Chapter 285 (1/2)

Chapter 285

–Aegir POV–

The pirate s.h.i.+p – apparently named Surov – is zooming along the water at an astounding speed with its sail pulled taut .

As the scenery whizzes before my eyes, I think to myself this could not be considered a peaceful voyage .

「Where is this place?」

「The great mountain range is close by on the left and you can see the forest area on the right, so I would think this is near the border…… muu . 」

I hug the head of Celia who is beside me . It’s fine if you don’t think so seriously .

In any case, I can’t do anything until I get there .

When I ma.s.sage Celia’s head and cheeks to turn Celia into a soft mess, another voice speaks up from behind me .

「We just crossed the border . We’ll probably start seeing the remote villages on the right after going a little further . 」

Arbakin similarly watches the moving scenery and comments .

After one final pull on Celia’s cheeks, I bow .

Kenneth repeatedly, yet politely, told me not to be rude to him .

Arbakin waves his hand and smiles .

「Please don’t fuss about that . It would be different in an official setting, but the only n.o.bles here are me and you . This whole voyage would be too stiff if you worry about that all the time . 」

If I don’t give at least some attention to this, you’ll see something far more terrible than what you imagine .

Nonna told me to absolutely refrain from acting like I usually do even if I’m told formal behavior is not necessary .

「Still, this is a surprise . For you to take a mere two people with you…… I thought for sure you would bring at least ten . 」

「It’s not like we’re going on a vacation . 」

「Also for your escort to be such a beautiful girl―― no, I guess that’s very like you . 」

Arbakin smiles after looking at Celia .

Sensing that she’s getting made fun of, Celia puffs her cheeks .

Initially, I actually planned for Mack or Gido to be my escort .

If that happened, the only girl by my side would be Marta .

The trip to the Federation would be by boat, making it difficult to secure girls along the way .

“Taking on Aegir-sama alone…… and for several weeks, you’ll die . At best, you’ll go insane from the pleasure and become crippled . ”

Which was what the consensus opinion of the girls were, so at their and Celia’s pa.s.sionate plea, I picked her to be my escort .

「Aegir-sama! You’re thinking out loud!」

Arbakin bursts into laughter again . I remember that appearance .

Isn’t he the same amba.s.sador who was at the Treian trial?

「It’s not unusual for the aide to be a lover, but I’d expect nothing less of you to bolster your roster with a female escort . We may be in a hurry, but we can also stop at a port to replenish food supplies . During that time, you may also attend a brothel――」

The peaceful conversation was suddenly interrupted .

「There’s a vessel in front approaching us from the starboard side!」

The crew member standing on the watchtower shouts loudly .

More of the s.h.i.+p’s crew jump onto the deck, while we, oblivious of the circ.u.mstances, stay in the corner to watch the development of events .

「……this isn’t good . 」

Is that the s.h.i.+p’s captain? A bearded man proceeds to the front and grumbles .

「What happened? Don’t tell me an Empire’s s.h.i.+p is all the way out here . 」

Arbakin’s expression returns to a serious one .

「Two mid-sized s.h.i.+ps up ahead, they’re not battles.h.i.+ps but they’re clearly trying to block our way . 」

「Ring the bell and get them to clear out!」

The captain shakes his head .

「We are cruising with the Federation’s official flag on the mast of our s.h.i.+p . No reasonable person would move their s.h.i.+p in front of us . 」

The crew members s.h.i.+ver in fear .

「――could they be pirates!?」

Pirates, eh? What a nostalgic feeling . I should draw my sword too .

I’m sure Marta can’t fight, so she should stay in the very back of the boat .

「Please be careful . I will take care of your pent up stress after the battle . 」

She bows her head courteously and runs inside the s.h.i.+p’s cabin .

「Smaller boats are being lowered from the unidentified s.h.i.+p! It looks like the people in the boats are armed, it’s a pirate s.h.i.+p!」

The lookout yells, while Arbakin grits his teeth .

「Kuh…… not bringing an escort s.h.i.+p for the sake of time turned out to be a mistake . Who thought pirates would appear in the east!」

「With all the river fleet being rounded up for the fight with the Empire, there may have been an inadequate amount of patrolling . 」

The captain also makes a sour expression .

If they get here, we just have to fight . I unsheathe my longsword and rest it on my shoulder .

