Chapter 101
“Are you serious?”
Vale asked.
The boy pointed at the sea, but there was nothing noticeable there.
“Across from here lies the Cosmos Archipelago. We are going to take over one of the islands there.”
For now, settling down near Saint Stalia was dangerous.
A place was needed to observe the situation from a slight distance.
An island was suitable.
On an island, one could cultivate the surroundings as desired without being seen by others.
“An island... I don't think it is a bad idea, but I have some concerns...”
Vale was reluctant, but the students' reaction was different.
They were excited about something.
“If you mean the Cosmos Archipelago, could it be that place?”
Adela showed a heated response.
“The training camp created through the cooperation of the Magic Tower and the Knight Order.”
As she started to speak, Leo and Serena also reacted in turn.
High-year students of the Academy knew about the Cosmos Archipelago.
Every vacation season, applicants were accepted for a training camp held on the islands.
And the islands used at that time were the Cosmos Archipelago.
“Yes.”
“I remember applying and going there last year. I miss it. That was already a year ago.”
Adela gave a clear smile while recalling memories.
“It was fun then, right?”
She said, looking back at Serena.
[Yes]
The two were feeling the same emotion.
“If you go in thinking of those times, you will be disappointed.”
Joshua threw cold water on them.
Adela's momentum was not dampened by such words.
“I know that already~”
“Then that is a relief.”
The knight apprentices and magic apprentices gathered among themselves and talked about the island.
A special training facility even within the Academy.
That nickname alone had something that made the students' hearts flutter.
“But how do you plan to cross? Obtaining a boat is difficult, but obtaining a boat large enough to take horses is nearly impossible.”
“Rest assured. I did not say we were going without a plan.”
Joshua picked out a few from among his comrades and organized a team.
The scouting team was set as himself, Vale, Leonard, and Luna.
“The rest of you, stay hidden.”
“Ugh, I thought it was my turn this time.”
Adela spoke in a grumbling voice.
“Staying hidden is more comfortable and safer than following along.”
“But then I can’t earn points from you.”
“Protecting the group is also a skill.”
“I suppose it cannot be helped.”
She nodded her head.
Joshua walked toward the coastline with the scouting team.
“I have no combat ability, so why are you trying to take me?”
Vale expressed his doubt.
It was embarrassing to say it himself, but he was no different from a hindrance.
“I need you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Joshua answered nonchalantly and led the group somewhere.
Before long, they were blocked by a rock wall, and Leo groaned.
“What are you planning to find?”
“I am looking for a ship.”
“A ship?”
“Since we need a ship to travel back and forth between the island and the mainland.”
“Would such a thing still remain until now?”
“You will know if you follow me.”
As they walked along the rock wall, a small gap came into sight.
It was a place where the rock wall had been carved away by waves, allowing seawater to flow inside.
“Was there such a place?”
Vale spoke with a stiff face.
Even he, who had used this coastline as a playground as a child, saw such a place for the first time.
“Mages like to hide things away so they are not noticed by others.”
Joshua walked inside carefully with his comrades.
He created a bead of light in one hand.
Drip, drip!
Water droplets formed at the tip of a stalactite on the ceiling fell to the floor.
That sound, for some reason, sounded eerie.
“There is something.”
Leo drew his sword.
Something wriggled in the darkness inside the cave.
It was a zombie.
He quickly moved to the front of the rank and took a stance.
“Don't rush out.”
Joshua instructed from the side.
Leo did not have any doubts about his instructions.
With him there, he was liberated from the pressure of having to lead the unit.
Inwardly, he thought this might suit his constitution better.
“Wait, until all of them appear.”
His judgment was correct.
Zombies that had been hidden in the darkness revealed themselves one after another.
If he had rushed forward, he might have been done in by their invisible hands.
“Cooperate with Luna.”
Thud, thud!
At some point, the girl who had returned to her original form approached the side.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“...Right.”
For some reason the atmosphere felt awkward.
It now felt real that Talleon and Gavinu were not by his side.
“Kraaaah!”
A zombie rushed in.
He cut the head of the rushing creature while carrying Aura on his sword.
Luna struck the next attacking zombie with her tail and knocked it into the sea.
