That day, as usual, Zhu Zhu Xiangbara attended the Albadamba chiefs' meeting.

　This meeting of chiefs, held once a month, was very important in determining the direction of Albadamba for the next month. Akasagihara, who has become a regular attendee now, is also a member of the Albadamba and is determined to attend the meeting.
　The main topic of discussion is the redistribution of fisheries, which has been determined by country and tribe. Fish and shellfish are the main source of protein for the Albadamba, but due to the currents, there are only a limited number of good fishing grounds and places to catch a large number of fish, and each time the tribes decide where to fish, they use the amount of fish caught in a given month to determine where to fish. Violators are heavily penalized, with some tribes imposing the death penalty.
　About five years ago, the numbers-obsessed Akasigahara began to have significant ruling authority in these discussions. While there were no tribesmen who were willing to bring their sleeves to the table, for the Suzagihara, their trust in this council of chiefs was their greatest asset. Those were forcefully prodded.

　Again, the redistribution of the fishing grounds was completed without delay.

''Next up is the merchant fleet coming from the continent.

　The chieftain, who was chairing the meeting, said in a grave voice.

'The merchant fleet is supposed to come to the port of Delph once every six months, but they are far behind schedule.
'The voyage depends on the sea and the wind, you know. That's about as common a range as you can get.

　At the words of the chieftain, Vermilion Dragon said that, but he roughly understood what had happened.

　The merchant fleet they were talking about was a maritime caravan, sent by the Continental Southern Chamber of Commerce Guild. They would carry rare items manufactured on the continent to Albadamba to trade for special magic ores mined in Albadamba, rare fish and shellfish from the surrounding waters, and materials for monsters. This is one of the few times that Albadamba, which is completely out of the control of the central empire, has had access to the technology of the empire, and the goods brought by the trade are very popular with the people of Albadamba.
　Each tribe's chieftain attended the trade, and his reputation within the tribe was affected to a small degree by his ability to purchase better and more rare items. It was for this reason that trade with this merchant fleet had become important in Albadamba.

　That merchant fleet did not arrive in Albadamba.
　Of course, the merchant fleet should have been nearly wiped out.

　It was a toothless story for Akagihara, who was registered in Albadamba, but he was roughly aware of that fact.

　"Luke has made a move.

　He is one half of the large piece that acts on the king's edict and is mainly responsible for purging traitors. Luke "Scar Red" (Scar Red) of the Scarred Face.

　One of the pawns in the maritime caravan, who had infiltrated the continent's adventurer's guild. The rook was in the midst of pulling out of the southern front on the continent when the king reported on the pawn's treachery and attacked the merchant fleet. As a result, nearly all of the caravan's ships were sunk. The remaining ships were also swept away due to the currents, to the Sahagin's habitat.
　If they are lucky, they too will make it to this Albadamba. But even if they do, it will be only one ship. The trade with the merchant fleet will be quite modest.

"I've never heard of the waters around here being rough, but.... You never know what's going to happen at sea.

　One of the chiefs strokes his beard and says

'As far as the merchant fleet is concerned, we can't help but fret about it.
I suppose we can only wish them well on their voyage, my dear sir.
Hmm, yeah.
Chief Berger, what's next on the agenda?

　The chiefs say this to each other and the agenda flows quickly.
　This is the characteristic of this albadamba. It made hiding a lot easier.

This is the last item on the agenda. "This is the last item on the agenda. We've got another kid on the loose.

　The chiefs did not buzz, but their faces tightened in unison and the atmosphere of the meeting changed.

　In the maritime union state of Albadamba, every month or two, there is an incident of a missing child. Even if you forbid children to play outside, it always happens somewhere. There have been various speculations that the children were taken by a tidal wave, or eaten by predators (yaguaras) lurking in the jungle, but there is no clear answer.
　If Albadamba had a written culture and were able to keep a complete record, someone would have been able to notice that this incident occurred at about the same time as the appearance of the Tokihara.

　The perpetrator of the disappearance was the Akasagihara. If he didn't regularly consume human blood, he would suffer from thirst.
　That's why he would kidnap a human and suck blood once every two months, even in the longest span of time. The fact that it is a child is simply due to the preference of the Suzakuhara. Additionally, it's also easier to dispose of the corpse. Whether it's an adult or a child, it would be troublesome to keep the person who sucked the blood alive, so there's no choice but to kill them.

'Tokihara, this time it happened on the beach near your house,' he said. One of the children who were playing got separated and never came back. Don't you know anything about that?
No..... When did this happen?
They said it was the evening of a week ago.
Of course you don't know.

