Chapter 22 — You Really Can’t Do Anything Heroine-Like
“Hm. I guess I should stick with what I’m used to.”
Izelda’s expectations were immediately squashed. Hornet possessed a natural ability to attract women. Izelda had thought that just extending a hand towards her would be enough to draw her in, but it seemed it wouldn’t be that easy.
Of course, he could have restrained her with magic instead of using such a roundabout approach, but he was trying to conserve as much magical energy as possible. If he were to exhaust his supply, his current body would disintegrate. He needed to be careful about when he chose to exercise his abilities.
If he used the Gift, he could safely restrain her with a minimal expenditure of energy, but it appeared the woman from the royal bloodline had awakened, as her nullifying power was once again active. And unfortunately, this girl was too far away for him to use the insects on her. Since she had fled upon seeing him, he hadn’t had time to catch her with the parasites. Additionally, he wanted to avoid injuring her body, if possible. He wanted her physical form to be in the most natural condition possible when he captured her.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Men burst out of the lounge, likely pursuing the girl. Izelda casually cut them down with the sword in his hand. With the Gift being suppressed, it was a contest of pure skill. Currently inhabiting the body of the hero Hornet, even if the boy’s personality had been extinguished, the swordsmanship skills of its former inhabitant had been thoroughly ingrained in the body. No matter how capable they were, he could cut down two pirates like they were nothing.
But that led to Izelda letting down his guard. Unable to dodge properly, one blade bit deep into his armpit as the knight leaped out of the lounge towards him. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it would require a wasteful expenditure of magical energy to repair.
“I see. Since your strategy revolves around nullifying the Gift, I suppose it is a given that you would have those who excel in combat with you.”
“We were well prepared for the presence of a hero on board,” the knight replied. “You have no advantage over us.”
They must have taken stock of the defensive abilities of the ship before they attacked it. They were assured of their victory.
“Hm. He was about the Royal Blade rank, or perhaps Bestial Blade. If he reached that rank before the inflation caused by system skills, this situation would be more than manageable.”
Swordsmen were divided into ranks, with Swordmaster being the highest. Those of higher rank were able to use special techniques that transcended swordsmanship, but that was all thanks to the Gift. In a battle using only a sword, it was quite possible for a lower-ranking swordsman to end up being the superior fighter. As Izelda’s swordsmanship abilities were only the remaining vestiges of Hornet’s skills, he would be at a disadvantage against a true master.
He knew he might need to use magic to get out of his current situation, but there was something he wanted to try first.
“Hey! Don’t move!”
A woman’s voice suddenly rang out through the ship. Degul was broadcasting from the pilothouse. In response, the knight froze for a moment, which was more than enough for Izelda to step in and sever his head.
“Damn you! What did you do to me?!” Degul cried.
“I just took control of your body a bit. Don’t worry, I have done nothing to infringe on your mind.”
His voice couldn’t reach the pilothouse, of course, but he had used the insects inside the pirate to hijack her nervous system and control her body. It was incredibly delicate, exhausting work, but now he only needed to use magical energy to transmit instructions.
“I have really been driven into a corner with all this resource management.” Izelda had never intended to take control of Hornet’s body, so he hadn’t made any preparations for it.
As he continued to grumble, five passengers arrived. They were distant descendants of his and therefore capable of being used as vessels. His essence within them had been activated, but they hadn’t become self-aware, so they were merely following the instructions of the insects.
“That’s it? I expected more.”
In order to acquire more underlings, he opened a gate to the spirit world. Ghosts poured out and began possessing dead bodies, which he then set about using to attack others.
Unfortunately, without proper guidance, it was likely they would end up attacking the very targets he was searching for, so he bound the summoned spirits with a contract to limit their actions, requiring them to refrain from attacking the ones he was searching for and report back immediately if they found them.
Spirits of the dead watched vigilantly for any opportunity to make it into the world of the living. Once there, they would gladly go after everyone around them to increase their own ranks. This meant Izelda only needed to use enough magical energy to open the gate. It was the perfect solution for him, as he was still trying to conserve energy.
“You’re so slow! Wait, were you even running?!”
Sitting at the bottom of the grand staircase, Tomochika saw Yogiri stroll into view.
“I mean...I was hurrying.”
He was breathing fairly hard as he approached her. Maybe he had been trying his best, so she decided not to press him.
“A swimsuit, huh?” he commented. “Looks good.”
“Oh, of course you would say that! I called it!” Just as she had predicted, Yogiri showed no restraint once he saw her in a swimsuit. “Can you please not stare at me like that?!”
“But the whole point is to show off, right? If it was underwear, it would be different.”
Tomochika was used to getting looks from others, but they were normally restrained, fleeting glances. Having someone standing right in front of her, shamelessly staring at her body, still felt embarrassing.
“So, what now? Where do things stand?” he asked.
