Volume 4 Chapter 33 The Ghost Ship and the Guiding Shadow on the Waves
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The sandy land stretches beneath our feet.
Between scattered corals and rocks, vibrant tropical fish glide like they’re dancing in the water.
Above us, sunlight filters through the waves, casting soft, shimmering light over the clear, blue world that stretches out in peaceful silence.
In the midst of this surreal scene, we continue our walk.
Me, Lifia, Kéa, and Yomi.
The usual crew.
We’re here in the dungeon’s 5th floor: ‘Seafloor of Shadow Waves.’
It’s a beautiful sight, no doubt.
But this is the heart of a dungeon never touched by human feet.
Constantly, deadly monsters lurk, ready to strike.
Gigantic anemones extend tentacles, dozens of meters long, to ensnare their prey.
Massive manta rays try to swallow everything around them with their sheer size.
And octopuses that can change their color, morphing into our exact likeness to confuse us.
Each of these is a formidable foe.
Any adventurer with half-baked skills would be devoured in an instant.
Without the ‘Love Hotel’ skill, even resting would be out of the question.
And yet, we push forward, deeper into the perilous environment.
”Master, there’s something ahead. It’s not a rock or coral. It feels… like something artificial.”
Lifia reports the results of her Spirit Magic detection.
Her magic uses the wind like sonar, letting her detect the general shape of objects around us.
Up until now, the seafloor has been nothing but sand, coral, and rocks.
If there’s something else, it might be a stairway leading to the next level.
But whatever it is, it’s not something we can just ignore.
”Alright, let’s check it out.”
”Yes!”
With a nod from Lifia, we set our course toward the location.
After walking for a while, we finally spot it.
”A sunken ship…!?”
Before us stands a decayed wooden ship.
The ship’s hull is half-sunk in the sand, its age showing as parts of it are starting to crumble.
Holes litter the hull, with small fish darting in and out.
Shells and seaweed have entangled themselves around it, giving it the eerie vibe of a ghost ship.
And there it stands, quietly amidst the sandy wasteland.
That’s a massive ship.
It’s easily over 50 meters long──maybe even more.
Looks like it used to be a sailing vessel; the mast’s broken in half, but it’s still hanging on.
The outer hull’s crumbling, eaten away by the years, but somehow, it still holds the shape of a ship.
How long has this wreck been sitting here, anyway?
Or was it always like this?
Abandoned from the start?
Maybe, once, it really floated on the water up there…
I look up, but all that’s above us is sunlight, rippling through the waves.
Not even sure you could get a normal ship to float on that surface.
Dungeons really don’t play by any rules of reality.
We circle the wreck, checking it out from every angle.
”Mr. Taro, look──over there!”
Yomi points, excitement in her voice.
Her finger’s aimed right at the prow.
There──an ornament, the kind you’d call a ship’s soul.
”…A pirate ship?!”
That’s right──a skull emblem glares out at us.
Even after who-knows-how-many years, that grin is straight-up chilling.
”Ah! I think we can get in through there!”
Kéa’s spotted a hole in the side of the ship and points it out.
There’s a gaping breach in the hull.
Big enough for a person to slip through, no problem.
Looks like something slammed into it, hard.
Maybe that’s what finally sank her.
”There might be treasure inside, you know!”
A sunken ship, right in the middle of a dungeon.
Honestly, why wouldn’t there be loot?
I’m even more hyped for this than a normal dungeon chest.
”Alright, let’s see what’s inside!”
”Yes, sir!”
”I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Kéa’s practically bouncing, and even Yomi──trying to be cool──can’t hide her excitement.
”Heh, I’m in too.”
Lifia just gives us a gentle smile.
And with that, we climb through the hole──right into the heart of the pirate ship.
It’s gloomy inside, but stray beams of light slip through cracks in the hull, so it’s not too hard to see.
Looks like we landed in a storeroom, maybe?
Barrels and crates are scattered everywhere, piled up in chaos.
Most of them are empty, though──just shells of what they used to hold.
Every now and then, a hidden fish bursts out of a barrel and darts away.
”Master, I sense something coming──monster, humanoid shape… Looks like a skeleton.”
Lifia murmurs, low and serious.
Skeletons, huh.
I’ve fought them before.
They spawn on the first floor of the dungeon.
Honestly, they’re not even worth worrying about at our level.
But a skeleton popping up in a place like this?
It can’t be just some shallow-level bones.
We step out of the storeroom and into the corridor.
That’s when a figure appears.
It’s a body with no flesh, just bones──definitely a skeleton.
But it’s different from the ones we saw on the 1st Floor.
This one, though tattered, is dressed in clothes.
It’s wearing a sailor’s outfit.
And in its hand, it’s gripping a rusted cutlass.
The skeleton clacks its jaw in a mock laugh and advances towards us.
Kéa steps forward, readying her dual blades.
”Mooluumve, Air Impetus!”
Lifia casts her magic from behind Kéa.
A compressed bullet of wind fires forth, striking the skeleton’s torso.
Bits of bone shatter, and the skeleton stumbles.
”Hah!”
Kéa seizes the moment and dashes in.
She slashes down.
The skeleton tries to defend itself in a panic.
But Kéa is faster.
She blocks the cutlass with one blade.
Then, with the other, she swings at the skeleton’s neck and slices through.
The head goes flying through the air.
The skeleton collapses.
The remaining bones crumble like sand, dissolving into the water and vanishing.
”Phew…”
Kéa lets out a small breath and relaxes her stance.
”Strong, was it?”
It was a brief exchange.
It looks like she took it down easily, but sweat is beading on Kéa’s forehead.
”It was rather formidable. I haven’t faced an enemy with a sword in a while, after all.”
Kéa glances down at the skeleton’s remains.
Clearly, it was no ordinary foe.
We need to be more careful.
After that, we continue exploring the ship.
Along the way, we encounter several more skeletons, but we take them down with Kéa’s sword, Lifia’s magic, and Yomi’s support.
But all we find are broken crates, empty barrels, and dilapidated ship supplies.
The treasures we were hoping for are nowhere in sight.
”If there’s anything, wouldn’t it be in the captain’s quarters?”
Yomi suggests.
”Yeah, true.”
I nod in agreement.
If there’s something important, that’s the only place it could be.
The question is, where are the captain’s quarters?
If they exist, would they be at the top of the ship?
We head up to the deck.
There we find a rotted mast, torn sails, and…
”Is that it?”
If you look, there’s a rather grand door at the back of the ship.
It’s as weathered as the rest, but decked out in fancy decorations.
Must be the captain’s quarters.
We nod and head that way.
”There’s a skeleton inside, and it’s radiating a stronger magic than before.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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