　The Vermilion Bird made a face that he didn't know. The chieftain made a pained face, ''I see.......''

''I'm sorry I can't help you,''
No, good.... Is there anything I can do to prevent...

　This one, too, didn't forget to make a sad face, but Zhu Qihara was already thinking about something else in his head.

　In terms of dates, the students led by the Queen should be visiting this albadamba by now. The question of whether the monster army can be allowed to stay in this country is not so difficult to answer. This United Nation is surprisingly open-minded. As long as the Vermilion Throne dictates a bit, some tribe will accept them.
　However, during their stay, the Akagihara cannot be seen. It would be immediately obvious that he was Japanese, and more importantly, his red eyes would reveal that he was a vampire. If the Queen found out, it would be crucial.

　Without showing up, he would find out where they were going to go from here and report it to the King.

　Then, if possible, he would take the Queen's blood and deliver it to the King.

　The former, but the latter is a difficult task. Even though the pawn entrusted to me by Akeno is hiding out.
　Would it be possible to turn this Albadamba into the vermilion of battle?

　Well, that's what happened. It would be a pity for the good-natured chiefs who were standing face to face in front of me.




"Ooooohhhhhhhhhhh!

　In a stream-crossing state, Kyousuke's full-body kick into one of the ship's sticky tentacles. But the huge tentacles, which could be a couple of meters in thickness alone, didn't budge from the blows. Kyousuke made a hand sword and stared at the tentacle again.

''Rin, I'm going to smash it out with the cutter!
Yes, sir!

　At the moment he swung down his raised sword, a stream of pressurized water was released with a diameter of only one millimeter. The ultra-high pressure water stream, no matter how soft it is, couldn't kill the impact, and the tentacles were cut off without a hitch. Rin quickly turns off the water to prevent the watercutter from damaging the other equipment on board.
　The severed tentacles lumbered across the deck, but soon stopped moving. The suction cups are covered in spikes, scratching the deck.

'Okay, one!'
I wonder if I can eat this...

　The merchant ships of the heavy duty branch and maritime caravan were now being attacked by the Kraken.

　I'm not sure if it's a squid or an octopus, it's a sea monster. According to the Serena Memo, it was a descendant of an aquatic monster spawned directly by the King of the Sea, but that honestly didn't matter. In addition to its huge body with tentacle length alone, no less than 50 meters, this one is on a ship and the other is in the middle of the sea, so it's quite a struggle.
　Kaoruko was the first to try to charm me, but before I knew whether it was working or not, the tentacles bounced off me and flew away. No, I guess it wasn't working because it was bounced off. Anyway, it means that they are in the middle of a battle to protect a merchant ship from the Kraken, which is about to get tangled up in a giant squidgy pike and sink.

　Kyousuke and the others had just finally smashed through one of the tentacles on the deck of the heavy duty branch school.

　This Kraken appeared to be quite a karmic tautness, extending its tentacles to both the merchant ship and the heavy duty branch school. However, due to its size, it would be extremely difficult to sink the branch school. If anything, we need to protect the merchant ship.

　Already, Ryuzaki, who is in the midst of "Complete Dragonization," is spraying breaths at Kraken from the sky. It's not just Ryuzaki. Students who can fly, such as Karasutengu, Sarutoyo (Hanuman) and Harui (Harpy), have attacked the Kraken's main body many times, while Okumura (Orc), Zekou, and Kenzaki (Durahan) have already jumped onto the deck of the merchant ship and are about to cut off its tentacles.

'Kyousuke-kun, us too!
Okay, let's go!

　He reconfigured his leg bone structure into an inverted articulation, and leapt between the ships, which were a dozen or so meters long, with ease. Kyousuke and Rin landed directly on the deck of the merchant ship.

''You're here, Utsurogi!

　Just then, Kenzaki and the others worked together to cut off one of the giant pricks.

''We'll join them. How many gesso do you have left?
Twelve that I can see. But it's hard to say.

　Kenzaki makes a sullen face as he rolls it on the floor. Kyousuke gently places it on a wooden box in the corner, as he's afraid that if he leaves it here, he'll step on it in case of an emergency.
　On the other hand, Rin, hearing the number of tentacles left, lets out a snort.

''That's a lot. I thought squid's legs were ten.''
There's a specimen of an octopus with 96 legs in Shima Marineland.
'Utsurugi, Himemizu, and generally the Kraken are neither squid nor octopus, they are fat.