The zombie that fell into the sea could not climb back up and vanished as it was swept away by the rapids.
“You are quite good huh?”
“I am his familiar after all.”
“Fair enough.”
After hunting the sixth zombie, the surroundings finally grew quiet.
Only the sound of waves echoed in his ears again.
“Ugh, honestly.”
He looked at the sword.
No matter how famous a sword was, the blade was bound to weaken as it was used.
Especially since zombies often had blood and flesh stuck to them, the lifespan of the sword decreased quickly.
He looked at Joshua with a crying face.
“At this rate, I will have to throw this sword away too, right?”
“Always carry a secondary weapon. If I were you, I would have carried at least three swords.”
Gasp!
A dazed voice came out of him without his knowledge.
“Did you keep fighting zombies with that sword every time?”
“...Haha.”
Joshua shook his head greatly.
Disappointment was evident.
“6 points deducted.”
“T-Tha’s crazy!”
Without realizing it, he spat out a curse.
Now Joshua's evaluation of him became 50 points.
“If you are the leader, you could have warned me, your comrade, in advance.”
“I am not a babysitter, Leonard.”
“...Seriously. It is hard to get acknowledged by you even once huh.”
“Do you plan to give up?”
“No way! Do you think I will give up because of this.”
“Your voice is too loud.”
Leo trembled with a pale complexion.
“S-Surely, this is not a deduction too, right?”
“...I will let it slide generously this time.”
* * *
The further they went inside, the cave gradually became wider.
As the waves that splashed spray grew calm, everywhere became silent.
Following the beam of light from the bead created on his palm, they soon arrived at the edge of the wall.
“...That’s,”
Vale rubbed his eyes and approached it closely.
There was a ship there.
It was a caravel that the islanders had used to travel back and forth with the mainland.
“W-Whoa!”
Vale, who was approaching the ship, let out a scream out of nowhere.
Something caught under his foot.
It was a corpse.
The corpse seemed to have been in that spot for a long time, as it was swarming with insects.
Leo approached and rummaged through the corpse without hesitation.
He found out the identity of the corpse after looking at the cloak.
“Looks like an Academy student.”
Leo did not stop there and looked around.
“It seems people stayed here.”
His deduction was correct.
Traces of some group using this place as a hideout remained in various places.
“Could it be people who came from the island?”
“I don't know.”
“To think they did not think of seeking help even though there is a castle right in front of them when they come out of the cave.”
“Different people feel different things, and what they can do is also different.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders and approached the ship, leaving the corpse behind.
“Does this thing even run?”
The boy inspected the ship with a suspicious air.
A ship is also an item that needs maintenance, so an inspection was necessary.
“We will have to check.”
I climbed onto the deck using the ladder placed next to the railing of the ship.
The floor was damp and sticky from the remaining salt.
“I should start by cleaning.”
I checked the condition of the sails, checked the wheel, and checked if there was an anchor.
There were no abnormalities.
Now the remaining place was the space leading below the cabin.
When I opened the door leading down, stairs that seemed to have darkness melted into them followed.
I glanced at Leo, who was by my side.
“Do you like eerie places?”
“A knight should not fear any environment.”
“In that case, you take the lead.”
“Tch, you intended that from the beginning.”
Leo seemed displeased but soon let out a sigh and went down.
Every time he stepped on the stairs, the wooden planks swayed precariously.
Creak! Creak!
A grating sound was heard.
“...”
They reached the bottom safely.
Leo began to explore the surroundings while relying on the light I created.
He kicked boxes and picked up sacks to throw them.
“Are you scared?”
He turned his gaze with a flinching expression.
“What are you talking about?”
“You are smashing boxes and sacks without even knowing what is inside.”
“Haha, that is because a zombie might be hiding.”
Leo laughed awkwardly and then tripped after losing his footing.
Thud!
A fairly large sound echoed in his ears.
Then, a zombie hidden in a pile of planks rose and pounced toward Leo.
I blocked the creature from approaching with [Shield].
“What are you doing not getting up quickly?”
“I was just about to do that!”
Leo dug into the side of the [Shield] and cut the side of the zombie with his sword.
