Because I’ve Been Reincarnated As A Girl I Just Want To Do Yuri Things, But Things Aren’t Going Well - Chapter 197

Yesterday, I felt uncomfortable with Helmut’s unexpected confession. Well, apparently, Helmut also said that he would face Christa properly, so there is no doubt that he is quite positive about marriage with her. Helmut is excellent, and if he doesn’t think weird things about me, I want him to continue serving me. For that reason, I have to have him get along well with Christa no matter what…

Anyway, I will be busy again from today. And from now on, I can’t act with everyone. Because now…

“From today, I will be using Cien as my base of operations and going out to sea,” I said. “This matter is dangerous so I can’t bring civilians and guests without any stake in it.”

I will squash any protests first at the breakfast table. From today, I plan to go to Cien and exterminate the pirate ships of the Kingdom of Hollant, which are blockading the area around Lubek. In less than a month, the enemy must be subjugated and either captured or sunk.

It’s not like we’ll stay out at sea forever, but once we set sail, it’s possible that we won’t be able to return for days, and if we encounter enemies, there’s a good chance that we’ll fight. The safety of the crew cannot be guaranteed if it becomes a boarding battle on a narrow ship. Bringing everyone unfit for battle only puts them in danger.

“I already told you, no matter what you say, I’ll follow you!”

“Mikoto…”

As expected, Mikoto was the first to stand up and object. Then everyone else raises their voices.

“I am a Knight of the Royal Guard Division,” Claudia said. “If it’s a fight to protect the country, then I’m joining in, too.”

“I-I have the magic that you taught me, Floto!” Louisa said.

“As a noble of the Kingdom of Ploiss, I can’t leave a pirate ship alone,” Alexandra said.

“Everyone please calm down…”

I try to calm them down, but they won’t listen. No matter how much you say you’re a Royal Guard Knight, you can’t move as usual on the ship. The opponents are naval battle professionals. No matter how much you say it’s Claudia on board, there is no guarantee that she will be able to compete with seasoned navy men. Even though Louisa can use magic, she is still an amateur. I don’t know if she can even use magic calmly on the battlefield.

When it comes to Alexandra, it doesn’t even matter. It’s true that the nobles of the Kingdom of Ploiss can’t ignore it, but they can’t bring Alexandra, who was raised as a young lady, into a naval battle with nowhere to escape.

“Miss Flora, how about doing this?” Katharina asked. “Regardless of whether or not you take us on a ship to the battlefield, please let us accompany you to Cien. You will be launching from Cien’s port, and operating from Cien, so, wouldn’t it be better if we just wait for your return, Miss Flora?”

“I as well!” Christa said. “I know I’ll cause trouble if I get on the ship, so I’ll be waiting for you at that port town!”

“Even you, Katharina, and Christa…”

Apparently, not everyone will be all for boarding. They might be okay just waiting at Cien’s port, but I wonder if they’ll really be satisfied with just that… when I arrive at Cien’s port and when I’m about to set sail, will I be able to properly refuse them?

I don’t want to put everyone in danger as much as possible. I want them to enjoy sightseeing in Carruzan and Caanburg and then go home.

“Flora dear, I know you’re worried about your lovers, but they all feel the same as you,” Mother said. “Understanding everyone’s feelings is the trick to a good romance.”

“What…?!” I sputtered. “You, you just called them my lovers…”

I was shocked when my mother cut straight to the point. That was as good as confessing to it.

“It’s fine,” Mother said. “If I look at you, Flora dear, and your friends, I’ll understand. Right? But just like you’re worried about these cute lovers, Flora dear, these lovers are also worried about you in turn.”

“That’s…” I said.

I know that, too. If I were in the opposite position, I’m sure I would say the same thing as everyone else. If I heard that Claudia might appear on a battlefield without my knowledge and she could lose her life, I would absolutely go to fight with her. If Mikoto’s life is being targeted in her country, I would shelter her here even if it meant becoming enemies of the Demon Country.

