--The next day, early morning.

...... You guys look tanned, don't you?

"Oh, that was fun.

"I'm sorry, I didn't come here for fun, but I had a good time. ......

　I stuck out my thumb and apologized to Carlotta, who looked a little dumbfounded as she said this, and Nell apologized with a look of horror.

　After that, we left yesterday after about an hour so as not to be exhausted the next day, we changed clothes, walked around the town for a while, had a meal at a seaside restaurant and returned to the inn.

　It was very fun. It's been a long time since I've been that rowdy on the beach or that carefree.

　It's so noisy in the dungeon, for better or worse, every day. It's nice, though.

No, I was the one who told you to take a break. I don't really care about that ...... but if you guys are well rested, that's good.

　With a smile and a cough, Carlotta switched her expression and continued to speak with some seriousness.

You are ready to go to the adventurers' guild, are you two ready to go?

"What do you do in the Adventurer's Guild, then?

The dungeon we will be diving into is a dungeon managed by the Adventurers' Guild. We will have advance notice that we, as holy knights and not adventurers, will be diving there, and then we will have a few people who are familiar with the dungeon's inner workings on loan there.

"I see. ...... Getting a guide?

　It would certainly be better to stay.
　It's someone else's dungeon.

We'll be fine on our end. I got everything ready to go before we left the room.

Okay, that's good. --Then let's head out.


　　　* * *


Good morning, how can I help you today?

"As I'm sure you've heard, we are from the Order of the Holy Order of Faludiene. Can you call the guildmaster?

"Holy Knights: ...... please wait a moment

　The lady at the reception desk twitched and immediately retreated to the back of the room ...... and came back a little later with a young gentleman from the back.

Hi, you must be the Holy Knights. I am Jay, the master of this guild. I've heard a lot about you from Mister Arbel, and I'm grateful that you took the time to come out here to meet with us.

"We hope you don't mind, we've just come here for our own reasons. We are here because the interests of the Church and the Guild are aligned.

It's nice to hear you say that. --Thank you. Now let me introduce you to your support staff. Grifa, Lloret, Reyes.

At your service

"Tin.

You guys should have responded a little better: ...... Yes, Guildmaster.

　A party of three people who seemed to be waiting in the tavern attached to the guild responded to the guild master's call.

　The man with the proper equipment, a one-handed sword and shield, is the grifa. He's the party leader.
　The woman who seems to be a sorceress wearing a robe is named Lulore, and the man who is lightly armed and equipped with a bow is named Reyes.

　There are seven adventurer ranks: bronze, iron, silver, gold, mithril, adamantite, and orichalcone, and it seems that they are mithril-ranked adventurers, which is quite high.

　You'll be able to see that they have the same status as the holy knights except for Nell and Carrotta.

"How ...... bring the best of the best?

　You will be able to get a good idea of what you are looking for.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make a good impression. I think it's useful.

That's a big deal, and I'm looking forward to seeing it work.

No, it's just that I've been in a bad way before. Since I almost died in the forest of evil, I've been very cautious about everything.

　The party leader, Grifa.

　So, these guys have been to the magical forest before?
　Are they any of the adventurers who occasionally come to that shallow area to gather rare materials?

"Don't be so sure, we need you guys to play a role, or the guild will have no choice but to work our asses off. Work your asses off.

...... Well, I'll do what I can, but

　It's a very good thing that you're able to have a good time with them.

　It's not just a matter of time before you are able to get your hands on a good pair of shoes.

　The church sends out holy knights, so they can advertise that they have defeated the enemy of the people through the power of the church, but by mixing adventurers with them, the adventurer's guild can also say that they too helped in the defeat.

　It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to find out what's going on.

　...... Speaking of which, I've never been asked to do anything, but I am an adventurer. The one you signed up for just for identification, along with Lephi. It's still sitting in my item box.

　I guess I'd better not tell ...... about that. Hey, his name is registered as "Yuki" instead of "Wai".

　It's a good thing that you've got a good idea of what you're doing.

　If you have a chance, I'll reveal it to you.


　　　* * * *


　Then, after Carotta finished some of the formalities, we all started to move - and here we were, at the seaside pier.

Wow!　You want to go with this guy?

　I cheered at the sight of a rather large sailing ship in front of me.



　I don't know what they call it in this world, but it was a ship that would be lumped in with galleons in a previous life.
　You can see from the size of the ship that it is operated by dozens of sailors, and many sailors are currently loading their supplies.

　This is the first time in my life that I have seen such a ship.

　It's quite exciting to watch .......
　I've been on a cheap cruise ship in a previous life, but the romance of a sailing ship is something else.

...... No, wait. It's so new to me, but why a boat?

　And the one who answered my fundamental question was Nellie standing next to me.

Oh, I see, you haven't told me about the dungeon, have you? You see, this dungeon is located on the ocean.

"On the sea ......?

　Are you floating in the mouth of a cave, popping up in the ocean?
　I'm not sure if you can call it being on the ocean or just a remote island.

　So, I've got a hatchet job on my head, and Nell is looking kind of uncomfortable.

What?　What do you mean, you look like Iruna when she puts those peppers on your plate?

You've made the analogy in a very imaginable place: ......

　She giggles for a moment, then continues.

"To be fair - it's a dungeon made of (・・・・) ghost ships (...) floating in the sea.

"What?　Ghost Ship?

　To hear the details: ...... Apparently, since some time ago, ghost monsters such as wraiths and skeletons have been seen in the waters near this port in large numbers.

　In order to find out the cause, we searched the waters and found a ghost ship drifting in the sea.

　At first, I thought it was a drifting ship or something, but when I went aboard to rescue her, I found that demons were coming out.
　They were the first to discover the ship and rushed back home, but after several investigations, they found out that the ghost ship had become a dungeon and was giving birth to demons.

　The reason why this ship we're going to board is so big is because it's designed to attack the ghost ship at sea.
　The ship will be the base of operations to get closer to the ghost ship, so we need to load it with more supplies and it will be bigger.

　There's some kind of storage magic like my item box, but not everyone has it. There are storage limits.

...... You're okay with this?　You're a baby, you're a ghost ship explorer.

　This guy's nervousness is top-notch. It's just that she's pretty, that's all.

It's just ...... aware, you can't deny your jitteriness. ...... Well, it's my job, I just thought it was inevitable.

　Nell replies with a furtive, distant look.

　...... I see. It's your job.
　Then, well, ...... I don't care how much you don't like it, I don't care.

It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with your friends and family. ...

　My wife let out a big f*cking sigh, and I smiled and patted her head encouragingly.

...... Well, don't worry. It's not like you're going to attack it alone, and I'll protect you if anything happens. The only thing I can't do is to scare you off.

"...... Onii-san, if it weren't for that extra word at the end, it would have ended up being a cool word?

I'm sorry, but I like you so much these days that making fun of you is becoming one of the things I live for!

"Surprisingly ungrateful confession!

　Moo!" next to it. Laughing at Nell's puffy cheeks, I climbed the plank ramp with the holy knights to board the galleon.

　A few minutes later, all the loading is complete and the captain-like stalwart shouts in a booming voice.

"Sail up!

"Sail up!

　The call is recited.

　The tethers are released and a few sailors work to set the sails on each of the many masts and the galleon with us on board is slowly launched.