Chapter 179: Former Pirate Ship, Going Across the Ocean!

Having turned the tables on the pirates disguised as a merchant ship, we decided to head to the Eastern Country just like that.

“Uwo-, there’s seriously nothing left.”

As the ship went out into the open ocean, Jairo raised a voice of surprise at the fact that nothing could be seen in the surroundings.

“Even when we went to the seaside country to investigate the Megalo Whale, we could see land, but now we really can’t see anything. The sea truly is vast.”

Liliera and the others were simply excited by the vastness of the sea.

“If we fall into the sea here, we might just drown to death without being able to return to land.”

“P-Please don’t say scary things!”

At Meguri suddenly saying such a thing, Norb raises a scream.

“Meguri, I’m telling you to stop.”

“Being this far from land, even with flight magic, my magic power won’t last.”

“Th-Then we just shouldn’t fall off the ship, right?”

“But there’s also the danger of getting caught in a storm. Apparently, humans thrown out of a ship after getting caught in a storm almost never survive.”

“S-Seriously…”

At Meguri‘s storytelling, Jairo gulps down his saliva with a gokuri.

“Hmph, that’s why I’m wearing the swimsuit I got from Rex under my clothes! With this, I can breathe even if I fall underwater!”

Saying so, Meguri took off her outerwear and showed off the swimsuit she was wearing inside.

“You! Are you a genius!”

“No, no, isn’t that worrying too much as expected? Or rather, it’s improper so put it away!”

Yeah, just as Mina says, the surrounding pirates are staring at the swimsuit-clad Meguri with startled faces.

“Well prepared means no worries. Thieves should consider two or three steps ahead thinking about ‘what ifs’.”

“Good grief, you threatened us just to brag about that.”

“Your jokes are harsh.”

Realizing that the threats up to now were a setup for wearing the swimsuit, everyone lets out an exasperated voice.

“Good grief. There’s no way I’d fall into the sea that easily.”

“Right, right, in the first place, if we don’t go out of our way to return to land and return to the ship instead, there wouldn’t be any worry about running out of magic power, would there.”

“Saying so, everyone hurriedly returned to change.”

Ah, it’s true.

◆

A few days have passed since leaving the port.

“Hmm, I’m bored.”

That’s right, isn’t it. For a while after coming out into the open ocean, we fished and hunted the attacking monsters to cook, but basically, there’s nothing on the sea.

We inevitably get bored with no entertainment.

I see, so that’s why the luxury cruise ships I hear rumors about were needlessly large and fulfilling in entertainment. I’ve never been on one, though.

“Big Bro-, I’m bored-“

Jairo said it was optimal for training against sea monsters at first, but monsters don’t attack all the time, and if they’re weak monsters, the pirates alone can defend sufficiently, so now he was completely at a loss with free time.

“How many more days until the Eastern Country again?”

“If I recall, they said it takes one month.”

” ” ” ” “One month~!?” ” ” ” ” “

Hearing that such boredom would continue for another month, we raise screams.

“Ugh, should we just fly there with magic already?”

“No, no, as expected, flying a distance of one month is impossible.”

Due to the extreme boredom, even the normally calm Liliera started saying unreasonable things.

“U-Ugh… I can’t endure a life without earning money for such a long time…”

“Aah!? Meguri, having imagined a long-term unpaid life, is having withdrawal symptoms!”

Eh? What are those withdrawal symptoms?

“Or rather, why are you so fixated on money, Meguri? Since you were Lady Idra’s body double, you shouldn’t have had any worries about money, right?”

I’ve been wondering about Meguri‘s obsession with money for a long time.

“Since I was little, my mother told me to earn my own money, so…”

“Eh? Isn’t that normal…?”

“Even for food expenses.”

“It wasn’t normal!?”

Even for food expenses by yourself!?

