Chapter 473: Sailor Without a Ship

Ivanna whines lazily as she scratches her head of unkempt hair.

Ignoring the blank look I’m giving her, she peeks into the cupboard beside me and heaves a long, long sigh.

「Alcohol……there’s none?」

「It’s in Leopolt’s room.」

In response, she turns to Leopolt, who doesn’t appear surprised, unlike me.

However, I can feel slight irritation emanating from him. Even to him, this disastrous state of Ivanna must be unexpected.

「……can I buy some alcohol before we talk?」

「Of course not.」

While she might still be able to talk after drinking, the current Ivanna will likely drink until she’s dead drunk from the looks of things.

「What a bother…… there’s no alcohol and no gambling either……」

Ivanna lays flat on the desk.

Far from a female admiral of the Federation, she’s become more like a useless woman who drinks from day to night.

「What’s this about?」

Leopolt directs his sharp question toward the door.

「It’s as you can see. She wandered aimlessly after losing her ship and became a degenerate. You can’t tell unless I explain it, idiot?」

The one who entered was Sekrit.

She must have gone to pick Ivanna up.

Sekrit grabs the breast of the hunched over Ivanna over her clothes and fondles her roughly.

Normally, Ivanna would react by screaming and drawing her sword angrily.

「That hurts……touching my boobs is fine, just buy me some booze.」

The usually uptight Ivanna doesn’t care that she’s being rolled onto the desk, or that her tits are being squeezed or that her underwear can be seen due to her pants slipping off slightly.

She’s also slacking on self-hygiene as her armpits are starting to be as hairy as Irijina’s.

「She’s been like this the whole way. It’s the typical behavior of a sailor without a ship. She’s useless now, so you can either send her back to the Federation or use her as a meat toilet for your seed.」

「Ah, you’re free to fuck me all you want, in return I want alcohol, something tasty to eat, and also a handsome guy.」

Sekrit pokes the listless Ivanna’s ass with her foot.

Don’t mention the word meat toilet.

I’m already having trouble with my erection during battle, now I’m going to store up extra semen in my balls.

Crap, I can sense an explosion coming soon. I have to get someone to help me.

「Will she revert if she’s given a new ship?」

Leopolt asks as I bend my upper body forward a little.

「She’ll go back to how she was no matter how bad she gets now. That’s just how a sailor is.」

Sekrit replies, briefly showing her serious side before grinning maliciously again and prodding Ivanna’s ass.

「Yes, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. So please, give me food…… and booze……and a man…… and let me gamble……」

「In that case, let’s find one quickly.」

Seeing as it would be a waste of time to stay, Leopolt gets up from his seat.

「Wait, you say a ship, but there isn’t a single combat ship anywhere.」

Of the two major rivers, the one facing Goldonia is the North Teries river in the north.

The Libatis region, touching the Teries river to the south, was only obtained recently so there should naturally not be any ships there.

「We have commandeered multiple ports by land and there were a decent amount of merchant ships left. If the main army allows us to use them, an adequate fleet can be assembled.」

It’s true that former Libatis was a wealthy country so it makes sense they have a few merchant ships.

There should be more than a few ships that the South Yuguria Empire failed to set free.

「Don’t mess with me, amateur. Hundreds of merchant ships won’t come close to rivaling a combat ship.」

Sekrit snaps back before I could say anything.

Sekrit versus Leopolt should be interesting.

「We have large cannons. If the larger transport vessels carry the cannons, we can ensure at least a higher firepower.」

「Strapping cannons on any old ship won’t turn it into anything more than a fishing boat. Without a proper crow’s nest, how do you expect a merchant ship to fight an artillery battle?」

I pull Ivanna close to me and secretly take out a bottle of alcohol from my pocket.

She smiles like the man of her dreams just proposed to her and hugs the bottle tightly.

「I am aware of the disadvantage. I’m aiming for the dispersion of the enemy and will have reinforcements on land――」

「That’s pointless. The difference between a merchant ship and a combat ship is equivalent to the gap between a child and him. There won’t be any time to fool around with clever schemes or traps. A person who has no knowledge of rivers or seas should not speak beyond their expertise.」

「Ngh……gugh……ngugh……」

Sekrit gestured at me for some reason.

Whenever she gets into an argument, she quickly becomes condescending.

And Ivanna, don’t drink it all at once……

Sekrit bares her teeth at Leopolt and puts a hand on his shoulder.

The atmosphere changed.

「Are you even trying to win?.」

「……」

Sekrit’s rage vanishes and her expression is replaced with an amused one as she brings her face close to Leopolt’s.

Hey, a few centimeters closer and your lips will touch.

「Oh I see, sacrificial pawns, huh? You have what appears to be a completed fleet head straight for the enemy stronghold…… then you guys have that ambush which was used in Meldora. Did you determine that they can’t be left alone?」

「……」

Leopolt doesn’t say anything.

However, I do feel a bit of annoyance coming from him that she said too much.

「I see, you’re done with her now that she’s lost her fleet. It’d be interesting to let her get one last win before expiring, huh? ――well, that’s how it is.」

Sekrit looks at me.

Obviously, I don’t agree that she’s disposable.

Ship or no ship, I’m not going to cut Ivanna, who is sitting on the floor happily drinking alcohol right from the bottle, loose.

「Is this strategy viable?」

「If the fleet and the main army coordinate their movements to threaten from behind, the enemy front will instantly――」

I shake my head.

