Read Novel Full Vol 20 Chapter 20
Vol 20 Chapter 20
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Chapter 20 – Undercover Mission
I had bought a new ship and carefully planned a strategy to capture the magic cannon, but when I went to scout with Marina-san, I discovered an unexpected situation. Count Tontrade and his men had started a party around the magic cannon. I had planned to steal the magic cannon in style, but the plan was interrupted for some stupid reason, and it was very mentally painful.
“Wataru, do you have a lot of alcohol?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, I have some in the rubber boat.”
When we returned from the reconnaissance mission, I was wondering what to do next while steering the Egg when Marina-san asked me a strange question.
You’re not saying that we should have a party in response to their party, are you? That would be pointless.
“We’re going to take a detour and go to the merchant guild in Cagliari.”
“Huh? Why?”
I think we should go back to the Castle and come up with a plan.
“We’ll have the merchant guild send over some of Wataru’s alcohol. When we get to the land, Wataru should choose a strong drink.”
…A-ha, so she’s planning to send over whiskey or some other strong alcohol and get Count Tontrade and his men drunk?
“It’s too suspicious to send gifts at this time of night.”
No one would drink such suspicious alcohol.
“Do not worry. The merchants will not miss this opportunity. If they had seen the power of that magic cannon and even saw the slightest chance of winning in Count Tontrade, the merchants would have already made a lot of gifts to establish a connection. It is very likely that this party has also taken advantage of the gifts from the merchants. Even if we make arrangements now, the other side will only see us as a merchant who is slow to turn tail.”
Ah, I can’t deny that. Aside from trust issues, it’s important for the merchants to make connections in case the Castle loses, and if they manage to get in first, they might be able to handle all of the Castle’s products.
If they knew the truth, it would just be a fantasy, but it’s natural for people who don’t know the truth to want to take out insurance when they see the power of the magic cannon. In fact, the barrier of the Castle is frozen.
Then it would be a good idea to pour in some more alcohol and get them drunk. Of course, they would probably taste it first, but there’s no need to put poison in it because we just want them to get drunk.
And the high-quality alcohol on the Castle is very tasty. If they’re at odds with us, they’re not used to drinking alcohol that has purchase restrictions, so it’s quite possible that they’ll take the wrong amount of alcohol, which is rare in this world.
Or rather, judging from the way they were acting, I think they’d be happy to drink it all. Those guys were in such a good mood that they’d feel like they were taking over the world.
“I understand. I’ll get some high-quality alcohol.”
Let’s make them drink some delicious alcohol before they get desperate.
After arriving at the detour point, Marina-san, who is holding the high-grade alcohol, disappears into the darkness. I’m sure Marina-san will make the necessary arrangements.
When she returns, we will report the situation to the Castle, and then we will probably go out to sea to train with the crane ship?
I hope the training won’t be in vain.
＊＊＊
We had about an hour before sunrise.
We waited until the last minute, just to be sure. Our next move would depend on the situation of the magic ship we were after.
With my heart pounding, I slowly raised the Egg to the surface and approached the magic ship. I opened the hatch and listened to the sound of the magic ship.
It seemed the party was over, and we couldn’t hear any noise. We can only hear the sound of snoring mixed in with the sound of the waves. Perhaps the high-grade alcohol we brought with us was effective.
On Marina-san’s orders, I move the ship to a position where it will be out of sight of the other ships.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
It’s a position where we can make a direct attack on the magic cannon on the port side of the magic ship.
“It’s fine. The ship that can see us here is the furthest away. Besides, in this outfit, they won’t be able to find us unless they come inside the ship.”
I see. That’s why I was told to wear dark brown clothes that covered my whole body. I thought black would be best for sneaking around at night, but in this case, clothes that match the color of the ship’s hull were best.
In this world, light magic is easy to use, so it’s not too difficult to secure a light source. In fact, there are many orbs of light being shot around the ship, and black clothes would have stood out even more.
Before the job, I regretted not having prepared ninja clothes in advance, but not having them was a good decision in this situation. Otherwise, I might have created a new black history.
While I was thinking about trivial things, Marina-san and Felicia stayed at the magic ship and checked the inside.
“There are two guards. One is already asleep, and the other is dozing off. Also, there are a few people passed out drunk near the magic cannon.”
I wonder if the party ended safely. But even if the guards weren’t so lazy that they passed out drunk, it still seems like the guards were a little less vigilant than they should have been.
“Is Count Tontrade among those who passed out drunk?”
“No. Those who have collapsed are not well dressed, so I think the higher-ups have returned to their cabins.”
Even those who aren’t well dressed have passed out? Did they have a big party with the alcohol we and the merchants brought?
“Do you want to check, Wataru?”
“Eh? I can’t do stealth!”
According to the original plan, if there was a lookout, we should neutralize it before starting work.
“Don’t worry about making some noise. I’m going to check it out, so let’s check it out once. That way, we can save time.”
“Well… I understand.”
There were many questions, but since Marina-san and Felicia didn’t object, we left the Egg.
I get on the magic ship, with Marina-san and Felicia following, and take a look inside. I see why Marina-san and Felicia are so confident that everything will be okay.
There are two guards around the magic cannon, and even from a distance, you can see that one of them is fast asleep, leaning against the wall. The other is barely awake and not paying any attention to his surroundings.
