Sevens (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 114

Chapter 114 – Goddess of the Sea
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Night.

I was walking on the ship’s deck as a lookout.

I was patrolling around with lantern in hand because this work was also included in the request.

Other than guarding the ship, patrolling was also included in the adventurers’ assignments.

The sailors were also doing patrol on their own, but the adventurers were also ordered to patrol so that there would be people to quickly fight in case monster attacked.

Other than the patrol on deck, there was also a standby room where some adventurers were stationed.

「Hopefully we won’t get attacked at night.」

When I looked at the sea, it was really dark and eerie.

After peering to the sea surface for a while, the Fifth’s voice urged me to be on my guard.

『Lyle, here they come.』

When I turned around, there were sailors approaching me.

Furthermore their color that surfaced in my head was──red.

It seemed they were hostile toward me.

Were they going to push me off the ship here?

When I was thinking to quickly retreat from this place, I could see someone going out to the deck.

「Lyle-sama, it’s time for shift change.」

The one who called me with a clear voice like that was Novem.

The sailors hurriedly dispersed.

Did they avoid to kill me because there was a witness?

The Sixth’s voice came from inside the Jewel.

『They backed off really easily. It didn’t look like they plan to kill you.』

Was they going to try threatening me first to not approach Vera-san before going with the kill option? The sailors must be thinking that I was overdoing it with my approach to Vera-san.

Behind Novem, even May was also coming outside. May spoke while stretching her back.

「Aa~, I want to run around here~」

She wanted to return to her kirin’s form and ran around in the sky. I checked that there was nobody around us before I talked to her.

「Don’t do that. There are lookouts outside here.」

「I won’t. Besides, the turf of this area is troublesome.」

「Turf?」

「If it’s my brethren then I can easily explain myself to them, but this place is a bit troublesome.」

Was there a problem with this area as a divine beast?

Novem looked at me with a worried face.

「About the people just now, they are drunk. They were enthusiastically speaking about making Lyle-sama learn a lesson, so I came to check the situation.」

So they were drunk. But, now I understood that the sailors were piling up that much dislike at me.

「This is troublesome. Even though I’m not planning to seduce Vera-san anymore.」

「It looks like that Vera-san is a very important existence for them.」

「Aa~, that thing about goddess you mean? Vera-san also mentioned it, it looks like she doesn’t like being treated like that. She said that she feels there is a wall that separate her from everyone else.」

Novem said 「That’s a problem」. It seemed that she also felt that the attitude of the sailors was also problematic. But, May scratched her cheek with her finger while──.

「But, that child has something with her.」

「Eh? What do you mean something?」

「Well~, I don’t really know about it in detail though. I only know that she has a mysterious power. I think it’s something related with the sea, but I also don’t really know what it is.」

If even May felt something, then perhaps Vera-san was really being protected by something?

「It will be time to change shift soon. Let’s get back inside.」

Because we couldn’t find any clearer answer, we returned to inside the ship.

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──Night.

Vera leaped up with her body soaked in sweat.

「That dream again──」

Her dream of sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Recently she was seeing that dream almost every day.

Vera’s room inside the ship was wide. The furniture was also luxurious.

She got up from her bed, poured water from the pitcher into a glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

And then she calmed down her rough breathing and looked outside the window. The moon that didn’t show itself  before this because of the cloudy sky had shown itself.

「The moon today is pretty.」

It felt like the room became brighter with the moonlight.

She returned to her bed and sat down.

「I wonder if this dream is some kind of omen? ──No way.」

Saying that, she turned her gaze to the parasol that was placed inside her room. She had several parasols, but right now this parasol was the only she was using.

It was a present from Roland.

But, Roland showed no sign of remembering that.

「A~a, so I’m the only one who remember. I feel stupid.」

Her upper body fell down and she lied on the bed.

「I got a bad premonition for today.」

Vera placed her hand on her sweaty forehead and she felt like she could the beating of her heart louder than usual──.

.

──There was someone looking at the sea.

This person was alone. Their hand was holding the hand railing in the darkness without even bringing any lighting.

Suddenly the person held out their right hand toward the sea.

A mysterious light lit up at their palm, then it fell toward the sea like a liquid.

The light was spreading through the sea as though it was melting. Before long everything was covered in darkness again.

