Her Majesty’s Secret Service

068. 10 months of service

The refreshing sound of waves crashing is heard.

On the calm sea. It’s hard to say that it’s an open sea, but as I stare blankly at the sea from the deck of a large ship floating in the middle of the sea, I can see a glimpse of London.

“under… want to go home… .”

I got on the boat when the cold wind blew, but I couldn’t get off the boat until the cold wind blew again.

It is now December 1556. It had been ten months and a few weeks since I boarded the ship and began plundering in earnest.

My previous commute between London and Deptford was better. Oh my god, a life where you spend two days at sea, come back, rest for a day, and then spend another two days at sea? Cursing comes out of nowhere.

I don’t even remember what my room in London looked like. Instead of the appearance of the palace, the accommodations in Calais are vivid enough to be engraved in the mind. Angry. As I approach a year of living like this, I am reminded of what happened when I was in the military.

When I think about it, it’s like I accidentally re-enlisted. Well, the four-pole sergeant is now standing on the deck as a captain, that is, the captain of the royal flagship, so is this also a career?

“Hello, Captain!”

“Oh yeah. “Thank you for your hard work.”

As I stand quietly on the deck with a complicated mind, bathing in the morning sunlight, the sailors who were on duty yesterday morning enter the bedroom and greet me very politely.

This is all about the power of money. How much did the sailors receive from me? Shouldn’t they give me something like that?

Each time, the stolen cash was distributed here and there, a penny or two, and even Drake, the youngest of the ‘Catherine’ crew members, took home five gold coins. I heard the guy who earned the most earned over a hundred gold coins… Oh my gosh, did I steal so much?

Since he showered such a huge amount of gold coins on the sailors, isn’t it safe to say that he has the right to receive a respectful greeting from the sailors?

“Captain! Did you sleep comfortably?”

“Okay Drake, good morning.”

As I continued to breathe the sea breeze on the deck, I heard the voice of Drake, who had just gotten up and came up to the deck.

Oh, Drake’s appearance has also changed quite a bit. It’s been almost a year since I was on the ship, and it was strange that my appearance hadn’t changed at that age.

When I first saw him, I could see that he looked a little young, but now his impression has become so sharp that I can’t even see that, and he looks quite like a sailor. what. It’s all good, but I hope you don’t look at me with burdensome eyes.

Ever since we won against three warships 10 months ago, Drake has always been giving me a burdened look every time he sees me.

When the battle was over and everyone was relaxing and taking a breather, he came to me as I was wiping away my sleepy heart in the captain’s office and asked, “Captain, did you lure the enemy ship knowing this would happen?” I tried to brag once and say, “Yes, I did that because I thought it was right,” but from then on, he started looking at me with that burdensome look in his eyes.

Yeah, like right now.

If I had known that would happen, I would have made another excuse. I can no longer bear those burdensome eyes that shine brightly as if they show respect.

In the end, I spoke first.

“Is there anything else you can say? “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I heard from Captain Stan. They said they sent a letter of recommendation to the royal family… . Thank you so much!”

“A letter of recommendation? ah. never mind. “It’s really no big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal to you, Captain, but to me… Anyway, thank you so much! “I will work hard to ensure that the captain’s name is not tarnished.”

“No, something like that… anyway… no. no. Yes, it’s good to see you working hard. “Do your best.”

“yes!”

This is a letter of recommendation that I wrote, but I still don’t know what they’re asking me to send it for.

Sending the letter of recommendation to the royal family was not of my own volition, but was in accordance with the queen’s orders.

Half a year ago. When the number of merchant ships on the coast of Holland began to decrease, the Queen sent a letter from London.

Since I was planning to hire a sailor personally, it included a message telling me to write down the name of a sailor I thought was trustworthy and capable and send it to the palace.

I asked the servant who brought the letter why the queen wanted to select a sailor, but he gave no answer, saying that nothing had been finalized yet, so I gave up on getting an answer.

I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but wasn’t it something the queen ordered anyway? As per her orders, I wrote down the names of suitable crew members. And Drake’s name was also on the list.

The name Drake was not written in the recommendation letter simply because of the value of the name ‘Francis Drake.’ It’s not even clear whether this Drake is the Drake or not.

The reason I wrote this child’s name in the letter of recommendation was because even to me, a layperson, this child seemed like a natural sailor. From simple chores like cleaning the deck to instinctively noticing changes in the weather and wind direction. The more I looked at him, the more talented he was.

The letter of recommendation written in that way was sent to London when we stopped at Calais last week, and it seems that Captain Stan, who was working as a helmsman, found out about it and mentioned it to Drake.

Come to think of it, I received a new order last week. Rather than a letter of command, it should be said to be a letter of encouragement from the queen.

Most of what was written on the paper praised the Royal Navy’s achievements and Catherine’s achievements.

Well, Catherine’s performance should have been average. The number of ships that Catherine has plundered over the past year alone exceeds fifty. In addition to the looted ships, there were more than ten ships that were destroyed.

After skimming through the countless words of praise, the main point came out.

Compared to his words, the main point was simple. Catherine’s crew were all scheduled to be transferred to the Royal Navy. It was a natural procedure.

At first, due to the urgency of the situation, they had no choice but to select civilian sailors with appropriate experience in addition to the Royal Navy sailors as Catherine’s crew, but now they have become veteran sailors who are good at handling Catherine.

