Kiririring-!
The rusty anchor chain was unraveling at a rapid pace.
It was a deafening sound of friction that made me wince involuntarily.
As it descended so quickly, there was a sound like a giant ball bursting when the anchor collided with the sea.
Soon after, a heavy vibration traveled up the anchor chain. Everyone lost their balance and stumbled, and Oshalo even fell forward.
Thud.
It was a close call. Cannonballs were falling all around the ship. Countless water columns began to rise before our eyes.
Swoosh-!
Swoosh-!
Some of them burst right in front of our ship.
If the ship had been just a little bit forward, it would have been shattered to pieces.
Naturally, the Count, myself, and Oshalo, we all ended up soaked like wet rats.
“Oh. Good thing I didn’t wear it.”
The Count was stroking his necklace.
Wasn’t that a dangerous situation just now?
If we had made the slightest mistake, we could have been sinking together to the bottom of the sea.
Suddenly, my trust in him plummets.
I looked at the captain and said,
“You’re going to accelerate again, right? I’ll raise the anchor for you.”
The captain nodded at my words, somewhat bewildered.
The device for raising the anchor is shaped like a giant millstone, with five sailors holding handles protruding in five directions and turning it.
Recalling this mechanism, I extended my staff. The device began to turn on its own, starting to pull in the iron chain connected to the anchor.
The five sailors assigned to this task wore blank expressions.
“Don’t just stand there, you turn it too!”
As the captain shouted, they quickly grabbed the handles and started turning rapidly.
The captain raised his hand again.
It was a matter of moments before the first mate recognized this and signaled to the slave overseer in the hold, and the slave overseer in turn signaled to each of the slaves.
Kirik-!
As the anchor was fully raised, the ship began to move forward quickly once more.
These slaves are strong.
The captain passed by Count Furst, myself, and Oshalo, placing one foot on the bow of the ship, and took out a telescope from his shirt.
Then he carefully examined the Franche warship.
“Won’t they fire their cannons in order?”
The captain answered the Count’s question in a low voice.
“If they had the brains for that, they wouldn’t have thought to fire randomly in the first place. As expected, the number of fired cannonballs matches the number of gun ports. We just need to get within range before they reload. It’s risky, but if your mage can block that glowing thing like before, we should be able to approach successfully.”
The captain glanced at me once and then passed by us again, heading towards the helmsman responsible for steering the ship.
The pirate ship moved in a zigzag pattern while rapidly advancing towards the Franche warship.
Definitely not a simple pirate.
“Ran. I see a red glow, it seems they’re preparing magic again on the other side.”
Hmm, it’s the same magic.
They probably dismissed the previous failure as a fluke.
Well, all I did was manipulate the moisture, so they probably didn’t sense traces of my magic.
Just like before, I held up my transparent magic book and raised my staff high, gathering moisture in the sky above the Franche warship.
As time passed, the red light rose into the sky and gathered in an instant.
Pop-!
As expected, the fire magic only produced a small light for a very brief moment before disappearing.
I lowered my staff and said,
“They must have noticed by now. That there’s a mage here too.”
“Then, what do you think they’ll do next?”
“Well… They’ll probably join the attack, won’t they?”
Whoosh.
Speak of the devil.
A small flame rose like a ball from the bow of the Franche warship, soon growing large enough to obscure everyone’s vision.
The light wasn’t strong enough to reveal our position. However, it was clear they intended to throw it at us as we approached.
It would be more accurate than cannonballs, I suppose.
I heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind, and soon the captain spoke to me.
“We’re within cannon range now. But they’ll soon discover us and that fireball will hit us.”
He means he wants me to get rid of it, I guess.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I can’t eliminate that with my power.”
The captain’s face contorted at those words.
Just as he was about to express his anger, I stole his timing.
“If we turn tail and run now, we’re more likely to be hit by cannonballs. Our only option is to charge ahead.”
The captain looked back and forth between the Count and me several times, then growled,
“Let’s hope we don’t all end up as ashes.”
As he stomped away, Oshalo muttered,
“Up close, the Franche warship doesn’t look that big? We have almost ten ships, right?”
“That’s right. We might have helped too much.”
When I looked at the Count, he gave a slight nod.
It would be good if the pirates defeat the Franche army, but they shouldn’t win too easily.
The more pirates survive, in the short term, the more payment we’ll have to make, and in the long term, it leaves potential future problems.
“Come closer, just in case.”
Oshalo and I quickly moved next to Count Furst.
The captain stood on the high deck, shouting various orders. The pirate ships at the two ends of the V-formation gradually increased speed to form a straight line, then slowly reversed into a V-formation again.
It seemed they intended to surround the Franche warship.
“Pirate ships!”
“They’re here!”
We were close enough to hear the shouts of the Franche soldiers.
And at the same time, the fireball floating at the bow flew towards one end of the V-formation and collided with its center.
Boom-!
The fireball did more than just collide with the ship; it exploded in all directions simultaneously.
As a result, that ship completely lost its function, rapidly slowing down and beginning to sink into the sea.
Another fireball started forming on the Franche warship.
“Charge! I said charge! Ram into it!”
At that sound, the Count said to us,
“Let’s move towards the back of the ship.”
We carefully walked between the busily moving crew members towards the back of the ship.
As we were passing the center of the ship, another fully formed fireball flew towards us.
More precisely, towards the ship directly to our left.
Boom-!
With a tremendous explosion, the center of the ship burst open.
