Chapter 153: The Demon Race’s Pirate Ship

Chapter 153: The Demon Race’s Pirate Ship

Five days after the departure―

The ship was about to reach the Rilan principality, the relay point of their journey, when—

「Oi, look at that!」

「Ah! That’s a rescue signal!」

The crew members created a ruckus as they looked up.

Aria and co. became curious about the situation and went up to the deck. In the distance, they saw red smoke rising high in the sky.

The rescue signal of a ship meant that the ship was in some danger.

「That’s… a pirate ship! The ship is under attack!」

The sailor with a telescope in his hand shouted to his comrades. It seemed the ship that had sent the rescue signal was under attack by a pirate ship.

「What shall we do, Captain?」

「Guh…」

The captain of Aria’s ship seemed to be having a hard time making a decision.

He really wanted to save the other ship. However, at the same time, he was the captain of this passenger ship. Rescuing the other ship meant that he would expose his passengers to a dangerous situation. In the first place, he had no idea about the combat strength of the pirate side.

「Captain, let me go there to save them.」

「A-Are you sure, Aria-sama?」

Naturally, the captain knew about Aria and co’s heroic deeds; he felt at ease with them on board his ship. Every single one of them was an extremely powerful adventurer.

「Please bring the ship close to the pirate ship while maintaining a safe distance. This child and I will take care of the rest.」

Aria pointed at Tama, who was stowed in between her gigantic melons, as she told the captain.

「… Eh?」

The captain of the ship let out a dumbfounded voice. It was only natural since he and his crew planned to join Aria to fight the pirates.

「Quickly follow Aria-chan’s suggestion, nyan!」

「U-understood! Everyone, take out our oars!」

The captain made up his mind upon hearing Vulcan’s sharp voice.

The sailors took out the oars from inside the ship and vigorously rowed toward the attacked ship. The speed of the ship rose by a notch thanks to the additional propelling power. Finally, they saw a gorgeous passenger ship and another ship with a skull flag right beside it as if the other ship were clinging to the passenger ship.

After only ten meters separated the ships, Tama let out a warcry.

「NYAN（《Divine Protection of Lion King》）!」

The moment Tama 《Divine Protection of Lion King》, a golden aura enveloped him and Aria.

「Let’s go, Tama!」

「Nyaa(Roger, Master)!」

The two leaped from the deck after that short exchange.

One jump was enough for them to cross the ten meters distance. They landed on the deck of the gorgeous passenger ship with a loud impact.

「W-who are you people!?」

A woman shouted in a flustered voice upon seeing an elf and cat fall from the sky and land right on the deck.

With the tri-cornered hat she had on her and the saliva she spat from her mouth, this woman seemed to be the captain of the pirate. From her brown skin and emerald green hair, it could be told that she was a demon.

There were also several male demons drinking liquor and tying up people and corpses.

The situation could tell them that the passenger ship side had clearly put up some resistance, but they got defeated. Thus, the survivors were tied up.

「Nyan（《Sylphine Bit》）!」

Victory goes to those who make the first move.

Tama invoked wind’s 《Elemental manipulation Cannon》 to fire a compressed wind bullet before the pirates could snap out from their shock.

His attack was carefully controlled to avoid the passengers and sailors. It hit only the heads and the stomachs of the demons, rendering them unconscious.

「DAMN YOUUUUUUUUU――!」

The leader of the pirate, the female demon, swung her cutlass with a warcry. She was the only one who had dodged Tama’s attack in the nick of time. Since the wind bullet was invisible to naked eyes, she might’ve dodged by instinct.

Seeing the female demon brandishing her cutlass, Aria went to intercept her.

「《TIDAL WAVE SLASH》!」

The female demon shouted. Pale blue water appeared around her cutlass like a whirlpool. Then, she swung it down toward Aria.

「《Starlight Blade》!」

Aria also unleashed her attack to counter her opponent’s move. The female demon’s slash was really powerful, but Aria’s attack pulverized the cutlass along with the water coiling around it.

「I-Impossible… My advanced skill!」

The female demon spoke with a dumbfounded expression. Tama drove in 《Gnome Edge》 the moment he saw an opening in the female demon’s defence.

「GA… HA!?」

The impact of that attack forced the female demon to spit the air in her lung, and she fell on her knees.

After confirming that all enemies in the gorgeous passenger boat had been neutralized, Aria and Tama jumped onto the pirate ship and took care of the rest of the pirates.

「Fuuh… that must be the last one, Tama.」

「Nya~~~n!」

Aria and Tama had conversed while jumping back to the gorgeous passenger boat. Aria then untied the tied-up passengers and tailors, who looked at her with dumbfounded expressions, while reassuring them.

「D-Did we just… survive?」

「T-Thank god…」

Some of them seemed to have a hard time understanding what had just happened, while others were simply delighted for their safety.

「Thank you for saving us!」

A man rushed toward Aria and Tama while thanking them. From his attire, he obviously seemed like the captain of the gorgeous passenger ship.

After a short exchange, the gorgeous passenger ship decided to tag along with Aria and co’s ship toward the port of Rilan principality.