Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 9 Page 2

  “Are we gonna go higher?”

  “We can go up to two hundred feet above the water.”

  This skypower engine was pretty low-output, so the ship couldn’t move through the air as freely as an airplane.

  “Go figure… Wait, you didn’t load it with a jet engine or anything, did you?”

  “No, of course not.” That caused me to grin.

  This was supposed to be a sailing ship, after all.

  A lot of empty space still remained, and the vessel had a standard mounter that could theoretically hold a big airship-style engine powered by Holytree Stone or jet propulsion, so I could easily make a magic device like that with the stocks I had in Storage.

  However, I wanted to prioritize making this look like a real sailing ship. I liked the image of sails catching the wind to propel the ship, whether it was real wind or Wind Magic.

  As I was discussing this with Arisa, Liza called out a warning from up ahead.

  “Master, it looks like the fog is rolling in.”

  Opening the map, I checked our position.

  There were no obstacles or monsters up ahead, so losing a bit of visibility shouldn’t be a big deal.

  …Hmm?

  Something felt a bit off just now.

  “Meowww?”

  Tama, sitting at the bow with her legs dangling, seemed to sense the same thing. Looking through the gaps in the sailcloth, I saw her ears flick back.

  All at once, the fog cleared and bright light shone down on us.

  The waves calmed somewhat, and even the temperature grew warm from the sun’s rays—grew pretty hot, in fact.

  Checking on my map, I saw that the area name had changed from Fairies’ Lost Ocean to Seadragon Islands.

  I selected “Search Entire Map” from the magic menu, gathering information about this new area.

  “Master, what happened?”

  “Don’t worry. The Bolenan elves’ magic sent us somewhere far away, that’s all.”

  This must be what they meant when they said the stormy seas wouldn’t last long.

  I explained the situation to Liza and the others.

  Since I hadn’t asked about the details, this was only my assumption, but I thought that must have been the Wandering Ocean spell that was in the elves’ spell book.

  So the Bolenan Forest was protected by a spell similar to the Wandering Forest spell that kept the old spriggan’s store hidden back in the old capital.

  “Forced teleportation? That’s pretty rough. Do you know where we are now?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. We seem to be in the Seadragon Islands, so if we go north from here, we’ll reach the Shiga Kingdom.”

  Once I explained this, everyone finally looked relieved.

  This area passed around a large empty space on my map and connected to the Ougoch Duchy area.

  I needed to set more seal slates for the Return spell anyway, so we could go north along the Seadragon Islands, pass into Ougoch Duchy waters, and head west along the continent.

  The Seadragon Islands was a curved archipelago spanning nearly two hundred miles and containing over a hundred islands of all shapes and sizes. All the islands were uninhabited, so there wasn’t a single resident of the area.

  There was, however, a huge amount of monsters called “sea serpents”: almost two thousand of them altogether, averaging level 30 with 40 being the max. There were a few called “deep sea serpents,” too, which were over level 50.

  There were plenty of monsters level 20 or under, but they all seemed to live on or near the islands.

  “It’s pretty hot, huh?”

  “Yes, it really is.”

  Now that they knew we weren’t in danger, Arisa and Lulu immediately noticed the area’s heat and started fanning themselves.

  “Why don’t I improve the ventilation a bit, then?”

  I operated the protective magic device that guarded us from the wind, setting it to let a certain amount of the breeze through.

  I’d had it completely cut off before so the wind wouldn’t whip everyone’s hair around.

  “Nice smell,” Mia murmured.

  “Now that’s refreshing!”

  “What a nice breeze.”

  Arisa and Mia let the breeze cool them off.

  “Saltyyyy?”

  “The breeze is shorey now, sir.”

  Tama and Pochi licked their lips, tasting the ocean spray carried by the wind.

  “Shore-y” was probably Pochi’s take on the word seashore, which she heard before we left.

  Oh, right. I should probably also use the UV-cutting spell I made—I think I called it Sunlight Protection—so they don’t get sunburned.

