Summoning Our Country - NHS Kai

Chapter 3: I Will Not Back Down

"Greetings, Lord Amaya."

The sailor bowed in deep respect to him.

"I am Kakeru, captain of the Kakae."

Ah, thought Amaya, as his stiffened face relaxed after hearing the name of Kakeru's vessel.

The kingdom of Fenn is a nation of the periphery, a euphemism for the official term, "outside the civilized regions." As such, its national power, like the other nations of the periphery, was puny compared to the nations inside the civilized areas. This reflected in the pitiful size of their fleet, which hovered at 15 gunboats of varying sizes and armament. Since there were so few of them, one could easily memorize the names of each ship, one of which was the Kakae. Amaya remembered seeing a Fennese warship moored at the harbor, so he was able to connect the dots.

"What's your business here, Captain Kakeru?"

The rugged captain returns to his upright stance, fixing his weathered cap before proceeding to answer the lord.

"Great lord, I have come with surprising news. People onboard a beautiful, white ship have come to us, asking to establish diplomatic relations with our kingdom. They said they have come from a nation to the east."

Amaya raised an eyebrow, although his suspicions were more than enough to raise a hundred more.

The mysterious ship carrying envoys to meet them was questionable, but not something unexpected. What truly made him suspicious was that these people claim to have come from a nation to the east. Other than the thearchy of Gahara, a friendly culture on an island next door, there was only the expanse of endless blue to the east. There are no lands, no people, no nations to be found in that corner of the compass. Still, Amaya set aside these questions for the envoys and restrained his thoughts to the current conversation.

"Indeed. I have seen their... stellar ship down there. Are you certain they're not from the supernations of Mu or the Holy Mirishial Empire?"

Kakeru looked down as he shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, great lord. Surprisingly enough, the people of the ship did not know of either of the two. They do seem like fish out of water."

Hearing this, lord Amaya cannot help but chuckle, for he arrived at the only conclusion he could think of: perhaps these people were from an unexplored land from beyond the infinite ocean. If so, then it would explain how they know not the ways of the world.

"Fascinating. If they really are uncontacted people, how did you manage to talk to them? Could they really have known the common tongue?"

"Uh..."

The captain scratched his head as his eyes wandered about, as if at a loss on what words to use–no, rather, it appeared he lacked the will to say what he already knew. Seeing this, Amaya himself started tensing up once more, eager to hear what Kakeru had to say but at the same time hesitant to grapple with the consequences of knowing what it was. However, both men were proud Fennese, and their code of conduct dictated an ironclad willingness to carry out one's duties. As the fumbling captain found his footing, the hesitant lord steeled himself.

"I cannot say for certain how or why, but while they didn't know how to speak the common trade and diplomatic language, they knew the words of our ancestors. Good gods, it was as if I was speaking with my grandfather!"

The revelation shocked Amaya as much as it intrigued him.

The language of Fenn, known to its people as the "words of our ancestors", was an isolate in the sea of languages in either Philades or Rodenius. While they were quick to adapt to the common tongue, the proud nature of the Fennese meant that they upheld their cultural identity, including their unique language. Even as their native tongue changed in the centuries since their nation's inception, evolving from introductions coming from foreign lexicon, there still remained large vestiges of the original language.