Vol 5: Chapter 43
** Saint Knight Kingdom Port Town, Zackerhafen **
「W-What’s going on!? The ship is moving!」
「There are thieves!」
The confused guard earlier called a search party, it seems. The lights inside the dock suddenly turned on.
「Scout!!」
「I know!」
As the fastener was released forcibly, the metal fittings snapped, and the ship tilted greatly. The water wheel broke the wooden scaffolding built around it for repair purposes.
「Tsk.」
Lark reached out her hand and activated【Shadow King】. A long black blade cut through the fasteners that supported the ship one after another.
The magic ship fell, and for a moment, Lark and the others floated in mid-air, then landed back on the deck with thuds. Kook failed to land properly, and went rolling across the deck.
The magic ship moved forward as if it was slipping forward.
「Are those guys trying to steal the magic ship!?」
The guards were stunned for a moment by the tremor caused by the dropping of the magic ship, but they soon regained their senses.
「One of them is over there!」
The guards found the locksmith in the middle of a swaying staircase.
「Locksmith! Hurry up!!」
The magic ship had been lowered, so the exit of the stairs was far above Lark. Lark shouted out as she ran to the back of the deck. The locksmith unsteadily climbed up the stairs, but the guards had already gathered underneath.
「Hurry locksmith!!」
「I’m c-c-coming!」
The magic ship was speeding up. The locksmith finally reached the top. He could have landed on the ship by jumping down right away, but the locksmith was shocked by the height, causing him to freeze up.
Lark tried to reach for him, but there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do anymore. She saw a black blade at the tip of her hand… but she was well aware that it was just a weapon that hurts others.
(However!)
Lark killed a lot of people the day she got this skill.
Most of the guards were only there to serve their duties. She didn’t have a reason to take their lives.
It was natural that her younger brother didn’t take her hand.
(Still, my little brother reached out to me.)
The brother she met in the Lev Magic Empire for the first time in four years had grown taller and older. And he protected Lark.
(He wouldn’t give up in this situation!)
Lark clad her hand in a black blade.
The stairs shook greatly as the guards climbed up.
The locksmith was frozen in place.
「GO AWAY!!」
A black blade flew out. The blade slashed the stairs just slightly above the guards.
The swaying stair was slashed in half, and the separated upper half started falling.
「UWAAAAAAAA!」
The locksmith started falling down towards the edge of the deck, but as the magic ship was accelerating steadily, he was about to fall right out of the ship.
However, the scout was already sprinting towards the locksmith with his arm stretched out. He managed to grab the locksmith’s body, and pulled him up onto the deck in one breath.
「WE’RE ABOUT TO CRASH!」
The engineer shouted from the wheelhouse.
The bow of the magic ship came into contact with the dock’s door, which the locksmith had already unlocked. The right door smashed open due to the sheer weight of the ship, fell into the sea and splashed up a great amount of seawater.
The magic ship was hardly damaged even after all that. As soon as it landed on water, the ship bounced and reached a level position.
「Don’t let us down, magic engine!!」
As the engineer increased the engine’s output to full capacity, the water wheels started to rotate.
「——Wait!!」
「——Don’t think you can escape!!」
The guards jumped out of the dock and chased along the embankment, but the magic ship’s acceleration was quick, and the guards were left behind in the blink of an eye. The waves caused by the magic ship rocked the small fishing boats at the mooring.
Lark looked back and saw the guards in a panicked state.
「Fuu…」
Lark was holding onto the railing on the deck, but she suddenly collapsed on the spot.
「Young miss! Young miss!」
She heard Kook approaching her.
**
I caught the scent of the tide long before we arrived in the town. The port city of Zackerhafen was more disorderly and more lively than any other towns I saw in Saint Knight Kingdom.
「I wonder if she’s in this town…」
I couldn’t catch up with Lark up until this point. I don’t think our carriage was slow. Just that Lark and her companions were too fast. Perhaps they could escape so quickly because they were sky pirates.
Traveling at night is dangerous, but there are people who still do it. They are more accustomed to traveling and are more aware of the dangers than anyone else.
We did stop to rest during nighttime.
「I am sure she is here. Nobody is sailing out to sea, it seems.」Mimino-san said, with a tone of worry.
We returned the carriage rented from the knights of the Saint Knight Kingdom.
At the entrance of the town, we confirmed that a party fitting Lark’s description had entered. Curiously, that seems to be three days ago. I was surprised that the distance between us had extended by two more days en route, considering that our chase started a day after.
The knight who drove us here shook his head as though giving up. No doubt that he also did his best in the chase. Her travel speed was abnormal, after all. Perhaps she used some sort of shortcuts, and not just travelling at night.
We arrived at the town early in the morning, but headed for the harbour first.
「Let’s hope they’re stuck at the harbour. There’s a story about something called Umibozu going around, so none of the ships are sailing into open water.」Dante-san said.
「From what I’ve seen from Lark so far, I think she might just do something crazy.」
「You must think highly of your sister.」
「That’s why we should have followed my proposal to use a shortcut~」Zerry-san said.
「Zerry-san, your shortcuts were full of dangers such as annihilating bandit groups and paying exorbitant amounts of toll fees. And we can’t take those paths while having the knight with us, right?」I said.
「We should have just snatched their carriage.」Zerry-san said.
「You know we can’t do that.」
Zerry-san knocked me on the head and stuck out her tongue. …I will pay you back for this.
「It’s kind of noisy.」Non-san said as we approached the harbour.
Although my ears caught the hustle and bustle, I thought that a port town was supposed to be like this – but there seems to be something else going on.
I caught a glimpse of the sea beyond the houses. I was excited to see the sea for the first time in this world.
At that moment, I heard something which caught my attention.
「–A magic ship has been stolen. It seems that the thief used some sort of black blade.」
Ah, man… Lark did something crazy, after all.
