Chapter 7

"Ah! Your Highness, please drive more safely!"

"Is this the time to say that?!"

I was performing emergency evasive maneuvers to avoid the cannonballs from the air pirates who were relentlessly pursuing us.

"Damn! There are too many of them!"

Five medium-sized airships were closing in on our small boat.

"Can't we fire back with cannonballs?!"

The aggressive Reisha asked.

"We don't have that kind of equipment on this boat!"

Cannons are heavy, so they aren't loaded on small boats.

"Then ram them! Let's start a melee battle!"

"Are you crazy? If we ram, we'll hit the defensive barrier and be done for!!"

The airships have defensive barriers around them.

Without these, we couldn't even go out on the deck, and wooden ships couldn't withstand the winds at high altitudes.

"Your Highness! Another cannonball is coming—Ah!!"

"Ugh!"

"Damn!"

The cannonball fired by the pirates hit our ship's defensive barrier.

The impact shook our bodies, and we lost our balance.

"We're done for! If we're captured by the pirates and humiliated, I'd rather—"

Maria took out a knife and pressed it to her neck without hesitation.

"Stupid grape! Don't give up so easily!"

Reisha took the knife from Maria.

"G-Give it back... Ow!"

Maria tried to take the knife back from Reisha but was hit on the head by her.

"You, be quiet! Lloyd, can we escape?"

"Our ship is faster, but we'll be shot down by their cannonballs. Good thing we won't be humiliated."

We're going to crash.

"No way! I don't want to die in a crash!! I want to die in bed surrounded by my children and grandchildren!!"

I agree with that.

"What about your magic?!"

"I do have some, but in this case, I can't set up a defensive barrier."

Even I can only manage the airship's operation and defensive barrier.

"So what?"

"Being shot down is just a matter of time."

So frustrating...

"Hey!! Do something, Black Prince! What's the point of your black magic? I don't want to die a virgin!! I want to have children!! I want to leave descendants!!"

This holy maiden is so noisy...

"What do we do?!"

Reisha asked.

"At this point, we have no choice but to land."

"Land?! If we stop, we'll be an easy target, won't we?!"

To land, we have to stop.

Normally, we would descend from there.

"We'll do a sliding landing."

"Can we make it?"

"That's our only option. The pirates won't follow us to the ground, and even if they do, we can fight them off."

"Alright! Melee battle it is!"

I don't think so.

I don't know why they targeted such a small boat, but pirates usually attack, force the ship to surrender, and then steal the cargo and women.

Pirates are skilled at handling ships, but they are weak individually, so they don't attack landed ships because it's too dangerous.

"Everyone, hold onto me!"

When I said that, Reisha hugged my upper body, and Maria clung to my lower body.

"Brace for impact!"

I turned the rudder downward.

The ship tilted downward.

"Ah! We're falling! It's leaking!!"

Really, she's so noisy...

"Melee battle, melee battle, melee battle..."

Reisha is scary too.

"Here we go!"

As I saw the ground, which was a forest, I redirected the magic power I was using to control the airship to the defensive barrier.

The airship started hitting trees, and the impact grew stronger and stronger.

Then, an enormous impact hit us, making me feel like my stomach was being turned inside out, and I felt my consciousness fading away.

◆◇◆

"Your Highness, Your Highness, please wake up."

I woke up to the sensation of someone shaking me.

When I opened my eyes, a black-haired girl was looking at me with a worried expression.

"Maria... Where's your veil?"

Maria usually wore a veil, but now her long black hair was visible.

"It's not a veil, it's a wimple. It caught fire, so I threw it away."

It burned...

I sat up and looked at Maria and our surroundings.

Maria's nun's habit was torn and tattered.

The area around us was littered with fallen trees and scattered wood.

A small airship, smoking, was visible about fifty meters away.

"We landed safely, didn't we..."

"It's not safe, and it's a crash..."

If it was a crash, we wouldn't be alive.

"Ouch..."

I instinctively grabbed my arm in pain.

"Don't move yet. I used Heal, but your arm and leg were broken."

Seriously?

"The pain is in the right arm that Reisha was holding and the right leg that you were clinging to, right?"

It's your fault, isn't it?

"It's just my imagination. Anyway, I'll use Heal again... Heal!"

Maria, looking flustered, raised her hand and used Heal on me.

The pain gradually disappeared.

"Wow! You really are a holy maiden!"

"Hehe, really?"

This girl never denies anything, even when she's being modest...

"What about Reisha? Is she under the ship?"

There's only me and Maria here.

"If she's under the ship, she's dead... No, I woke up before you and said I'd check the surroundings, then took your sword and went somewhere."

I looked around again.

There were only trees.

To be precise, we were in a forest.

"Where... where did she go?"

"Who knows? I tried to stop her because I'd get lost, but I had to use Heal on you, and before I knew it, she was gone."

Is she incapable of group action?

"Ha... What about the pirates?"

"I don't know. I can't see anything."

Maria looked up.

Here, surrounded by trees, we could only see the sky above.

"The airships can't land in the forest, so we can assume they've given up. But why did they attack us? Attacking a small boat like this is pointless."

If they're not careful, the cost of the cannonballs will be higher than the loot.

"Who knows? I don't understand the pirates' thinking."

I don't understand either.

"Anyway, let's get out of the forest when Reisha comes back."

"Okay. By the way, Your Highness, where are we?"

"I don't know."

"Um... I don't think so, but are we lost?"

That's the only possibility.

Seriously, where are we?

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