Anchor, Stop Pretending, You're in Chaldea - Chapter 156

“Hey, so it’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t realize you are friends with our two ship rookie. Well, that’s mean we’re all in the same side!”

The woman in the pirate hat had spoken so confidently.

“Thank goodness you understand,” Himiko said, her grip loosening and a sunny smile spreading across her face.

“Huh?!”

Not only the crew members of both ships, but the audience watching the live stream had been hoping for an intense battle.

Yet, after only one round, the woman in the pirate hat changed her attitude as soon as she took a punch from Himiko?!

“Hey, big sis, didn’t you say we needed to put a few holes in her just now?” asked the one-eyed pirate standing behind her, a deck scrubber in hand, looking dumbfounded.

“Fool! The point of being a pirate is to plunder treasure. Take a look at this rickety ship. Does it look like it’s carrying any treasure?!”

The woman in the pirate hat yelled at her subordinates, clearly displeased. “Which one of you idiots was on watch today?!”

“Big Sis, put aside everything else for now—control the fire, control the fire!”

“Oh no, my rum stash under the deck!”

On the other side of the deck, several pirates were burning up along with their barrels.

“Aaah, Jeanne Alter-san, calm down!”

Mashu held up her shield to block the black flames and tried to talk to the cause of this disaster.

“…Heh heh, I bet that obnoxious beast screw his head off. Burn, burn, burn in hell’s flames!”

Jeanne Alter’s eyes were locked on Draco, and the flames continued to grow.

“Quickly, wake up, Jeanne Alter-san!”

Bai Qiu, watching from the opposite ship, felt a chill run down his spine.

For some reason, Jeanne Alter, who had just reunited with them after a long separation, seemed to harbor a great deal of hostility toward Bai Qiu.

Furthermore, if things went on like this, the Golden Hind would be burned to ashes…

Since the captain had already been convinced by Himiko’s fists, they needed to at least rescue the ship first.

“Heracles, please!”

After hearing Bai Qiu’s words, Heracles nodded, took his bow, and leapt over onto the deck of the Golden Hind.

“Bang—!”

A massive figure landed on the deck of the Golden Hind, sending such a violent shockwave that the sailors around Bai Qiu fell to their knees.

“Whoa, there really are giants in the sea!”

“It’s a giant! Cap’n!”

“Shit, we’re gonna get eaten if we don’t run now!”

Heracles completely ignored the pirates fleeing in all directions. He drew a deep breath, then took aim at the raging black flames consuming the deck of the Golden Hind and drew his giant bow.

“Bang—!”

The bowstring, without an arrow released a loud noise, generating a fierce storm around Heracles. The black flames, which had been raging on the deck, instantly weakened the moment they were struck by the storm.

“Oh?! You’re not bad, huh?”

Seeing that the fire had been controlled, the female captain, who held a flintlock, gave Heracles, with his towering figure, a slightly surprised look. Then she turned her gaze to the people on the deck, scanning them briefly before locking her eyes on Bai Qiu, and shouted, “I’m the great pirate Francis Drake. You must be the captain of that ship.”

“Huh?” Captain? No, this guy crouching on the ground and clutching his own thigh was the real captain. Before Bai Qiu could explain, the woman continued speaking.

“Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, as an apology, how about I invite you all to our Pirate Island?”

Pirate Island? Oh, right, that was probably her base of operations.

Bai Qiu looked down at the trembling “real” captain.

“The captain over there seems to be calling for you, Captain Xu Fu.”

“Please have the special envoy handle it. Whatever the special envoy says goes.”

Xu Fu had assumed an air of defeat.

The dramatic ups and downs of this voyage had exhausted this captain, who was ill-suited to fighting in the first place.

“Well, Captain, what do you say? Will you accept my proposition?”

Although this was the enemy’s home turf, considering their relative levels of combat strength, Bai Qiu had little to fear.

The shaky ferry had already been punched with a gaping hole, leaving him worried whether they’d be able to make it back to the village. Perhaps it would fall apart on the way.

Being towed back by the enemy wasn’t the worst idea.

Besides, Mashu and Jeanne Alter were still aboard the enemy ship.

