Chapter 132
I was sitting on the edge of the ghost ship’s deck.
I’d been blankly staring at the giant fishing rod for quite some time now.
Tired of waiting, I said to Teach, who was sitting beside me.
“Isn’t something wrong here?”
“Please be patient, Captain. Fishing is all about the fun of waiting.”
“No, I’ve been waiting forever and it hasn’t even twitched.”
“…It’s only been five minutes, though?”
“Grrrgh! This is boring! I’m bored!”
Letting out a scream of boredom, I started writhing around wildly. I could feel Teach’s pitying gaze from beside me, but I didn’t care.
“This can’t be right….”
Why was nothing happening after entering the Tower?
But I wasn’t letting my guard down.
I’d been caught off guard like this before, and then a monster had suddenly appeared and smashed my precious statue to pieces.
“Oh! It bit!”
The fishing rod gave a tiny twitch. I hurriedly grabbed it.
Whoosh—!
The bare hook sliced through the air and flew over my head. It was empty, with no bait, let alone a fish.
“No, I definitely saw it move.”
“That was just the wave jostling it, captain. And if you make such a fuss, you’ll scare all the fish away.”
Teach clicked his tongue and said.
“And the line’s tangled too.”
“Ugh….”
Because I’d yanked it too quickly, the fishing line was a complete mess. I groaned and tried to untangle it, but the more I touched it, the worse it got.
“Forget it, I’ll just cut it. Bring me a new line.”
“Hand it over. I’ll fix it for you.”
Just as I was about to snap the line, Teach, unable to watch any longer, snatched the fishing rod away.
His rough fingers moved with astonishing delicacy. In an instant, the fishing line was untangled.
“Rebait it too.”
Teach held out the bait box. Inside were wriggling sandworms.
“Ugh, gross….”
I pinched a sandworm between my fingers. Just as I was about to thread it onto the hook—
[….]
“S-sorry.”
The sandworm wrapped around my finger let out a faint groan.
I suddenly felt sorry for the sandworm. It already looked depressed lately from not being able to do much. I should look after it.
“Put this one on for me instead.”
“Y-yes. If the captain says so, then so be it.”
Teach shook his head and took the hook from my hand. He baited it as if it were nothing.
I covered the sandworm with my palm so it wouldn’t have to watch.
“Kids shouldn’t look.”
[……The sandworm claims it has nothing to do with that little creature.]
You were visibly uncomfortable just now, what do you mean?
I took the rod back and cast it again.
Plop.
This time, I’d really catch something.
But no matter how solemnly I glared at it, the float didn’t budge.
My concentration scattered again after only a few minutes.
“Leaving me aside, why can’t you catch anything at all when you’re a pirate?”
“Hm, it seems the fish recognized my swagger and fled. They just aren’t biting today.”
That made sense. I mean, a pirate captain should know how to put his swagger to use.
Then it happened. Teach’s rod bent sharply.
“Oh?”
“Hrrrgh!”
Teach grunted and lifted the fishing rod.
Flap-flap-flap!
What came up was a tuna nearly as tall as a person.
“That’s a keeper! Let’s slice it up and eat it as sashimi!”
I shouted excitedly, but Teach freaked out and waved his hands.
“No, you can’t eat something like this raw! That’s asking for trouble.”
“Why? It looks fresh.”
“Take a closer look.”
Teach pointed at the fish’s face. Sure enough, looking closely, something was off. Dozens of eyeballs packed tightly together.
It was way too disgusting. Was this a fish or a monster?
Suddenly, all those countless eyeballs moved in unison and stared at me.
“Eek!”
Without realizing it, I stumbled backward, slipped on a puddle, and landed hard on my backside.
“Owww…!”
Tears welled up in my eyes. I rubbed my backside and asked Teach,
“W-what is that monster, anyway?”
“It’s something that gets caught in these waters pretty often. If you eat it raw, you’ll regret it.”
“I don’t want to eat it even if it’s cooked….”
Despite my protests, Teach pulled out a dagger and skillfully slit the fish open.
“H-hey! I was joking! You’re really going to eat that?”
“Just wait a moment…. Things like this have something good inside their bellies.”
Squelch. Squish-squish.
Teach rummaged through the fish’s innards and pulled something out.
A small gem glowing red.
“Eat it. It’s good for you.”
“T-this?”
I took the gem uneasily. It was something that didn’t even trigger an item appraisal.
“Ugh…. Are you sure this thing is really good for me?”
“If you’re not going to eat it, hand it over.”
[Give it to me! Give it to me!]
From far away, Teach’s parrot, which had been preening its feathers, somehow noticed and quickly flew over.
The parrot zipped around above my head and squawked nonstop.
Why hasn’t someone taken this thing away yet?
“It’s food. Just eat it.”
I shut my eyes tightly and swallowed the gem.
If it’s good, then I might as well eat it first.
There probably wouldn’t be any problem. My stomach literally chews up and swallows stones.
“Huh?”
A faint warmth spread from my stomach. It was mana.
I could feel my mana amount increasing, even if only by a tiny bit.
So it was something like an essence of spirits. I quickly figured out what the stone was.
“It’s good, but it’s a bit small.”
[Pig! Pig!]
