48-Episode 48: Utsumi Omi and Kraken

After safely protecting the ship and its crew, I decided to fly straight to the roof and leave the scene.

If I continue to stay here, things are going to get a bit messy, you know.

"Hey, you, wait a minute!

I can hear voices behind me stalling me, but I have to pretend not to hear them.

If I stop, I'll have no reason to escape.

Let's pretend we didn't hear it and leave the harbor quickly.

Is it safe to come up here?

After escaping to a deserted place, I took out a different colored jacket from my magic bag to change into a different color than the one I'm wearing now, just in case.

The only thing left to do is to walk proudly through the city and meet up with Liliella.

It's also not likely that the other side will think that I, who escaped, is strutting around the city without a care in the world.

◆

I thought he just jumped out of nowhere and then he was just gone and I panicked.

Coo!

When I met Liliela-san again, I was immediately scolded by her.

''No, I'm sorry.''

It's our fault, so I apologize honestly.

'Cuuuuut?'　

Moh Mohammed pecked me on the head as if to say you're really sorry for what you've done.

'Sorry, sorry, I'll pass it more gently to Liliera next time.

'If you're going to do it, I wish you'd said a word.

I'm really sorry.

''Huh ... well, that's fine. More importantly, what was that thing that was going on earlier?　I've never heard of a demon wielding a giant battleship like a toy.

As expected of an adventurer, Liliera-san seems to be curious about the identity of that thing.

Encountering the unknown is one of the joys of being an adventurer.

It's not the first time I've encountered that thing, so I'm not too happy about it.

"I think that thing is probably a Kraken.

Kraken?　The Kraken is that giant squid monster!

Lilliera shouts in surprise when she hears the name Kraken.

The Kraken, it is an existence that cannot be left out when talking about sea monsters.

''Yes, it's a super-sized demon that usually lives quietly in the deep sea, but when it occasionally rises to the surface of the sea, it uses its huge body to feed on its prey.

When Liliella heard my explanation, she gulped and spat at me.

''I never thought I'd meet the legendary demon Kraken...''

What?

Liliella says a funny thing.

If you go out to sea, you'll usually see a kraken.

At least in a previous life, kraken were so common that fishermen used to blabber on about how the kraken would snag them when they threw their nets.

All the latest battleships in the world can't help but notice the Kraken.

Come to think of it, the battleship the Kraken toyed with was mentioned as a state-of-the-art ship.

But what did that Kraken do to throw the ship away?

Normally a kraken would be

So, what are you going to do now?　Are you going to take down that Kraken?

'Well, yes. Let's head to the Adventurer's Guild first, shall we? We might be able to find out something about that Kraken.

We have to start by gathering information.

◆ ◆

So here we are, the Adventurer's Guild in the town of Physio.

It's a strange guild.

The Adventurer's Guild in Physio's town is different from any guild we've ever been to.

This town's adventurers' guild has no walls, and you can see everything inside from the outside.

And in the center of the guild was a square counter, with four staff members attending to the adventurers from inside the counter.

''It's more like a shop than an adventurer's guild, isn't it?''

Yeah, Lilliera-san is right.

In fact, the people at the guild's window are also dressed in a rougher manner compared to the employees of the royal capital and town of Hekiji.

''But well, it looks like they're doing their job, so why don't we check the request board first?''

Yeah.

We regained our composure and headed to check the requests posted on the request board.

It's true that if it's a long spear, a sword or an axe isn't the best way to attack an enemy in the sea.

All that's left to do is load up and take a nightly patrol around the harbor.

Other than that, it's similar to the requests that are solicited in other towns.

'Ah, there it is. Defeat the Kraken.

I find a request form posted in the most prominent place on the request board.

'Defeating the S-ranked demon Kraken, the reward is 1500 gold coins,'

Heh, if the rewards for defeating the enemy alone are 1500 pieces, it's going to be even more if you include the rewards for purchasing materials.

'Huh?　But the Kraken is S-rated?

It's funny, from what I remember, I think the Kraken's strength was a B-rank demon at best.

I wonder if the Kraken got stronger without realizing it?

Hey, hey, I don't want you to mess with that guy.

It was a stern man who spoke to me.

'And you are?'

I'm a fisherman in this town, Ronzen. I'm a fisherman in this town, and I'm just about to have my boat smashed by that bastard.

