School Trip (3): Blackbeard Pirates
Due to the sudden pirate attack, everyone aboard the cruise ship evacuated to the shelter. Unlike the students, the professors gathered in the conference room with grim expressions.
“Sigh. I never imagined we’d be ambushed by pirates in the middle of a school trip.”
At Dale’s complaint, the professors nodded in agreement. Pirates were normally so rare that encountering one by chance was difficult—who could have predicted meeting them like this?
The middle-aged professor Eldin turned to the ship’s captain.
“Captain, do you think they’ll simply pass us by?”
“No. It doesn’t look that way.”
The bearded captain shook his head and added, “Ordinary pirates would see a vessel like this cruise and keep moving. They’d risk being the ones sunk instead. However—”
“However?”
“Judging by the flag on that pirate ship, it appears to be the Blackbeard Pirates.”
“?!”
The professors’ eyes widened. The Blackbeard Pirate Crew was a name they had all heard at least once. Though they rarely ventured out to sea, the group was infamous for its brutality.
“Hmm. I see.”
Dale responded with a bored expression. He understood they were vicious, but that was all. Viciousness and actual strength were two different things.
“I know you are all professors from the Academy.”
The captain’s face grew serious at Dale’s nonchalant reaction. “However, this is the sea. You cannot fight the way you would on land. The ship would sink.”
“Hmm. That makes sense.”
The professors nodded in understanding. Soon the archery instructor Ilya stepped forward.
“Then mages or archers will have to take the lead this time.”
“Indeed…”
“To avoid damaging the ship, the best option is to attack from maximum range.”
“Most archers probably won’t have the range to reach that vessel,” the captain said, pointing at the distant pirate ship.
Ilya nodded. “The distance to that ship—and the barrier around it—is considerable.”
“Yes. So the initial attack should be magical—”
“There’s no need to worry.”
Dale cut into their conversation. The captain looked puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a student who will handle it.”
“?”
In that instant, every professor in the room except the captain thought of the same person. It was none other than Baran.
“I’ll summon student Baran immediately.”
With those words, Dale called for me.
I was completely taken aback by the sudden summons. In a typical pirate subjugation, mages usually stepped forward first while others set up defenses to keep the enemy from boarding. That was the standard procedure. Yet the professors had called me.
Well, I can understand that much.
What truly had me flustered was something else entirely.
“Hehehehe. I won’t forgive those bastards.”
“How dare they interfere?”
“So annoying.”
Lillia, Sherry, and Luden had followed along. I had been the only one summoned—why were they tagging along? And of course it wasn’t just the three of them. Risa and Kanya had come too, along with Shannon von Gloucester, the Gloucester family heir responsible for wind among the four major elements.
Hmm. Why does it feel like it’s been a while since I last saw her?
As I was pondering that, Dale spotted us and blinked in surprise.
“You’ve arri… Hmm?”
He clearly hadn’t expected quite so many people. “Now that I think about it, I never specified that student Baran should come alone. In any case, I’ll be direct. Student Baran, can you sense that ship over there?”
“Yes. I can sense it clearly. There’s a thick concentration of mana.”
I nodded slowly. Dale’s lips curved into a sly smile.
“Then you must also sense the barrier erected around it.”
“Correct. I can feel the mana condensing inside the vessel.”
“Would you be able to snipe it from here?”
“Hmm.”
I quietly observed the pirate ship. In the original story, the correct move would have been to focus on defense as the pirates approached. But there was no reason to follow that script now. After all, I wasn’t a swordsman like the protagonist.
At this distance, adding Ppiyak-i’s power should make it possible without using Possession.
Having organized my thoughts, I gave a slow nod.
“Yes. It should be entirely possible.”
“Then I leave it to you. If you can just break that barrier, we’ll handle the rest.”
“Understood.”
With that, I swiftly summoned my familiar.
The next instant—
Chikiiiiin!
Ppiyak-i appeared, flapping its wings. Everyone except Luden stared with wide eyes.
“Whoa. I’d heard about it, but you really contracted with a phoenix?”
“It feels incredibly warm.”
“It really does.”
The group marveled at Ppiyak-i. The professors, having sensed its power, had already gathered nearby. The most astonished among them was undoubtedly Ilya.
“I never dreamed I would witness a legendary familiar with my own eyes.”
