It had been several hours since we left the Bluefin Harbor ship. A leisurely stretch of time passed, and most of the prisoners, anticipating a boring excursion, had already closed their eyes in advance.
There was a reason I said "most." Naturally, there were people who were still awake. One of them was Ishmael.
Ever since we left the Bluefin Harbor ship, she had been staring through her telescope without pause, as if keeping watch for something.
I was curious what she was guarding against, but... I didn't feel like talking to her. There had been that incident, after all. I'm a person too, you know. A person.
Anyway, once I ruled one person out, three more came into view.
One was Otis.
Compared to how openly hostile she had been toward Ishmael earlier, she now seemed rather favorable toward her.
Probably because she works hard.
Another was Gregor.
He and I were both watching Ishmael. Our reasons were probably a little different, but we were doing roughly the same thing, so I figured I could lump us together.
"Yaaawn..."
...At this rate, considering how he'd been yawning nonstop, he'd probably nod off before long.
And the last one was Dante.
I assumed he was watching Ishmael and me, since we had so blatantly gotten on each other's nerves earlier.
Come to think of it, that made sense. If there was no one on the ship to stop us from doing the same thing again... ugh, I didn't even want to imagine it.
Those five, trapped in that uncomfortable atmosphere, were crossing the Great Lake in silence.
...But was it just my imagination?
The number of possibilities visible over the lake itself somehow felt higher than before.
As if there were something out there that couldn't be seen by eye... no, wait, could it be?
"Ishmael, do you have a moment?"
"What is it?"
"I have something I want to ask..."
"I'm busy, so later..."
"Shut up and listen. I don't exactly want to talk either. This might be important, so could you put your feelings aside for a second?"
"..."
Seeing us growl at each other, Dante started prowling around nearby.
Maybe he didn't want to interrupt, but if he left us alone, things might get out of hand, so he was just watching?
It felt like being a troublemaker. Fair enough, I guess.
Still, I had to do what I had to do.
"Is there anything on the Great Lake that can hide a ship in motion? Something the pirates we dealt with before could use."
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden... wait, did you notice something?"
"It's just a hunch, but I think there's something nearby that can't be seen with the eye."
"...I want to ask how you knew, but I'll trust you for now."
"Even if you ask, I won't tell you."
I didn't particularly want to reveal it. I'd been dodging the subject this whole time by brushing it off as just having good intuition.
And to be fair, my intuition really is good, so it wasn't entirely wrong.
"Where is it? Is it close?"
"The location is somewhere ahead. The distance seems fairly generous... though I can't be certain. I can't see it clearly."
"That's enough. If they're aiming for us, they'll show themselves soon."
"Hey, what's going on?"
"It's an ambush. We'll probably be in combat soon, so wake the sleeping prisoners and get them ready."
"...! Got it."
Dante and Ishmael quickly headed into the cabin.
They'd probably come out armed to the teeth before long. By then, the rats hiding in the shadows would show themselves too.
The candidate was... that pirate crew Smi had been commanding? We didn't have any other grudge-bearing enemies besides them.
Fighting on a ship is a pain in a lot of ways.
"Huh... this is bad. Doctor, you aren't mistaken, are you?"
"Don't worry and warm up your body. Looks like this isn't a false alarm."
...I'd just checked a few things a moment ago, and it was real.
Haa... half my field of vision being white lines is a real ordeal too.
It's hard to tell whether it's increasing or decreasing. Can't I adjust it somehow? Leave only the things I want, or something like that.
There's too much information slipping into my vision as if it were nothing.
Thanks to that, every moment is exhausting. The things I don't want to know keep getting forced into my eyes.
"...Ah. There it is."
A pirate ship suddenly appeared at a distance that could be clearly identified with the naked eye.
I should've just let that woman Smi die. I'm kind of regretting it now.
"Ah, Dante! What did you decide?"
"We're taking care of it. Ishmael's going to hook the ship, so be careful!"
"Then we can just charge in and fight."
"My body was getting stiff anyway. Then..."
Let's go.
- KRAK───!!!
"Throw the lines! We're boarding!!"
The moment the ships crashed together with a savage impact, Otis barked her order.
Several of the waiting crew immediately reacted, throwing ropes and ladders to make a path.
They were in perfect sync. They hadn't been able to do that before.
"Hmph. How dull."
Wow, that body movement was something else. Only Ryoshu could pull off that crazy stunt of climbing up the side of a wall. Ah. I should move too.
If I dawdled...! Ugh, the person below would start nagging me for being lazy.
"Now then..."
"Even that weakling's coming up here? I'll make an example out of—"
- thunk.
"Should I just kill them all?"
