"I really didn't expect that I'd end up going to Antarctica…"
Standing at the airship port and looking at the massive airship before her, Mary felt as if everything in front of her wasn't real.
Suddenly, Professor Palmar from the Department of History invited her to join his research group.
Suddenly, Professor Palmar announced that they would be heading to Antarctica for an expedition.
Suddenly, he even planned to take her along.
It wasn't until she learned the full story from Duanmu Huai that Mary finally understood what had happened.
To be honest, after calculating the cost of this expedition, Mary couldn't help but tremble.
Not from excitement or fear, but simply because of the staggering amount of money involved… it was an astronomical figure that someone of her middle-class background could never even imagine in her lifetime.
Not to mention, Duanmu Huai wasn't the kind of person who liked to suffer, so their journey had been arranged in extreme luxury. First, they would depart from the Fog City by airship to Tierra del Fuego, and then take a ship from there to Antarctica. Of course, all the necessary equipment had already been prepared.
If possible, Duanmu Huai would have preferred to take the airship directly to Antarctica.
On one hand, it would be more convenient. On the other hand…
Do you know where R'lyeh is?
R'lyeh lies at 47°9′ south latitude and 126°43′ west longitude… that's right, just west of Tierra del Fuego.
Take a wrong turn, and you might end up having a seafood barbecue with Cthulhu.
Duanmu Huai wasn't afraid of Cthulhu, but he certainly didn't want to end up smelling like fish from head to toe.
Unfortunately, given Antarctica's climate, airplanes might manage, but airships were much more difficult. So Duanmu Huai had no choice but to opt for traveling by ship from Tierra del Fuego to Antarctica—hopefully Cthulhu wouldn't be stupid enough to come looking for trouble.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Duanmu Huai."
Professor Palmar was beaming with excitement, gripping Duanmu Huai's hands and shaking them vigorously. Having a wealthy patron who wasn't afraid to spend money was truly wonderful. If this were funded by public expense, forget airships—even ships would mean the worst third-class cabins. With limited funding, every penny would have to be stretched, saving wherever possible. But Duanmu Huai simply waved his hand and chartered an entire airship. With such comfortable conditions, Palmar wouldn't mind doing this kind of expedition several more times.
Moreover, this was the best time to head to Antarctica. While other regions were approaching winter, Antarctica was entering summer, with the longest daylight hours. Although airships weren't as fast as airplanes, they were still much quicker than ships. Taking advantage of this timing, his expedition team might even get a head start and secure a prime location.
While most people were delighted, there were exceptions.
For example—Lorena.
"Eh? Another airship… nothing bad is going to happen again, right…?"
"Miss Lorena? Why do you say 'again'?"
Seeing the usually cheerful girl now looking troubled, Mary asked curiously, and Lorena sighed.
"Because the last time I took an airship to the Fog City with the Knight, there was a cultist murder case on board… it was exhausting."
"Eh?! A m-murder case?!"
Mary was shocked. She had only ever seen such things in detective novels—never heard of them happening in real life!
"B-but we should be fine this time, right, Miss Lorena? Mr. Duanmu Huai chartered this airship, so there aren't any outsiders…"
"The killer last time was the ship's doctor."
"..."
Mary had nothing to say after that.
At that moment, Duanmu Huai walked over and patted Lorena on the head.
"Alright, don't worry, Lorena. I guarantee nothing will happen this time."
"Eh?"
It didn't take long for Lorena to understand why Duanmu Huai was so confident.
Because the airship he had chartered this time… was the very same one they had taken before—the Full Moon and Starry Night.
"Because of the murder incident, this airship hasn't been doing well lately. I saw the price was cheap, so I just rented it."
"..."
Lorena was completely speechless.
You can do that???
Only then did Lorena finally understand Duanmu Huai's confidence. The crew of this ship had already been interrogated by him before; aside from the ship doctor, everyone else was innocent. That meant there shouldn't be any more problems.
But… Sir Knight, isn't it a bit much to keep squeezing the same sheep like this?
Although Lorena felt helpless, Duanmu Huai didn't care at all. He even began introducing things to Mary.
"Look, over here—that smoking room. That's where the victim was killed back then. They even used his blood to draw a strange ritual circle, and the walls were covered with blasphemous symbols… though it looks like it's all been cleaned up now…"
Hearing this, Mary's face turned pale. She stared at the smoking room as if it were the entrance to hell and instinctively took a few steps back.
"By the way, which room are you planning to stay in?"
"Please make sure to arrange me in a guest room as far away from here as possible, thank you…"
As they spoke, the group walked down the corridor and arrived at the observation deck, where the captain was waiting. Upon seeing Duanmu Huai, the captain smiled warmly and bowed.
"It's been a long time, sir. You're as impressive as ever."
"I'm doing alright. You, on the other hand, don't look so great."
"Well… that can't be helped…"
The captain gave a bitter smile at Duanmu Huai's teasing. The previous murder incident had caused them a great deal of trouble. A simple murder would have been bad enough, but this involved a cultist, which led to all sorts of rumors spreading at the docks. Stories about the murdered man's soul being trapped by evil magic, still wandering the ship and waiting to steal others' souls…
People who could afford airships weren't the type to tolerate discomfort—and certainly not bad luck. So the Full Moon and Starry Night had been struggling for months. Even the captain had begun to lose heart and considered selling the airship—but no one wanted it.
Then Duanmu Huai saw the news and contacted him. The captain, of course, would never forget the man who had saved them. If not for Duanmu Huai and Lorena, they wouldn't have returned alive—they might have gone down with the airship into the sea. So he readily agreed.
After all, with no business lately, any job was a good job.
The captain had already decided that after this trip, he would completely renovate and rename the Full Moon and Starry Night. Otherwise, he might never get another customer for the rest of his life.
(End of Chapter)