  “Master, the sunlight has become softer, I report.”

  Nana picked up on the change and reported it to me with a serious expression, so I quickly explained that it was my magic.

  Liza was squinting into the breeze, but then her eyes widened and she turned to me.

  “Master, perhaps we should take more precautions to monitor our surroundings.”

  I nodded at Liza’s proposal. “Good idea. I’ll leave it to you.”

  Since we’d just entered a new area, maybe we would see something interesting.

  On Liza’s command, Tama and Pochi clambered back up the rope ladder to the lookout post and kept watch from above, while Liza looked ahead with a longscope and Nana kept an eye out from the rear of the ship.

  “A boat in the waterrr?”

  “She’s right, sir! There’s a big boat underwater, sir!”

  As we proceeded on our way toward the Ougoch Duchy, Tama and Pochi called down to us from the lookout post.

  “A sunken ship! We’ll be rich!”

  Arisa’s eyes practically turned into dollar signs as she rushed to the side of the ship.

  I thought she might keep going right into the water.

  “Panicking is unsafe, I warn.”

  “Mm. Danger.”

  Nana and Mia quickly attempted to calm Arisa.

  “Master, it appears to be a large bluish ship.”

  Standing next to Liza, I peered down into the water as well.

  Beneath the sparkling sunlight bouncing off the waves, I could see an enormous ship below.

  Its hull was a metallic blue, noticeable even through the blue of the water as it caught the light.

  “Hmm. Looks like it’s pretty deep down there.”

  It was difficult to gauge the distance due to the refraction of light through the water, so I opened my map to find out the details.

  In terms of displacement, the sunken ship was probably ten times the size of ours. Its upper deck was about three hundred feet deep.

  Surprisingly, the AR display showed that the hull was made of blue adamantite—the same alloy as Hayato the Hero’s Holy Armor.

  If I’d found this before I went to the elf village, I probably would’ve been thrilled, but now that I could make it myself, it was nothing but an expensive treasure.

  The easiest solution would be to reach down with my Magic Hand and put it straight into Storage, but the idea of exploring a sunken ship did sound like fun.

  Luckily, there weren’t any monsters nearby that were lethally poisonous or strong enough to be a threat to my companions. The only possible sources of harm were creatures with weak poison, like scorpion fish and jellyfish, or biting fish like moray eels and sea snakes.

  “All right! Let’s explore the sunken ship!”

  Everyone cheered in agreement.

  Not wanting to damage our equipment in the water, I opted for void suits instead of swimsuits. I would’ve enjoyed seeing the likes of Nana and Lulu in swimsuits, but I had to prioritize their safety.

  “Scarecrow, activate Dimension Anchor.”

  On my command, the ship came to a halt with a mechanical clank.

  I didn’t want the ship to get carried away by the wind while we were getting ready, which was why I had the figurehead golem take care of it.

  Dimension Anchor was a
simplified, more magic-efficient version of the Space Magic spell Dimension Pile, which supported the World Tree.

  “The sexy Arisa is ready for her close-up!”

  “Mm. Sexy.”

  Arisa and Mia emerged from the cabin, wearing void suits resembling futuristic leotards.

  The void suits were normally worn with full-face helmets, but since those would float and prevent us from sinking properly, I’d chosen goggles instead.

  “So smooth, sir.”

  “Master, submit your appraisal, I request.”

  The other girls came out soon after.

  “You all look great.”

  Lulu seemed to be embarrassed by the clingy wet suit. Her cheeks were bright red, and she was fidgeting bashfully, which was very cute.

  “Lulu, do you want to wear this over it?”

  I felt bad leaving her like that, so I offered her a cardigan made out of the waterfeather cloth used by the finfolk.

  “Th-thank you.”

  I was sure Nana’s bust looked amazing in her suit, too, but the iron-wall pair of Arisa and Mia blocked me from seeing her. They’d forced her to wear a waterfeather cloth shirt, so sadly, I wasn’t able to confirm with my own eyes.

