Chapter 354 - Chapter 16: Sea Serpent Extermination ③
We started acting immediately from the next morning. In any case, we have to find the sea serpent. We decided to start by patrolling the area where the sea serpent appears.
Two thirty-man ships of the Primordian Navy reached the offing of the cape at dawn. The places where sea serpents have been sighted so far are east of the cape. Currently, hunters are prohibited from going out to sea. Trading vessels connecting Primordia and the continent usually do not sail at night. Because it's close. If you sail for a day, you'll mostly arrive. The problem is the ships that go north around the lighthouse we used as a base, but fortunately, no damage occurred. Ships that go straight to the Primordian Royal Capital or further north without using the ports on the southern coast of Primordia are only large vessels or military ships. Even until now, large ships like hundred-man vessels have not been targeted.
With four Primordian aerial scout units and seven bowls—Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, and Beatrix—we took off from the cape and once met up with the ships. Of course, I've cast Refresh to prevent seasickness.
The strategy was explained on board, and finally, action began. The operation name is 'Leapfrog Operation'. I happen to be the one who named it. During the explanation of the strategy on paper, the method of maritime patrol was explained with two stones showing how two ships from port to port would proceed as if crossing one port alternately. When Eleanor-sama moved the two stones representing the ships, she didn't move them as if tracing the map, but held them in her hand and moved them to the destination. Since it looked exactly like jumping over the stones that were ahead in order, I accidentally muttered that it looked like a frog, and that ended up being adopted.
Henry-sama and the others, and Edward-sama are also on the ship we are riding. In addition to the four Primordian aerial scout pairs, if you add the bowls operated by Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, and Beatrix, a maximum of seven bowls take off from the deck. Two bowls took off for aerial surveillance of the other ship that was preceding. From here, they will go around the cape and proceed along the southern coast of Primordia toward the offing of the nearest fishing village. Since it's said they can arrive in less than an hour if they ride the west wind, the ship we are on decided to depart after drifting on the ocean for about half an hour.
"Shall we go out too?"
"Yeah. Sea travel isn't good for the body."
After consulting with Beatrix, who gets seasick, we decided to invite Sianya, Miana, Beowulf, Bonnie, and Mary to depart. Beatrix makes a dish, and everyone gathers in the center. Gradually changing the shape of her hands as she operates it, it becomes a bowl. Recently, this has been the style. If you make it into a bowl shape from the beginning, people who can jump in pop are one thing, but someone like me has to lift one leg and scramble up. When in a hurry, I end up rolling in headfirst. In that respect, the method discovered during this expedition—boarding in the state of a dish and then shaping it into a bowl—is elegant. It's also convenient for jumping on in an emergency.
Having Eleanor-sama cast Camouflage and Sianya cast Magic Reflection, we flew up from the deck.
It's early morning in March. Naturally, it's cold. We cast Resist and everyone gathered around the lantern to warm their hands. To go south around the cape, the ship is taking a westward course. We ascend into the sky, cutting through the west wind to get ahead of the ship that is moving in a zigzag. The speed of the ship and the speed of the bowl are the same. Since the ship proceeds along the land, the monitoring is inevitably done by flying further out to sea than the ship. If the sea serpent is swimming in deep places, we won't know, but if it tries to attack, it should poke its face out once to scout. Also, to approach the ship, it won't be visible unless it comes close to the land. Since the opponent is large, it will probably be visible. I reckoned we wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Will it come out?" Beatrix asked.
"Hmm. It's the first day, after all. It won't be found that easily. But since it's been seen frequently until now, I think it'll be found if we patrol for a few days." Beowulf answers. If fishing boats disappear from the sea, it might attack even a thirty-man vessel. Ideally, a fishing boat would be the decoy, but it's too dangerous. We were all looking hard with Sight cast, but nothing came out. The first ship dropped anchor and moored, so we landed on the deck as is to rest, watched the second ship proceed further out to sea, and then departed.
"Somehow, my eyes are getting tired. Since there are many of us, let's take turns watching." Mary's proposal was accepted, and we decided to take turns watching in groups of three. Occasionally, fish would jump, but nothing else could be seen. Looking south, the sun reflects on the sea surface and is dazzling, so we tried to fly south of the ship as much as possible and look at the sea surface to the north.
In the end, that day ended just like that, and the first round was finished. If we go too far east, it's close to the Engrio border. It's not a place to go on a military ship. we stayed overnight in a fishing village at a certain distance from the border line. On the second day, there was a headwind. We significantly shortened the time spent moored off the fishing village and managed to arrive at the port closest to the cape by the time the sun went down. From the third day onward, conversely, we decided to lengthen the mooring time and move from east to west taking more than twice the time, patrolling in a way that completes one round in three days. And when the military ship is in the offing, it was decided that fishing is allowed as long as it's closer to the land than the military ship.