“…You’re not raising that parrot as emergency rations, are you?”
Teach chuckled.
“Usually you’d feel a much bigger effect…. I guess the captain is just that strong? If I’d known, I would’ve just eaten it myself.”
“Well…. Still, thanks.”
Suddenly, I remembered the giant deep-sea fish I’d seen when I went diving last time. It was big enough to swallow someone like me in one bite.
I wondered if it had something like this in its belly too. If so, how big would it be?
I could feel my mouth watering all of a sudden.
“I should check my skill while I’m at it….”
There still wasn’t any sign of an enemy appearing.
I first took out the black mage’s robe and wand I’d been hoarding in my bag.
“What’s this?”
“A reward for what you just got. I thought it would suit the ghost ship.”
Since wearing this could risk making it impossible to use my original magic, it would be better to have a non-mage wear it.
“I entrust this robe to you. It’s my precious robe, so make sure you return it later. Become a great pirate and….”
“Why are you pressing down on my hat if you’re giving me the robe?”
“Just put it on first.”
Teach, though puzzled, threw the robe on.
Teach in a black mage robe with his worn pirate coat layered over it. His fashion sense was beyond absurd.
But the effect was undeniable.
The moment he put the robe on, black aura rose from Teach’s body. Just like the black mage who’d appeared as a boss on the 40th floor.
“Damn it, Captain! What is this power?”
“Try using it.”
Teach, the man least suited to magic in the world, drew out the wand. In his hand, it looked like a musket pistol.
When he swung the wand, the ship suddenly shot forward. An acceleration no ship should ever experience.
“Aaaagh! The ship’s gone crazy!”
“What is this!”
Shouts from the other pirates rang out all around.
“This is fun, actually. Knowledge of how to handle this ship is coming into my head. What a strange item.”
“Good, now we’re set.”
While Teach got used to his new gear, I went back to sit at the edge of the deck.
At this rate of sailing, we’d run into something before long.
Before that, I was thinking of practicing my skill. I took a handful of sand and tossed it into the sea.
Splash!
The grains sank into the deep blue water.
If this were the old me, my control would have weakened the moment it touched the water, but now it was different.
Gold-rank skill, Conductor. A passive that increases mana conductivity between particles.
My mana stretched out like invisible threads, linking each grain of sand. It felt as if I were threading beads one by one.
Water normally had the property of severing the connections between particles, but now they were firmly linked and wouldn’t come apart. Controlling them was free and easy too.
It meant I could use magic underwater just as well as on land.
“What happens if I send this sand all the way to the bottom?”
A sudden spark of curiosity hit me.
I sent the sand deeper down.
As it went lower, the pressure and mana consumption grew worse, and the stream of sand thinned, but it didn’t break.
Yet no matter how far it went, there was only the endless feel of the deep sea, with no bottom in sight.
“Teach, how long would it take to reach the bottom here?”
“Huh? The bottom of the sea? Well, maybe half a day? We don’t even have a rope that long to begin with….”
“That deep?”
“No one really knows how deep it is. Who would have ever gone down that far?”
Come to think of it, it was the sea. It had to be unimaginably deep.
Was this too much greed after all?
I cut off my connection to the sand.
That was when—
“Reef zone spotted ahead!”
A sailor in the crow’s nest shouted.
Looking toward the horizon, I saw jagged rocks jutting up from the water. A fairly wide reef zone.
Could that be this floor’s destination?
“What about the compass?”
“It’s ambiguous. It could be between the reefs, or it could be telling us to take a detour….”
In times like this, safety came first. If this ship smashed into the reef and sank, it would be a disaster.
“Let’s go around it. Make a wide turn.”
“Understood. Hard to starboard!”
Teach turned the wheel.
Just as the ship was slowly turning to avoid the reef zone—
[Aah—— Aaaah—]
“Huh? What was that sound?”
“Sounds like singing….”
Singing drifted over from somewhere.
The voice of a woman carried on the wind. Its timbre was beautiful even at first hearing.
The sailors stopped what they were doing and listened.
A song so captivating that I found myself focusing on it without realizing it.
So sweet that just listening to it made my heart feel calm….
“……Huh?”
The sailors’ eyes began to glaze over.
Drooling, they stared vacantly into space.
Even Teach loosened his grip on the wheel and wore a dazed expression.
Creak—
The ship turned back toward the reefs.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
I shook Teach.
But without answering, he just grinned stupidly.
I could tell what was happening right away.
“Siren?”
A monster that lured sailors with song and made them crash into reefs.
It wouldn’t work on me because I was immune to mental attacks, but the other sailors were a different story.
At this rate, even if we cleared the floor, the ship itself would be in danger of sinking.
What should I do? Block their ears? But how, in the middle of all this?
“…Should I block it with something even louder?”
I knew one method.
A function I’d kept sealed away from shame for so long.
But now was not the time to worry about that.
I took my flag, which had been planted in one corner of the ship, and operated it.
[Current area: radius 50m / 150 decibels]
[This is the current maximum output.]
“Music, start.”
With the sound of fireworks bursting, a familiar line exploded into view.
[The lawful ruler of Daejeon, the one who eats sand, the most vicious slave lord….]