209 Pirates To Starboard
In the afternoon the next day, it was my turn to be schooled by Emilia in controlling the ship at the wheel.
I wouldn't say it was that easy but I do have driving experience at least so it wasn't my first time handling a vehicle of sorts behind a wheel.
I just needed to take into account the waves, the wind, the sea current, the weather, the size and weight of the ship, the speed that the ship was sailing, the responsiveness of the crew, the… Yeah, ok… It was very different from just driving a car.
If you're wondering how I got to drive a car when I was not even of age to get a licence back in the other World… Let's just say that there are just some things you're better off not knowing.
Speaking of which, it seemed like I had relatively good luck today since the weather was good and the wind was still blowing in the direction of our travel. The sea was also relatively calm so all I had to do was point the ship in the correct direction and that was pretty much it.
"Steady as she goes~" Emilia called out from my side, giving me a nod to show that we were on course.
On the deck, Odeta was showing the other Sirens on handling the sails using the ropes tied to the mast.
Although … I worry about the terminology she was using since she kept saying things like, "If the wind is doing this 'whoosh whoosh' sound, you gotta pull it up like that or the big cloth thing might snap!"
The Sirens were nodding at her so I sure hope they really did understand because I most certainly didn't…
Speaking of which, Ephyra claimed that our new clothes would be ready tomorrow morning and I'm honestly quite looking forward to seeing it.
I allowed my mind to drift a little while I held on to the ship's wheel, enjoying the feeling of the afternoon sun above us while the sea breeze blew past my face.
Everything was calm and it really just felt like I was back on vacation again, which made me wonder how the others were doing?
Mother should be ok since I doubt Mary and Sebastian would let anything happen to her while they were there. Though I worry about how she was taking my disappearance.
I'd like to believe that she knows that I was fine but I'm pretty sure I would not be allowed to sleep anywhere else except in her bed for the next month or so.
Lisa should also be fine and I think she might even have assured the rest about my safety with her Clairvoyance magic.
The person I was most worried about was actually Katsuki.
My poor maid must be quite inconsolable right now… I'm going to need to give her lots of pats and tail fluffing when I get back.
Ehehe~ Tail fluffing~
While I was fantasising about just how I would fluff that really fluffy tail of hers when I returned, I heard Delmare shout from the deck.
"There's a ship to the left!"
Both Emilia and myself turned to our left to look out at sea, only to see nothing but just empty waters.
"Sorry, my left… Umm… I mean… The right of the ship!"
We shifted our gaze to the other side and we were still met with an empty sea with no ship in sight.
Emilia frowned and looked down on the deck to see whether Delmare was playing a joke on us, but quickly realised she wasn't when she was pointing her finger with a serious look in a certain direction.
Emilia reached into her sleeve and pulled out a retractable spyglass, using it to scan in the direction of the sea.
She gasped, "By the Gods… She can see that far? Ship to starboard bow! Maintain course! Full sail!"
The others on deck quickly rushed to extend the sail to its full height while I concentrated on keeping our ship on course.
"What ship is it?" I asked.
Emilia shook her head, "Too far to see any flags but since our disguises aren't ready yet, we'll give it a pass if they're merchants. If they're looking to fight though, we'll have to either run or sink them."
The Siren girls obviously had no experience in fighting so they would be hiding below the decks. That wasn't too much of a problem since I had a literal army in my shadow if needed, though Emilia and Odeta were exceptional fighters on their own as well so we shouldn't be outmatched in a direct confrontation.
Soon enough, the ship that Delmare had spotted was actually visible on the horizon and Emilia pulled out her spyglass to check the ship again.
"Pirates… But I see no swords through their chest so it's possible that they might just sail past us," Emilia muttered, handing me the spyglass.
I took it and Emilia helped me to hold on to the wheel, allowing me to peek through the spyglass to see the ship myself.
As she had said, I found a bright red flag being flown at the top of her mast with a treasure chest emblazoned on it, the chest itself surrounded by several black skulls with no sword in sight.
I then tried to see the rest of the ship and I found that most of the ship's crew were Mahuns and there was a bearded man standing on the quarterdeck also looking in our direction with his spyglass.
He then turned to look upwards at his mast and his mouth opened up to shout something which I could not hear, prompting me to switch my gaze up towards where he was looking at.
Up in the crow's nest of the pirate ship, a Mahun quickly pulled down their pirate flag, confusing me to their actions.
My confusion was quickly cleared up when the Mahun replaced their flag with a similar one, except this one had a sword stabbed through the treasure chest.
"They just changed their flag to have a sword stabbed through the chest!" I cried out.
"What?!"
Emilia took the spyglass from me and looked through it to see what I said was true.
She cursed, "Those bastards… They must think we're easy pickings since our ship looks like it's deserted!"
Odeta climbed up to the quarterdeck with a feral grin, "Wahahaha! Let's go smash their ship apart then! We can do that, right?!"
Emilia covered her mouth with her sleeve, "Ohohoho! Since they wanted to pick a fight with us, let's make them regret it then! Turn to meet them, Lady Aster! We'll crush them and take all their loot for ourselves! Miss Odeta! Go and change the flag to show them no mercy!!"
"Wahaha! I'll get right on it!!"
Normally, I would have pointed out the fact that we're outnumbered but that would have been a lie unless they have an army. Not to me tonight the fact that Odeta and Emilia were already strong enough to wipe out an entire pirate group by themselves too, so my concerns were invalid.
Spinning the wheel around, I repositioned the ship to sail towards the pirates while Odeta climbed up the mast to change our flag.
As we got closer, the pirates seemed to have realised about our change of flags and started to alter their course to turn away from us.
I realised that this wasn't a sign of them surrendering as the cannons on their ship started getting pushed out of their portholes.
Emilia let out a laugh, "Ohohoho~ They must think we're being suicidal and they'd rather just attack us from a distance huh? Well two can play at that game~"
"Should I also turn this ship to face our broadside towards them?"
"No, we're going straight for them! A long ranged battle is the worst we can do right now. We'll just need to take a couple of hits before we can board them."
Odeta then smacked her palm with a fist, "I have a great idea, sister Aster!! You can take me up into the sky and fly towards them to drop me on their deck! Then we'll attack them on their ship there!"
I blinked at her, "You want me to fly you out towards them and drop you on the deck of a ship full of enemies?"
"That's right! I can take them out easily once I'm on their ship!"
I turned to look at Emilia but she also nodded, "That's a perfect plan! Lady Aster can also come back and take me there too! We'll just have Miss Cherith man the wheel while we wipe them out! Let's do it!"
Hmm… Well, if you two are so sure about it… I guess let's just do that.
Hey, I'm not the one with the most sea battle experience after all. If the two people on this ship that do tell me it's fine, who am I to argue?
I just wonder how they were so sure that I could fly and drop them on the ship accurately while assuming we wouldn't be shot down by arrows or magic…
Whatever, let's just do it.