The person returned inside the ship──.

.

The weather was also good the next day. I went to talk with Vera-san again.

My companions were watching the surrounding for me. We were talking while being watched. Somehow, it felt really pathetic that I was approaching a girl while borrowing everyone’s help like this.

「We’re going to reach the harbor that is our destination soon isn’t it? The weather feels colder than in Beim.」

「Our destination is cold, so be careful there.」

Vera-san kindly explained about our destination. Her smile now looked like she was happier than before.

「You never went to the north before huh, Lyle.」

「Aa~, we never got the chance to head to the north before.」

「There is a big country that is hostile with Bahnseim at the nort after all. Certainly it might be difficult for you to go there. But, the scenery of the harbor there at winter is amazing. You should see it at least once. I was satisfied after seeing it once.」

「By that do you mean you don’t want to see it anymore for the second time?」

「Correct.」

Thanks to Vera-san having opened up a lot more than before, our conversation still continued like this.

Perhaps Vera-san had let her guard down a bit around me. She was bringing up a topic that usually she wouldn’t touch.

「Lyle──have you ever dreamed? I mean dream that you see when sleeping.」

「Dream? Sometimes I dreamed. I forgot what I dreamed most of the time though.」

「I often see the same dream you know?」

Vera-san stared at the sea while talking about that dream.

「In that dream, I would open my eyes at the bottom of sea, and then after that I would float up to the surface. But then, when I got out of the sea, my body would crumble and fell to the bottom of the sea again. I have seen this dream a lot since I was little, so each time I would think, this dream again~. Do you think there is a cause for this?」

She was asking me as an adventurer who had gone to various places, that perhaps I held some kind of clue.

「Have you ever tried asking a fortune teller?」

「I have tried with the famous fortune teller in Beim and even famous fortune tellers of other country. But everyone is the same. They told me that they don’t understand the dream.」

If even the specialist had thrown in the towel, there was no way I could give the correct answer.

「I don’t know.」

「Oh, you give up so easily. Shouldn’t you ponder it a bit longer?」

「I have scholar acquaintance, so I’ll try asking him, but something like this is also not his field.」

If it was Damian, would he know something?

The talk died down for the moment. The Seventh pressed me at this timing.

『Lyle, ask her about the gun. Where did she buy that revolver handgun? I really want to know about it. You also want to know right?』

The only one who wanted to know was the Seventh.

Because the Seventh was also a gun user, he was always curious about this kind of weapon.

『You can also get the ammunition if it’s at Beim. Lyle, this is a good chance for you to use handgun. Handgun is really great!』

It was certainly a convenient weapon, but the other ancestors were acting coldly at the Seventh’s behavior.

The Third was especially horrible.

『Gun can be blocked by magic isn’t it? In the first place, if you want to attack from range it’s better to use magic.』

The Seventh started explaining passionately at the Third who didn’t understand about gun.

『Gun is something that can be used by anyone regardless whether they have magic or not! You can economize your mana consumption with that, and attack from long range. These are truly wonderful advantage! Do you understand!?』

It felt like it would become long so I ignored the Seventh.

There would be no end to it if I listened from start to end.

The Sixth was laughing at my reaction.

『Lyle too has become really strong-willed huh!』

What was so funny?

Vera-san talked about dream──but this time she talked about the dream that was a realistic objective.

「Say Lyle. Do you have dream for your future?」

「I have.」

I answered right away. Vera-san showed a surprised face at that. It seemed that she thought someone who looked unreliable like me didn’t have any clear objective.

「That’s curious. What kind of dream is it?」

「You want me to say it? Then, please tell me your dream first Vera-san.」

I couldn’t talk about my dream here, and I also couldn’t bring myself to lie about it.

Vera-san began to fiddle with her parasol. Unlike her attitude until now, right now she looked somewhat unreliable, or perhaps irresolute was the better word.

「I think continue living on ship like this won’t be bad but, I wonder about that. Focusing on my business work is also not bad, but I’ll be troubled if I’m asked whether that’s my dream.」

Perhaps Vera-san didn’t have a clear dream for the future.

Although she said that her current life was 「not bad」, she looked like she was tired of it.

「You see~, the people around me are always putting a distance from me since the past. My little sister can conduct herself really well, but I myself am not good at it.」

Vera-san leaned on the handrail and continued her talk that was like a monologue.