Those who’ve had too much to drink are either sleeping like they’re dead, with pale faces or snoring loudly. In this situation, we probably won’t be discovered even if we do something.
“Wataru, how is it?”
I’m stunned when Marina-san calls out to me in a low voice. If I let my guard down just because the other side is weak, I’ll lose my advantage.
It’s precisely because the other side is unguarded that I have to give it my all.
“Fortunately, there’s space at the base of the magic cannon. It’ll be fine with two points and four ropes.”
If the magic cannon had been placed directly on the ground, it would have been a lot more trouble, but Count Tontrade’s side had also loaded the magic cannon onto the magic ship, so it came with a base for easy transportation.
I doubt they have the slightest idea that this base will be used by us.
“Okay, just a moment.”
Marina-san returns to the Egg and comes back with a sling around her shoulders. It’s a sling wire.
From what I know from being appointed as a staff member, there is a load limit for the wire used for slinging, but since this is equipment from a cheat Ship Summoning, even with the thinnest wire, it can be lifted without breaking.
It would have been nice if this system could have been used for the crane as well, but since there’s a power issue there, there’s a chance it won’t lift even if it doesn’t break. That’s a bit disappointing.
“Wataru, please take care of Rimu-chan.”
“Okay. Rimu, please do what you practiced. And Felicia, too.”
“I’ll be fine…”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
As I left Rimu in Felicia’s care, Marina-san and Felicia slipped into the ship.
Maybe in a movie, this is where the exciting scenes start. But I’m not that excited. I guess the main character doesn’t look good unless the enemy is strong in a fight.
Marina-san approaches the slumbering lookout. I feel like it’s okay to leave her alone, but it seems like she wants to deal with them just in case.
She quickly approaches the guard, grabs his neck, and the guard collapses. Wait, did she strangle him?
Well, that’s okay; the guard is taken care of. From here, it seems like a race against time. I feel like I can take it easy until the sun comes up, but I can’t afford to be careless.
We’ve worked hard to develop a plan and practiced hard, even if it’s just for a short time, so we have to be serious, or we’ll be sad.
Well, we’ve eliminated the guards near the magic cannon, but there are more guards and soldiers on the magic ship. I’m sure our efforts will not be in vain.
Marina-san and Felicia had Rimu and Fuu-chan hold the ends of the sling wire and place them in front of the space around the base of the magic cannon. Then, Rimu and Fuu-chan crawled in while pulling the wire.
This is a secret technique we discovered during the training.
When you send the wire into a narrow space, it inevitably rubs against things and hits obstacles, making noise.
At first, we tried wrapping it in cloth to prevent this, but even when we wrapped it in thin cloth, we couldn’t completely silence the noise, and when we wrapped it in cloth thick enough to solve the problem, it became difficult to move the wire.
That is when the strong, cute, squishy, and soft Rimu appeared. When Rimu moves forward while holding the wire tip, the wire tip moves forward without making any noise.
All that remains is to keep the wire tip from touching the ground and send the wire out from this side.
It really is an ingenious idea.
Thanks to this, we were able to acquire the skill of freely controlling the sling wire in one day, except in very narrow places.
While I was watching, Rimu and Fuu-chan slipped past the obstacles, attached themselves to the main body of the magic cannon, and started to climb up.
Rimu can also fly, but in this case, climbing is the right choice. Steady silence is better than unstable speed.
Thanks to the efforts of Rimu and Fuu-chan and the support of Marina-san and Felicia, the slinging was completed in no time.
Marina-san and the others, having accomplished their mission, return to the Egg while extending the wire.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I greet Marina-san and the others aboard the Egg and wave my arms out to the open sea.
How long can we fool them?
As I wait, my heart pounding, the number of lights on the ship on the open sea side of the bay begins to increase. In the distance, my crane ship, disguised as a regular ship, can be seen.
“As I thought, it was impossible to fool them until the end.”
“Yes, Wataru’s ship disguise made it look like Count Tontrade’s ship, but the size and shape are quite different. Besides, even if the ships look similar, the lookout will notice if the ships are joined from the outside.”
“That’s right. I think it’s amazing that we were able to get this close without being noticed.”
Marina-san and Felicia follow my mutterings.
At first, I thought of summoning the crane ship near this magic ship. But since the magic circle would stand out, and even though it was late at night, there was no need to make a big deal about summoning a ship, so after I had everything prepared, I decided to summon the crane ship from afar.
I tried to disguise it as much as possible so that it wouldn’t be noticed, but as Felicia said, if we got that close, it would be enough.
The crane ship accelerates and rams into the ship. It’s hard to stop a ship, but will it be able to stop in the right place?
Despite our worries, the crane ship docks right next to the Egg. The enemy, who was completely off guard, seems to have noticed the anomaly and the area above our heads becomes noisy.
“Master, hurry!”
Following the voice of Ines, who was operating the crane ship, Marina-san and I jumped onto the crane ship. Felicia stays on the Egg to provide backup in case of emergency.
I hurry to the crane’s control panel while Marina-san goes to connect the crane to the extended sling wire.
The climax has finally arrived.
Now, it’s just a matter of using the crane to lift the magic cannon.
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