The Seaborne Inspection

"Principal, what are you doing here? It's so hot and dirty!"

Kaspar was checking the engine when he suddenly noticed Frederick standing beside him.

The Flying Tulip and the Flying Cornflower had left Le Havre about ten days ago. Yesterday, they'd stopped at a small port in the Kingdom of Riesenburg to replenish their supplies of fresh vegetables and meat, and were preparing to head south, sailing around the Kingdom of Madeira.

Frederick raised his voice. "It's fine. I just came to take a look. You get on with your work."

Only now, experiencing it firsthand, did he truly understand why people said, "If you can't even speak up, how do you expect to command a warship?" Never mind the roar of artillery in wartime—the machinery in the engine room was loud enough that you couldn't hear anyone speaking softly.

The two ships had just carried out a practice run of transferring supplies by ropeway. Frederick, Lilu, and the others had ridden over to the Flying Cornflower in an iron basket.

But the sailors on this ship had made a mistake in the rush. Today's drill called for one of the two cables from the other ship to be attached high and the other low, allowing supplies to travel in both directions. Instead, they'd attached both incorrectly.

Lilu was reprimanding them, so Frederick had come to look around the engine room.

The equipment was running well, and the engine room was clean and tidy. He was very satisfied.

After checking the lubricating oil, Kaspar filled out a form, left the engine room, and placed his hard hat in a nearby basket.

As Frederick took off his own hard hat, he asked, "How is your grandmother doing?"

Kaspar asked in surprise, "How did you know I had a grandmother?"

Frederick replied