āHaa~. I never thought youād actually defeat a Krakenā¦ā
Rebecca, dumbfounded, walked past us as we gave the winning battle cry, and looked at the huge corpse of the Kraken. She must be feeling similar to when a small child goes out to play saying, āIām going to slay the dragon!ā and then he actually slayed the dragon and dragged its corpse back to the house.
But I wasnāt interested in Rebecca at the moment. I was still vigilant as I had been during the battle, and continued to carefully observe the worldās reaction.
(Now, letās see what happens ā¦?)
Looking back, nothing much happened in the first world. Rebecca did not engage in any heroic activities, and no such incidents occurred. We sailed on our ship, sometimes engaged in pirate-like activities, and when we got to port, we would replenish our supplies and sail back out to sea ⦠and that was really all we did.
But it was strange. If I was sent to this world, then there must definitely be heroes and demon lords in this era, and judging from the circumstances, Rebecca must almost certainly be a Hero.
Then why did nothing happen? Iāve been trying to figure out the cause of this, ⦠and one of the answers I came up with was that it may be because She ran away from an enemy she was supposed to defeat.
In the first round, We had no chance to win against the Kraken. ⦠It was indeed a logical or even common behavior to abandon the Baroque pirates who were being attacked by the āGatekeeper Of The Mistā and flee.
But what if she were to act like a Hero there? Even if she did not go so far as to defeat it, wouldnāt some kind of contact with it create some kind of karmic connection that would trigger Rebecca to start acting as a hero? That was the reason why I challenged Kraken to a fight this time.
The results were excellent. With the help of Rebeccaās underlings⦠Heroās party members, me and Tia, defeated the Kraken, who was lying in the sea. If nothing happened now, I seriously canāt think of anything else to do. ⦠Oh?
āO-Oi, Look!, The Kraken!?ā
My consciousness, submerged in thinking, was awakened by Pierreās voice. I saw that the corpse of the Kraken was being transformed into particles of light as if it were melting.
āWow, Beautiful!ā Tia exclaimed,
āHohoho, this is ⦠Say, Captain, just to confirm, did you come across anything else like this?ā I asked,
āThere is no way. Iāve killed many small magic beasts that attack ships, but Iāve never seen one turn into a glowing mist and disappear.ā
āGlowing mist⦠huh?ā
Hmmm, then this was certainly a special event. Looks like I hit the jackpot.
āLook, Ed! The light!?ā Tia called out to me,
āItās moving!?ā I exclaimed,
While we were talking, the light mist that had risen was moving in the opposite direction of the land, trailing behind us. In all likelihood, I could only assume that it was guiding us.
āCaptain! That light, letās chase it! Thereās definitely something going on!ā I said,
āI do have a feeling thatās true, but ⦠okay, Iām going back to the Scarlet, and you guys, come along.ā
āāYes!āā
We responded to Rebeccaās words and the three of us scurried back to the Scarlet. Fortunately, there still appeared to be a little time before the entire body of the kraken turned into a mist of light, and if we left now, we would be well on our way.
""
āRohan! How are the supplies?ā Rebecca asked,
āSupplies? We just left port the other day. We should have enough for a month or two.ā
āGrude, Whatās the condition of the hull?ā
āNo damage! We can sail as usual!ā
āIf thatās the case, ⦠Everyone! Weāre going after that light now! As a reward for being the first in the world to defeat the Kraken, I bet thereās one heck of a treasure in there!ā
āāHAHHHHHHHHHH!!!āā
At Rebeccaās command, the crew started to shout and move. As soon as the Scarlet started moving, a man with a hooked hand, dressed in the theatrical clothing of a pirate, jumped onto the deck.
āPhew, just in time!ā Pierre said,
āPierre!? Why are you here!?ā Rebecca asked,
āWhat! What the hell you talkinā about! Half the reason you lot were able to defeat that Kraken was because we were drawinā him away! But you tryna leave us alone and take the treasure for yourself, thereās absolutely no way Iām gonna let you do that!ā
āThen why donāt you just use your own bloody ship and follow us on your own! Why are you boarding my ship!?ā
āIf not for the damage, I would have done the same thing. If I didnāt call out to you, I would have lost you, so I jumped on board in a hurry. Ah, Iāve given them instructions to take the ship back to Charos for repairs, so thereās no problem there, okay?ā
āBut I have a big problem with you! Really, Iād love to throw you into the sea right now, but Iād lose my future earnings if I did that⦠Fine, Iāll give you a ride, but you better not act too arrogant, you understand?ā
āShut up! I am Pierre, captain of the Baroque pirates, you hear me!? Iāll at least polish the deck to a shine!ā
āāYouāre going to polish the deck!?āā Tia and I exclaimed in unison,
The Scarlet slowly followed the mist as they engaged back and forth. Then the mist gradually began to gather ahead, but for some reason, only after we passed through the mist did it completely clear up.
Further along the path through the misty valley, a rather large island awaited us. The mist around the island also cleared up, and it disappeared a short distance before the island, looks like we reached our destination.
āIs there anywhere we can dock?ā Rebecca asked,
āItās tough. There is a sandy beach, but the draft is so shallow that if we get any closer, the ship might run aground1.ā I replied,
āThen weāll take a small boat from here. Anyone who wants to go ā¦.ā
Rebeccaās words drew expectant glances from everyone present. However, Tia and I intercepted all of them and stepped out in front of Rebecca with an air of dignity.
āCaptain, youāre not leaving us here, are you?ā
āYes, yes, yes! After all weāve done for you, you canāt just leave us here, can you?
āI know. Normally, I would have complained about the rookies getting in the way, but since you are the ones who defeated the Kraken, no one can say anything about it. Of course Iāll be there, so thatās one more person, howeverā¦ā
āThat must be me!ā Pierre said, excitedly
āUh, who are you?ā
āYou, Rebecca!! I even polished the deck!ā
Pierre, in a fit of anger, hurled his claws down, but Rebecca caught it lightly with her sword drawn from her waist. Naturally, neither of them were serious, but Rebecca gave an overtly wry smile to Pierre, who revealed his irritation.
āHa~, It canāt be helped. Oh well, Alright. Well, thatās okay. It would be troublesome to leave someone like you on the ship and have it hijacked. Iām sorry, but Iām going out with them. Iāll leave the rest to you.ā
āLeave it to me, Nee-San!ā
āCall me Captain! Good lordā
After giving her men the usual smack on the head, we boarded a small boat and rowed out to the island. Itās been a long time since Iāve had an adventure with absolutely no idea whatās ahead ⦠Fufu, Iām looking forward to it.
(T/N: Novel ended at 552 chapters. Idk how many worlds author covered.)
Footnotes
If a ship or boat runs aground/ashore, it hits the coast, sometimes becoming stuck there. Staying afloat, capsizing & sinking.