「We don’t have many crew on board, there’s no way of winning if they get on the s.h.i.+p . For the sake of time, we don’t have any cannons on the s.h.i.+p either…… so we should avoid battle, and try to slip past them through a gap at full speed!」

Oh, so we’re not going to fight? I threw away the scabbard when trying to look cool pulling out my sword .

If I hunch over now to try and find it, I would look lame .

「Let’s look together…… kyaa!!」

When Celia crouches with me, a sudden impact causes the two of us to fall over .

The s.h.i.+p has was ceased moving briefly .

Celia fell on top of me, so I take the chance to rub her a.s.s .

「What happened!!?」

「It’s a net! The pirate s.h.i.+p threw a net on the water’s surface!」

It looks like we literally got caught in the net cast by the enemy .

The speed of our boat instantly drops, then the pirate s.h.i.+p and smaller boats fully turn towards us .

Eventually, the Surov comes to a complete stop .

「There’s no choice…… crew members, get ready for battle!」

Oh, so we’re fighting after all . Just when Celia brought me the sheathe too .

「Hardlett-sama, please go inside the cabin with Arbakin-sama . The battle will start soon――」

As the s.h.i.+p’s captain begins to give instructions, he sees the sword on my shoulder and pauses .

「I was thinking of fighting, is that bad?」

「――No, we can use all the help we can get . There would be no point staying in the bilge if we are defeated after all . 」

It’s been a while since I’ve fought for real on a s.h.i.+p .

The crew put on their armor and equip themselves with bows and swords .

Only a mere ten crew can fight compared to at least thirty on the small boats deployed by the pirates .

「Now that we can’t move the boat forward, we can only try to stave off the enemy and make them give up . 」

It’s better not to have hope that the enemy will pull back .

I guess the intention behind that loud voice was to encourage the uneasy crew .

「In other words, we just have to ma.s.sacre the enemies . Isn’t that right?」

A smile appears on the dark sun-tanned face of the captain .

「That’s exactly right, Hardlett-sama . 」

As the pirates’ small s.h.i.+ps get closer, the crew shoots their arrows .

They’ve got some good ones, to be expected of a Federation s.h.i.+p .

Return fire from the pirates don’t reach us and fall harmlessly into the water .

「There’s a lot of them!」

「Aim better!」

The pirates approach with s.h.i.+elds held above their heads so ten bows aren’t enough to stop them .

Arrows fly towards us again once they get closer .

These will come from above us .

「Let me borrow that . 」

I take the sword from the hip of the crew member beside me, stab my longsword into the ground, then charge toward the arrows, dual-wielding the borrowed blade and my Dual Crater .

Light swords are better for sweeping arrows away .

I swing one of the swords horizontally over my head to swipe away an arrow falling down from above, then proceed to deflect the two low angled arrows with each of my swords .

In a flash, three more arrows follow behind the ones I just struck down .

Alternating between the sword in my right hand and left hand, I slash through each one of the arrows .

「Their shooting is scattered so it’s easier to brush them away . Oops, Celia stay back . I don’t want your pretty skin to get scratched . 」

With Celia behind me, I feel more strength welling up inside me .

My body feels light and I can see the arrows clearly like they were moving in slow-motion .

Maybe it’s the ‘Celia effect’ but I didn’t get hit by a single arrow after that, I knocked down all of them .

The broken pieces of the arrows fall into the water with soft splashes .

「I-I can’t see his slashes……」

「What the heck is that…… he just deflected twenty arrows!」

「He’s not just some c.o.c.ky n.o.ble!?」

Only stopping their arrows won’t be enough to defeat the enemies .

Seeing as we’re not moving, the pirates slowly align their small boats alongside the Surov and begin to climb up into our s.h.i.+p .

Hooks with rope attached to them get thrown one after the other onto the broadside and mast of the s.h.i.+p .

「Listen up men! This is a public vessel of the Federation, there’s gotta be treasure or important n.o.bles on board! Don’t set anything on fire until I give the order . We can’t take any loot or hostages if the boat is up in flames!」

That’s good to hear . If the s.h.i.+p burns down, I’d have to swim in the middle of the winter .

「They’re coming in! All crew members, take defensive measures! Knock them off!」

As the s.h.i.+p captain howls, the crew draw their swords and either cuts the enemy’s ropes or stabs the hands grabbing the broadside of the s.h.i.+p to drop the pirates back into the river .

