Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Vol. 1 - Ch. 96 - Sail (2)

"Yay, I caught another!"

Cheers --- this marked the 4th time today --- erupted from the stern (ship's tail). The cause of the cheers was the apparently small-sized mana squid hooked to the huge feed at the tip of the wire, which was further connected to the drifting rope. The used wire was the product of several threads --- made from a mineral called Greyphite --- bundled together.

The greyphite-made wires were exceptionally resistant to rust and had excellent tensile strength. Though their price was also just as exceptional, they have often been used for fishing big hauls like this.

It seemed --- though I didn't know what the hell was happening precisely --- like crewmates had gained another haul. My back was currently facing toward the direction the cheers were coming from as I shot down the flock of Sea Falcons one after another from the center of the ship. A small mountain of arrows was arranged beside me. Sea Falcons were currently targeting our ship from all directions while folding their wings at shallow angles and diving down.

Oh, right. The said crewmates were the staff of the Serene Wind Co and Dan was operating the ship.

It was my first time shooting arrows from a special terrain that wobbled my aim, initially I mainly lost my aim midway or at the time of shooting the arrow when the ship rocked due to the movement of the waves. After a while, I got quite used to the rhythm of the waves so everything was now panning out in my favour.

However, a huge credit was still due to Dan's excellent assistance. I honestly admired his skills even more after I tried controlling the ship by myself. He would synchronize my aim and the rhythm of the boat and then create a window of opportunity by minimizing the swaying of the ship with expert maneuvering, so I didn't face too many hiccups like sudden jolting and the like.

Then, he would also give me signals with his eyes when he was going tacking or jibing (turning the ship downwind).

I was honestly dying to see what was happening behind the cockpit and what they were fishing up, but it was just that this damned potato face kept blocking the view. And he was even giving me a thumbs up with a broad smile for some mystified reason...... Does he know he was committing a crime by blocking my view?

I think I had shot down 300 Sea Falcons already --- I wasn't sure since I was shooting down more than I could count --- while keeping an eye on the surroundings. Soon, Gutx, who had gone to take a look at the celebration of the crewmates, returned and said while replenishing the arrows in the quiver I was carrying.

"...Man, you really got some sick skills. I have been watching all this while and except for the starting 2 or 3 arrows, the rest have hit the bull's eye. I was honestly surprised when the Young Miss was ready to dish out a 1 million rea reward... but now that I'm seeing this with my own eyes, the world of the top is really unbelievable for an ordinary person like me.

Oh, and the rest of the bunch have just caught their fourth haul. Honestly, fishing probably was never this easy with Dan's skill. He maneuvered the ship to weaken the momentum of the Deareise while the others winded up the rope.

Anyway, it would be impossible to take back anymore, so once they're done reeling back the current target, we'll stop fishing. "

Kuh, damn you, Dan...

So he was even supporting the fishing crewmates alongside assisting me in my aim? I completely didn't notice since I couldn't see what was happening at the back. There really was a world of difference between doing something for fun and doing it as a passion. 

"I'm honestly no top class---"

'The rope has been cut?' A stir rose from behind before I could complete my words.

"Huh, what? The greyphit-made wire was actually cut off?"

Gutx had just expressed his surprise when the stern of the ship was suddenly lifted. It stayed in the air for a moment before stern once again fell onto the sea surface. At the same time, the yells of the members from the stern echoed.

""I-It's a White-tailed Orca!!""

???

The ship was nearly tilted to a dangerous level, and honestly, it would have capsized if Dan hadn't momentarily corrected the ship's angle and opened the sail while jibing in the direction of Solcoast.

Gutx's face was twisted in a ghastly pale expression.

"Ack, so that was it! It smelled the bloody scent of the Sea Falcons Ren shot down! Shit! I underestimated its nose!"

"Dan! Your orders?!

...And Gutx, no need to waste time in thinking what caused what. Is the monster-repelling tool useless against that thing?"

I asked Dan for the follow-up order while asking Gutx about the situation.

"Ren, keep shooting down the Sea Falcons until we're in the Corrinda Strait! A hole in the sail would be the last thing we need! I'll see what I can do about that White-tailed Orca!

Uncle Con! I need your help with the tiller! Focus on the line! And the rest of you, bring the Deareises inside, lay them down on the floor, and avoid getting into Ren's firing range! Maintain your center of gravity!"

Immediately, Dan pitched his instructions while Gutx hurriedly helped the others in transporting the haul they captured before laying them on the floor. From there, he answered my question with a shivering voice.

"That magical tool mainly releases a sort of noise that sea monsters especially hate and that keeps them away. I heard that once a White-tailed Orca is hot on your trail, switching on the tool would just fuel their fury instead of repel them."

The sea was a complex terrain even for the Canardial Monster Encyclopedia to cover, but it specifically did mention the White-tailed Orca. With a white tail, a maximum length of 10m, and a weight reaching 12 tons, it was a monster similar to a 'whale'.

