CH 169

Chapter 169 – Ride & Raid

“It’s cold!”

It was cold on land, so I knew it was cold on the sea, and of course, I understood that I would get wet.

I was still naive. I didn’t realize how tough it is to sail a 9-meter class boat on the sea.

Today, the waves were relatively calm, and the wind was light. But that is with the note “for this time of year and this area.” From my point of view, the wind is strong, and the ocean is very wavy. Sailing against the waves, you will get splashed. And with a lot of force.

Warm clothes alone would not do me any good. I put on a waterproof jacket for winter fishing, which I borrowed from Kayson-san, over my winter jacket, and see if I can survive.

But that was only the torso. Even though I was wearing a woolen hat, my head and face felt like they were going to freeze. I can’t feel my ears at all. My fingertips and toes are also in trouble. I feel seasick, nauseous, and dizzy.

More than that, I need to pee so badly.

“Hey, are you okay, Takifu?”

I nodded silently. If I open my mouth, I’m going to throw up.

“You want to come back?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You never know when you’re going to get another chance like this.”

Louis and Tig kicked out Calmon’s proposal, which I would have loved to have accepted. They are still in the same winter clothes they wore when they came here. Does the muscle-brain not feel the cold?

“We’re only three miles away. We will be there soon.”

Myrril-san, the brains behind the muscle-brain group, laughed fearlessly.

She was wearing a waterproof jacket for beach work that she had borrowed from Tryn-san, Calmon’s mother, but it was too big and made her look like a teru teru bozu. It’s cute, but right now, I don’t have the leeway to appreciate it.

As a result of careful selection due to the limited number of passengers, McCain, Colon, and Eino are staying at home. I noticed that all three of them seemed somewhat relieved, but I soon learned why.

“Are those pirates at the fort now?”

“If they attacked a cargo ship right away, they must be in the middle of returning to the fort and looting supplies.”

“Or they’re on the defensive, wary of being recaptured. We’ll find out soon enough.”

Louis and Tig looked happy. Well, so was Myrril.

I don’t know how fast the boat was going, but after what seemed like an eternity to me, a torturous time, they could see the shadow of an island between the waves. Or so it seems.

As usual, I couldn’t see a thing. I wondered how good their eyesight was.

“That’s it. It is the slightly elevated island on the left. You can see the wooden structure that looks like a castle wall and a ship… What can I call it? The end of a pole with a cloth hanging from it is visible.”

“Sail yard. Is it a stolen cargo ship? Or is it a ship owned by pirates?”

I don’t know; I’ve never seen either of them. It’s a pretty big ship.

“How far is it, Mir?”

“A little less than two miles, I think.”

“We’re not even halfway there yet!”

Calmon laughed at my exasperation.

“That’s right, Takifu. The speed of a sailboat is not much different from that of a horse-drawn sleigh unless there is a strong tailwind. Besides, we’re not going in a straight line.”

“Because of the wind?”

“That’s one thing, but if we go straight ahead, we’ll be spotted without a doubt. If we are caught at sea, we will be tortured to death in such a small boat.”

I can guarantee you that won’t happen, but if they find us, they might think that a recapture party has arrived and might harm the hostages. They are probably strangers to us, but we would like to avoid a situation where they die because of us, if possible.

“Kayson-san. Just a little more straight ahead, please.”

“Hey, Takifu?”

“I know. Just as far as I can see the island.”

I can’t do it anymore. I’d rather jump into the ocean if I have to do this for twice as long.

My fingers, ears, and bladder are at their limits. I thought about urinating on the boat’s edge, but with the bumps and shakes, I’m sure I’ll fall overboard. I’m afraid I’ll get seasick and throw up if I look down before I urinate.

“Mir.”

“I’ll be fine anytime. Louis and Tig too… Hmm? Wait a minute, Takifu. Are you sure you want to keep going?”

Yes, I’m sure. I forgot.

I didn’t properly inform the “Battlecry” of my teleportation ability. Since I intentionally only showed them extremely short-range teleportation, they might think it’s some kind of mobility technique or something. Maybe, in many ways, it’s too late.

“Louis and Tig, and Calmon and… Kayson-san, too. I have a little secret I’d like you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone, okay?”