By the fourth day, it became easier to stay on the ship with Refresh cast than to patrol in a bowl. Since I had nothing to do, I decided to fish along with Edward-sama, who was dangling a fishing line.
"Will it come out?" Looking at the land, a sandy beach can be seen in a small bay. It's not that large, but a river is also flowing. Deep in the sandy beach, a settlement can just barely be seen. Four small fishing boats are floating near the beach, fishing.
It's already been an hour since we boarded the thirty-man military ship at dawn and started guarding the fishing boats. Since Refresh is cast, the seasickness is manageable. Since Resist is cast, we can also withstand the cold. Fortunately, thanks to being blessed with good weather, there's no worry about getting wet from rain.
"I can't say. It would be good if it approached like fishing where you dangle bait, but we can't exactly dangle a human." Edward-sama is attaching bait to the hook, looking relaxed. He's holding a rod instead of a spear and is sitting on a wooden box placed by the gunwale, but his sitting height is twice mine.
"Well, just fish leisurely and wait." Edward-sama said so and hauled in the line. A fish is hooked at the end of the line. When Beowulf scooped it with a net, it was a fish about the size of both hands. Once the hook is removed, he throws it onto the deck as if to say 'there you go'.
"Hey, how do you catch so many?" Beatrix is asking. Edward-sama has already caught ten fish, large and small. On our side, Beowulf, who used to do river fishing during her days in the guards, has only caught four. Beatrix and I have zero catch. Even when we think something is hooked and pull it up, the bait is just gone.
"Is this your first time fishing?"
"It's my first time. I'm the one who eats them."
"Everyone eats them, don't they?" He's laughing without any hesitation. Somehow, his atmosphere is similar to Roberts-sama.
"I've liked fishing since long ago. My uncle taught me." When the former King was healthy, the current King must have been relaxed too. Occasionally, they would sneak out of the palace together and go fishing, it seems.
"I wanted to be a fisherman when I was a child, though."
"A royal?" That's a shocking statement. Beatrix is also surprised. When I instinctively looked at Beowulf, she was desperately wrinkling her brow to keep from laughing.
"Even the first King of Sertoria was originally a hunter. What's wrong with a Primordian royal becoming a fisherman?" He's looking sullen. Indeed, it would be easier for a Crown Prince to become a fisherman than for a hunter to become a King.
"You'd definitely be opposed."
"Well, yeah. After being opposed, I was made the Crown Prince." Because he raised both hands and shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly, Beowulf, who couldn't hold it in anymore, raised her voice and laughed.
"If possible, I wanted to go into the Navy or something, but before I knew it, I'm the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom's Army." He slapped his forehead as if to say 'I'm beat', so the three of us laughed.
"Here, I've put bait on for you." Edward-sama put bait on the hook for me. Something like a centipede with short legs is the bait, and it's said to catch well. Beowulf is touching it without concern, but Beatrix and I couldn't, so he's putting the bait on for us instead.
"Just dangle the fishing line slowly and wait patiently. Even if you pull the rod in a hurry, they won't get hooked." Saying so, he took a sip of wine from his canteen.
That's when it happened. The magic circle for sending letters glowed. Eleanor-sama and the others' bowl, which was doing aerial surveillance, must have confirmed the sea serpent's approach.
"It's here!" Edward-sama threw away the fishing line and stood up. In his hand, he's holding a basket that was placed beside him. Several javelins are inside the basket. We also hurriedly stand up.
In the letter that arrived via the magic circle, the land, the sea, and the ship we are on were drawn, and the sea serpent's position and the direction it's moving were drawn with arrows. As expected, it came aiming for the rear of this ship, and moreover, between us and the fishing boats. In deep places, the sea serpent's form cannot be confirmed even from the sky. We had intentionally floated fishing boats with straw dolls on them in shallow places.
"Light!" I bring out six Fireflies. Six seals that were sunbathing on the deck until just a moment ago while eating the fish Edward-sama caught approached. They are coastal spirits wearing kigurumi. The females are looking after the herd of seals in the shallows and making jerky in the cave at the cape, but the males decided to cooperate in the sea serpent extermination. After letting each one hold a Firefly in its mouth, they jumped into the sea in order.
Next, I get on the dish Beatrix made along with Beowulf. When we gather in the center, it becomes a bowl shape as is. I cast Camouflage and Magic Reflection with scrolls to hide our forms. On the deck, four other dishes also become bowls. Edward-sama is too large, so he's in a dedicated bowl operated by a Primordian mage. Four bowls carrying archers with their forms hidden took off from the deck one after another. So that allies don't collide with each other, only the scraps of cloth attached to the tips of the rods are visible.
