Chapter 391: Regrouping

While I was wondering how we could regroup with everyone, Panamera, standing at the bow, raised one hand toward the sky and opened her mouth.

“……Flame Extend.”

The moment she said that, a ribbon of fire stretched toward the sky and spread out thinly in the air like a curtain. It seemed to be a magic that deployed flames over a wide area.

As I was looking up at it, Panamera jerked her chin toward the direction of the ship.

“For now, I’ve sent a signal so they’ll notice us. We have no choice but to have them come over here somehow, right?”

“True.”

Obediently following Panamera’s words, I prepared spare bolts.

“Ah, the ship is moving!”

“Really? Toward where Dee was…… hm?”

As I was lining up and preparing the bolts together with Till, a report came from Arte. Told that, I turned around, and an unexpected scene entered my vision.

Not only was the ship moving as if weaving between the place where Dee fell and our location, but it was also exhibiting strange behavior, with the direction of its bow changing finely.

“Eh? Did it break down!?”

Tilting my head at the ship’s movements, I strained my eyes and looked at the sea surface, noticing small splashes rising. I became anxious, wondering if Dee was being chased, but that apparently wasn’t the case.

“……Could it be that Dee is swimming and heading toward us?”

I couldn’t believe it myself, but I put what I could confirm with my own eyes into words. At that, Panamera nodded with half-lidded eyes.

“It seems so. I’m getting tired of being surprised.”

Through a sea where multiple large magic beasts resided, Dee was swimming at an astonishing speed. Even the mermaids widened their eyes at that.

“Hm…… Are there fast swimmers among humans too?”

“Is he really human?”

I could hear such conversations, but I had no comment. Whether Dee is human or not is an eternal mystery.

Meanwhile, as the monster Dee swam at a speed that seemed to part the sea, the ship seemed to be advancing hesitantly, wondering whether it should pick up Dee or head toward me. So that’s why it was behaving like that.

Coming to an understanding, I spotted familiar faces at the bow of the approaching ship and felt relieved.

“Khamsin! Arb and Law are here too!”

Seeing the figures of the three waving toward us, I felt like I was about to cry. Including Dee, they are comrades who are too good for me. To think they set out into such a dangerous sea to search for us.

As I was secretly moved, Till, who was waving next to me, made a startled face and opened her mouth.

“Huh? Did his seasickness go away? Did he get used to it?”

At Till saying that, I thought come to think of it and looked at Khamsin. Although Khamsin seemed to be shedding tears, he didn’t look seasick.

While we were having such a conversation, Dee and the ship arrived alongside our boat at the same time. The mermaids parted to the left and right to make a path, and Dee swam up first and boarded our boat.

“Ooh! Lord Van……!”

Dee ran up with a serious face and hugged me with that momentum. A robust embrace from Dee. No, it was just a bear hug. The bones in my entire body creaked, and my body screamed.

“Gyaaaaaaaaah!?”

“I was worried! I was sooo worrieeeeeed!”

When Dee put even more strength into it, my consciousness flew halfway off to somewhere distant.

What happened after that? When I regained my senses, the blue sky spread completely across my vision, and Khamsin’s face was at the edge of my sight. Behind him were the faces of Arb and Law as well.

“L-Lord Van……! Are you alright!?”

Khamsin was calling my name while shedding tears. No, I was fine until just a moment ago. I had really just lost a little weight and was full of energy. If I were to die here, the culprit would be Dee.

“……For now, I’m alive.”

When I told him just that with faint breaths, Khamsin fell to his knees on the deck and bowed his head deeply.

“……I am truly sorry……! At that time, Lord Van’s hand……”

Khamsin made such an apology in a tearful voice, and I understood what he was regretting. He was regretting that he couldn’t take my hand when that ship tilted and we fell into the sea.

No, it was an outrageous, extreme situation, and on top of that, a split-second event. Who could possibly blame Khamsin?

Thinking that, I placed my hand on the head of Khamsin, who was crying with trembling shoulders, and smiled.

“You came to save me just now, didn’t you? Thank you, Khamsin.”

When I said that with feelings of gratitude, Khamsin vigorously raised his face, spilling large drops of tears. Seeing Khamsin sobbing like a child, Arb and Law were also drawn to tears.

Suddenly, I also spotted the figures of Ortho and his group behind them. It seems they had helped Dee and the others.

“Thank you to Mr. Ortho and your group too. You saved us.”

When I said that, Ortho and his group nodded deeply and smiled.

“You’re welcome…… though having said that, we’ve just been receiving your help all the time, so please don’t worry about it.”

When Ortho said that, Kusala and Pluriel also nodded silently. At that, I lifted the corners of my mouth and smiled.

“Eh? Then, I don’t need to make new swords for you either? You helped us out this time, so I was thinking of making some for everyone.”

When I said that and laughed, Ortho and Kusala widened their eyes in shock.

“Please give us that as a reward!?”

“I’m begging you too!?”

Seeing the reaction of the two, everyone burst into laughter. I felt happy, feeling like our usual everyday life had finally returned.