The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 179

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 179
“Then we need to send a rescue ship……!”
April thought she had to find the drifting vessel as quickly as possible.
But the question was whether anyone would take the risk of traveling such a distance—a week’s journey by boat.
Just as April couldn’t bring herself to ask for such a sacrifice and fell silent, a familiar voice came from behind.
“April, has the moment finally come when the Navy’s role is needed?”
April turned to see Shaper Meyer’s bright face.
She thought he was truly oblivious. Yet it was because of that careless brightness that April couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh herself.
She nodded.
“Yes. It seems that time has come.”
The moment her approval fell, the rescue operation began without delay.
April was able to confirm, fortunately, that Shaper had not simply squandered her money on idle pursuits.
All this time, Lunos Harbor had been filled with many damaged vessels that had been abandoned here and there on Right Island, awaiting repair. Ships were being restored there, and in the process master craftsmen taught apprentices, and the number of skilled workers grew.
Among the repaired fishing vessels, the larger ships were prioritized for Shaper’s use. There he trained soldiers from the Dieusz Grand Duchy who had volunteered under the pretext of coastal defense. The procedures required in that process were solved far more easily by Shaper than April had worried.
April spent the night praying that the ships would not drift away. Though the weather was warm, her body trembled and sleep would not come.
She thought she had missed the time to pursue the learning she needed. Yet the more she worked for the Lunos Family, the more the many stories her parents had left behind influenced her. The conversations they shared late into the night.
From dawn onward, April sought out the fishermen preparing for their work and told them this story.
With time pressing, they finished preparations for departure quickly, and fortunately the sun had not yet set, so they could depart whenever ready—word of the departure came before even three hours had passed.
All the Navy’s ships anchored in the harbor had finished their departure preparations. Beyond that, the fishing vessels persuaded by April came out to prepare for departure as well.
Shaper spoke to April.
“Even in such a fine season, they’re willing to skip a day’s work? How much money did you offer them?”
April answered.
“I didn’t promise them much.”
“If they’re not getting paid much, there’s no reason for them to join such an undertaking.”
“My parents taught me that a ship left behind must always be rescued. Especially one crewed by the fishermen of Right Island.”
No one could know whose turn it might be to venture into those treacherous waters and have their ship fail them. Their decision to join the rescue effort was also an investment in their own future selves.
She had proposed this Cycle of Trust, and the fishermen had agreed to uphold it.
Once April finished her explanation, Shaper nodded as if he understood.
Then, without even being asked, he turned her cooling body around.
“You brought the fishermen this far, but I’ll be commanding from here. You’d only be in the way, so go inside.”
“But I also…….”
Before April could finish, Shaper cut her off.
“If the fishing vessel was taking on water, they would’ve thrown out all the cargo aboard first. That would mean the merchant ship was useless, so you need to figure out some other way to make money anyway, don’t you?”
April herself knew that following a path of uncertain distance would not be helpful.
She reluctantly nodded.
“You’ve been unusually making sense today.”
“I’ve always been making sense!”
Shaper shouted indignantly and pushed her toward the Villa.
But April turned back after only a few steps to look at those setting out.
Shaper, who had turned back at just that moment as if he’d expected it, spoke with a look of resignation.
“Go!”
“Even empty-handed is fine, you said.”
“There’s not a single person here who doesn’t know what you’re thinking. So go.”
Shaper, his already stern face darkening further, issued the threat.
April wanted to stay until the ships disappeared from sight, but ultimately she had no choice and returned to the Villa.
* * *
After hearing April’s explanation, it became clear why the fishermen had come forward. But honestly, even for Shaper, this was something remarkable.
Remarkable—even overwhelming. Especially for Shaper, who was prone to emotion, this scene was seared into his mind as something unforgettable.
In how many ships responded to April’s request for this open-ended undertaking, gratitude could not be separated from the woman who had made this harbor a good place to settle.
Even the Youngest Sailor, who had only just found his vitality, came forward to join the rescue effort without the slightest hesitation.
