“What do you think-nya? This is the new ship of the Zañas family-nya.”
“It’s bigger than it used to be, and it looks like it’s going to go faster.”
Looking at the new ship, I nod as I watch the crew load the cargo. Next to me, Baja was watching in the same way while puffing his pipe. The ship that is currently docked at the harbor is what we would call carrack on Earth—in other words, it is a medium-sized sailing ship. It is easy to understand if you imagine the Black Pearl in a certain movie. There are also cannons on it, and it was built with the assumption of naval battles. Apparently, pirates often appear around that area. It seems that a herd of magical beasts can also attack the ship, and fishermen must always be prepared for battle.
“Tsu! Ugigigi! Agigigi!”
“I can’t do it anymore! I can no longer stand this!”
Liberto and Margaret carry luggage along with the crew. The two of them are sweating while holding the crate in a desperate manner. However, their progress was slow, and by the time the crew was able to make two round trips, they just finally brought the crate they are holding to the desired location.
“I just can’t understand! Why do we have to be used so badly!?”
“Okay, okay, calm down Margaret. Think that this is part of training……”
“Is this training!? Being ordered by those guys for convenience is training!?”
Margaret was complaining on the ship when they finished transporting the crate. Moreover, it was so loud that it can be heard by many people, including me. Margaret, who can’t contain her anger, grabs Liberto around his chest to express her irritation.
“This is all because you told us this absurd thing like becoming an apprentice! What is so amazing about Shinichi Tanaka!? Your stupidity is really amazing!”
“Hey, really, calm down Margaret. Everyone is listening.”
“You know what? Let them hear as much as they want! Most of the time you pull the team too far with your own opinions and prejudice! Who said we wanted to become a master level!? We never said a word like that, did we?! It’s all you! It’s all good as long we can indulge in luxury and have a good man to attend to us! It’s just you, you, you!”
“Abue, Bubue, Fugue!”
Enraged, Margaret punches Liberto’s dovetail repeatedly. Baja was laughing as he watched.
“They are lively guys-nya. They are going to live a long life-nya.”
“I suppose so. Alright, it’s time for me to go and help too.”
Just as I stood up, Tina came running up to me with a crate in her hand.
“Master! Where should I take this!?”
“It’s a cannonball, so keep it near the cannon. The sailors will put it in the storage room later.”
“I got it! Get out of the way! Tina-sama is on the way!”
With a light footstep that seemed to have no sound, she headed towards the ship. Dominique and Leila don’t seem to feel much weight either, they are quietly helping load the luggage.
It is only on the third day of training but the difference between the five of them began to appear. As I can see, Liberto and Margaret are not much different from the first day. As for Dominique and Leila, they are already overcoming the weight of the equipment. However, not only did Tina overcome it, but she is also now stronger than when she wasn’t wearing it. Well, this is as expected. The day after she put on the equipment, she was moving around normally after all. She even asked me and Pero to be her wrestling partner. It’s one thing to dismiss it like this, but I guess you could say it is all about qualification and talent.
By the way, the five of them are High Human. When it comes to special-class and master-class adventurers, there are quite a few who have evolved to the next level. As expected, it seems that those who are going to evolve for the second time can be counted on one hand.
“Father, these cannonballs should be placed near the cannon, right?”
“Yes. You can ask Tina for the exact location.”
Pero carried two crates full of cannonballs on each shoulder. Freya, who is right behind him, is carrying the same number with her four arms, and the two of them climbed up to the deck without any danger.
It’s about time for Erna to arrive, but I wonder why if she is still taking time to leave.
“I’m sorry, I’m late because I was dealing with the kids.”
Erna came to the port with Liz on her back. Beside her is Lena, accompanied by her mother and younger brothers and sisters. I looked into Liz’s face to see her state.
“It looks like it’s not over yet. It can’t be helped, just carry her to the cabin.”
“Okay. See you guys.”
She waves to Lena’s younger siblings. They responded with a smile, “See you soon, Elf-oneechan!”
During the few days she stayed at the Zañas house, Erna was completely accepted by the children. Just like in Mana, she is well liked by children. She herself, said that she likes children. Being friendly is one of her forte.
