Chapter 114

#114 Episode: The Tin Knight and the Country of Sea Breezes (3)

“Wait just a second! You want me to head out to sea in this weather? To the West Witch’s island, no less? I can’t do that! I’d rather, yeah, I’d rather be sent to the Guards! I’d end up in prison!”

*Snip!*

“You want to sell the place where my colleagues are? No way! If the boss finds out, he’ll never let it go—”

*Snip!*

“Next! You, over there. Do you have anything to say?”

“Not at all! Just give me any order you want!”

“I’ll shut my mouth and work hard!!”

“Hooray for Franka!!”

Negotiating with the pirates was surprisingly easy.

The pirates, equipped with Franka’s special wooden boards around their necks, readily agreed to fill in the vacancies left by crew members who were injured or lost during the kidnapping process.

The next issue to address was how to deal with the sea monster.

The Sea Serpent.

This beast, resembling a gigantic sea snake, not only targeted trading ships heading out to sea but also occasionally stormed the shores, wreaking havoc.

Upon hearing this, Dorothea raised an obvious question.

“What’s the Guard doing about this?”

“Well, they tried tackling it once and got thoroughly wrecked.”

Franka’s subordinates treated Dorothea with astonishing politeness.

Seeing a certain lady with a notoriously bad temper, or perhaps just a bit too sensitive, facing off against them was no ordinary situation. (After all, just looking at her outfit made it clear she was anything but average.)

“The Lord, unable to tolerate its disruptions, mobilized his forces. However, it only ended up irking the creature further, resulting in one port being completely demolished.”

The Sea Serpent was massive enough to wrap itself around a whole mansion, and its scales were tough enough to bounce off any blade without a second thought.

Ordinary soldiers had no hope of opposing it, and it would take several adventurers or knights of silver rank or higher, skilled in magical power, to even attempt to subdue it.

“With just a knight or two, what’s required is an entire knight brigade, so no nearby territories are eager to help. The Adventurer’s Guild would take time to mobilize from the mainland as well. Besides, with the weather being what it is, ships aren’t going out regardless, so it seems the Lord isn’t keen on racking up debts by asking around for help.”

“So, in the end, it means we have to deal with this ourselves.”

Dorothea was deep in thought.

In terms of combat ability, we weren’t lacking significantly.

[‘The Tin Knight’ is pounding his chest, insisting he can handle it!]

[‘The Tin Knight’ expresses that a wooden sword would indeed be the best equipment!]

Just throwing in that one overly enthusiastic lunatic would usually solve most situations.

But Dorothea could not deploy the tactical Tin Knight.

“How’s something that can’t even swim supposed to fight in the sea, you tin can?”

The Tin Knight couldn’t swim.

Sure, he could temporarily steer himself or float by unleashing magical power, but that was extremely fuel inefficient and a rather unstable method.

In a lake, he might be able to reach the bottom and walk back to the shore, but in the sea, if he fell in a bad spot, he’d be out for good.

The Tin Knight, not wanting to be lost forever underwater, didn’t insist he could handle it this time.

“Well then, we’ll just have to wait until we get closer to the coastline.”

“Better than fighting on a boat, but who knows when that thing will strike?”

“Then we can use bait, right?”

Adelheid, Dorothea, and Sophia chimed in one after the other.

Franka’s subordinates waved their hands in protest.

“Well, the Guards tried similar methods too, but they failed every time. It doesn’t react at all to things like fish, pigs, or any of that. It seems it has a certain ‘preference’.”

“Preference?”

“Humans. It attacks trading ships to eat the people onboard. I’m not sure if it’s just recently developed a taste for it or if it always was like that….”

The group quickly understood.

Franka chuckled.

“It’s quiet for now, mainly because the weather has kept us from going to sea to catch the Sea Serpent. But if it continues running amok after the weather clears, we might have to consider offering a live sacrifice.”

“Oh, that sounds useful.”

Sophia’s sudden comment drew everyone’s attention to her.

She pointed to herself with a smile.

“Let’s do it. The live sacrifice operation.”

***

“…I feel weird saying this, but you all aren’t exactly sane either.”

“Haha.”

Adelaide could only muster an awkward smile in response to Franka’s incredulous remark.

At the end of their gazes was Sophia, tied securely to a rock with sturdy chains.

To top it off, the chains were more like safety devices than restraints.

The main goal was to keep Sophia from running off after just munching on the bait.

A little distance away from Sophia, the group was gathered around a massive golden ballista they had set up.

At first glance, it resembled the one Franka had aimed at the Tin Knight, but there were significant differences.

The shape of the harpoon had been altered to resemble a harpoon, and a long, thick chain had been attached to the back of the harpoon, connecting it to a pulley.

The timing was quicker than expected.

