34 Chapter 34 - Off to Cal Mira!

Chapter 34 – Off to Cal Mira!

Author's Note: Part of this chapter is heavily influenced by "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne.

We've gotten here way too early. I probably should have planned our schedule better.

All that we've done these past few days was help old ladies carry stuff around, doing charity work and helping the dock workers. We were basically unpaid labor.

The residents of Port Lola were extremely grateful for the help, and they supplied us with free food. Me being the Bow Hero also probably helped with that. The governor was also happy that we helped him carry some cobblestone to build a road.

The Expeditionary Forces were even given the nickname "Lola's Free Laborers."

Motoyasu and Ren's parties had arrived, followed by Naofumi's. Their parties, however, did not want to help out the citizens. They just lounged around the deck, and Motoyasu began flirting with the women, which were way more interested in Indigo.

Soon enough, as the day of departure arrived, the ship set sail. The Expeditionary Forces and my party received the rooms on the first floor as thanks for all the work we had done.

I, for one, was quite obsessed with ships, loving them since a young ship. I had constantly done research upon them, and posters of their diagrams had been hung from my dorm room walls. I was more interested in ironclads and battleships, though, so these wooden boats did not pique my interest as much.

Bored, all I decided to do was draw more blueprints, including one for a crystal projector which could project the crystal balls. I also completed a diagram for a Nebelwerfer rocket system. There were plenty of Arcian messenger pigeons perching on the ship, ready to fly the diagrams and paperwork back to Arcium as they were completed.

A few adventurers were pretty upset that the Arcian Expeditionary Forces were taking up a few rooms, but they had no choice but to wait for the next ships as we had gotten there first and the crown had already paid for our cabins. I politely apologized, and they grumbled as they returned to their inns.

I had spent the entire time on the ship drawing blueprints and playing strategy games with my party and my soldiers. Boosting morale was important before an arduous fight.

After a while, we arrived at Cal Mira. The staff had implied that they wanted the heroes to gather and introduce themselves, so I was prepared to gather everyone at the meeting place.

It turned out that Ren and Motoyasu were sick. Seriously? The waters were rough, but they weren't that bad.

"Blehhhh!" Motoyasu vomited.

Ren was looking quite queasy as well.

Naofumi and I were having a discussion, waiting for the other two heroes to recover from their seasickness, when a man in a Melromarc military uniform islands has bem and a little flag ran up to us.

"I am the Earl of Habenburg, and the care of these islands has been entrusted to me."

I instinctively gave him a polite greeting.

"Greetings to you, Earl of Habenburg. I am Satoshi Sera, President of Arcium, Count of Port Sera and the Bow Hero."

Naofumi also greeted the Earl.

"Very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Ren and Motoyasu were too seasick to greet the Earl. They were too busy vomiting to do anything.

"Please allow me to tell you all a little bit about our lovely islands."

Wow! This was a tour! I loved tours! I was a history fanatic, after all. I spent tons of time studying history during my youth and teenage years, and had even won the state Geography Bee, only to be relegated to third place nationally.

"That's amazing! I can't wait to learn all about your gracious land! Let's head off immediately!"

The Earl and I sprinted towards the town as fast as we could. The Arcian Expeditionary Forces and my party followed, and Naofumi and his group trailed behind quite unenthusiastically.

"You know we really didn't come as tourists…" Naofumi mumbled.

No one paid him any attention, as we were all enjoying ourselves.

"What is that statue?" I asked as I pointed towards a weird totem pole in the middle of the market.

"You have a keen eye, Bow Hero. These are the four pioneers that brought prosperity to our island: Pekkul, Isauni, Risuka and Inult."

Those names didn't sound quite like the local language. I guess some previous heroes had named them.

"Who named them?" I inquired.

"These were all named by a previous group of heroes. They named them after what these animals were called in their own language, in the land from which they came."

These heroes were probably Russians, Canadians or Japanese, judging from the names they picked.

"Do animals like these still exist?" Naofumi asked.

"No. They have moved on to another island and have not been seen since."

They had probably died then.

I suddenly noticed a strange inscription on the totem.

"What's this? Magical letters? Shucks. We can't read them."

Magical letters adapted based on who was reading them. These were heavily encrypted magical letters.

"Let's just move on to the next thing."

Everybody agreed, and we headed off to the inn, where we would rest for the night. The place was like a luxury resort back in my world. The queen had reserved it for us, and I was pretty grateful for that. The hotel staff insisted to bring our luggage to our room, so we agreed and immediately headed off to kill monsters.

"Ahh. The good old days. We really haven't done any grinding since defeating that monster cave in northeast Arcium."

"Yeah!" Indigo exclaimed. "I'm so stoked!"

"Other adventurers will start grinding soon. We should head off to the far east island like we originally planned and wipe out as many monsters as we possibly can."

We darted to the dockyard to find a speedy boat.

I climbed aboard a ship that was just unloading, and the owner was quite confused. He was a man of fifty, with big eyes, red hair and a thick neck.

"Are you the captain?"

"I am the captain."

"I am Satoshi Sera, the Bow Hero."

"And I am Andrew Speedy, of these fine islands."

"You are going to put to sea?"

"In an hour."

"You are bound for---"

"Lola."

"And your cargo?"

"No freight."

"Have you any passengers?"

"No. I am going for personal enjoyment. I am retired and seek to enjoy the rest of my days in peace."

"Is your vessel a swift one?"

"A few dozen knots are not out of the question. My ship is one of the fastest ones possible."

"Will you carry me and five other persons to the far eastern island of this archipelago?"

"To there? Why not to Siltvelt?"

"I said the far island."

"No!"

"No?"

"No. I am setting out for Lola and shall go to Lola."

"Money is no object?"

"None." The captain firmly asserted.

Oh crap. If I didn't hurry up, the other adventurers would be there pretty soon. My soldiers would use another ship, grinding levels in a closer island. If I wanted to gain the most levels possible, I had to dish out the big bucks.

"I offer you two thousand copper apiece."

"And there are six of you?"

"Six."

Captain Speedy thought about it for a bit, and then nodded.

"Very well. We shall set sail immediately."

A short while later, Captain Speedy's ship arrived at the far island. The speed was incredible, and I was sure no other adventurers would be here for a week.

"I shall be down to Lola and back in a week. I shall meet you here then."

"Agreed."

I handed the man the agreed sum and dashed off into the forest, followed by my party members.

"Thanks, Captain Speedy!" Indigo waved as the man sailed off into the distance.

"Now," I announced. "It's time to grind!"

Indigo threw his halberd at a wolf. The creature died instantly, giving a generous EXP count.

"Wow!" Indigo exclaimed. "100 EXP!"

This was way more than what we got back on the continent. The expedited fare was worth it.

"Let's get going. We have to spend our time efficiently."

I was whirling in circles, unleashing a hail of arrows in every direction. Scores of monsters fell, quickly giving me a level up.

Level up.

We were eviscerating monsters left and right. It was one hit one kill, and we had spread out to every corner in order to be more efficient.

After three days, most monsters on the island were dead. We didn't kill all of them, as some needed to remain so they could reproduce in time for the next activation event.

"What do we do now, Satoshi?"

Noticing no other reply, I came up with an ingenious solution.

"If there's no monsters left on land, let's go underwater!"

Chapter 35 out soon!