I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Raid, Repel, Raid

THE NEXT DAY.

Nothing’s biting.

“Hm.”

We were fishing from the top deck. Fran sat on the railing, in a good mood despite the lack of a catch. Relaxation was our primary motivation today, so we didn’t mind that the fish were slow to come. She periodically gave her rod a tug, taking donuts and biscuits out of Pocket Dimension.

The sailors were anxious about how she was perched, and warned her again and again.

“Please get off the railing, miss!”

But after she demonstrated her expertise with Air Hop, they finally let her alone. Jerome just laughed it all off.

“There’s no end to the ocean.”

Yeah.

The horizon seemed endless, its stillness broken only by the occasional flying fish and dolphins. Eventually, Fran got tired of sitting on the rail and took out a deck chair to laze in. Our guard duty was feeling more like an all-expenses-paid cruise. The other adventurers came up for their rounds, but they left her alone. Honestly, I thought it was because Mordred chose not to comment on her actions, or lack thereof. He was confident that Fran was still on the lookout for hostiles, despite looking like she was slacking off. If this continued, the whole contract might end up being little more than a comfortable cruise.

Maybe that was what triggered what happened next. Around the afternoon, the stillness of the ship was finally broken. Alarm bells sounded four times. That meant pirates were inbound.

Pirates!

“Let’s go!”

Fran grabbed me and rushed out of her room. The crew was getting into battle positions when she arrived on the top deck. Mordred and the others were already on the scene, and they all looked southbound.

“They’re coming in hot.”

“Where are the pirates?”

“Over there.” Mordred pointed to a shape on the waters.

It was still too far away, and I couldn’t make out what it was. Honestly, I didn’t know how they figured out it was a pirate ship.

“That’s a ship?”

“No doubt about it! I can see their flag from here!” Jerome declared.

His eagle eyes amazed me until I turned to him and saw him looking through a telescope. That made more sense.

“Can we outrun them?”

“Doubt it. Those small vessels can move fast, and the winds aren’t in our favor. We should make contact in about an hour.”

“So we’ll fight.”

“Count on it. They won’t let us leave without one.”

That small ship was going to take on this veritable dreadnought? Even if they managed to come within boarding range, I still didn’t see how they were going to scale the Algieba’s hull. I was sure the pirates must’ve had a plan.

“That boat’s equipped with a naval ram. They’re going to punch a hole in our side and board from there.”

A battering ram attached to the bow of the ship. Pirates used it mainly as a boarding method. Their naval ram was hollowed out, so once it had punched through, the pirates were free to board. The bigger the target, the better it worked. A pirate fleet would surround a ship and ram into it to stop it in its tracks before boarding like ants. It was much safer and more effective than conventional rope ladders.

“So what’s the plan?”

“We’ll try to blow them out of the water first with spells and cannons.”

Sinking ships was the basic form of naval combat. The closer the pirates got, the more likely they would be to put a hole in our ship. Still, I thought this was a good opportunity to capture the pirates and turn them in for bounty. Not to mention raid their ships.

Jerome shook his head. “That’s a pain in the ass.”

“That’s it?”

“Think about it. We have to escort said pirates all the way to port and throw them in a prison where they’ll be well looked after. As for their ship, I would have to put some of my crew on there to take it home.”

But pirates had treasure, which was presumably on their ship.

Again, Jerome corrected us. “The fact that they’re even bothering to attack us is proof that they haven’t dug up anything of value yet.”

“I see.”

Fair enough. There was no reason for them to load up on treasure when they had just left port.

“If we were dealing with a large ship, then maybe it’d be worth the trouble. The propulsion systems they have installed are worth a lot of money.” Jerome was dead serious. The prospect of a merchant vessel plundering a pirate ship was terrifying. “Now, the propulsion system on that little dinghy isn’t worth jack squat. If only it was a bit bigger. Shame.”

“So we’re going to blow them up?”

“They’d cause more trouble if we didn’t.” Jerome didn’t recognize the pirates’ flag. “I know most of the fleets that operate in this region.”

The pirates coming to attack us were no two-bit operation. They had a big enough armada to sink a large ship.

“Probably newcomers from either the north or south.”

This route was dotted with many small islands ideal for making port, along with a healthy traffic of merchant vessels. No wonder this region was highly contested among the pirates.

“Risky business even for them. All the merchant vessels using this route know what they’re getting into.” Jerome smiled fearlessly.

When he put it that way, it was much riskier for the pirates than for the merchants. The spats over territory forced the pirates to form a federation as a method of survival. These newcomers had probably kicked out the previous federation ruling the route and were on their way to becoming the next king of the hill.

“Letting those five recon ships go would reveal our location and armaments. We need to take them out before they can make their report.”

“I see.”

But what did that mean for us? Could we join the fight? It was a good thing we had a veteran adventurer standing by.

“What now, Mordred?”

“We’ll start with a volley of cannon fire. If they come closer, we’ll start attacking with spells. All spellcasting adventurers will attack from the top deck.”

Cannons could reach farther, but if we could hit them, wouldn’t they be able to hit us? We asked Jerome and Mordred about the possibility of casualties, but to them it was expected. Fortunately, we had another solution.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Leave this one to me.”

“What do you have in mind?” Jerome asked.

“Hm. I’ll go take them out.”

“Kid, I appreciate the gusto, but can you really do it?”

“Yeah.”

“I won’t allow anything reckless. We’ve got a long voyage ahead of us, and we still need the Black Lightning Princess on board.” Jerome turned to Mordred for help. He couldn’t tell whether Fran was kidding.

The other man gave him a reassuring nod. “You know how A-Ranks aren’t strictly human? Well, anyone who can beat an A-Rank is pretty much in the same category. I say go for it.”

I looked at Mordred to see if he was being sarcastic, but there was no trace of flippancy on his face. He thought highly of Fran’s abilities. I suppose monstrosity was a word of praise in adventuring circles.

Captain Jerome accepted his counsel. “Alright then. You’re free to do what you want as long as you don’t damage the ship.”

“I won’t. I’ll be off then.”

“Off?” Jerome tilted his head in confusion—a gesture that didn’t make the middle-aged man look any cuter. He probably thought Fran was going to blow them out of the water with a big spell, or draw their attention and destroy them.

“Off to send them to the bottom of the ocean. Jet.”

“Woof!”

“Whoa! Was that wolf always this big?!” Jerome and his crew were startled at Jet’s actual size.

Even Mordred took a step back. “Well, well…I’m not sure if I can beat that…”

Jet crouched to let Fran climb onto his back.

“Go.”

“Bark!”

“I-It’s flying?”

“The wolf is flying…!”

“What the hell, that’s crazy!”

The Algieba’s crew sent us off with cries of astonishment.

Let’s go higher.

Cannonballs had a long effective range, but even they were bound by the law of gravity.

“Got it.”

“Woof!”

Jet cut through the sky and moved above the pirate ship. We stopped there for a while and observed the pirates. They were looking up at Fran in shock, but they soon returned to their senses and readied their arrows. They were aiming for Jet, but our direwolf dodged easily. We now knew for sure that these were hostiles.

Let’s get in there!

“Hm!”

We were up against a small fleet of pirates, but the fact remained that their ships were quite small. Barraging them with spells from this height would be easy enough, but this was our chance to experiment.

Let’s try to figure some stuff out.

“Like what?”

