Chapter 478: Southern Island 5
Despite some chilling moments, it didn’t take us long to get our supplies. The vegetables and salted meat, packed in crates and barrels for the ship, were much more to our liking than the food stockpiled on the Red Whale. No, I did not inspect the food on Red Whale very carefully. They were gathered together in a coarse net woven from rope, ready for Maia to carry them away.
“Then, you’ll be here in a day or two……well, I’m sorry, but even if the pirates return, we’ll be staying on the island for a while, too. We have our own reasons”
“We’re in no position to object to that. Do what you want”
Galatia’s father……I give Captain Theo Lardo one last check before letting Maia transform into her dragon form.
“Y, You see”
“N?”
Then, just as I’m about to climb onto Maia’s back, Galatia speaks to me gingerly.
“That……I guess we’ll see each other again tomorrow or the next day or the day after. But you know what?”
“…………”
“I’ve never seen a guy like you……before. A man who is kind as if he is flirting with women is rather out of fashion in this country. There are not many of them. But if I can do it like you, it’s not so bad, I thought……”
“Galatia”
In response to the young girl who clumsily praised me while choosing her words, I put my hand on her shoulder with a rather serious concern, even though it was in front of her father.
“You, if you’re like me and you think like that, I won’t say anything bad, so cool your head and reconsider. Right?”
“Eh, wh……what”
“There are a lot of guys out there who are nice to you. There are really a lot of guys who cheat on women. Even so, if you think you’re good, you’ll definitely get burned. You definitely don’t have good instincts when it comes to people”
“You sound like my father. Are you that scared of my father?”
“Your father’s right……but you’re definitely the type of person who can wreak havoc if left alone”
She is emotional and ephemeral, neither able to read the back of others nor strong at heart. She has only her own arm strength and looks like a girl who is ready to eat. It is difficult to imagine a course of happiness without being deceived by her own strength.
“It’s noisy. I didn’t fall in love with you even if you didn’t say it”
“I know I’ve shown you some strange things in the process, but our women are really a group of peculiar people, you know? They’re really happy with that, but it’s impossible for them to be happy”
“……I know,so don’t be so desperate”
“No, you just started talking about making me do serious erotic things. Be careful, okay?”
“……Why am I being meddled with so desperately and unnecessarily?”
The father said to Galatia, who muttered with a tired and puzzled look on her face.
“Of course”
I know, right?
——————————————-
So that’s how it is, we return to Red Whale Island before any amount of time past noon. Tomorrow the pirate ship will be back. We can take a rest and have fun without worrying until this evening. With this in mind, I let Maia descend on the flat land on the beach…….
“Andy!”
“……Anzeros?”
I saw Anzeros, who I thought was still swimming and playing, come running to me, firmly dressed and with a drawn sword in her hand.
“What’s wrong? Was the leftover food surprisingly tasty?”
In the middle of the descent, Anzeros shook her head when I asked with a slightly slow voice because it was from the back of the dragon that caused the wind. ……Well, you wouldn’t greet me with a drawn sword for that reason, would you?
“That’s not the point. ……Hilda-san has just been taken hostage by Rabines”
“Ha?”
“A patient she was seeing was being seduced by Rabines. He said he’d give her drugs if she helps him……so he broke out of his dungeon, took Hilda hostage, and now he’s ranting us to give him a ship”
“Give him……”
The ship that Rabines alone can move would be little more than a boat. Dwarves have strong arms but short limbs, so they are not very good at maneuvering boats. The island is of a certain size, so there must have been a few boats that had been landed, but he would not have been able to go anywhere with them.
“And hands to use the ship, because, you know. ……It would be convenient if Maia came back. It seemed unlikely that we could help Hilda-san unharmed”
“……Show me the way”
I knew that this was an inevitable situation. Leaving the jokes behind, Maia leaves the luggage on the beach as it is, transforms into her human form and we follow Anzeros.
——————————————–
“It’s too late, I’m afraid. But even for a dragon, there’s not much you can do with a hostage. ……Isn’t that right, dragon rider?”
“Let Hilda-san go”
The little dirty Rabines crawled out of the dungeon and held a shortsword against the seated Hilda as if she were a shield at the back of the cave. In human hands, it would be a short sword, but in the hands of dwarves, it looks even longer. But with their grip and arm strength, the speed at which they wielded it would not be much different from that of a knife. When I think about what it would do to Hilda, I can’t blame them, who were bewildered because they couldn’t move without thinking about it. Is it also calculated that it is in the darkness of the cave? If it were in a sunny place, Almeida’s speed could have made it possible, but here, Almeida, who has no night vision and is not good at magic, would be at a loss to help.
“Do you think I would nod my head if asked to let go? You will get nothing out of this. That’s the only room for concessions. I´m the one making the demands”
The outlines of the two are vague in the lack of light from outside.
“Don’t try to force your hand and tear it off. The elven lady over there was attempting just now and thanks to that, the blade got into her eye. No, no, I never know what can go wrong with my hands”
“……Sorry about that”
Aurora mutters. Hilda’s left eye was indeed bleeding.
