Yuu Tanaka Page 9
“Aha ha. We’re brothers, you see. We wanted to see the world and decided to be
adventurers. We took this job because it’s time we came back home.”
The brothers had all been trained by their father, and they had the same skill set.
Really, they were more like triplets than merely brothers. Hairstyle was about the only
way to tell them apart. Although, I could just Identify who we were talking with to be
extra sure.
They had scales where their eyebrows should have been and looked quite intimidating.
However, they seemed like a good crowd, despite their thuggish appearance. The
eldest was stern where his brothers were laid back. They didn’t seem to discriminate
against Black Cats, either. I had a good feeling about these guys.
“And lastly, E-Rank party Crystal Guardians.”
“H-hello.”
“We met just the other day.”
“Aha ha.”
The last three adventurers introduced themselves sheepishly. They needed no
introduction, of course. These were the rookies Fran demolished in the training room
the other day. Miguel the greatsword wielder, Riddick the stoic spearman, and Naria
the archeress.
“What, you’re already acquainted?”
“You could say that. She crushed us a few days ago on the training grounds.”
“I see… You’re the Guildmaster’s pupils, right? I have to admit, I’m jealous that you got
to spar with the Black Lightning Princess. But it’s nice that you know each other.”
I was just thankful there weren’t any skeptics and that Fran didn’t have to demonstrate
her powers.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“You made us realize, very painfully, that we were all still immature.”
“There used to be nine of us, and we got complacent because we relied on our numbers.”
“We decided to split up and train in groups of three.”
The sparring session bore fruit after all. The rookies had finally learned to fear death.
“I see. Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll do our best!”
“We hope you’ll continue to instruct us whenever possible!”
With the introductions out of the way, the rest of the adventurers left to give Fran and
Mordred room to talk. The pack would willingly follow the orders of whoever ended
up in charge.
“Now, let’s decide on who gets the final say. Personally, I don’t mind following your
orders. How about it?”
Mordred deferred to Fran’s superior strength. He placed a high premium on combat,
and he didn’t mind following a little girl’s orders as long as she was stronger than him.
But a leadership position was impossible for Fran, and by extension, for me as well.
Neither of us had the experience, nor the knowledge for it. I thanked Mordred for his
honest appraisal of Fran’s abilities, but the B-Rank would be more suited for the job.
“I can’t give orders.”
“What now then?”
“You be commander. Just treat me as your shortstop.”
That was our greatest technique: give somebody else the pain-in-the-ass job! Shortstop
was Fran’s shorthand for a role to do whatever she pleased. I just hoped Mordred
would take the bait…
“Alright, that works. But I’d appreciate it if you inform me of whatever it is you plan to
do.”
“Hm. No problem.”
“I feel weird giving orders to someone stronger than me,” said Mordred. “But you’ll
probably have to follow them in case of emergencies.”
“Of course.”
“Alright then.” Mordred sighed. He knew that Fran had just given him more
responsibility.
“I suppose that concludes your discussion,” said the first mate. “Allow us to show you
to your quarters, Fran.”
“Hm. Thanks.”
The young sailor led Fran to her room. “Hope you don’t mind. The space is a little tight.”
“No problem. All I need is a bed.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am, a bed’s not the only thing you have.”
Fran’s room was located right next to a hatch leading to the deck. I supposed that this
was the room they assigned to the stronger combatants, so they could immediately
jump in if there was an attack.
“Right this way.”
“Hm. It’s a good room.”
“Thank you kindly, ma’am,” the sailor said, believing Fran’s words to be mere politeness.
Fran was serious, of course. I quite liked the room, too. I liked it a lot, actually. It was
small, but it was a proper room. The bed came with clean sheets and a chest right next
to it. There was even a proper desk and closet. Thanks the the light-emitting manatech
decorating the ceiling, it was also classier than the cheap inns.
But nothing got my attention like the window. The porthole was perfectly round, the
very picture of a ship’s window. Light streamed through the small portal, bringing light
to the dark room. It was a simple sight, but it was enough to make me feel like I was
really on a boat. Fran didn’t hate it, either. She sat on the bed, playfully flapping her
feet about.
“I love this room,” she said in an excited whisper.
Me, too.
Fran lazed about the room until a sailor came to fetch her and led us to the captain’s
quarters.
“Black Lightning Princess here to see you, Captain.”
“Come in!”
The captain’s quarters weren’t too far away. I suppose it allowed him to get on deck
immediately. The captain had taken off his coat to reveal his rough exterior. He got up
to greet Fran.