「That’s not what I meant. I’m asking if they can win when a battle breaks out on the water or if they can escape once their job as decoy is done.」

I stare at Leopolt.

「That will be impossible. The fleet will surely be annihilated. They need to approach the enemy stronghold up to a certain extent, so returning home is hopeless.」

「Then that plan is no good. There are people we can throw away and those we can’t.」

Ivanna, who has gulped down the alcohol and is shaking the last few drips onto her tongue, falls into the former category.

I sit down on a chair and tap my finger several times on the map.

「Think of another strategy. Like for example……creating a waterway straight through the river.」

「Are you stupid?」

Sekrit scoffs.

That was when unexpected support came in.

「If you’re talking about sea level, the northern part is higher than the southern part. There are records long in the past of a great flood where water from the North Teries river overflowed and traveled along the city state region to the Teries river.」

Why is Tristan here too?

「I had something to say, but held back when the yelling started. I followed you over here and an argument started as well, so I forgot about it. Let’s take it easy. Wah, what the-?」

Ivanna, who was sleeping on the floor after finishing her alcohol, suddenly woke up and sat down next to Tristan.

「Hey boy, how old are you? What a cute face you have, here I’ll give you some pocket money.」

This is not the first meeting between Ivanna and Tristan, but he probably doesn’t remember her being so obscene.

「Actually, I’m already 20 years old―― hey, don’t touch me! Ack, this person’s strong!」

Ivanna’s strange obsession aside, that was some interesting information just now.

I point at the map.

「The combat ship is grounded in Trisnia. If we can repair it and carry it along the Teries river……」

Leopolt closes his eyes.

「Lord Hardlett, irrespective of elevation, boats can’t move on land and humans can’t fly in the sky.」

Sekrit also rests her head in her hand.

「It’s only cute when you act a little bit stupid. Being genuinely dumb makes me want to kill you.」

Don’t mock me in such an indirect way.

「Hey boy, do you have a girlfriend? Fufu, that innocent look tells me you don’t. The female body is a wonderful thing, you know? It’s nice and hot.」

「Don’t rub my crotch! This person is not nice!」

These two are doing whatever they want.

「I mean, you can dig a trench and redirect some water in it to move the ship……」

「It’s not very realistic to wait for a major flood like the one in the ancient documents.」

「So, are we going to dig little by little since there’s no flood? It’d be nice if it was completed by my grandchildren’s generation.」

「How about two silver coins? If you go along with my little fetish, I’ll give you five coins.」

「What’s with this person? Someone help me……」

Words won’t get through to them so I rush out of the room.

I come running back to the tent, carrying three elves on my shoulder.

「Hoi.」

When the black elf swings her arm, water gushes out from nowhere, creating a large puddle.

「Yotto.」

When the forest elf stomps her foot down, a chunk of the earth cracks and lifts up several meters into the air.

「Nnhoh!」

Lastly, Felteris raises both hands and summons a gust strong enough to kick up a cloud of dust.

「Do you understand now? How many more can use the same type of magic?」

「There are 200 of us, while it’s rarer for black elves who can’t use water magic. The chieftess can single-handedly call forth a flood though…… now give me the apple you promised. Those are really delicious.」

「There are also 200 of us. About half can use earth magic. But it seems some of the marsh elves can use it too. I’ll take the onion you promised. Aah, this smell…… it’s so addicting.」

「Hmph, no need to thank me for magic of this caliber. Rather, I’m in the mood to fight. Is there a hideout full of villainous bandits or a group of orcs nearby?」

Leopolt and Sekrit no longer make fun of me.

「Hey, you.」

Sekrit calls Felteris.

「Hah? How dare a mere human address me! Are you asking for a fight!?」

Sekrit doesn’t take up the angry Felteris’s offer.

「Can the direction and strength of the wind magic be freely manipulated? How long can you maintain its effects?」

「Changing the direction of the wind is an easy task. Obviously, I can do that. ……summoning a wind scythe or a tornado tires me out, but simply causing wind to blow is possible at anytime……」

Most of the elves can use magic and their magic capacity is not comparable to that of an average magic caster.

They are people who tend to avoid fighting, but they shouldn’t be against moving the battle along.

「Moving a fleet on land? Heh, how stupid. It’s stupid and yet……send the shipwrights to seal the holes in the ships and bring over detailed maps!」

「There aren’t any hostile forces among the city states on our path. If we don’t have to worry about military cooperation and just have to pass through, then……」

The two of them busily make preparations.

「Fufu, so cute. Why don’t you sleep with big sis today? Of course, I’ll pay.」

「Like I said, I don’t want to! Is everybody really going to ignore this!?」

Placing the corrupt Ivanna on the bridge of a combat ship might revive her former self.

I don’t know if he knew about our developing grand plan or whether he just determined the falling of the fort, but at the same time, Erich gave out the order for an all-out attack, and the entire army began to march.

Meanwhile……

「Alright, please do so.」

「Fufufu, understood. Leave it to me.」

The ugly face illuminated by the moonlight warps wickedly.

「Offering my wife and children and pretending to be a vassal was all for this chance…… kukuku, I will soon make you taste the same humiliation I felt.」

「I’m counting on your success. ……and what’s with that manner of speech?」

A woman similarly illuminated by the moonlight responds, trying her best not to look at the hideous person in front of her.

「I can’t change it for some reason. But I’m sure the seal will be released when I bury him.」

She smiles as she watches the man walk off, then scoffs.