One down. Nothing is easier than an enemy who lets their guard down, so I went straight for the head with a surprise attack.
"Y-you bastard...!"
The instant he saw his comrade die, another pirate rushed in at point-blank range.
In situations like this, I just ditch the spear and... use the mobility to leap backward.
I'd lost my weapon, but I could use that instead. Lure the enemy in.
"Damn..."
"Die!!"
Got you.
At just the right moment, Dante climbed onto the ship, manipulated the terminal, and soon I heard the sound of glass shattering inside that pirate's head.
"One more."
"What the hell is this...?"
"What do you mean? You fell into a trap."
It was something I'd designed on the fly, but with my eye ability in mind, it wasn't that difficult.
- thwack!!
"Guh...!"
"Combo incoming~!"
- KRAAANG!!!
Downward smash! I use that one a lot. If you show off one big hit, the other guys' morale drops too. One punch to the gut, and if their head gets slammed into the floor too... they'll be dead soon.
Then I might as well scare them a little.
"Anyone else want to try? I can keep going."
"..."
The pirates who had been looking at me quietly latched onto the other prisoners instead. Hm, looks like nobody else wanted to try.
Then I'd done all I needed to do, so I might as well watch for a bit. In situations like this, the spot next to Dante is prime real estate. Since he had to give overall commands, it was a good place to observe from.
"Saramago, hold on... you slacking off again?"
"No, I'm conserving my strength for the important part."
"You can just rewind the clock anyway."
"There's such a thing."
Even after rewinding, the headache that made no sense remained. It probably meant direct damage to the brain... no, that still didn't add up. If the clock turns back, even a pierced brain should be restored to normal.
Hmm... no. I do have a guess, but thinking about it probably won't help much.
"Anyway, the fight will be over soon enough, so there's nothing else for me to do. It's not like the rest of you would get pushed back without me."
"That's true, but..."
"Oh, there's only one left now."
Over there. He was surrounded.
"Everyone stop! We'll interrogate him."
"W-we were going to surrender! You filthy cowards..."
"We're a little busy, you know~"
"Instead of running your mouth, you'd be better off telling the truth. Spill it. Where are you from?"
Heathcliff spun his bat and threatened the last pirate.
It'd probably be faster to just torture him. He didn't look like the type to start spilling everything so easily...
"There's no way we'd let anyone get away with touching our first mate and still walk around unharmed. That would be a disgrace to our organization! Captain Hook told us not to let you off easy!"
"Heh, what a beautiful sense of loyalty. Not bad."
"...Who told you to keep flapping your tongue?"
"Kehaha! You think a threat like that's going to work? Do we look like the kind of softies who'd get scared by that?"
He's spilling everything? And a captain? Was some paper-thin figurehead sent out because of pride? From the way he talks, they seem to have a fair bit of pride... well, being that stupid is a crime in itself.
"Persistent little bastards... we even spared their first mate, and they don't even appreciate it..."
"Did Smi... did that person mean this? That something terrible would happen if we touched her..."
"That can't be..."
"No."
...Ishmael?
- KRAK!
"Disgrace... isn't... something you feel... for something like that..."
"What?"
"When the comrades you fought alongside are all slaughtered like dogs by some mad incitement... and the only sound you can hear is... the heartbeat of your own heart, left alone. And even in that state... when you realize that what's beating is the desire to survive... that's when you feel it. Disgrace."
Ah... disgrace, huh. That makes me think too much.
The pirate, dismissing Ishmael's words as nonsense, ignored her and started trying even harder to sell himself.
"Just wait. Looking at your ship, it's obvious you don't know anything... if you spare me, I'll tell you everything. And I'll make sure to put in a good word with that person too."
"..."
"Hahaha...! Right? That sounds tempting, doesn't it? If that happens, you might even miraculously make it out of the lake..."
- crunch!
"...Hah, I'm sick of listening to these obvious, meaningless lines one by one."
Ishmael crushed the pirate's head, then wiped the blood off her harpoon and turned to look this way.
"That was the last one, right? We can go back to the ship."
...For a moment, I had the thought that Ishmael and I might not be so different at our core.
But even if I thought that, nothing changed.
Mephistopheles's voyage continued...
"Hey."
"...Are you talking to me?"
Ryoshu gave a slight nod and flicked the new cigarette at her fingertips.
...I still hadn't lost my identity yet. Don't tell me?
"Fire."
"...Liu Association isn't a lighter."
"So, you refuse?"
"No, I'll do it."
- fwoosh.
"Hmph. Decent enough for a first try. Learn to control the flame."
"Ah, yes."
...Anyway, Mephistopheles's voyage continued peacefully.