Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

Chapter 57: I’m Angry, but… (5)

“A ship is approaching!”

I spent most of the day sleeping, reading, and doing some light stretching and exercise.

Two days after setting sail, pirate hunting was added to the list.

“Pirates?”

“I don't know. However, most ships that would approach us recklessly like this are almost certainly enemies.”

It was a simple distinction. If it approached us, it was an enemy. If it didn’t, it was just a passing ship. We decided on that method because most pirate ships didn’t actually fly pirate flags.

“It’s Vipurit!”

However, the men under Vipurit were slightly easier to recognize. Most of their members wore red bandanas, scarves, or really just anything red.

“Go ahead.”

Which also meant I could just cut them down.

Slaaaash!

A [Slash] filled with my Arcane Power cleaved through the sea.

“You can just cut down their ship as is. Simply cutting their masts somewhat leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

The three masts towering over their shop collapsed. As a bonus, their sail was also sliced through horizontally, allowing one to see right through it.

I could hear the pirate sitting in the crow’s nest screaming as he fell into the sea along with the mast.

“Want me to cut your ship in two?”

“Please have mercy.”

Windhand trembled exaggeratedly as he entered the captain’s cabin.

I looked at him, to which he turned around. Unless one was lucky enough to be carried to some land by the current, they were effectively fated to drown in the sea.

Flop.

I sat down on a stool-like chair.

My hand holding the Zweihänder trembled ever so slightly due to my nausea.

“I don’t think we’ll see any more pirates near the coast for a while.”

That’s what one of the adventurers on deck said.

That probably wasn’t an overstatement. One ship the day before yesterday, three ships yesterday, and two ships today had their masts split and were left to drift across the sea.

Although not an awfully huge number, it couldn’t be considered small, either. Even when we went on that pirate hunt with the city guards, we barely captured eight ships in three days.

“Rather, there were four ships among them that belonged to Vipurit. I somewhat expected it since I was told they managed to capture a city, but they really are no joke.”

The sailor in charge of the sails shrugged at those words.

“It’s not like we ignored all the port towns near Jacrati on our way to Grü Teltz for no reason.”

He said while pulling a rope taut.

“There are various gangs connected to Vipurit in lots of ports.”

“So, if we tried to stop by one and visit the Adventurers’ Guild, we would just get caught and chased away or engaged in battle.”

Another sailor followed up on his words.

He opened the cage placed on the deck. He caught a chicken inside of it. Chances were high that it would be our next lunch.

“Is it that bad?”

“All the pirates around here went under Vipurit. The only ones who persevere without getting involved with them are Boss Rahong, Blue Moon Watia, and Outlaw Chima.”

“Aren’t Blue Moon and Outlaw privateers?”

“Right. But a lot of people have switched to becoming pirates. Privateers usually get on by paying some of the loot they stole back to the city. However, that’s completely meaningless if the city can’t properly function.”

He pulled the rope even tighter before securing it to a clamp. Only then did the sailor come down from the railing.

“So, all those guys swore loyalty to Vipurit because they didn’t want to end up dead.”

“Why didn’t you guys do that, then?”

“Are you crazy? There’s no way Vipurit would just leave us alone.”

The sailor looked at me in total disbelief before letting out an ‘Oops’.

“Ah, you’re landlubbers, aren’t you? Then you might not know.”

“Yes, we don’t, so please tell us.”

Deb intervened at just the right moment. Anyway, he never missed a beat when it came to gathering information.

“Well, it’s a bit…”

For the first time, the sailor seemed hesitant, perhaps because it wasn’t something one could talk about so carelessly.

“I played the biggest role in that guy’s downfall.”

At that moment, Windhand, who’d gone to his quarters not too long ago, came out. He held a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

“I hit him right in the back with my ship.”

“…Whenever I remember that day, my heart still pounds. Everyone was trying to stop him, yet the captain refused and ventured into the enemy camp alone.”

Rather annoyingly, the sailor watching quickly blurted out those words. Windhand chuckled when he heard that.

“Not only that, he even went during a storm!”

“What are you saying? I used the storm as a cover to infiltrate their place.”

