M-Monster!

She burst up through the deck out of nowhere. The woman who beat the captain in a drinking match. Why was she on our ship? Some overconfident mage? Bad luck for her to face us while we were gearing up — that's what I thought at first.

"Uoooraaa — huh!?"

"Oh? Mass-produced junk blade?"

I swung with everything I had, but she stopped the blade with a single finger. A seaman's full-strength swing… stopped by a fingertip? Without even a scratch?

"S-shoot! Shoot!"

"Mm-hm, inaccurate pea-shooters. All that wobbling actually makes them trickier to dodge — I'd be surprised if one actually hit me in the eye."

Guns — alchemical weapons that launched metal with explosive force — did nothing. Direct hits simply vanished. Not a single wound.

She grinned like a crescent moon.

What is she? What are we up against? Anyone who explodes up through a deck isn't normal!

"Guys, don't panic. Have fun, okay?"

"Wah!"

"My foot — oof!"

She tripped men with casual flicks as she passed, toppling grown sailors like they were nothing.

"Damn it — Flare Cannon!"

"Too naive. Magic Cylinder!"

Our finisher got sucked into her left hand and shot back out from her right. It exploded on our side — blowing holes in the ship. Fire!

"Put it out! You idiot, don't use fire magic on a ship!"

"Water!"

"Oh dear. Let me help. There."

She snapped. The fire vanished.

What kind of magic was that!? She didn't even chant!

"Right, by the way — tell me about the elf, okay?"

"M-monster!"

"Hiiiii!!"

Men fled. Some already had.

"What are you doing! This is my ship!! — You!?"

Captain Gomez appeared from the bridge.

Bloodshot, he glared at the woman.

"Yo, Gonzales. Or was it Gohandez?"

"Gomez! Get it right, damn you! — But you came to the wrong place."

He licked his lips.

"Deploy the Golems! Combat models!"

"Golems on a human!?"

"She's not human — she's a monster! The ship's under the sea god's protection — use all the magic you want!"

The sea god's protection — the strongest defense of his Poseidon artifact. With it, ramming ships or rocks won't break us.

Which means absolute safety at sea — and on deck, Golems and magic won't scratch the ship.

"Don't let her escape! Make her spit out where our cargo is!!"

"Oh? It belongs to my client, so — nope."

"C-client? You're a recovery adventurer hired by that ship's owner!?"

Sometimes we'd get 'Retrieve cargo stolen by bandits' jobs.

Usually it gets settled with money, but we already had a buyer lined up. Plus, with the owner being an elf, she was prime merchandise — so we sold her off first.

So this woman must've been hired in advance and actually came through, huh.

"I'll pay double. Defect now and I'll pardon you!"

"Pass. You couldn't afford it anyway — and you're not worth negotiating with."

She rejected him flatly.

"Heh, figured! Too bad, the elf is the lord's pet by now!"

"Good to know. Thanks. I'll go save her after this."

"Idiot! You can't defy the lord and live! We'll crush you first!"

"Maybe. Anyway… are those Golems of yours ready yet?"

She was chatting to buy us time to ready the Golems… but she underestimated us. The sea god's protection extends to the ship's equipment — both the Golems and the crew.

No matter how strong a mage she is, she can't beat Golems and fighters under divine protection! With Poseidon, we're invincible!