第８０４堀：海の訓練 (Part1)
Chapter 804: Maritime Training
Side: Mauve
"Kyaaa!?"
"No way!? It’s not working at all!?"
"Just keep firing!! Your Highness, can you move in?"
"It’s surprisingly difficult with the other tentacles in the way..."
The monitor displayed the young women in swimsuits struggling against a monstrous octopus.
"Honestly, they’re completely underestimating the situation."
As I muttered this while watching the footage, Raiya and Curse, standing beside me, nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. It’s absurd to think they could fight like that in the shallows against aquatic monsters. Normally, they would have been dragged underwater and killed by now."
"Yuki likely ordered the monsters to hold back. As you can see, they aren't just unaccustomed to the sea—they aren't even used to fighting near water, and they're facing monsters, an existence entirely foreign to them."
As the two said, the monsters were likely sticking to the shallows per Yuki’s orders. If they were dragged into the deep, these girls wouldn't stand a chance.
"Their potential seems high, though..."
"True. Even Micos and Solo, the weakest among them, are decent mages. If they were adventurers, they’d be highly sought after. Provided, of course, they could overcome their aversion to monsters."
Right. As Curse noted, that was the key.
"With the way they’re panicking right now, they still have a long way to go."
The reality was harsh—or perhaps just expected—as the New Continent members scrambled in a panic against the octopus. If not for Agil, they would have been wiped out without a single countermeasure.
"The only ones who are halfway decent are Agil and that princess, Stasia. Their movements are different from the rest."
"Agreed. Well, both of them were generals who commanded armies. They can handle sudden emergencies to some extent."
"Though, as Raiya said, only 'to some extent.' There’s no guarantee the sea monsters will stop at just that."
The moment Curse finished his sentence, a different type of monster lunged from the sea...
"No way!?"
"Enora!! Wait, ugh!?"
A priestess of the Haire sect was bitten, and in the momentary distraction, Kagura was ensnared.
"One dead, and Kagura’s been captured."
"The priestess is finished, half her body gone. It’s unlikely Kagura can return to the front lines."
"Now it’s a matter of how Micos, Solo, and the generals can recover from this..."
"The party is nearly half-destroyed. In a normal situation, this would be hopeless."
"True. Normally, you’d retreat."
"But for them, that’s..."
They couldn't retreat, and eventually, overwhelmed by reinforcements from the sea, they were wiped out.
*“Mauve and the others. Come here. You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The girls have been annihilated.”*
"Understood. Let’s go, everyone."
"Right. Though, teaching them how to fight underwater monsters is a tall order..."
"We aren't exactly experts at that ourselves, are we?"
At Deryu’s summons, we left the cottage’s monitor room and headed for the beach. There, the girls stood, covered in slime and smelling of the sea.
"Yo. You look... lively."
"...Um, who might you be?"
Kagura, dripping with slime, seemed to have completely forgotten us.
"Completely forgotten, huh."
"Well, we haven't really interacted with the New Continent group much."
"That can’t be helped. Kagura and the others don't really have any business with adventurers, after all."
"Adventurers? Oh, Mauve-san!?"
"That’s us."
At Deryu’s words, she finally remembered, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"I-I’m so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. Besides, that was a rough showing."
As I called out to them, Micos and the others stood up, still covered in muck.
"You can say that again. Micos and the others had a terrible time!"
"Au au... I want to take a bath first..."
"Truly. I want to wash off this stickiness immediately."
The young ones complained. Hearing them, I finally understood why Yuki had insisted they wear swimsuits.
"You should be grateful. If you’d come in your clothes, they’d be ruined by now."
"???"
"You heard it was training, right? Normally, you’d be fighting at the water’s edge or underwater while fully dressed. Between the monster’s bodily fluids and the seawater, your clothes wouldn't stand a chance."
"Ah..."
The group seemed to grasp Raiya’s point. It was absurd to think regular clothes—let alone armor—would survive a fight against monsters. Come to think of it, Kagura’s swimsuit was completely undamaged. Perhaps it was enchanted, or Yuki had ordered the monsters not to target their clothing.
As I pondered this, the generals who had fought well gave wry smiles.
"If this is what happens even when they’re holding back, we have a long road ahead."
"Well, we are dealing with monsters, after all. We’ll just have to train diligently and overcome it."
They were remarkably positive. If they had that kind of attitude, we wouldn't need to hold back in the training to come.
"We intend to continue the training as is. Is that alright?"
"Indeed. Besides, it’s obvious that even if you took a shower, you’d just end up covered in slime again immediately."
With Deryu’s permission granted, we would proceed in earnest. It felt a bit harsh to be this strict with these girls, but it was a job. I just had to think of it like the time with Dressa. Though, Dressa’s eyes had been burning with a thirst for vengeance back then.
"Alright, let’s introduce ourselves properly. I’m the adventurer Mauve. This is Raiya and Curse. Yuki asked us to help with this training."
"Eh? Mauve-san and the others? Micos thought Yuki-sensei would be the one teaching us..."
"Yuki seems a bit busy. Besides, dealing with monsters is the primary duty of an adventurer."
"Exactly. In a sense, we know more about monsters than he does. With Yuki, he just destroys everything before the enemy can even get close."
"Ah..."
The group nodded, finally understanding.
"Right then, let’s start with a demonstration."
I walked from the sand into the water.
"Wait, it’s dangerous!?"
"The octopus only ran away, it’s still there!?"
Kagura and Micos tried to stop me in a panic, but it was too late for a demo, and too late to turn back.
"Ah!?"
Solo noticed it too. A monster was lunging at me, having entered my territory. It was the type that went straight for the torso. I instinctively leaped back, dodging the massive fish’s bite.
*Seriously? Even in the shallows, they’re this level?*
Yuki was playing for keeps. I felt a cold sweat break out after dodging. Well, once you know the opponent, the rest is easy. I immediately retreated to the beach to explain the basics to Kagura and the others.