The Fifth Fleet Commander of the Oceania Kingdom, the Fiesta Kingdom, Tran's partner, the large ship Fleetwood.
It was a magnificent warship, worthy of such a title.
Its sheer size, reaching nearly 100 meters in length, was overwhelming. The gigantic mast visible from the deck looked like a massive tree. And, like the exterior of the ship, it was covered in silver metal plates.
“Impressive! Is it all made of silver?”
When I asked, Tran tapped the surface of the mast and spoke.
“No, the inside is made of wood. Even though it's the flagship of the fleet, if we used silver and mithril for everything, we wouldn’t be able to make several ships.”
“Oh, I see. But even so, using such rare metals is amazing. Is it to increase durability?”
At that question, Tran’s expression tightened for a moment. It seemed like he was thinking whether to answer or not. After a brief pause, he relaxed his expression.
“Well, I can't go into details, but thanks to these metals, we can sail without being attacked by large magical beasts. That’s why all our ships are covered with metal plates.”
“For safe navigation?”
“Hahaha, I can’t tell you that, as it’s military confidential.”
Tran showed his teeth and smiled, saying that. I pouted in disappointment.
“I see… Well then, please show me the other parts of the ship. There’s so much I don’t know, and it’s fascinating.”
With that, Tran laughed cheerfully and patted his chest.
“Leave it to me! When it comes to showing off this ship, no one can beat me! Wahahaha!”
Tran said cheerfully and proceeded to give me a tour of the ship.
After seeing around the ship, we were finally served a meal in the ship’s dining hall.
“This… this is delicious!”
It was a unique dish, something like sashimi made from freshly caught fish. Till, who had just eaten it, exclaimed with shining eyes.
“It’s certainly a lot more refined than I expected for being on the sea. What’s this crunchy part?”
“It’s delicious, isn’t it? Maybe it’s because the fish is so fresh?”
Till’s thoughts were shared by both me and Arte. The white fish sashimi was paired with an oily sauce, with something that resembled sea grapes for the crunchy texture, and crispy tempura bits. There were also sliced fruits and vegetables mixed in, and surprisingly, it went perfectly with the sashimi.
“The chef really outdid himself, huh? Normally, we don’t use so many seasonings, fruits, or vegetables, but since we can get them quickly now, we decided to splurge.”
Tran, who had joined us, proudly explained the dish. It seemed like it was one of the special dishes on board.
As we ate and tried other dishes, I glanced at the two strong sailors standing at the back of the dining hall.
“Are there specialized cooks on board?”
“They’re not specialists, but we have five deckhands who can cook. Two of them are the head chef and sous-chef, and they also manage the stock.”
Hearing that, I recalled the sailors I had seen during the tour of the ship.
There were about fifty sailors on board, all men ranging from their teens to their thirties. They were all rugged, sun-tanned men. There might be a rule that women can’t become sailors on this ship.
It might be discrimination, but I couldn’t imagine those two bodybuilder-like black strongmen cooking this kind of dish.
The cuisine was at such a level that it wouldn’t be out of place in the royal castle. This wasn’t the hearty, rugged sea fare I had expected. It was delicate and complex, a truly wonderful dish. I imagined a white-bearded old chef was likely behind it all.
“I thought it would be hard to make various dishes on a ship, but life on board seems pretty comfortable.”
“No, no, you get tired of fish if you eat it every day. Before, we’d return to the country after about two weeks, so a journey of more than a month really made me feel how tough it can be.”
“In that case, the next time you head back to Fiesta Kingdom, you'll need to buy lots of fruits and vegetables. Oh, by the way! If you like, I’ll send you some of my favorite ingredients. There are all sorts of meats, so let’s dry some jerky for you to take back!”
“Oh! That would be wonderful! Really, I’m very happy about this. Thank you!”
In the end, we ended up getting caught up in a lively conversation about food. Tran was a straightforward and easy-to-understand guy. He was also quite fun.
On the ship, getting meat was probably difficult. Other than that, there were spices besides salt, fruits, and vegetables. There would likely be some islands along the way, but it wasn’t easy to get fresh produce.
Now, what could I give Tran that he would like? If I was going to, I wanted to build a good relationship with the Fiesta Kingdom.
Even though it was a country I had never been to, thanks to Tran, I had started to think that Fiesta Kingdom must be a really good country.
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