Like the best way to sink a ship. There’s five of them down there, so let’s use a different method to dispose of each one.

Fortunately, I didn’t feel any strong auras from below. There was no way for these pirates to retaliate, making them the perfect test subjects.

We’ll try out some thunder spells to start.

“Alright.”

The last time we were faced with pirates, the best we could do was drop a boulder on their ship. But we had grown stronger since then.

“Kanna Kamuy?”

No, that would be overkill. It might wipe out all five ships at once.

That spell was our ace in the hole. It took up so much of our energy that we couldn’t cast it over and over. The five-boat fleet was grouped together closely, too, so there was a possibility of the lightning pillar electrocuting all of them at once. I wasn’t willing to risk it.

“What about Thunder Bolt?”

That would be too weak.

Thunder Bolt was the enhanced version of Stun Bolt, which launched a paralyzing electric shock. While highly effective against biotics, I doubted if it could do much damage to a boat. Even if it could incapacitate the crew, the ship would still be afloat. Maybe a few bolts would be enough to sink it, but the fact remained that it was ineffective.

“Which one, then?”

I’ll go first. There’s something I want to try…

I concentrated the powerful spell. While not on the level of a Kanna Kamuy, this spell was still highly advanced. I used it against a couple of monsters when I first got it, so I was curious how a pirate ship would react to it.

Here goes!

“Hm!”

Ekato Keraunos!

A gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky, gathering countless bolts of lightning together. Once charged, it came down on the ship, exploding it to splinters. Not even the mast was left behind, just tiny wooden chips floating on the water.

Hmm…maybe that was still overkill.

Ekato Keraunos was a Level 9 thunder spell. It cast a hundred bolts of lightning over a given area, although you could focus all of them into one spot once you were used to it. Although its power was only a tenth of Kanna Kamuy, it was more than enough to obliterate a small naval vessel.

The pirates stopped what they were doing as soon as they saw us destroy the first ship. Their blood ran cold. Many of them thought it was a freak accident—that there was no way Fran was the immediate cause of such destruction. From their perspective, it looked like one of their ships was the victim of an act of the gods.

“My turn.”

Go for it.

“Hm.”

The pirates were about to learn that Fran was indeed the source of their misfortune.

“Thor’s Hammer!”

Fran formed a medium-size magic circle on top of the next boat. The circle was ten meters in diameter, much smaller than the one I’d summoned for Ekato Keraunos. This was the Level 8 thunder spell that Phelms had managed to disperse during the fighting tournament.

BOOOOM!

With an atmosphere-splitting rumble, a powerful bolt of lightning crashed down on the ship. The hull split in two, and the debris burnt to ashes. As its name suggested, the effect was much like the hammer of an angry thunder god. The split ship charred and smoked before sinking to the seabed.

That worked great.

“Hm.”

Thor’s Hammer was perfect for this occasion. It sank the ship without being overkill, which was exactly what I was looking for. The sight of the sinking ship reminded me of how perfectly Phelms had rendered it ineffective. High-rank adventurers really were monsters.

Let’s go lower this time.

“What will we do?”

Put a hole in one of them, it’s the basic way of sinking an enemy ship.

“Really?”

Yep. So here’s what we’ll do.

I cast Flare Explode, a Level 4 flame spell, under the surface of the sea.

KABOOOM!

Well, that didn’t go as expected.

“You made a hole in it, though.”

No, I didn’t go low enough. That hole won’t make it sink.

The spell didn’t work as it should underwater. Then again, I guessed Flame Magic and water were never meant to go together.

“What now?”

Let me try something out.

I cast another Flare Explode, but this time I used a wind spell to wrap the fireball in air and prevent it from coming into direct contact with the water. A loud explosion soon followed, and as expected, a hole appeared in the bottom of the ship. I thought I was on to something with underwater flame spells, but it didn’t look like it was going to work out. Odd, because I remembered watching a documentary in my past life about how explosions were far more potent underwater… Perhaps magic didn’t follow conventional physics.

I’d targeted the ship’s propulsion system, so it should be toast by now. While it wasn’t sinking, it could no longer move, and it was only a matter of time before it went down. The problem with this method was that it allowed the crew time to run away.

I’ll fire a couple more.

“Sure.”

I launched five more Flare Explodes to obliterate the hull. The more holes in a ship, the faster it sank. Soon, ship number three was no more. Flare Explode wasn’t the most effective method—we had to get close to the enemy and it took too much time. It was nearly impossible to defend against, but Thor’s Hammer was definitely faster.

Next.

“What’s the plan now?”

Let’s try Telekinetic Catapult. I haven’t gone all out in a while.

“Sure.”

I focused my energy into Telekinesis and wrapped myself in multiple Elemental Blades. This full-power Telekinetic Catapult was further boosted with Fran’s Wind Magic. I used as much mana as I could, ignoring the damage I was taking to my blade. I was curious to see how much havoc I could wreak when it was fully charged.

“Ready?”

Ready! Let it rock!

“Haaaa!”

Fran cast her wind spell and threw me with supersonic speed. I used Telekinesis to accelerate even further. I hadn’t moved so fast in a long time!

Yahoo!

I sped toward the pirate ship with the trajectory of a falling star. I went through one of the masts, causing it to crumple, then punched a hole through the bases of the other masts. I charged on through the pirate ship, piercing every pillar and wall that stood in my way.

Raaaargh!

Eventually I shot out the other side, leaving behind a sizable exit wound. I could only see the damage I had done in hindsight. I only remembered being thrown by Fran and breaking through a mast. Next thing I knew I was underwater.

I returned to Fran’s side, and we surveyed the damage. There was a large hole through the center of the ship and down into the blue waters below. I’d done a lot more damage than I’d thought. Still, overcharging Elemental Blades had cost durability, and it was going to take a lot of mana to recover.

“Last one. What’s the plan?”

They’re getting away, so we should sink them as soon as possible…

What else could we use? Maybe a strong gust of wind from the opposite direction. We could capsize it if all went well.

But Fran had another idea. “Can I take this one?”

Sure. What do you have in mind?

“You’ll have to help me.”

Oh. Well, alright, then!

“So—”

Fran’s plan was quite bewildering. She asked me to use Transmogrify to make myself as big as possible.

I’ve tried shield and string forms once…

But it never occurred to me to make myself bigger. I strained, focusing my energy to increase my size. I enlarged my blade and guard, since Fran still needed to be able to hold on to my hilt. I probably overdid it. I was now past the size of a conventional horse-cutter. At a length of ten meters, I looked like those giant swords robots wielded in mech games. Was I a ship-cutter, then? No, ship-slayer was more like it. I’ve always felt that “slayer” had a better ring to it.

Big enough for you?

“Hm. Perfect. Let’s go.”

Go for it! I can’t hold this form for long!

“No problem!”

As we fell from the sky, Fran used Increased Weight, Sword Art, and Elemental Blade to prepare a gigantic Pressurized Quickdraw. There was a loud crack of air.

“Haaa!”

Come on!

I have to admit that the size increase got to my head. In that moment, it felt like size mattered. That size was everything. The pirates couldn’t believe their eyes as a gigantic sword came swinging down on them from the sky. The assault sounded like a joke, but it would destroy their sanity like a nightmare.

Fran split the final boat in two. Wood splintered in all directions and was consumed by the fires of Elemental Blade. The two halves of the destroyed ship would soon reunite on the seabed.

