Chapter 135: Careful with Perishable Goods

Short shorts emphasizing mobility, a tiny body swallowed by baggy pirate rags, hair that looks like it was hacked off with zero fashion consideration. With a scrap of bandage stuck to his cheek with something sticky, his face just oozes unearned confidence. He’s a total brat—the kind that makes you want to flick his forehead—sitting there all puffed up and looking down on us like he's the king of the world.

Amazing. I can’t even find a better word than "brat"! For real... compared to this kid, Pencilgon-san looks like a saint. No, "brat" is too kind—he’s just straight-up trash...

"Hah, thought you guys were too scared to show up, but you actually came, tiny woman!"

"...Brat. As always, the only thing you have going for you is your cheek."

"What was that!?"

I’m used to chatting with Emul, so watching Rust and the brat—Stude, I think it was?—trade insults is a trip. The way he takes the bait is impressive. Even his inability to handle being roasted is high-level brat behavior.

"Stilts-girl is still as wobbly as ever!"

"Haha... I’m a liberal arts major, so..."

"I don't know if you're a major or a minor, just eat some more meat!"

It’s a matter of the Soul[*4] (Player), and I doubt eating in-game meat tastes like anything more than thin jerky anyway. While Stude was busy making a scene with his incredibly bratty attitude toward Rust and Mold, he looked my way, started to say something, and then... for some reason, looked away.

"Why’d you look away?"

"Ugh..."

Stude’s gaze had been darting around like a sardine dodging a predator, but the second it locked with mine, he broke contact within seconds. Looking closer, it’s not just Stude; all the pirate NPCs are trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"Hmm...?"

I’ve got more than enough reason to suspect why, but do I really have an effect that strong, enough to make outlaws like these pirates openly avoid looking at me? Stude starts talking to me with the kind of caution you’d use to offer food to a sleeping lion in a cage—or maybe it's more like touching a festering wound.

"O-o-oi... let’s get your name, then!"

"Sunraku. I’m tagging along to help these two out this time. My specialty is cracking Lycaon’s jaw."

"Th...... that so! Yeah, w-well, that’s plenty gritty of you! If you work for me, I’ll pay you a fitting, r-r-r......"

"Reward?"

"Yeah! I’ll pay you the rewaaaaard!"

I was feeling a bit mischievous, so I stared him down while dropping that little flex. It wasn't just Stude whose eyes took a critical hit; the other NPCs started whispering among themselves, sweating bullets.

"Like, the reckless bravery of a rogue, or the guts to not fear the impossible..."

"Trying to test your mettle and just straight-up committing suicide are two different things, you know... Fgyun!?"

The scarf-fairy muttered something stupid in response to my internal monologue, so I cleared my throat to cover it up and flicked my finger at where the fairy's head should be. The scarf-fur is vibrating, but I’m sure that’s just static electricity.

"Let’s get straight to business. I’ve heard the general gist from those two, but... I want the explanation directly from the client."

"Y-yeah, that’s fair... You guys are going to board my... no, our ship and smash that 'Ghost Ship' to pieces!"

"Ghost ship?"

"Yeah, a ghost ship... the 'Crying Innsman,' the enemy that killed my Papa... no, my old man...!"

[Unique Scenario "Pierce the Apostle of the Abyss" initiated. Yes/No]

"Papa," huh? A cute way to put it. I summarize Stude's story—which is laced with anger and grief—and it pretty much matches what Rust and the others told us.

The ghost ship Crying Innsman... a cursed demonic vessel that appears with storms and drags living sailors to the depths of the ocean. It used to be a pirate ship belonging to a crew that was exceptionally cruel yet incredibly brave, but now it sails the seas manned by the former crew, who have transformed into monsters—thralls to the "Lord of the Abyss."

When Stude’s father encountered the Crying Innsman, he boarded the ghost ship all by himself, taking on the monsters so his crew and ship could escape. There’s no chance of his survival, and Stude, his only son left behind, can’t stand as the new captain until he sinks the ship that killed his father... that’s the gist of the scenario.

"Got it... So, what kind of monsters are actually on the Crying Innsman?"

"W-well... they’re horrifying. Just thinking about it makes me sick. It’s like some monster made by mashing up rotting fish and human corpses."

"Isn't that just a rotten fish ball...? Anyway, I should just assume they're like half-fish men, then?"

Departure is in one hour. As the pirates bustle about to prepare for launch—loading weapons and food onto a sailing ship that, while not as massive as that giant vessel, is still plenty big—I ask one of the mob-A-tier pirates about the monster's traits.

Since my presence is clearly terrifying, I’m leaving the contact with Stude to Rust and Mold.

"Man, this Lycaon's Scar is more effective than I thought..."

"Well, of course, Sunraku-san. The Vorpal Soul radiating from your entire body is giving off a pressure like it’s going to mince anyone who gets close."

"Am I a broken knife or something?"

If the effect is this strong, it’s going to be a pain to talk to NPCs. Even Stude, an NPC who is basically the concept of "brat" made manifest, is quieter than a scaredy-cat. Honestly, he could at least laugh at the fact that I’m half-naked.

Maybe it's because this world is full of monsters, or maybe it's because we're about to raid a supernatural ghost ship, but they’re loading the ship with armaments that definitely weren't designed for anti-personnel combat.

"So it's a ship-to-ship battle... It’s not a Kraken or anything, right?"

Standard pirate ship armaments are usually cannons, but what they're loading onto the ship aren't cannons, but giant crossbows called ballistae. Maybe it's because gunpowder doesn't exist? They could probably just use magic to handle it. Ah, but then again, maybe guns don't exist because magic can't handle it. Speaking meta, it’s probably so they can keep the advantage of "Guns" being a category exclusive to Legacy Weapons.

"Ship-to-ship combat..."

"I’ve never been on a ship before!"

"...Well, you’re always being physically whipped around, so I doubt you’ll get seasick."

"?"

Fighting on a ship is a pain in the ass. If you throw a storm into the mix, it’s basically like fighting while an earthquake is constantly happening.

Visibility is shaking, your footing is unstable, and since your core is being tossed around with the deck, weapons that require pinpoint aiming are heavily restricted. Luckily, I (Sunraku) don't have any attack methods that require sniping, so I won't be as severely hindered, but I’ll still need a strategy.

"Securing footing... cooldown management... learning the rhythm of the ship's sway... predicting the AI movement patterns for both allies and enemies..."

"Sunraku-san, you say things that are sometimes harder to understand than magic spells..."

"If anything, that’s not Magic, that’s Logic... Hm?"