“After being raised to be able to do things myself to some extent, I was suddenly told that and thrown out to my grandfather’s place in the countryside. That’s why it really saved me that I became an adventurer and became able to earn my own money… By the way, only the necessary expenses as a body double came from the country.”

I-I see. Meguri‘s obsession with money was caused by her mother’s Spartan education, huh.

“A life where food comes out just by paying money, and there’s proper furniture, is the best.”

I feel like this is making her useless in its own way…

“Ah- I’m bored~”

At Jairo‘s grumbling, I remember that we were at a loss with free time.

“Hmm, it would be easier if they let us remodel the ship, though.”

As expected, that’s…

” ” ” ” “That’s it!!” ” ” ” ” “

“Ehh!?”

“That’s it, that! Remodeling the ship!”

“That’s right! Big Bro just needs to remodel this damn slow ship!”

No, Jairo, that line is dangerous because the pirates behind us are glaring with scary eyes.

“That’s right, certainly that was a blind spot. If we have it remodeled, won’t we arrive much faster!”

“Nn, let’s have Rex remodel it.”

“I see, certainly that’s a good idea.”

N-No, I just said it as an example, but to remodel other people’s ship without permission as expected is a bit…

“Alright, I’ll go ask!”

“Hey, old man Captain!”

“Hii!? Wh-What is it, young master!?”

Being rushed up to by Jairo, the captain raises a scream.

I don’t remember doing anything that would make him scream like that, though.

“Say, say, is it okay to remodel this ship?”

“Huh? Remodel?”

Suddenly told about remodeling, the captain tilts his head and looks this way.

Ah- yeah, being told such a thing suddenly would bewilder anyone.

“Umm, I was hoping you’d let me install magic tools to increase the ship’s movement speed.”

“Magic tools!? Do you possess such things, sir!?”

He’s calling me ‘sir’ for some reason.

“Yes, so I was thinking of remodeling the ship a little for installation.”

“Magic tools, speed increasing… work progressing smoothly…!? Please do it by all means!”

The captain permitted the remodeling of the ship with his eyes sparkling.

Yeah, yeah, as expected, for a man of the sea, upgrading the performance of his own ship is a romance.

“Hahahaha! The ship’s performance will increase with magic tools! Yahoo!”

“Say, Rex.”

As the captain skipped back to work, Liliera spoke to me with a difficult face.

“What’s wrong, Liliera?”

“Well, even though I agreed to it, those people are pirates, you know?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“If we remodel the ship of such people, I think there will be even worse damages caused by that ship, is that alright?”

Ah, so Liliera is worried about that.

“It’s alright. Once we arrive at the Eastern Country, I will properly hand them over to the Knight Order.”

Because those people are pirates, after all. I have to properly hand them over to the appropriate authorities.

“Ah, yeah. As long as you’re properly thinking about it, it’s fine. Sorry for asking something weird. That’s right, thinking normally it would turn out like that.”

Liliera is a worrier, huh.

“Now, then I suppose I’ll remodel the ship!”

First is what kind of remodeling to do.

“First is the objective, increasing the ship’s speed. Then, increasing the hull’s strength to withstand the speed and for when we accidentally hit a reef. Since I think the shaking will also increase as the speed rises, incorporating a shock mitigation mechanism. Also, a protective barrier is necessary so the crew on the deck doesn’t fall off the ship.”

Yeah, the direction is coming into view.

“For the speed increase, let’s use a dual propulsion of tailwind and water pressure combining wind magic and water magic, and for steering, let’s not use a rudder but a water rudder type that moves the surrounding water with magic.”

Once the remodeling plan was solidified, I took out materials from the magic bag and immediately set to work on remodeling the ship.

By fixing materials and parts in midair with magic, I carry out the construction work ignoring the shaking.

I install the completed various magic tools onto the ship, and furthermore, while flying with flight magic, I attach reinforcing members to key points of the ship.

And once the installation of all magic tools is completed, I apply strengthening and state protection magic to the entire hull and…

“Alright, complete!”