We can use this.

“Felt good, at least.”

Thor’s Hammer and Ship-Slayer were the easiest methods of boat destruction so far—Thor’s Hammer for lone ships and Ship-Slayer for fleets.

Let’s head back.

“Hm.”

We returned to the Algieba, leaving the pirates to sleep with the fishes. Jerome rushed to Fran like he was going to jump her. He grabbed her hands with one of his and excitedly shook them up and down.

“Now that’s what I wanted to see, Black Lightning Princess!”

Jerome beamed as he heaped praise on her. He was really glad that his ship and crew had escaped unscathed. The sailors welcomed her back with roaring applause. No one showed sympathy for the sunken pirates. In this world, it was kill or be killed.

The adventurers’ mood was a little more subtle. While not terrified, they were quiet with awe. Combat prowess was the criterion of judgment for adventurers, and Fran had just showcased an excessive amount of strength. Everyone could only gape with admiration.

Mordred broke the silence with a wry smirk. “That was insane…I’ve never seen such blatant rank fraud in my life.”

It sounded like a backhanded compliment, but he was probably just being honest in his observation. Fran’s abilities were far above even the strongest C-Rank. The sailors calmed down after a while and fell into formation at Jerome’s command.

“Come on, you lot! Let’s get out of this patch of water!”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

“That was quite a show you gave them.”

The explosive fight had summoned hungry underwater monsters, attracted by both noise and diced-up pirate.

“I think I overdid it.”

“You just took out five boats without so much a scratch! That’s well worth the risk!”

“I do hope you will be more measured next time.”

Unlike his laughing captain, First Mate Buffet was calm and collected. He also had a point. If there was a next time, then we would be more careful.

“I’ll be heading back now.”

“We’re counting on you if we spot more pirates!”

“You got it.”

“Ga ha ha! I’m loving this kid!”

Fran said goodbye and made her way to her room, but she was stopped by three figures who appeared before her.

“W-we have a favor to ask you!”

“Please make us your students!”

Miguel, Riddick, and Naria. The three rookie adventurers fell on their faces.

“We saw that entire fight.”

“We want to get stronger. Way stronger!”

“So please take us as your students!”

The three rookies were genuine in their request, but there was no way Fran could take them on. They were deadweight, and even if they weren’t, Fran’s personality made teaching unlikely. However, she gave it some thought.

“My students?”

“Yes!”

“Please!”

“We’ll do everything you say!”

The three banged their foreheads on the deck to emphasize their point. They waited for Fran’s answer, giving the passing crew members something amusing to look at.

“Hmm…”

Are you actually going to take them in?

No. But it’ll be funny.

Sure, but that doesn’t mean we can take them with us on our trip. They would only slow us down, and there was the chance that they might learn about my existence.

I know.

Just needed to make that clear…so what’s on your mind?

I’ll take them for as long as we’re on the ship.

I guessed that could work. We were in separate rooms, so they probably wouldn’t learn our secret. As long as you’re willing…can you even teach?

Who cares? It’ll be funny.

So that was her main reason.

You need to be upfront and tell them you have no teaching experience. If they’re okay with that, then you can take them in.

“Hm. You can be my students as long as we’re on the ship.”

“R-really?”

“But I’ve never taught anyone before. If you’re okay with that, you can be my students.”

“Sounds good to us!”

“Alright. I have much to teach you.”

“Thank you so much!”

The three rookies bowed, eliciting applause. The crew was apparently invested in our little drama. The rookies deserved to be congratulated, too, since they were willing to swallow their pride and ask a young yet powerful adventurer for help.

“We await your instructions, Teacher!” Riddick declared with natural excitement.

It got him a cold glare from Fran. You’re scaring the guy for being polite now, come on.

“You can’t call me that.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“You just can’t. I am not worthy of it.”

I was touched at the honor she paid me, but “Teacher” was not the greatest title in the world. I didn’t stop her, of course. If they started calling her that, it would only cause confusion.

“Anything but Teacher.”

“A-alright.”

“Figure something out.”

“V-very well.”

The rookies responded to Fran’s grim pressure with a slow nod. They whispered among themselves before presenting Fran with their solution.

“Wh-what about ‘Master’?”

“Master?”

“Y-yes. Will that be okay?”

“Hm. I am Master.”

Fran nodded, clearly liking the ring of it. She repeated, “I am Master,” to herself several times.

“We’ll begin your training immediately,” she said.

“Yes, Master!”

Fran was quite enthusiastic about the whole business. She must quite like her new title. Now, what would she have them do? I wasn’t going to give any feedback. The rookies only had themselves to blame if Fran gave them an outrageous training schedule. I was only here to make sure Fran enjoyed herself.

“First up.”

“Yes?”

“Shadow practice?”

“Shadow practice? Right away!”

Despite the question Fran had put at the end, shadow practice was a good place to start. Maybe she had a knack for teaching? But of course she did—Fran was multitalented!

Miguel and Riddick wasted no time readying their weapons. Miguel swung his greatsword, and Riddick stabbed his spear. Naria was the only one left standing awkwardly still. Her bow was quite difficult to practice without loading. Still, Fran insisted she do the same.

“Sorry, Master, but I happen to be an archer.”

“You only have your bow with you?”

“Pretty much.”

“That won’t do. An enemy would kill you at melee range.”

“So I should pick up some close-quarter weapon?”

“Hm. A dagger will do. Focus on receiving and deflecting rather than attacking. You can even throw it if you need to.”

I was quite surprised at Fran’s instruction. She might actually have a knack for this teaching stuff.

“Understood.”

“You probably won’t get good at it any time soon, but start today.”

“Yes, Master!”

Fran took a rusty dagger out of Pocket Dimension and gave it to Naria. I forgot that we still had one of those. It’d probably belonged to a goblin we killed. “Here.”

“For me?”

“Hm. It’s too rusty to fight with, but you can use it for practice.”

“Thank you very much.”

Fran nodded with approval as Naria took to her training. Although she still hadn’t taught them anything.

“So…do we just keep going?”

“Hm.”

Which was a solid plan of action, really. Shadow practice was effective because you could do it every day. Also, considering that skills leveled up the more you used them, shadow practice was probably a lot more effective than its Terran counterpart.

Fran kept a close eye on her pupils. I was looking forward to seeing how they fared at the end of this voyage.

***

The next morning, the trainees’ day began early in a corner of the deck. That was where Master Fran held her Basics in Battle for Adventurers.

The three were wide awake, a far cry from their lazy posture back in Bulbola. They hadn’t necessarily had a change of heart—Fran’s victory was just the wake-up call they needed. To their credit, maybe they weren’t that lazy, after all. In any case, the rookies were certainly more organized now—maybe because Fran had already Intimidated them, saying, “Can’t you even fall in line, you maggots?”

She’d asked me for advice on training drills the night before and I had inadvertently told her about the marine corps…a regiment she took immediate interest in. Sorry for making your life tougher, you guys.

I quickly told her to use a different tack. I couldn’t bear the rookies looking scared for their lives. Fran complied. Really, she just wanted a framework to base her curriculum on.

“First, you stretch.”

“St-stretch?”

“It must be a powerful training method!”

“Maybe it’ll unlock our mana channels…”

The trainees locked on to the idea. I guessed stretching was unheard of in this world. While they did loosen up before a physical activity, they had never heard of an activity solely dedicated to it. When we’d first met, I had to tell Fran how to stretch. Now, it was her turn to pass it on.

