Chapter 114 - The Battle on the Ship and the Immortal Man
The roar of cannon fire echoed across the water. A projectile soared from the enemy galley, aimed straight for our sailing ship. It struck the magic barrier Marmie and the others had deployed, veered off course as if avoiding the vessel, and crashed into the river, sending up a violent spray of water. At the same time, the enemy crossbowmen began their assault, but their bolts, too, were deflected by the magical shield.
A magic barrier was powerful enough to turn the tide of battle. But I had to wonder, how long could the two of them maintain a shield of this magnitude? Our sailing ship was linked to three galleys—one on each side and one at the stern, all still connected from the battle. This crippled our speed, leaving us to drift downstream. It would take time to reach the bank, and I had a sinking feeling the enemy would close in on us before then.
The galley we were on was taking on more and more water. It was listing heavily to starboard, and the deck would soon be submerged. Still, it was a wooden vessel. Wood floats, right? Was there a real chance it could sink completely? A rope connected the bow of this ship to the stern of the sailing ship. I'd asked Fam and the others to cut it, but they showed no signs of complying. Was Takemura right? Were the sailors incapable of making the choice to abandon me, the supposed messenger of their goddess? Or were they just being optimistic, assuming I could simply summon the goddess again to resolve the situation?
I just needed them to make a decision. Cutting this ship loose would surely increase the sailing ship's speed, even if only slightly. We could swim to the shore.
How much time had passed since the battle began? The sun was already starting its descent to the west. There was no sign of Jack or our other allies. Were we used as bait, or were we simply abandoned? Either way, we couldn't expect any help from them. It felt like everything was spiraling downward. My anxiety grew.
For now, I had to deal with the enemy right in front of me. Mizuki and I faced Takemura, with the flames between us. The fire had spread to the mast and sail, and embers danced across the deck. As a precaution, I used water magic to dampen my clothes and Mizuki's. The waterlogged fabric slowed our movements, and combined with the tilting ship, I couldn't move as I wanted. My footing felt unsteady.
"So you can use magic. Turns out, so can I."
As Takemura spoke, several fireballs materialized above his head and shot toward us. I tried to dodge, but one of them struck my leg.
"Damn, that hurts!"
I quickly doused the flame with water magic, but a stinging pain remained. Just as Takemura was forming another set of fireballs, Mizuki lunged at him. Her attack was parried by his large cleaver, but she pressed on, striking again and again. Takemura met her assault, and a fierce clash of steel ensued. The cleaver grazed Mizuki's cheek. She managed to cut him in the exchange, but the wound was shallow and healed in the blink of an eye. The metallic ring of their blades colliding echoed repeatedly. I circled around to Mizuki's back, positioning myself in Takemura's blind spot.
"Mizuki!"
The instant I shouted, Mizuki sidestepped. I drove my sword forward, aiming for Takemura's chest. But my footing was too weak, and the tip only sank slightly into his flesh before my blade was knocked aside by his cleaver. In that moment, Mizuki slashed at his neck. Blood sprayed from the wound, but it sealed itself shut just as quickly. The cut I'd made in his chest had vanished as well. Perhaps realizing he was no match for the two of us in a sword fight, Takemura didn't press the attack. Instead, he retreated, circling around us to create distance. I couldn't help but click my tongue in frustration. At this rate, we'd get nowhere.
"If only we had a wooden stake…"
"They say it works on vampires, but…" Mizuki replied skeptically to my mutter.
"No, I mean if we left it stuck in him, surely he couldn't regenerate around it."
I wanted to slam some earth magic into his wound and lodge it deep inside.
"I see. In that case, what if we just cut him to pieces?"
Mizuki clearly no longer saw Takemura as human. I felt the same. The thought of cutting him down now brought me no hesitation.
"Right. Let's give it a try."
I nodded in agreement with her idea.
A cannon boomed again. Just like before, the shot went wide. Takemura was conjuring fireballs once more.
"I'll be the decoy."
I nodded at her glance. Mizuki charged toward Takemura. Fireballs flew at her, but she deftly blocked them with her shield while slashing at him with her sword. Takemura retreated, dodging her strikes and launching more fireballs. Mizuki deflected those with her shield as well and then closed the distance in a flash. The clash of swords began anew. Even one-on-one, Mizuki seemed to have the upper hand. She skillfully parried Takemura's powerful blows with her sword and shield, then unleashed her own flurry of attacks. Her superior speed overwhelmed him, robbing him of any chance to counter. While trading blows, Mizuki steadily forced him back toward the ship's rail. Her footwork was flawless, showing no sign that the unstable ground bothered her at all.
"Damn you, woman!"
Takemura's face twisted in frustration. Ignoring the damage he might take, he raised his cleaver high overhead for a devastating strike.
"Mash!"
At Mizuki's cry, I lunged forward, slashing at his arm. The tip of my sword caught his right arm just as he was about to bring the weapon down. The cleaver and the arm separated from his body and tumbled into the water below.
"Gah!"