「Tres family’s daughter, and then papa’s daughter, and I’m also called something like a goddess of fortune. ──Everyone is separating themselves from me.」

That sounded like her true feeling. Vera-san stretched her back.

「Sorry, forget what I said. It was also fun today. Let’s──」

Right after that.

「Uoh!」

The ship shook hard. I grabbed the handrail.

The sky had become cloudy when I noticed. The sea was also starting to be stormy.

The waves became high, and the ship started to shake hard.

「How can the weather change this drastically──unbelievable.」

Even though the weather was clear not that long ago, something was strange.

Roland came running at where we were.

「Vera-ojousama! T-trouble!」

.

The adventurers wore their equipment and gathered in the standby room.

The shaking of the ship worsened. Some of the adventurers also looked like they were seasick. The adventurers who were wearing full armor at the first day were dressed lightly with only their limbs protected by armor.

It seemed they had judged that it was better to be able to move around agilely on ship.

「Oi, what’s going on!?」

「Don’t ask me. Just wait quietly.」

They questioned a veteran adventurer, but no answer was coming.

We also gathered in one place on standby.

Aria spoke with an anxious look.

「Being seasick is scarier than fighting. Even so, the sea suddenly become really stormy.」

Miranda also looked concerned.

「The sailors are also anxious. It looks like something like this has never happened until now.」

The changed happened so rapidly and drastically, so even the sailors seemed to be bewildered.

I grasped the Jewel, but the ancestors didn’t know anything about sea. They had no answer.

The Fourth apologized.

『We are also not knowledgeable about the sea. After all Bahnseim is located inland.』

I couldn’t criticize them. It looked like I could only rely on my own strength to get through this.

When I looked at Novem, she was grasping the staff that was her family treasure with a somewhat uneasy look.

「Is there something in your mind?」

「No, I’m fine.」

Novem never looked panicked even after we boarded this ship. Most of all she never got seasick. I heard some people could be like that, but it was amazing how calm she was even though she was also born at the inland Bahnseim like us.

Shannon was holding on a pillar while trembling fiercely.

「H-hey, there is something big approaching here though. Thi-, t-t-thi-, this isn’t a monster’s doing isn’t it?」

It seemed she was using her mystic eyes. She told us that something was approaching.

「Oi, what do you mean by something──big-」

When I tried asking Shannon, my body suddenly felt listless. Coupled with the shaking of the ship, I couldn’t keep standing and fell. Novem immediately caught me in her arms.

「Lyle-sama!」

I was familiar with this sensation of being unable to put any strength into my body.

「N-no way. Because, just a while ago──I’m」

I was sweating coldly. I never expected that was coming at this kind of situation.

Everyone came near me. They were looking anxious.

Miranda narrowed her eyes.

「Of all the possible time, the timing is really bad. Let’s bring Lyle back to our room.」

Miranda promptly gave instruction. Monica carried me on her back.

「Oh my, it looks like I will be able to watch chicken dickwad’s wonderful appearance again after so long.」

「This isn’t the time──to joke──」

Even speaking was painful. The adventurers around us were getting noisy for some reason seeing me collapsed. 「Is he seasick?」 I could hear someone asking that, but that wasn’t the case.

This pain──it’s that.

I could hear various reactions from the ancestors inside the Jewel.

『Aw shucks~, the timing is really bad.』

『It’s at this timing when it feels like something is going to happen.』

『Lyle, give your comrades instructions while you’re still conscious.』

『Well, there is nothing that can be done about this.』

『So Lyle is out of count at this timing. Can Novem and others get through this on their own?』

I ended up dropping out due to poor health at this moment when something was going to happen.

.

──Vera was giving instructions inside the bridge.

「Get the ship out of this storm no matter what!」

「Aye!」

The sailors obeyed her instruction and sailed the ship through the raging waves.

It wasn’t that long ago that the sky was clear and the sea was calm. However they were suddenly visited by a storm. The expression of the sailors was hard. They got a bad premonition.

Vera was also feeling a strange apprehension in her chest.

(Something is coming. It’s close.)

Her uneasiness was growing bigger. She shook her head to shake it off. Her hair that was tied up at both sides shook and she slapped her cheeks with her hands to pull herself together.