　Some of the tentacles are still persistently attached to the heavy branch school as well. But there's still quite a bit of strength left over there, so there's nothing to worry about. While I was thinking this, Goubayashi, a representative of a dependable man, jumped out of the cabin. His cloak fluttered and he wore a golden fighting spirit.
　He caught one of the prickly pears that had extended as if it was being slammed into him from the front, grabbed it with both arms and forcefully tore it apart. Another one, which is even closer, is cut off in both directions with a backward kick. Is it really an effect of the fighting spirit or is it due to the extraordinary physical ability of the ooga that can sever that soft body with a striking attack?

　Furthermore, you can see that the Tentacleshara (Roper), who until now has not shown any personality for anything other than its strong appearance, is standing on the deck with an unexpectedly spirited look.

"My tentacles and your tentacles........ Let's see who's better, let's go with a match!

　Immediately afterwards, Natsuhiko Tentahara ate the Geso Punch and flew into the sea. There is an underwater unit by the Uozumi siblings and Sahagin in the sea, so they will be rescued soon. Aya Sugiura (Scylla), who is not normally a combatant, is also helping to cover us from under the sea just this time.
　The tentacles stuck to the heavy duty branch school were all smashed away by Goubayashi. The free detachment began to slowly turn its head and turn the bow of the ship towards the Kraken. One by one, the goblins jumped out of the cabin and took up their positions on the gunwale.

　However, the machine gun ammunition is also finite. They would only be able to shoot at the moment as a check to avoid crisis.

　The airborne troops also continued to fight well. Karasuma, Harui, and Sarutoyo were all able to handle wind-attribute spirit magic. 《Wind Cutter》 and other wind-attribute attack magic specializing in cutting systems, including the Wind Blade (Wind Cutter), have gained a reasonable amount of effective hits against the Kraken. Ryuuzaki's flame radiation is also effective. Although Kannari couldn't use Blitzkrieg, but with Nekomiya on his head, he was able to scratch through the tentacles and repeatedly hit and away.

Let's go!　The fruits of my youth!

　Sarutoyo turned his arms to face each other and let the wind energy consolidate. Like a baseball pitching, he swung wide in the air and threw the magic power of the wind concentrated into a spherical shape with great force.

''Gale forceful bullet (Brass Blaster)!

　It is a sphere made of compressed wind blades. It ate through the flesh of the Kraken's "belly," but it didn't quite penetrate it. The flesh is too thick.

"Saruwatari, what was that?

　Harui sends a cold eye to Sarutoyo.

''The crystal of my youth........ That's a magic ball!''
'Oh, yeah.... So.........

　Harui didn't go into it any further.

　After all, if they were to defeat the Kraken, it would be quicker to concentrate on the head and abdomen, which were filled with vital organs such as internal organs, but since many students were unable to fly, that would be difficult as well. Kyousuke and the others have no choice but to steadily pull off the tentacles attached to the merchant ship.

''I mean, what about Hino? Wouldn't it be quicker if you merged with Hino!''

　Kenzaki shouted as he slammed his sword into one of the tentacles. Kyousuke fired his watercutter at the tentacles attached to the mast.

'Ei's still lying in bed, seasick!
"Then Rin!　Rin will be able to fly too!
'There's not enough water!　And if you run out, you're right on top of the ocean!

　It's a relatively inevitable thing.

'There's still a man on deck. Harao!　If only he had his telekinesis!
He's asleep.
'Where are the mushroom hats?　I'm going to mushroom his spores and cover his prickles in mushrooms!
'I'm too scared to come out of the water because if I fall into the sea I'll turn into a sio-sio.'
'How's Snowman!　I'm going to put you on ice with a freezing ray!
'It's hot and half-melted, so you'll have to forgive him.

　Even if the perpetual sleeper Harao Maki (Pharaoh) was out of the question, the troublesome part of maritime combat was that there were some races, such as Matango's Mushikasa and Snow Woman's Yukinoshita, who were unable to give their full potential due to their environment. The reason why they kept Ei in bed was because if they came out of the sea in a poor condition, if they fell into the sea, they could be killed.
　It should be noted that Yukinoshita Ryouka, who has been reincarnated as a snow woman, is considered to have considerable potential, but she has rarely gone to the front lines due to fatal problems with her own personality. She's the type of girl who gets excited and "burns" when she's in trouble or in adversity, so if you send her out in a pinch, she'll burn and melt on her own. Basically, it's useless.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm late!

　With such a voice, a girl rolls out of the cabin.

