Today we plan to sail around the bay. When I asked the king about the subjugation request for the Abyssal he claimed it wasn't a ploy to get me here. But he also had no knowledge of it. The princess had nothing to do with it either it seems. The logical explanation is that it's not false. I still hold to this fact. So we decided to search.

The princess, however, insisted on coming with us. She is apparently adept with a sword and is willing to take any opportunity to increase her skill. Well, I respect that attitude. And maybe it will give me a chance to see her ability.

"Ah, please take this." The king says as we leave the castle, he's holding a small silver emblem. "Since we haven't officially announced your candidacy for A rank use this if you run into trouble at the gate. It should also clear up any 'Ilusidor' issues."

"Thank you. Ah, right I will have some of your dock workers help me move the 'Silver Lady'."

"You have my humble thanks. I was never a particular fan of that garish figure but it was my families so it is good to have it returned."

"Dear, you shouldn't speak poorly about the Noble Spirit."

"Yes, yes."

Oh, so it was another spirit after all. A spirit for Nobles though, huh? I guess I won't be getting her blessing anytime soon. Not that I particularly mind.

"Surely she will bless you for returning her from her resting place on Marrow beach. The Noble Spirit belongs in the Capital."

"R…right. I'm glad."

Hehh... Well what ever, at this point they are like Pokemon cards, I kind of want to collect all seventeen.

"Have a good trip and… Please protect the princess."

"Of course," I say nodding to the man to assure him.

With that, we walk through the Inner capital towards the port. We stop at a few shops that the girls seem interested in. They each purchase a new set of clothes. The fabric in the capital is much finer than in Marrow. I have no problem with softness so I readily agree to purchase them.

I also buy a, far too expensive, set of sheets for my bed. This was actually an idea I got once I felt the fabric of their new pajamas. This must be some sort of silk analog. When I ask how it's made I'm told by the Princess that it's silk from a spider on the 500th floor of the infinite dungeon.

Come to think of it I have heard almost nothing about that from them. I expected I would be conscribed to join the dungeon party but they haven't even approached the subject.

"I have heard you are very intent on completing the dungeon but you haven't asked me to help you, I am surprised," I say voicing my thoughts after we exit the store with our purchases.

"That's something to talk about in private, its… a regrettable subject. We can discuss it later."

"Understood, let's continue to the port then."

She nods and the girls all finish exiting the store. I'm crowded by them and we leave the Inner capital.

~ ~

"Heave!"

"""Ho!""" A group of men shouts yanking on a line attached to a large wood crane above our ship. Glimmering in the sun is the Noble Goddess statue hanging from a rope.

"Alright Rotate!"

"Sir!" A man shouts, cranking something near the base of the crane. it begins to spin until the statue sits above the dock, he stops turning the dial and the men begin to slowly loose the rope.

"Alright perfect. Good work!"

"""Yes!""" The men shout grabbing the crane and pulling it away from my ship.

"With that, you are good to leave. But do you need some ballast, that thing was probably keeping you nice and centered and I noticed you didn't have much else in the hold."

"Ah, thank you but I will be ok, I have something for that actually."

In fact, I hadn't even thought about that. Even if it has been over a month, I still don't know a whole lot about sailing. I know enough to get by but I'm still a rookie compared to Rou or Aqua.

But I did have an idea. My storage was currently pretty stocked. I typically keep about half of the materials from anything I kill so that's easily a couple tons, just of Sea Dragon bones, but those are a little big so I will go with a few large bags of the scales. They are extremely dense so they should fill the role the statue played pretty well.

The princess as well as Aqua and Rou, having heard the exchange were curious what I planned, so after taking the bags from storage and placing them in the hold, I hand each of them a scale to inspect.

"It's, beautiful."

"Mhm, Rou's right. It looks like rippling water. I've never seen something so incredible."

"This, is… from the beast that Core came from?" The princess asks examining the scale I had given her.

"That's, right. A Sea Dragon that was trying to bully me on the beach in Marrow."

"Ah, the captain has finally learned the key to telling stories it seems."

"Well, a little inflation here and there doesn't hurt."

"Inflation? What are you talking about?"             

"Well I suppose it won't hurt anything if I tell you, I've already explained it to them. It wasn't exactly like I killed it, more like it was killed 'on' me. Thinking back to it logically, it was probably attacked by something underwater. From there it was launched out of the water at a high speed and it hit me, nearly killing me actually. That's the truth of the Sea Dragon subjugation I've heard there are rumors now spreading that I snapped its neck with a hand tied behind my back. I have no clue where that came from but I suppose that's how stories go."

