CH 83

Over the next few days, the information I needed began to come to me.

“This is … Bernheinen …”

“Okay, let me read it already.”

I hurriedly received the documents brought by Seiches of the Horse Corps.

There are various monsters and mysterious phenomenons in this world, but most of them remain unknown and have not been elucidated.

However, humans leave records. If there has been an attack even once, they will record it and try to pass it on to future generations.

There are a huge number of books in the ancient city of Bernheinen in the south. There should be information on the pioneering era in it.

With that in mind, I asked Senior Melene to look up the books in the Royal Library.

In my previous life, if you ask a question on SNS, someone will answer you immediately, but in this world it is not so.

“Alright, it’s a hit”

There was one monster that matches the search results.

There was a monster that a pioneer who aimed for Miraldia about 200 years ago encountered while crossing the South Shizukai.

A monster that is likely to attack both ships and mermaids. The wind that stopped, the tide that stopped, and the fog.

It perfectly matched the conditions of Parker’s testimony.

“… Is it an island octopus?”

It’s literally a giant octopus, as big as an island. The name is somewhat humorous, but it seems to be the strongest and worst monster feared as the “Devil’s Sea.”

The papers mentioned other possibilities, but did not meet the criteria.

Flying monsters are easily spotted, and it’s easier to attack humans than to attack mermaids.

The rest are undead, such as the ghost ship, which is the story of a sailor, but then we should have noticed it when the necromancer Parker encountered it.

Besides, the undead that occur naturally in this world basically only attack their own kind.

The mermaids were afraid of human ghosts, but the reason they didn’t hurt them was probably because they were of different races.

Also, human pirates do not sink ships except for the most vicious ones. Like the bandits on the trade route, killing their prey will be a problem later on.

It seems that Garsh’s ancestors were also pirates, but from that time there was a “five-percent rule” in the South Shizukai.

It is a self-imposed rule of the pirate industry that only five percent, that is, five percent of the cargo, should be stolen.

With only that much damage, you can make up for the loss by selling the remaining cargo at a higher price. This means that the route will not be interrupted because business will still be possible.

On the contrary, if you are too greedy, the merchant ships will be armed in earnest and the subjugation fleet will be organized to defeat them.

So it would be different from a human pirate.

After all, it seems that the only valid candidate is the island octopus.

When I went to the Taishou’s mansion in Beruza with the information on the island octopus, Garsh immediately held his head.

“Hey, seriously. Is this kind of thing in our ocean?”

The documents brought by Seiches are copies of the collection, so the only illustration is a picture of an octopus that seems to be handwritten by senior Melene. Perhaps it was the artist’s handiwork, but it looked vaguely cute.

However, the size of the island octopus was not so cute.

A sailing ship with three masts is caught by winding it around with tentacles.

“The Devil’s Sea attacking the emigrant ship Kaiyan”

At the bottom of the figure, it was written in the character of senior Melene.

Garsh and his minions are having a conversation like this with a moaning voice.

“No, I’ve heard that while the first voyage to Beruza, a ridiculous monster attacked and sank a fellow ship.”

“That wasn’t the first big mullet …”

“Hey, I wonder what my ancestors are.”

“Because even the boss will blow a big mullet soon.”

(TN: Even we don’t know what this random conversation is about lol)

Apparently it still remains in the folklore.

I don’t know if it’s the same individual that Garsh’s ancestors encountered, but it’s almost certainly the culprit.

It seems that the master also looked up the “Devil’s Sea” in the library, and there were detailed descriptions about it.

It looks like an octopus so it is called an island octopus, but apparently, it’s also a member of the shellfish. The head, or rather the top of the body, is covered with a rock-like shell that seems to mimic a reef.

The reefs attract small fish, which in turn attract larger fish and beasts. It is believed that it preys on the fish.

It seems to be a very clever type of monster.

The reason why the wind and tide stop is not clear, but Master thinks that it may have such magical power. Just as a werewolf can transform instantly, demons have mysterious powers.

Master hypothesized that the fog might be the island octopus spraying seawater like a whale squirting.

By the way, mermaids also live on the reefs. Perhaps their former residence was also a reef. And they are a reasonable size for food for the “Devil’s Sea”.

However, “attacking the ship” is not written in Master’s memo.

Even if you try to eat sailors as a staple food, the ships are large and rarely encountered. Considering the ecology of island octopus, it is more natural to think that it would usually eat large fish.

That was the content.