“It warms you up before exercising.”

“I see. And that’s a good thing?”

“Hm.”

“Very interesting. So how is that a good thing?”

“Warming up your body just makes you better,” Fran said.

“I’m sorry, but better how? Can you give us any examples?”

“Hm? You’re just better.”

I told her the benefits of warming up when we met, but Fran had already forgotten. She knew that it allowed you to move and feel better during training, and that was what mattered. Her trainees followed her cue. I thought they would’ve gotten tired of Fran’s vague instructions, but they did as they were told.

“Uhh…is this really necessary?”

“Of course it is, idiot! Do I need to remind you who’s teaching us?!”

“R-right.”

“We’re probably not feeling the effects because of our low rank.”

“Y-yeah. If the Black Lightning Princess does it, it must be powerful!”

“Yes. I’m sure it’ll pay off at some point.”

“That’s right! Maybe our master is so strong thanks to this stretching thing!”

“I see! So this training routine has hidden effects that we can’t feel yet!”

“I’m sure of it!”

“Now I’m pumped!”

No, it really was nothing special. At most, stretching prevented you from getting injured. I guess you could argue that allowed you to train harder, but still.

“Teacher taught me this stretching.”

“Teacher? Is that your master?”

“Hm.”

“What’s he like?”

“Teacher is the world’s best teacher. I got all my powers from him.”

“Wow! He must be an amazing warrior!”

“He’s the best ever.”

“And if that great warrior came up with stretching—”

“Then it must have powerful effects!”

“Now I’m really pumped!”

The three trainees stretched enthusiastically, which sort of defeated the purpose. Fran corrected their form and told them to take it slowly. The trainees received her advice with almost euphoric adoration. For Fran to stoop so low and give them instruction was an action worthy of deep respect. Their enthusiasm soon disappeared after Fran told them about the next item on the menu.

“Now, we spar.”

“What?”

“Seriously?”

“Wh-who are we sparring with?”

The memory of their first sparring session was still painfully fresh in their minds. They hoped that they wouldn’t have to go up against their master. Maybe she would make them fight each other.

Fran wasted no time in dashing their hopes. “Hm. You’ll all go one-on-one with me.”

“Very well…”

“You can go first, Naria”

“Excuse me, I thought you were the leader!”

“I am also a gentleman who believes in ladies first.”

“Way to be chivalrous, Riddick!”

As the three bickered over who would be first on the chopping block, Fran pointed to Miguel and settled the issue. “Greatsword. You first.”

“S-seriously?”

“Hurry up.”

“Yes, Master!”

“Show her what you’re made of, big guy.”

“And try not to die.”

“Y-you bastards are going next, don’t forget that!” Miguel stepped forward with despair written all over his face.

“Come at me.”

“Alright! Raaargh!”

Miguel slashed his greatsword down. He didn’t hesitate, knowing the difference in their strength. His swing was powerful enough to split an ordinary man clean in two. He held nothing back, but Fran saw through his attack. It was easy to dodge, and even easier to block.

The crew watching the spectacle were horrified, of course. To them, it looked like the guy with the greatsword was trying to chop the little girl in half. Not all of them knew the extent of Fran’s abilities yet. The crew were already bewildered at adults receiving instruction from a little girl, and now they gasped in horror. Fortunately, the horror they imagined never happened.

“Your stroke is too long.”

Fran dodged by a hair’s breadth, her bangs fluttering in Miguel’s missed swing. She actually had a lot of time to evade. Even if Miguel had managed to change trajectory midswing, she would still have had time to dodge. That was the difference in their strength.

“Yaah!”

“Having a strong first attack is important, but it won’t do you any good if you miss.”

“Dammit!”

“Use shorter strokes.”

“Haaa!”

“Your footwork needs work, too.”

“Urgh!”

Fran dodged Miguel’s attacks and made no attempt to retaliate. She struck him from time to time to show him his weak points. The sailors were shocked, but Miguel was quite pleased that Fran instructed him so seriously. The match carried on for another ten minutes before Miguel collapsed with exhaustion.

“Hm. Your last few moves were alright.”

“Th-thank you, Master!”

“Lancer, you’re up next.”

“Yes, Master!”

Another fierce sparring match began, with Riddick as her opponent. Unlike Miguel, Riddick was more precise and aimed specifically for his opponent’s weak points. But, as methodical as his stabs were, they were too clean. Fran saw right through them.

“Your attacks are too predictable.”

“Kuh!”

“I can see all your moves. Play a bit more.”

“Haaa!”

“That was good, if a bit slow.”

Fran continued to dodge Riddick’s attacks, touching parts of his body that he left open. She wanted to show that he would’ve been killed ten times over in a real fight. Eventually, Fran drained the lancer of his stamina, and he fell to the floor.

Finally, we had Naria. The archer wasn’t going to spar with her bow; rather she would make an attempt with her newly acquired dagger skills. It wasn’t safe to spar with a bow and arrow on the wide-open deck. The crew could get caught in the crossfire. And anyway, Fran had more experience with bladed weapons.

She dodged Naria’s attacks easily, but she was more on the offensive this time. She wanted to teach the archer how to defend at close range.

“Focus on deflecting rather than attacking.”

“Alright!”

“If you can’t block, then dodge.”

“Ow!”

“You’re only using the dagger to buy time.”

Naria went down faster than Miguel and Riddick. There was no shame in it—she was using an unfamiliar weapon, and Fran was quite relentless. The three of them sat on deck, panting from exhaustion.

Fran looked satisfied. “Archer, keep training with the dagger.”

“Okay!”

“Greatsword, Lancer, you need to clean up your footwork.”

The three rookies nodded. They’d learned a lot from a single sparring match. I also noticed something else about them.

“Archer, you can start practicing with your bow again if you want.”

Greatsword, Lancer, and Archer. I was quite sure that Fran had forgotten their names. Well, that was how she treated anyone who didn’t interest her. I wondered if Fran would remember their names by the end of the voyage.

***

The next day, Fran continued to instruct her temporary trainees. Stretching, beltwork, shadow practice, then sparring. They were cooling down when the alarm bells rang. Four times. We had more pirates on our tail.

“M-Master, let’s go!”

“Dammit! Pirates again? I thought they stayed away from the Kraken’s Nest!”

“We might be up against an armada with the manatech to ward off Krakens.”

“Seriously?! That’s awful!”

“Calm down! You saw how Master took on five pirate ships by herself.”

“Y-you’re right.”

Fran told her pupils to wait and headed to the bow of the ship. She found Jerome peeking through his telescope. “How many?”

“Fran, glad you could make it. Twelve. There’s a big one among them, too.”

Twelve? That was quite a lot.

“They have the same flag as the five boats you sank yesterday.”

“So they’re related?”

“Definitely. Looks like they’re running this territory.”

“And this is the main fleet?”

“By the looks of it, yeah…” Jerome said with more than a hint of dissatisfaction.

“Something about them, though… It’s weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t quite place it, but…there’s something odd about them!”

“Let me see.”

“Use this.”

“Hm. Thanks.” Fran took the telescope and looked through it. The sight of the meathead and the maiden sharing a telescope would’ve been quite funny if the situation was less serious.

Spot anything weird, Fran?

“Hmm…that’s odd?”

Okay…but I asked you first.