“Still! Just sneaking past Vipurit’s men without being seen would have been easier than going at them during a damn storm!”

He then held out the liquor bottle as if telling the sailor to take a sip. Everyone around me took turns drinking some of it.

“Anyway, joining him wouldn’t have worked. If I even tried to swear my allegiance to him, Vipurit would have cut my head off and put it on a stake.”

“Ah, so you had no other choice.”

I refused to drink. Ever since one of my seniors in college made me drink until I puked, I disliked alcohol.

Of course, I had been forced to do so a few times before. Drinking water spoiled rather easily on ships, so even people who disliked alcohol would choose it over rotten water.

However, that wasn’t the case right now. I had stored plenty of water in my inventory, just in case.

“But… Is that all?”

“What?”

Deb tried digging deeper, seeming to have sensed something, as I wondered whether I should get up. The smell of alcohol worsened my motion sickness even further after all.

I had heard being out in the open was good for getting over motion sickness, but I felt much more comfortable just lying on my bed and getting some good rest.

“So, um, please do me a favor.”

However, right as I was about to get up, Windhand looked at me and spoke up.

“Please save my life… and that of our brothers. I’m betting everything on you here.”

His tone was somewhat vague, but the answer to his plea was fixed.

“As long as you pay me, I won’t allow any failure.”

I decided to stay in my private room to avoid the smell of alcohol after that.

* * *

* * *

⌈Mister Windhand has urged us to go to Jacrati first.

Please tell me how to contact you. I’m sure Sir Archmage definitely knows how to get in contact with me.

It’s up to you whether you decide to join us for this request, but I don’t really recommend it.

P.S. If you decide to follow us, bring some reinforcements and supplies. That way, you’ll be less likely to get beaten up while walking around the city.

P.P.S. I think Mister Knight won’t stop to get our reward, so could you perhaps pick it up for us on your way? I can’t bear to think we won’t get anything for our trouble after all we’ve been through.⌋

The Inquisitor was crouched down, pondering over the words (letter) the thief had left behind for them.

Yabad and Jacrati. The name of a place she had never been to but always came across whenever she studied history or the doctrine of the Temple. It left her speechless.

“It seems you’re very worried.”

The one approaching was a priest who took care of some things on her behalf while she was unconscious and also helped her in various ways after she woke up.

“Ah, Sister.”

The Inquisitor rose from where she sat and greeted the priest. Anyway, the debt she owed her wasn’t small.

“Why would I have anything to worry about? I’m comfortable, all thanks to you, Sister.”

She thought back to what had happened right after she woke up.

From reporting the death of the priests to the Temple, placating the Lord after belatedly hearing the ship had been severely damaged, and even responding to the Magic Tower’s unreasonable demands that the dragon’s corpse be handed over to them for research purposes as they were victims.

She also had to fill out reports and ensure the families of the deceased would receive proper compensation. Just as the thief requested, she received the Demon Knight’s reward and requested that some personnel find out how the dragon ended up like that and what would happen to the sea in the future.

To make matters worse, the people familiar with the incident either had already disappeared due to personal reasons or were unconscious. She didn’t really know much, as she had focused on maintaining the barrier back then.

If this priest hadn’t helped her, she would still be getting dragged around by all sides.

“It’s something I ought to do.”

Despite that, the priest humbly refused to accept any credit. The Inquisitor's eyes softened when she looked at her.

“Rather, are you worried now? It seemed to me that there are still things bothering you.”

“That’s…”

“I heard the Archmage will wake up soon, so it surely isn’t about him… You also managed to secure the Demon Knight’s reward to some extent, so it wouldn’t be that, either… Is it because of the people of your group who went ahead?”

“…!”

She couldn’t answer her. That’s how surprised she felt. That was honestly her biggest concern.

“I heard a bit about it. Something about them going to Jacrati.”

“…Yes.”

She unconsciously crumpled the letter she was holding slightly. When she noticed, she tried to straighten it again, but the wrinkles wouldn’t disappear.

“…I want to go and help them, but…”

Forty years ago, a large-scale Demon summoning occurred in the Yabad region.

