Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 207
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 207
48. Preparations for the Worst(1)
After Selin's appearance, Ieria Nelson's the Third Prince's behavior became noticeably more favorable, perhaps because he thought I understood his situation precisely.
Well, delusion is a free right, so I decided to let him think whatever he wanted.
"Is it far from where the Earthlings are gathered?"
"No, it's not that far."
"What do you mean?"
"Yes, it means it's in the Storm Sea."
Having said that, Ieria gave me a set of coordinates.
That place was an empty stretch of sea, and at Ieria's request I performed a teleportation whereupon, though not quite at the level of the island we'd just left, a violently churning sea greeted us.
"It's beneath the sea. I'll lead the way."
"Very well."
Then Ieria and his subordinates stepped outside the range of the float magic I'd set up and plunged straight into the water.
Even if this wasn't the very heart of the Storm Sea, it wasn't a sea you could enter with your bare body.
Watching that, I thought mermaids really were something impressive in the water.
I cast a transparent barrier with defensive magic and entered the pitch-black depths together with my party.
-Crackle!
The barrier rattled from the erratic mana that the Storm Sea possessed.
But the realm of an 8th Circle Mage is no decoration.
No matter how poor the environment, if one couldn't even maintain a single barrier, how could one be called a Grand Wizard?
I flew through the sea with my companions using flight magic, chasing after Ieria.
How long did we follow him like that?
The violently churning current gradually calmed starting at a certain point.
Looking around, the seabed terrain was shaped like a basin.
"What's that?"
"Ooh, that's got style?"
And what came into view was
a colossal cruise ship flipped upside down.
'It's enormous. They say the biggest cruise ships exceed 200,000 tons…'
While the world's largest warship, America's newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford-class, displaces about 100,000 tons, the world's largest cruise ship is 220,000 tons, and even cruises outside the top ten often have hulls of around 150,000 tons.
[Displacement: 165,200 tons]
The cruise ship before us was exactly that kind of ultra-massive, ultra-luxurious cruise liner.
Ieria and his subordinates entered through a large hole torn in the side of the cruise ship.
A moment later, we arrived inside, where air had settled in.
"P-People are flying in the sky."
"Oh my god."
People of various races were looking up at our party.
Because the cruise ship was flipped over, the interior was in complete disarray.
But thanks to the ample space and air, it had enough room to serve as a living area without issue.
"The air is damp, and it smells weird."
At Bug's words, I said "Isn't that obvious?" and gestured with my chin toward the people staring up at us from below in wonder.
Filthy and ragged, their appearance told you at a glance that survival was in full swing.
"I provide drinking water and food. I also periodically replenish the air."
"If you're going to help, why not at least provide a cleaning artifact?"
When I made that sharp remark at the sight of people who looked doubtful they'd even washed properly, Ieria gave an awkward smile.
"This is the Storm Sea. Low-grade magic can't exert its full power, and artifacts don't last long either."
"Ah...."
Indeed, as he said, in the Storm Sea it's very difficult to activate magic.
If a Grand Mage of 7th Circle or higher personally controlled it, that would be one thing, but magic use through lower-level mages or artifacts inevitably encounters obstacles.
"At first, I too was curious about them and provided all sorts of items, but rather than functioning properly, the artifacts were destroyed within half a day the loss was too great. Here, subspace artifacts are unusable as well, so I catch seafood for them on the spot, and I provide drinking water and oxygen using water spirits."
Our party, of course, was under my magical protection the whole time and had no trouble moving about, but I could see just how terrifying the Storm Sea was for ordinary people.
"So spirits can exert their power in the Storm Sea, it seems?"
"Its efficiency drops, but it's easier to use than magic."
I clicked my tongue and snapped my fingers.
At that, the air inside the cruise ship was purified and filled with clean oxygen, and the disheveled-looking people became neat and clean.
Some of those who had been staring up at me in bewilderment even offered up prayers, as if wondering what was going on.
"Have you tried communicating with them?"
"Yes. I managed to obtain fragmentary information by burning through as many as twenty-odd translation artifacts."
These people were Americans who had lived in California. They lost their homes in the Great Catastrophe and were temporarily living on the cruise ship.
According to their story, the ship had been swept by the Great Flood deep inland to a lake, and the owner, having given up on moving it back to the sea, rented out the cabins as housing to people like them who had nowhere to go.
Then one day the ship suddenly capsized, and when they came to, they were underwater like this, they said.
"There are holes in the windows here and there, and plenty of places for water to leak in, but it's somehow holding together."
"Those who were in the cabins all died, yes. Only those in the lower decks survived. Less than a tenth of this massive ship is usable space for people."
Indeed, a ship of this size would easily hold over five thousand people.
Seeing only about five hundred people remaining, it was clear that many had already been lost.
Having roughly understood the situation, I had to ask why he hadn't rescued them from the water.
"Why I didn't rescue them? Because I judged that if I released them in Rondel, the church would try to deal with them or take them away. They are important evidence of Earth's existence. I couldn't let that happen."
I frowned, asking what that was supposed to mean, but soon realized I couldn't entirely deny his reasoning.
Though they maintained a friendly relationship, the church was an extreme faction of the goddess's followers.
Depending on how they defined Earthlings, these people could be left alone or worse, branded heretics.
Someone like Ieria, who was hostile to the church, would naturally lean toward the negative interpretation.
But was that the whole reason?
If it were me, even without revealing myself, I would have arranged for them to live in better conditions. In my view, Ieria seemed to want to monopolize their existence.
"How long have they been living like this?"
"About five months."
"I see. Understood. Then I'll take them."
"What?"
At my words, Ieria was visibly flustered.
The reluctance to give them up was written all over their face.
"Living like this, they won't last long. Humans have bodies that are utterly frail, unlike you, who live for hundreds of years."
