The Guy Who Doesn't Want to Be Found vs. The Girls Who Want to Know Who He Is - Chapter 27: Quest Begins

Chapter 27: Quest Begins

“Wow, it’s quite shaky, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Carla, I could have managed alone, you know?”

Carla and I are on a small rented boat. She decided to come along just to be safe, even though I said I’d be fine. But she insisted, suggesting that unexpected things might happen. 

The other members are watching from a distance.

“Alright, this should be the spot.”

We’ve reached the fishing spot where fishermen usually cast their nets. As expected, there are a lot of monsters in the water.

“They’re gathering over here.”

“Good luck!”

“Thanks.”

The monsters have noticed us and are all converging at once. Each one alone is weak, but they’re troublesome in groups. 

This time, it’s like a swarm of piranha-like fish.

[Voltiga!]

I extend my hand towards the sea and cast a spell. The area around us bursts into light. 

Voltiga is a mid-level lightning spell. It covers a wide area but isn’t very powerful. However, for situations like this, it’s perfect. 

Almost all of the monsters are wiped out with this single strike.

“Impressive, as expected of a seasoned adventurer. Do you know any other spells?”

“Well, yes, but I haven’t managed to learn any advanced spells yet.”

“…I see.”

While Carla was deep in thought, resting her chin on her hand, I felt something odd.

It was unusual for such a large number of these types of monsters to gather here. Those piranha-like monsters should be living deeper in.

I could use my magic detection to search further, but if I extend it too much, Carla might discover my true identity.

Hmm, what should I do?

“Well, now that the quest is over, should we head back?”

“Yes, let’s return.”

I decided not to worry about it. Maybe the monsters just happened to drift this far by chance.

“Hm?”

“What’s going on? The sea seems a bit rough.”

It seemed Carla felt the same unease. The sea was getting rougher, and it was getting worse as time went on.

“Glenn! We need to get out of here fast. Something terrifying is coming at us at an incredible speed.”

Carla’s face had turned pale. Something truly frightening must be approaching. I could use my magical detection to find out what it is, but I can’t extend it right now with Carla being so close.

“It’s here!”

As Carla screamed, the water in the deeper part of the sea swelled up and the creature showed its face.

It looked like a dragon, but instead of legs, it had fins. Such dragons, which evolved uniquely in the sea, are called sea dragons.

It’s said that sea dragons are what green dragons turned into when they adapted to live in the sea.

And this sea dragon was probably the cause of all the trouble. But it’s likely my magic that drew it here. 

Maybe my earlier spell agitated it. 

Really, I’m sorry… 

I apologized to Carla in my mind.

“…”

The sea dragon dived back into the water and rushed towards us with incredible speed. Carla was readying her magic for an attack. She could have escaped alone using fly magic from above, but probably chose to stay and fight because I was there. 

I cracked my neck and stared at the sea dragon.

“…”

[…!!]

The sea dragon stopped its charge. I hadn’t done anything special. I just sent an intent that if it came any closer, I’d kill it. 

Dragons are much smarter than ordinary monsters and understood the seriousness of the threat.

“…”

“Did it stop?”

[…]

The sea dragon reappeared above the water surface, looked at me for a while, and then, doing nothing further, it went back. Knowing that someone capable of killing it was here might keep it from coming close again.

“Eh? It just left?”

“That was a shock. If that thing had attacked us, I would have been done for in an instant.”

“Right? If it had attacked us here, I would have been in trouble too.”

“Maybe, we were just lucky, huh?”

Carla seemed confused about what had just happened, but it seemed like the problem was resolved.

“Shall we head back then?”

“…Yes.”

We then set the sails and used wind magic to return. Wind magic is really handy in times like this.

“Um, Glenn?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Did you do something to the sea dragon earlier?”

“Eh? N-No? I didn’t do anything.”

Why would she ask that? I didn’t use any magic, and I didn’t do anything strange. I don’t think I did anything that would raise suspicions.

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“Never mind, please forget I said anything.”

“…Okay.”

But it does bother me. It’s hard not to wonder after she brought it up out of the blue. I think I’m not busted, but still.

I was uneasy all the way back to the port.