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(8/8)
Chapter 5 – Retrieval Completed
After much trial and error, we fought off a swarm of Sea Serpents, and they piled up in the entrance hall of the Duke’s Castle, a pile worth 100 million yen each. I started to move to retrieve them, but my goal was slightly altered by the fact that I was alone with Claretta-san.
“Do you like the ocean, Claretta-san?”
It was important to have a pleasant conversation with her first.
“Yes. Lucca, where we grew up, is very close to the sea, so I feel at home near the sea. Fufu, but this place is in the middle of the sea, so it might be too close.”
Claretta-san giggles and smiles. Very cute. If a man said the same thing, I’d probably ignore it, but when a beautiful woman says it, it’s so different.
“So that’s why you made Southern City your base?”
“I don’t know. It’s a prosperous place, and there was plenty of work; I think that was the main reason, but there might also be a part of me that liked it because it was near the ocean.”
The southeastern island seemed efficient, so if you’re an adventurer who can make it there, Southern City seems like a good place to make money.
“Isn’t living on a ship a pain?”
I asked modestly. I just wanted a compliment from Claretta-san because I couldn’t imagine her complaining about life on a luxury liner.
“Pain is outrageous. I was very surprised to see a ship with a church, and there were so many rare dishes; I was incredibly happy. Oh, Wataru-san. We’ve arrived!”
Damn, it was a nice part, but we even arrived at the Sea Serpent. Hmm, even though the speed of the Egg No. 1 is slow, I can’t speak slowly because the distance is so short.
With my speaking skills, it’s hard to create a good atmosphere with a bumpy conversation. Should I change direction and focus on deepening trust through cooperation? Without thinking about it, it’s impossible to create a romantic atmosphere while recovering the Sea Serpent’s body.
“Let’s get started, shall we? I’ll try it first.”
“Good luck.”
It’s not much of a challenge, but I summon the rubber boat into the mouth of the Sea Serpent, whose mouth is hanging open right in front of me, using Claretta-san’s support as strength.
Oh, was I a little too far back? The mouth snapped open, pushed by the hull and the barrier. Well, the tusks act as a stopper, and the rubber boat doesn’t pop out, so I guess it’s not a problem.
“Hmm. The buoyancy of the rubber boat alone won’t lift it up, as expected.”
I expected that because of the difference in size, but I would have hoped that it would float up just by summoning the rubber boat in its mouth. Well, it doesn’t work that way, does it?
“But it won’t go to waste since it will be lighter by that amount of air.”
“I see. Then let’s move on to the next strategy.”
I brought the Egg close to the Sea Serpent that the mouth had been opened, and following Claretta-san’s instructions, I put the largest tusk into the ship through the hatch of Egg No. 1.
At first, I thought about using the arm attached to the Egg No. 1 to hang a rope, but I decided against it because it would take too much time and effort. I was sure that the arm would come in handy sometime in the future…
“Wataru-san. I’ve hung the rope. I’ll give you a signal.”
“Please do so.”
With a “Yes,” Claretta-san pulled the rope three times. I won’t say what it is but thank you for the treat.
At Claretta-san’s signal, the slack rope began to tighten and pull. Will it lift now? I felt like I was watching a crane game.
“Ah, the face has lifted.”
It was true. Slowly but surely, the face was being lifted. I guess the members of the Girasole, except for Ines, Felicia, and Claretta-san, are pulling the rope on the Hideaway like a tug-of-war on a field day.
If they can’t get it up here, we’ll have to support it with Egg No. 1 or summon the Lutto per se under the chin, which is an extra step and a hassle. They are all at a high level and strong, so I hope they will succeed.
As I expressed my selfish wishes, not only the head but also the body of the Sea Serpent lifted up, and it seemed to gain momentum. It was like a carp streamer.
“Wataru-san. We succeeded, didn’t we?”
“Yes. Let’s go see what’s going on up there.”
“That’s right.”
If Alessia-san and the others have enough time, we can retrieve them one by one, but what if they run out of power? It would be a rescue operation that would not be completed in a few days.
As we watched while the Egg ascended, the Sea Serpent was easily picked up by the Hideaway. There seems to be no problem getting it into the ship, which would require the most power. I told Claretta-san to prepare for the impact and let the Egg No. 1 plunge into the Hideaway.
“That was a bit easy, but how was the raising of the Sea Serpent?”
I asked Alessia-san and the others as I hugged Rimu, who had jumped onto the Egg No. 1.
“No problems here either. It takes a bit of strength to get started, but once you get going, it’s a breeze to get to the end.”
“Do you think it will be okay if we collect them in a row?”
“Yes, I don’t need a break at this point.”