The explosion was so powerful that one of the crew members from that side, turned to black ash that flew all the way to the deck of our ship.
For a moment, everyone on the ship froze. All eyes were fixed on that corpse.
“Everyone, get it together! Keep moving!”
At the captain’s shout, everyone barely regained their senses and began to move busily again.
I muttered to the Count as we hurried our steps.
“The enemy mage seems to be at a higher level than Master Avana anticipated.”
“Yes. The advantage is not ours, but theirs. If you find it difficult to block that fire magic, you can retreat now if you want. What do you think?”
Retreat now?
What does he mean?
Is it the magic contained in the necklace?
Anyway, I can’t leave now.
I climbed onto a large box firmly attached to the deck, narrowed my eyes, and looked at the bow of the Franche warship.
More precisely, at the mage standing there.
Nothing else was particularly noteworthy, but the magnificent robe fluttering in the night wind caught my eye.
Come to think of it, I did need a good robe to hold my staff.
I jumped down with a whoosh.
“Running away with our tail between our legs will definitely have a negative impact on my magic too. I can’t do that.”
Magic is greatly influenced by things like confidence, dignity, or belief.
Even if one has exceptional talent, if these are lacking, the power of magic will inevitably be diminished.
If I run away before even facing the enemy in my first battle using magic, I will never be able to escape from such avoidance psychology in the future.
Of course, I won’t be able to overcome the difference in skill level, but the willingness to try is what’s important.
“Alright. I’ll trust you.”
He said that, but the Count’s gaze was fixed on the burning ship next to us.
Judging by the look in his eyes, it seemed he was ready to unleash the magic contained in the necklace immediately if the fireball were to fall on our ship.
At that moment, the captain rushed over from the bow. The anxiety was noticeable in his eyes, glistening in the firelight.
“Hey! I found you!”
The captain glared at me, the Count, and Oshalo in turn. Then he closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and said,
“Mage! Do something this time! If you can block it just once more, we can ram the ship!”
Turning my gaze, I could see another fireball gathering at the bow of the Franche warship.
It’s certainly at a level that my water magic can’t possibly block.
I quickly ran to the back edge. The V-shaped trail was visible behind the ship.
“Then this should do it.”
As I read the water magic, I extended my staff downward. A blue light flowed from the staff and scattered below the ship.
It gradually spread and seeped into the area where the ship met the water’s surface.
In that state, I turned my head slightly to look at the bow of the Franche warship.
At that moment, the fireball was fired towards us.
It was aimed precisely at our ship.
“Mage!”
“Ran!”
Count Furst and the captain shouted at me simultaneously.
At that moment, I infused psychokinesis power into my staff and cast water magic.
A sound like countless overlapping waves crashing resounded throughout the ship.
Swoosh-!
The ship suddenly moved more than twice as fast.
Of course, with water resistance drastically reduced, the ship’s speed had to increase.
The ship accelerated rapidly. So much so that not only the Count and Oshalo, but even the experienced captain and crew members fell over.
So how could the fireball possibly hit us?
The entire ship brightened.
Everyone who had fallen to the floor raised their heads to look at the sky in unison.
“……”
“……”
“……”
In the sky, the fireball was just grazing the tip of our ship’s anchor as it passed by.
It’s so hot that my face feels flushed even at this distance.
The fireball flew further and plunged into the sea where our ship had been just moments ago.
Hiss-!
It didn’t explode upon contact with the water.
Then a loud voice was heard from the front.
“We’re going to collide! Brace yourselves!”
No sooner had the captain’s cry fallen than our ship’s ram collided with the Franche warship.
Crash-!
A sound not of wood breaking, but like a forest collapsing.
With that thunderous noise and the impact, everyone staggered.
“Charge! Charge!”
The captain roared at the top of his lungs, and the crew members, clutching their disoriented heads, drew their swords. Then they began to rush towards the crushed part of the collision.
Due to the difference in sizes, a large hole had been torn in the middle of the Franche warship, creating a passage.
Inside, slaves with their legs chained were kneeling. Soldiers in uniforms were also visible. Around the point of impact, there were numerous crushed or dismembered individuals.
Through the gaping hole in the ship, layers of rowing slaves, cannons, soldiers, and luxury goods including silk were visible.
Did they just cram in everything they had? Why are there so many rowing slaves when the sails are so large?
Boom-!
Boom-!
The following pirate ships collided with both sides of the Franche warship. The Franche warship now looked as if it had suddenly grown eight new legs.
All the pirate ship crew members, including the captain, drew their weapons and entered the Franche warship, rummaging through it as if it were their own home.
“This way, the pirates will win significantly again.”
When I casually remarked, the Count said,
“There’s a fire mage. Franches won’t just sit back and take it. For now, stay with me. So we can escape at any time.”
“I’ve been curious for a while, what exactly is the magic contained in that necklace?”
“Flight.”
“Ah.”
“Using this, the three of us should be able to fly safely to Marshal Harbor.”
But at that moment, someone fell onto the empty deck with a thud.
Thump!
The ship shook violently as if it had hit a reef. Everyone lost their balance and staggered.
In a 2-meter radius.
The mage who had landed, crushing the deck in a circular shape, slowly raised his body and looked at me.
“Was it you? The one who interfered with my magic earlier?”
He seemed to have no interest in the battle between pirates and soldiers happening behind him.
It appeared he was focused solely on me.
Leave a Reply