137 – Chapter 43. Battle of the North Sea – 2
– 138 –
After waiting for a while in the parking lot behind the dormitory, Shane with her backpack trudged over.
“Ha-am. What have you been up to since dawn?”
“Shh. Quiet.”
It was the last day of the exam, so even though it was past 3 in the morning, there were faint lights all over the dormitory where the first and second graders were.
We quietly left the parking lot and headed to the playground.
The playground was facing the mountain behind the school that spanned the border of the capital Ekarta.
Thanks to you, if you turn all the spirits to noise suppression and escape to the back mountain, no complaints come in even at dawn.
I know it well because I’ve done it a lot.
“Did you bring the key to the relic?”
“Here.”
Chermia and Shane held up the pendants around their necks.
The two pendants were in the shape of a split heart, but if you match the cuts, they become one.
When I first saw them, I was very teased that they weren’t a God-approved couple.
Although she was hit in the back by Chermia, it was nice to be able to tease her after a while.
The warriors share a single relic, and only one person could summon them.
However, it was difficult to even attack while controlling it alone.
I’ve ridden it a few times, but I had to mobilize all the spirits in the helicopter and play with my hands and feet to attack while moving.
Why is the armament so long and strong?
The problem was solved later when the lab gave me a quick-firing machine gun, but it was more like a propeller tank than a helicopter.
“Let’s hit mine until we join Bartiers. Yours is too slow.”
“It’s not that slow.”
“Eriff is too fast.”
In fact, there was no big difference from the existing Seraph model in terms of speed. My body is just overwhelmingly fast.
Chermia and Shane got on my body naturally while grumbling.
“Both of you resting behind you.”
“Thank you.”
“Drive safely.”
The warriors who spoke one word at a time fell asleep immediately after takeoff.
You must have been very tired these days from wandering around thinking about research institutes, associations, and schools.
“Control the power noise.”
[[I see.]]
The sound of the helicopter’s main rotor was barely audible because the spirit control technology had improved a lot.
We headed west and west as the stars flew in the quietly shining dawn sky.
Lake Kleis is a huge lake located in a mountainous area quite far from the capital Ekarta.
It was a night flight, so I moved based on the spirits’ sense of direction and the location marked on the map, but fortunately I was able to arrive at the scheduled time.
The huge dam blocking the flow of the lake was releasing an incalculable amount of water.
The darkness that engulfed the light did not easily show the appearance of the artificial waterfall.
Only the sound of the water roaring so loud that it was deafening could only be guessed at its scale.
“Ha-am. Erif, you did a good job.”
“Shane, are you tired these days?”
“Yes. Last time I wore a suit, I felt that I lacked stamina. I’m even following you to the fortress warrior class.”
“Oh, yes? It will be difficult.”
It seems that Shane has a lot of ties to the warrior class.
Cermia rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked around her, then she looked at me with a questioning expression.
“Weren’t you meeting Admiral Bartiers? This is not the sea.”
“Yes. We still have two more hours to go to the sea.”
“Then did you stop by to take a break?”
“No. Is there a lot of water here?”
The two of them tilted their heads at my words.
She smiled lightly at her friends, then turned to the lake and put her hands together.
“[[Son of water and earth. I have come here according to my oath with you.]]”
“Ah, Erif, are you saying something strange again? Should I call Sila?”
“… It’s because of the ancient grammar.”
Direct communication between humanoid spirits is effective only if you use the ancient language.
This is a lake with a dam, so the location had to be accurate, so I had no choice but to use the old language.
I didn’t write it because I liked it.
After clearing his throat for no reason, he uttered some embarrassing lines to call Bartiers again.
“[[The tyrant of the vast sea, the admiral of the fleet that defeats the demons, and… Ah, just come out quickly!!]]”
There was no response from the lake, so I screamed loudly, and a dark silhouette appeared in the distance from the lake.
Shock-
A great wave arose in the calm lake and swept under where we were standing.
“Wow.”
“A battleship in the lake… ….”
Chermia and Shane were shocked to see the Bartiers suddenly appeared and could not keep their mouths shut.
When the unstable lake calmed down, intermediate water spirits appeared on the shore.
They were familiar with seeing them often.
[[Hello! Long time no see, Erif-sama.]]
“Yes. Hi.”
“Oh my. What about these children?”
“The crew of the Bartiers.”
[[Nice to meet you, warriors. As Erif said, they are intermediate water spirits who are crew members of the Bartiers. Oh, can you understand us?]]
“Yes. Are you okay. But you.”
[[Yes?]]
Chermia, shaking her body for a moment, stroked the hair of her girl with her bunny ears.
“So cute… ….”
[[Ehehehe. Thank you.]]
Seeing Cher Mia with a melted expression on her face, Shane shook her head.
He caught Chermia’s attention with a cough and then told her what to do.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Shane, one of the heroes. I’m going to visit Bartiers-sama from now on, can you guide me?”
[[Yes. Of course it is. That’s why I’m here.]]
When the water spirits joined hands to form a circle, three large air bubbles came out and landed on the lake.
[[If you get on that, I will take you by boat.]]
“Thank you.”
I put the body in and got on the air bubble.
The two of them, who looked anxiously, hesitated for a moment before stepping into the air bubble.
“Isn’t this broken?”
“Of course not. Do not underestimate the power of spirits.”
“No, I was just a little nervous.”