As for Liz, she started to evolve early this morning. The predicted outcome of the evolution is Novania, a race of primitive humans or just like Freya’s. But considering what had happened so far, it will not necessarily be the case. It is quite possible that she will evolve into something else as well. For the time being, she chose Novania after discussing it with me, but Liz looked a little dissatisfied. When I asked her why she was grumpy, she said, “Four arms is already Freya’s characteristics”. Anyways, to sum it up, Liz is currently evolving.
“Loading complete! Master, the vice-captain said we could go anytime!”
“Hn? Is that so? I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”
“It’s not a problem at all. But I want you to train us without holding back during the voyage.”
Although Tina has an innocent personality, her attitude towards receiving instructions was the best of the five to be taught. Maybe she has been trained by someone in the past. She bows, saying “Osu!” and runs off to the ship. She’s energetic and pleasant to watch too.
“Alright, we’re going to set sail now-nya. Let’s all get on board-nya.”
After finishing his cigarette, Baja lifted his heavy hips to signal the time of departure. As we boarded the ship, the sails were unfurled, and the ship slowly began to move away from the harbor.
Lena, who is on deck, waved to the young children of the Zañas family.
“We’re going-nya! Look forward to souvenirs-nya!”
“Wait a minute, why are you here?”
“Shinichi, what are you talking about-nya? I decided to go with you guys-nya.”
“Eh?”
“nya?”
Lena tilted her head, and I also felt confused. I wonder if I had done such a conversation with her. Well, I don’t have a problem with her coming with us. Since Baja gave permission, it would be rather convenient. In this case, there’s no reason for me to say no. The captain is Lena’s father after all.
The ship continues to accelerate to the far horizon with the tailwind. We are getting further and further away from Sarasvati, and before I knew it, it was out of sight.
“Please give me a break! Ugue!?”
“No way! It’s too naive of you to ask for forgiveness at this level! You think that mages can only do things form long distance!? Unfortunately, you don’t have enough power to beat me! Ora, ora, oraa!”
Liberto and Margaret were still fighting. It’s one-sided though. Maybe it’s a usual occurrence as the other three pretended not to see it. Still, I have to change my perception of Margaret. It doesn’t matter what equipment it is, she can move it steadily. At this rate, it might be okay to move on to the next step.
“Your apprentices are amazing-nya. I wanna try fighting them-nya.”
“Maybe it’s best not to make that mage girl too angry.”
“That’s right-nya. It’s really absurd that even your apprentices are weird-nya.”
“What do you mean?”
“Put your hand on your chest and think about it-nya.”
Lena walked to the cabin leaving such meaningful words behind.
I put my hand on my chest as I was told, but I couldn’t think of anything….
◇◇◇
A week has passed since we left the port of Sarasvati. The ship continues to move due east, passing through some islands. The islands are mainly inhabited by beastmen, but surprisingly, I also saw glimpses of the other five races.
According to Baja, there was once a time when the humans ruled the world. It was called the Age of Exploration. The six races all ventured into the open sea, scrambling to secure land and resources. However, that too came to an end. The world war has begun. It was said that the battle spread across the continent, and many people fled to the islands by boat to escape the war. As a result, the great war was won by a coalition of five races, and the people who had taken refuge on the island returned to the continent.
However, there are some who did not return. They decided to abandon their homeland and settle on the islands they were in. The people who live on those islands today are the descendants of such people. The inhabitants of all those islands welcomed us with open arms. Although they are now natives, they are compatriots who lived on the same continent and in the same kingdom after all. For them, it must have felt like a distant relative had come to visit. We also actively shared some of our cargo with the inhabitants, including sharing information about the continent.
The main reason why I went to the island was to gather information. I was hoping that they would know something about the Forbidden Island. As a result, there were some gains.
First of all, there is an area of the sea far to the east that should not be approached. Next is that if we encounter a sea dweller, we are told to never attack them. In addition, it was said that there are monsters that cannot be defeated by humans that lurk in the open sea. There were several other pieces of information as well, but I thought that these three were the most important ones.