  I wished they’d at least let me get a glimpse before they did that.

  “Mia, once everyone’s gathered together, please cast Aqua Walk over the area.”

  “Mm.”

  Mia nodded and started chanting.

  The Aqua Walk spell was a Spirit Magic spell that fortified the target against water pressure and allowed them to breathe underwater. A combination of Water Magic spells like Water Breathing and Resist Water Pressure, it was a pretty convenient invention.

  As Mia finished her chant, I also used Enchant: Physical Protection on the group.

  “The flag’s flappiiing?”

  “Is there wind underwater, sir?”

  While we wrapped up our preparations, Tama and Pochi gazed down at the sunken ship.

  Taking a look myself, I noticed the cloth attached to the ship’s mast was undulating gently in the water.

  Oops, that was close. I forgot to check the current.

  “Nana, can you cast Mana Light on this coin?”

  “Yes, master.”

  I produced a large copper coin, had Nana light it up with Foundation, and tossed it into the sea. At first the coin sank slowly, but then partway down, it was suddenly whisked away.

  “Huh, so the current gets faster in that area.”

  Watching the coin vanish, Arisa sounded impressed.

  If Tama and Pochi hadn’t noticed, that could’ve been pretty dangerous.

  “Guess we had better attach lifelines.”

  If I used the Practical Magic spell Magic Hand to hold the lifelines, it would probably be even more secure, but I showed everyone how to tie lifelines in case they ever needed to do it when I wasn’t around.

  “Here we go.”

  Using Magic Hand, I lowered everyone into the water. Then I hopped down myself with “Skyrunning,” and together we all sank into the water.

  Thanks to Mia’s Spirit Magic spell Aqua Walk, we were able to breathe underwater. The ocean water made everything taste a little salty, but that was a small price to pay.

  The current did get faster partway down, but since I could use “Skyrunning” underwater, it was no problem.

  We kept sinking past the thirty-foot mark, and my ears didn’t pop in the slightest. Magic really was convenient.

  Finally, we reached the mast, which was broken in the middle.

  I was a little concerned about what could possibly break a thick adamantite mast.

  “Maaast?”

  It was hard to hear speech when it was mingled with the sound of bubbles, so I adjusted for it in my mind with my menu.

  “Let’s use this mast to get down to the deck.”

  There was no rope attached to the mast, but there were grooves where there seemed to have been speaking tubes attached, which worked just fine for handholds.

  “Maaade iiit?”

  “We’re here, sir.”

  One by one, everyone made it down to the deck of the sunken ship. The deck looked cleaner than I’d imagined. Maybe the fast currents cleaned away the dirt and salt.

  “Master, I have found a potential entry point, I report.”

  “Let’s go in that way, then.”

  We entered through the crack that Nana had located near the front of the ship.

  …That’s a pretty clean cut.

  Again, I was a bit worried about what might have cut the adamantite hull so cleanly, but it occurred to me that a Holy Sword or my “Spellblade” could do the same thing, as well as a highly concentrated Laser, so I decided not to think about it too much.

  I probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out anyway, so I just made a note of it in my memo tab.

  “It’s darker than I expected.”

  Lulu sounded nervous, so I handed her a pocket Mana Light made out of light stone.

  While I was at it, I had Nana put Mana Light on each person’s head.

  It wound up looking like the headlamps used by search parties.

  “Let’s explore the ship’s hold first!”

  “Aye-aaaye!”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Mm. Onward.”

  Arisa led the younger crew farther into the ship.

  Since we were underwater, I’d given Tama and Pochi harpoons made from land urchin spines. Even Liza, who normally refused to give up her Magic Cricket Spear under any circumstances, was using a similar harpoon so that her beloved weapon wouldn’t be damaged by the seawater.

  Lulu, Nana, and I followed behind Arisa and company, and Liza was bringing up the rear.

  “Arisa, try not to touch the floors and walls too much. The sediment will get everywhere.”

