Chapter 180: Landing in the Storm
Three days had passed since I remodeled the pirate ship to head to the Eastern Country.
“Land ho!”
“Land, you say!?”
Hearing that land was finally visible, everyone went out onto the deck.
However, there was nothing but sea in the direction the ship was heading, and the shape of land was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, hey, where is the land?”
“It’s clearly visible now~”
A voice came from the lookout in the crow’s nest up on the mast.
“Will we be able to see it if we go up?”
“Alriight! Up we go!”
As Jairo flew up using flight magic, everyone followed after him.
I also jumped using body enhancement magic and landed on top of the mast.
Then, I could see something extending thinly in the direction the ship was heading.
“Is that… a mountain?”
Yes, the tip of a mountain was visible, standing alone at the edge of the sea.
“We can’t see the land, only the mountain is visible.”
“Yes sir, that there is the highest mountain in the Eastern Country, Mt. Amatsukami.”
” ” ” ” ” “Mt. Amatsukami?” ” ” ” ” “
Flying higher above the ship with flight magic, its full picture finally came into view.
“Amazing. Even though we can’t see the landmass at all, only the mountain is clearly distinguishable.”
That means that Mt. Amatsukami is an incredibly massive mountain.
Perhaps its size is large enough that it could be called a mountain range.
“What an outrageous size.”
“I wonder just how vast that mountain alone is?”
Everyone was overwhelmed by the size of Mt. Amatsukami.
“Anyway, it’s finally land! I missed the ground!”
Ahaha, certainly, we’ve been on the ship this whole time. I’ve gotten completely used to my body swaying.
“Hm? What’s that?”
It was at that moment.
The pirate monitoring the surroundings from the crow’s nest pointed at the nearby sky.
“Hey, look at that. Rain clouds.”
Looking over, dark clouds were approaching from across the sky.
“At that distance, we’ll reach land first. At worst, even if we get caught in a storm before reaching the port, we can ride it out if we drop anchor near the land.”
The pirates immediately started discussing how to handle the storm.
Regardless of good or evil, this aspect really makes them feel like men of the sea.
“Well, with the current speed of this ship, we can reach land before the rain clouds get here.”
“That’s true too!”
” ” “Hahahaha.” ” “
Certainly, with this ship’s speed, we can move faster than the approaching rain clouds, so unless there’s some major trouble, there shouldn’t be any worry about getting caught in the storm.
…Or so I thought.
“Hey, something’s wrong.”
Another pirate in the crow’s nest raised a suspicious voice while looking around.
“What’s wrong-?”
“The speed at which the rain clouds are approaching is too fast. Besides, it should have been blue skies just a moment ago, but we’re completely surrounded by clouds!”
“Eh?”
It’s true. Before I knew it, the sky had rapidly turned overcast.
“Also, aren’t these clouds getting darker and thicker by the second?”
“What is this. I’ve never seen weather like this before…”
The pirates were also bewildered by this bizarre weather.
“I have a bad feeling about this! Hurry towards the land!”
” ” ” “Yes, Captain!!” ” ” “
Sensing the danger, the crew’s movements were fast.
However…
“What’s with the speed those clouds are spreading!?”
The clouds spread faster than expected, enveloping the entire surrounding area in pitch-black rain clouds.
“This is bad. This wind… it’s going to turn into a storm!!”
Just as the captain said, the waves gradually grew higher, and the ship began to sway.
“D-Do storms normally come this suddenly!?”
When Liliera, who had no experience with storms, raised a voice of bewilderment, the captain denied it while fighting against the swaying.
“N-No, this is my first time seeing such a bizarre storm. Something like this is impossible!”
The ship was already being battered by considerable swaying, and the pirates were struggling to work on the pitching deck.
“With things like this, it’s a silver lining that I installed a wind barrier on the deck as a countermeasure against wind pressure.”
If they had to deal with the effects of the wind and rain on top of this, the pirates would have been thrown into the sea by now.
Also, increasing the hull’s strength through the remodeling was paying off.
You really never know what will come in handy in life.
“Sirs, please return to your rooms before the storm gets serious!”
The captain told us to return to our rooms with a serious face.
“Right. Let’s leave this to the professionals and stay quiet.”
“Understood.”
Realizing there was nothing they could do against a natural phenomenon, everyone obediently returned inside the ship.
But at that moment, an exceptionally large wave struck, and the ship lurched violently.
“Whoa!”
“Kyaa!?”
At the sudden, massive lurch, everyone tumbled over.
“Without being able to see the scenery outside, we can’t brace for the swaying from the approaching waves.”
