I Didn't See the Skyveil Behemoth Either

Beatrice did not have to wait long before the sea below gradually became lively.

All manner of ships entered her field of vision.

The large ones were cargo ships, floating mountains that were massive, tranquil, slow yet steady as they cut across the sea.

There were even more smaller vessels, each leaving a winding white trail across the water.

"Look, the Black Pearl! Captain Jeremiah is racing again."

"Where? Where?"

"Down there, the one with three smokestacks."

"That's the Black Pearl?!"

"Yep, didn't recognize it, did you? Jeremiah recently refitted it again. Now the Black Pearl is the fastest ship in all of Castel, aside from the Assault Coffin!"

"That really is fast."

Gaia and Zoe also gathered by the window, chattering away.

Beatrice gazed at the sea below, somewhat lost in thought.

What had Castel been like the last time she came here?

Back then, she had traveled on a Church ship—a classic medium-sized sailing vessel made in Blood Port. It had been drifting at sea for over a decade. Though rather old, it was already considered quite decent in the Empire.

The Empress had wanted to build a navy and had requisitioned nearly every ship she could mobilize. Only because the Candlelight Society had some influence had they managed to keep this one.

Many of the planks on that ship's deck had rotted away. They creaked beneath one's feet, and she had needed to lift her skirts to walk across them.

Together with the rats scurrying everywhere in the cabin and the strangely smelling watered-down liquor, that had formed her entire impression of the sea.

Barren, filthy, old, and disorderly.

Beatrice lowered her gaze to the ships below. Their decks... did not look like wood at all.

In fact, they looked more like works of art—meticulously crafted metal