"What is this exactly?"

In front of me, Triff and El are standing while glancing between their work and me. Four sea dragon scales are hammered firmly into the beams of the hold. One in the back and front and on either side of the mast.

When I walked in they were beginning work hammering the final scale into the beam but I stopped them.

"Are you two planning on sinking my boat?"

"No!"

"That wasn't the intention Captain."

"So then will one of you two explain?"

"It's my magical tool."

"Hmm?"

"It's the greatest creation I've ever imagined. But it requires cooperation with the Elf."

"You can call me El."

"And what is this tool exactly going to do? And what do you need El's help with?"

"This construction will turn your entire ship into a magical tool. You asked what the properties of the ultimate material are. This is the perfect representation."

"Oh?"

"As you have noticed the construction is an array. Five scales with El's mana infused into them. After that, I hammered them into beams treated with El's magic. The mana flow between the two mediums is near perfect. But the final step is the most vital."

"The live extracted Magic core?"

"Exactly. Once that is placed in a cradle I will design, this ship will think it's alive. Just like the magic core. I will turn this ship into a monster!"

"Excuse me?"

"The properties of the ultimate material. Its mana concentration is higher than a normal core, and I've theorized it is because it's like a still beating heart."

So the demon king will have a monster ship? That seems about right. But what exactly is the point? It kind of seems like torture.

"Magical beasts don't often attack other magical beasts. Typically eating easier prey like fish or humans. But with this, your ship will never be attacked again."

Hmm, that doesn't sound ideal for subjugation requests but for cruising that would be incredible. Stopping to deal with attackers is a hassle. This saves me the 15,000 SP I was going to spend on the 50 Cal.

"Impressive."

"But that's not all. If you would permit me I want to make an adjustment to this ship."

"Adjust? More than all this?" I ask pointing to the purple cross across the center of the hold.

"Yes. I would like to attach a chunk of steel to the stern of the ship. It will extend only a few inches past the stern, but it will run up the length and needs access to the hold. I was going to start work but Elf said I should wait until you approve."

"Hmm. That's quite a bit of work. How do you plan to get it under the boat?"

"Ropes, and deep breaths."

"That's… one way to handle it I suppose." I ponder it for a moment. "Rou can you let the ETC people know we are heading out for the day."

Rou was above deck but the trap door should be open, she can probably hear me.

"Are we leaving?" She says popping her head through the door.

"Just for the day. I am going to look for a magical core, Triff also wants to beach the ship so she can do some external work."

"Understood, I will have Aqua prepare the sails while I inform the Harbourmaster."

"You are going to beach it? That won't work I need access to the very bottom of the ship."

"Yeah, it's fine I'll stick it on some logs or something."

"Wha…"

Oh, I finally got a good reaction from her.

~ ~

I finally got the chance to really use my strength. It's like holding back while playing a video game with a younger cousin. The moment you can finally let it loose feels so refreshing.

And I always enjoy the looks of wonder on the eyes of the girls. I suppose Alice has never really seen this side of me. Her and Triff seem particularly amazed. Jun is simply nodding like it's obvious I could lift this ship.

This wasn't easy at least give me an 'amazing'.

"Now then, Triff, El, and Aqua I'm going to have you stay here. El and Aqua please give Triff any help she needs and keep her safe. Rou and I will take an ETS ship and search for a good beast core."

"What about me and Jun? Oh, and Mirna?" Alice asks.

"I'm going to set up the grill for Mirna to make lunch. As for you and Jun well, honestly I got nothing."

"I will need as much help as possible," Triff says to the two who seem uncomfortable having nothing to do.

They nod and our meeting breaks.

Triff takes the large chunk of metal from the hold with the help of El and Aqua while I grab a ship from storage.

I bought a dozen of them last time I was here so I have a few spares.

~ ~

"Ready to roll?"

"Roll? I am ready to set sail if that's what you are asking."

"Yeah yeah. Let's go. Where were you thinking?"

"Well most dangerous place nearby is probably above the Silence trench over here." She points to a very dark area on the map. "It's fairly close. Maybe an hour with Excalibur. Two with our current vessel. But are you really sure you want to look for an enemy?"