She kept exclaiming in admiration, clearly shocked. To be fair, Ppiyak-i’s appearance was certainly impressive.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
Contractor! Chicken!
If only the little glutton weren’t so obsessed with fried chicken.
I opened my mouth, inwardly dumbfounded by its single-mindedness.
“You know the deal. Help me and I’ll give you some.”
Hmm. That’s right. So, whose head do I get to smash this time?
Instead of answering, I simply pointed at one of the pirate ships. Ppiyak-i bobbed its head up and down.
Shall I head out immediately?
“No need. Just repeat what we practiced last time.”
Hmm. That will be easier than eating porridge.
Well, for Ppiyak-i it truly wasn’t a difficult technique. I was the one who found it taxing.
I slowly breathed in the mana drifting through the air.
“Huu.”
The next moment, the ambient mana began concentrating around me. After condensing it, I shaped it—
Uuuung.
—into the form of an arrow. So far it was no different from before. But we weren’t finished.
Phoenix Authority Infusion
Ppiyak-i immediately poured its power into the arrow.
Hwaruruk!
Blue flames erupted along its length.
Good. We’re halfway there.
I circulated mana through my circuits. At the same time—
Hwaaaak!
—I reinforced my body and poured mana into the Bow of the Beginning.
Uuuuuung!
A bow formed of pure mana materialized. Naturally, that still wasn’t the end.
Hwaruruk!
Ppiyak-i once again infused the Bow of the Beginning with its authority. Flames bloomed across the mana construct. My hand should have been burning, yet thanks to the contract with Ppiyak-i, I felt no heat at all.
I nocked the flaming arrow onto the fiery string and—
Sssuuuuuk!
—drew the bowstring with all my strength.
Then, the final step.
I focused on the crystal orb maintaining the barrier inside the pirate ship. Using the ambient mana, I interfered with space itself.
Uuuung!
A tiny subspace appeared, visible only to my eyes. I released the arrow wreathed in blue sacred flames directly into it.
The crystal orb maintaining the enemy barrier has been destroyed.
***
At the same moment.
The man known as Blackbeard—Krek—was a pirate notorious throughout the world for his cruelty. While most pirates were vicious, Krek was said to surpass them all.
To him, the massive ship before his eyes was little more than a treasure chest. A luxurious vessel like that would surely be packed with valuables.
If I seize that and make it mine, it wouldn’t be a bad haul.
He stroked his mustache in satisfaction. Then one of his sailors spoke up anxiously.
“Captain, I hear there are Edin Academy professors aboard. Will that be all right? Even the demon race is said to avoid tangling with the Academy.”
Krek snorted. “Ha! They’re just landlubbers who only know how to fight on solid ground. Have they ever even fought at sea?”
The other sailors nodded in agreement. They had faced strong opponents before, but those so-called powerhouses all shared one weakness: they had no experience fighting on water. On land they might lose, but at sea they believed themselves unmatched.
Therefore, whether the opponents were Edin Academy professors or anyone else, they felt little concern. They were convinced that on the ocean, no one could defeat them.
Just as everyone stood confident—
Puuuuurung!
—the ship suddenly shuddered violently.
What? What just happened?
The moment Krek frowned in confusion, a sailor shouted, “Captain! The crystal orb maintaining the barrier just exploded!”
Krek’s mind went blank for a second.
“What the…”
There had been no sign of any attack from the cruise ship. Sigh. No time to stand around.
Though the unexpected event had momentarily frozen his thoughts, he needed to act immediately. The interior of their ship had exploded. At this rate, they would sink before they even reached the cruise.
“Tsk. Can’t be helped. Prepare to board that ship at once!”
Krek led his men toward the cruise. Under normal circumstances it would be impossible for humans to swim faster than a ship, but these were pirates who had spent half their lives at sea. Not only were they specialized swimmers, they also used body reinforcement, allowing them to close the distance in moments.
Once they reached the cruise, the pirates hurled grappling hooks and began climbing aboard. At that exact moment—
“You’re finally here.”
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
“Right?”
Luden, Lillia, and Sherry wore chilling smiles, as if they had been waiting for this very instant. Seeing their expressions, Krek remembered his sailor’s earlier words.
Captain, there are Edin Academy professors aboard. Will that be all right? Even the demon race is said to avoid tangling with the Academy.
In a single glance at their eyes, he finally understood why even the demon race refused to touch Edin Academy.