''Sakuma Shoko, I'm going to the front line with Inugami-san!

　It's Sakuma, the succubus. The even more bestial Inugami leaps out onto the deck as she takes him with her. Once the Inugami made sure there were no tentacles attached to the branch school, he and Goubayashi jumped over to our merchant ship. Sakuma's side spread its wings and joined the aerial combat group.
　Beni has not come out. It's a bit of a stretch to force her to do something she can't do right now, not being able to suck blood.

'The fishermen are going around right now, cutting the rest of the tentacles in the sea.

　Goubayashi said as he tore off one of the tentacles.

'Once I've cut off all the tentacles, I'll burn the main body at once with Sakuma's magic. Utsurogi, can you go?
What, me?

　Kyousuke can't help but turn his head and ask.

''I heard from Hakuba. There's a strategy to strengthen Sakuma's magic with "Characteristic Amplification", right? As I recall, it's called Giant Burst........
It's a big burst....

　Goubayashi is the son of a temple and appears to have nothing to do with vexation, but is he really aware of the other meaning that Hakuba has put into it?

'Eh, Kyosuke. That's the first I've heard of it. What?　What's the matter with your big bust, Sasan?
Rin.......... You're always so straightforward.........
'Huh, Utsurogi. That's one of the best things about Rin.

　It's Kenzaki, who crosses his arms and for some reason proudly makes a misplaced comment.

　Anyway, the big burst is to amplify Sakuma's magic attack power with Kyousuke's power and shoot out. It's fine to say that other students' magic attacks are fine as well, but since Sakuma is the one with the highest magic attack power now that Koganei isn't around, it's inevitable that buffing Sakuma is theoretically the calculation for maximum firepower.

'I see.'

　Rin could tell right away. The combined state is a convenient thing.

'I just wondered, Kyousuke-kun, if you use the 'characteristic amplification' on Sachi-chan or Kaoruko-chan, will the effect of the 'charm' be amplified as well?
Yeah?　Well, you will, won't you?　I've never seen Sakuma use the Enchantment, though.
Hmm....

　Rin let out some kind of voice. Kyousuke looked up and looked at the aerial battle group.

　Already, the Kraken already didn't have enough tentacles to intercept the aerial combat group. Probably all of its remaining legs were in the middle of engaging the fishermen in the sea. I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them. I'm not sure if we can defeat them even if we let them go, though.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to call out the name of the technique.
'Well, yeah. Maybe it's not...
Let's just scream.
Oh, well...

　Rin says too plainly. Kyousuke gave a small cough and called out to the flying Sakuma.

''Say, Sakuma!　

　It's not supposed to be a nasty word by any means, but I'm irresistibly embarrassed to say it. What's the play, this is.

　Sakuma, who was floating in the sky, immediately recognized the voice and flew to the deck of the merchant ship. He looked rather happy.

''All right, Utsurogi-kun!　That's a big burst!
'I don't know, but that big burst is going to take down that Kraken, isn't it?

　Kenzaki didn't seem to notice it at all and came to join the conversation, so Kyousuke got his head in his hands.

''Oh, eh, um, Himemizu-san. Utsurogi-kun's help, I'll borrow it.
Kyousuke-kun isn't mine, so borrow as much as you want.
Nice to meet you, Utsurogi-kun!

　For some reason, Sakuma's cheeks are upturned and she has a big smile on her face.

　Maybe it's just my imagination, but lately, she seems to have somehow blown it off. I don't know what she blew up, but she's opened up, or maybe she's more positive. Well, whatever it is, it's a good thing.
　As Sakuma turned his back to us and started chanting, Kyousuke wandered his hands a bit. Where to put it, is quite a difficult question. After hesitating a lot, Kyousuke ended up touching his shoulder, just like last time.

''Whoa, Sachi's shoulders, they're kind of soft.

　Rin put into words the words that Kyousuke had been thinking about but had tried not to consciously think about. Sakuma's body temperature rose a little bit.

'Avoid them all!　Utsurogi and Sakuma are going to use a big burst!

　Kenzaki's loud voice rang out, and all of them, who had been attacking the Kraken's main body from the air, scattered widely.

Sakuma, you know I don't want you to destroy this ship.
Yeah, I know...

　After finishing the chanting, Sakuma directed the filled magic power to the Kraken. From his palm, black flames flared up in a big way, creating a miserable claw-like shape.

''Evil Flare Big Burst!