Rashi peeked at it and tilted her head.

“Is this the culprit who attacked the ship after all?”

“Garsh’s ancestors seem to have been attacked by it, so it seems so.”

Master’s memo is described as a biological study, and the memo of Senior Melene is described as a historical record.

I thought a little and drew a conclusion.

“Maybe ordinary island octopuses don’t attack ships, but island octopuses in the South Shizuka now attack ships too. Given that, there’s no contradiction.”

It was around the time when pioneers arrived in the southern part of Miraldia. Suppose there is a ship that happens to get on the “rock reef” of an island octopus.

It’s annoying for the island octopus, but it’s also a tanabota. Humans who fall into the sea are slower than fish and are easy to catch.

If it can eat dozens of people, it will be okay without eating anything for a while. Unlike homeothermic animals, metabolism should be low.

And I think the island octopus is full for now.

“I wonder if it will come again …”

Of course, it’s all my imagination, but if that’s the case, there seems to be no limit to what I can do.

Let’s think about how to get rid of it all together.

That’s what i thought, but for some reason everyone on the spot was surrounded by a heavy atmosphere.

“The Devil’s Sea … It’s a messy monster, isn’t it?”

When Garsh moans, Rashi murmured as if she was disappointed.

“As expected, neither the Demon King’s Army nor the Miraldia Alliance Army can deal with this …”

The werewolves also have similar expressions.

“This is not something you can handle with fangs and claws…”

“This is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”

Gurney and Monza had difficult faces.

Everyone’s reaction was unexpectedly bearish.

It can not be helped. I told everyone, quickly putting together a subjugation plan in my head.

“It’s just a monster. Let’s quickly get rid of the worries of the Mermaids and Beruza.”

Everyone was silent and looked at me astonishingly.

No, I’m sorry for not reading the air.

Parker asked curiously.

“Somehow, you’re not afraid of the Devil’s Sea. Your opponent is a monster that sinks a large ship, right?”

“It’s still weaker than a hero”

The strength of the hero Arches transcended the common sense of this world. I’ve fought a lot of guys in my life, but he’s the only one that made me feel like I was going to die.

Compared to that, this is just an octopus. You can chop it into ingredients for takoyaki. With Berusa’s naval power, the strength of the demon tribe, and magic, we can do anything.

“The Demon King’s Army has defeated the hero, so I think this octopus guy is weaker than the hero. Then we can defeat this guy too. So let’s get on with it.”

Everyone had a dumb face on them, but after a while the werewolves nodded.

“Oh, yeah … if the captain says so, let’s give it a try”

“He is the man who bit the hero to death…”

This is the reason why the werewolf team is so energetic.

On the other hand, Garsh was cautious only as the Viceroy.

“Hey, is there a chance of winning?”

“It’s not certain, but it’s possible. I also set up a strategy in case the opponent is an island octopus and in case it is not. But we don’t have a ship. Lend me a Beruza ship.”

Garsh folded his arms and groaned.

“Is it a ship? … Actually, I was building a new warship without permission from the Senate in preparation for the battle with the Demon King’s army.”

“Then we’ll use that”

The warships in this world are probably galleys. It’s the kind you row with large numbers of people.

Then Garsh laughs as if in trouble.

“I made it secretly to fight the Demon King’s army … Well, I think I won’t be using it for that purpose, so I’ll lend it to you along with the old one. But return it properly.”

“I can’t promise that, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Also lend me some merchant ships.”

“You’re a greedy guy. What use do you have for a merchant ship?”

“I may be able to load weapons developed by the Demon King Army, so I’d like to borrow it for the time being.”

Merchant ships are basically sailing ships, but this one can carry things better.

Garsh looked stunned for a while, but soon began to laugh.

“Well, that’s okay. Warships and merchant ships are cheap as long as the route is safe! You can use it as you like!”

Oh, that’s very generous. Warships are much more expensive than merchant and fishing vessels, so they should cost a lot.

“… If possible, I’d be happy if the warship alone could be returned safely.”

It seems that he still has a little bit of a craving.

Based on Master’s memo, I made a plan to subdue the “Devil’s Sea”, but this requires additional personnel and special equipment.

“Contact Tuburn’s arsenal and Luneheit’s Crossbow Corps. I’ll also train Rashi.”

“You mean me!?”

“Your illusion is the key to victory. I’ll train you until the day we set out.”

“That’s…”

This is to return the warship unharmed.

Good luck.