At that time, many people had been parasitized by those Demons… Many didn’t even know they were parasitized and clung to the priests, begging, ‘Please, please save me. I heard the Demons are coming.’

In truth, their very bodies had already become a vessel for those Demons.

“There is no way that they would tolerate my existence.”

…Her teacher had told her that many had died during this incident. A truly, truly immense amount.

Those who refused to believe their relatives or friends had been parasitized by Demons killed the priests, and the priests killed them to survive, eventually going so far as burning entire regions, the citizens included… The land turned completely black, and the sea surrounding it red.

“Don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your fault, Miss Inquisitor.”

“…But.”

However, that spilled blood was never washed away. Their disgust, accumulated hatred, and anger wouldn’t disappear so easily.

“…I can’t just stay away.”

It would probably stay like that forever.

“Inquisi…”

Craaash!

“…!”

Both their heads turned simultaneously as a commotion reached their ears. What they saw was an acolyte running toward them, completely out of breath.

“S-Sir Archmage is awake…”

“He finally woke up!”

“B-But there is a problem.”

“…! A-Are there any problems with his health…?”

“Th-That’s not it. It seems the Magic Tower has found the reason for the dragon’s corruption!”

“…!”

“It isn’t natural!”

The faces of the Inquisitor and the priest stiffened.

* * *

The moment my water ran out, we spotted land. We had reached the Yabad region and arrived at the island where Jacrati was.

“Vipurit’s men are coming from both sides!”

Of course, the ones circling the island weren’t much trouble. I simply sliced them in half with my sword, making them sink.

“You cut apart the ship this time?”

On the open sea, just cutting their masts was enough to prevent them from attacking us. All they could do was to pray the sea’s current would lead them to land.

However, we were near land right now. There was no guarantee they couldn’t just escape using small boats. If they did, there was a high chance that they would return at a later point.

So, I cut their ships down to be sure. I couldn’t risk the people's lives on land because I was sloppy.

“It got annoying.”

However, there was no need to explain it in such detail!

I dealt with the remaining ships by sacrificing my HP for Arcane Power. While onboard the ship, I gained some understanding of what the HP-to-Arcane Power exchange cost was through the use [Life Force Conversion]. As such, my HP had only dropped slightly.

Of course, it was absolutely ridiculous that blood would rise from my throat just because it fell a little.

“I can smell blood.”

…That ghost-like bastard!

I quickly swallowed the blood in my throat without letting him notice and placed my Zweihänder into its sheath on my back. Converting vitality to Arcane Power was good and all, but every time I used it and my HP got reduced, blood would fill my mouth.

Thanks to that, I almost got caught by Deb, who was very sensitive to the smell of blood, multiple times.

I should avoid using this skill around him except when I was already injured. I didn’t really have much of a choice this time, though.

“Blood? Don’t you think it’s coming from the sea?”

“…I don’t think so, no.”

Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know.

I looked away and sat down on a nearby empty box.

We quickly approached Jacrati, ignoring those people in the water whose ships had sunk.

While our target location was elsewhere, we decided to depart after doing some basic maintenance, so we selected Jacrati as our first destination.

“C-Captain!”

And just as the landscape of Jacrati was steadily entering my view, the sailor up in the crow’s nest screamed.

That voice, carrying a mix of fear and shock, caused tension to sweep over the ship. Most of them wore stiff expressions.

“Speak!”

Windhand urgently asked the sailor. However, it seemed he had trouble getting his next words out.

“Damn it, what did you see?!”

As such, some sailors scrambled to cling to the bow while others tried to scale the ladder leading to the crow’s nest. I just took a peek at the city from the deck.

“M-Monster.”

Had he finally caught a proper view of the city? The sailor in the crow’s nest started stammering.

“A monster has overtaken the city…”

“…What?”

It was then that I saw a monster destroying the city’s walls.

「Patchwork Golem │ A monster made by weaving together human bones, muscles, and flesh and letting a Demon possess it. It is said to need dozens of lives to create it, and hundreds to kill it.」

It was a Demon.