Naturally, the pirates don’t stay silent .

They shoot arrows or swing their swords in one hand while holding onto the rope with the other .

The pirates are wielding what looks like scimitars, slightly shorter weapons with a curved blade .

「We’ll be at a disadvantage if they climb up! Cut the ropes!」

The captain swings his one-handed axe to sever many ropes and knocks off another pirate who tries to climb aboard by throwing his hatchet .

Despite the crew’s courageous efforts, there are unfortunately too many of them .

「It’s no good! We can’t defend against all of them!!」

One of the crew shouts .

They don’t have enough people . Guess I’ll help out .

I grab my longsword and stand in front of the end of one of the many ropes, waiting for an enemy to climb up .

But…… n.o.body comes .

「…… you climb so slow . Hurry and get up here!」

「Ueh!?」

Getting impatient, I grab the grappling hook and pull up, as if I was fis.h.i.+ng for pirates .

「Hmph . 」

「Bujuu……」

As the pirate flies up, my fist meets his face in midair .

My armguard-equipped fist sinks deep into his face, blood squirting out from the man’s ear and nose as he was sent into the river with double the momentum he was thrown into the air with .

「You guys are also too slow . 」

I pull up the three ropes right next to me .

「「「Dowah!」」」

Three additional pirates roll onto the deck . I fished up a big haul .

「H-Hardlett-sama! You must not let the enemy come on the s.h.i.+p!」

「D-don’t tell me, are you cooperating with them?」

Don’t say such unsettling things . If you only cut the rope, they’ll just climb up again using a different one .

If you cut their heads off, they’ll never climb back up .

I swing my longsword at one of the pirates trying to get up, separating his body into two from the waist .

――or so I wanted to, barely failing to completely split him apart .

「Gieeh――!!!」

「A full-powered swing would probably destroy the s.h.i.+p’s deck . Fighting on a boat is truly difficult . 」

Aah, that’s why they’re using those curved short swords .

I toss the annoying half-cut man overboard and crouch to avoid the second man’s slash by a hair’s breadth .

「How fast for your size!」

「Who are you calling premature ejaculator!」

With a light whack, my longsword runs across the small man and cuts off both his hands .

Before he could annoy me with his screaming, I kick him off the boat .

He shouldn’t be able to climb back up with no hands .

「S-so strong…… gugya!」

The third pirate backs off after seeing what I can do, but doesn’t realize Celia approaching from behind and dies after getting his throat slit .

Now then, I wonder what’s going on elsewhere . Fumu, quite a few have climbed on board .

Allies and enemies are facing off against each other with their swords .

「Captain! We can’t defend any longer!」

「We aren’t yielding to these unruly pirates! Fight till your last breath!」

「Do whatever you can to find a n.o.ble! It’s our victory if we can capture the most important person here!」

While our allies have their hands full, a few pirates try sneaking into the bottom of the boat .

Not good, Arbakin and Marta are down there .

It’ll be problematic if they are taken hostage .

「Why am I, the guest of honor, in front and the one who has to go save the amba.s.sador in the first place?」

「Aegir-sama looks too much like a warrior!」

I postpone ruffling Celia’s hair and run, but we don’t make it in time .

One of the enemies who should have rushed into the bottom of the boat ran out screaming .

「Guwaaaaah!」

There’s an arrow stuck in one of his shoulders, still his screaming is not normal .

「It hurts, it hurts, it hurts―― I’m going to die――!! Gyaaaaaaah!!」

Following him out from inside the boar are two figures .

That’s Natia and…… oh, it’s Pipi .

Messerschmitt is resting on Pipi’s head . Even in such a situation, that thing is closing its eyes and sleeping .

「What an obvious scoundrel! I hope you suffer!」

「Pipi will help too . 」

The arrow shot by Natia pierces into the thigh of another pirate .

It looked like she was intentionally avoiding any vitals, yet the man still rolls around in pain . ……she must have coated the tip with something .

「You won’t die . It’s a drug that only causes pain . 」

Meanwhile, Pipi mercilessly shoots through the eyeball or throat of the pirates .

This one’s fully intent on killing .

「……so, what are you two doing here?」

「Who asked you to follow us!?」

「Natia said she was going to chase after you . That’s why Pipi also came . 」

「Wai-!? Are you saying this is my fault!?」

「Pipi belongs to the chief . I can’t lie to him . 」