Seeing such abnormalities.
Colin made a swift decision, manipulating the Hope Defense Field to quickly transfer the middle-aged sailor to another cabin.
As the middle-aged sailor was moved away, the condition of the other three sailors gradually stabilized.
Their faces still showed traces of fright, but they finally stopped shouting.
However, if one were to observe with enhanced senses, they could clearly see a noticeable dimming of the Spiritual Light of Spirit Fog on their bodies.
In the other cabin, the abnormalities gradually ceased.
After the middle-aged sailor in front of Colin had frantically shouted for a while, he fell into a strange silence.
His face expressionless, he appeared extremely tired, his eyelids drooping, but he would suddenly wake up wide-eyed the moment he tried to close his eyes.
He seemed to have lost any reaction to his surroundings, no matter how Colin called out to him, there was no response.
Under enhanced senses, there was only a barely detectable thin layer of the Spirit Fog's Spiritual Light remaining on the sailor.
"Riel," Colin pondered for a moment before calling out solemnly, "Put all these insomniac sailors in one cabin. Except for delivering food, forbid any approach!"
"Yes, sir!" Riel hurried over, his expression slightly uneasy.
He carefully covered his mouth and nose, found a chainlock from a nearby bed, and linked all the insomniac sailors together.
Then he led them towards the confinement room at the bottom of the ship.
It was fortunate that the sailors had become unresponsive to external stimuli; otherwise, managing them alone might have proved difficult.
As Riel made his way to the lower cabin, he tried his best to cover his mouth and nose, holding his breath.
Although he had no experience with long ocean voyages, the previous captain had been on two such trips and often told endless fascinating stories about the sea.
He sometimes mentioned dangers.
Situations like a collective issue among sailors typically involved either mysterious factors or contagious diseases.
The captain had emphasized that he once heard a wizard say that infectious diseases were caused by invisible tiny bugs that floated around sick people in the air.
Covering one's mouth and nose could help prevent contracting the disease.
Like other stories from captains, they had always been somewhat skeptical.
After all, the air being full of invisible bugs was truly terrifying.
But now, encountering a similar situation on the ship, it made him believe.
One only has one life, and in life-threatening situations, it's always better to err on the side of caution.
On the other side.
Colin rushed back to the captain's cabin with Renee.
He had no clue regarding the current situation, or rather, there were too many possibilities—
Disease, environment, curse, ghosts...
Without any acquired information, he could not be sure which factor had caused the current situation.
But from the last words of the middle-aged sailor in his frenzy—
Perhaps, this had to do with the unknowable "It."
However, it could also not be certain, as diseases, curses, ghosts could all induce hallucinations.
After returning to the captain's cabin, Colin took out the Knowledge Crystal and browsed through the relevant information.
Half a day later, he went alone to the confinement room at the bottom of the ship.
Opening the small observation window on the door, he looked inside.
The four sailors inside were sitting facing each other with drooped heads, motionless and without any verbal communication.
There was only an eerie silence.
Summoning the Foolishness Scepter, Colin made a mental gesture.
A glow from the witchcraft Detecting Plague emitted from his hand.
Moments later, his expression slightly darkened, he closed the observation window and turned to leave.
The recently learned Detecting Plague had not detected any abnormalities.
It seemed likely that the cause was a supernatural factor.
If it were ghosts or something similar, it would be manageable.
If it was caused by the unknowable "It"...
Then, as an Advanced Wizard Apprentice, even with the Foolish Wand, he might not be able to handle it.
In the following two days.
Three more sailors displayed the same symptoms of insomnia and were similarly confined.
A pervasive sense of unease began to envelop the ship, faces showing either tension or worry.
Anxiety shrouded them.
"Stop!"
"I said—stop! Do you two idiots want to end up in the confinement room together?!"
On deck.
Captain Riel shouted at the two bare-chested sailors tangled up in front of him.
This was already the third altercation among the sailors in the past two days.
Unlike the previous two, the sides involved had some restraint, limiting their fight to verbal exchanges and light shoving.
This time, the two sailors were as ruthless as ignited barrels of gunpowder.
Their faces were bruised and blood seeped out from broken skin.
Fortunately, they had not completely lost their sanity.
After hearing Riel's words, a hint of fear flashed across their eyes, and they gritted their teeth but eventually stopped.
Seeing this, Riel sighed with relief.
He glanced subconsciously toward the nearby captain's quarters.
However, the expected figure did not appear by the window.
Riel turned his head somewhat disappointed and emphasized to the sailors in front of him,
"Believe in the Wizard Master, he must be able to solve these problems! It's just sleeplessness after all, Bike's men haven't died, what are you afraid of?"
"Moreover, we will be able to safely arrive at Bananka Island by tomorrow at the earliest, or the day after at the latest and once we reach land..."
Inside the captain's quarters.
Colin listened to the sounds outside, his expression calm as he caressed the Knowledge Crystal Ball in his hand.
Yet, he sighed softly in his heart.
Over the past two days, he had tried various methods.
Detecting Plague, Sleeping Witchcraft, or even Purification Evil Power...
None had worked.
He had been repeatedly consulting the data recorded in the Knowledge Crystal, indeed finding snippets about similar symptoms.
But time had erased most of the data and Erica's consumption had further battered its already fragmented database.
So, all he got was indeed just snippets.
In some of the stories, similar symptoms were mentioned but were too vague to be of use.
Time continued to pass.
Misfortune never comes alone.
In the evening, what was initially a clear sky suddenly changed.
Dark clouds gathered unknowingly, the sea breeze turned harsh like knives. The sea, which had been calm, now surged like it hid unknown creatures.
Whoosh!
Deep blue waves kept coming, smashing against the solid wooden hull breaking into white foaming splashes.
Nearby, Captain Riel was urgently directing the sailors to lower the sails.
Crack!
Lightning flashed nearby, temporarily dispersing the evening's gloom, followed closely by the thunderous roar.
Unbeknownst, the world had turned pitch black.
"Ah!"
On the mast, a sailor seemed to have not gripped firmly and fell heavily downwards.
"Had!" His companions exclaimed in shock.
'It's over!' Had's face went pale.
Whoosh!
But moments later, Had suddenly realized that he had not smashed onto the deck as he had thought.
Instead, a gentle force caught him and slowly lowered him to the deck.
"Thank you, Sir!"
Had, still shaken, got up and hurriedly thanked Colin who stood before him.
Colin nodded slightly.
The ship's sailors were already short due to the insomnia issue; these days even Renee and Demi were helping out.
...They couldn't afford to lose more sailors due to such accidents.
Shortly after, as the first raindrop fell, the sailors finally managed to secure the sails.
"Sir, we're heading back to the cabin now," Riel bade farewell, wiping the raindrops from his face.
The sea rain, influenced by the strong winds, did not fall vertically but surged from all directions.
Like countless flying transparent insects.
"Yes," Colin withdrew his gaze and nodded slightly.
But just then.
Crack!!
Amid the loud howl of the sea wind and the noise of the raindrops, he keenly detected an unusual sound coming from below deck.
As if—
Wood was being shattered by immense force!!
Colin's expression changed, his thoughts racing.
He shouted urgently,
"Get the tools and planks for repairing the cabin, and follow me!"
"Yes!" Riel seemed to have realized something too, his pupils slightly constricted, he promptly yelled at the sailors behind him:
"What are you waiting for? Move! Planks, hammers, quickly!"