CH 175

Chapter 175 – Approaching Fleet

The distance between us is about a mile and a half. On their sails is a blue shield with a white serpentine pattern, but which ship is that?

“A white sea serpent on a blue background. It is the flag of the eastern territory. Did they come out without waiting for the northern fleet? It seems that the north and east are not of one accord after all.”

The southern lord, McKin, was convinced on his own.

According to Myrril-san’s estimation, the enemy ships are a little more than two kilometers away, and as usual, I can only see “something fuzzy and white” instead of details of the ships.

Isn’t it strange that I can see it? With the naked eye.

“Mir, what is the enemy’s strength?”

“Two ships the size of that one are in the lead.”

Myrril pointed to a close combat ship where the lord had come on board. I don’t know what they call them. They are slightly larger than the pirate ship we are on and have a higher side. A little over 20 meters long. It’s about 60 to 70 feet long.

There was one ship behind it that was more than one size bigger and wider than the others. The other four are flatboats. They have sails, but they seem to be rowing to compensate for their speed.

“Oh, your eyesight is excellent. As expected of the Demon King’s wife.”

“What? It is a wife’s duty to support her husband.”

I don’t know what kind of socializing is going on, but what we need to do now is to understand their strengths.

“One battle cruiser, two transfer ships, and four landing craft, that means there are 40 to 70 transfer combatants on board and about 100 land troops for landing combat.”

Instead of the unreliable lord, the escort soldier told me. He is a good soldier who can read the atmosphere.

“They have gunboats?”

I muttered, and Myrril gave a small nod of her head. I could tell by her pose, throwing a round object, that the gun was a projectile cannon. I don’t know what it is, but since it’s a shipboard gun, it must be powerful enough to damage the ship.

On the other hand, we had no anti-ship weapons.

“How much McKing-dono’s ship can handle?”

“I doubt we can take out one of the transfer ships before we are sunk by the gunboat attack.”

“You know that relations with the hostile lords have soured… Why did you neglect to prepare for battle?”

Myrril’s comment is harsh but true. Frankly speaking, there is no benefit to us in helping someone who has no intention of defending himself, even if Lafan is the home of the Calmon family.

The feudal lord McKin nodded auspiciously.

“I have nothing to say in reply. But the shipbuilding center is in the northern territory. The construction of new ships in our southern territory has been denied. I had no choice but to ask my relatives in the kingdom to start building a naval force…”

“And this, in turn, has served to embolden the hostile lords?”

“It seems so. We have built up our land forces and coastal defenses, but the trouble is that our naval forces are not up to the task. The trouble is it takes several years to build up naval power in stages. If the southern territories themselves are crushed during that time, it will be the end.”

It is not a matter of if. It will be crushed. Not in a few years, but now.

Although the difference in strength between the southern and eastern territories is not as great as that between the Kingdom and the Casemaian, there is no escape route, no shielding, no special weapons on the sea, and no other result but destruction is possible.

Even without the addition of the northern territories behind the eastern territories, they would lose the battle by default.

“Then how and why did you decide to go into battle alone?”

“I didn’t mean to go out on my own,” the fat lord scratched his head.

“I remembered the advice I was given when I met the lords of the Duchy of Lemore in the southern part of the kingdom. It was like a revelation.”

“Advice?”

Feudal lord McKin takes out a scroll from his pocket. No, even if you handed it to me, I wouldn’t be able to read it.

“──If you see a dead body shot without arrows or a large number of missing persons, be on high alert; it is the work of the hands of the Demon King or of the Demon King himself. Those who harm him or the beastmen, elves, and dwarves will surely perish. And if you are hostile to the Demon King, the nobles of the Kingdom will also be your enemies. May the Demon King have mercy on you. Kylie Erkel.”

Myrril, who read it for me, looked at me with a dumbfounded look on her face.

No, no, no. It’s not my fault, even if you look at me like that. The mysterious person who is shooting out eyeballs and crotches is definitely Myrril-san, right?

“…It seems like it’s true.”

“Umu, you may beg His Majesty the Demon King for mercy.”

Stop it, Mir-neesan. People will take you seriously.

“You don’t have to react like that; I only kill people when they try to kill me.”

“Even if that’s the case, 30,000 for that is ridiculous⁉︎”

Louie’s comment was met with nods from everyone.

“Ah. Yes. I think so, too. The Casemaian, who didn’t even have a hundred men at that time, suddenly attacked with 30,000 men.”

“That’s not it. It’s strange that you can survive in that situation.

“”””Umu.””””

Why are you all harmonizing? With Louis and Calmon and the others, not only the lord but even the guards are nodding their heads. Get to work.

“Then, let me show you the power of the Demon King.”

Ara. Mir-neesan looked at me as if it wasn’t her own power. Why do you look so happy?

“It is no longer a matter to be settled with gold coins, Feudal Lord. You will repay this debt in due time.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Guard there, transfer the pirate survivors to your ship. If they get into a naval battle now, they will die for sure.”

“”Yes!””

The pirates, bleeding and suffering from hypothermia, are brought out, and some heavy supplies are transferred to the lord’s ship.

“Feudal lord-sama!”

I turned at the sound of the guard’s voice and saw the eastern lord’s ship rushing toward us. It was still about a mile away, but even with my eyesight, I could see it. The first two ships, which were transfer ships, spread out to the left and right and opened up the center of the ship. I could see a large cruiser gunboat, with its port side facing us, launching projectiles in rapid succession. Four shots were fired in a very extreme, mountainous trajectory, and then the ship swung its hull and fired a follow-up shot from the starboard side.

“Hey, Mir, this is dangerous if we leave the ship tied up…”

“Don’t worry, that one won’t hit us.”

Whether it was because we were too small a target or the gunner was not good enough, all eight shots missed wide and created a huge splash on the surface of the water. It didn’t explode; it didn’t burn. It didn’t trigger magic; it didn’t seem to be anything more than just a big rock.

“Is this the kind of fighting you do over here in naval battles?”

“”””Don’t know.”””””

Hey, wait. Leaving aside the adventurers’ team and Myrril, even the feudal lord?

“So, none of you have any experience in naval battles? What about the guards?”

“We are land soldiers. We can handle the transfer combat.”

“They probably won’t be in action this time. We’re going into battle, so please remove the ropes there. Take the lord to his ship too…”

“No, no, no, there is no way I would retreat from the front of the stage when I can see the battle of the Great Demon King⁉︎”

Do as you please. Um, what’s the great demon king? It’s supposed to be a rank-up, but it sounds weak to my ears.

“Release the mooring line!”

“”Oh!””

The escort soldiers wave to the sailors, and the rope connecting the two ships is retracted.

I turned to Calmon’s father, who was standing at the rudder, waiting for instructions.

“Kayson-san, full speed ahead toward the gunboat in front of us.”

“””…Eh⁉︎”””

Unlike the guards, the lord, and the adventurers who looked back at me with bewildered faces, only Kayson-san, the temporary pirate captain, looked at me with a quiet expression on his face.

“Takifu-san, are you serious?”

“Please, with the intention of colliding with it.”

Kayson-san looked at me and smiled as if he was pleased with what he had heard.

“I see. That is the “battle of the Great Demon King,” isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s it. You should see it from the front row. You won’t regret it.”