Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 52

Chapter 52: Battle at Sea

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The robot leaped onto the ship. Gripping that sword in its hand, seawater spilled from various parts of its body. With the landing of a robot that had to be massively heavy, the ship rocked violently. The robot seemed fine, but the man—Heaves—was nearly thrown off the ship.

Judging from his looks alone, he looked pretty young. But more importantly, the robot. The seawater pouring from its limbs was likely just what had gotten caught in its joints, but a portion of the water spilling from its torso must have been drainage from the cockpit.

Is the cockpit, which must be full of delicate machinery, really okay after getting flooded?

If it were just regular water, fine, but seawater? The cleanup afterward must be a nightmare. Such unnecessary thoughts crossed my mind, probably because I had at least some experience with crafting myself. That said, if this was a golem-type machine, there wasn’t much to worry about… Then again, could one of these two be an Awakened with production-type abilities?

No, it was also possible this thing was simply built using Earth’s technology. Yes, that was a strong possibility. Yes… I had to admit it. I was excited just looking at the robot. I was thrilled.

After all, robots were pure romance and passion for a Japanese man like me. That was also the reason why I crafted golems.  If I wanted to, I could prepare skeletal soldiers through necromantic or other magical means. I could even build a zombie army.

But even then… Golems. It had to be golems. Yeah. The robot before me had an extremely realistic form, one that suggested, “If we were to build a robot using modern technology, this is what it would look like.”

I supposed mobile suits were still out of reach for the current technology. But armored troopers… Those might not be too far off in the future. The main issues must still be weight, maintaining balance, and the speed of various drive mechanisms.

As I lost myself in such amateur speculation, the robot, standing atop the swaying ship, swung its sword. This ship was only about the size of a private cruiser. It wouldn’t be surprising if it flipped at any moment, yet the robot paid no mind to such risks.

What incredible balance.

Impressed, I casually pinched the blade mid-swing to stop it. 

Well, I suppose its power is still only at this level.

I could hear something like the whirring of motors, so even if there was Awakened-related technology involved, the majority of its construction was likely based on pre-existing modern technology.

“I have no particular interest in whose hands this sword ends up in, so long as the payment is properly made.”

Speaking into the translator I held in one hand, a mechanical voice delivered my words. However, with the raging ship and the sound of the sea, it seemed unlikely my words had reached the other party. The robot attempted to pull back the sword I had caught.

If I couldn’t get an answer, I suppose I should take it back first. After that, I could return it to whoever had paid for it at the auction. It was exciting to see a modern robot up close, but that was one thing—work was work. I couldn’t just let the theft stand, so I decided to reclaim the sword.

With a firm tug while still holding onto the blade, I wrenched the sword from the robot’s grasp. The sudden loss of resistance made the robot recoil backward, tumbling into the sea. The ship rocked even harder.

“Wahh! Aaaaaahh!”

Heaves, who had been struggling to stay upright, was finally thrown off the ship.

“Oops.”

He might have been the one who built that robot. Before he could fall into the ocean, I caught him.

“Are you alright?”

Holding him in both arms, I noticed that my phone’s translation function was still working.

“Y-Yes.”

Still dazed, the young man managed a response. I calmed the surrounding waters to stabilize the rocking ship and returned him aboard.

“Well then, I need to take this sword back, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Ah, um—!”

“Later.”

Diving back into the sea, I transformed into a Blue Slur and swiftly made my exit. 

◆◆◆

Claire had intended to resurface immediately, but she realized during the earlier struggle that the robot had exhausted its energy supply.  Using emergency power, she barely managed to dock it with a submarine before returning to the ship. It was a clumsy maneuver, but she couldn’t afford to lose that machine now. Nor could she afford to lose the young man who had developed it… However, as long as he had fallen into the sea, he was safe—for now. Japan’s Awakened had no authority to make arrests.

“Heaves!”

But when Claire returned to the ship, she found Heaves standing there, gazing off into the distance.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright? The sword—!?”

“Ah, Claire.”

Bombarded by her rapid questioning, Heaves turned to her, his eyes only half-focused on reality.

“I’m fine. That person saved me.”

“…Huh?”

“More importantly, Claire, I think I want to identify as a woman now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dungeon Old Maaaan~”

“Hey! Get it together!”

Something was definitely off with Heaves. The sword was nowhere in sight, but to Claire, losing Heaves himself would have been a greater loss.

◆◆◆

I successfully returned to the luxurious cruise ship that had been serving as the auction venue.

“Ahh! Jiro! How did it go!?”

“I retrieved it.”

“Brilliant! As expected of Jiro!”

A flustered Piroane practically jumped for joy at the sight of the sword. Ignoring the curious gazes from those around us, I handed the sword over to the auction staff. Now, it would safely reach the successful bidder properly.

“Amazing.”

Once the authenticity of the sword had been verified with appraisal tools and it was confirmed to be undamaged, it was swiftly transported to a secure location. As I watched the scene unfold, Tougo Shimazu approached me.

“The S-Ranks from every country were itching to snatch it up, but they all failed. That alone was satisfying to watch, but then you went and took it back by yourself?”

“I’m just doing my job.”

“There’s no way I can let that slide with just ‘just doing my job.’ Haha! I like you more and more. We’ve gotta raid a dungeon together sometime.”

He clapped me roughly on the arm. It seemed I had truly made an impression on him, but I seriously had no idea what got him so excited about.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー