Chapter 418: Counterattack Begins
I immediately took to the sky to pursue Nil, and it seemed he was heading east. Since it was the opposite direction from the town, he must have left before the ship from earlier.
After a while, the TYPE series I sent west also discovered a ship. The video feed showed it was the same type as the previous ship, and if it was sailing during the fishing ban, it was definitely one of them.
“Still can’t sense their presence, huh?”
It’s a well-made Magic Tool. The effective range doesn’t seem that wide, but if it can cover the entire ship, that’s good enough.
I instructed the Bird TYPE I sent west to change course eastward, except for one unit for surveillance. Just then, Nil’s presence disappeared.
“Did he find them?”
This is actually easier to understand in a way.
I increased my speed towards the area where his presence disappeared, and in the distance, I could see a large ship. In front of it was the small ship from earlier, and it seemed I had caught up just before they merged.
“…Hmm?”
But something was off.
Attack magic was flying from the ship, but it seemed to be targeting Nil. It looked like they were just fighting back, thinking they were being attacked by a Monster.
It was strange to be attacked by a four-legged Beast-type Monster on the sea.
“Hmm, this is more troublesome than I thought.”
I could see it with my eyes, but it seemed like they were even blocking the signs of magic activation. The signs of magic activation are essentially the movement of Magic Power, and not being able to sense that would be tough.
Magic was raining down not only from the small ship but also from the large ship, and Nil seemed to be panicking as he dodged, unable to predict the attacks.
“It’s been a while, but should I use a Magic Disruption Field?”
I increased my altitude to approach the ships without being noticed, and from above, I deployed a Magic Disruption Field only around the two ships. Seeing that the magic from the ships had stopped completely, Nil took the opportunity to board the small ship and quickly took control of it.
The large ship became noisy, but Nil didn’t care and proceeded into the ship.
“Wafuwafu!”
After a while, I received a Telepathic Communication from Nil, and it seemed he had safely found the kidnapped orphans. This time, everyone was still on the ship, and no one had fallen off.
“That’s good. Keep guarding that ship.”
“Wafu!”
I sent a Telepathic Communication to Rio about finding the orphans, and she replied with a relieved response. The orphanage director would be relieved too.
Now, what to do about that large ship?
There’s only one within sight… For now, I’ll have the Bird TYPEs I sent out gather here. Come to think of it, I had other TYPE series monitoring the large ships… Oh, there they are.
According to the TYPE series monitoring the large fleet, they were waiting not too far away. I’ve already designated them as enemies, so there’s no need to hold back. Instead of sinking them, I should sell them all to the Kingdom of Faerdehelde as spoils of war.
With that decided, it’s time to act. There are twelve large ships in total. I don’t know how many people are on board since they’re hiding their presence with Magic Tools, but sending in a few TYPE series should be enough.
Using my Dungeon Master authority, I called the Monsters wandering around the lowest level to gather. It’s too much trouble to summon them one by one with Spatial Magic, so I’ll have them gather in one place myself.
While the TYPE series were gathering, I had to deal with the small ship I found in the west. For now, I landed on the small ship that Nil had taken over, tied up the crew members who had their consciousness taken by Nil with ropes, and headed to the room where the kidnapped orphans were.
There were five people in the room with the door left open. Two of them were small, clinging to Nil, so they must be Al and Rem from the orphanage.
“Ah, it’s Shu-oniichan!”
“Shu-nii!”
“You’re safe. Are you hurt?”
“Nope!”
“No!”
“Nil, you did well too.”
“Wafun.”
After entering the room and lightly patting the two of them, I gave Nil a good rub.
“Haha… We… we were saved…”
“Looks like it.”
“I’m so glad…”
Looking at us, the three adults on the opposite side of the room breathed a big sigh of relief. Two men and one woman.
“This ship is already under control. By the way, is there anyone who can operate the ship?”
The three of them looked at each other at my question, but one of the men raised his hand.
“I can steer the ship…”
“Good. Can you return to town with this ship? We still have things to do.”
“O-Okay.”
“The ship is equipped with a Presence Concealing Magic Tool, so you shouldn’t be found by the sea Monsters.”
“That’s… amazing… but how does this ship move?”
Come to think of it, they don’t know about the propulsion Magic Tool. After explaining what I heard from the small ship earlier, the man seemed convinced and was happy that he could return to town.
“Nil, can you head to the other small ship?”
“Wafu!”
I gave Nil his mission, and he barked once as if to say he understood and stood up.
I heard that there were a total of three small ships that kidnapped the townspeople, so this should be the last one. Unless there’s a ship that the person who told me didn’t know about, but I don’t think that’s likely.
If Monsters attack the ship, they won’t be able to use the hostages, and it’s easier to leave it to Nil.
Now, all that’s left is to deal with that large fleet.
Let’s start with the large ship in front of me.
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If you have time, please check out the following works I’ve submitted to Kakuyomu Contest 10.
“The Incompetent Prince Wants to Leave the Country and Enjoy a Slow Life”
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817139556306109457
“A Journey to Another World Starting from Books”
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054882669774
“What Happens When a High School Boy with Too Much Adaptability Gets Genderbent”
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054883093144