Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"Hey, they really came?" The corpulent captain's tone was unusually relaxed, seeing that the visitors meant harm, yet he bore an expression as if he had an ace up his sleeve, "Raise the flag, raise the naval flag."

Sailors climbed up the mainmast, the blue and yellow striped flag symbolizing the Sea Blue Republic was taken down, replaced by a striking red diagonal cross flag fluttering in the wind.

This flag represented the Vineta Navy; the blue symbolized Vineta, the red symbolized blood, and the meaning of the flag was that the navy had established the Sea Blue Republic with blood.

But in reality, the true reason for choosing red back then was because the flag's designers thought it was more conspicuous and could be recognized from afar. The interpretation involving blood came later, eventually turning into a misconstrued fact that became the official explanation.

The fat captain, with his hands on his hips, boasted to the landlubbers, "On the inland sea, pirates will give the navy some face no matter what. Seeing this flag, any villain harboring ill intentions would retreat on their own."

The captain's decisive leadership affected the trainee officers, it seemed they wouldn't encounter pirates today, and Winters felt a twinge of disappointment in his heart.

But soon, the situation developed beyond the fat captain's prediction. Winters watched as the other vessel first revealed its masts, then sails, and then the deck until the entire ship came into view.

If he wasn't hallucinating, that meant the distance between the two ships was shrinking.

The fat captain remained composed, "They probably can't see the flag clearly from that far away, give them some time."

After "some time," Winters could clearly see the bare tops of the masts of the approaching ship—they weren't flying any flag. This meant they could also clearly see the Bandit Gull's flag, and the newcomers weren't deterred by the sight of the naval flag.

"Let down all sails, full sail ahead," the fat captain finally got a bit anxious. Sailors obeyed the command and climbed along the rigging up to the yardarms, unfurling the neatly bundled sails, as the Bandit Gull's main and foremasts were again hung with square sails.

The sails on the Bandit Gull's three masts were now full of wind, causing those on the deck to stagger. Even the most obtuse passengers could feel the ship slowly accelerating, and the bewildered trainee officers walked up from the cabins onto the deck, even Major General Layton and Major Moritz came out.

"It's fine, their sails are small; they're not fast even at full speed. The Bandit Gull will be able to shake them off shortly," the fat captain said while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The sails of the Bandit Gull, inflated by the wind, suddenly started to deflate, the sea being a fickle lover, the power of the wind was waning.

"It's okay if the wind has died down, The Bandit Gull has more sails than they do; if we slow down, they'll slow down even more," the fat captain confidently assessed.

No sooner had he spoken than under the gaze of everyone aboard the Bandit Gull, the opposing ship's sides extended a pair of "wings" and began beating the water.

They were oars; the oncoming ship was not only equipped with sails but also with oars. As the wind diminished, but with the rowing of the oars, the oncomer's speed increased instead of decreasing, and the distance between the two vessels quickly closed.

Actually, a mix of oars and sails was the standard configuration in Senas Bay at that time; ships sailing in these waters were mostly flat-bottomed with square sails, using sails with the wind, complemented by a set of oars for use against it.

A ship like the Bandit Gull, rigged with complex tackle and powered solely by the wind, was the outlier in the inland sea. While this type of ship with strong self-reliance and requiring fewer sailors to operate represented the future, when it came to short-distance maneuverability in light winds, it was seriously outclassed by the more traditional oar-and-sail ships.

The distance between the two ships closed even further, so close that Winters could see ant-sized people climbing on the sails of the other ship.

Someone climbed to the top of the mast and raised a flag divided equally between red and black.

"Whose flag is that?" Layton asked in a heavy tone, having grasped the predicament the Bandit Gull was in.

"It belongs to no one," the fat captain said with a whimper, "The meaning of that flag is that if we don't stop and surrender, they'll kill us all, not sparing a single life."

There was a sudden flash of red light at the bow of the oncoming ship, followed by a puff of white smoke. "Boom!" A cannon shot rang out, a gray object flew from the prow of the other ship to behind the hull of the Bandit Gull, splashing water.

Oar-and-sail ships kept their sides clear for the rowers, so the main guns were mounted at the bow. This shot was clearly intended as a show of force to the Bandit Gull.

"Pirates just want the cargo; if we can't get away, just give them what's in the hold," one of the passengers aboard the Bandit Gull spoke up; they weren't willing to risk their lives for the ship owner's benefit, since the pirates weren't robbing them specifically.

"Give it to them, if they only want the cargo, that's fine," the fat captain's legs had gone weak and he could barely stand, "I'm afraid they'll want the ship as well! The most valuable thing at sea isn't the cargo, it's the ship!"

"Give them hell! Not even a speck of dirt!" A thunderous voice made the fat captain sit abruptly on the ground; Major General Layton was furious. With blazing red eyes, he bellowed, "They rob you and you give? To hell with that! What would that do to my reputation if this got out? Where would the pride of the Sea Blue Army be?!"

Escape being hopeless, the fat captain had already considered surrendering. The prospect of losing everything, both ship and cargo, filled him with grief, better that than to lose his life, right? But seeing Major General Layton's defiance, he suddenly found a backbone and sensed a glimmer of hope to save both the ship and its goods.