Chapter 156: The Operation Begins
As expected, the first to arrive near the Sea Emperor Turtle was a small ship carrying Linford.
Linford wore a wry smile, while Adelie placed a hand to her mouth, feigning surprise with an air of elegance. The two B Rank Adventurers were pointing at us and making a commotion.
“I can’t believe you two got here first!”
“I’m quite surprised… How are you floating in the air like that?”
Despite the massive Sea Emperor Turtle right in front of us, it seemed they were more intrigued by our arrival. Well, the turtle was just slowly drifting and not doing anything threatening.
“Well, well, more importantly, we have the Sea Emperor Turtle to deal with.”
“That’s true… But do tell me more about that magic later.”
With the conversation redirected to the main topic, Adelie gracefully backed down. I had initially thought she might be a bit spoiled given her noble demeanor, but she didn’t seem that way after all.
“How close do you think we should get?”
I turned to Linford again. It’s common knowledge that long-range attacks lose power the further away they are. The closer we are, the stronger the attack, but considering the risk of counterattacks, keeping our distance might be safer.
“Hmm…”
Linford gazed at the Sea Emperor Turtle, deep in thought, before turning back to us.
“Conversely, how close do you think you can safely approach?”
“Eh?”
“Ah, why not come aboard our ship? There’s no need to waste magic power before we even attack.”
Even though it was us who were supposed to be asking, I could hear murmurs from behind questioning why we should heed his opinion. Linford completely ignored them. I was curious about their thoughts too, so I would appreciate an answer.
That said, if we could conserve our magic power, I wouldn’t mind landing on their ship.
“You look puzzled, but I’ve heard that you were the first to investigate the Sea Emperor Turtle. You must know more about it than I do.”
His words silenced the murmurs behind me. Thank you for answering. However, I understood that they wanted to hear our firsthand experience from the investigation. I might as well voice my thoughts.
“If that’s the case…”
As I recalled our investigation, Rio spoke up first.
“During our investigation, the turtle didn’t show any signs of aggression, so I believe it should be safe to approach and even ride on its back.”
“However, considering the possibility of a counterattack, we can’t say it’s completely safe no matter how far away we are. We still don’t know its attack methods… But if we trust the Record from 150 Years Ago, it shouldn’t retaliate, so we don’t need to be overly cautious.”
“That’s right. At the very least, we should maintain a distance where its bites can’t reach us.”
Since our attacks would be from the ship, it would be wise to keep a distance where physical attacks wouldn’t reach us.
“Hmm, thank you. That’s very helpful. It’s so large that it’s hard to gauge the distance, but… let’s keep about a hundred meters away. It’s endless if we start worrying about long-range attacks.”
As we discussed the Sea Emperor Turtle with Linford, it seemed the follow-up ship had finally arrived, and loud voices echoed toward us.
“W-What are you all doing here!?”
The loudest voice belonged to Rex. Other B Rank Adventurers were also making a racket, but the elf Saskia appeared to be rather uninterested.
“Why do you think? It’s obviously work.”
“I-I’m not asking something so obvious! I’m asking how you got here!”
Who exactly tried to interfere with that “obvious” question?
Well, it seemed we would soon reveal how we arrived, so I might as well spill the beans now. If we seriously attacked the turtle, the launch platform wouldn’t remain intact.
“Well, we flew here, of course.”
As I floated up, we moved toward the ship we were originally supposed to board. Nil leaped effortlessly onto the ship, landing without a hint of vibration.
“‘What!?’”
The B Rank Adventurers stared wide-eyed, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Wow… You use some interesting magic.”
However, it was Saskia, who had seemed uninterested until now, who finally reacted.
“I can sense wind attribute magic, but it seems mixed with other attributes… What could this sensation be…?”
Yet, she merely stared at us, muttering to herself without attempting to engage in conversation.
“Y-You flew…?”
As we landed on the ship, Rex instinctively took a step back.
“I have a fair amount of confidence in my magical attacks, so please take care of me, alright?”
With a smile, Rio addressed Rex, who took another step back, nodding in response. The other B Rank Adventurers seemed to have no objections, which was a relief.
“Alright! Now that everyone is here, let’s reconfirm the plan!”
As the crew was reassigned according to the original plan, Linford raised his voice. The ten of us had been dispatched to divert the Sea Emperor Turtle’s course. We had to fulfill our objective.
Before us loomed the colossal form of the Sea Emperor Turtle, which looked more like an island. Its limbs and neck were obscured from view, making it impossible to discern how they were positioned.
The turtle’s shell appeared to rise almost vertically from the water, rugged and seemingly indestructible.
Our assault on this monster was about to begin.