Chapter 534 - Vice-Director and Warden
Parfait and her group proceeded through the Ghost Ship without any particular trouble. The other players seemed to be advancing safely as well; though impacts strong enough to shake the ship and the sound of explosions could be heard occasionally, there were no situations where movement was halted.
After repelling Damian, only monsters with almost no chance of defeating them appeared, and there were no new types of monsters. Without Benitsuru or Simon even having to lift a hand, Parfait and the others were briskly moving across the deck toward the stern.
As usual, the mist was thick, the ship swayed slightly with the waves, and the sound of creaking wood could be heard. Matching that sound, the clatter-clatter noise made by Skeleton-type monsters when they moved also reached their ears.
Noticing the sound, Lion released magic and defeated the monsters before even laying eyes on them. Once it was clear the monsters had fallen, Lion made a gesture as if wiping sweat from his forehead with his arm, then flashed a satisfied smile.
"Subjugation is great for stress relief, isn't it...!"
"Is work as an actor really that stressful?"
"No, no, the stress is just from not being used to my recent lifestyle. I'm truly grateful to be given so much work. Especially not having to worry about tuition anymore—that's the best part."
As Parfait and Lion were talking, Abel cut in.
"In Lion's case, it's more like he overworks himself; he moves until he hits his physical limit, so fatigue is chronically piling up. Because of that, he can't perform the way he ideally wants to, and that builds up stress. You gotta learn how to pace yourself a bit more."
"No, I feel like you're the last person I want to hear that from, Abel-san. Besides, I think I'm the one with the least practice among everyone here."
"Well, it'd be frustrating to lose to someone who just started acting recently when we've been doing it for years. Everyone's acting like it's fine, but they're working hard so they don't lose to Lion."
"Eh? Then won't I never be able to catch up to everyone...?"
"That's why they don't want to be caught. Still, the ones who can overtake them anyway are the ones who excel as actors. That aside, it seems people who are excellent are also excellent at resting. My old man and grandpa say it all the time."
Parfait listened, thinking, I see. Everyone has their own way of spending their time off, but people who know what kind of rest suits them best are efficient. For me, it's cat videos and AFO, she thought, and from that connection, her mind drifted to where Trachiyo might be training. For some reason, she could only imagine him fighting monsters.
While engaging in such idle chatter, they continued to slaughter Undead-type monsters with certainty until they found a staircase leading below deck. There was some kind of space on the deck enclosed by wooden walls, but there was no entrance anywhere. Just as she was thinking they would need to enter the ship first and then look for a staircase going up, they immediately descended the stairs.
Inside the ship, the only light came from candles hung on the walls, but it wasn't difficult to see into the distance. If anything, it was easier simply because there was no mist. If there was a drawback, it was that the passages were narrow, making it difficult to fight. The other players seemed to be on even lower levels of the ship; according to Luty's exchanges via Voice Chat, they were being attacked by a giant Shark.
Abel let out a deeply moved voice saying, "It really has to be a Shark, huh," but most people ignored him. They moved further inside to find the stairs to go up.
According to Wilnel's speculation, the space enclosed by wooden walls on the deck—though she hadn't fully measured its height or width—was where the Captain's Quarters were located. There was a possibility it was divided into several levels, but she said there was a high chance of finding it by heading up the stairs.
Parfait, who didn't know much about basic ship structure, believed her and moved forward.
Parfait felt that the strength of the appearing monsters had increased slightly, and for that very reason, she hurried ahead, thinking the destination was close.
Then, they found the stairs.
Seeing them, Wilnel peeked up the stairs and nodded.
"I believe these stairs lead into the space that was on the deck."
"Then let's go."
After climbing the fairly long staircase, a wide space opened up before them. However, there were areas partitioned off by iron bars on the left and right, and inside them appeared to be Undead-type monsters, specifically large monsters like dinosaurs.
Upon noticing Parfait and the others, the monsters slammed into the iron bars, but the bars were apparently quite sturdy, as there was no sign of them being broken at all.
"This kind of place is a staple of horror movies! In the end, they get released and the bad guy gets done in!"
Abel said excitedly. Lion nodded in agreement. Parfait also felt she had seen a movie like that, though the title didn't come to mind. Her only thought was that doing bad things really isn't good.
"So Parfait-chan's group is the first to arrive."
The moment she heard that voice, Parfait took a Stance while holding Beelzebub's sheath. However, upon seeing the opponent, her tension deflated for a moment—or rather, though she shouldn't have, her guard lowered.
"Eh? Ruth-san?"
"It's been a while, Parfait-chan. Though, since I've heard various things from Natsu-chan, it doesn't really feel like it's been that long."
The man in his late twenties offering a gentle smile was the young genius surgeon who worked at the Colony "Hospital," the disciple of Mist and Damian, and also Natsu's love interest: Ruth.
Since Damian was on this Ghost Ship, it wasn't strange for Ruth to be here. However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she didn't know what would happen if it came out that she had talked to Ruth in a place where Natsu wasn't present. Even if there was absolutely nothing shady going on, there was a high possibility that adolescence wouldn't allow it. That was the situation now. It would be troubling if it were only women, but she felt a little relieved thinking it might be okay since Abel was there, though she worried that wasn't a perfect countermeasure either.
Despite the situation being full of such problems, Ruth himself didn't seem particularly bothered and was smiling normally.