Additionally, it is said that the value of the cargo and gold coins brought by ‘Catherine’ is equivalent to the royal family’s annual income. There was no reason to miss sailors with such criminal records.

In fact, the reason ‘Catherine’ was able to record such a criminal record was due to her ridiculous qualifications. Other warships and existing Karak ships were slow, so if a merchant ship decided to throw away its cargo and run away, it had to pick up the cargo that was floating in the sea without any hesitation, but in front of ‘Catherine’, whether it was a warship or a merchant ship, it was just the same prey.

Come to think of it, did you say that the Queen is waging a fierce battle with the House of Lords in London to build the second ‘Catherine’?

Well, the members of the House of Nobles said that they acknowledged Catherine’s performance, but were opposed to it, citing a lack of budget as the reason.

If the new Catherine was built right away, half of the new ships scheduled to be built next year would not be able to be built. The Queen seemed to be insisting on adding one more Catherine to her family, even if it meant raising a little more in her special tax.

As I was thinking about things in London, I heard a middle-aged man’s voice from behind me. It was the voice of Lieutenant Flint, the ship’s navigator who had served in the Royal Navy for a long time.

“Captain, is it okay if we return quickly?”

Originally, the lieutenant was scheduled to become the captain of another ship, but when Catherine was launched, he was assigned here.

At first, he had a sullen expression on his face every day because he thought his captaincy was lost, but these days, he seems to have tasted the money, and he is an easy-to-understand man who always walks around with a smile on his face. Even now he was talking to me with a grin.

“Oh, I do. It looks like there will be no more merchant ships passing by… .”

In the first month of plundering, I exaggerated a little and easily robbed three or four ships every day, but these days, I wonder if the rumor has spread and I can’t find any ships even if I look around with my eyes closed.

Since I didn’t think I would be able to catch any fish, let alone a merchant ship, I wanted to quickly return to Calais to wash off the salt and take a good nap.

Although the captain’s cabin is more comfortable than a regular cabin, there is a difference between sleeping at sea and sleeping on land.

* * *

After a while. When I returned to Calais from the coast of Holland and stepped onto the dock like always, I heard a cheerful and lively voice greeting me.

“Logan! “It arrived sooner than expected?”

“Jane? How do we get here… ?”

“It’s the same as half a year ago! Her Majesty the Queen said she had something to tell you, so I said I would deliver it to you again. “You haven’t seen me since then, right?”

Seeing my wife’s face for the first time in a while brings a smile to my face without me realizing it.

It was awkward at first, but after living together for a few months, I think we developed a bond without realizing it. Come to think of it, it was Jane who brought the queen’s order six months ago.

“Why are you making such a stupid face?”

“huh? No, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you… Haha, so um… “How have you been?”

“oh my god! In the past, someone who would have started talking about work by asking, ‘What are Her Majesty’s orders?’ has changed like this. “Did you miss me that much?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“yes… to… ?”

Jane’s face, who had been teasing me by imitating my voice just a moment ago, turns bright red. She was the kind of girl who always enjoyed teasing me like that, making me not know what to do. It was so cute to see her face turn bright red in embarrassment.

“What’s wrong. Jane? “Is it because you’re embarrassed?”

To be honest, I really missed it. I can’t tell you how much I missed every day, lying down with Jane under a blanket in a bed that was so comfortable that it couldn’t be compared to the hammock in the captain’s cabin.

Have you ever said that a person can only know something precious when he doesn’t have something precious? Whatever the process, whatever the reason, no matter how old she was, no matter what era she was from, the Jane standing next to me right now was my wife Jane.

Half a year ago, when I saw Jane in Calais, I remember bursting into tears without realizing it. Now that I think about it, perhaps I realized without realizing that the only person I could call ‘family’ to me in the 16th century was Jane.

“Oh, no! That’s not it, ah! Your Majesty the Queen, the letter you asked me to deliver… “Here, here.”

Jane panicked with a bright red face, found the Queen’s letter in her arms, and handed it to me. I was handed the letter and opened the clearly stamped royal seal to check the contents inside.

“where… therefore… .”

My face, which had been smiling happily while looking at Jane just a moment ago, crumpled as soon as I saw the contents.

“Logan? Why is this happening all of a sudden? “What on earth is written there?”

“No, Jane it’s nothing for you to worry about. that… You’re asking about boats. yes. “About the boat.”

“Oh, there was so much talk about building one more ‘Catherine’. Is that because of that problem?”

“That’s it. Don’t worry any more. uh… “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Would you like me to cook something for you?”

“lol… no. It must be hard already, but you stay still. Have you been learning how to cook from Marco while you were away? “I’ll do it today!”

I didn’t lie to Jane. The Queen was asking me about the construction of ‘Catherine’.

But the problem is, why entrust this task to me, leaving other subjects behind?

[I want to build the second ‘Constitution’ box. A month later, return to London for the New Year. As a captain, persuade the nobles.]

You want me to find a way to persuade the nobles? No, what am I supposed to do? How can I persuade the nobles?

But wait, what does Jane do?

“The dish you cooked for me in Richmond, I learned from Marco! Just wait a moment. I’ll make it delicious for you. Umm… Where is the fire pit here… .”

First, I have to convince Jane. I don’t know what Marco taught me, but if he left Jane to cook, he wouldn’t know what he would have for dinner tonight.