Currently, the ship had completed a quarter of its planned course.
“…M-master, please give me a break. I’m really going to die!”
“Not yet, you still have a long way to go. If you keep faltering like this, the name of Sword of Glory will be ruined.”
“That absolutely can’t happen! I’m swimming a few kilometers in armor though!?”
Liberto, with a rope tied around his belly, was chasing the ship hard while doing butterfly strokes. I am holding the end of the rope as I fly directly above him. As part of his training, I made him swim in full armor with a goal of 10 kilometers. It’s quite a hard task, but unlike on earth, the people of this world are blessed in many ways. If he doesn’t work hard, he may not even be able to train. In fact, being a high human, he can easily do 10,000 push-ups. Their equipment is no longer even a load.
“I can’t do it anymore! I’ve been seeing mom’s face flashing in my head for a while now!”
“You can stop. You just made ten kilometers.”
“Yes! Hurry up -uh, hurry up please. Please pull me up! Please!”
I pulled up the rope and Liberto, dripped in seawater, is lowered onto the deck of the ship. There, three more are also lying in the same state. Margaret, in particular, was knocked out, her eyes were unfocused with drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.
“Alright, today’s training ends here, you can do as you like.”
Even if I said so, the four of them remained collapsed and did not move from their position. Then Tina comes over, munching on a bread.
“Master, are we done with our training?”
“For this day, yes. Did you steal bread from the pantry again?”
“Why do I feel so hungry after training? Ahaha”
As usual, Tina is the only one who is tough. The other four probably don’t have the energy to eat.
“But bread alone is not enough, so I’ll have to ask Liz-san’s help as usual.”
“Did you call?”
Liz appears out of nowhere after hearing Tina’s voice. Now she has a stealth that I myself, cannot detect.
Her appearing like this so suddenly is really bad for the heart.
“Liz-san, I’m going to ask you for a big one today too.”
“Understood. I’m going to pitch in and help my pretty apprentice.”
Darkness is born around Liz, and it grows like smoke, expanding upwards and upwards. When one large round mass forms above the ship, countless tentacles-like darkness extended from the mass and stretched into the sea. The tentacles then quickly caught the creatures in the sea and threw it onto the deck.
In no time at all, several large fish were caught.
“As expected, Liz-san’s dark cloud is amazing!”
“You can get it if you evolve into a Dark Human. Or, if you become a Darkness Dimensioner, you can use it as much as you want.”
Liz has evolved into a new and powerful race. I secretly peek at her status with my analysis skills.
| 【Analysis Result: Liz Schmidt: The third daughter of the Schmidt family. Not long ago, she was suffering from seasickness, but recently, she have become accustomed to it and is already enjoying the boat trip. She’s a little happy to be relied on by Tina. Rarity: SS, Overall Ability: SS】 |
| 【Status】 Name: Liz Schmidt Age: 15 years old Race: Darkness Dimensioner Occupation: Adventurer Magic Attributes: Water, Darkness, Dark Magic: Aqua Ball, Aqua Arrow, Aqua Wall, Aqua Cure, Shadow, Desire Ball Skills: Telepathy, Shinobi’s Vessel Special: Fist King Technique Advanced: Sword King Technique, Eyesight Enhancement Intermediate: Danger Prediction Beginner: Super Ninjutsu, Decapitation, Physical Enhancement Z, Awakening, Disguise Evolution: Conditions are not met < Evolution Requirement: Super Ninjutsu (Special Grade), Sword Emperor Technique (Special Grade), Awakening (Special Grade), Impersonation (Special Grade) > |
Ninjutsu has evolved into Super Ninjutsu, and a new skill called Decapitation has been added. In addition, with the added new skill, Disguise, she has grown into a shinobi that is even more promising.
As for the dark cloud, it is incomparably bigger than before. At its condensed size, it is about the size of the ship we are currently on, and when it is enlarged, it can fit about 10 ships. Thanks to this, we now move the entire ship in the dark cloud on windless days. Liz doesn’t like it though as she won’t be able to take a nap.
Glancing sideways at Tina, who was devouring the fish, I stared beyond the horizon.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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