Irsa had seemed to deliberate carefully about who to put aboard the boat for the rescue request.
That she had chosen the Youngest Sailor was because he handled all manner of odd tasks, knew the ship’s condition thoroughly, and his physical stamina gave him the highest chance of survival.
Shaper thought Irsa’s judgment was sound.
That he had managed to survive under the blazing sun was thanks to the sailor’s natural stamina. Few were the people who could endure such dire circumstances.
As Shaper’s ship crossed the sea the Youngest Sailor had traversed in mortal peril, he said:
“How did you manage to cross this alone? You couldn’t have brought much fresh water or provisions.”
“I rationed very strictly on the journey.”
“That’s impressive.”
Truth be told, Shaper, like the captains of the fishing vessels who had set out with him, did not truly believe they would necessarily find April’s merchant ship.
No one on Right Island was ignorant of the sea’s mercilessness.
When Shaper’s ship drew reasonably close to where the boat carrying the Youngest Sailor had departed from, Hamel, the Navigator aboard, spoke up.
“Tell me precisely. If I know how the ship was damaged, I can try to deduce its location.”
Shaper had never taken a liking to Hamel, one of the sailors April had hired. The man was arrogant, disagreeable, but worse still—Hamel had been among those who plundered the Lunos Family Estate.
Of course, Shaper himself had once mistaken April for a witch. But April had forgiven him with eyes that seemed to say, ‘What can I do about you being a simple fool?’ and moved on.
Of course, he might have misread that look, but the April he knew was a woman who would have every reason to think exactly that.
Well, let’s say in this instance he had been a simple fool. After all, didn’t he have an excuse?
But that lawbreaker had stolen goods and fled the moment his employer fell.
He couldn’t understand why April would hire the man again.
Meanwhile, Hamel listened carefully as the Youngest Sailor explained the circumstances when the ship had stopped in considerable detail.
To the eye, it looked as though he were listening half-heartedly, but later when he organized everything, he missed not a single clue.
Understanding the sequence of events was of paramount importance.
After combining all the clues, Hamel drew an unusually large circle on the chart.
“It should be within this area.”
Shaper spoke with disappointment at the size of it.
“We can’t possibly search this entire range. Our line of sight is narrow too.”
“True. But there is sound.”
“Sound?”
“You’ve sent a boat, so they’ll know the rescue team is on its way. If the trumpeter keeps blowing the trumpet and signaling for rescue, we should be able to hear it.”
Hamel continued.
“But by this point, even if they’re alive, they’ll have lost the will to survive, and if so, they won’t blow the trumpet.”
“Which is it then!”
“I think they will blow it.”
Then the Youngest Sailor interjected from beside him.
“So will I!”
“Didn’t you just say they’d have lost the will to survive?”
As Shaper scowled, Hamel replied.
“That will itself depends on hope, doesn’t it? The hope that the owner will find them by any means necessary. Why else would the Head of House have not sent you, an exceptional navigator, aboard that merchant ship in the first place?”
“To find them?”
“Yes. To bring them back even from the depths of hell.”
And two more days passed from that conversation before they finally entered the circle Hamel had drawn.
Once inside the circle, there were so many reefs that it was impossible to make speed.
The rescue fleet advanced at a notably slower pace, the sailors of the various ships relying on one another through trumpet signals for rescue, searching the sea.
And when one day had passed.
Crossing the sea so still that even the wind seemed to have ceased, Shaper, who had been lying on deck gazing up at the stars, suddenly bolted upright. Then he shouted loud enough for ships in the distance to hear.
“Sound the horn! One long blast!”
The moment that command fell, the trumpeter blew one long blast.
Then from far away, a faint trumpet signal marking distress returned.
The Navy’s trumpet sounded once more, and from the distant sea came the responding trumpet call.
Thus the two trumpeters continued exchanging calls until the ships drew closer.
And as they drew nearer, finally at some point.
“The rescue team! The rescue team has arrived!”
“Here! There are people here! Over here!”
Their voices could be heard as they drew within earshot of one another.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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