The sailor that was holding the wheel was panicking.

「Captain, the ship is gradually getting washed away!」

Vera looked outside. The compass’s needle was rotating in circles. They didn’t even know where they were right now. Everything was going strange.

「Just keep going forward! Tell the engine room too, keep the fire lit!」

The big merchant ship was getting washed away to somewhere──.

.

In the cabin where we were lodging at.

I had been lying down since morning powerlessly inside the badly shaken merchant ship. I believed my face was pale right now. It was painful to even move. I felt really bad.

A bucket was placed nearby. Novem was nursing me.

「Lyle-sama, are you alright? Do you want to drink water?」

I was also seasick in addition of this poor physical health. I was in a horrible state right now. I was suffering while under the watch of my companions.

Shannon was looked creeped out beside Novem.

「Uwa, this is horrible.」

Monica pushed aside Shannon who was watching my weakened figure and came to my side.

「You little girl over there, I’m the only one who is allowed to complain at chicken dickwad!」

Who said you were allowed.

But, I was hopelessly suffering that I didn’t even have the willpower to speak.

I covered my whole body including my head with the blanket.

Shannon spoke in exasperation.

「Aa~a, he is hiding.」

Then Novem tore off the blanket from me and made me sat up to wipe my body.

「Lyle-sama, let’s wipe your body. You’re already in this state for one whole day.」

I could hear the Fourth’s voice from the Jewel while Novem was nursing me.

『Lyle is completely no good in this state.』

The Seventh covered for me.

『It can’t be helped right now. But, the timing is really bad.』

The Fifth was also worried.

『It’s already one whole day that the sea is stormy like this. I’m amazed that the ship hasn’t sunk inside this storm.』

The merchant ship was shaking severely. It hadn’t been just one or two times that a large wave attacked this ship. This ship was pushing forward inside such storm.

.

──Two days passed since the storm began.

Vera was giving instructions every day as the captain. The vice captain talked to that Vera.

「Looks like even Ojou-sama’s luck has run out here.」

Everyone was making a fatigued face after spending two days inside this storm. The vice captain smiled in the middle of that.

Vera honestly felt saved by that joke. She also replied with a light tone.

「Goddess of fortune? Do you think I look like someone that great? Stop that. I’m troubled because no man will approach me thanks to that nickname.」

The vice captain laughed loudly.

「That’s because the men around captain are all blind. Vera-ojousama is a good woman, so it won’t be long before men swarmed you even if you don’t want it.」

Vera lightly replied 「Hopefully that’s true」 while feeling anxious inside her heart.

(At this rate, even this ship will sink. Even though I want to get out of this storm somehow, it’s like the wheel isn’t working at all. The compass is also out of order.)

She couldn’t guess at all where in the world they were and where they were heading to.

Then the voice of the sailor who was acting as the lookout came from the speaking tube. His voice that was mixed with the sound of intense rain and wind reached Vera’s ear clearly.

『A monster show up ahead!』

Vera rushed out from the bridge to the deck. She grabbed the handrail and looked outside.

「No way. That monster actually exists!?」

What Vera saw was a large monster with its head stretching out from the sea surface. Even Vera had heard about this monster from stories.

It was classified as a legendary species even amongst the sea monsters. It was said that anyone who encountered this monster called Trident Sea Serpent should consider their life forfeit if they ever encountered it.

Vera was dumbfounded by the appearance of this monster that appeared in fairytale.

It was a large snake with three heads that looked like dragon. The central head was wearing something that looked like a metallic crown.

It was looking at Vera and others with six red eyes.

They could only despair. It was bigger than the ship they were on. From the sailors’ perspective, the opponent was a living disaster.

They encountered a legendary monster.

「So even my luck has run out here.」

The sailors sat down on the deck and held their head in their hands.

They fell into despair after seeing the Trident Sea Serpent’s figure.

Looking closer, there was a whirlpool around the Trident Sea Serpent. She thought that there was something dragging this ship, but she never imagined that the culprit was a monster.

「What goddess of fortune. In this kind of place──」

In that instant──the scene of the dream that she had seen many times spread in her head. At this rate they would sink into the sea and became the monster’s food, or fell to the bottom of the sea.

Vera swung her fist on the handrail.

