Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 9 Read online

  Even our ship had been Fixed in the hangar of the World Tree for long-term storage.

  “Fixed? …I wonder if the ship’s power source is still functioning, then?”

  Arisa muttered a very interesting remark.

  Using my “Magic Power Vision” skill, I checked the air around us. It was so faint that it was barely visible, but there was definitely magic power circulating through the adamantite walls and floor.

  The magic hearth aboard the ship was definitely out of order, so it must have been some kind of backup electricity-like magic preservation system providing the power.

  “Everyone, gather around!”

  Disturbing things would break the Fixify spell, so I gathered everyone in one place to prevent them from touching things too much. The money and gold weren’t that big of a deal, but I didn’t want the art to get ruined by seawater.

  “…So, don’t move anything, okay? I’ll collect it all later.”

  “Master, I have already moved something. I apologize.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  Nana and Pochi had already tried to pick up some treasure, breaking the Fixify spell on it.

  “Just a little bit isn’t a big deal. We can fix it up on the ship.”

  I gave them a reassuring smile to ease their worries.

  Next, we went to the armory deeper in the hold.

  There were some thick, disposable berserker-style weapons, tons of Small Magic Cannons, and ten or so bigger cannons on wheels.

  These, too, were intact thanks to the Fixify spell.

  “This is a lot more than I expected.”

  “Yes, and I believe this weapon resembles the one we saw in the fort in the Muno Barony.”

  The fort Liza was referring to was the former haunted house that was now technically my personal villa.

  Liza’s assessment that these Small Magic Cannons were similar was probably correct. Maybe this ship was a product of the same ancient magical culture that made the Magic Cannon.

  “Aren’t there any staves or armor?”

  “Maybe they’re in those boxes?” Lulu suggested.

  She was pointing at a stack of several boxes in one corner of the room. Opening them would break the Fixify spell, so we’d have to see what was inside later.

  Once we’d finished looking around the ship’s hold, we moved on to the captain’s quarters.

  There were a few minor incidents along the way, but we arrived without any serious injuries. Once or twice, there was an accidental slip that might’ve been brought on by some lecherous god, but for the sake of Nana’s and Lulu’s honor, I’ll keep that close to my chest.

  “It’s a door!”

  “Gaaap?”

  “Pochi can fit through this, sir.”

  The captain’s door was warped on its hinges, but Pochi was able to push herself through.

  Tama was starting to follow after her when Pochi returned in alarm, so their heads smacked into each other.

  “Owwwiiie?”

  Tama rubbed her head, but since I’d cast Enchant: Physical Protection on everyone, there shouldn’t have been any pain. She’d probably said “Owie” on reflex.

  “This is bad! This is super, super bad, sir!”

  Pochi flailed her arms around in a panic, her eyes darting about wildly.

  “Calm down, Pochi.”

  “I’m totally calm, sir! Listen to this, sir!”

  Brushing off Liza, Pochi ran up to me urgently.

  “Master, I have located a ghost in the captain’s quarters, I report.”

  Nana, who had found another entrance, called out calmly.

  “Exactly, sir! That’s what I was trying to say, sir!”

  Patting Pochi’s head, I checked the captain’s quarters on the radar.

  Sure enough, there was now a white dot in there, indicating a nonaggressive presence.

  According to the information on the map, it was the ghost of the captain of this sunken ship.

  He hadn’t been there when I checked the map before we dove in or when we first entered this ship, but thinking back, I remembered that the ghosts we saw in the Muno Barony had abruptly appeared at sunset, too.

  I guess that’s just how ghosts are.

  I’m not a fan of horror or thrillers, but I didn’t want to endanger my comrades by sending them in to face an unknown ghost, so I went in alone.

  Inside the room was a semitransparent man clad in a flashy military uniform. This must be the ghost, then. For now, we’ll call him “Captain Ghost.”

  There was a massive hole in the ceiling of the captain’s quarters, and the windows were still open, allowing a light current into the room.

  “”

  > Skill Acquired: “Ancient Language”

  I promptly allocated some points to the “Ancient Language” skill and activated it.

  “<…They’ve already caught up to us?!>”

  Captain Ghost completely ignored me, talking to himself like an actor giving a soliloquy.

  “”

  Captain Ghost looked up at the sky and cried out resentfully.

  I wonder why his form keeps blurring like that?

  “”

  The ghost strode toward the window.

  Evidently, this ship had been stolen from Captain Ghost’s adversaries.

  “”

  Captain Ghost was looking out the window, but of course there was nothing there.

  I thought this must be a memory of the moment he died.

  “”

  As Captain Ghost gave this final cry of despair, he vanished, leaving behind a faint misty effect.

  Curious, I searched the map for this “Coffin” thing, but there wasn’t anything of the sort in the area.

  Remembering the damage I saw when we first arrived at the ship, I considered the captain’s words.

  This “Divine Wrath Cannon” must have been what sliced through the ship’s adamantite alloy so cleanly.

  I didn’t know if that weapon still existed, but if it did, I doubted our little flying ship could withstand it.

