I - the wizard Magnus - was about to go into battle.
　The leader of the Paraiso Chamber of Commerce, Popos, has given me an assignment to take down a group of pirates who are ravaging the waters around Guava Island.
　First of all, he consulted with Captain Barbas of the "Maria of Hope".

Captain," he said, "we need to prepare our equipment for battle. How many days do you think it will take for us to get our equipment ready for battle?
We could do that all the time.
Huh. That's great.

　I asked an experienced ex-pirate captain to make urgent preparations for our departure.
　Meanwhile, the female leader of the Toneni Trading Company, known as a martial artist in the League, offered to help us.

She said, "If Mr. Magnus is going, we'll send our own battleship. But...
But if we build a flotilla, the pirates won't come to us. We won't be able to defeat them. Right?
Oh, that's right.... That's why we couldn't accept Mr. Popos' request. The pirates are the common enemy of the merchants of Kajou, including myself, and we have no objection to fighting them, but...
That's all well and good, Anemone. You don't want a flashy fleet, and so do we. The chances are good that if we try to raid their homes, they'll get away before we do.
Yeah, I know, right-- we hit the safe house.

　Anemone was surprised to hear a barefaced voice.

'Does Lord Magnus know the location of their hideout!
It's not a sure thing, but it's predictable.

I couldn't say that I knew because I had a strategy book, so I slurred my words.
　However, Anemone looked impressed and said, "Sgay!　"Demon slayer.　You're a bottomless pit! And I'm very excited.
　...I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't take credit for it.

'So that's why. "I'm going to go on the Maria of Hope, one ship at a time."
Then I want a ride with you!　I'm going to take about ten of the best armed men in the world. Don't leave it to us, at least to the cutting-in team!
All right. I'm going to rely on you.

　I nodded my head, wondering if I should disrespect her spirit.

　　　　◇◆◆◆◆.

　And I was a man on board.
　Captain Barbas thinks it's a four-day journey to the pirates' hideout.
　But Aria, Chocolat and I are tired of this whole boat trip thing. The sea is irreplaceable!　The horizon!　I'm sick of it.
　So I holed up in my cabin and played the card game Anemone had taught me to play, which was all the rage among the sailors in Bagodad.

　It was smooth sailing and we were on course as planned, and then on the third day something unplanned happened.
　On the third day, something unplanned happened. The lookout spotted the fleet of what looked like a pirate gang through his telescope.

I didn't expect to see them before we arrived at their hideout. "I never thought we'd see them before we got to our hideout.
It's definitely not good luck for the pirates.

　Aria jokingly replied to my words.

　Anyway, I go up on deck with her and Chocolat.
　Captain Barbas lends me his telescope and explains the situation.

They seem to be returning from a long day of work. The waterline is deep, and they must be slow for a small boat, right?　It's proof that he's loaded with loot.
''Right?'' That being said, I wouldn't know the difference.

　I reply with a wry smile. I don't feel like I can compete with the professional's assessment of the field.
　Of course, that's why I'm hiring such a dependable man at a high salary.

I hope they think of us as their prey, and won't they attack us from over there?
No, he's running for cover in a hurry.
Hmmm ... what kind of a decision is that?
It's also possible that, based on the waterline, they decided that our ship wasn't carrying a good load. Then this one is a good state-of-the-art battleship, sir.
They know you're here to fight.

　Okay, the veteran is really fast and convincing.

'Can you catch up, Captain?'
I'm not so sure. If they need to get away with it, they could just dump their cargo and run.
Oh, right. Well, let's have this.

　I took the Sea Breeze Bell from my pocket.
　This is a magic item that I had unearthed in the depths of Krim's ruins in Aravana.
　It's a large bell the size of your hand and makes no sound when you shake it. To be precise, the bell is not audible to the human ear, but only to the spirits of the sea breeze.

　As he continued to swing it for a while, the sea breeze in the area caused a change.
"The Maria of Hope" was still sailing as smooth as ever. However, the sea breeze had completely calmed down around the pirate ships and their sails were atrophied.

"A magic item" that can manipulate the sea breeze at will? That's a dream come true for us sailors, isn't it?
In fact, it's a rank S treasure.

　Since arriving in Kajiu, our voyage has always been smooth sailing, thanks to the bell of the sea breeze.

Kaka!　They're stopping and foaming at the seams themselves.

　Barbas laughs high with amusement and pain.
　The only reason he is laughing is because the good sailors are beginning to prepare for battle without any instructions. They are crisply divided into two groups: those working on the ship and the combatants, and they prepare the fire and arrows.
　Anemone and the rest of the Toneni merchants are ready to make an incisive attack.

　I said to Aria beside me.

It is the safest place to be with Chocolat. Never leave.
'Yes, Mr Magnus!　I clung to it and wouldn't leave.
"It would be harder for me to fight if you held on to me... ''No, that's quite all right. "If you order me to fight, I'll do my best!

　Chocolat pats himself on the chest.
　I'm in good hands too.

　And in the meantime, the distance between us is getting closer.

"Well, it looks like it's that group of pirates.

　Balbus, standing at the head of the ship and holding his telescope, reported.

'That ship in the middle. That's the so-called flagship. I can see Captain Mangan's face there.
Do you know him?
I've only seen him from afar. In fact, he's famous. I don't know if this is the right way to describe a pirate, but he's a good-natured guy. No wonder the Maritime Police (Cagliostro) are in such bad shape.