Fran tilted her head, sharing Jerome’s confusion. “Oh…”

“Notice something?”

“I think I’ve seen that ship before.”

What? My skills allowed me to see farther than the human eye, but not as far as a telescope. Wh-what? Where?

“Wh-what? Where?!”

I synced up with Jerome there for a second.

“It looks a lot like Miriam’s ship.”

“Miriam?”

“Hm. A friend of mine.”

Miriam was the princess of Seedrun. She liked Fran enough to send her all the way to Bulbola after the revolution. During that trip, Fran spent a lot of time looking at Miriam’s Sea Dragon, Aqouis. She was the only captain the creature would acknowledge. Traditionally, the name of the Sea Dragon was also the name of the vessel it pulled.

“Who’s Miri—hm?!” Jerome raised his voice. The captain had spotted something. “Th-that’s…!”

“What is it?” Fran asked, taking the telescope again.

“That flag…!” The captain seemed to have remembered something.

Fran, what about the flag?

Hm? There’s another flag on top of the one with the skull and crossbones.

And it’s not a pirate flag?

It’s got a weird mark on it. Looks like a dragon.

That roused my memories.

“Hang on…” Jerome muttered. “You said Miriam, just now?”

“Hm.”

“There’s a general in Seedrun by the name of Miriam…”

“That’s the one. She’s a princess of Seedrun.”

“By the gods! And you say you’ve seen a similar vessel? Are those Seedrunian ships on our tail? But why would they fly pirate flags…” Jerome said, stricken with fear.

Seedrun was the name of the archipelago as well as the kingdom that lay to the north of these waters. The kingdom was founded when a powerful federation of pirates rallied others under their flag. These roguish origins made for an especially rowdy people, even to this day. Everyone in Seedrun was trained in combat, even its little girls, and the kingdom was notorious for its fighters. Suffice it to say, they were also the world’s greatest naval power. Even without their iconic Sea Dragons, the navy was a force to be reckoned with.

I remembered the day of the Seedrun uprising—how its citizens rioted and overthrew the previous tyrant. You could imagine how much stronger the marines and veterans were.

Jerome shook his head at the grim prospect of going to war with Seedrun. “Could it be a fake…? No, doesn’t look like it.”

“How can you tell?”

I could imagine pirates using the Seedrunian flag as a bluff, but the captain seemed to have spotted something.

“Look at the bow of their ship.”

“The bow?”

What do you see, Fran?

“Hmm…chains?”

“At the end of those chains is a Sea Dragon. That’s unmistakable.”

Various attempts had been made to tame the monsters for naval purposes, but no one had succeeded since the first king of Seedrun.

“Only four Sea Dragon vessels exist, but those are enough to put fear into the hearts of pirate captains everywhere.”

The speed and power of these vessels was on another level, and they were easily the world’s most powerful battleships. A ship as big as the one Jerome had spotted was supposed to be slow, but with a Sea Dragon pulling it, it was as fast as a destroyer.

“But there’s no way that Miriam would be a pirate.”

I agreed with Fran. The administration was still a mess in Seedrun because of the revolution, and sending Sea Dragons out to international waters just didn’t make sense. Miriam cared far too much for the new queen and her elder sister to leave in a time of unrest.

Still, I couldn’t rule out Miriam’s pirate activities because of how much respect she had for her ancestors. Even Sellimea, meek and mild, was cheerfully talkative about Seedrun’s roguish roots.

“So someone else is driving that Sea Dragon… The flag’s blue, that mean anything to you?”

“Blue? Miriam’s was green.”

Each Sea Dragon rode under a different flag.

“Wait, so it’s not Miriam.”

“Pretty sure. You know, I think blue’s the color of the last king.”

Suarez! The foolish recently dethroned dictator. I thought he was supposed to be behind bars. I was pretty sure that I did significant damage to his Sea Dragon when I went berserk, too… Well, no use thinking of that now. We needed to figure out a way to take care of this and fast.

“Dammit, what do we do! Run…? No, even at full speed we’re too slow…”

“You won’t fight?”

“Love to, can’t. A single Sea Dragon can sink a hundred battleships.”

“But we can’t run.”

“No…confound it all! Just my luck to run into such a monster!”

Escape was not in the cards.

“We’re on bad terms with Seedrun as it is,” Jerome said. “So I doubt they’d be satisfied with only thirty percent of our goods…”

Thirty percent was the going rate for pirates to let a ship go. But with a Sea Dragon in tow, a pirate had no need for negotiation. They could plunder and murder whole ships.

“The enemy is the flagship of the greatest naval force on the planet. We have no choice but to engage in melee combat…! They wouldn’t fire their cannons at that kind of distance! We’re counting on you adventurers.”

Melee might be inevitable, but why not send Fran ahead like last time? Jerome had seen with his own eyes that she was capable of destroying ships.

“You’re up against a B-Threat Sea Dragon. Getting close is dangerous enough as it is.”

“Then we’ll destroy the ship from the sky.”

I doubted the Sea Dragon could shoot a flying target. We’d exploited this weakness yesterday, surely we could adapt it to face the Sea Dragon. While we didn’t know whether we could kill it, there was no way that the vessel was as tough as the monster pulling it.

Jerome shot down our plan. People had tried going after the ship and not the monster in the past. In fact, others had actually succeeded. “Problem is, they became fish food right after they won.”

A Sea Dragon without its rider was liable to go berserk and would seek vengeance on the one who had attacked it. You could argue with the creature, saying that you were targeting the ship the dragon was pulling, but the beast was unlikely to understand.

“Even if you managed to sink the vessel, you’d still have a furious dragon to contend with.”

“I see.”

So much for that plan. The safest course of action was to kill the dragon as well as the ship…but killing true dragons was difficult, and we had no experience.

We have time before they make contact. Let’s go ask Mordred.

“Hm.”

Fran asked one of the crew members to fetch the veteran, but Mordred was already on deck.

“Pirates again?”

“Yeah. Not your garden variety, though…”

“How strong?” Mordred frowned. He knew from Jerome’s gritted teeth that we were up against formidable foes.

“Very.”

“Even for the Black Lightning Princess? Now that’s worrying.”

“No use beating around the bush. The enemy’s a Sea Dragon class vessel.”

“What?” The older adventurer grimaced with fear. He knew full well what a Sea Dragon was capable of. “By the gods…” Mordred was at a loss for words, but he soon recovered. He knew that something had to be done. “Excuse me. I was a bit overwhelmed.”

That’s it? He looked totally calm to me. Mordred proved himself reliable time and again. We started discussing what to do.

“I believe you can handle the escort ships, Fran?”

“Hm. Got it covered.”

“Which leaves the Sea Dragon…”

We had to do something about the Seedrunian flagship if we wanted to get out of this. Unfortunately, Mordred had never fought a Sea Dragon, either.

“That lightning spell you used against the Dragon Hunter Phelms…that might be strong enough to kill a Sea Dragon. Can you still use that?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Now, what if it doesn’t work?”

Kanna Kamuy, imbued with Black Thunderfall, might be big enough to destroy the vessel as well as the monster. But if it didn’t, we would have a mad Sea Dragon to deal with. That encounter might be more trouble than it’s worth. Was there an attack we could use to dispose of the dragon while leaving the vessel intact?

Telekinetic Catapult?

You think so, too, huh?

Hm. That’s the only chance we’ve got.