Not only Alessia-san, who answered me but also the other members seemed to have no problem. It looks like we can fit about four of them on the deck of the Hideaway, so we can just dismantle it after we retrieve the four. Let’s retrieve them quickly because there are a lot of them.
＊＊＊
“This is the last one. Thanks for all your hard work, Claretta-san.”
After many rounds of retrieving and dismantling, we finally hung the rope on the last Sea Serpent.
The problem still remains, as the outside became visible on the way out, and the remaining Sea Serpents still came in, and there were still quite a few Sea Serpents that were wary and didn’t enter the Duke’s castle, but I think we can say it’s over for now.
“I want to thank you for your hard work in navigating the ship, Wataru-san. It must have been hard work.”
“No, not at all. I’m not tired at all because I really enjoyed the time I spent with Claretta-san.”
How’s that? My appeal to the best of my ability. We had a good conversation while working, so it’s not so bad, right?
“Really? I had fun, too, and maybe it wasn’t too tiring?”
I got a somewhat nervous answer. Was it unsuccessful? My all-out appeal was unsuccessful? Oh, I see. Claretta-san is an adventurer and a priestess at the same time, right? No wonder she’s not interested in romance. That doesn’t mean she’s not interested in me.
“Haha, I’m glad to hear that.”
I tried my best to get to know Girasole better, but I think I was talking to the wrong person.
At first, Ilma-san… She might understand, but I’m afraid I’ll be unboned, so I feel like I’d rather have someone else. …I’d really like a manual on how to get along with everyone.
＊＊＊
“Then it’s time to start exploring. We thought about splitting up and exploring, but there’s a good chance the Sea Serpent is still around, so we’ll have to work in groups.”
The day after we finished dismantling the Sea Serpent, we finally started a full-scale treasure hunt. We discussed many things before going to bed, but considering that the Sea Serpent was on alert and would not come inside, we decided that it was likely that the Sea Serpent was still inside the castle.
I could handle it if I summoned a ship, but if something happened to the Egg No. 2 and No. 3, who were working separately, it would be difficult for them to get back on their feet, so safety was a priority.
“I understand. We will explore the basement first, right?”
“Yes. That’s the plan. It’s not very tasteful, but we’ll start with the basement, which seems to have a high probability of being a treasure room.”
I prefer to explore the underground section last, where the treasure room is likely to be, but you never know what will happen in an underwater castle. I changed my style of saving the best for last and chose the style of going straight for the treasure.
“Huh? That’s why you want to explore underground? As for me, I don’t really have an image of an underground treasure. Is that okay?”
Oh, ugh. After all this time, Alessia-san gave me a shocking revelation. Huh? I thought the basement was the place to hide the treasure, but is it different in this world? Yesterday, it was decided that the treasure would be hidden in the basement, so it seems that we didn’t communicate properly.
“Let’s see, how unusual is it to have a treasure hidden underground?”
“I’m not an expert on castles, so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t have a picture of it being underground. What about you?”
“I always thought of the underground as a pantry or a prison.”
“As a scout, I can’t rule out the possibility of a treasure room since the underground is an easy place to limit entry routes. But I have heard that the treasury is in a semi-private area that only the lord of the castle or someone close to him or someone he trusts can enter.”
Even in the opinion of Dorothea-san and Marina-san, the possibility of an underground location seems remote. I had the impression that there were a lot of traps and the like set up on the only road leading underground, but that seems to mean that it would be difficult to use. Also, it is quite unusual for Marina-san to speak in long sentences.
“If that’s the case, it would be better to look for the upper floors if you’re looking for the treasure room, right? Marina-san, do you know where we should focus our exploration?”
“I can’t say for sure because it varies from castle to castle, but the official treasury is in front of the Duke’s private area. For private vaults, you should look in the Duke’s private room. So in this castle, it would be in the upper part of the castle.”
“I see. In that case, let’s explore from the top. Marina-san, may I ask you to lead the way?”
I don’t know where the semi-private area is, but I think it would be better to leave that to Marina-san.
“I only know the suspicious places, you know?”
“That’s enough. I don’t even know where the suspicious places are.”
I’ve been to Japanese castles before, but I’ve only experienced Western-style castles in games, so I have no idea what to expect.
“I understand.”
Marina-san agreed, and we set out to explore. The formation will be led by Egg No. 3 with Marina-san in the front, Egg No. 1 with me in the middle, and Egg No. 2 with Alessia-san at the end.
By the way, we originally planned to go on a sneak mission to explore the castle, but the schedule is changing rapidly. I hope that will not be a problem and that we will be able to explore the castle smoothly.
Thanks for the chapter
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What type of treasures will they find?
Thanks for the treat.
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