　Captain Barbas has many other precautions to take.
　For example, he said that the flagship's hold is supposed to hold hostages for ransom, so they must not be sunk.

''It's just........they're preparing some strange things.
What's so weird?

　Instead of answering, the captain handed me a telescope.
　I use it to look at the pirate ship.

...Those men all lined up on the deck, could they be 'wizards'?
If Lord Magnus sees it that way, I'm sure of it. Kuku, they'll come up with something interesting.
Even if I could think of one, it would be difficult for a pirate to hire that many wizards to work for him.
There's likely some kind of powerful organization behind this.
Should I take as many prisoners as possible and get them to talk?

　Even as we were discussing it, the distance between him and me was being closed to the point of an arrow fight.
　Countless fire arrows were flying from the pirate ship. It was a waste of time.
　I shook the bell of the sea breeze.
　With that alone, the strong wind raged and swept away the flying arrows.

Truly, a sailor's dream treasure.

　The results leave Captain Barbas in a state of dismay.
　Meanwhile, the arrows fired by his men are riding the tailwind and landing one by one on all the pirate ships except the flagship.

　But so is the enemy.
　The pirates had somehow managed to swallow the panic, even if the arrow battle had been a one-sided result. They were moving around to prevent the fire from spreading from our arrows.
　Then, as the distance between us closed in further, a total of about fifty wizards lined up on the decks of each pirate ship and began to chant spells at once.

　In response, I also chanted a spell.

''Fran y Ren el!''

　Countless chants are spotted over the ocean.
　About fifty rounds of fire were fired from the enemy fleet.
　Even I was at the Academy, I had never seen such a spectacular scene.
　And the crew of the Maria of Hope had a hard time keeping their wits about them.
　Even some of Anemone's best fighters were cowering in fear.

　But my Fire IV was more powerful than the fire magic of fifty men.

　They aimed at each other's ships and leapt into the ocean, flames clashing with flames and canceling each other out.
　But it didn't completely cancel out, and my shot of fire magic, although much less powerful, had too much momentum to hit one of the pirate ships and set its flank ablaze.
　The crew and wizards on board jumped off the ship and fled to the sea.
　Hmm. With this kind of response, I could have gone a little easier on them.

　Anyway--
　My Fire IV had a profound effect on the crew of that ship that it hit, as well as on the other pirates.
　I'm sure the pirates had great faith in the fire fired by fifty wizards. That's why they didn't panic when they were defeated in an arrow fight.
　But even in the magical battles they were counting on, I was beaten unceremoniously, and the pirates were in a state of panic this time. There were those who cowered, those who wandered the deck in search of an escape route, and those who prayed to heaven.

　Then I folded.
"Running on the deck of the Maria of Hope, I leap over the edge of the ship and leap straight out to sea.

"Lord Magnus!
What are you doing now?

　I shook off the astonishment of Captain Barbas and Anemone and the others, and I just ran into the sky.
　That's right, he turned the empty space into a foothold and kicked and ran.
　This was a special effect of the loot (drop item) I got from Heydar Jamuitan, the Demon Storm General's Boots.

　Sure enough, I learned Flight at level 29. I was able to free myself from the sky.
　But the disadvantage was that I couldn't use any other magic while flying with Flight.
　However, the ability to fly through the air with the Demonstorm General's Boots is only a magic item, so it doesn't interfere with my magic.

I'm not going to be able to get it right.
Hi, there are people flying around!
No, he's running!

　I ran leisurely through the battlefield skies filled with the amazement of the sailors, friend and foe alike.
　Then I took the pirate ship far overhead and resumed my magical attack from there.

'Tilt-her-un-del-e-ren!

　Chanting, "Thunder IV.
　A massive lightning strike, similar to the descent of a dragon of light, shoots the main mast of the ship it was aiming at.
　The pirates scurry back from the collapsing mast, which bursts into flames again, ripping a hole through the hold and causing the ship to collapse.
　And another Thunder IV!
　In the blink of an eye, I had wrecked three of the five pirate ships.

　To the pirates, it must be a nightmarish scene.

"What the hell was that guy...?
Are they really human...?
Don't be stupid!　There's no way they're like us!
"We control the wind, we fly through the air, we send down the thunder--
Storm!
He's the storm incarnate!

　Even on the decks of the two ships still safe, one by one, the panic-stricken pirates broke their knees.
　They say that sailors fear storms more than anything else.
　If they encountered a storm during their voyage, they prayed fervently for it to pass sooner rather than later.
　The pirates began to pray in unison to me in the very sky.
　One of them was Captain Mangan or something like that.
　It couldn't have been a better declaration of surrender.

　I walked down the invisible staircase to the Maria of Hope to return to the ship.

"Capture the pirates. I want you to capture the pirates and take out the ones who jumped into the sea. I'll turn them all in to the maritime police.
".........................
Hmm?　What's going on?
'Oh, no, I was just trying to escape reality for a moment with Lord Magnus' fighting style.
I mean, we didn't really have to do anything at all...
It's just too good to be true...

　Captain Barbas and Anemone and the others were still puffed up.
　Only Aria and Chocolat were chuckling at the sight of their surroundings.