Aiming for the Sea Dragon should be easy enough, since it was literally tied to the boat. We should be able to kill it by targeting its weak spot, the creature’s defense notwithstanding.

“What if I just focused fire on the Sea Dragon?”

“That’s one way to go about it…if you can.”

“Hm. I can.”

“I see. I guess we’re in your hands again, Fran… This is getting sad.” Mordred sighed in frustration. He felt helpless, but this was a matter of effective range.

I could easily imagine his Steel Magic coming in handy when the inevitable cannonballs started coming. Now, was it actually okay for us to kill a Sea Dragon? Considering the beast belonged to Seedrun, I imagined an international controversy could easily break out.

“Is it really okay for me to sink that thing?”

“What do you mean?”

“That ship might’ve been stolen from Seedrun. Wouldn’t your governments start fighting if I sank it?”

Jerome and Mordred laughed at Fran’s innocent question.

“Don’t you worry about that. Even if it used to be part of the Seedrunian navy, it revoked all its rights when it started flying that pirate flag.”

“The pirate flag is a warning to nonmilitary vessels that they are armed and willing to kill. Attacking pirate ships under any circumstance is allowed.”

In that case, how should we handle this? Should we take on the Sea Dragon first or last? If we went after the escorts first, the Sea Dragon might catch up to the Algieba. On the other hand, the Sea Dragon was definitely the toughest…

Let’s go after the Sea Dragon first.

If we took it down, the other ships might scatter and flee. Battling anything that could sink a Sea Dragon was akin to suicide. Still, if we couldn’t outright kill the monster, we would then divert our attention to the smaller ships. That should slow the pirates down enough for us to get help.

The crew saw us off as we flew toward the Sea Dragon.

“Be careful out there!”

“We’re counting on you!”

“Don’t get yourself killed!”

“Hm! Come on, Jet.”

“Awoooo!”

The shouts of encouragement must’ve gotten to Jet because he accelerated like a jet engine. It didn’t take long before we were hovering over the pirate fleet, eleven smaller ships surrounding one big one. At the bow of the big ship was a pair of gigantic chains that went under the surface of the water.

Upon closer inspection, I could see that this vessel was exactly like the Sea Dragon Miriam commanded. They were replicas of each other, from the detail on the railings down to the decorations on the hull. This was a Sea Dragon, alright.

The pirates looked up, noticing the unidentified flying object that had closed in on them. They stared at us for a while before deciding that we were hostile. They drew their bows and took aim. Honestly, it was the sensible thing to do when you saw a direwolf flying in the sky.

Focus on dodging, Jet.

“Woof!”

Fran, provoke the Sea Dragon so that it pops its head out of the water.

“On it.”

Water resistance would greatly reduce the effectiveness of Telekinetic Catapult. I needed a clear shot.

“Jet, can you go lower?”

“Woof!”

Fran hung on and prepared a spell to get the beast’s attention. Cannonballs and arrows flew toward us, but none of them came close to hitting Jet. There were spells mixed in with the hail of arrows, so there must have been mages on board. These were no ordinary pirates. Jet came over the Sea Dragon’s head. Just before Fran fired her spell, the beast roared.

“KROOOO!”

The Sea Dragon lifted its head out of the water before we could prompt it. It had a long neck covered with thick scales. It still looked draconic, despite the fact that its wings had adapted into dorsal fins and its claws were now flippers. There was a layer of what looked like seawater over its body. Maybe it was using magic to stop itself from drying out.

The dragon looked similar to Miriam’s Aqouis, but it was still distinct. Its body was covered with wounds and it had a large scar on its back which had yet to recover. You could still see the patch of pink flesh where the scales were just beginning to regrow.

The beast was watching us. Had it reacted to Fran’s mana? That was certainly possible. That thing’s senses were probably strong enough to sense Fran’s spell before she could fire it.

“Krrrr…!” The Sea Dragon snarled menacingly. It glared at us in rage. An appropriate response to people trying to kill it, but…

It seems a little…too pissed off.

It took an offensive posture. We could figure out why later. We had more important things to attend to at the moment.

He who dares wins!

“Hm!”

I was prepared for our next attack, and so was Fran.

“Haaaa!”

Woohoo!

She drew me back and used her entire bodyweight to chuck me at the dragon’s face. I exploded with telekinesis, accelerating to speeds that even a Sea Dragon couldn’t respond to. The beast’s defenseless face was mere inches away.

Take this…! What?!

The loud sound of crashing waves came over me. The layer of water covering the Sea Dragon splattered, and the dragon was looking no worse for wear. The layer of seawater must have been a sort of fluid armor. The film acted as a buffer against physical attacks, while something like a mana barrier lay right underneath. This double-layered barrier was enough to disperse the force of a fully charged Telekinetic Catapult.

However, my attack wasn’t entirely fruitless. A small nick was carved into its forehead. But it was little more than a scratch. We would have to change tactics if we wanted to get anywhere.

“Krrrr!” The Sea Dragon roared with contempt.

Great, my trump card just made it mad! I would need a few thousand Telekinetic Catapults to kill this thing. Try this on for size! Lightning Blast!

Lightning Blast was a powerful but short-range thunder spell. I figured electricity would be super effective against a creature that lived underwater.

I’m too close to block now! Jolts of electricity leaped out of my blade, wrapped around the Sea Dragon’s head, and lit it up like a Christmas tree.

“Krrrroooooo!”

Curses! Water Magic?!

The Sea Dragon managed to retaliate, even while being electrocuted. Water rushed in and washed me away.

At least it got shocked by that one… Wait, it’s perfectly fine?!

“Krrr!”

The Sea Dragon didn’t look damaged at all. It focused its attention on me as I flew through the air. The thing was trying to bite me.

“Krrrooooo!”

Curses! I boosted myself out of there and returned to Fran’s side.

“You okay?”

Barely!

Why was this thing so tough? Was it the dragonscales under a water barrier? I didn’t think Telekinetic Catapult would be that useless. Thunder spells didn’t work, either. I knew this thing was a B-Threat, but it was taking my hits like a tank…

The Sea Dragon didn’t give us time to think. Massive amounts of mana gathered around it.

“KROOOOO!”

Ah, crap!

Basketball-size water balls floated around the Water Dragon. There were over thirty of them, each one carrying a significant lump of mana. Leave it to dragons to be just as dangerous with magic!

Dodge them, Jet!

“Grrr!”

Jet dodged the water balls surprisingly well, considering how randomly they moved. He hopped through the air, dispersing the spheres with shadow spells. This fantasy world was looking a lot like a bullet hell right now. Jet was doing great, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.

“You’re doing good, Jet.”

“…!”

Our direwolf didn’t even have time to reply.

What now? Do we run or keep attacking?

We had to do something if we wanted to keep on the offense. We needed to find the Sea Dragon’s weakness.

Then, Fran seemed to notice something. “I could see it from a distance.”

See what?

“The ship is supplying the Sea Dragon with mana.”

It is? I didn’t even catch that.

“The biggest rush of mana came when you attacked.”

That must be the secret behind the Sea Dragon’s mana barrier.

So the ship has manatech!

I should’ve anticipated it. There were a lot of powerful adventurers and mages in the world—we weren’t the only ones. That giant ship must be housing appropriately gigantic manatech. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was first-class stuff, too, considering it was once a flagship.

We’re in a pickle now… Destroying the ship will release the Sea Dragon, but we can’t beat the Sea Dragon without destroying the ship.

