Chapter 267

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Fishing and Duinkler

Hikaru and the girls, wearing shady masks and hoods, followed Deena out of the room . Some soldiers watched them with great interest, others with disdain, a few baffled .

As for Drake, he was wrapped around Lavia’s neck .

Hikaru checked the passages that were not off-limits and emergency exit routes . They weren’t allowed to see the soldiers’ private rooms, the power room, and the bridge . There was no point in checking the storage room . There were no stalls, and Deena only told them the bare minimum . As such, the tour ended in no time at all .

Hikaru’s party went out to the deck .

「Ah, please stay away from the railings!」Deena warned . 「There are weapons there!」

Not paying any attention to her, Hikaru kept on walking . Waters as far as the eye could see . White clouds . Apart from the other ships sailing parallel to theirs, there was nothing else . Only a world of blue .

「Now that I think about it, this is my first time on a ship like this . 」

Hikaru had been on planes and bullet trains, but never on a cruise ship .

「Might get bored quick . 」

Lavia and Paula roamed about the deck . Lavia, in particular, tried to take a peek of the machines covered in cloth .

「No! Please don’t do that!」Deena yelled .

As Hikaru wandered the deck, he spotted three men in one corner with fishing lines in the water . One of them watched his line eagerly, one was staring blankly into space, resting his chin on his hand, while another lay sprawled on the floor .

Fishing rods with reels… That’s advanced technology right there .

Hikaru wasn’t an expert in fishing, but the anglers he’d seen before—most of them fished at rivers—used more primitive rods, just a pole with a line tied to it . He’d seen rods with reels only once or twice .

It’s deep out here in the open sea . Maybe they need longer lines to get a bite .

Hikaru casually used his Mana Detection at the direction of the water .

Holy cow… There’s a whole lot of them! A large school of fish was swimming about . He even wondered how the soldiers weren’t getting so much as a nibble .

「I see . The hook and bait are not deep enough . Hey, you there . I think you’re fishing in the wrong spot . Drop your line about thirty meters deep . 」

The men were startled when Hikaru called to them, all the more so when they realized the voice came from the masked boy . Unfortunately, they could not understand a word he said . Hikaru searched for Deena, but couldn’t find her .

「Fine, whatever . 」Hikaru muttered . 「Let me try . 」he said to one man as he held out his hand .

Although still baffled, the soldier knew what he wanted and handed his rod over . As Hikaru reeled in the line, he realized the line wasn’t too deep . After confirming that the bait was attached, he dropped the line about thirty meters deep in the water .

「Oh, I got a bite!」

『What?! Who is this guy?!』

『You can actually get fish here?』

『Zzzzzz…』

『You can’t! No one’s got a bite here before!』

『Yeah…』

『Zzzzzz…』

「Hey, help me out here… Wait, what?!」

Hikaru’s rod bent as it became heavy all of a sudden .

「What the?! It’s too heavy!」

『You idiot! Pull the rod up!』

『It’s gonna snap!』

『Zzzzzz…』

Yelling and shouting, they pulled on the rod, and a tuna weighing about five kilos appeared on the surface . One man rushed to get a harpoon and stabbed the fish with it . They successfully got it onboard .

A different fish was in the tuna’s mouth . Apparently it was the one that Hikaru caught at first, but then it got eaten by the tuna .

「This is my first time fishing . It’s actually fun . 」

『You’re amazing! Incredible!』

『I’m bushed from all that running…』

『Zzzzzz…』

『Oh… Getting friendly with the enemy during break time, eh? Perhaps more discipline is needed . 』Duinkler appeared with five soldiers in tow .

『Oh, crap . 』the men said as they ran away .

The sleeping guy, who seemed to be a habitual truant, jerked awake as he sensed danger and hightailed it out of there .

「I, Duinkler . Nice, meet you . 」

It appeared he could speak Hikaru’s language, although broken .

「Likewise . I’m Silver Face . A pleasure, I guess . 」

One of Duinkler’s men looked familiar . He was the guy who went after Deena back when Hikaru snuck onto their ship . The man didn’t know about him, of course .

「Want tea? No interpret . 」

The plump man smiled broadly . This guy is shady as hell, Hikaru thought . There was no doubt that he had an antagonistic relationship with Grucel, as he even ordered his subordinate to go after Deena .

「You think, dangerous . I alone . 」

He wanted to talk privately . After mulling it over, Hikaru accepted his invitation . They still had plenty of time left in their voyage .

「Okay . Let’s go . 」

Compared to the others, there wasn’t anything noteworthy in Duinkler’s Soul Board . He excelled in fighting and had a high Soul rank . That was all . Yet he said he was the person in charge of this ship, and the crew seemed to be obedient to him .

When Hikaru told the girls he was going to talk to Duinkler, Deena turned pale .

「I’ll go with you . 」she said .

「He said we’ll talk privately . 」

「But I’m your interpreter!」

Deena insisted to go, but a word from Duinkler and she reluctantly backed down .

『It’s a private conversation, Deena . It does not concern you . 』

Deena’s expression was a mix of frustration and helplessness . This confirmed Hikaru’s theory that Grucel and Duinkler were from opposing parties .

Duinkler led Hikaru to what was most likely his room . Smaller than the guest room, the cloak and hat hanging by the wall and desk all looked like luxury items .

As the plump man promised, there were only two of them here . As such Duinkler himself prepared tea .

「Oh…」

The tea he served was fragrant, similar to a roasted green tea .

「This is good tea . 」

「Can tell?」

「It’s fragrant and flavorful . Even though we live in different continents, it seems our tastes are still the same . 」

Duinkler nodded in satisfaction . Hikaru could tell after talking with the man for a bit . While he couldn’t speak well, he could understand fine .

「You invited me here for a reason, right?」

「You wary . 」

「Why wouldn’t I be? We’re in enemy territory with only the three of us . Of course I’d be cautious . 」

「You destroy ship alone . 」

Surely with that much power, there’s nothing to be afraid of was what he was saying .

「What would happen to us if I destroyed this ship? I don’t even know if my weapon will work against the sea monsters . 」

「Ah, yes . You can’t kill monsters here . 」

「Can you?」

「No . The route we take, no monsters . 」

Hikaru was shocked . Duinkler just revealed their secret like it was nothing .

The man smiled . 「Important matter . Will be straightforward . 」

I guess he’s saying he’ll be open about everything .

「So you found a route with no sea monsters? And you have to take a long detour that’s why the trip takes long . 」

「Mostly right . The route still has monsters, but we drive away . 」

「You can repel them? How? With magic items?」

「Yes . 」

「Not with heavy artillery?」

「Artillery? Oh, the blast cannon?」

「A tube that shoots shells using gunpowder . 」

「Yes, blast cannon . We not use them . Not work . 」

They didn’t kill monsters, but instead drove them away . According to Duinkler, they managed to create a magic item that repelled a specific kind of monster . They then found a route inhabited only by these monsters .

「Let’s go back to my question . Why did you invite me for tea?」

「First, exchange information . Have many things I want know . 」

「Same here . 」

「Then we share same interest . Let’s talk . 」

「Anything else? You said “first” . 」

Duinkler was in a good mood all the while .

「After exchange information . If I find you trustworthy, I tell you . That be best . 」