“Sure, let’s do as you suggested,” Bai Qiu nodded toward them.

“Excellent, since we’re all friends now, let’s head back to our island and celebrate!”

Francis Drake, bold and daring in her pirate hat, raised her flintlock and declared in a loud voice.

In response to her call, the pirates on the Golden Hind began to celebrate, no matter if they were on the deck, atop the masts, or even in the cabin.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks like our big sis is treating us tonight!”

“Oh! A real pirate party calls for rum, and lots of it!!!”

“This time I’m gonna drink directly from the barrel! That’s how pirates do it!!!”

“Ha ha ha, careful you don’t get so sloshed the big sis tosses you to the sharks for dinner!!!”

Bai Qiu watched as the cheering pirates raised a ruckus, somewhat baffled. But when he considered that they were all pirates, it seemed reasonable enough. Either way, he figured he’d follow Drake back to Pirate Island for now.

——-

There were nothing to see on the calm open sea, so it was impossible to perceive the passage of time.

By the time the Golden Hind reached Pirate Island, night had fallen.

As soon as they stepped off the ship, Drake warmly greeted them and invited them to her stronghold.

“Senpai!”

Mashu rushed over toward them.

Unlike Heracles, who could jump right off the deck, Mashu had to wait for the ship to dock before running over.

“Senpai, I’m so glad I finally got to see you again!”

As Bai Qiu stepped down from the gangway, Mashu can’t wait to join him.

“Mashu, long time no see. How have you been?”

Bai Qiu, on the other hand, seemed quite relaxed.

Jeanne Alter had also come, but she kept her distance, looking awkward as she walked over.

“Ah, I didn’t think you’d still be alive.”

“You look quite spry yourself, Jeanne Alter.”

Bai Qiu smiled and greeted them.

“Hmph, humans as fragile as you are doomed to die miserably, you weakling.”

“Don’t be like that! I’m so glad to see you all doing well.”

Jeanne, arms crossed, stared at Bai Qiu’s smiling face, panic creeping into her expression. She quickly turned away.

“To think you’d say something so disgusting. Are you even human? I’m heading in first!”

She fled to the pirate stronghold as if she were running away from something.

…So, that counted as a successful greeting, right?

Though he couldn’t read Jeanne Alter’s mind, she seemed to be in good spirits.

“Sorry, Senpai!” Mashu suddenly lowered her head toward Bai Qiu and apologized.

“I said I’d protect you, but I wasn’t able to do even that. I’m completely incompetent…”

Mashu’s tone was full of self-blame as she spoke.

“It’s not your fault, Mashu.”

He was already expecting an accident happen considering how difficult to do Rayshift this time.

“Mashu, what happened after the Rayshift?”

How did Drake get involved?!

“After transferring from Chaldea, I found myself fallen into the ocean, and then I swam to a small island nearby where I encountered Jeanne Alter-san, who had also been stranded.”

“We couldn’t get in touch with Chaldea, and after waiting several days, we finally encountered Captain Drake, who was sailing past. At Jeanne Alter-san’s insistence, she agreed to take us along on her ship to search for you, Senpai.”

Mashu recalled the events of the past.

“I’m truly sorry for making you all go through so much…”

Wait, Jeanne Alter’s insistence?

Bai Qiu remembered the way she had looked when she set fire to the deck. Oh, right, he had a mental image now.

“Captain Drake said they found the target ship today, but I never expected to find you here, Senpai!”

Mashu exclaimed in delight.

“Fou———!”

Suddenly, a small, fuzzy thing burrowed out from under Mashu’s shield and leapt directly onto Bai Qiu’s shoulder.

“Ah, Fou’s come too.”

Indeed, how could Beast IV ever miss an occasion?

Standing on Bai Qiu’s shoulder, Fou patted Bai Qiu’s face with its tiny claws.

“Fou!”

As if confirming Bai Qiu’s identity, it chirped affirmatively.

“To think you would defect from your beloved master, Demi-Servant. You truly are quite the rule-breaker.”

Draco descended from the gangway toward Mashu.

“Ah, hello Beast VI-san! And I’m not defecting at all, just cooperating!” Mashu immediately recognized Draco and explained.

