However (5)
"A ship is approaching!"
I spent most of each day sleeping, eating, and doing light stretches and exercise.
Two days after we set sail, pirate hunting was added to the list.
"Pirates?"
"Don't know. But any ship that just comes charging in on these waters is almost always an enemy."
A simple dichotomy. If they approach, they're enemies. If not, they're just passing ships. It was a distinction born of the fact that pirates rarely bothered to fly pirate flags.
"It's Bipurit's!"
Bipurit's pirate crews were a little easier to spot. Most of their members wore red bandanas or scarves—red cloth of some kind, at any rate.
"Do it."
And that simply meant I could just cut them down.
Shraaak!
A Chamgyeok packed with every scrap of mana I could pour into it sliced across the surface of the sea.
"You could just bisect the whole ship, yet you only chop the masts. That's some nasty hobby you've got."
The three masts that had towered over the vessel toppled over as one. As a bonus, the sails tore cleanly sideways, leaving smooth cut surfaces behind.
Along with the falling masts, the pirate in the crow's nest screamed as he plunged into the water.
"I'll split your ship in two."
"Spare us that, please."
Baramson grumbled theatrically and disappeared into the captain's cabin.
I watched him go, then turned away in much the same manner. Behind me, I left people who would dry up and die on the open ocean unless the currents luckily carried them to shore.
Thud.
My body settled onto a foothold that looked like a chair.
Nausea made the hand gripping my zweihander tremble slightly.
"Looks like we won't be seeing any pirates in these waters for a while."
One of the adventurers out on deck said as much.
It probably wasn't an exaggeration. One ship the day before yesterday, three yesterday, two more today—all reduced to drifting wrecks with their masts shattered.
This wasn't quite wiping them out to the last man, but you couldn't call it a small number either. Even when we'd gone out with the city fleet to suppress pirates, we'd only managed eight ships in three whole days.
"More than that, four of them were Bipurit's alone. I expected it ever since I heard a pirate had swallowed a whole city, but this is ridiculous."
A sailor managing the sails shrugged at his words.
"There's a reason we abandoned the port cities near Zakrati and headed all the way to Gryu Telz."
She hauled hard on the ropes as she spoke.
"Pretty much every decent harbor has gangs tied to Bipurit."
"That's why trying to stop by the Adventurers' Guild meant getting discovered, chased, and fighting for our lives every damn time."
Another sailor picked up where she left off.
He reached into a coop that sat on the deck. Through the open door he pulled out a chicken. High odds it was going to be our lunch.
"That bad?"
"Most of the pirates worth a damn have gone under Bipurit by now. The only ones still holding out are Boss Rahong, Blue Moon Watia, and Outlaw Chimawa, I figure."
"Aren't Blue Moon and the Outlaw privateers?"
"Yeah. But a lot of privateers switched sides too. Being a privateer means you hand over a cut of the plunder so they leave you alive, but if the cities aren't even functioning anymore, what's the point?"
The rope she'd been hauling locked tight into the cleat. Only then did the sailor climb down from the rail.
"So yeah, most of them swear loyalty to Bipurit before he kills them first."
"Why didn't you lot do the same?"
"You crazy? No way Bipurit would ever let us live."
The sailor stared at us like we were the ones who didn't get it, then suddenly realized.
"Ah, right. You're landlubbers. You might not know."
"Yes, we don't. So please tell us."
Dev smoothly inserted himself into the conversation. The guy never missed a chance to dig up information.
"Well, this is a bit…"
It seemed like something he wasn't sure he should just blurt out. For the first time the sailor trailed off.
"When that bastard fell, I was the one who hit him the hardest."
Baramson came back out of the captain's cabin right then. In his hand was a bottle of liquor that had been allotted as his share.
"I took a single boat and smashed him right in the back of the head."
"…Just remembering that still makes my chest tighten. Everyone tried to stop him, but he shook them all off and sneaked into the enemy stronghold alone. What kind of captain does that?"
The sailor who'd been watching the mood carefully tossed the words out, careful at first but quickly settling into a dry tone. Baramson cackled.
"Compared to fighting my way out of a storm alone, it was a piece of cake!"
"What are you talking about? You used the storm as cover to get there in the first place."
"Exactly! Dodging Bipurit's eyes was easier than crossing through a storm!"
He broke off and held out the bottle, clearly meaning for everyone to take a swig. The people nearby each accepted it in turn and drank.
"Anyway, that's why it won't work. If I went to swear loyalty, Bipurit would say 'perfect' and stick my head on a pike."
"Ah. Then there's no helping it."
I refused. Ever since an upperclassman in college had force-fed me until I threw up, I'd hated alcohol.
Of course I'd have to drink it sooner or later. Water spoiled ridiculously fast on a ship, and even I would choose booze over rotten water if forced to pick.
But that wasn't now. I'd packed my inventory with more than enough water just for that contingency.
"But… is that all?"
"Is that all?"
As if sensing something off, Dev tried to dig a little deeper. I started considering getting up. The smell of liquor was making the seasickness worse.
They say looking at open space helps with motion sickness, but just collapsing face-down on my bunk and sleeping sounded more comfortable.
"So, uh. Do a good job of it."
Right as I was about to stand, Baramson looked straight at me and spoke.
"Save my life… and my brothers' lives. I've bet everything on you."
His tone was a little vague, but the answer was already decided.
"Once I've taken the price, there is no failure."
I fled the liquor smell and shut myself in my cabin.
Lord Baramson is pushing hard, so we're heading to Zakrati first.
Send any contact my way. Figure the Archmage gentleman would know a way to reach me.
Whether you join this job or not is your call. But I don't especially recommend it.
P.S. If you're coming along, bring some troops and supplies. That way you're less likely to get knifed in the back on the road.
P.S.2. Looks like the Knight lord is going to leave without collecting his reward. Could you grab it for him instead? I can't stand the thought of him going through all that hell and getting nothing.
The Inquisitor curled up, turning over the letter the thief had left behind (or rather, the written copy of his words).
Yabad. Zakrati. She had never set foot in either place, yet the names of those regions—ones that appeared almost every time she studied the Temple's history or doctrine—made her feel trapped and helpless.
"You look like you have a great deal on your mind."
The one who approached her was the priestess who had handled several matters for her while she was unconscious and who had continued to help with so much after she woke.
"Ah, Sister."
The Inquisitor rose and greeted her. After all, the debt she owed this woman was no small thing.
"What worries could I possibly have? You've helped me with everything."
Just look at the mountain of tasks that had crashed down on her the moment she opened her eyes.
Reporting the priests' deaths to the Temple, soothing the castle lord who had nearly fainted when he belatedly heard the ship was ruined, dealing with the Magic Tower's unreasonable demand that the dragon's corpse be handed over for research because there had been casualties…
On top of that she had needed to write an incident report, ensure compensation reached the victims' families, secure the reward that rightfully belonged to the Demon Knight as the thief had requested, and request personnel to analyze how the dragon had ended up that way and what would become of the sea. All of it.
Worse, the people who actually knew the incident well had either vanished for personal reasons or were unconscious. She herself had been focused on maintaining the barrier and knew almost nothing of the situation.
If this priestess hadn't helped her, she would still be getting dragged this way and that.
"It was only what I ought to have done."
Even so the priestess modestly refused to claim credit. The Inquisitor's eyes softened a little.
"But do you truly have no worries? From where I stand, there seem to be one or two things weighing on your heart."
"That is…"
"Word has come that the Archmage will wake soon, so it cannot be about him… and since we've managed to secure a decent reward for the Demon Knight, it cannot be that either… Is it because of the companions who left ahead of us?"
"…!"
The question struck so precisely at the heart of the matter that she could not manage a single word. That was, in fact, her greatest worry.
"I've heard the story to some extent. That something is happening in Zakrati."
"…Yes."
She absently crumpled the letter in one hand. She hurriedly smoothed it out afterward, but the creases remained.