If Louisa was attacked in town, I would always protect her, and when Alexandra was about to be attacked by Kaspar, my head was so hot that I couldn’t think of anything and my body moved on its own. Because Katharina is a maid, if other nobles look at her with vulgar eyes because of her position as a servant, I will ruin them.

“Mother will escort everyone,” Mother said. “So, let’s all go together?”

“Mother…… wait, ah!”

Mother, please wait a minute! Father is here too… if he finds out that I’m trying to make girls my lovers, it’ll be pretty dangerous…

“This is something that concerns House Carruthers,” Father said. “I’ll go with Maria.”

…… Huh? Father doesn’t say anything about what happened earlier. Does that mean he’s pretending he didn’t hear? After all, it’s a big deal to my parents. Seriously… after all, no matter how much time passes in any world, children are no match for their parents.

“I understand… let’s all go!”

In the end, almost all of us headed for Cien.

This time, I will head to Cien by land from Carruzan. Originally, I was planning to go by myself, so I thought a carriage would be fine, so I didn’t prepare a boat. It is possible to forcibly board a cargo ship or a passenger ship, but it would be difficult for the sailors if this many people came unexpectedly. That’s why I headed for Cien across Hexennacht in a carriage.

They say it’s easy to capture or sink the Hollant Kingdom’s pirate ships, but it’s not that easy. Even if the Hulk Sea is the Mediterranean Sea, it is quite large. There are several coastal countries, and the total length of the coast is considerable. There are ports here and there, and it’s not easy to find a few ships in the open sea. It is very difficult to find only the Hollant pirate ships among other ships.

How did the Hollant Kingdom pirate ships come to the Hulk Sea in the first place? No need to think about it. There is no doubt that they crossed the strait between the peninsula of the Demon Country and the peninsula to the north. The only other way to board a ship in the Hulk Sea, which has only one entrance and exit, is to obtain a ship built within that region.

It is almost impossible for the crew to come overland to the coast of the Hulk Sea, procure a ship locally, and use it as a pirate ship. There is no place where such a large ship can be built so easily, including neighboring countries, and normally large ships are built as a national project. I don’t think it’s easy to sell it to strangers from foreign countries.

In the first place, according to eyewitness reports, the Hollant Kingdom’s pirate ships are a bit different from the ships around here. Most of the ships engaged in the Hulk Sea trade are cog ships, but the pirate ships in question are of a different type. From that, there is no doubt that pirate ships came from the Hermann Sea.

So the question is whether the Demon Country or the Kamaal Alliance allowed the pirates through. That aspect is very messy. By the way, the strait between the Demon Country and the northern peninsula is called Skagellak Strait. Passing through the Skagellak Strait requires permission from the Kamaal Alliance.

Basically, the Kamaal Alliance does not prohibit passage through the Skagellak Strait. The Kingdom of Ploiss has long been hostile to the Demon Country, but it hasn’t been declared that passage through the Skagellak Strait will be prohibited. Therefore, even merchants from the Kingdom of Ploiss can pass through the Skagellak Strait if they obtain permission.

However, that is only a case-to-case story with individuals, and it is not necessarily true that you can pass unconditionally. If anything happened, they could suddenly be captured or attacked from both shores while passing through the strait. On the surface, it’s just a pretext that it’s open to anyone.

So it’s a pirate ship in the Kingdom of Holland, but it’s important whether the Kamaal Alliance let the Hollant pirates pass through after discovering they were pirates or without realizing it.

Perhaps they would ostensibly say they didn’t know what the ship was going to do as it passed through the strait. Well, I can’t say that they knew they were there to commit piracy and then let them through. The problem is to what extent the Kamaal Alliance and the Demon Country know what the Kingdom of Hollant is aiming for and how much they are cooperating.

Certainly, it would be difficult to know all the purposes of the ships passing through the strait. There should be a lot of people trying to get permission to pass by arbitrarily arranging lies, and no matter how strict the check system is, there should be people leaking in regardless.

But wouldn’t it be strange if the Kamaal Alliance didn’t know that the Kingdom of Hollant intends to send pirate ships through their waterway? The Kamaal Alliance, whose lifeline is to seize the coast of the Hulk Sea, cannot let other ships pass through the strait without knowing the aim of the other countries’ ships and investigating each vessel. So at the very least, they should have known some of the aims and circumstances.