It had an extremely belligerent attitude and liked to hunt in groups. They were the nemesis of sailors since the said orcas would obstinately chase after a ship once they targeted it. If I remember correctly, their average cruising speed was 15 km/h while they could also reach 80 km/h, albeit for a few seconds.

It should be impossible to shake it off once we have it on our trail with this ship. I shrank my detection magic range and focused on the sounds in the range. On the other hand, the Sea Falcons had increased their attacking frequency, seeing the White-tailed Orca's attack on us as an opportunity.

I shot down every single Sea Falcon that tried to attack, their lifeless husks drizzling down toward the sea surface. They didn't hit the sea surface though as the White-tailed Orca appeared while opening its giant mount and swallowing all of them. It also didn't forget to ram itself on our ship.

The ship looked robust enough so I didn't think we would need to worry about it suddenly having a hole, but the bad news was it wouldn't matter if the ship was ultimately upturned.

But Dan became the barrier to keep that from happening, immediately adjusting the angle and direction of the ship. Honestly, I was really impressed since it felt like the ship was floating in the air.

It seemed like he was adjusting the angle on which the White-tailed Orca would ram itself against the ship to prevent it from capsizing. In the meantime, I also confirmed our enemies in the short exchange: we had 6 White-tailed Orcas on our trail ranging from 6m~10m.

"Dan! We most likely have 6 chasing after us! Did you get it?!"

Dan gave a thumbs up while operating the lines with a stern expression...... I didn't really mind that, but did he forget he had a mouth? He could, and I really hope he does, at least reply normally.

???

I also tried shooting an iron arrow at a White-tailed Orca that appeared to swallow the dropping Sea Falcons but with the distance and their skin having strong elasticity due to the viscous liquid on it, my arrow failed to penetrate it.

After requesting Mimosa, I had plenty of iron arrows in stock but I only had 5 MacAquate arrows. I didn't want to waste my trump card while my means were still limited.

I calculated the timing and jumped above the cockpit to secure a better angle for my aim. The first part of my plan was to draw the Sea Falcons to their limit and shoot them down. Next, I withdrew two arrows from the quiver and pierced the head of a White-tailed Orca, who had appeared to prey on them as usual, from close range.

Alright, one down! I leaped back to my central position again. I had no doubt Dan would be able to balance me over the top of the ship but I would fall if it suddenly took a sharp turn.

"Match my timing! I'll handle them!"

Dan understood my aim in a heartbeat and gave me a thumbs up...... Argh, how did he even have the time for that when he should be handling line work!?

The rest of the White-tailed Orca circled the White-tailed Orca I shot down, as if mourning its death, for a short while and then went back to chasing us.

I tried to re-enact the same scene to at least take down one more and shot down the Sea Falcons, but no White-tailed Orca appeared anymore... They were quite intelligent.

I think they were most likely communicating with each other through sound, like dolphins or killer whales on Earth. Hmm, the situation was more dangerous than I thought.

Soon, we left the Corrinda Strait, and simultaneously, the Sea Falcons also stopped coming after us. On the other hand, the White-tailed Orcas were still chasing us in obstinacy, but they changed their strategy to stay inside the water as much as possible and rammed onto the ship from there.

They do appear back on the sea surface to breathe but at a distance from the ship which rendered the arrows ineffective due to the distance. It was too risky to use the MacAquate arrows as well. Besides, my detection range was a bit ineffective under the sea so I had been contracting the range and focusing on the nearby signs over the sea surface.

The ship was somehow hanging on for now, but honestly, we were treading on thin ice, just one mistake and we might be the next titanic of this world.

I calculated the timing and jumped over to the cockpit again.

"I really don't want to take that route, but should we throw the Deareises? They weigh around 1.5 tons combined I believe."

I asked Dan, who shook his head.

"I also had the same idea. We might be able to speed up but that wouldn't be enough to shake off the Orcas from our trail. If anything, I would rather wish for more weight to stabilize the ship and prevent it from capsizing."

...Oh, so he had already thought of it and was even using them as ballast? I guess I still underestimated his skills.

"Alright. But we're going to lose all our options at this rate. I have 5 high-performance arrows, I'll try to reduce their number. Handle the starboard!"

I explained my plan and jumped over the starboard rear deck. I knew Dan would understand my target without putting much into words.

I had trained in archery using both hands, but speaking of preference, I find it easier to nock an arrow with my right hand.

I nocked an arrow while straining my ears to capture any sound and shouted as soon as I noticed a presence. Since the sound from underwater was virtually impossible to pick up with detection magic, I was concentrating my senses on capturing the disturbance on the water's surface or the rise of bubbles to determine the target.

"Star---Board---Jib!"

Almost instantly reacting to my voice, the helm sharply cut to the left just as a looming shadow from the right appeared on the water's surface. I released the MacAcquate arrow targeting the area our ship was just a moment ago.

The next instant, a screen of bright red spread in the water. I believe the arrow must have pierced the head of the White-tailed Orca given the timing.

Alright, 4 more to go.

E/N - Quite an action-packed chapter. Also, lol at Dan's potato face blocking Allen's view. I wanna ask though, can't he see what's going on with his detection magic?