「There is no way──I’m giving up at this kind of place!」

Vera returned into the bridge. She gave her order to the sailors with a loud voice.

「Prepare for battle! Get the cannons out. We’re going to defeat that kind of monster and head to the harbor quickly! Come on, get a hold of yourself!」

But, the sailors didn’t follow the order with expression of despair on their faces.

「But, Ojou-sama, the opponent is a legendary monster.」

「This is impossible.」

「There is no way something like cannon can defeat legendary monster.」

Even the vice captain looked resigned. After all the opponent was just that overwhelming.

Lightning fell from the rain cloud. The bluish white light illuminated the Trident Sea Serpent’s black shadow. Its blue scales reflected seven colored light prettily. And then it stopped moving. It was waiting in the middle of the whirlpool for its prey the merchant ship to come to it. ──It was as though it was toying with them.

Vera raised her voice one more time.

「Prepare for battle! I’m not going to accept getting killed just like this! Our ship is the state-of-the-art ship! It doesn’t matter how legendary it is as long as we defeat it. If we do that, then we will become legendary sailors! Or perhaps all of you plan to die just like this? Rather than dying without doing anything, stand up and fight till the end!」

The sailors gritted their teeth hearing those words and stood up.

Roland ran into the bridge at this timing.

「Vera-ojousama, m-monster outside!」

Roland looked pale. Vera gave him an order as though to say that he was just a hindrance right now.

「Get out! And then go call the adventurers. It’s time for them to work.」

Her usual kindness couldn’t be found anywhere. Roland leaned on the wall within the shaking ship and replied with a scared look.

「Y-yes!」

Roland ran away. Vera saw him off before she turned her gaze to the prow of the ship.

「Let’s do this.」

The battle with Trident Sea Serpent began──.

.

──Roland ran into the room where Lyle and others were staying in.

「Lyle, it’s enemy attack! Prepare right away──」

However the scenery inside the room was horrible.

Lyle was wrapped in blanket while groaning 「Uu~」 or 「Aa~」 with girls surrounding him. His eyes were rolled back that the white of his eyes showed. He wasn’t in a state to fight at all.

Roland was dumbfounded. Aria who was holding her spear talked to him.

「It’s impossible for Lyle. He has been in this state all this time since then.」

「It’s two days already! N-no, it might have been three days even.」

「It can’t be helped. This is how it is for Lyle.」

Roland couldn’t say anything back at Aria’s frank reply.

「I-I see. Then everyone other than Lyle should prepare to fight. A large monster showed up. We’re going to fight it after this.」

Shannon carried a wooden box and kneeled on top of it to look outside the window.

Outside the window, she could see the Trident Sea Serpent that looked similar like a trident spear. Shannon shook her head while saying.

「We’re going to fight that? No, that’s impossible isn’t it?」

Roland also had the same opinion. He thought that the situation wouldn’t change even if the adventurers came out now.

「A-anyway, you guys have to fight. You have accepted this request right?」

Aria seemed like she had gotten used to the ship. She looked completely alright. Sophia was also the same. Miranda was checking her equipments. But, Eva and Clara were still lying down with pale complexion.

May was poking at their cheeks with her finger in amusement.

Roland covered her face with her right hand.

「It’s emergency. It’s fine even if the three of them stay here. The rest of you, do something about the monster.」

Then Monica stood up and twirled on the spot. Her twintail and skirt fluttered softly. And then when she stopped twirling, she took out medicine from her apron.

「I thought that this might happen, so I kept some anti-seasick medicines in reserve! The two of them should also be able to recover after a while. After all, it’s a Monica brand medicine.」

Hearing that, Eva lifted up her shaking upper body. An ominous air was wrapped around her.

「G-give it to us from the start if you have them.」

Monica pretended to not hear anything and handed the medicine to the two of them.

Clara drank it and then she mumbled.

「Even after drinking this, our body will still suffer for a bit more. And then we will suffer again when its effect runs out. No moreee」

She became tearful.

Roland left the room after saying what he had to say──.

.

──Miranda led her comrades to the deck. There they could see the monster’s figure that was large than even the ship.

Only its long necks and heads could be seen above the sea surface. They couldn’t really see its shape under the sea surface.

「Good grief, a troublesome monster came out.」

Sophia who was holding her battle axe planted her feet on the shaking ship. The deck was covered with sea water, making it easy to slip.