From the sky, the sea serpent's form is obvious. It's swimming while wriggling its body left and right. First, it'll probably be one strongest shot. It should unleash lightning toward the fishing boat. We'll aim for that. To do that, it has to poke its head out. If it unleashes it underwater, the sea serpent itself will be hit. In the four bowls following from above and behind the sea serpent, archers including Magdalena-sama and Bonnie should be drawing their bows.
The sea serpent is proceeding as is. Since its swimming speed is about the same as the bowl, it's just right for tracking. If we increase speed, we'll be able to overtake it easily.
While I'm saying that, the sea serpent increased its swimming speed. Everyone desperately keeps up. When speed is increased, the time it can be maintained becomes shorter, but this time the goal is to drive it into the shallows. It's not something that takes that much time. However, the aim of the bows might become sloppy.
Suddenly, the sea serpent's movement changed. It wriggled its long body, which had been undulating horizontally until now, as if looking back, then abruptly changed direction and headed toward the offing, the opposite direction of where it had been swimming until now.
This is bad, we're about to overshoot it.
That's when the bowls that were tracking hurriedly decelerated. The sea serpent poked its head out and unleashed lightning. Two bolts of lightning fell with a roar on the ship we had been on. Wood fragments scattered, and it burst into flames. We were caught by a feint!
The archers hurriedly fire arrows in a scattered fashion, but there's no way they'll hit. It's already submerged in the sea. The sea serpent rushed toward the unmanned ship and slammed into it from the head around the middle. The ship began to tilt, perhaps because a hole was opened where the sea serpent hit. Human figures fell into the sea in a scattered fashion. I thought the sea serpent would attack the human figures drifting in the sea... but it didn't even look at them. It just passed by while submerged in the sea. Was it found out that they were straw dolls? We had adjusted their shapes, dressed them in clothes, and even applied makeup to the faces made of wrapped cloth, but it didn't work.
It can't be helped. Second stage.
I maximize the light of the Fireflies held by the seals directly below us. Six Fireflies began to shine in the sea. The Fireflies are further out to sea than the sea serpent. They are spreading left and right as if to block the sea serpent's escape route. Originally, we planned to put them inside small bowls—or rather, orbs—made of Wind Barriers operated by Eleanor-sama or Wilson-san, but the coastal spirits volunteered. The sea serpent's attack underwater is to open its huge mouth and bite. In other words, it's a frontal attack. If they hold a Firefly in their mouths and constantly face the sea serpent, they shouldn't be attacked.
The seals are spreading in a fan shape centered on the sea serpent. Perhaps hating the light of the Light, the sea serpent changes direction to the east and west parallel to the beach, but the seals also change position while maintaining a certain distance. After going back and forth about twice, a thin water column rose right next to the sea serpent. Edward-sama has started attacking with javelins. Judging from the angle the water column rose, he seems to be in the sky between the seals and the sea serpent. He can prevent the sea serpent from rushing at the seals out of desperation. The archers also follow suit and fire arrows at the sea surface between the seals and the sea serpent in a scattered fashion.
Splosh, splosh, the javelins pierce the sea, and at the fifth or sixth one, one finally stood plunged into the sea serpent's body.
The sea serpent swung its tail up. When a splash of water rose, as if using it as a screen, it poked its head out and unleashed several bolts of lightning. To my surprise, the targets are the bowls flying in the sky. Could it be that they are visible? The sky above the bowls is being protected by Wilson-san and Harris-sama, who are riding in the medium-sized bowl operated by Eleanor-sama. The lightning repelled by Magic Reflection shot up into the sky.
Once again, the sea serpent swung its tail up and raised a splash of water. I thought it would poke its head out, but with a writhing movement, it pointed its head toward the offing. To prevent the rush toward the seals, arrows and javelins rain down one after another in front of its head. The seals also close the distance between each other and point their Fireflies at the sea serpent so as not to be broken through. At that time, I thought the sea serpent's neck glowed suspiciously, and then light like when Energy Bolt is unleashed ran across the sea surface.
"That guy unleashed lightning magic in the sea!"
But it's too naive. There's no way magic would work on spirits... or so I thought, but seals began to float up plop, plop, their bodies twitching. Seeing the sea serpent itself also going twitch, twitch, it seems it was a desperate move.
W-We've been had!
"Beatrix! Charge in!" I instinctively point to the sea surface. I don't think they're dead, but if left alone, they'll be eaten.
"Hold on tight! If you fall, you're sea serpent bait!" Beatrix makes the bowl, which had its Camouflage deactivated and appeared, dive rapidly. Beowulf is holding a javelin. We have to somehow cut in between the sea serpent and the seals. Aiming at the sea serpent's snout, I unleashed Light with full power.