Once Yogiri had taken a seat beside her, Tomochika summed up what she knew.
“Hm. To summarize, it appears there are currently two incidents occurring,” Mokomoko added afterwards. “One issue is the pirates. The other is that the passengers are being controlled, like the ones you met on the way here.”
“Fighting them won’t accomplish much. Is there a way we can escape?” Tomochika asked.
“You really can’t do anything heroine-like, can you?” Mokomoko cried. “Will you not make some appeal to try and convince him to save the rest of the passengers, to show off your kind and loving spirit?”
“And what if I did?”
“Of course I would tell you it’s impossible.”
“Then don’t bring it up!”
“Regardless, fleeing in this situation would be rather challenging. It appears the lifeboats have all been lost to the sea.”
On their way through the ship, Tomochika and Mokomoko had looked around and found that all the lifeboats were gone. That was likely the work of the pirates. If they wanted to hold the passengers hostage, it was sensible for them to remove any means of escape.
“Can you make a boat from Furemaru?” Yogiri asked.
It was one of their plans from earlier. Mokomoko had claimed they could make a boat large enough for the three of them.
“The nullifying power was turned off for a little while earlier, but now it’s back, so I can’t.”
“But in the capital, you were able to use it anyway, right?” asked Tomochika.
“In the capital, the seal was thin and spread across a wide area. Plus it served only to reduce the power ranks. But the ability being used here is focused on a much smaller space and exhibiting a far more powerful effect.”
“You said it’s a small area, but this ship is pretty big...”
“Yeah. What if we jumped in the water and swam out of range?” Yogiri asked.
“Are you that good at swimming, Takatou? An inexperienced swimmer would probably drown if they just jumped into the ocean.” Tomochika figured with Yogiri’s level of fitness, he wouldn’t have a chance.
“The Dannoura Swimming Method could be used to swim while supporting another person, but that would mean abandoning Enju. This body is rather heavy.”
“Oh, so our weird way of swimming has an official title...”
“Basically, sorting out the situation here will be easier than running away,” Yogiri decided.
“Hm. The sealing power and the kraken are both associated with the pirates. Dealing with their leader should be the quickest method,” Mokomoko said.
Having finally caught his breath, Yogiri stood up. “Where would they be?”
“We can capture one of the pirates and find out from them. Tomochika, I’ll leave that to you.”
“Why?!”
“I am still only moving by remote control. It almost feels like playing an old Resident Evil game.”
“And my abilities aren’t really good for torture,” Yogiri added.
“How does a ghost from the Heian era know anything about video games?” Tomochika stood up and began walking. “I don’t know how I feel about being in the front like this!”
They were walking with Tomochika in the lead, then Mokomoko, and Yogiri in the back. While that was the most effective order for them to be in, given their skills, Tomochika would have preferred being treated a bit more like a girl.
There was no sign of anyone in the halls. The pirates had rounded up the passengers, so they were likely congregated in places where they could easily hold a lot of people.
“I can just beat up any pirates we find, right?”
“You sound awfully unhappy about it.”
“Of course I do! Oh, there’s one!” As they rounded a corner, they saw a man who looked every bit the stereotypical pirate. “All right, what’s around that I can throw at... Huh?”
The man’s neck was bent at an odd angle, his head sitting horizontally on his shoulders. She figured his neck had been broken.
“Doesn’t that look...wrong?”
“It appears a deceased spirit has possessed the body.”
“Oh, so it’s like you, Mokomoko.”
“Don’t associate me with that thing!”
“Well, what is it?!”
“It appears to be a zombie or something similar.”
“Could our remote-controlled friend do something about it?”
“If I only had an infinite rocket launcher...”
As they spoke, the pirate corpse remained still.
“So? I don’t know what to do if it’s just going to stand there...”
“...FOUND...YOU...” the zombie said in a chilling voice. And then, as if its lack of movement up until then had been a ploy, it suddenly leaped towards them.
Tomochika immediately prepared to defend herself, but she wasn’t the target. Passing right by her, it lunged at Yogiri.
“Die.”
The corpse stumbled over its own feet, and Yogiri casually stepped around it as it fell. He didn’t have much stamina, but her companion could handle small, precise movements like that without a problem.
“It targeted me, huh?”
“Hm. Its choice seems rather unnatural.”
“Why are you two so relaxed?!”
As Yogiri and Mokomoko were discussing the pirate’s actions, people began gathering around them. On either side of the hallway, invaders, passengers, and crew gathered. They were all corpses, controlled by spirits of the dead, with hollow eyes and unnerving smiles on their faces.
“This seems familiar...”
Tomochika recalled their stay in Hanabusa, where they had been attacked by the undead of the Immortal Corps.
“Die.”
With that, the spirits were wiped out.
“And that was familiar too!”
The end result was always the same.
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