「The footing is bad here.」

Aria was more focused on the enemy far away rather than the footing.

「It’s too far. It doesn’t look like I can jump to attack it. And it’ll be troublesome if it escape into the sea.」

Miranda immediately rejected that thinking.

「We absolutely have to stop that monster.」

Eva, Clara──and then the noncombatant Thelma and Gastone weren’t here.

Other adventurers also noisily came out to the deck, but they got cold feet as soon as they saw the figure of Trident Sea Serpent.

「You are telling us to fight that thing!?」

「No matter what that’s impossible. Let’s run away quickly.」

「Is it that thing that sank the other ships? It’s the end for this ship too.」

A lot of the adventurers wanted to run away. There were also some who resigned themselves among them.

Sophia suggested to Miranda.

「How about attacking it from afar with magic? Besides, this ship also has guns and cannons. Perhaps we’ll be able to defeat it if we all attack simultaneously.」

Miranda was also considering that.

「We can only do that.」

Novem who was tightly gripping her staff looked toward Miranda and nodded slightly.

「I’m ready anytime.」

「All right. Then, we will coordinate with the cannons’ attack──」

The sound of the cannons firing resounded at that moment. Aria was surprised and looked up to the bridge.

「Wait! We still haven’t finished preparing here!」

The cannons all fired simultaneously. All the shells headed toward Trident Sea Serpent. Several missed while several landed on target──but Trident Sea Serpent only shook slightly. The cannons only dealt a few cuts on its body surface.

Miranda laughed.

「An outrageous monster has showed up here.」

(Lyle is also not here. It will be bone-breakingly hard to take on this foe.)

Then the cannons kept firing one after another. It seemed that if doing it once was no good then they would try overwhelming it with number.

Miranda clicked her tongue.

「The firepower is lacking. Besides they aren’t coordinating with us.」

In the first place they weren’t thinking of coordinating with the adventurers at all. Also, the adventurers had no way to report their situation to the bridge. Even if they wanted to use the speaking tube, they didn’t know which one would connect to the bridge.

Under the rain, Monica in her maid uniform was making a gesture of looking at far away.

「Aa~a, it’s no good. The monster is being protected by a magical shield before the shells landed. It’s impossible for this ship’s cannons to get through that.」

Miranda immediately looked toward May after hearing Monica’s analysis.

「May, can you defeat that?」

Right now Miranda wouldn’t hesitate to allow May’s identity as kirin to be exposed in this place if they could overcome this situation with that.

But May replied vaguely.

「It will be troublesome if it dive into the sea. Besides, I might not be able to win for sure against it with me alone. I wonder why that thing is in this kind of place? It’s a mismatch for that monster to be here.」

「You mean──even you cannot win against that thing?」

May was considered as the strongest member in Lyle’s party. She was a divine beast. If she returned to her original form, the average human couldn’t possibly match her. But that May was saying she wouldn’t be able to win for sure against this monster. That meant that it would be suspect whether they could win against it even if they united their strength.

「For now we can only do what we can.」

Miranda pondered what she could do with the weapons that she had in hand──.

.

Inside the room, I was lying down while a blanket was wrapped around me.

Near me was Shannon──and also Eva and Clara who were gradually recovering from seasickness. Thelma-san was bringing me water.

「I bring you water. Lyle-san, why are you crying?」

When she said that, I only noticed then that I was crying.

「I’m frustrated.」

I was feeling despondent and couldn’t bring myself to do anything. Even though there was emergency situation like this, I couldn’t do anything other than staying in the room like this.

「Frustrated? No, it can’t be helped with Lyle-san’s condition right now. After all something like this is also depending on one’s fate.」

Certainly I had a reason to stay inside the room and not fight. The current me was feeling happy because of that. I couldn’t bring out any motivation. I didn’t want to fight. I didn’t want to move.

However, even then right now my heart was pleading at me to stand up and fight with a small voice.

Was it alright for me to be here? Weren’t you going to where everyone was? It asked.

「You have worked hard enough. You are someone praiseworthy compared to me.」

「But──I have to fight.」

I was grumbling. Then voices that told me that my situation couldn’t be helped come from inside the Jewel.

