Mira didn't open the door directly, and the door of the ship basically had a deadbolt on the inside, except for the storage compartment, which was specially designed to prevent passengers from accidentally being locked in the house and unable to escape during the accident sinking - the girl put her hand on the deadbolt, and the other hand grasped the short sword, and then pressed her ear to the wooden door.

At this moment, most of the more than 100 people on the whole ship were sleeping, and only the crew of the shift who had rested in advance in the evening were still maintaining the basic course. The compartment in which the female passenger was located was arranged in the rear of the hull, near the place of the storage compartment. There are some stairs separated from the cabin of ordinary passengers, which more or less form a certain amount of privacy and isolation.

The rooms assigned to the two of them were not large, in fact, except for the captain's cabin on the top floor, which was slightly larger, the rest of the passenger bedrooms were like this, only to the extent that there was only a bunk bed and a cupboard. The sailors' quarters were even worse, not only sleeping in hammocks, but also squeezing three or four people in a slightly larger space than the passengers' quarters.

These are all designed to save space. As a large ocean-going merchant ship, the Oriental Moon has a crew of about 100 people, which is actually the limit. Because there are so many factors to consider, although it is more expensive, its carrying capacity is not as large as that of the calm inland sea or even the river boats.

The narrow, rectangular room was sandwiched between the staircase and the storage compartment at the back, with only the porthole behind it letting in some light. But tonight was also a moonless night, and the light of the stars alone could barely see the outlines of objects in the interior.

The two of them who got out of bed in a hurry were wearing only warm pajamas, and they felt quite cold on the wooden floor with their bare feet, and after a while, there was a slight tingling sensation in their toes.

But Mira endured this, listening carefully to what was going on outside.

Be quiet.

It may not be a good word to describe a ship that breaks through the waves and moves forward, because the crashing of the waves and the subtle sounds of the various wooden objects and the metal parts used to connect them are constant.

But these are inorganic sounds, like the sound of the wind, just a part of the natural repetition.

There were no birds, no insects, no people walking around, no conversation or laughter.

Although the late nights on land are often relatively quieter, the slightest sound is still present. People often say that they want to have peace when they sleep, but in fact, they have become accustomed to being surrounded by all kinds of small sounds, and when they are truly in complete silence, they feel uneasy and cannot sleep.

There was no sound, a fact that Mira could easily discern because of the extreme silence.

She began to wonder if the young scholar was so uneasy that she mistook some of the sounds of the ship's hull for the sound of human footsteps.

The white-haired girl looked back at her roommate.

"No, it's anyone. Lisa, who was at a loss, lowered her voice and explained, although the night was very dark and she couldn't see Luo An's girl's expression clearly, but from this silence, she was smart enough to guess a rough idea.

"......." Luo An girl thought for a while, and in order to reassure the other party and to verify, she nodded and spoke: "Prepare to light the lantern and go out to have a look." ”

After about ten minutes, after putting on all the warm clothes, socks and shoes in the dark, and making sure that they were tightly wrapped and warm, Lisa took out the charcoal strips that were simmering in the clay bowl. She blew a blow that sent the dark red sparks flying through the air, then opened the small door of the wooden lantern and brought the carbon bar closer to the flammable wick. However, due to the low temperature, the wax oil on the wick that had been blown out more than twenty minutes ago had already solidified, and it took a while for the temperature emitted by the carbon strips to remelt and ignite.

"Whew—" The freckled face of the re-illuminated Miss Scholar was a little nervous, she closed the small door of the lantern and rubbed her hands together to lean near the heat source to soak up the warmth. After that, he turned his head to look at the Luoan girl who had already put his hand on the deadbolt - the latter nodded, then pulled the deadbolt open with a small margin, and then slowly opened the door and looked out through the crack in the door.

"Huh-huh-" A trace of cold wind immediately poured in through the crack in the open door, blowing Mira's hair in front of the door and shivering, and the lantern that Lisa had just lifted in her hand behind her also swayed slightly-Luo'an Maiden immediately noticed the abnormality, the passenger living quarters on this floor as a whole were a bit like a U-shape, the end of the upper edge was the exit to the deck, and the room where the two of them were located was located in the lower left, the innermost middle was the storage room, and in front of the storage room was the corridor leading to the upper and lower floors.

Except for downwind, when the speed is the slowest, the sea breeze usually pours in from one end of the U-shape and runs out from the other side. So opening the door and leaving the small cabin would get colder, she had expected it to be. But the wind was blowing in at a very fast speed, apparently because someone had opened the door to the deck.

"Yes!" Lisa was at first a little relieved that she had verified her inner thoughts and proved that it was not her hallucination, but then she became more nervous for this reason: "Why, what should I do, do you really want to go out and see? She looked overwhelmed, the young scholar was part of an entire group of Imperial scholars on board, and their trip was longer than the point-to-point arrival of the three of Mira, who had been contracted with Captain Francisco to stay on board the ship for a long time.

Scholars are mostly not good at interacting with people, and they are better at concentrating on something. In their field of expertise, they may be stunned by arguing with their peers, but compared to a mercenary profession that emphasizes calm and unfazed behavior after many things, most scholars will become restrained and afraid of things outside their comfort zone.