It might have just been good luck, but the blood they had scattered around Sophia might have stirred the Sea Serpent.

Just after feeling a flicker of a dark shadow near the surface:

*WHOOSH!*

A tremendous splash erupted as the teal-colored sea serpent emerged from the depths.

The creature, a mix of a snake, seahorse, and dragon head, lunged toward the rock where Sophia was bound.

Seemingly hindered by the chains that tightly held Sophia, the Sea Serpent slammed its head into the rock, thrashing its mouth left and right in frustration.

After several splashes of red blood flew up, Adelaide involuntarily shut her eyes.

Dorothea didn’t close her eyes but couldn’t help her glare growing fierce.

Then Franka sprang into action.

The ballista, which had been set up for this moment, aimed at the target and was launched with all its force.

*CRACK!*

*《────■■■■!!》*

The harpoon, imbued with the alchemist’s magical power, pierced the Sea Serpent’s body without mercy.

Dorothea shouted.

“Adel! Get a grip!”

“Ah, yes!”

After instinctively responding, Adel grabbed one of the handles beside the pulley.

On the opposite handle, the Tin Knight had already taken his stance.

As the two priests combined their strength to push the handles away, the pulley began spinning, and the chain began to wind up.

*SWISH!*

The Sea Serpent thrashed and tried to resist being dragged, but the pulley, which had roots dug deep into the ground, wouldn’t budge an inch.

Though there was some risk of the harpoon coming loose due to the rough movement, there was a backup plan for that as well.

*WHOOSH!*

A burst of white light radiated from the Sea Serpent’s belly.

The sacred light enveloped the creature, healing its wounds.

The issue was that while the harpoon was embedded in its body, the regeneration was accelerated.

With the weapon stuck in its injury, the Sea Serpent’s flesh and chains became entwined as if they were merging.

Gradually, little by little.

As the Tin Knight and Adelheid continued to crank the pulley, the gigantic body of the Sea Serpent began to be dragged from the sea to land.

When its body fully emerged onto the ground, the Sea Serpent glared at the group with eyes filled with fury.

Realizing it could not escape its fate even while resisting, it charged towards the ballista.

[‘The Tin Knight’ says to cover his back!]

“Okay!”

The terrifying creature crawled towards the ground, and the Tin Knight rushed forward.

The Sea Serpent tried to swing its tail to hit the Tin Knight, but the Tin Knight instead jumped on the tail and began to climb up its back.

Of course, just climbing up wouldn’t be enough for the Tin Knight.

*CRACK!*

The Tin Knight’s sword pierced through the Sea Serpent’s back.

To everyone’s surprise, the azure scales attempted to resist the blade, but it lacked the defense needed to withstand the Tin Knight’s attack.

As the Tin Knight wreaked havoc on its back, the Sea Serpent lifted its head, glaring at the Tin Knight.

A massive surge of water magic began to gather in the wide-open mouth of the Sea Serpent.

At that moment, Adel’s eyes lit up.

Deciding that continuing to pull it in with the pulley was pointless, she let go of the handle and grasped the chain directly.

The ‘Amaryllis’s Belt’ emitted a soft, flickering power.

This wondrous item was said to enhance the user’s physical abilities, and its effect was closer to multiplication than addition.

In other words, it didn’t just raise the user’s stats by a fixed number; the more formidable the user’s baseline abilities, the more the output increased.

So while Adel couldn’t show off monstrous strength like Kalidahs yet, it was enough for her to disrupt the enemy temporarily.

*WHOOSH!*

As Adel firmly grasped the chain and pulled with all her might, the Sea Serpent’s head, which had been glaring at the Tin Knight, was forced back.

The monstrous stream of water breath it unleashed shot skyward instead of hitting the Tin Knight, dispersing aimlessly.

Furious, the Sea Serpent attempted to engage in a tug-of-war with Adel, but this time, the Tin Knight wouldn’t let it slide.

As the Tin Knight’s sword energy slashed at its body, the Sea Serpent let out another painful scream.

Whenever it focused on the Tin Knight, Adel would yank the chain around her neck, throwing it off balance, and when it tried to target her, the Tin Knight would keep slicing off its pieces like fish.

Franka wore a dumbfounded expression.

‘…I don’t know which side the monster is.’

Planning to support with additional ballista if needed, she observed the situation and deemed it unnecessary.

“Phew.”

Dorothea relaxed her shoulders as well.

It seemed the chance to demonstrate the staff’s new function would come later.

About ten minutes later.

With the Sea Serpent’s head severed, Sophia emerged from the split-open belly.

**Hostage held by pirates (1/1)**

**Rampaging Sea Serpent (1/1)**

**Weather Calming Ritual (0/1)**

Second mission. Completed.