“I heard your first meeting with the adventurers went smoothly. Did it?”
“No problems.”
“Good.” The captain breathed a sigh of relief.
Was he really that worried? I supposed the rumors circulating about Fran didn’t paint
her as the picture of patience. She was liable to grind some faces into the floor, if only
to prove a point. And Fran was among the strongest of the ship’s escorts—if she came
into conflict with Mordred, Jerome would’ve had to figure how to mediate. He would
have had to side with one or the other of them—a difficult decision for any captain.
“We’ll probably run into monsters out at sea and maybe the occasional pirate. You’re
free to do what you want until they show up. Just try not to let your guard down.”
The contract was quite lax. Really, this was the only way to satisfy all parties. Adventurers
specialized in travel and exploration, and there were very few even acquainted with
naval combat. There were even fewer experts who could immediately deal with the
sudden appearances of sea monsters. Ships’ captains didn’t ask adventurers to spot
monsters but to kill any that happened to be in the way. That meant a lot of free time,
of course, on the condition that they sprang into action at the first sign of threat. It
went without saying that hired adventurers were not allowed to drink or cause
trouble for the crew. Such actions would be penalized.
“Hm. Got it. I’ll just explore the ship, then.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything to explore, but if it suits your fancy, go for it.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Well… as long as you don’t go messing around the crew’s quarters. And don’t go
fiddling about with the propulsion manatech, either.”
“I won’t.”
“We don’t have anything to hide, but don’t make a mess of the storeroom and stay out
of any place that says Keep Out.”
“So I can walk around? What if I steal something?”
“I have faith in our contract with the Adventurer’s Guild. Besides, I don’t think anyone
of your level would risk demotion over something like that.”
In any case, we got permission to look around. I couldn’t wait.
“Anyway, do you have your Beastman Nation identification with you? I’ll check it now.”
“Here.”
“Timespace Magic… handy stuff. I wish I had it.”
“Hm. Convenient.”
“The ultimate magic for merchants…” Jerome muttered as he watched Fran’s Pocket
Dimension. While he wasn’t a merchant himself, he was the captain of a merchant
vessel. “Let’s see here…” Jerome pressed the ring on his finger to the emblem. The ring
looked like it was used to authenticate the validity of the plaque. There was a faint
pulse of mana emitting from it. “Yep, it’s the real deal alright.”
“Hm.”
“We’re departing around noon. Organize with Mordred in the meantime.”
“Sure. Where’s he staying?”
“It should be right next to your room. I could assign one of my men to take you there
if you want.”
“I’m good.”
We had no trouble finding Mordred’s room. It was two doors down from ours and it
fitted three people. Mordred occupied it with his subordinates.
The subject of our
meeting was guard order: basically, there would be a night shift
once every four days. We let him decide the best schedule for us, and didn’t raise any
objections. He also went over some basics about guard quests that Fran didn’t know
about—mostly regarding monsters killed on the trip.
All the materials and crystals acquired on the ride belonged to the client. In exchange,
adventurers received a bonus according to the number of monsters they killed. The
bonus would be distributed equally among everyone on guard duty, so as not to spoil
relations. If bonuses were determined on individual performance, people might start
slacking off. If adventurers wanted more pay, they would have to work together.
If there were still parties who insisted on slacking off, their pay would be deducted.
However, the client would also report this party to the guild and undoubtedly would
start telling all his friends. Slackers would only be making their lives more difficult.
We had no problems with the terms and conditions since Jerome had explained them
to us when he issued the contract. Unfortunate as it was, I would have to give up on
crystals for a while.
“Looking forward to working with you.”
“Hm. Same here.”
The two shook hands, and Fran returned to her room. All that was left was to wait for
the ship to leave.
Fran looked through the porthole and fluffed Jet’s fur. “Teacher.”
What’s up?
Her expression was grave. Did she sense a dangerous presence? “I’m hungry.”
Oh, of course.
I looked at the clock and saw that it was lunchtime. Fran’s stomach was always a
reliable timekeeper. A knock came at the door just as we were about to go to the mess
hall. Since it was Fran’s first day there, one of the crew members offered to take her.
When we got there, a tough-looking man was serving plates to crew members and
adventurers alike.
“Hey there! You an adventurer, too, little lady?”
“Hm.”
“Alright then! Now, I’m not sure if your tiny belly can handle this much food, but—”
“No problem. Give me more. That’s not enough.”
“Ga ha ha ha! That’s what I like to hear! Okay, but you better finish it all, or it’s the
dishes for you!”
“Hm.”
