The entire fleet had almost no lights, like a dark school of fish floating across the night sky. Moonlight occasionally broke through the clouds, spilling its clear radiance over the rolling sea and casting the fleet's shadows across the waves. The silver sails brightened and dimmed in turn, glittering like rippling silver. The entire fleet rumbled through the air, yet the more it did so, the quieter the night seemed. The sky over the vast Noble Inland Sea appeared to be shrouded in this strange atmosphere.
The air in the chart room was equally quiet. Several large maps of the Empire and the regions around the Noble Inland Sea had been spread across the table. One corner was held down by a dagger in a black leather sheath, while a sextant—or something similar—sat at the other end. Several chairs had been placed around the table. Marjorie, Charles, Effram, Count Orcons, and another spokesman chosen by the nobles sat around it. Brando occupied the seat at the head, with the sword-bearing Female Mercenary Captain Yuta and the staff-wielding Hypamira standing behind him.
The ladies had no desire to squeeze in among the men, so they stood a little farther away and watched the men deliberate from a distance. In fact, apart from Chiara and Oni, the other women had no interest in this dreary meeting. Yinide was accompanying the Little Princess of the Xifah Family, while Judy had grown accustomed to staying by Oni's side. After all, the young girl was not even eleven and was still at the age when she feared being alone.
A young man stood among them. He wore a captain's uniform: a neat blue-gray coat with golden tassels hanging from the shoulder insignia, a sash, light-gray riding breeches, and gleaming black boots. He also wore a