  I would prefer to keep a thing like that as far away from us as possible.

  “<…The key to Lalakie… Stolen. Now Lalakie…can no longer fly. All that remains is to bring the Coffin to His Majesty the Emperor in the Room of Reality…>”

  Upon turning around, I noticed that Captain Ghost had reappeared in the same spot as before.

  Exactly like before, he would occasionally become blurry, rendering his words unintelligible.

  Before long, he came back to a familiar phrase.

  “<…They’ve already caught up to us?!>”

  It looked like Captain Ghost was in an endless loop, repeating the same moment over and over.

  I tried talking to him a few times, but he didn’t respond.

  “Sounds like he’s stuck haunting this place.”

  When I poked my head out to update the rest of the group, Arisa made an interesting comment about Captain Ghost.

  “You’re right. Maybe we can help him pass on.”

  “Here’s a Holy Stone, master.”

  Lulu handed me a Holy Stone that had been hanging off her belt.

  She must have brought it along for the sunken ship exploration, just in case.

  After thanking her, I poured some magical energy into the Holy Stone and used it to exorcise Captain Ghost’s spirit.

  As he disappeared, I could’ve sworn I heard him murmur something.

  “”

  The pile of white bones where he had appeared crumbled and was carried out into the ocean by the current.

  He never did acknowledge m
e, but since he seemed to have passed on now, that was good enough for me.

  We waited a moment to make sure he didn’t reappear, then went back to exploring the sunken ship.

  “Master, the back of this painting is suspicious, I report.”

  “I bet there’s a room full of treasure behind it!”

  Pochi’s eyes sparkled, and she reached out for the painting.

  I was sure she was thinking of a similar situation we’d encountered back in the labyrinth under Seiryuu City.

  However, Tama grabbed her tail and stopped her.

  “It’s a traaap?”

  Evidently, there was a dangerous trap in the hidden room.

  My “Sense Danger” and “Trap Detection” skills both reacted just as Tama spoke.

  “Can you disarm it?” Arisa asked me.

  I nodded. “I think so, but…”

  I didn’t want to risk messing it up and putting everyone in danger.

  “…I’d better not. There’s an easier solution, so I’ll get everything out that way.”

  My statement piqued everyone’s curiosity, so I ended up having to show them my trick several times during the remaining exploration.

  Once I brought everyone back up to the flying ship, I put the entire sunken ship in Storage.

  If I’d done it while we were still in the water, we might’ve gotten sucked into the space where the ship was and drowned.

  > Title Acquired: Salvager

  > Title Acquired: Treasure Seeker

  > Title Acquired: Sunken Ship Explorer

  Looking at my log, I saw that I’d gained a few titles when I stored the ship.

  Treasure Seeker seemed like one I should’ve already had by now, but it wasn’t like it had any special benefits or anything, so I’d just ignore that.

  “Whoooosh?”

  “The ship disappeared and made a whirlpool, sir!”

  Tama and Pochi peered down at the water where the ship had been.

  “I showed you before, remember? It’s magic, sort of like the Fairy Pack.”

  Before we left the elf village, I’d let them see me store fresh food in Storage, so everyone but Arisa seemed satisfied with the explanation.

  “A whole ship… Your powers are always so broken.”

  My only response was a shrug.

  As a precaution, I warned everyone not to tell anyone what I did with the ship, especially Tama and Pochi.

  “Our lips are seeealed?”

  “We’ll clam up, sir.”

  They mimed zipping their lips shut, then hugged their knees to their chests in an apparent imitation of a clam. This seemed like another one of Arisa’s weird jokes, so I didn’t bother asking about it.

  “Ravine.”

  “Looks like that ship was on top of an underwater mountain.”

  Mia and Arisa were looking down at the water now that it had calmed.

  With the ship gone, I could see that it had been at the peak of a large mountain underwater.

  Even with my “Night Vision” skill, I couldn’t see to the bottom, and it appeared to overlap into a different area on the map.

  With all that water pressure, I doubted some monster would suddenly come zooming up from the depths to attack; still, it would be stressful to be on guard against a surprise attack all the time, so I decided to do a little investigating.

  Leaving everyone else on the ship, I dove back into the ocean, used “Search Entire Map,” and resurfaced.

  At some point, I left the range of Mia’s Spirit Magic protection, so the water pressure was a little bit of a pain.

  I didn’t want to have to do that every time, so I decided to avoid sailing over deep waters whenever possible.

  “I’m back.”

  “Welcome back, master.”

  Arisa handed me some cool carbonated water to quench my thirst.

  On the deck, the group had started working on removing the dirt and shellfish stuck to the coins and valuables we’d found in the passageways of the sunken ship.

  “Pochi, please be more careful. You’re scratching the coins.”

  “Yes, sir. This is hard, sir.”

  Liza and Pochi were laboring away to unstick the shellfish, while Tama was intently polishing the coins they’d already taken care of.

  “Scrub-a-duuub?”

  Looking at her handiwork, Tama let out a sigh of satisfaction.