"We have no choice."

"I suppose so."

"It will be ok. I will take care of it instantly."

"Of course."

~ ~

"Now what?" El asks the dwarf who was currently boring a hole in the Excalibur with a thick chisel.

"Once I'm done and the metal is bolted on I will turn it into a barrel with this." She holds a small round device in the air and presses on a magic core causing it to emit a high-pitched sound.

"Whats that?"

"It's my own creation. It's a rare affinity stone. It can turn just about anything to dust. I usually use it to drill holes. Although for some reason it won't work on this elf wood."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize I think it's interesting. In fact, I may be able to upgrade this tool with the help of your wood as a base." She taps the chisel with a hammer a few times before pausing again. "Elf, can I ask a question?"

"Call me El, and sure."

"Ah, Uhm right... El, just what kind of person is Cole Moedy?"

"An amazing person. The most incredible." El replies gripping at the bandana on her head.

"Triff, El, how are things down there?" Aqua shouts from the boat peering down at them.

"Almost done, just a bit more and we will be ready to crank it up."

"Triff, I know captain didn't ask but I am curious. What exactly is this metal for? Won't it set the boat's weight off center?"

"Yeah it will, but I have extra metal to compensate for that. You might call this something like an accidental innovation."

"Accidental?"

"Well, this array will be powered by a Water affinity stone."

"Right."

"When operating, a water affinity stone naturally emits water. I presume the ultimate material will gush a lot. So I needed somewhere to put it. At first, I planned to attach the stone under the water. But then my first idea came back to me. A water cannon. Underwater."

"Oh."

"The boat will travel without the need for wind."

"Really!?" Aqua again shouts from the boat, hearing the talk. "Rou will feel so useless, that's amazing!"

"Well, she will still be helpful in navigating I guess." El ponders tapping her chin with a finger.

~ ~

"There are bubbles over there."

"Oh, you're right. Let's keep an eye on it."

The bubbles in the distance seem to drift across the rolling waves. Whatever was making them was large. But there's no way to know how far away it is. This trench is apparently one of the deepest around the continent. It was a dangerous area that boats knew to avoid. But now we drift in it leisurely with sail down.

"What exactly is your plan Captain?"

"Good question."

"…Yes?"

"Oh, no I'm just saying you make a good point. I have no clue. I can't kill it, huh? That makes things harder I suppose."

"You have no plan?! What are we going to do if an actual monster appears? Aqua isn't here so we can't rely on her healing. Captain is strong, but we have to have a plan or…"

"Calm down, calm down. It's ok. I will think of something perfect. I just need a bit. We haven't even seen a monster yet so no use getting worried yet."

"You're right, if it's Captain then it's possible."

"Well, I appreciate the trust, though I can't for the life of me figure out where it comes from."

"We all trust and love Captain because you are you. You make us feel safe, but you don't treat us like fragile pottery in need of protection."

"Well, of course, I would like for you all to be able to thrive on your own should anything ever happen to me."

She looks at me with a bit of sadness for a bit before seeming to resolve herself about something.

"I'm sorry I have to ask, did you really not know? I won't tell the others."

"Know?"

"That you were the Demon King. I know you told Aquarou that you had no idea but… And it's not like I don't trust you I just…"

"No, It's because I have never given you a reason to trust my words. I have kept much about myself secret for so long it's inevitable you wouldn't believe my claim of innocence."

"So you truly didn't know anything about it."

"Mhm, it's as I said to Aquarou. I met an old man and then found myself in this world. I never intended to begin building a Demon army or any of that. Honestly, it all happened before I even realized it. I surely didn't want to turn you into demons."

"But you said you wanted us to be stronger. I think the biggest issue here lies with our understanding of the word 'demon'. I always associated it with a person with gray scales and horns but, I don't think that's the case in reality. I wonder what the old heroes saw when they finally found their foes. Was it just a human like you? Some demented person unable to control the power you were given?"

"That's my running theory. Especially considering what stories I've heard about the demons of the past. The one who preyed on El's hometown apparently referred to the place as the 'Shota/Loli Heaven'. That was surely a concept from my world."