Apparently, this person was a victim of the Kraken earlier.

''Many adventurers have challenged him in the past, but none of them have been able to defeat him. Didn't you guys see that?　The sight of a military-built battleship being treated like a toy.

Well, in a way, I was watching from a special seat.

'Have the Kraken been around here that long?'

I was curious about the timing of the Kraken's appearance, so I asked Mr. Ronzen about it.

No, it was only recently that he appeared. He appeared out of nowhere and started attacking ships on the Inner Sea. Now we have to run our ship along the shore at the risk of running aground," he said.

I see, you mean that the kraken can't attack us in the shallow water along the land?

But Ronzen is right, it's dangerous for everyone except small boats in shallow water.

The Kraken was the cause of the problems the townspeople were talking about.

'Didn't they hire a bunch of wizards to take out the Kraken?

Ronsen shook his head at Liliera's question.

The only thing that's not a big deal is the fact that you can't get away with it. And when the wound is healed, it comes up again. Immediately after you are injured, you can't come out, so everyone else has to leave the ship while you are there, but it's costing too much money to do so. That's why I've had enough of this.

Oh, that certainly means that every time a Kraken shows up, you'll have to hire a bunch of wizards.

"I was hoping that the military battleships would take care of it this time, and I was so disappointed.

Mr. Ronzen slumped his shoulders and let out a sigh.

"I can't even go fishing without him. It's a real boon to my business.

The townspeople are in trouble.

In that sense, I'm looking forward to seeing that brother of yours earlier.

What?

How come you guys didn't see me?　That was a hell of a way to catch my brother on the battleship. That was a hell of a thing to do!　I thought I could pull him out of the water with his super strength!　I was too far away to see it in detail, but I'm pretty sure it was my young brother. But still, why did he disappear?

Uh, yeah. Yeah.

I'm sure he didn't want to show off.

The guy was a knight.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, even if I had, the fishermen in the town wouldn't release their boats for fear of him destroying them. After all, even the latest warships are no match for them.

After saying that much, Ronzen-san quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Is it possible that he was worried about us and taught us many things?

So, how is it going?　Do you have any idea how to beat the Kraken?

Ronsen-san is out of sight and Liliera-san asks me.

''Well, from what she said, it sounds like there's no point in sending the ship out,''

Yeah, if they capsize the ship or destroy it, that's the end of it. And even if you use magic to attack them, if you fail to kill them and they escape, it's the end of the world.

But you have a good plan, don't you?　Isn't that why you were looking for the request form?

That's very astute.

Well, it's not for lack of trying.

In fact, there are several ways to defeat the Kraken.

The two most important things are to defeat them in one blow and not to let them escape.

But in that case, you have to refrain from large-scale attack magic to secure the proof of defeat.

You'll need to be able to use a lot of different techniques to get the job done.

If that's the case, you'll have no choice but to pinpoint the weakest point with a single strike to take away their lives or create a situation where they can't escape.

Considering that the opponent is big enough to toy with the battleship, it's not going to be easy.

Furthermore, the fishermen wouldn't let us sail this time, so we'd have to fight from a longer distance.

So I decided to do it the old-fashioned way.

Well, since you're here, shall we get rid of the Kraken?

That's the way it should be!

This is how we ended up killing the Kraken.

◆

A few days later, we came to the harbor to kill the Kraken, after we had finished our preparations.

Then let's start killing the Kraken.

With that, I take out the tools to defeat the Kraken from my magic bag.

"Hey, what's this?

The fishermen and sailors who were working nearby showed interest in the Kraken extermination tools and came over.

"What is it, are you guys seriously going to kill the Kraken?

And among them was Ronzen-san, whom I met the other day.

''Yes, since we're here, I thought I'd give it a try.

Well, that's your business, but what is this shit?　A small boat tied to a rope?　But this is a ship, you know.

The fishermen and sailors around them nodded in agreement with Ronzen's question.

The anchors at the tip are oddly shaped. It's not an anchor, but rather a hook?

Everyone nods their heads at the little boat I've prepared for them.

In fact, it was not meant for a human to ride on.

It is just a thing that was made to look like a ship by shaving a log.

It is only good enough to float in the water.

And a thick rope is passed through the small boat, and the small boat is penetrated.