  “Mia, we must remove the dirt from these grooves, I advise.”

  “Mm. Magic.”

  Nana brought jewelry over to Mia, who began a Spirit Magic chant.

  Lulu was spreading the polished coins out on a cloth so that they would dry in the sun.

  “Well, let’s look at the rest of our spoils.”

  I lined up some treasure boxes, and together we opened them one by one. I’d already confirmed in Storage that none of them contained traps or poison.

  We placed artwork, sheet music, and other things that might be damaged by the sun in the shadow of the sails. In order to prevent the wind from blowing them away, I blocked the outside air again and used an Air-Conditioning spell.

  “Whoa! Look at all these gold coins!”

  “Pretty jewels.”

  Arisa and Mia delightedly held up fistfuls of treasure.

  Since they’d been magically Fixed, the contents of the treasure boxes were perfectly clean.

  “Tama and Pochi, you can go look through everything, too.”

  The two of them had been looking up at me and fidgeting, so they were probably waiting for permission.

  “Yaaay!”

  “Arisa, is there meat, sir?”

  “No, but you could buy enough meat to fill your bellies with just one of these coins.”

  “For reeeal?”

  “That’s amazingly amazing, sir!”

  Thus, we began peacefully sorting through our loot.

  “Sheet music?”

  “Those must be very old songs.”

  At that, Mia immediately began to read the sheet music with a serious face.

  Evidently, the elves were the ones who had spread sheet music methods to other cultures, so they could read scores from anywhere at all.

  “What a beautiful necklace.”

  Lulu was staring longingly at a string of large pearls.

  “We must find something even cuter, I propose.”

  Nana rummaged through the jewelry boxes, more interested in cuteness than monetary value.

  “Master, there are weapons in these boxes here.”

  “That’s a lot of bows and rapiers… Aren’t there any arrows?”

  “I’m afraid not. I checked every box, but there was none to be found.”

  You checked all of them already? That was fast, Liza.

  Were there not any bowstrings, either?

  I picked up one of the unstrung bows.

  “Oh!”

  I felt a tiny amount of my magic power being sucked into the bow, like when I pulled the trigger on a Magic Gun, and the bow transformed so that it now had a transparent bowstring. Clearly, it was a Magic Bow.

  When I pulled the string back, I felt a little more magic get siphoned away, and a transparent arrow appeared just like the bowstring.

  Judging by the feel of the bow, it was probably made cheaply with Practical Magic.

  “Hmm? It doesn’t take much strength to draw the string back, does it?”

  Apparently, even the physically inept Arisa could use these Magic Bows.

  “Gravity doesn’t seem to affect it, but it’s not easy to hit a target with, either. And it consumes a lot of magic power, too.” After a test fire, Arisa shared her thoughts. “It seems to be about as strong as Nana’s Foundation spears.”

  “Yes, master.”

  If it was as strong as Nana’s spears, that meant it was stronger than our Fire Rods and Thunder Rods.

  There were around fifty of these Magic Bows, so I decided to at least have Mia and Arisa take one each for now.

  “What do you think these are?”r />
  The rapiers were magical, too, but putting magic power into them only made them sparkle pointlessly, so they weren’t very useful weapons.

  When I gave one a swing, it let out a science-fiction-y vwoom sound effect and left traces of light in the air like an effect from an action game.

  “It’s like a Mementaider Rangers toy.”

  “So cooool?”

  “Awesome, sir!”

  The sparkling swords were a huge hit with the kids, who were waving them around and striking ridiculous poses.

  There were tons of these toy swords, too, so I let them put one each in their Fairy Packs.

  “What about these rings?”

  All of them were Magic Rings that were activated by magic power.

  “Whoa! What’s up with this one?!” Arisa exclaimed after putting magic power into a topaz ring.

  A magic circle appeared in front of the ring and started producing stalagmites, which shot toward me so forcefully, they could’ve stabbed right through my buckler.

  “It takes up all my magic, so it wouldn’t be very easy to use.”

  Arisa handed me the ring, so I inspected it.

  As far as I could tell, it could be charged with magic power in advance and would then steal exactly enough magic from the user to pull the trigger when activated.

  If even Arisa, who had more magic power than most people, had all her magic used up just to trigger the effect, it must be a stunningly inefficient magic tool.

  Once Arisa and the others’ levels were higher, maybe they could carry them as an emergency self-defense measure.

  The other kids were picking up various rings and testing them out, too.

  “Wha—?! It made a shield!”

  “This one produces stone spears.”

  “Master, ice spears have appeared, I declare.”

  Lulu’s sardonyx ring produced a Practical Magic Shield spell, Liza’s onyx ring created black obsidian-like spears, and Nana’s aquamarine ring created ice spears that floated in the air.

  The ice spears went flying in whatever direction Nana pointed. They had a range of about 150 feet and were almost as strong as a normal Icicle spell.

  Wearing multiple rings at once seemed to cause them to interfere with one another and make the effects difficult to produce. I was able to wear ten rings and activate them all at once, but that was probably because of my “Magic Manipulation” skill.