『Lyle, you need to rest right now.』

『This is the only thing that you can’t do anything about with just your feeling.』

『Everyone understand what you’re going through. You can’t do anything about it.』

『This time it really can’t be helped. Lyle, just rest for now.』

『But, even if you recover now, you won’t be able to return to the fight right away.』

I covered my head with my blanket, then Shannon talked to me.

「Hey, are you fine just staying here like this?」

「──I’m not fine.」

「Then, go help Onee-sama and the others quickly.」

「I want to help but it’s impossible.」

I was making a pathetic reply. I myself understood it. There was nothing that I could do in this situation no matter how I felt about it.

Thelma-san stopped Shannon.

「Don’t say that. Nothing good will come from forcing yourself in this situation.」

「Because, this guy say that he want to fight and yet he won’t move at all. Look here, this guy is really strong you know? He is my fellow disciple, but this guy always used cowardly method to bully me.」

「Eh? Aa, haa, that’s」

What was this girl saying so suddenly. You were making Thelma-san bewildered like that. Besides, it was you who always thought up cowardly methods right? Other than using the way of fighting that Monica taught you, you even used traps to do as you pleased. And yet, why were you insulting me instead?

Shannon desperately insisted at Thelma-san.

「At this rate Onee-sama and the others will be in danger. That’s why, Lyle’s strength is needed. This guy you see, he is a disgusting guy but, he is really reliable. We will lose without this guy!」

──Couldn’t you ask for help in a more honest way?

The Sixth’s voice came from inside the Jewel.

『Shannon is really Milleia’s great grandchild huh. What a kind child.』

Shannon had the blood of Walt House flowing inside her. Her great grandmother was a woman of Walt House and the Sixth’s little sister. That was why both Miranda and Shannon were my distant relatives.

While I was listening to the Sixth’s voice, the Jewel was gradually getting warmer.

『Lyle, she has said that much. Right now you should rest to recover quick──oi, what’s going on!?』

The Jewel lit up with blue light. I slowly got up.

「──There is the voice of a girl asking me for help prickling my ears.」

I formed a smile and lifted up my face. My fatigue and listlessness just now had been blown away.

I couldn’t call myself as the ninth head of Walt House if I just stay quiet when a girl called at me for help like this.

「Now, this is the beginning of legend!」

.

──Vera yelled angrily in the bridge.

The sailors reported that the cannon shells didn’t look effective. And then there were the adventurers asking her for instruction.

「Just keep attacking! We still have ammo right?」

「I, I’ll go check.」

Everywhere was asking her for instruction, but her order wasn’t reaching everyone.

The merchant ship was continuing to resist, but it was still gradually getting dragged toward the Trident Sea Serpent. The raging waves made the cannons’ aim to miss. At this rate they would be in danger.

Vera gritted her teeth.

(Just what should I do against this kind of opponent)

This opponent was too different from anything they had faced until now. She didn’t know what was the right thing to do here. Also, she was getting uneasy, wondering if in the first place it was really possible to fight something like this.

Then the vice captain pointed at the prow.

「Ojou-sama! T-that guy!」

A young man with blue hair was walking across the deck toward the prow.

The young man should be sick and sleeping right now. And yet he shook free from his comrades who were trying to stop him and walked forward.

He was hit by the rain and wind. Even so the person headed forward on the shaking ship and raised his voice while looking at the enemy.

He spread his arms wide open and exclaimed toward the sky.

「PERRFECTTT!! How magnificent you are, that gargantuan body, that menacing aura, that sublimity!! You are truly a worthy opponent for this me!」

Vera leaned forward toward that delighted voice.

「What is that guy doing in that kind of place!? Drag him back right away. He’s going to fall into the sea there!」

While the waves were colliding on the ship and seawater frequently splashed up, Lyle was moving both his hands grandly like an actor on stage. He was laughing loudly while continuing to shout in front of the gargantuan enemy.

「You are worthy to be my first opponent to commemorate my Growth. I shall allow you to become a part of my legend! FUHAHA, FUHAHAHAHA──cough-! Cough cough! ──The seawater got into my mouth a little. The water splash here is really terrible huh.」

Vera was bewildered.

「Wha-, what, WHAT IS THAT GUY DOINGGGGGG!!」

That behavior that was completely different from the Lyle that she knew made her unintentionally yelled loudly──.