“Hmph, humans are all cunning little creatures. Let’s just go ahead and assume that’s the case.”

Draco stood behind Bai Qiu, arms crossed.

“Many thanks to you, Beast VI-san! You protected Senpai!”

Mashu promptly thanked Draco.

“Protected?”

Draco, arms still crossed, laughed dryly.

“How could I let this guy die so easily? I still plan to regain my power, and when my horns grow back, it will be the end of all of you.”

Ah, yes, yes, yes!

Bai Qiu pretended he hadn’t heard and asked Mashu directly, “That’s right, Mashu. Did you see anyone else besides Jeanne Alter?”

Bai Qiu asked Mashu if she had seen anyone else.

“My apologies, Senpai…” Mashu shook her head. “I have no news of anyone else besides Jeanne Alter-san. I asked Captain Drake as well, and she said she hadn’t seen any other outsider either.”

Bai Qiu fell into silence.

Mashu and Jeanne Alter had been found, but Mordred and Johanna’s traces were still nowhere to be seen. Without Chaldea’s support, finding them in this vast ocean was no easy task.

“Still, those two should be fine.”

One was an attacker, the other a support. Modred could tank and deal damage, while Johanna could fight and heal. As a team, they were more than capable of handling most Servants.

“Mm, Mordred and Johanna-san will be all right.”

Mashu nodded, then turned to look at the tall man approaching them.

“Senpai, did you summon this Servant?”

“Mm-hmm. This is Heracles, and his Class is Archer.”

“That’s the Legendary Heracles?!”

Mashu stared at him in shock.

Heracles noticed her gaze and turned to look back, quickly realizing that Mashu wasn’t an ordinary Servant.

“You are… Demi-Servant?”

Heracles soon discovered that Mashu was not a Servant in the general sense, and frowned slightly.

“Special Envoy, you’re here~~~”

Just then, a panting figure ran over from behind. “Special Envoy, as you can see, the ship is in shambles and may collapse at any moment.”

Xu Fu’s expression was woeful as he spoke.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you don’t have a crew of craftsmen and sailors to repair it?” Bai Qiu asked, bewildered.

“Exactly because of that, a large number of people already disembark,” Xu Fu replied, “and we’ll need a large area just to light a fire and cook.”

Xu Fu leaned over, speaking quietly. “There are actually quite a few treasures aboard this ship that the first emperor gifted me in exchange for the Elixir of Immortality. I’m afraid that if the pirates discover these treasures, they’ll suddenly turn on us…”

How could pirates not turn on them when presented with riches? And Xu Fu’s mysteriousness would have Bai Qiu turning on him if not for the fact that money held no value to him right now.

“So you want me to discuss this with Captain Drake, is that it?”

“Special Envoy, your keen insight is most commendable!” Xu Fu nodded vigorously.

“Why don’t you just talk to him yourself?”

“It would be better to leave this important matter to Special Envoy, since you have such capable assistants? The most important part of negotiation is having equal footing; otherwise, it’s just bullying. For the sake of our shared homeland, please help me!”

Xu Fu cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Bai Qiu.

“Wait, how do you know we’re from the same place?”

Bai Qiu looked slightly confused; he hadn’t revealed anything.

“Throughout this journey, I’ve discovered that the Special Envoy is extremely familiar with the culture of Qin. Furthermore, the moment I approached, I sensed a familiarity only felt among compatriots, so you must be from the same homeland!” Xu Fu said with conviction.

No, what does ‘a compatriot’s familiarity’ mean?! Don’t use weird logic to arrive at the correct answer! thought Bai Qiu.

“You must have finished making your nostalgic reminiscences by now!”

The bold and spirited pirate captain Drake walked over.

“Come, join our pirate feast! Although we drink and make merry every day, only I can host such a grand banquet.” Drake glanced at Bai Qiu. “Young man, you’re the captain, so don’t tell me you don’t know how to drink!”

“Uh, actually, I’m not really…”

Suddenly, Bai Qiu felt his clothes being tugged on. He glanced to the side to see Xu Fu with her hands clasped, pleading.

Bai Qiu sighed. In the end, he’d have to negotiate again. “All right, I’ll do my best.”