It really seems best to stay quiet in our rooms for this.
However, the situation wasn’t going to be that simple, and a new problem arose.
“It’s terribleee! The swaying just now opened a hole in the bottom of the ship-!”
“Ehhh!?”
This is bad, if there’s a hole in the ship, water will come in!
“Oh no! We have to help repair it immediately!”
When we reached the bottom of the ship, it was in a terrible state.
There were already multiple holes in the hull, and the pirates were desperately trying to repair them, but they were completely overwhelmed.
“What do we do, Big Bro!?”
“First, we plug the holes with magic! FREEZING CUBE!”
I freeze the rushing water with freezing magic.
“I see, by freezing the seawater, you’re preventing the water from coming in! We can do that too!”
Seeing my method, Liliera and Mina similarly began freezing the other holes with ice magic.
“U-Ugh…”
“Are you alright? O God, a miracle of healing. HEALING.”
Norb cast recovery magic on an injured pirate to treat him.
“S-Sorry about this.”
“We’ve only plugged them temporarily, so please repair them while you can.”
“U-Understood!”
This is a problem, though. I increased the strength when remodeling the hull, but the original material’s strength was low to begin with, and the ship itself wasn’t built very well, so depending on the storm’s intensity, the ship might not hold.
“Hiiiii!! The wall is-!”
“Uwaa-! There’s a hole over here too-!”
This is bad, it seems problems are occurring in other places as well.
“If we don’t protect the ship from the waves, we won’t even be able to repair it.”
I immediately went out to the deck and checked the surrounding situation.
The storm had grown incredibly intense, and the pirates were clinging onto whatever they could to keep from being thrown off the ship.
“S-Sir! It’s dangerous, so please go back inside!”
The captain, clinging to a rope tied to the mast, yelled for me to return.
With the deck like this, it looks like steering the ship is out of the question.
“I will protect the ship from the waves! FLOAT FIELD!”
When I activated the magic, the ship’s swaying subsided.
“Wh-What? The swaying stopped?”
“H-Hey, look! The ship is floating!”
” ” ” “What did you say!?” ” ” ” “
Noticing that the ship was floating, the pirates hurriedly looked over the side at the ocean surface.
“I-It’s true. The ship is floating… what on earth is going on?”
“Could it be that you did this too, Sir?”
Guessing that I was the one who did this, the captain asked timidly.
“Yes. I floated the ship with magic, so please repair it while you can.”
“S-Seriously, you did this, Sir!?”
“A-Amazing, to float a ship in midair…”
“Unbelievable…”
The pirates stared at me in dumbfounded amazement, but we couldn’t stay like that forever.
“Now, hurry and repair it while you can!”
“Y-Yes sir! Hey, you lot! We’re repairing the ship immediately!”
” ” “Yes, Captain!!” ” ” “
As the pirates headed off to repair the ship, Liliera and the others returned, swapping places with them.
“Rex! The emergency repairs down here are done!”
“Good work, everyone.”
“More importantly, the swaying suddenly stopped, but is the storm over?”
“No, the wind and rain are still strong. Right now, I’m floating the ship with magic so it can be repaired.”
“Floating? …Ah, it’s true. It’s floating.”
“I just casually accepted that the ship is floating, but you’re doing something absurd again.”
“Not making it fly by remodeling it with magic tools, but purely floating something this massive with your own individual magic power… as expected, your magic is outrageous, Rex.”
“No, no, it’s a matter of spell formula compatibility. This FLOAT FIELD reduces the effect of gravity on an arbitrary substance within a space to practically zero. As for its application, it’s a special transportation magic used when large vehicles break down in places without repair facilities.”
“I’ve never heard of such magic.”
Anyway, we have to wait until the ship’s repairs are finished first.
FLOAT FIELD isn’t a magic meant for movement, after all.
“I should grant the ship a flight function right now so we can avoid the effects of the waves.”
“Uwaaaaaaaa!!”
It was at that moment. The pirates doing repair work on the deck screamed and pointed behind them.
“Wh-What is that!?”
It was a massive wave.
A giant wave, looking like it exceeded several dozen meters in height, was bearing down on us as we floated in the sky.
“Ugh! Evasive maneuvers!”
Although we somehow managed to evade the massive wave, more giant waves attacked one after another.
Every single one of those giant waves was large enough to reach this ship floating in the sky.
However, letting myself get distracted by the giant waves was a mistake.
A high wave that attacked hidden behind a giant wave struck the bottom of the ship, causing it to lurch violently.
