CH 274

Chapter 274 – Mysterious Pirate Ship

“Last is… Ah, right. A story of a garden floating in the sky.” (Yofel)

“There we go again with something that sounds like it came right out of a fantasy.” (Bouchi)

Pirate treasure and illusory ruins sounded like they might be able to exist on Earth, but… a garden flying in the sky definitely didn’t.

“This was also written in Yomiya’s journal. Apparently, there was a garden that always floated among the clouds.” (Yofel)

“Hoh, so what does that have to do with treasure?” (Bouchi)

“It’s said that there are a large number of ancient artifacts resting in that garden, and if you sold them you could make a massive fortune. There’s no end to the number of researchers and people in power who would want to get their hands on ancient artifacts.” (Yofel)

I see. If they were that valuable, they could probably sell for a high price in the <Shop>.

“It’d be nice if even one of them were transported to this world…” (Bouchi)

I might be able to look for them with [Search Paper], but it could be difficult considering the limited amount of information we knew.

“…Ah, right. Come to think of it, when I went to clear a dungeon with the garbels the other day, I heard a strange story from them.” (Yofel)

“A strange story?” (Bouchi)

“Did they say what kind of ship it was?” (Bouchi)

“There weren’t many details. However—they said it looked like a pirate ship.” (Yofel)

“What?” (Bouchi)

“Apparently, the large sails had skulls and crossbones on them.” (Yofel)

“I wonder how they could tell when it was in the middle of the night.” (Bouchi)

“The garbel race can see well in the dark. Besides, they also checked with the binoculars that Master gave them.” (Yofel)

“A pirate ship, huh…? That goes along awfully well with what we were talking about just now.” (Bouchi)

“But there’s more to it. They said that after they looked away for a moment, the ship apparently vanished like mist.” (Yofel)

“Oi oi, you sure they weren’t just seeing things?” (Bouchi)

“Who knows? There’s only one person who claims to have seen it, so there is a possibility that they really were just seeing things as Master says.” (Yofel)

A tattered ship. And a pirate ship, at that. Floating on the ocean, and then suddenly vanishing.

It was like a tale of a ghost ship.

But with pirates appearing in one of the stories Yofel told, I was somewhat curious.

However, the pirate she mentioned, Duarte Taylor, had stopped sailing before he died. Even if the ship was from the other world, it might not have anything to do with Duarte Taylor’s pirate ship.

I casually opened up the <Shop> and searched up ‘Duarte Taylor’.

A few results came up.

“So the Oz Freedom was the name of Duarte’s last ship, huh?” (Bouchi)

It was a ship with sails that had massive skulls and crossbones on them. It had excellent maneuverability and seemed to be known as the fastest ship of its era.

Duarte’s sword and outfit were also items up for sale, but they were being sold for a premium and were quite expensive. Duarte’s pirate hat was also being sold, but it had a price tag of ¥1 billion.

Well, I guess some collectors would be willing to dish out ¥1 billion for something like that.

“…Hey, Yofel. I’d like to go see the guy who told you about the pirate ship.” (Bouchi)

“Huh? The one from earlier?” (Yofel)

“Yeah, there are some things I wanna confirm with him.” (Bouchi)

“Alright. I will take you there then.” (Yofel)

Ior came with us and boarded the [Jet Book], and along with Shiki, who was of course in my shadow, the three of us went towards the island where the garbel who had told the story about the pirate ship was.

Apparently, it was a garbel from the island with the monkey race who had spotted the pirate ship. Yofel asked them to bring us right away to the monkey garbel in question.

We were introduced to a youth named Blitz. When I told him that I wanted to hear about the pirate ship, he was happy to tell the story.

“Ahh, as expected of Hakumen-sama! No one would believe my story. It was so boring!” (Blitz)

Apparently, he had gone around telling the story, but since no one else had seen it, no one believed him. Well, there wouldn’t be many people who would believe a tale about a worn-down pirate ship suddenly vanishing in the middle of the sea.

“Anyway, did the ship you see look somewhat like this?” (Hakumen)

I showed him something in my hand.

It was a model of a ship that looked as daintily made as some of those modern plastic models.

This model was made out of something called [Alchemical Earth]. Similar to how alchemists could use their technique and imagination to sculpt things into being, this [Alchemical Earth] could form a sculpted object just by imagining its appearance.

But since it was originally earth, it was weak to water and would collapse if subject to a strong force. It was good for aesthetic use though.

“W-Wooooww! This is it! This is exactly it! That’s the ship I saw that night! Well, it was a little bit more run-down than that, but it definitely had those skulls and crossbones on it!” (Blitz)

“…I see.” (Hakumen)

I’d come here just to try and see if there was any truth behind the rumor, but I didn’t expect to be right on the money.

“Master, that ship is…?” (Yofel)

“Yes, this is Duarte Taylor’s final ship.” (Hakumen)

“…! Then that means his ship came to this world?” (Yofel)

“That appears to be exceedingly likely. Blitz… Are you sure you aren’t mistaken?” (Hakumen)

“That’s what everyone’s been saying to me, but I really did see it with my own eyes! I’m confident in my eyesight, and my ability to see in the dark is just as good as anyone else!” (Blitz)

It was true that the optic monkeys were a species of monkey garbel extremely adapted towards night operations. Blitz was one of these optic monkeys. Apparently, as long as there was about as much light as a lit matchstick could offer, he would be able to see in a completely pitch-dark forest like it was daytime.

And on the night that he had seen the ship, there was apparently a bright, full moon without any clouds. That was why he was able to see it so clearly.