Ruth had previously given his equipment to Natsu, but he was now wearing what looked like powerful equipment, perhaps having commissioned a new set. The concept seemed to be a warden, as he wore clothes close to a military uniform. He wore deep navy blue trousers with Black Boots, a white shirt with black suspenders, and a jacket of the same navy blue as the trousers draped over his shoulders without his arms through the sleeves. Furthermore, he wore a Military Cap with a skull mark on it.
"Um, why is Ruth-san here?"
"I've retired as a Player, but I occasionally work here in the form of the Warden. That said, including Parfait-chan's group, those who have made it this far can be counted on one hand."
"In other words, we can't move forward unless we defeat Ruth-san?"
"That's right. But fighting an acquaintance is somehow embarrassing."
Even as he said that, he seemingly had no intention of letting them through, standing as if guarding the stairs behind him.
"Ah, just so you know, having Benitsuru-san or Simon-san come at me is off-limits. I can't win against that level, after all."
"Well, I guess so. It cannot be helped!"
"I have never fought you, so I was looking forward to it, but it cannot be helped, I suppose. Come to think of it, Ruth, was your Skill Composition about half production-focused?"
"You remembered. My Skill Composition hasn't changed since those days. So, I'm no match for Simon-san and the others."
"You say that. Weren't you a member of a Clan that won its way through Clan Wars with that Skill Composition? Besides, I've known people who were strong even with a pure production focus, so I cannot believe those words... but well, I shall leave this to the youth."
Having said that, Simon retreated slightly from the party along with Benitsuru.
"Now then, what shall we do? If you come at me one-on-one, I'll fight one-on-one too. However, if you come as a group, I'll release the Undead in the Jail. You're free to choose whichever you like."
His composed manner conversely heightened the sense of dread, but there was also the factor that they didn't know how strong Ruth actually was. Considering Damian's strength and the fact that Simon was wary, he certainly had the aura of someone quite powerful.
What couldn't be ignored was that half of his Skill Composition was production-focused. However, that meant at least half was a normal combat-focused Skill Composition.
"If we fight one-on-one, is there a forced exit for everyone if we lose?"
"No, there's nothing like that. Even if someone loses, it's fine as long as someone else wins. However, you can only fight once a day. Also, you won't undergo Resurrection automatically, so if you don't have a skill that can perform a revival, that person's exploration of the Ghost Ship ends here."
As Parfait nodded inwardly at Wilnel's question and Ruth's answer, Luty immediately raised her hand.
"Then I'll be the first opponent!"
Wilnel ended up in a pose where she had started to raise her hand but stopped halfway, but she sighed and yielded to Luty, saying, "Go ahead."
Parfait also felt like she wanted to try fighting him, but she thought a battle without any information might be difficult. To begin with, out of consideration for Natsu, she also felt it would be better if she could avoid fighting him.
"From the Foundation Aries, if I recall?"
"I am called Luty. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Luty said, bowing politely. Ever since she had tried her usual "test" on Simon and been unable to do anything—and furthermore had received a sharp rebuke—she seemed to have thought of something and was acting courteously.
And seeing that, Ruth also bowed politely.
"I am Ruth, a surgeon employed at the Hospital in reality. Here, I am the Undead Research Institute Vice-Director and Warden—now, let us fight without holding back."
"Just what I wanted!"
Saying that, Luty immediately drew a gun from the holster at her waist with her right hand.
"Wha—!?"
The right hand that was supposed to fire immediately was frozen along with the gun. It was the ice-type magic "Ice Lock," which hindered the opponent's actions for just a few seconds. While it was an effective magic in PvP, its activation was not by designating a target, but by designating coordinates. If the target was close, one could freeze whatever was in their line of sight, but for a distant location, coordinate designation was required in addition to the line of sight. And considering the distance between Ruth and Luty, the magic wouldn't activate unless the coordinate calculations were done first.
Ruth had done this without any apparent effort at the same time Luty drew her gun, which surprised those who understood the implications. Incidentally, the ones who didn't understand the implications were Parfait and Abel. The two of them together had no thoughts other than amazing.
A panicked Luty tried to draw the pistol at her waist with her left hand as well, but this time her left hand froze before she could even draw the gun. To Luty, who saw Ruth successively and successfully execute magic that froze spatial coordinates rather than freezing the target itself, this seemed bad, and she tried to put more distance between them.
However, this time her right foot froze, and her movement was sealed. Thinking it would be dangerous if some kind of Attack Magic was used in this state, Luty used "Magic Veil," a magic that increases resistance to magic attacks.
Luty was enveloped in a faintly glowing veil, but she looked up, prompted by Abel's shout of "Above you!" And the moment she saw it, Luty gave up on various things.
Using magic that Teleports held items to designated coordinates, he had transferred many test tubes into the air above Luty. As the test tubes fell around Luty, multiple explosions occurred, and Luty was caught in them.
When the smoke from the explosions cleared, only the fallen Luty was there. The explosions were a physical phenomenon and not magic. Her previous countermeasure had been completely meaningless, and Luty had been defeated without being able to do anything by the damage from the explosions.
"Looks like this is my win. Now, who's the next opponent? Or will you all come at once?"
He had certainly said he wouldn't hold back, but the Vice-Director and Warden who launched a merciless attack with a refreshing smile—Parfait and the others couldn't help but feel a little fear toward such a Ruth.
[Author's Note]
I apologize for mentioning another work, but the fifth chapter of "Slow Life of the Dead" has been released on TO Books' official manga site.
The protagonist participates in a battle in the arena to save the heroine. There, he fights the head of the organization—that is the fifth chapter. Please, do take a look!