The bastard, whose waist was half cut, staggered and turned its body.
“Kraaaak!”
Leo avoided the zombie falling forward by stepping backward and gripped his sword again.
Slash!
The blade cut the neck of the zombie.
The thing that fell from the torso rolled on the floor and vanished into the darkness.
“Dammit, that will be the last one, right?”
Leo spat out words irritably and looked around.
He hovered for a long time, but no other sign of presence was felt.
“Yeah.”
When I confirmed it for him, he slumped down on the spot, seemingly relieved.
“See, I was right, was I not? I definitely thought one would be hiding.”
“Well, to me it looks like you were just lucky.”
“Let us evaluate by the result, the result.”
I gave a lukewarm reaction and continued the search.
There seemed to be no more monsters.
I did not find any other usable supplies either.
I judged that the sailors who had been on this ship had already moved elsewhere.
“...”
I turned my gaze to Vale.
He was staring blankly at something among the wreckage.
“Did you find something good?”
“Joshua, about this ship, it seems it belonged to our family.”
What he found among the wreckage was a flag.
A bear's head symbolizing the Glover family was drawn on the flag.
“Did you not know?”
“What, did you know from the beginning?”
“I did not tell you because I thought you knew.”
Vale looked at me with a panicked gaze.
“I feel like there is a reason why you brought me, who is not even helpful in battle.”
“Your intuition has improved.”
I had looked through everything to be looked at on the ship.
I climbed back onto the deck and headed to the place where the wheel was installed.
“Leo, raise the anchor and unfurl the sails.”
Leo wore a dissatisfied expression like a person who had to do a meaningless task.
“Is there any meaning in unfurling the sails in a place where not a single breath of wind blows?”
“The power of this ship is not just wind. It is designed to be able to move using mana as well.”
“Is that for real?”
“Yes, but there is a necessary procedure before that.”
I looked at Vale.
“As you guessed, this ship belongs to the Glover family. It is said they lent ships like this because the Cosmos Archipelago and the Glover family are in a partnership.”
He shook his head greatly, as if he found it absurd.
“Why is it that you know more about our family's affairs than I do?”
“That’s not the important part.”
“Knowing about my constitution too, are you some kind of god?”
“Among my comrades, I am called by the nickname Messiah.”
“Then I should join as a believer too.”
Those words from Vale did not sound like a joke.
He seemed to be truly looking up to me.
“Consult with Talleon later. That child is Believer No. 1.”
“He was a smart child who recognized the savior.”
“Let’s end the jokes here. Now, grab the wheel.”
“What happens if I grab it?”
“The ship will move.”
“Even though I am not a mage?”
“You will find out once you touch it.”
Vale grabbed the wheel with a tense expression.
Then, a sound like a ship's horn was heard, and the entire ship shook slightly.
It was the result of the magic formula placed on the entire ship recognizing him as a person of the Glover family.
“W-Wait a minute. Joshua, I think something is wrong.”
Vale showed a painful expression.
He tried to take his hands off the wheel he had grabbed, but it seemed it was not working as he intended.
There was something I kept secret from him.
This ship took physical strength as nourishment if it judged the owner's mana was insufficient.
Also, one could only take their hands off the wheel after dropping the anchor to the floor.
“Think about moving the ship forward. Then it will move naturally.”
“No, that is not the problem, I said my hands will not come off!”
“A pilot does not take their hands off the wheel.”
“I might die at this rate.”
“People don't die easily, Sir Vale.”
Regardless of Vale's pained expression, the ship moved.
“Be careful not to get caught on a reef. If the bottom is broken, we will not be able to go to the island.”
“Are you kidding me? I am not a sailor, nor a navigator, nor anything.”
“Don't be anxious and steel your heart. Your talent is blooming right now.”
“W-What does that mean?”
He had a face that suggested he had no idea what was going on.
I had not entrusted the ship to him without any basis.
Vale possessed an innate talent related to this kind of work.
[Vale Glover]
Unique Skill - Sea God
I found out the talent he possessed by using [Analyze].
Sea God was an ability more excellent than anyone else's in handling ships.
“I know you have been very mindful of others' opinions. Now the time has come for you to earn your keep.”