“What, so suddenly? You’re freaking me out.”

“Did you leak?”

“No. Just shut up and listen!”

“Yes, Takifu-san? We’ll do anything you ask.”

As expected, Calmon’s father reacted calmly, unmoved and unwavering.

“I would like you to keep quiet about the ability that I am about to show you, if possible.”

“””Are there more?”””

Calmon, Louis, and Tig chime in. There’s more, yes. That’s right.

“Takifu has been trying to keep it hidden as long as he can. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t trust you. He did it to avoid getting you into unnecessary trouble.”

“””That’s the reason?””

Why are you guys so harmonious? I don’t know what “that’s the reason” is, but I know what you mean, so it’s hard to argue with you.

“That means I have it under control. Don’t worry about it; you’ll be fool enough to worry about it sooner or later. Just like me.”

“””…..”””

“So, Takifu-san. What are you going to do?”

Kayson-san, who seemed to be more sincere than Calmon, who seemed to be a sensible and hardworking person, read the atmosphere of the place.

I’m very grateful to him because I’m nearing my physical and mental limits. If I’m too slow, I’m going to let a lot of things come out from the top or the bottom, or both.

“Yes, we’ll be jumping from here to the pirate’s island.”

“””Huh?”””

“Calmon and Kayson-san, can you come after us on the boat without being seen? Hide in the shadows of the offshore islands and wait for our signal.”

“No, that’s fine, but…”

“What do you mean by jumping? What about that ‘we’ you said earlier?”

“As I said, we’ll be jumping together.”

“D-don’t be stupid! How many miles are there from here? Besides, I’m quite…”

“Weight doesn’t matter. I can’t carry a whole boat, but I can carry a horse, that’s for sure.”

“I-I’m not that heavy!”

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of caring about the muscle-brained girl’s female heart.

Somehow, something that looked like an island shadow came into view, though.

I guess we should jump now. But if I miss, we’ll be submerged in the water. If we fall into the winter sea like this, we might die. No, I’ll die.

I don’t have time to hesitate. Mainly bladder-wise.

I grab Tig and Louis by the collar. Myrril put her hands around my neck and climbed onto my back. With the soft touch, somehow, my anxiety and hesitation disappeared.

“Mir, that green one on the left, right?

“Yes, that’s where the pirate island is. Trust me, and go.”

“Teleportation.”

We will be above the assumed position, just in case. I thought it would be better than falling into the water, but this was quite thrilling. After all, we were at an altitude of several hundred meters. If I don’t find it while we’re falling, I’ll teleport us again, or we’ll be lost at sea.

“”…Gyaaaaaaaahhh!””

We started to fall, and I looked around while holding on tightly to the collars of the screaming Tig and Louis.

I found an island that appeared to be a pirate fort a few hundred meters to the left in front of me and teleported back to the side of the ramparts there.

“Gehh…”

As soon as we landed, I threw Tig and Louis out and vomited everything in my stomach, then went around behind the castle wall to empty my bladder. There I finally slumped down in relief.

“Fuehh…”

“Don’t just fuehh…! What the hell are you doing, Takifu?”

“Huh?”

Louis gives me a glare. Behind her, Tig shakes his head with a blue face.

“…A-ah, If you’re going to do something like that, just tell us first and then do it.”

“Oh, I didn’t have the time in mind and body to do that earlier. Sorry.”

“You…!”

“Shh, someone’s coming.”

At Myrril’s warning, we hid in the shadows.

Two beastmen wearing layers of rags appeared. I don’t know if they were dogs or wolves, but they looked like scrawny stray dogs. They were holding curved barbarian swords in their hands and were checking on the cove.

In front of the pirate fort was an inner bay, with a pier on which were moored five 10-meter-long rowing boats, a sailing boat nearly twice that size, and a large 20-meter class sailing boat, probably a stolen cargo ship, moored a little farther away.

The lowly pirates scurried around in front of the pier.

“It doesn’t look like an enemy attack.”

“It’s just a small boat passing offshore. You stay on watch.”

“In this cold weather?”

“Shut up; it’s the captain’s orders.”

The self-proclaimed boat captain spits out a pompous remark and turns around, only to be sunk by Louis’ stiff arm. Before he had time to react, another beastman, who seemed to be his junior, also fell unconscious.