In addition, the rope that extended from the small boat was connected to a single long, thick log.

'Well, we'll see.'

I float a small boat and activate my wind magic.

"Control Wind!

This is a magic favored by wizards on sailing ships, a magic that literally allows them to control the wind at will.

It's not the kind of wind you can use to attack, but this magic allows you to move the sailing ship freely even in calm weather.

It's useful when you're in a hurry or when you're being carried along by a strange tide.

And I use this magic to guide a small boat to the place where the military battleship was attacked by the Kraken the other day.

I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it, but I'll be able to get to the bottom of it.

"What?　We're out!

As the fisherman said, the small boat suddenly seemed to wobble, and then it was lifted into the air by a tentacle that appeared from the sea.

'Good!'

The tentacles wrapped around the small boat and made a hissing sound, causing it to flinch.

Then the boat is dragged into the sea.

I confirm this and hold the end of the log I've left beside it, and before long it's connected to the log.

Soon the rope connected to the log begins to be dragged into the sea.

All right!　I feel good.

I hold the log, confident that my plan is working.

And as the rope sinks completely into the ocean, the connected logs are pulled into the sea.

'What-oh!'

He countered the power that was trying to drag the log into the sea with body strengthening magic.

''Ah, that brother, what the hell is he doing?!''

The sailors around me are confused, not understanding the situation.

I'm going to do what I'm trying to do, which is to catch a Kraken on a single line.

The log is the pole, the rope is the fishing line, the small boat is a float and a decoy, and the anchor is a huge log pole.

"Nuh-uh-uh!

Stifling the effort to pull me to the bottom of the ocean, I pull the log pole back the other way.

In normal fishing, you'd be concerned about your fishing line, but this is a line I've magically enhanced.

It's just not something some monster can pull off.

And then, tired of moving around, the Kraken's strength faded for a moment.

"Here!

Sensing a momentary opportunity, I pulled up the log pole as hard as I could.

""So, I'm out!"

A kraken was fished in the air and the sailors shouted.

It was a giant squid.

What the hell?

Ronzen shouted with a mixture of surprise and impatience.

Because the Kraken's huge body was flying through the air and heading towards us.

Well, now that you've fished it out, of course it's going to come towards us.

''Everyone stand back!

I throw down my fishing rod and prepare to intercept it.

If I don't, the energetic kraken will land in the harbor.

'Eat it!　Hydrozambar!

With the activation of the magic, water rises from the surface of the sea.

It's just a line from our point of view, but if someone saw it from the side, they would have seen a great sword of water cutting the Kraken in two.

It's a hydroxamber, a magic that uses water pressure to unleash an extremely thin, ultra-high pressure water sword.

A Kraken sliced in half from the middle and slid into the harbor, split off to the left and right.

I took it down, but if it landed in the harbor like this, this would be a disaster, so I handle it further.

Just before the Kraken lands, he cuts the guts off with a sword wave and separates them from the body.

Then, after the guts are retrieved with the magic bag, he takes out two long spears and thrusts them into the Kraken's body as it glides through the harbor, stopping it from moving, and separating the body from the meso.

Finally, cut the body and the gizzard into pieces and store them in a magic bag, and you're done.

All that's left is to collect the log and wash the ground in the harbor with water magic.

Yes, the Kraken have been defeated. Shall I return to the guild and have it evaluated?

I turned to Liliella, who was observing behind me and urged her to turn to me.

She looked at me with a pouting face, but for some reason, she let out a sigh with a wry smile.

''........I knew you could manage it, but you've solved it again with a hell of a show of force this time.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Anyone can do it if you strengthen your body with this level of body-enhancing magic.

Besides, if you're going to take out a kraken, you're going to have to use a single line fishing with decoys.

Kyu!

A mofo mofo jumps out of Liliera's arms and clings to my legs.

'Fluffy?　...Oh, that's what it's all about.

When I saw what the mofo wanted, I took out a small portion of Kraken meat from the magic bag and gave it to him.

''Kyu!''

I don't care what happens next, as long as I get my food!　The Fluffy Mofu grabbed the Kraken from me and started to eat it like crazy.

He's such a cash cow, isn't he?

Let's get back to it.

Yeah.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the disturbance.

We walked past the sailors, who remained frozen in silence, towards the guild.

Hmm?　It's kind of noisy behind me.