Jet leaped out of the shadows, unable to restrain himself. He whined, begging Fran not
to forget about him. “Bark bark!”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about you, Jet.”
“Arf…”
“Does that wolf want some, too?”
“Please.”
“One wolf-size portion, coming right up!”
Good thing they kept provisions for familiars. The chef recited the menu to Fran while
she waited. It was all quite extravagant—at least as good as a restaurant. This world
looked a lot like the Middle Ages, but magic allowed them to preserve food even
without refrigerators. Keeping a fresh stock of ingredients didn’t take up a lot of
resources. It was possible the scurvy didn’t exist in this world—the foods available
certainly didn’t seem suited to prevent it. Since the Algieba was a big ship, the menu
was even more luxurious.
What a great contract. It even comes with free food.
“Hm!”
“Woof!”
Delicious free food, at that. Fran and Jet greedily lapped up their pasta. The sailor-size
portion was definitely enough to satisfy her appetite.
With lunch out of the way, Fran returned to her room. She couldn’t sit still for very
long, but the room had caught her attention. As she lazed about in bed, the floor
rumbled. Fran jolted upright and looked around, ridding me of any suspicion that I
had just imagined it.
“Did you feel that?”
A little bit. I think the ship’s leaving port.
A tub this large wouldn’t be affected by small waves, but it wasn’t exempt from the
usual shakes that all ships went through on leaving port.
“I’ll go and see.”
Sure.
Fran hurried to the deck, rushed to the side of the ship, and looked down. The wharf
was already several meters away.
And we’re off.
“Hm.”
“Woof.”
The scenery moved past us. There was no cutting of tape or breaking of champagne
bottles. The Algieba was not a passenger ship, and the port saw too much traffic for
such ceremonies. No one was going to see us off.
We’re going pretty fast.
The ship was a lot quicker than I expected. All of the sails were still tied to their masts,
and there were no powerful ocean winds to help us along. Our acceleration must have
been due to the propulsion manatech. I wondered how big it would have to be to drive
a vessel this size. Did it use physical propellers? Maybe it used jets of water or wind.
The mystery of it intrigued me.
Let’s go have a look once things settle down.
“Explore!”
Sure.
Jerome approached as Fran watched the ship surge toward open waters. “Anything
caught your eye?”
“We’re moving.”
The captain understood once he saw the light in her eyes. “Of course. Oooh, of course.
You’re not used to being on boats, are ya?”
“Hm. I’ve never been on a boat this big.”
“I see.”
“This thing moves with manatech?”
“That’s right. She’s equipped with the latest in propulsion manatech. That’s not all
she’s got, either. She also has a cloaking system to avoid large monsters, and eight
manatech cannons.”
The Algieba sounded like it was armed with state-of-the-art technology. It looked like
an old medieval ship, but it was definitely far more advanced. The manatech engine
allowed the ship to move even in windless conditions, and probably came in handy for
minute course correction. I wondered why they bothered hiring adventurers with a
cloaking device on board.
Fran asked the question, and the captain explained that the cloaking field wasn’t
perfect. It only shielded the ship from large monsters, which meant that other
monsters were still fair game. It was designed primarily to avoid the creatures that
lurked in the depths of the ocean—monsters big enough to sink the ship with little
effort. But the Algieba still had ways of dealing with small to medium monsters—its
bilge generated a pulse that warded off any curious monsters that came near. That
said, it didn’t always work, and there would always be stubborn monsters that insisted
on attacking.
But all of those measures were useless against pirates. Of course, a sensible pirate
wouldn’t attack a ship in the royal armada—equipped with armaments and able to
defend itself with lethal force. Attacking such a vessel was equivalent to slapping a
nation across the face. Any pirate foolish enough to try would bring the wrath of a
kingdom down on their entire profession.
On the other hand, pirates targeting Algieba might have armadas of their own. Jerome
said it had happened more times than he cared to count. Naval combat broke out, and
the crew of the Algieba had to put its manatech cannons to good use. Each vessel
maneuvered for optimal firing position, though sometimes boarding was unavoidable.
That was when adventurers earned their keep.
“Hope you’ll give us a good show, Black Lightning Princess.”
“Hm. You’ll get one.”
“Ha ha ha! I like your tone, kid! Looks like we’re in for a safe voyage!”
***
In the day after the ship left port, we quickly took to exploring the Algieba. Having
made our rounds of the top deck, we went one level below. There wasn’t much to look
at there, since the rooms mostly consisted of the crew’s quarters, which we were not
allowed to enter. I guessed their quarters were concentrated near the top deck so they