“What if we destroy the ship and then quickly kill the Sea Dragon?”

That’s still too risky.

What if the Sea Dragon went underwater instead of immediately lashing out? It would be very difficult to beat the beast in its home turf. What if it came back for revenge? We wouldn’t be able to anticipate an ambush from the depths of the sea.

“Can dragons take revenge?”

I don’t know, but it’s a B-Threat. There’s a chance that it’s as smart as Jet. That meant it was probably smart enough to feel resentment.

“I see. That’s bad.”

Our best chance is getting on board the ship…

Each Sea Dragon had a contract with a member of the Seedrunian royalty which allowed them to control it. This contractor was definitely on the vessel. If we captured them, the Sea Dragon would stop attacking. Alternatively, we could seek out the manatech and destroy it. Either way, we needed to board.

The Sea Dragon roared as if it was singing. “Krooorooooorooo!” The water balls surrounding it burst.

“Arf!”

“Urk!”

A tidal wave came at us from all directions, making it impossible for Jet to dodge. Fran and I rushed to set up barriers, but we noticed that it wasn’t doing much damage.

No! This isn’t meant to cause damage!

The water balls prevented us from moving. Massive amounts of water covered our protective barriers and held us in place. It was like we were in some kind of water cage.

Haaaaa!

“Yaaah!”

Fran and I hacked and cast spells at the water to disperse it, but it wasn’t going to be so easily dismissed. The water stopped in midair, before homing in on us again.

“Jet!”

“Woof!”

We had just enough time to get away. Fran and I teleported out of there while Jet shrank as small as possible to get through the cracks.

We made it, somehow.

“That was close.”

“Woof…”

We were inches away from getting bombarded.

No choice. We’ll have to go after the smaller ships!

“Okay! Jet!”

“Arf!”

Jet swooped up from under us and caught Fran neatly on his back.

Get in the shadow of the Sea Dragon’s ship! It won’t attack us there! We could use the large vessel as cover.

“Come on, Teacher!”

We had to take out the surrounding ships before the Sea Dragon caught up to the Algieba!

“Jet, keep running at full speed.”

“Woof!”

I understood what Fran was asking. I used Transmogrify to magnify myself.

Good enough?

“Hm!”

Now that I was in Ship-Slayer form, Fran readied me. Jet let himself fall toward the water. Fran didn’t hesitate in swinging me, even as the surface of the water came closer to us.

“Haaaaa!”

Yaaargh!

The vertical momentum split the ship in two. It burst into flames and sank into the sea. Jet ran at the next vessel. Every ship he passed was soon split in two. We were still being pelted by arrows and spells, but the direwolf dodged them all. The spells came from a ship quite far away from us. I quickly dispatched it with Thor’s Hammer. We kept on sinking ships—Fran and Jet attacking the ones close to us, and me dealing with the ones far away. In a few minutes, only one of the smaller ships was left.

“We got pretty much all of them.”

Good thing they were small.

“So why’d you leave one unharmed?”

Because we need the info. Jet, take us in! We could learn something about the captain of the Sea Dragon or its weakness from the pirates. We need to get the captain.

“Got it,” Fran said as Jet came closer. She looked at the pirates coldly from above.

“Gyaaaa!”

“Th-the enemy’s here!”

“Where…! Oh gods!”

She landed on the deck and released a wave of Intimidate. The murderous pressure stopped them in their tracks. I used the chance to Identify them, but none seemed to have the information we needed.

Fran, that guy with the big spear and the mage next to him are in charge.

“So we don’t need the rest?”

Yeah. Just kill them all so they don’t get in the way.

“Hm. Got it.”

Fran rushed the pirates.

“Gyaaaa!”

“Eaaaagh!”

The deck turned into their hell. The pirates panicked. Blood flowed freely from freshly cut limbs.

After killing about ten, Fran stopped. She unleashed another wave of Intimidate and spoke in a clear voice. “Abandon ship or die. Your choice.”

Close to half the crew immediately leaped overboard, although a good half of them resisted. I had to applaud them. They either had loyalty to each other, or were ready to face their doom.

“Alright. Die.”

Fran swung me again. I was now about five meters in length. A single swing eliminated a good twenty of them. The survivors groaned in agony as they crawled on the deck. Fran walked over to them. The pirates in charge were frozen in fear, but one thing worried me. The pirate with the spear had blood all over his face.

Fran?

Hm. I messed up.

She had inadvertently cut the chin of the spearman. The wound was fortunately shallow—a little deeper and we would’ve lost our informant. I guess I could let it pass. It was one hell of a scare tactic.

“Tell me what you know about the one controlling the Sea Dragon.”

The two pirates begged on their knees.

“A-alright!”

“I-I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Just please don’t kill me!”

“Who’s the captain of the Sea Dragon?”

“I-I don’t know!”

“Hm?” Fran thrust me into the pirate’s thigh.

The spearman wrenched in pain. “Eeeeagh!”

“Who’s the captain of the Sea Dragon?”

“I-I swear I don’t know! That guy just came riding in with his Sea Dragon!”

“H-he’s telling the truth! We’d never seen him before. He can’t have been a pirate for very long!”

“Tell me what you do know.”

“I-I will, so please take your sword out of me!”

“Hm.” Fran nodded and pulled me out of his thigh.

The man was in tears with fear and pain. His friend knew that he was next. The small mage answered every question we asked. He didn’t know the identity of the Sea Dragon, but he provided a physical description, at least. A big man with silver hair and bronze skin.

“Suarez?”

The previous king of Seedrun. What’s he doing here? I thought he was locked up after the revolution. I guessed he must’ve gotten out. He managed to get his Sea Dragon, too.

Then that’s the Sea Dragon I almost killed.

No wonder the thing was so angry. It remembered my mana signature. We asked the men about the manatech supplying the monster with mana, but they were completely in the dark. These men were pirates and not Suarez’s former followers. They were, in fact, captains of the pirate federation that used to control these waters. Suarez wouldn’t trust these people enough to tell them his secrets.

“We’ve told you everything we know!”

“W-will you let us go now…?”

“Sure.”

“R-rea—ooorgh!”

Fran shoved her boot in the mage’s face. The impact sent him flying overboard.

The spear-wielding pirate screamed. “Wh-what gives! Y-you said you weren’t gonna kill us!”

“I won’t. I’m just tossing you into the ocean because you’re a nuisance.”

“Wh-what the hell is wrong with—gaaah!”

If anything, Fran held back, so they were only knocked unconscious. They might survive, if fortune was on their side. Otherwise, they were pretty much dead. Well, pirates were nautical professionals and I was certain that they could use their cockroach durability to survive.

Alright—

KABOOOM! Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the ship. KABLAM!

The Sea Dragon’s attacking us!

It had noticed our prolonged absence and grown suspicious of the one remaining ship in its vicinity. The Sea Dragon fired freely. I guessed the captain was willing to kill his own men to prevent us from getting information…

We have to get out of here! Back to the Algieba!

We might be able to get through this by destroying either Suarez or the ship’s manatech, but either of those things would take some time. We had to return and ask the others for help.

“Okay.”

“Woof!”

***

“Hmm…”

“Is something the matter, Lady Miriam?” Carla asked with clear concern.

My heavy sighing hadn’t escaped her notice.

“Kind of. Sorry about that.”

