There's No Escape.

Karina-chan here. I thought I'd secured a tribute for the Goddess, but then I goofed. Big time.

Ugh, I'm such an idiot! Idiot!

 

 

"Those bandages… you don't need them anymore, right? Fine, I'll take these as the treatment fee. They were on your feet, so maybe they'll count as sock-adjacent."

"Who are you…?"

"You don't need to know. Now close your eyes — I'm getting you out of here."

They did as I asked.

I moved them into a time-stopped storage space separate from Dea-kun's. Can't have them causing trouble while I'm not watching.

"Now for Gomez…"

Dea-kun's sister wasn't here. I'll have to make Gomez tell me who bought her.

Should I check the slavers in Véraldo? Maybe, but he might not have used them. Better to grab Gomez first. He sounded ready to make new victims anyway. Plus there's still the artifact to deal with.

"Shoot, I changed my anchor and lost track of Gomez. Now what?"

I could scan for him with Spatial Magic, but healing those feet drained me. Wide-area magic takes a lot out of you.

"I'll grab the artifact first…"

I headed back to the artifact room on foot.

"'Scuse me, coming through."

"Huh? A woman? Why are you—guh."

"Hey, you—ugh!"

I decked the pirates I passed and reached the door. Locked. Of course.

Spatial magic makes locks trivial—

… No keyhole?

Then I'll just have to jump inside directly.

Huh? I can't get a clear view of the room. Is it walled off? What's going on?

It doesn't even feel like the door is locked.

Is the door itself a Magic Tool? Maybe it only leads to Poseidon's room when Gomez opens it. Either way, Gomez has the key.

Which means I need to find Gomez.

"Think positive. Catch Gomez and everything falls into place!"

Yup. Nice and simple.

If I cause a ruckus on deck, he'll come to me. Great idea.

To the deck!

Which way is it… actually, never mind. I'll just punch straight through the ceiling.

And just like that, I'm back on deck.

I burst through with a boom. The armed pirates just stared.

"W-what the hell!? You punched a hole in the ship!?"

"Isn't that the woman who outdrank the captain…?"

"Eek! M-monster!"

Some didn't know me. Some recognized me from the drinking match. Others from the warehouse.

They were all armed with swords and guns.

Wait, guns exist here? First time seeing them.

"So, boys. Know anything about a certain elf girl?"

"Even if we did, like we'd tell you! And what about the hole—!"

"Direct line to the hold. More efficient this way. I asked nicely, so be good boys and talk."

Apparently they don't understand simple Japanese… oh wait, this isn't Japanese.

"Aim for her limbs! Take her alive! She'll pay for the repairs with her body!"

"Hahaha! If you dare defy the Goddess, go ahead and try taking me alive! I'm strong!"

A few of them ran. Nowhere to run on a ship, though.

They must have gone to get Gomez. Perfect. Bring him on.