**Side: Ludia**
It’s been five days since we left Amister’s Royal Capital, Float, and we’re currently on a ship bound for Valentia.
We’re scheduled to arrive at Etrada, a port town and one of Valentia’s gateways, this evening. However, there’s not much to do on a ship, so we have quite a bit of free time.
Immediately after leaving the Royal Capital and around Bacion, there’s a barrier, so monsters rarely appear. But from there to Valentia, monsters normally attack, so the hunters we hired are on a sleepless watch. This time, though, we’ve only been attacked once, so it’s been very peaceful.
“I thought so, too.”
Correction. The peace only lasted until just a moment ago. Now, dead monsters are scattered all over the deck.
Naturally, Yamato was the one who took them down.
We, of course, hunted a few monsters, as did some of the escorting hunters, but even all of our combined kills couldn’t match Yamato’s alone. Still, this is typical for us.
“Rika, how was it?”
“The support was precise, so I didn’t think it was too dangerous. Thanks to that, even I could defeat monsters, but still, a Thunder Squid isn’t a monster you can defeat this easily, is it?”
Rika-sama is answering Prim, but there’s a hint of exasperation in her voice. It’s only natural, considering the attackers were a swarm of Thunder Squids. These monsters don’t usually form packs, so it might have been a coincidence, but with over thirty of them, it’s hard to say.
“Tell that to Yamato. Speaking of which, where is Yamato?”
“He hasn’t returned yet… Ah, he’s back.”
My sister replied while gazing out at the sea. At the same time, something emerged from the sea and landed on deck. In fact, that ‘something’ was Yamato.
“I’m back! I caught some!”
Yamato says with a wide smile, but normally, one wouldn’t jump off a ship to hunt, would they?
“Welcome back. How many were there?”
Prim welcomes Yamato as if it’s the most natural thing, but honestly, these two are a bit out of sync.
“There were three, but there were other big ones too. Here.”
Yamato showed us a Questing board. They were indeed big ones.
“Three Wise Octopuses, one Scythe Tentacle, and one Kraken. Not as big as I thought.”
“Since they were in the sea, they must have been growing in seclusion.”
“Probably.”
The escort hunters listening to Yamato and Prim’s conversation turned pale. It’s understandable. Wise Octopuses are G-N Rank Monsters, but Scythe Tentacles are an abnormal species of Thunder Squid, a P-I Rank Monster, and Krakens are abnormal species of Wise Octopuses, M-I Rank Monsters.
“I-I’m sorry, but could I see it too?”
“Ah, Captain. Please.”
The ship’s female captain, also pale, is confirming Yamato’s Questing board.
“It’s definitely a Kraken and a Scythe Tentacle… I’ve heard that the damage in this sea area has been increasing recently, but I never imagined something like this was here…”
Ah, I do remember hearing about increasing damage in some sea area, but it was around here. It’s strange to think it’s so close to Etrada, but the eastern side of Valentia is almost entirely sheer cliffs, so noharbors can be built. That’s why Etrada, located in the central area, is the easternmost port town. There are more towns further east, but they’re not port towns.
“I’ll show them to you when we arrive at Etrada, but we want them ourselves, so we can’t sell all of them.”
Wise Octopuses and Thunder Squids are delicious, so it’s a given that their abnormal species, Scythe Tentacles and Krakens, must be delicious too. I’m actually looking forward to it a little.
“It’s difficult to conduct investigations in the sea, and if more damage hadn’t occurred, we wouldn’t have known there were Scythe Tentacles and Krakens.”
“Indeed. It’s fortunate we could defeat them before more damage occurred.”
Sir Yuri and Mana also spoke with a hint of exasperation. This is an important shipping route connecting Amister and Valentia, so securing its safety is a big deal. The escort hunters probably never expected such monsters to be present.
“As expected of an M-rank Hunter and O-rank Order, perhaps… …”
“N-no, even if they are an Ancient Human, to defeat Scythe Tentacles and Krakens alone, and by diving into the sea on their own, that’s impossible…”
“I understand what you mean, but it’s clearly displayed on the Questing board, so there’s no room for doubt, is there?”
The escort Hunter’s Raid, Oceanlight Falcon, is in disarray, but that’s unavoidable. Oceanlight Falcon is a Hunter’s Raid composed of two High Class hunters and fifteen Normal Class hunters, belonging to Valentia. They were on their way back from an expedition to Amister, and by chance, they accepted the escort request for the regular ship. During their stay in Float, the Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron were made public, and they were fortunate enough to obtain weapons made of these materials, so they were satisfied and heading back to Valentia. Oceanlight Falcon could obtain them because they are from Valentia; if they were hunters from Baliente, it would have been impossible. Hunters from Retisencia? Diplomatic relations have been severed, and the Hunter’s Guild has already withdrawn, so there are no hunters left in Retisencia. The Crafter’s Guild and Butler’s Guild have also withdrawn, with only the Trader’s Guild operating on a reduced scale.
Also, regarding the manufacturing methods for Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron, the day after we left the Royal Capital, the methods should have been released to the Crafter’s Guilds of Valentia, Torencia, and Alegria. They’re probably in an uproar in those three countries right now!
“You defeated more than half of the Thunder Squids too, but are you really not selling them?”
“We’ll sell about half of the Wise Octopuses and Thunder Squids. However, since Scythe Tentacles and Krakens are delicious, we’ll only sell about two legs at most.”
“Even then, the Etrada Hunter’s Guild will gladly buy them. After all, it’s been ten years since the last Scythe Tentacle, and the last Kraken landed over a hundred years ago.”