  “That’s a pretty tall order…”

  Tama and Pochi were pulling it off pretty easily, but it seemed to be more difficult for Arisa and Mia. I used the Practical Magic spell Pure Water to clear away the dirt that was floating in the hallway.

  “Hmm? Did the seawater just turn into fresh water?”

  “You’re right. Visibility appears to be higher, too.”

  Arisa and Liza looked around in surprise.

  Come to think of it, when I used Pure Water to help make an open-air bath back at the big river in the Ougoch Duchy, it did crystallize all the impurities. Maybe it had cleared away the salt of the seawater along with the sediment.

  After we were done exploring the ship, I’d have to figure out if I could use Pure Water to separate seawater into fresh water and salt.

  I had plenty of clean water and my Well Bag in Storage, so we wouldn’t have any shortage of drinking water, but the idea piqued my curiosity.

  “Little fiiish?”

  “Weird creatures, too, sir.”

  “Are those seahorses?”

  “Mm, pretty.”

  We avoided the floating matter and small fish as we proceeded down the passage.

  There were patches of exposed adamantite hull scattered about and occasional places where rusted metal pipes ran along the walls and ceiling.

  Most of them broke off partway through, leaving a mountain of rust fragments. I didn’t see a single thing made of wood.

  Contrary to what I’d assumed because it looked relatively clean from the outside, this ship must have actually sunk quite a long time ago.

  “A jaaar?”

  “It’s sparkly and gold, sir.”

  “What do you suppose it is?”

  “Vase?”

  The younger crew had found something in the corner of the hallway.

  “Octopuuus?”

  “The octopus is attacking, sir!”

  “Eek, don’t wave that harpoon around!”

  “Mm, danger.”

  They seemed to have agitated an octopus that was living in the golden vase, which came out and attacked Pochi.

  “Pochi! Drop the harpoon and use your short swor
d!”

  “A-aye!”

  Pochi was in panic mode, but Liza’s instructions brought her back to her senses, and she freed herself from the octopus’s tentacles with her short sword.

  “Gotchaaa?”

  The octopus sprayed a cloud of ink and attempted to flee, but Tama ran it through with her harpoon.

  I used the Practical Magic spell Pure Water to clear up the ink.

  After a few similar incidents, we arrived at the ship’s hold.

  By then, the net attached to Liza’s belt contained several different kinds of fish, while Tama’s net was full of shells she’d picked up on the way. Pochi was carrying a rolled-up octopus.

  Nana and Lulu were in charge of transporting the valuables.

  “Gold coooins?”

  “Lots of shells, sir.”

  Just as the hallway had been buried in pieces of rusted metal, the ship’s hold was full of rusty gold coins and other riches.

  As Pochi said, there were cockscomb-like shellfish stuck to many of the coins.

  “Why are they sticking to the coins and not the walls or the floor?”

  “That’s a good question.”

  Maybe there was some kind of anti-shellfish magic device or rune built into the ship itself.

  “Master, I have located a treasury over here, I report.”

  “There’s an armory inside, too, master.”

  Since there wasn’t much point in looking at rusted armor, I went to see the treasury Nana had found before checking out the armory Liza had discovered.

  “Ooh, look at all the gold, silver, and pearls!”

  “So sparklyyy?”

  Arisa and Tama exclaimed with glee.

  Nana had placed Mana Lights throughout the room, which reflected off the treasure to create a beautiful effect.

  Farther inside, there was artwork like sculptures and even paintings.

  “It’s too bright, sir.”

  Lulu giggled. “It is quite dazzling, isn’t it?”

  Pochi tried to rub her eyes over her goggles, but Lulu stopped her with a hug.

  The gold ingots, ceramics, and so on were one thing, but how were these sculptures and paintings still intact?

  “Fixed?” Mia murmured thoughtfully.

  She was right. The treasure in the room was protected with the Fixify spell.

  Fixify was a Practical Magic spell that put things in a “Fixed” state by covering them with a transparent shell. It was essentially a magic vacuum, so it was used to protect things like artwork and precious metals.