” ” ” “Uwaaaaaa!!” ” ” ” “
And unfortunately, the pirates who had been working on the deck fell into the sea.
“Oh no!”
Crap! I have to go save the people who fell!
But if I go save them, the FLOAT FIELD will cut out!
It seems the high wave just now opened another hole in the bottom of the ship, as angry shouts could be heard from inside.
With things like this, I can’t return the ship to the ocean surface!
Ugh, what do I do!?
“Leave this to us!”
It was at that moment. Liliera and the others dove out towards the sea.
“Everyone!?”
“We’ll save them, so you focus on the ship, Rex!”
“But!”
“We can do this too! Believe in us, Big Bro!”
Even as they spoke, everyone accelerated with flight magic to save the falling pirates.
“Understood! I’m leaving it to you guys! But if anything happens, use the underwater breathing function built into your swimsuits! Also, once you’re in the ocean, relax your bodies and head in the direction you naturally float up towards!”
I used amplification magic to increase my volume and deliver advice to everyone being battered by the wind and rain.
“Unders…!”
The voices from Liliera and the others were faint, making me worry if my voice really reached them, but I’m sure everyone will be fine!
“I’m counting on you, everyone!”
I, too, hurried to assemble and install the magic tools to make the ship fly, while protecting it from the approaching giant waves.
◆
“Phew, looks like we somehow made it out of the storm.”
Afterwards, having somehow managed to complete an improvised flight device, I left the steering of the ship to the pirates and headed toward land while blowing away the giant waves blocking the ship’s path with magic.
Then, just as the coastline drew near, the storm suddenly stopped.
“But what on earth was that storm anyway?”
We landed on the water near the coast just like that, dropped the anchor, and temporarily docked.
The pirates had done emergency repairs, but we needed to give the ship a proper check-over once.
“Alright, before we head to the port, let’s repair the ship… wait, eh?”
When I turned around, for some reason the pirates were prostrating themselves in dogeza towards me.
“Eh? What?”
” ” ” ” “Thank you so much, Sea God-samaaaa!!” ” ” ” ” “
“Huh?”
Sea God? Who?
“Protecting us from that nightmare of a storm, and flying through the sky to safely reach land, there is no way a mere human could do such a thing! You are undoubtedly the Sea God who rules the oceans!”
Eh? Ehhhhhhhhhh!?
What are these people sayinggggggg!?
“You came to bestow punishment, and then salvation, upon us who have degraded ourselves to pirates, didn’t you.”
The captain—no, all of the pirates—were staring at me with sparkling eyes.
“Eh? No, that’s wro…”
“That storm was your wrath directed at us for defiling the sea, wasn’t it? Originally, we were meant to become seaweed at the bottom of the ocean. But you granted us a chance as well. Because we deeply regretted our evil deeds and repented from the bottom of our hearts during that storm, you spared our lives, didn’t you!”
” ” ” “We have truly reflected on our actions! We won’t do anything bad ever again!!” ” ” ” “
No, no, no, I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort even slightly.
It’s a complete misunderstanding!?
“And the ones who dove into the stormy sea to save our comrades were… your retainers, the divine familiars of God, weren’t they!”
“You’ve got it all wrong!?”
This is bad, if I leave things like this, these people’s misunderstandings will only accelerate further.
I have to make them realize it’s a misunderstanding quickly!
“It’s really nothing like that! We are just normal adventurers!”
“Yes! In order to make it easier for Sea God-sama to operate on the surface, we just need to act accordingly, right!”
It’s no good! I’m not getting through to them at all!
“Listen up, you lot! In order not to cause trouble for Sea God-sama, you are to pretend you know absolutely nothing!”
” ” ” “Yes, Captain!!” ” ” ” “
Uwaaa, what do I do.
The captain and the others are complicating their misunderstanding and over-analyzing my statements strangely. If I don’t want to spread weird misunderstandings any further, maybe it’s better to just stay quiet like this?
“Besides, the real problem is Liliera and the others.”
After escaping the storm, I looked around the area from high up in the sky.
However, I couldn’t see the figures of everyone anywhere.
Well, what everyone is wearing are the special swimsuits equipped with underwater breathing and water pressure resistance that I gave them when we investigated the Megalo Whale in the seaside country previously, so I don’t think they’ll drown, but…
“Thinking about it won’t help. Let’s believe everyone is safe and start repairing the ship for now! Just in case we get caught in that storm again, I need to make the flight device a proper one too.”
At any rate, in this manner, the pirates and I achieved our landing in the Eastern Country.
