a ruling-class intermediary captured by pirates and held under salvage law.
• Nikole – A Level-3 Nikole medical mage, repeat Bizan graduate, and senior ship crew member, this Izumo health officer assists Chulpan with treatments and joins in flirtatious banter. Larry’s senior colleague whom she once hoped to marry, she sports silver-streaked shoulder-length hair, a rune-etched coat, and a sailor uniform with a vermilion Rhein insignia while battling a haunted past and alcoholism.
• Pamela – A flirtatious medic and healer working alongside the protagonist’s unit. She manages the medical bay, treats the protagonist’s wounds, and recently spent time with them before sleeping. Known for offering congratulatory remarks, she also proved her utility outside the clinic by helping organize and execute the rescue team, while actively assisting in interrogation and rescue efforts.
• Bebel – Sergeant Major Hagen is a rigid, strict non-commissioned officer in the protagonist’s Magic Armored Division and chief aboard the Izumo. A Larland War veteran, this difficult-to-manage yet highly capable combatant uses coilguns and aggressive tactics. He leads five subordinates, previously cared for a sedated Larry, and was rescued by Roland after being injured in battle.
• Niko – An elderly, dignified former slave, he is a loyal bondservant to the protagonist and the Getys household, helping raise her child alone. As the family’s oldest male servant, he drives carriages and manages groundskeeping, preferring the stable loft. His deep knowledge of the local landscape and the sugar beet business allows him to aid their estate transition with quiet wisdom and steadfast service.
• Deeb – A legendary thief from the Empire of Charle, referenced in a popular comedy play.
• Suu – Secretary for the Royal Capital Beast-person Mutual Aid Association and a cat beast-person. Sample No. 19 in Kento’s report. She steps up as the first witness for the defense.
• von – The noble particle ‘von’ indicates high social standing and ancestral roots connected to territorial estates within the Sabaski lineage. It marks the noble bloodline and full names of Annerose von Bülow, Walter von Riedel, and Marc von Harritz, establishing their shared aristocratic identity and familial relationship within the Kingdom.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Tatyana – A sailor-suit-wearing, 31-year-old divorced mother of two from Viscount Bizan, this Magic Academy Assistant Professor serves as a Golems Battalion supervisor and Artillery squad leader aboard the Izumo. Loyal to her Captain and intimately involved with Katarina, she commands respect while training crew, coordinating defense operations, and finding the current lack of combat boring.
• Gida – A female human and former kingdom finance bureaucrat serving as Maintenance Department chief. Driven by an obsession with inventory management, she oversees ship funds, stores gold reserves on the bridge, and manages her team with meticulous precision. She leverages her background to maintain strict control over the department’s operations and relations with others.
• Max – Uncle Klaus’s second son and Larry’s cousin is a skilled Golem User and former magic school assistant professor who orchestrated a prison break. Having returned to his home country, he now serves as a body double for the protagonist—his other cousin, Grand Duke Earnest—and has taken custody of certain women previously under Thomas’s care.
• Francis – A dangerous prisoner with immense mana, this heavily tanned, red-bearded Suez Canal harbor pilot from the Barbadia Pirates wears filthy attire and speaks many dialects. Appearing calculating and familiar to others, he secretly plots to hijack the Izumo.
• Pia – A Nurnhügel mage in a hooded robe with a bust rivaling the late Henrietta, this heavily pregnant level-3 healer’s assistant pilots golems and drones. Under military protection while seeking legal emancipation from slavery, she is rumored to have a child with the protagonist. Submissive yet cynical, she speaks with archaic authority but fears arrest for her past Haritz escape.
• Poi – A Dwarf welder and former carriage maker who applied his knowledge of mechanical stress to ship construction.
• Soi – An old professor from Ajire seminary, the first to raise a question. Looks like wizardly.
• Iri – A thirteen-year-old Yoghess girl with soft, innocent features and high Mana potential, she was once a captive turned golem operator, now fiercely attached to the protagonist. Formerly a fisherman’s daughter and steward’s helper, she pilots Type 20 and 98 Golems with manic ecstasy, masking a detached cruelty beneath her childlike exterior—reluctantly joining mapping expeditions alongside Larry, and previously encountered by Earnest, her loyalty now fixed solely on the one who freed her.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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