Takemura frantically stared at the water where his arm had fallen, but the limb, still clutching the cleaver, was already sinking into the depths. He dropped to his knees, clutching the stump of his missing arm. It seemed a severed limb didn't regenerate like a lizard's tail. Mizuki and I exchanged a look and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Next, your legs," Mizuki said, her tone somewhere between serious and joking.
"Nah, that's too much trouble and we're short on time. Let's just take his head. We can even drive a wooden stake into the stump to make sure it doesn't grow back."
"That's disgusting. But if he can regenerate, I guess we have no choice."
Mizuki and I pointed our swords at Takemura.
"H-Hey! P-Please, spare me!" he cried out.
"We'll spare you if you get your pirate friends to back off. Can you do that?"
"Y-Yeah, I got it! If you let me go, I'll go back to the galley and tell them to withdraw!"
Mizuki and I looked at each other. Even if he did that, it was unlikely the pirates would just stop their pursuit. But at the same time, I couldn't bring myself to cut down a man who was surrendering. Mizuki seemed to feel the same way; she wore a troubled expression. Maybe I am too soft. And Mizuki is, too. But that's a part of her I like. If Fam were here, she'd probably be furious.
I couldn't even begin to understand what drove Takemura and the other transferred people to attack others. I could stretch my imagination and find some twisted logic in Emma's case, but that was it. If, for instance, someone from Levante were killed, would I slaughter completely innocent people to bring them back? Right now, I don't want to become that kind of person.
"The god who summoned you told you he'd grant your wish if you killed the people summoned by the Five Goddesses, right?"
"Uh… yeah. That's right."
Takemura nodded.
"Did he tell you anything else?"
"Not really…" Is he telling the truth, or just keeping quiet?
"Is your wish to return to our original world?"
Takemura shook his head.
"Does it involve the lives of anyone other than the transferred people?"
Again, he shook his head.
"Then there's no point in granting your wish. The time limit for a transferred person in this world is ten years."
His eyes widened at my words.
"What do you mean?"
"You know that people are transferred here periodically, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"You were transferred on this date, this year, correct?"
I pulled out my phone, brought up the calendar from the day I was transferred, and showed it to him. Takemura looked at the date and nodded.
"It's not just our group. It's the same for all the others from the past. They were all transferred on the same date. Don't you think that's strange? This world's culture should be much more similar to ours by now."
"…"
Takemura fell silent, deep in thought.
"There's no proof that any transferred person has ever lived beyond ten years. The goddess who summoned me didn't deny it either. That's why we can only make small changes to this world, but we can never leave a significant mark."
"N-No way…"
His voice trembled.
"If you think I'm lying, go and investigate for yourself. You'll find out the truth soon enough. After that, I have a request. I'm looking for a way to live a normal life, one that lasts longer than ten years. I want you to help me."
"…"
"And one more thing. Stop the piracy. Next time, I will kill you. That's all from us. You're free to go wherever you like. I'm sorry about your arm."
After hearing my words, Takemura stood up.
"Are you… really sure about this?"
I glanced at Mizuki. She nodded, so I did too.
"About the Demon Lord… did you know the Demon Kingdom is ruled by a triumvirate?" Takemura said.
"I do."
Maira had told me before. Apparently, after the Demon Lord was defeated a hundred years ago, they never crowned a new king and instead have been running the country with three powerful figures.
"They're trying to resurrect him. To do that, they believe they need the blood of a transferred person summoned by Racshell—the same goddess as the hero who defeated him."
"…"
I couldn't even imagine how my blood or Mizuki's could bring back the Demon Lord. In the first place, something revived by human blood couldn't be considered human. It seemed the Demon Lord was something far from it.
"I'll think about helping you."
Takemura turned his back to me and raised his hand to the sky.
"Special Skill: Fantasy Balloon!"
A multitude of balloons appeared in the air above his outstretched hand. They were connected by strings to his body. He began to float, gently at first, and then, by some strange principle, flew toward the galley upwind.
"That balloon ma…" Mizuki started to say, then clamped her mouth shut.
"Hey, you know about that old incident? You've got to be lying about your age."
I teased, poking her in the chest. I felt the soft sensation of her flesh through the fabric.
"Wh-What are you doing?! My dad just told me about it, that's all!"
She crossed her arms to cover her chest. As we watched Takemura's flight, his balloons touched the magic barrier Marmie and the others had created. They burst, and having lost his buoyancy, he plunged into the river. He might just drown. Mizuki showed no sign of wanting to go help him. As we watched, he summoned more balloons and took to the air again. This time, he charted a course around the magic barrier. However, he was spotted by our crew, who let loose a volley of crossbow bolts at him. It seemed his immortality didn't work while he was summoning balloons, but I wondered if he'd be okay.
"Well, even if he dies, it's his own fault."
"…I guess he brought it on himself," Mizuki replied, nodding at my murmur.
Thank you for reading. To those who have liked, bookmarked, or rated this work, your support is a great encouragement. Thank you very much for pointing out typos.