　With Sakuma's cry, the evil flame's deadly claws were unleashed, five claws cutting through the sky as if they were separate creatures in their own right, gushing out and being swallowed up by the Kraken's soft white body. It bit heavily into the Kraken's abdomen, which was now covered in wounds from the airborne forces' repeated attacks, and after a few seconds, it exploded.
　The decapitation doesn't resonate. The sound of the explosion took its place. The Kraken's body, which popped loudly, slowly collapsed on top of the sea and raised a column of water.

''Good...!

　Sakuma clenched both fists and uttered a pleasantry.

'Oh beauty,'

　Rin also sent Sakuma a word of praise.

　Kyousuke sighed heavily. It wasn't a particularly difficult battle, due to the improved combat abilities of the entire class, but it was a formidable opponent. After all, fighting such a large monster on the sea may be a difficult task.

''........Oh, it's over?''

　Mr. Welcano, who had retreated into the cabin, popped up and said.

''Well yes, we were able to protect the ship without causing any major damage.

　The one who answered was Goubayashi. The tone of voice is polite, but he hasn't deactivated his fighting spirit, so he is still very intimidating.

I'm sure there are many skilled adventurers who can fight off the Kraken at sea. That's quite a feat.

　It's an overused form of flattery, but I don't feel bad about hearing it.
　It may be true that Mr. Welcano is showing his gratitude, but he's still a bit distant. Is it reasonable that he would be scared if he showed so much power? From the ship's cabin, Remy is barely peeking out, and after all, the other merchants don't even show any signs of coming out.

''Then we will return. After we've settled down a bit, we'll sail again.

　He decided that staying on this deck any longer would only scare them away, Goubayashi said and waved to the aerial unit. It would be easy to jump from the heavy duty branch to the merchant marine because the branch's deck was higher, but not if it was the other way around. It is necessary to have Kannari and Ryuzaki to carry it properly.

''From a human's point of view, it's a scary thing, isn't it?

　Rin blurts out.

''Well, I think I'm human too.
''Yeah......... In the eyes of Welkano-san and the others, we're really just monsters........

　Sakuma nodded at Rin's words.
　It wasn't that he had a heavy heart, but it still didn't feel good to feel the depth of the rift. As a matter of fact, as Kyousuke, he had hoped that this matter would help him lower the guard of the merchants of the maritime caravan and get them to part with their blood for Benii's sake. However, that is still a long shot.

''I was thinking the same thing, but........''

　In the meantime, Kannari, Ryuzaki and the others descended to the deck of the merchant ship. Riding on their backs, Kyousuke and the others went back to the heavy duty branch school. Looking down, the merchants finally came out of the ship's cabin and began to check the ship's wounds and other things.

　Then, suddenly, I heard a scream from below. It was a man's wild scream.
　When I turned my head to look again, I heard a familiar female voice screaming, "No!

'No!　I forgot my head again!

　On the back of the divine Birdwing, the headless windbreaker was in a panic.




　When he was attacked by the Kraken, he wondered how many times he would have to fight such a sea monster, but apparently that was a relatively rare encounter. From then on, the heavy branch and the merchant ship made their way across the sea smoothly without encountering any major obstacles.
　In the meantime, although they tried to deliver some food made from Kraken's legs and dried fish they had caught overnight to the merchant ships, there was no sign of them opening up. If I had to say so, I would say that the half-elf Remy was only interested in the heavy duty branch, but Mr. Welkano did not allow her to cross over to our ship.

　However, in the days leading up to their arrival at Albadamba, the students of the second year and fourth class were able to hear some interesting stories from Remy.

　He told them what kind of materials were being sold for a high price in Albadamba. I'm not sure I'd be willing to smash a part of myself to sell it, but if it's something that can be produced, there's no law that doesn't allow me to be prepared.
　Arakune's thread was particularly popular, I'd heard, and Spider Zaki was impatiently producing it, and Mushikasa was desperately shaking out spores and getting stumped by the flower garden, leaving the deck's vegetable garden covered in mushrooms.

　Kurumori was making small music boxes out of leftover materials and other materials, and the dexterous Goshukawara and the goblins were passing the time by making wood carvings and other crafts.

　Of course, some students were so absorbed in the video games they had seized in the old castle that they didn't think about such things, while others just stood idly by looking at the unchanging horizon, while others enjoyed fishing and others were eager to dry fish.

　And so it was for about two weeks. Almost two months and a week have passed since I arrived in this world, at that time.

　While each of them were enjoying the boat ride to their heart's content, they finally arrived at the United Maritime State of Albadamba.