"What does it mean?"

"It's… nothing good. I almost feel blessed knowing another person from my world won't appear until long after I die."

"Please don't talk so easily about dying!"

"Why not? Isn't it inevitable? Everyone dies eventually I am not saying now of course. Not that I could die now if I tried, is there really nothing here? I thought you said it was dangerous here."

I changed the subject because she seemed uncomfortable with thinking about my eventual death. I understand it, I had the same feeling regarding the girls. Ideally, I won't allow them to ever die. But that may be selfish. Aquarou called it a curse after all.

"Hmm, It should be dangerous. Maybe we should bait the water?"

"Oh, like with the bandits."

"Yeah!"

Oh, I think I can work with that. These girls really are great at coming up with ideas. "That's a great idea. I like it, but I have an addition. We will give them a belly ache. Menu."

"Menu?"

"Ah, sorry talking to myself hold on a second."

I enter the endless tabs under [Merchant] and find [Elements]. I try to spend as little time using this as possible but I still have a general idea where things are now. The chunk of Alkali metal is larger this time. I also purchase a large chunk of the clay and a cannon ball.

"There we go, and now we just do a little prep work. Cut the meat. Load the cannon ball and payload. Sew shut loosely. And voilà."

"Interspacial Magic?" Rou asks in amazement of the sudden appearance of everything.

"Nope, Demon King cheat. It's pretty hard to explain but I want to be completely honest with you all now from now on. So this is a start."

"Thank you. What is that exactly though?" She asks pointing to the chunk of shark meat.

"Projectile Vomit Chum!"

"Oh?" She says arching her eyebrows in surprise.

"Right, the same concept as the explosive tipped spears, but this one will sink quickly and then explode. Ideally, it will be near the mouth of whatever finds it. If it swallows the bait, it will likely die from the blast. But if that happens we will just try again. It wasn't too expensive."

It really wasn't, I have points for days, I could actually afford the 50 cal. I have near 22,000 SP and well past 100,000 Merchant Points. The only problem is 50 caliber bullets are powerful and I think they would toss our dinky little ship like a bag in the wind. Not to mention I have to get the girls more accustomed to gunfire.

Since the bubbles seem to not be yielding results we drop the bait off the opposite side of the boat. If we see them move we can kick ourselves later. After confirming Rou was ready for battle I push on the chunk of meat.

*Splish*

"And now we wait. Oh, actually can we raise the sail a bit so we are out of the way."

"Roger."

Rou follows my directions as the bait drifts deeper into the abyss below.

"Rou wanna take bets on what comes up?"

"You seem sure something will find it."

"Well it's more, I think even if nothing finds it, it will probably find something."

"Can it follow mana or something?"

"No, well you will see in a few seconds probably."

She turns back to the direction we came from and watches the water carefully. I step behind her just in case.

I have no clue how big of a blast fifteen pounds of this stuff will be. I hope it doesn't just disintegrate whatever's down there.

*FOOOOOM*

The water where we left burst upwards with a single giant bubble. Blue-gray smoke rolled across the surface of the water. But, no body? Whats the deal? I was sure that would work.

"WOAH!" Rou says reacting later than I expected. But then I realize what has drawn her attention.

"So that's what they look like full grown?"

"A… Abyssal."

It was as colossal as I had heard. Its body was similar in shape to Coleen but it seemed to have dozens more tentacles extending from the massive round body.

Coleen, a small abyssal dwarfed our Excalibur. This hulking behemoth, on the other hand, appeared ten times her size. Although it was something like an iceberg. The visible part is likely minuscule compared to its actual size.

"Well, this is just too lucky. Here I was worried I wouldn't know where to find the beasts core. But Aquarou told us exactly where abyssal cores are."

"What?"

"It's in the puppet. Were you not listening?"

"It was sort of hard to think at the time, I was in a state of shock. Though I'm not in any better of a state now." She says shaking her head at the massive floating body.

"Oh, I can understand that. Well, no time to dilly dally. That things recovering, I'm off to work."

Before she can finish asking me to wait I step onto the railing of the stern. I spot a well-placed tentacle and leap for it.