A bubble of air, which was enough for one person to enter, submerged under the lake and began to advance at a high speed.
Cermia’s expression turned white.
I was passing just below the surface of the water, so it must be a little scary.
[[Are you okay? Shall I bring it to the surface?]]
“No. That would be more terrifying.”
Now is better than seeing the surface of the water gliding in front of you.
After a more thrilling experience than any other rides, we were able to board the Bartiers.
“I’m used to flying in the sky and it’s refreshing, but I’m not used to going under water at all.”
“Me too.”
We followed the guiding spirits across the hall of the battleship and headed to the command room.
Unlike Arumanan, which travels between mothership and battleship, Bartiers, a typical battleship, had a tall bridge.
Hundreds of spirits were busily coming and going in the operational command room, which occupied the entire first floor of the bridge.
Bartiers, who was giving orders from the top of the command room, raised one of her hands as we entered.
“Hey. Come on. Erif. Come on, warriors.”
“Hello, Admiral.”
[[We will guide you.]]
One of Bartiers’ lieutenants sat Chermia and Shane on a chair near the commander’s seat.
And my seat…….
“What are you doing? Sit down.”
Bartiers pointed to the small chair next to him.
“Ugh.”
Unknowingly, my face frowned.
I can’t see my expression, but my facial muscles are moving quite a bit.
“It’s true. If you don’t like it, stand up and fall while moving.”
“No. Excuse me.”
Chermia and Shane looked at me and Bartiers and sat down, ignoring the whispers.
Bartiers chuckled and took his weight and gave the order.
“Power. Prepare a vortex drive.”
[[Yes, Captain!]]
[[3 Minutes left]]
“All seats. Be prepared for the shock.”
[[Everyone is seated!]]
The crew members moved around busily and sat down.
After a while, there was a broadcast inside the ship.
“Vortex drive is scheduled to start operation, so please wait in a safe place.”
When the red light lit up in the command room and the alarm sounded, the warriors looked around with anxious expressions.
“It can make you feel dizzy, so grab a chair.”
“Huh? Ah Okay.”
“Vortex Drive ready to activate.”
“The target is the North Sea. The coordinates are… ….”
When Bartiers called out coordinates made up of some numbers and alphabets, the crew quickly manipulated the panel.
“Coordinate input complete!”
“Okay. Vortex Drive activated!”
When Bartiers slammed the big red button, the space felt distorted.
It was hard to come to terms with the direct movement of the huge magical power and the sensation that the entire ship was overturned.
Hold on to the handle of the chair and hold on for tens of seconds.
Your sense of direction has finally returned.
The command room with lights turned on one by one came into the distant field of vision.
“Oh. I feel down.”
As I leaned back on the chair and stretched out, Bartiers grabbed my arm and stood up.
“I don’t have time to be like this. Warriors. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
When Cher Mia and Shane, who had just come to their senses, questioned, Bartiers, who was dragging me with both hands, pointed out with his chin gesture.
“To the battlefield.”
The winter nights are long.
In the Easel Continent and the North Sea, there are exceptionally long winters and summers where the sun does not set.
In early winter like now, the period of sunrise gradually decreases, and it is said that there are days when the sun does not rise for just one day on an island in the northern part of the Eisel continent.
It’s not that far, but the latitude is quite high here too, so the sun must have been far away.
“Ha.”
The white breath disappeared into the darkness.
I trembled in the bitter sea breeze and embraced the spirit of fire from the pendant in my arms.
[[Boss, what if you are a fire spirit and you get so cold?]]
“Noisy. I’m half human, so I might get a bit cold.”
After shooting a word at the fire lizard who gave me a pin cup for nothing, I threw my gaze over the sea.
The place where you can see the faint light in the distance is probably the Easel Continent.
The demons didn’t seem to want to hide themselves anymore.
You are showing off your power by lighting up the entire coastline at night without a lantern system.
Bartiers, who was scanning the continent with a telescope, shook his head slightly.
“It’s similar to what we reported yesterday. There are already quite a few enemies.”
“What exactly are we supposed to do? Is it true that we are conducting a large-scale amphibious operation?”
“No. It’s an operation that tests how quickly you can mobilize troops on each continent. It’s about finding out where the information is leaking at the same time.”
As expected, what Curst showed was a spy-filtering operation.
“The real thing is ours.”
“Huh?”
With Bartier’s words, the other side of the continent, that is, from behind us, the sound of breaking waves was heard.
Ships of various sizes appeared in the dark with the lights turned off.
Among them were several large battleships similar in size to the Bartiers.
The countries we belonged to were diverse, so not only Selmeier, but also all countries with naval powers such as Canael, Chromium, and Aitian Empire seemed to have gathered.
Bartiers lifted the long sword he was wearing around his waist with its scabbard.
“[[Today, clear the enemy’s navy. The goal of this operation is to prevent them from roaming the North Sea or infiltrating the continent.]]”
Bartier’s voice spread through the Confederate fleet through the wind spirits.
[ There will be several more battles left, so don’t sink easily.]]”
With only the sound of the waves crashing into the ship, Bartiers raised his sword.
“[[Allied Navy, advancing.]]”
Hundreds of ships sail across the dark sea.
The manastones mounted on the main gun started warming up.
I and the two warriors looked at each other’s faces and nodded.
Now is the time for the helicopter to be active.