” ” ” ” “Fast!?” ” ” ” ” “

“No-, even if you say fast, it’s a simple remodeling.”

“No, no, that’s not the problem. It hasn’t even been half a day since you started remodeling!?”

“Eh? Seriously? It’s completed with this?”

When I announced the ship’s remodeling was finished, everyone was wide-eyed for some reason.

“At a glance, it only looks like a few magic tools and metal plates have been attached to the ship…”

“Because I supplement all the necessary functions with magic. It’s not the kind of remodeling that majorly overhauls the hull itself. Anything beyond this would probably be impossible without a dedicated dock.”

“Which means, remodeling beyond this is also possible, huh…”

“Even so, it’s too fast…”

Actually, this is a magic tool for simple remodeling of existing ships that I made in the life before my previous one.

It’s a technology developed for old, battered ships where it’s better to make one from scratch, or for when remodeling is necessary in an emergency.

The drawback is that the performance is completely inferior compared to state-of-the-art ships designed dedicatedly for that, though.

“Then I’m starting it up!”

When I start up the magic tools, first of all, the shaking of the ship completely subsides due to the shock mitigation function.

“Wh-What!? The shaking is gone!?”

The ship’s shaking subsides, and the pirates are agitated.

Next, the wind barrier preventing falling overboard activates, and the wind around the ship stops.

“Th-This time the wind stopped!? Wh-What is happening!?”

“So far it’s according to design. Then, departure proceeding!”

When I start up the magic tools for movement, the ship begins to move.

That speed is a speed incomparable to before, giving the illusion that the clouds above are moving at tremendous speed because of that speed.

“Th-The clouds are moving at an unbelievable speed!? What does this mean!?”

Yeah, yeah, the operation is smooth.

Right then, an amazing sound rings out, dobaan!!

“What was that sound just now!?”

Surprised by the sound, everyone approached the side of the ship and discovered something.

“I-Isn’t this guy the ship breaker Pile Shark!?”

“Hey hey, what’s going on!? The Pile Shark, which ruthlessly opens huge holes even in warships with its tremendous charging power and the hardness of its horn, is squashed like a crushed banana!?”

Apparently, the ship’s hull strengthening is also operating properly.

It saved me the trouble of testing it.

” ” ” “Wh-What on earth is happeninggggggg!?” ” ” ” “

The pirates raised a scream, harmonizing perfectly.

“The ship’s performance test finished without problems, so then shall we head to the Eastern Country at full speed?”

“S-Say, Rex. That’s fine and all, but shouldn’t you give those people a brief explanation?”

Liliera asks if it’s okay not to explain to the pirates.

“Then didn’t the captain do it?”

“But that guy, he normally looks like he doesn’t understand what’s going on.”

“Ah-, men of the sea are easygoing and also love pranks. He’s messing around matching our performance test.”

Even in my previous life, sailors excelled at killing time so as not to get bored on long journeys.

So a ship’s performance test is probably like a little show when it comes to them.

Or so I thought…

“Wh-What on earth is the meaning of thisssssss!?”

The captain, whose legs gave out, came crawling to ask about the situation.

“What, you ask, I finished the ship’s remodeling so I was doing a test run.”

The captain also takes exaggerated reactions.

No matter what, you don’t lose the strength in your legs just because the ship’s speed was increased.

“T-Test run!? This!? Or rather, didn’t you start remodeling since morning? Is it already finished?”

“Yes, because it was a simple remodeling.”

“Th-This is simple…?”

Hearing my explanation, the captain got a dumbfounded face for some reason and stood paralyzed in sheer amazement.

“Th-This is simple? …This is…?”

I can’t help but feel it’s a bit too exaggerated, but well, if he’s having fun, that’s fine.

“Then, heading to the Eastern Country, here we go!”

I open the output of the magic tools to full throttle and resume the journey to the Eastern Country.

“I-I’ve gotten involved with something bad…”

Hm? What does that mean, Captain?