“Are you thinking of the stolen Sea Dragon?”

“There’s that. But something else is on my mind. Something more troubling.”

“So it’s Lady Marle.”

Marle was my half sister, who had been studying in the kingdom of Belioth. She’d originally fled the country, since she couldn’t spend life as a fugitive here, but she’d returned to Seedrun a few days ago, only to leave again.

“You know me well.” Was I so obvious? Yes. I was very worried about Marle. “All that studying hasn’t changed her a bit.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I suppose. But that girl can get a little…impulsive, at times.”

“Yes. We know that firsthand.”

“Ha ha. The royal guard got many hours of training thanks to her little escapades.”

“We certainly got better at capturing runaways.”

“Sorry for all the trouble she gave you. Anyway, I’m wondering if giving her a Sea Dragon was the right thing. I still worry about that.”

“You don’t have much of a choice. You don’t need to worry about her betraying you. She is quite skilled in her own right. I do not think there is a better successor.”

“I know. But do you really think that she’ll stay out of trouble?”

“I’m…sure she’ll be fine.”

“Your brief pause spoke volumes, Carla.”

Marle lacked nuance in dealing with right and wrong. She didn’t believe in shades of grey. Even I was quite shocked by the ruthlessness she showed to her enemies. On the other hand, if she took a liking to you, then she was very sympathetic. Marle could never manage covert operations. I doubted she could bring our foolish brother in quietly. There would definitely be fireworks.

“I know your sister can be a bit of a handful, but Lady Sellimea authorized her, as well.”

If anything, my older sister was more worried when our younger sister said she wanted to be of use. I just hoped her desire to help didn’t end up hurting…

“We both made it very clear that she shouldn’t do anything crazy. I just wonder if she’ll take our advice.”

We couldn’t lose two of our Sea Dragons, that was for sure. As much as I wanted to sortie with her, I smelled trouble in the north. Raydoss had reared its ugly fleet again, and I had to remain in Seedrun to take care of them. My sister could fight if push came to shove, but sending the queen to the front line was out of the question.

“I hope you come back in one piece, Marle…”

And please, try not to cause an international incident.

***

“Sorry. I had to come back.”

Fran bowed her head to Jerome. I wanted to apologize, too, if I could. After all that talk, we’d completely failed. That Sea Dragon’s wouldn’t get away with forcing Fran to apologize! I was ready to accept their disappointed criticism, but they welcomed us back quite readily.

“That attack you used on the Sea Dragon was the same as the one you used on the pirate ships the other day, wasn’t it?”

“Hm.”

“Well, no helping it then. You threw a ship-sinking move out, and it barely scratched it.”

Good thing we were among reasonable adventurers. Fran told Mordred about the Sea Dragon’s powerful defense. It was protected with magic and skills, on top of its already tough dragonscales. As if those weren’t enough, the vessel was also supplying the beast with mana.

“We need to get on the ship and find whoever’s controlling the Sea Dragon.”

We could try destroying the manatech, but even after that I wasn’t sure if we could beat the beast. Capturing its tamer was a more surefire way.

“Doesn’t look like we have much of a choice.”

Mordred nodded in agreement.

“But how do we board the enemy’s ship?”

“Don’t worry. My men and I are ready!”

Jerome beat his chest with resolve. The sailors followed their captain’s cue and nodded vigorously, but there was an air of resignation about them. They knew that the Sea Dragon was much faster. Still, the crew of the Algieba was prepared for the unfortunate exchange. Not to rain on their parade, but this particular adventurer had ways of boarding a ship.

“Leave that to me,” said Fran.

“You sound like you have a plan.”

“Hm. I’ll send all of us over.”

This was the perfect chance to use Dimension Gate, the spell we picked up in Ulmutt. Opening a gate to somewhere we couldn’t see would be difficult, but the deck of the Sea Dragon was visible. We could open one up right now if we wanted.

Everyone looked doubtful. It was quite a statement to make after our flat failure. Dimension Magic was also very rare, and they likely didn’t believe that Fran could use it. No better way to prove it, then. We opened a short-range gate right in front of Jerome’s eyes.

“Th-this is Dimension Magic…?”

“Yeah.”

“Whoooaaaa…this is legit!”

Fran thrust her hand into the Dimension Gate and pulled the captain’s hat through.

“That’s a high-level spell…!”

“She can use thunder and dimension magic?!”

“You’re the best, Master!”

The spell astonished everyone. Yet again, Mordred was the first to recover. “So we’ll use that spell to board the ship?”

“Hm. I’ll open a gate to their deck.”

Jerome thought about what to do next. “We should get some distance from them.”

“Hm. No point in boarding the Sea Dragon if we don’t have a ship to come back to.”

“How are we supposed to get away?”

“It’ll be tough, but we can’t risk the Algieba getting pelted by the Sea Dragon’s magic.”

The Algieba might sink. Should we send Mordred and the rest over with Dimension Gate while Fran stayed to defend the Algieba? We should be able to fend off the Sea Dragon’s attacks.

Mordred agreed that there was no other way. “Alright, men! Prepare for boarding!”

“Aye, Captain!”

“We’re counting on you, Fran.”

“Hm. Good luck.”

But the alarm bells rang before we could open the gate. Five times now.

“Backup?”

“No! Five bells means an unidentified vessel!”

A new ship had appeared in the south.

“It’s moving in fast!”

“Wh-what is that?”

I didn’t know anything about nautical miles, but I could tell that the sailors weren’t exaggerating when they said that it was moving quickly.

“Is it another pirate fleet?”

It was possible another fleet had appeared to close off our escape, but Jerome shook his head. “Not likely. There’s only one of them.”

“Perhaps we should warn them.”

“Hang on…no! That boat is sailing under the Seedrunian flag! Yellow flag… Chains on the bow… It’s another Sea Dragon!”

Jerome’s shout threw the Algieba into a panic. Another Sea Dragon had joined the fray, just as we were fighting the first.

“No pirate flag, though…”

“Is it an enemy?”

“I don’t know. That would be the worst thing that could happen.”

Escape was impossible. We were pincered.

“Captain, the other Sea Dragon’s moving!”

“What? By the gods! Is it…sinking?!”

“Sinking?”

Jerome and Mordred stared in shock as the Sea Dragon sank into the waters. But it didn’t look damaged, and I could tell that the entire ship was charged with mana.

“That light looks like it’s dispersing the water…”

“The Sea Dragon is submerging itself!”

The crew couldn’t believe their eyes. The Sea Dragon sank deeper still. The thing was a convertible submarine.

The sailors broke into chatter.

“I can feel their mana.”

“So that’s why they call the Sea Dragon the phantom of the seas… It’s not just a matter of speed!”

Jerome, however, soon realized the danger. “If that thing attacks us from underwater, we’re dead!”

“H-how will we fight it?”

Fortunately, there was no need to worry at the moment. The Sea Dragon submarine had chosen to retreat. They wanted to get away from this place as fast as possible.

The captain pondered their decision. “Are they running away from the yellow-flagged ship?”

“You mean they’re hostile to each other?” Fran asked.

“It sure as hell looks like it.”

Jerome was probably right. The blue Sea Dragon was swimming in the opposite direction.

“What now, Captain?”

“We’ll try to get as much distance from both as we can. If this newcomer insists on coming after us, well…we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Aye aye, sir!”

Buffet quickly organized the crew on Jerome’s command.

What would happen next?