That might be so. Both are sea monsters, but once they’re brought ashore, it’s said their rank drops by one, so defeating them isn’t entirely impossible. Still, bringing them ashore is difficult, and there’s also the issue of where to bring them, leading to immense damage. But to defeat abnormal species of sea monsters alone, by diving into the sea from here, and multiple of them at that—it breaks common sense.
Not to mention, we have a few people here who have heard the sound of common sense breaking.
“I-I had heard about it…”
“I-it’s too preposterous…”
“Seeing it with my own eyes… I don’t know what to say…”
Carol, her maid Yuria, and Mana-sama’s maid Marisa are looking at Yamato with disbelief, as if seeing a creature that defies all understanding. All three of them had only heard stories before; seeing it now makes them doubt their own sanity and common sense.
Sir Yuri’s maid, Viola, also only heard about it. However, Viola, like Sir Yuri and us, was saved by Yamato and Prim when they were in danger. She also knows what the two of them did at Feel, so she seems quite accustomed to it.
“I understand how you feel, but it’s better to get used to it quickly?”
Everyone nods vigorously in agreement with Mana-sama. Of course, I do too.
“Other than the Kraken, Scythe Tentacle, and Wise Octopus, Yamato-san defeated eighteen Thunder Squids.”
“I only defeated two Thunder Squids.”
“I defeated one.”
Flam is checking Yamato’s Questing board, and Raus and Rebecca are checking their own. As expected, Yamato defeated more than half of the Thunder Squids.
“There are only Thunder Squids on deck, so including what Oceanlight Falcon hunted, that’s thirty-five. Ah, I hunted three.”
My sister casually states her kill count. I also hunted three, Mana-sama two, Meena and Flam, and Rika-sama one each. That means Oceanlight Falcon hunted three. Even with weapons made of Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron, Thunder Squids are S-rank monsters. It’s a difficult monster for the two High Class hunters of Oceanlight Falcon, but the fact that they managed to hunt them without significant injuries is quite an achievement.
“No, honestly, I’m losing confidence.”
“Me too. You are Hydragonewts, and H.R.H. Manalease is a High Elf, so it’s still understandable, but those children over there…”
The two female High Class hunters from Oceanlight Falcon say this. Both are Hydragonewts like us, but they’ve completely lost their fighting spirit. In their line of sight is Raus, who has a troubled look on his face. Raus casually defeated two monsters without Prim’s support.
“Yamato is Raus’s Master, so it’s natural for him to be like that.”
“Besides, Yamato-san is his regular training partner, so compared to him, the Thunder Squids probably feel like children’s play.”
Actually, Prim is also included in that, but since Prim being an Ancient Foxy is kept a secret, it can’t be mentioned in conversation.
“That may be true, but even before that, that child is B-rank at such a young age, isn’t she? That alone is enough to make one lose confidence?”
This is also Yamato’s fault. However, it’s undeniable that their level is increasing at an incredible rate, and they’re already close to S-rank. I wish Raus wouldn’t level up so quickly.
“If you say that, don’t you think the person who reached M-rank at just seventeen years old is more questionable?”
My sister seems to have sensed the atmosphere and shifted the focus to Yamato. Thanks, sister.
“That’s true, but when someone is that far ahead, you lose even the desire to envy them.”
“I agree.”
I can understand that feeling too.
“Hey, stop using me as an excuse.”
“I can’t help it if I don’t want people to pry too much about Raus. Besides, it’s already public knowledge that Yamato is an M-rank Hunter and O-rank Order, so it’s not like it’s a secret anymore.”
Prim teases Yamato, perhaps because her own level is kept secret. But speaking of that, does Prim realize she’s also close to M-rank?
“That’s true. Well, here comes another one.”
Saying that, Yamato created an ice spear, Ice Lance, and defeated an Éclair Dolphin that leaped out of the sea in a single blow. It’s their turn again this time.
“It’s not strange for them to attack around here, as they are common in this area.”
“It’s probably also because the barrier is nearby.”
“Indeed.”
As Rika-sama says, monsters cannot enter the barrier. Strictly speaking, it’s a bit different, but most monsters are blocked by the barrier. The Éclair Dolphins attacking us now are the same. If we enter the barrier, we’ll have little to worry about from monsters. Perhaps understanding this instinctively, some monsters loiter near the barrier, so we need to be more cautious when entering the barrier than usual. This is especially true for sea monsters.
“Hmm, fewer than I expected. In that case, I’ll focus on support.”
Mana-sama replies to Yamato. Indeed, Rika-sama, Meena, and Flam are holding their weapons firmly. On the other hand, Raus and Rebecca have put away their weapons and are in a spectator stance. No, they’re not slacking off. We’ve decided to have Raus and Rebecca spectate so they don’t level up any further.
Instead, Butler Marisa is wielding a two-handed axe, Viola is using twin swords, and Yuria is holding a sword. It’s good for Butlers to gain combat experience, as they do fight sometimes.
By the time we reached Etrada’s barrier, we had been attacked by a total of fifteen Éclair Dolphins. They usually live in groups, and a typical group consists of about twenty individuals, so this was a small number. Still, Meena, Flam, and Marisa each defeated three, Rika-sama and Viola defeated two each, and Yuria managed to defeat one. The remaining three were hunted by Oceanlight Falcon, with Yamato’s support, who seemed very apologetic. While it was their own doing, it’s understandable to feel that way when an Ancient Human offered support.