When I spoke coldly, Ieria hesitated.
At that, Selin stepped in to support.
"Follow this person's orders."
"What?"
Selin said no more than necessary, and I added no further explanation either.
Still, perhaps sensing something, Ieria hesitated for a moment in thought, then let out a sigh and spoke as if making a generous concession.
Eria hesitated for a moment, mulling it over, then let out a sigh and spoke as if she were doing him a favor.
"Fine. But leave me a hundred of them."
Their attitude was like haggling over goods unwilling to give everything up.
'Well, it doesn't matter. I know the location now anyway.'
After retrieving the Saintess, I could dispose of Ieria and take the rest of the people.
I nodded and said I agreed.
Ieria chose the pitiful hundred who would remain, and as a result, I ended up with mostly people who were sickly and ailing.
It didn't matter much, since I planned to rescue all of them anyway.
"What do you intend to do with them once you take them?"
"I own an island in the Sea of Silence. There, I won't have to worry about prying eyes it's perfect."
"Ah, you mean Ophelia Island? The one said to be absolutely impossible to invade..."
The fact that I was doing something on Ophelia Island was already publicly known.
He seemed to think it would be safe there and readily agreed.
Whether they knew their fate or not, I walked over to the group of four hundred that Ieria had arbitrarily separated.
Then, through translation magic, I spoke to them.
"How much do you all understand your current situation?"
The wonder that the conversation worked lasted only a few seconds.
At my question, their faces darkened, and soon one who seemed to be the representative stepped forward.
"Through the mermaid over there, we heard that this place is a different world. Is that true?"
"Yes."
It would be hard to believe right away, but having seen magic, spirit magic, and a mermaid a non-human race it would be difficult to dismiss it all as lies.
The representative swallowed dryly.
Then, as if that wasn't what he wanted to say, he shook his head.
"No, that's not what matters right now."
"Then what does?"
"The fact that if we stay trapped in here, we won't be able to hold out."
He was right.
Whether through illness or madness, they'd inevitably hit a limit one way or another.
I spoke to those who had a proper grasp of the situation.
"I can send you all up to the surface through magic."
"R-really?"
"But there's something you must clearly understand. This is not the Earth you lived on it's a different world, and most nations here operate under a feudal system."
They already knew that part, but their eyes lit up as if they'd accept anything as long as they could get to the surface.
"Protecting you carries risk for me as well, so you must always watch your words on the surface. This is not advice it's a warning. And if you break this warning..."
At my ensuing action, their pupils shook without pause.
-BOOM!
"I'll blow your heads off. I hold a status where taking a life costs me little, so I'd rather you not experience that firsthand. Understood?"
They flinched at my words for a moment, but soon accepted the warning and answered with resolve.
"If we can escape this place, we'll endure anything."
"Good to know we understand each other."
I have no intention of telling them that I'm also from Earth.
With just Benjamin at my lord's estate, it might be manageable, but keeping this many mouths shut isn't easy.
After making them swear to silence just in case, I gathered the chosen four hundred in one place.
"Huh? What about those people?"
"The mermaid only handed you all over to me. Just wait a little. I'll try to bring them along too."
Everyone worried about the hundred left behind, having shared hardships together.
But without dragging it out, I cast Teleport Magic and said to Ieria.
"Bring the Saintess tomorrow as promised. If you break your word, I won't be responsible for what happens next."
Ieria, half-deluded into thinking she'd won me over, didn't want to fall out of favor.
"Understood. I will keep my promise."
Having received that final confirmation, I cast Teleport Magic.
The scenery before my eyes shifted.
"Honestly, today I just played the role of an extra."
The scene changed from a dreary shipwreck to a sunlit city of varied colors.
I smiled at Blake's complaint.
"No trouble is better, right? And we gained some Earthling friends too."
It was a day that made summoning Blake for precaution feel almost unnecessary.
As if he couldn't care less what happened to the Earthlings, he grabbed Selin by the scruff of her neck and said.
"We're heading back."
"I'll call on you for help again."
"Depends on my schedule."
Even if he grumbled, he'd come when asked for help.
To draw Ieria out later, Selin's cooperation was essential, and he was currently her keeper.
They immediately returned to the ruin in the Dragonlands, and I led the Earthlings shedding tears of gratitude in the sunlight.
"Follow me."
"Ah, okay."
Where we stood now was a teleport gate on the rooftop of a building built exclusively for the king of the duchy on Ophelia Island.
As such, the completed cityscape of Ophelia Island spread out fully below our feet, and perhaps because the view was more dazzling and futuristic than expected, everyone stopped crying and wore shocked expressions.
"What's the matter?"
"We thought a world where magic, mermaids, and spirits exist, and where feudalism is the dominant state system, would have an old-fashioned aesthetic."
"I understand. But a civilization with such advanced magic should naturally reach this level."
I pointed at the sky with my finger, telling them to look up.
It was then that they belatedly spotted the Heaven-Piercing Fortress, shaped like a UFO, and all of them gasped in unison.
"People wear combat suits that fire beams, and up in the sky, war machines like that rain down bombardment. And the sword worn at the waist isn't just for decoration either."
At my signal, Arcia drew a Force Sword and instantly fired a beam of light into the air.
A terrifying blue light shot straight forth, piercing through the clouds above.
"This is what the world called Rondel looks like."
At this brief yet easy-to-understand explanation, the Earthlings swallowed dryly.
"I-I see. Amazing."
And so I packed them into the ducal family's exclusive facility, provided clean clothes and meals, and healed the injured with magic.
Even if my tone was curt, there was no way they couldn't tell that I was looking after them.
"Thank you so much."
I nodded, looking at the Earthlings who honestly expressed their gratitude.
Of course they should be grateful.