“It’s okay, I can’t help but have anesthesia because I used a sensory illusion. It looks like it’s going to take a little time to heal☆”
“It’s not my intention to hurt a woman’s face any more. So let’s get to the negotiations, dragon rider”
“…………”
It seems that he sees me as the real leader of this group. Is he able to see through his opponents and their power relationships?
“I want a ship and I want someone to steer it. What, I don’t require anything too advanced. I know there is a current from here that will take me close to Farahl just by riding on it. Anyone who has the strength to paddle is welcome”
Rabines speaks in a tone of voice. But I’m going to go slow once more.
“Let go of Hilda. I won’t say it a third time”
“……Hmm. I thought I was proficient in the northwestern language, but was there anything unclear about it?”
“I told you exactly what I said. Didn’t you hear me?”
“Andy……kun?”
Hilda-san looks at me with only one eye. I’m sure Hilda, the dark elf, can see me, as well as Rabines. I grab my crossbow in one hand and slump it down.
“……Celesta’s projectile? But you are a human. It would be a bone to hit a flying tool in this darkness. And of course I will use this dark elf as a shield. You say that this dark elf is the only one who can examine the drugged women. Will you kill them with your own hands?”
He talks a lot. But I slowly raised my crossbow.
“I can accurately shoot an apple from a hundred meters away. I’ve been practicing this for about seven years”
“……Are you out of your mind?”
“Ah, besides”
I smiled mockingly at him.
“The reason our guys were so quiet was simply because they were withholding judgment. Don’t get too cocky just because you got one over on them”
“What……?”
“Hilda, please bear with me for a moment, even if it hurts”
I reached out with one hand with my crossbow as if to show it off, pointing the arrow straight at Rabines……and not pulling the trigger. The next moment, Rabines was smashed with his sword by Neia, who had crept up behind him and was knifed precisely in the tendon of his shoulder by Tetes. Then, almost simultaneously, Luna snatched Hilda from the side. It was a strategy that dared to have such prominent forces as Anzeros, Almeida, Aurora and Maia stand behind me. Although Neia and the other three were originally good at stealth, they had a lot of 「Show」 power and I, who was considered by Ranines to be a commander, drew Rabines’ attention by making my crossbow look like a trump card. In reality, our crossbows are not light enough to be casually shot with one hand. If you hold it unsteadily like that, it will surely shake and you won’t be able to hit the target.
“Gu, gaa……!?”
“The other thing is, I’m not holding this to save Hilda from you. ……It’s to pay back my girl for screwing around with me. Now I’m going to put an arrow in your eyeball. Hope you survive the fat arrow through the head, huh?”
“Hi, Hiiii”
I aim, my smile fading. I’m not threatening. I was serious and I was furious at him for putting the blade of the sword in Hilda´s eye.
“Andy, are you serious?”
“Well, I think it’s a good thing he’s dead. It’s an unfortunate ending, though. Do you think Dianne would allow her family to be hurt?”
“……”
The most important thing to remember is that you can’t just take a look at the pictures.
Anzeros catches her breath as I don’t change my expression. But the one who pushed down my crossbow was none other than Hilda.
“Stop it, Andy-kun. If we do that, we’ll have fewer clues to the girls who can be saved”
“…………”
“It’s alright. I can fix this. I don’t need the holy beast treatment. It’s going to take a while to heal on my own, but with a little help from Polka´s spring, I’ll be back on my feet in a few days”
“Hilda……san”
She had her eyeball cut out. The pain must have been extraordinary and even if it was just an eye that had been crushed, it would have been impossible to make a calm decision on whether or not it would heal or not. I swallowed my spit at her spectacular mental strength and nodded my head. But I accidentally pulled the trigger while being pushed down.
“Ah”
Zugaa.
“!! ……G, Gyaaaaaaaa!?”
The arrow had pierced his groin area. Rabines screamed a beat later and rolled over in agony, foaming.
“A, Aaa……”
“……Th, This much is……well, it’s safe, safe☆”
Hilda says cutely, tears of blood streaming down her face. Then Tetes pulls out the knife from Rabines’ shoulder and says with a smile while waving the knife.
“Since we’re at this point, let’s cut it out! Well, the tendons in his legs will be chomped, of course”
Meanwhile, Neia, with her flash sword back on her hip, looks down at the dwarf with emotionless eyes.
“I think it’s safer to kill him”
“That’s also possible, isn’t it?”
Naris, who had been playing a threatening role alongside Almeida, (who was aptly suited for the role because of her large crush harken, if not for herself), quips at the two short warriors, who are in completely different moods but say the same wild things.
“It was a little too rough! I mean, we’ve succeeded in our mission, so let’s be happy about that, Tetes-chan and Neia-san!”
“Nn, but I don’t think it’s a waste to prepare food for this garbage. Because he scattered drugs and did this to Hilda-san, right?”
“I agree with Tetes. Food should not be wasted”
Neia, I understand your circumstances, but my support is a little off.
“But more and more I’m looking forward to Dianne’s return”
Almeida sighs. Anzeros and Aurora, who were nearby, also lowered their shoulders.
“Anyway, Hilda-san must be sent to Polka……”
“It’s no longer possible to have a carefree vacation”
I’m also depressed by the troublesome situation. Even if I don’t let my guard down like this time, I wonder how it will move from now on.