"…I want to go help them. But…"
Forty years ago there had been a massive demon summoning in the Yabad region.
Many people had been parasitized by demons then… and many more who did not even realize they were hosts had clung to the priests. Save us, help us. The demons are coming.
When the demons had already taken root inside their own bodies.
"They would never accept us."
…So many people died then, the one who taught her had said. Truly, truly many people died.
Those who could not believe their families had been parasitized by demons killed priests, the priests killed them to survive, and in the end they burned the entire land—including the civilians—until the earth turned black and the sea ran red.
"Do not blame yourself. That was not your fault, Inquisitor."
"…But."
But the blood that was shed does not disappear. Their loathing, the hatred that piled up, the rage—none of it will scatter.
"…I cannot simply stand aside like this."
Probably never.
"Inquisi—"
Crash!
"…!"
At the commotion that filled their ears, both heads turned at once. In their field of vision was an apprentice cleric gasping for breath.
"Th-the Archmage has woken—"
"He has finally woken!"
"B-but a problem has arisen."
"…! I-is there something wrong with his health—"
"Th-that's not it. The Magic Tower says they've found the reason the dragon was corrupted!"
"…!"
"But they say that corruption wasn't natural!"
The faces of the Inquisitor and the priestess went stiff.
Just when the water was about to run out completely, land came into view. The Yabad region, and the island that held Zakrati.
"Bipurit's dogs are coming from both sides!"
Naturally the ones circling the waters near the island like they were on patrol weren't much of a problem. My blade simply bisected their ship and it began to sink.
"You cut the ship this time?"
Out on the open ocean, just taking the masts was enough. They had no way to chase us and cause trouble after that. They'd have to pray to the currents instead.
But here we were near land. There was no guarantee they wouldn't take small boats and reach the shore. If that happened, the odds of them becoming a future problem were extremely high.
So I simply made sure, just in case. I couldn't gamble land-dwellers' lives on the idea of giving those bastards even a slight chance.
"What a pain."
But there was no need to explain all that in detail!
I handled the remaining ship by using Life Conversion to pull mana out of my HP. While we'd been on the ship I'd gotten a decent feel for the exchange rate between HP and mana through Life Conversion, so it only cost me a little HP.
Of course, the fact that blood came up my throat after that little loss absolutely was not my fault.
"I smell blood somewhere."
…That damn ghost of a guy!
I swallowed the blood that had risen inside without letting it show and sheathed the zweihander on the rack on my back. Life Conversion was great and all, but every time I burned HP, blood welled up from inside me.
Thanks to that I'd nearly been caught several times by Dev, who was ridiculously sensitive to the smell of blood.
Unless I was already injured, I should probably refrain from using it in front of him. This time I hadn't exactly had a choice.
"Blood smell? Isn't that just coming from the sea?"
"…Doesn't seem like it."
I don't know. I have no idea what you're talking about.
I played dumb like that and perched on an empty crate nearby.
Ignoring the humans on the sinking ships, we hurried toward Zakrati.
The actual destination of the request was somewhere else, but someone had suggested we resupply first, so Zakrati had become the first stop.
"C-Captain!"
And just as the outline of Zakrati began to take shape, the sailor on lookout in the crow's nest screamed.
A voice mixed with terror and panic stabbed through the tension wrapping the ship, and every face hardened.
"Speak!"
Baramson urgently pressed the sailor. But the next words did not come easily from the crow's nest.
"Damn it, what the hell did you see?!"
So some of the sailors clung to the bow while others started climbing the rigging toward the crow's nest. I simply forced myself to look at the city from the middle of the deck.
"A m-monster."
Perhaps the hazy image of the city had finally come into focus. The sailor in the crow's nest continued in faltering words.
"A monster is… the city…"
"…What?"
In the next instant I saw the monster smashing through the city walls.
A monster formed when a demon possesses a rag stitched together from human bones, muscle, and flesh. Tens of lives go into its birth, yet hundreds of lives are said to be required for its death.
It was a demon.