However, even if they knew about it, would they be cooperating with the Kingdom of Hollant, no, they wouldn’t be harmed, they’d just be letting someone else attack their mutual rival, the Kingdom of Ploiss. Whether they just wanted to let them pass silently, or how far the Kamaal Alliance is cooperating with the Kingdom of Hollant will determine their future fate.

And at the very least, there must always be a Hollant Kingdom collaborator somewhere in the Hulk Sea. No matter how much a ship loaded with goods is replenished by piracy, it cannot continue its activities without replenishing at a port at all. The pirates of the Kingdom of Hollant are sure to be stopping at some port and conducting necessary repairs and resupply.

Does that port also actively cooperate with the Hollant Kingdom’s ships after understanding that they are pirate ships, or are they just letting them through anyway thinking it would be profitable if they attack Ploiss, not them?

If the Kamaal Alliance understands everything and is actively cooperating by allowing the passage through the strait and renting their ports, it will be a pretty troublesome story. Sinking the Hollant Kingdom’s ships isn’t the end of the story. Not only do we have to capture and sink our enemies, but we also have to get to who’s behind them even being here…

“Miss Floto, we have arrived at Cien’s port.”

“Thank you,” I said.

It seems that we arrived at Cien’s port while I was thinking about various things. We leave the carriage and enter the shipyard. Today is the launching ceremony. In fact, this new type of ship, the galleon, has already been launched with ship-mounted guns and is undergoing repeated sailing and artillery training. However, on the surface, it’s still unfinished, and it’s supposed to be a “new prototype ship.”

“Wow! It’s bigger than the last boat!”

“This is amazing…”

Everyone who entered the shipyard is looking up at the new ship, Galleon No. 1. Today, the new galleon will be officially launched. Only we and the shipyard staff are present. Compared to the unveiling of caravel ships and carrack ships, I feel that it is very lonely.

If I could have, I want to show them the light of day on a large scale. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to hold such a ceremony this time, and I don’t know where the enemy is lurking, so I can’t leak harmful information. It would be nice to have some information about our strength come to light after the pirates of the Kingdom of Hollant were sunk, but it would be bad if this information leaked out before we had a battle with the pirate ships and they could prepare countermeasures.

“Hey, hey, Flora dear! Is it okay if Mother names this ship?”

“Huh? … Eh, well…”

Unfortunately, I don’t have the taste for names. In that case, it might be better to ask my mother to name it. Perhaps someone had made arrangements to name it, and the name might have been decided, but…

“Have you decided on a name yet?” I discreetly asked the master carpenter.

“No, this ship didn’t have a name yet, so I thought I’d ask you to name it, Sir Floto,” he said.

Apparently, he didn’t have a name yet. It may have been true, but if he lied to me, I would still feel better.

“That’s cheating, Maria. To name such a splendid ship yourself… I’m already here, aren’t I…?” Father asked.

“What are you talking about? You’ve already named one ship the Albert, haven’t you? Now it’s my turn,” Mother said.

My parents are arguing over who should name this vessel… do they want naming rights so badly? My father named a ship the Albert at the launching ceremony of the caravel ship, so it’s enough for this time… there was an older man who named the carrack ship the Wilhelm… what name will my mother give this one?

“It’s already Mother’s decision! Okay? I’ll declare it now! This ship is… the ‘Santa Maria’!”

TA-DAH!

Mother declared so while pointing her finger high in the sky as she shook her big chest.

“Santa Maria…”

“The Santa Maria! What a wonderful name!”

“Thank you for the wonderful name!”

All the workers at the shipyard were grateful to my mother. Is that a good name? In the first place, what kind of joke is it that the “Blood Mary” names a ship after herself but calls it the “Holy Mary” instead?

“”

“Flora dear? Do you not like something?” Mother asked.

“Hieh!” I squealed. “No problem. It’s a great name!”

I feel intense pressure as my mother glared at me, and I immediately agreed with the name Santa Maria