"Pull yourself together, you Sea Dog!"
The gruff Second Mate was trying to rally Francois the way sailors did.
Francois steadied himself against the round table and sat by the window. The vast Sea made him feel a little better, until someone stepped into the Captain's Quarters.
"Ugh—stay away from me, Faster... That damned fish stink—ugh..."
The smell of fish turned Francois's stomach again.
"I just wanted to tell you I caught another big one."
Faster regretted that every fish he caught aboard was bigger than the last, yet he had no one to share his excitement with.
"Just looking at a fish makes me dizzy now. People too..." Francois said weakly.
"I'm leaving!" The Second Mate took the hint and followed Faster out of the Captain's Quarters.
Standing on the stairs, the Second Mate said, "The captain's seasick, and quite a few Sailors can't take it anymore. Should we put ashore for a day's rest?"
"Not yet."
Holding the fish by its gills, Faster said they had barely passed Glacier Harbor. Who knew what lurked in the forest?
"You're the First Mate. Your call."
The big fish in Faster's hand gave a sudden thrash. Its icy tail slapped the Second Mate across the face, spinning him halfway around and making him shiver.
"Fucking snow. Fucking cold..." Gram cursed the miserable weather. "Feels like I'm back in fucking Deepwinter."
"Stop complaining about the cold." Luoxi sat shoulder to shoulder with Krian on the cart.
A cold-hardy destrier hauled the wagon through the Snowdrifts.
They had naively thought the snow was all that remained of winter. Then, toward evening, snowflakes actually began falling from the sky.
The Newspaper Team's guide was a one-armed veteran who had retired from the Fortress. He gave a few dry chuckles and said the Snowdrifts