Chapter 194

After a heated debate between the various captains, I ended up purchasing not only a ship but an entire crew as well. I used the telescope someone had handed me to squint out at the horizon. Arkina City was barely visible, blanketed under thick fog.

I hope I’ll be okay out there alone... I was a little worried about the monsters, but since I knew their leader was currently in the capital, I could only assume I’d be fine. Hoping I wasn’t making a terrible mistake, I lowered the telescope.

“Uh, e-excuse me...” The former captain of the ship, who was now acting as just a sailor, approached me. It seemed as if he’d finished reorganizing the crew. “We should leave at around three in the morning. That is when the monsters are least active and the waves are calmest.”

I nodded silently.

“Who are you, exactly... and what business do you have going to such a dangerous place?” The man asked cautiously.

I threw a sidelong glance at him and noticed the greedy gleam in his eyes. Someone who’d gotten a taste of money could prove dangerous. I considered using the time between now and casting off to hire a guard but thought better of it. There was no guarantee I would even be able to find someone suitable for the job and my magical pouch wouldn’t open unless I wanted it to.

“An island called Solael sank a few months ago,” I said.

The man’s eyes widened, and he nodded effusively. “Ah! Yes, yes! The island simply vanished overnight. Everyone was most shocked!”

“That island was previously used by the followers of the Laila as an in-between point to move from Arkina to Tratan. My master destroyed the island,” I said gravely, hoping to scare him.

“D-destroyed it?” The man and the surrounding sailors listening in flinched. It was embarrassing to even imply any of this with my own mouth, but I needed to put them in their place.

“Th-then you are going to Arkina City to...”

I nodded gravely and added, “Keep this in mind. My master despises it when anyone gets in their way.”

“O-of course! We will do our best to serve you, Sir!”

The terrified look on the man’s face told me my tactic had been most effective.

In the remaining time before we were to leave, I bought a mask to conceal my face, in addition to a robe. I rented the entire top floor of an old inn, not bothering to curb my spending. I wanted to stay at a hotel as Reynold had suggested, but there was nothing so grand in this poor village, often a victim of raids.

Night fell quickly and I made my way to the harbor at the agreed-upon time, wearing my mask and robe. A horn sounded, as the ship finally made for Arkina City.

The night sea was silent. I felt nauseous whenever the ship rocked, but it was bearable.

Money really makes everything easier. Sitting alone in the captain’s cabin, I retrieved the magical map from my bag and spread it open on the table. By sea was the only way to get to Valta, since I couldn’t use a teleportation scroll. Sadly, however, this map’s special feature was only useful within the area depicted on it.

I had used a similar map when exploring the cave with Callisto.

A red dot will appear on it. That dot would display my location. This was why I’d had no choice but to purchase an entire ship, so I could get within range.

“Tsk. Why won’t it just let me teleport straight there?”

After staring at the empty map for a while, I muttered irritably as I closed it. Hard mode was over, but I still wasn’t getting anywhere. At that moment the ship suddenly vibrated under my feet, accompanied by a loud rumbling noise.

“Ugh!” I screamed, the violent tremors tossing me to the floor.

“Wh-what!”

I was picking myself up, confused, when I heard a scream from outside.

“Oh no!”

“I-it’s a monster! A monster!”

“All hands on deck! All hands! Come about!”

I shot to my feet, gathered my things, and headed outside. A gigantic tentacle came at me from above as soon as I opened the door. I screamed, jumping back. The squirming leg suctioned itself to the floor by my feet with a wet, squelching sound. I tensed but forged on, jumping over it and rushing out onto the deck. It was pure chaos.

A gigantic squid, the like of which I’d only seen in movies, had the entire ship in its clutches. Another tentacle rose out of the water, spraying the entire ship with seawater.

“It’s a kraken! A kraken! Aaaaaugh!”

A sailor screamed as he was dragged away, a tentacle wrapped around his body.

At the same time, a notification popped up.

<SYSTEM>

Special quest!

A giant, hungry monster has appeared!

Use a magic spell to defeat the [Kraken]?

(Reward: Your life)

[Accept / Decline]

“This f*cking game...” I laughed incredulously.

The reward is my life? I stared at the words blankly, flabbergasted, when the former owner of the ship shouted,

“Captain! P-please help! Please kill the monster!”

He was clutching onto a barrel as he struggled to dodge the tentacles swinging about. Ironically, the threats I’d made just to scare him meant he was now calling upon me to save them. A shadow loomed over me. A gigantic tentacle shot toward me. The tentacle’s countless suckers writhed as if they had a life of their own.

My whole body tensed, a chill going down my spine.

<SYSTEM>

Use magic to cut off all eight of its tentacles!

(Magic spell: Fire fission, wind frasson)

~START!~

(0/8)

I do not like slimy sea creatures!

Shuddering, I screamed, “Fire fission!”

A mighty ball of flames whooshed from my hand. One of the creature’s legs was immediately enveloped in flames. The monster roared in pain, its tentacle collapsing sideways onto the deck, blackened and twisting violently.

“Yuck!”

With a revolted groan, I scurried away from the disgusting thing. I quickly checked the game display.

(0/8)

I’d attacked the creature, but the counter hadn’t gone up.

Huh? But I used the spell! I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, however.

“C-captain! Help!”

Another tentacle had wrapped around the former captain and was dragging him away.

I shouted urgently, “Wind frasson!”

Whoosh!

I’d never used this spell before. A powerful gust of wind immediately sliced through the tentacle. The man landed safely on deck.

Well, well! That’s not half bad. The monster roared in pain, and roared, shaking the ship violently. I looked up as I gripped the mast.

(0/8)

The number still hadn’t changed. I’d expected this to be easy like it was when I’d taken on the lizards. Expression twisted into a worried frown, I launched a series of attacks.

“Fire fission! Wind frasson! Fire fission! Wind frasson!”

Four of the tentacles were cut off and burned away in a matter of seconds. That was six legs I’d already destroyed.

“Nicely done, Captain!”

The surviving sailors cheered as they huddled in a corner of the deck. The monster seemed more hesitant now, and the shaking had diminished.

The cheering didn’t last for long, however.

(0/14)

The number of legs had nearly doubled.

“But why?”

There was a series of sticky, wet tearing sounds as something squirmed free from the stumps of the kraken’s tentacles. We all stared stupidly. The tentacles grew back to their full size in no time at all.

“Th-the tentacles... they grew back... there’s two instead of one...”

Each one of the severed limbs had been replaced by two fresh tentacles.

“Son of a—” I panicked when I saw this.

The spells aren’t working. I couldn’t keep using the spells as I had up till now since I couldn’t be sure how many legs I’d have to contend with later. The fourteen tentacles began to sway ominously. They froze for a moment before launching themselves at me and the sailors.

Wooosh!

“F-fire...”

I had no other choice. Clamping my eyes shut as the tentacles flew toward me, I was about to cast another spell when a familiar voice cried out.

“Lady Penelope!”

My eyes flew open. A cascade of golden hair greeted me and I found myself too shocked to breathe. Several legs landed with a splat against the deck, cut loose by his sword.

“What are you just standing there for? Use fire to sear the stumps! Hurry!” the crown prince shouted.