“Louis, are you sure you don’t want to kill them?”

“Don’t worry; they’re already dead.”

“Eh?”

I don’t know if his neck was broken or not, but when I tried to store them, they were easily stored.

You shouldn’t just say, “don’t worry”!

What is this? I almost took something like this at the Adventurers’ Guild?

“What? If it doesn’t hit you, it’s not valid.”

“Will you please stop reading my mind at a time like this?”

“I’ve only ever been able to avoid one of these things, except for Takifu.”

Don’t make that face. Don’t try again. I’ll shoot you if you try again. I’ll really shoot you.

I don’t know, but I really think Louis and Yadar are the same characters. Even their tone is similar.

“Now, let’s see if the hostages are safe before we get the treasure.”

“We don’t have an obligation to help them.”

“You’re still a bit naive, Louis. They are demanding a ransom. If we help them, they will pay us.”

“I see.”

We went around the wall of the fortress, passing through the muscle-brain conversation that gloated a wicked grin.

Since there didn’t seem to be much need for long-range weapons, and since we weren’t going to be fighting armored opponents, I decided to use a MAC 10 with a silencer as my weapon of choice.

Inside the walls is a 10-meter-high hill that serves as the center of the island. Apparently, there is a hideout there.

“It’s not much of a fort, is it? It’s just a lookout tower.”

Myrril looked at the back side of the fortress wall and said with a look of dismay.

It is true that the structure resembles a wide wooden watchtower, but it does not enclose the hideout on all sides. It serves as a blindfold, but it does not prevent intruders from entering the hideout.

Perhaps the idea was that as long as they could find the enemy, they would not be defeated. After all, they can usually only be approached by boat. Easy to find.

This concept was also applied to the hideout. There was no wall between the entrance and the wooden gate, which was built into the hillside. Instead, one must cross an open plain of two hundred meters square.

There were two lookouts in front of the hill, each with about five guards. And four guards in front of the entrance gate.

“We’ll go around and take out the ones on the far right.”

“Takifu will be the five on the left. I’ll take the ones in front of the gate.”

“Wait.”

We don’t need to risk detection when we have the quiet MAC 10.

I can teleport 200 meters with my teleportation. When I explained this to them, they all looked at me strangely.

“Why are you trying to clean up everything by yourself?”

“That’s true, too, but why don’t you want them to find us?”

“Why? Because if they detect an attack, the hostages might be in danger, right?”

“No way. For pirates, it’s a money-making treasure. They may try to move them elsewhere, but they won’t kill or damage them.”

Is that so? All my efforts up to this point have been for nothing?

“Well, let’s get back on track. As soon as Louis and Tig attack, we’ll begin our attack.”

“””Oh!”””

With that voice, the two muscle brains disappeared. With a speed that made one wonder if they had used some kind of teleportation technique, they dashed into the guards on the far right and snapped the neck of the first one before being noticed. Bludgeoning the second to death, then the third…

Bang, bang, bang. UZI rang next door.

“You’re all that’s left, Takifu.”

“No way!”

In a hurry, I teleported and fired .45-caliber rounds with fully automatic fire, firing 30 rounds in less than two seconds, a tremendous rate of fire that is uneconomical in terms of ammunition consumption but lethal in terms of annihilation.

The five men fell before they even noticed me, and I stowed the bodies away with their equipment and moved on to Tig and the others.

“We’ll take care of the rest; you go on ahead.”

“”Oh.””

I send Louis and Tig toward the entrance and also store the corpses they have taken down. In front of the entrance gate, where we teleported, there are four corpses with their eyeballs shot out.

“As usual, it’s sort of “That’s true, too, but why don’t you want them to find us?”amazing… Or rather…”

No, I think it’s absolutely crazy.

It was about 250 meters from the firing point. That’s not a distance that can be shot with a handgun bullet, or at least not with an open bolt UZI for precision shooting.

It was one shot, one kill.

“That’s what the bond between Wuji and me can do, isn’t it?”

“No, that’s definitely not the point.”

Myrrill-san, taking my questioning as a trivial matter, smiles softly and beckons me to come with him.

The pirate fortress where the thugs and hostages are waiting for us.