Lisa is also obviously a typical scholar, so it is only natural that she should be nervous when what she proposed is really going to be done.

Mira didn't know how to reassure her, because of her profession, she had been surrounded by all kinds of impulsive men for a long time, not even mercenaries and soldiers, such as Galeva, who had been stopped by her scolding for more time.

Even if you encounter the same female existence, because of the different classes you come into contact with, characters like Ammonica, the two princesses, Minna, Miss Margaret, and Orno are basically extraordinary beings with strong personalities.

If these women were in a similar situation, they would be no less calm and decisive than themselves.

Because the surrounding circle has always been made up of such people, like Lisa, the roommate on this trip, who is ordinary and has the apprehension that an ordinary girl should have, and the person who has the worries of an ordinary girl is a little new to her.

When she didn't know what to do, she thought of her teacher first. Looking at the short sword in her hand, the girl walked over to her bed, then took out a small shield from under the bed and handed it to Lisa.

"Ahh

"Take it this way, let the shield face in front, and you can protect it. Then change grip with the words of the edge. Mira took another small shield and showed her hand-in-hand: "Whoa—"

"You're going to have more strength than you think. She said this, looking at the other person.

"Uh-huh. Lisa took a deep breath, then clutched the shield tightly to her abdomen.

"It's a lot more reassuring. She said, and Miss Scholar nodded.

The power of words is sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and what can be seen and felt at this juncture can help one take that crucial step—the two of them walked out of the room, and the darkness was everywhere beyond the lantern in the dimly lit hallway.

"It's cold. The candle was still blown through the glass, and when they walked outside the cabin, they were blown by the cold night wind, and the two of them immediately felt some pain in their exposed skin.

"Be careful, there's frost on the ground. The flickering light of the fire reflected off the ground, and the alert Roan Maiden immediately noticed the white part—the frost of the moisture brought by the sea breeze in the winter cold. That's why the door to the deck must be closed when you go to bed at night, and if the sun melts when the sun is frosty on the deck, you have to dispose of it in the hallway with a wooden shovel and a pig brush.

"Be careful not to slip. Mira reminded Lisa of the situation on the ground, and as soon as she left the room, she looked quite reserved, and the hand holding the small shield was tightly clamped under her armpit. This gesture was wrong for using the shield, but the girl knew that this was not the right time to point her out.

She remained vigilant, holding a shield in one hand and a short sword in the other, protecting Lisa's side in front of her.

The walkway is not very high, in fact, except for the storage compartment near the rudder, which is relatively high, most of the area is about two meters. On the one hand, because these are ships made in the south, they are generally shorter, and on the other hand, they have a lot to do with the use of space. Crew members of Suomir descent often had to bend over when crossing hatches, which were only 1.8 meters high.

The low ceiling and the aisle that was only two people wide made it necessary for the two to stay oriented so that the light of the candle would not be obscured by Mira in front of them. Coupled with the fact that you have to be careful of slippery floors, it can be said that it is already very difficult to walk.

"It doesn't seem like much here. "Click-" Miss Luo An closed the hatch again, and without the cold wind blowing, the two of them immediately felt much more comfortable. Although there are some passages on both sides of the walkway that lead to the upper and lower floors, they basically go straight and there is no place to hide, so they have confirmed that there is no movement here.

"Go back, you might be hiding in the storage pod. Miss Luo An said this, and Lisa also nodded, not finding anything that made her feel much more at ease, so she became a lot more courageous.

The two walked against the wall to avoid slipping, but upon closer inspection of the storage pod, they found nothing. Except for a few rats picking up some food crumbs and holding them to nibble, and disappearing without a trace when they saw the two of them coming, there was no bigger movement.

They cautiously took a long time to reach the door on the other side, which was also hidden, and the deck outside was cold in the faint starlight.

"I don't think I went out outside, maybe the sailor on duty came down to get something and forgot to close the door. The girl said this, clasping the shield under her arm, and freeing up her hand to lock the door.

"Mira, footprints, footprints!" But at this moment Lisa suddenly stopped her, and Miss Scholar poked the lantern over, and Mira immediately saw a five-fingered footprint on the ground, apparently someone standing here for a while had trampled on the frost on the ground.

And judging by the degree of re-condensation above, it is likely that this person had just left—perhaps because the arrival of the two of them scared each other away.

But the footprints are - barefoot?

This kind of weather is barefoot? No, the size of this footprint --

"Get out of the way—" Mira pushed Lisa backwards and pushed the hatch open and rushed outside.

In an instant, the white moonlight fell from the weak clouds in the sky, and the Luoan girl held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, looking at her petite opponent in the moonlight, dressed in a rather folk house-style clothes.

The man was barefoot on the deck, as if unaware of the cold, and with a small knife in his hand, he was alertly avoiding her slamming the door before pulling away and guarding on the other side.

'When did you get mixed up?' The girl had such doubts, this was obviously not the crew of the ship, but the moment she was distracted also gave the other party a chance.

"Pop ——!" The barefoot little intruder rushed into the darkness under the mainsail in an instant.

"So fast!" Mira chased after her, but the frosty deck made it impossible for her to stand still, and she stumbled and slipped to the ground.