School Trip (4): 10 Minutes Before the Pirates Strike
Ten minutes before the pirates attacked, just as expected, their ship had been split in two. What kind of power could reduce a vessel to a slow, sinking wreck with a single blow?
“Heh. I didn’t quite intend for it to go this far,” Dale remarked, his voice tinged with surprise. Apparently, he hadn’t anticipated cleaving the pirate ship in half with one strike.
“Hmm. Looks like we won’t even need to step in,” he added. The others nodded in agreement, but the captain alone shook his head.
“Even if the ship sinks, it’s not over.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
All eyes turned to the captain. He gazed at the sinking pirate vessel and spoke.
“These men have spent half their lives at sea. Swimming is second nature to them, and they move through the water more freely than anyone. They’ll board this ship for certain.”
“You’re saying they can keep up with a ship’s speed?” Risa asked, clearly startled.
The captain watched the pirates swimming toward them and answered.
“Normally, it would be impossible. But this cruise ship is so large that it doesn’t move very fast. That’s why they’ll catch up.”
“Heh, then we’d best prepare at once.”
The professors began to move. At the same time—
“Hngh, so the nuisances are coming,” Lillia murmured.
“Phew. Thank goodness,” Sherry said.
“Right,” Luden agreed.
The three women smiled dangerously as they began loosening up. Watching them from behind, Ppiyak-i spoke.
Contractor, I can already see you suffering later.
“What?”
Sigh. Pretending to be dense on purpose, are we?
Ppiyak-i shook its head and tore into a chicken leg. Just as Baran was left speechless by the familiar’s words—
Clack!
The pirates had already thrown grappling hooks onto the ship. They intended to climb aboard immediately. But there was no way they could be allowed to do so.
Fwoosh!
Sherry unleashed her mana. She must have trained diligently; her control was far more refined than before.
Vwoooom!
In the next instant, a small orb floated above her head. At a glance, it looked weaker than before. Yet the mana radiating from within told a different story—it was on an entirely different level.
She’s compressed all her mana into one point.
Sherry focused even more mana into the orb, then adjusted its circuit.
Flash!
The once-red orb turned pitch black.
“Haa…”
A jet-black orb. Ever since being brainwashed by the demons, she had refined this technique. The result was far greater control and significantly increased power. Sherry looked at the pirates climbing aboard and passed judgment.
“Die.”
With those words, tiny black flames shot from the orb toward them. The pirates tried to smash the flames away with one hand while gripping the ropes. But—
“Aaaargh!”
“Gaaah!”
Contrary to expectations, the pirates couldn’t resist the flames. Seeing this, Krek bellowed.
“Anyone hit by the fire, jump into the sea right now!”
The pirates plunged into the water at his command. Yet the outcome was far from what anyone had hoped.
“Aaaah! It won’t go out!”
“What the hell?! This flame!”
“Shit!”
Even after falling into the sea, the flames showed no sign of extinguishing. Krek’s pupils trembled at the unforeseen situation. Until now, any fire could be doused by entering the water. But that method had been rendered useless.
“The flames of House Patrick won’t be put out by ordinary water.”
Sherry looked down at them with a mocking smile. Krek frowned at her expression.
“Kuh! There’s only one of them! Climb up and subdue that woman first!”
“Yes, sir!”
The pirates nodded and continued climbing. However, the higher they went, the farther away the deck seemed.
What’s going on? What just happened?
Something was wrong. They had been climbing the ropes for quite some time, yet they still hadn’t reached the ship.
“Hngh, why did you come here without thinking?”
Lillia sat with one leg crossed, wearing a seductive smile. In that instant, Krek understood—she had done something.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing much. I just tampered with your senses a little.”
“What?”
He had never encountered an ability like this before. Manipulating someone’s senses was no different from controlling their mind. The thought that a mere human could possess such power sent a chill down his spine.
“Haa…”
Krek let out a shallow sigh, trying to adapt to the situation. Though her ability was clearly beyond common sense, it apparently had limitations—not all the crew had fallen under the illusion. He himself had partially broken free.
Right. I just need to reach the top.
Clinging to a sliver of hope, Krek continued climbing the rope. Not long after—
“Haa… haa… Finally made it.”
He had reached his destination. After overcoming every obstacle, he had finally boarded the ship. Now all that remained was to deal with those who had been interfering.
Just as Krek grinned like a third-rate villain—
Shing!
Someone drew a sword and approached slowly. Turning his head, he saw a girl with golden hair and a stern expression.
“How dare you interrupt my precious time?”
In that moment, she unleashed her mana with blazing eyes. Golden mana radiated from her body. Krek swallowed dryly as he felt it.
Gulp!
What was this? Judging by her clothes, she was clearly not a professor—definitely a student. Yet the mana emanating from her was so ferocious that it didn’t feel like it belonged to any student.
“You… are you a professor pretending to be a student?”
“?”
“Your reaction says it all. Yeah, there’s no way someone like you is a student.”
She was the strongest woman he had ever encountered. There was no way such a being could be a student. Just as he tried to rationalize it—
“Why are you spouting nonsense all by yourself?”
The answer Krek least wanted to hear came from Luden’s mouth. His brow furrowed.
“You’re saying you’re not a professor?”
“Just look at what I’m wearing.”
“……”
So an ordinary student was this powerful? Now he understood why the demons had never touched Edin Academy. If the students were already this strong, just how monstrous must the professors be?
Damn it.
It was too late for regret. There was only one way to survive now—take the woman in front of him hostage. There was no other option.
“What are you doing?”
In that instant, Luden, now right in front of him, swung her sword lightly. Krek drew his own blade and barely managed to block.
Clang!
“Kuhak!”
Even blocking a single strike left him feeling as though he had suffered internal injuries.
This is supposed to be a student?
It had clearly been nothing more than a light probe. Yet each time he blocked her sword, it felt like the circuits inside his body were being damaged. He had expected her to be strong, but not to this overwhelming degree.
Then—
Whoosh!
Her sword came at him again. Krek desperately raised his blade to block. Every time he parried, fresh internal wounds accumulated. At this rate, victory was impossible. He needed to take a gamble.
“Hmm?”
Instead of defending against her thrust, Krek charged straight forward. In the next moment, the sound of flesh tearing echoed in his ears.
“Kuh…”
But it created a brief opening. If not now, he would never subdue her.
“Dieeee!”
In that split second, Krek swung his sword with a roar, putting everything into this one strike. However—
Clang!
Luden repelled the attack with her reinforced body, as if his strike wasn’t even worth dodging. Then she cleanly sliced his neck with a hand chop.
What the…
Krek looked around in disbelief. Clinging to a faint hope, he scanned his surroundings, but unfortunately, the rest of the crew was also being slaughtered. Until the very moment of his death, Krek regretted one thing—attacking without properly assessing his opponents.
Roll…
Krek’s severed head tumbled across the deck. Watching the scene from behind, Risa spoke quietly.
“Hmm, at this rate, Baran might end up chopped into several pieces.”
Indeed, that seems likely.
Ppiyak-i nodded while chewing on chicken, in full agreement.
No, this isn’t some manga—what do you mean “several pieces”?
Baran roughly understood what they meant, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. In the end, they had successfully defended the cruise ship from the pirates. As expected, it was time for a reward. And sure enough—
[Sub Quest – Cruise Defense has been completed!]
[The player has been awarded the Red Necklace and experience points.]
The reward message appeared. And it was the essential item needed for the upcoming Saintess episode.