"Uwu… I might have an idea where that one came from… But really, that's quite a story. It's almost better than my rumors. But I suppose it would have to be with you. I guess it explains why people believe you're loved by the Ocean Spirit. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me, hearing the story."

"Hmm, I suppose."

"No, Captain you surely are! It must have been her that…"

"Yeah, yeah, He knows Aqua. Come on, we have to get ready to move out. Times a wasting and we have an Abyssal to kill!"

"Right, I forgot! I'll check the lines, you plan our search route."

""Captain?"" The two say to me with a salute.

"Yes, right. Get to it."

""Yes!""

The two girls dash off, up the stairs to the deck and begin prep to leave. It seems Alice, Jun, Mirna, and El had already mostly completed the checklist though. Snooze you lose.

"They sure idolize you. Not that it's surprising."

"Yeah, to be honest, it was slightly bothersome at first, I wasn't used to that type of attention but I have grown to accept it, and now I just try my best to live up to their expectations of me."

"Ah, that must be hard."

"I expected it would be, but it seems even when I make a mistake or overreact it increases their opinion of me, it confuses me but…"

"That's because you don't properly understand the heart of a girl!"

"I… is that so?"

"It surely is. I will gladly teach you if you wish. Though it seems your nights are crowded enough as it is." She says with a wink before turning around and stepping up the stairs.

Was that the first time I've been on the receiving end of the teasing since I've been here? It feels strange, maybe I should go easier on Alice. But why won't my cheeks return to normal? I slap them a couple times to pull myself together. Resist Cole, resist.

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~ ~

"Port side?" I shout towards El on the mast.

"No, looks like a patch of seaweed."

"Right," I glance again at the mass in the distance and sure enough she is right.

"Captain you know Abyssals are much bigger than that right?"

"How would I? I've never seen one before, have you?"

"Well, no. But still they are called 'Abyssal', doesn't that mean gigantic?" Rou says glancing towards the princess for some reason.

The princess seems to mistake that for an invitation to give input so she answers, "Yes, they are supposed to be the largest creatures on the planet. They say they can cause typhoons with a single tentacle."

"Tentacle?"

"Yes, they have hundreds of tentacles! It's disgusting." The princess continues.

"Have you seen one?" Aqua asks.

"Not personally but I've met someone who has, and I've seen drawings based on accounts."

"Come to think of it the request didn't have one of Muscleman's drawings this time did it?"

"Nope, I was sad. And Mirna was too it seemed like, I wonder if Muscleman knows he has fans?"

"Muscleman?" The princess asks with confusion about the sudden change in topic.

"Dead Ahead! Two miles and coming for us!" El Shout from the mast ringing a bell I had given her. It basically meant battle stations.

"Finally some action." The princess says with a grin. I understood I had been getting bored of just sitting around watching too.

"Is it the Abyssal?!" I shout at the mast still unable to see the bogey in the distance.

"Unable to tell. It's large but not colossal, larger than the sharks for sure. But likely less than the Sea Dragon."

"Interesting, so it's something else then. Princess do you know of any creatures that live in the bay?"

"Ah… No, unfortunately, I don't. To be honest I haven't explored the sea very much. I definitely haven't fought any sea beasts. It is somewhat difficult with a sword I have heard."

"Yeah, I can imagine that. Can you try a spear?" I hold a spear towards her. She seems confused by the sudden appearance but it was just menu so I didn't bother explaining.

"Th… thank you. I will try. I have not done much training with one but I am B rank after all."

"Of course."

~ ~

"It's there," Aqua says with a large motion.

"I can't… Oh, wait, yeah I see it. It's making quite a splash."

"It's approaching quickly. What is the plan of attack?"

"El will first fire spears once it's in range. El, I'm going to give you the real dangerous, heavy ones, so stay nearby me so I can give them to you one by one. I don't want you holding onto them."

"Understood."

"Rou once you think it's within your range I want you to join El in the volley, assuming it's not already dead from the explosive rounds. Aqua and princess, heaven forbid it gets within range of the boat, but if it does I want you to protect El and Rou with all your might. Alice, you are to watch over Mirna in the galley. Make sure she doesn't come out till we finish. As for Jun, I want you in the crows nest, we don't know if there are other enemies out there so keep a close watch."

""""Understood!"""" A chorus of voices shout as we begin to prepare to attack.

I can now see the shape of the beast. It's a large ball. It seems to be thrashing an assortment of fins to swim. Or are they fins? They seem more like tentacles. Are we sure this isn't an Abyssal? Maybe a small one?

It nears closer and begins to reduce speed, there is no doubt now that it's aiming for us. But why is it slowing?

"Captain ready to fire on your cue?"

"Wait a moment, El," I say holding my hand out to her chest to stop her.

"Captain?" Rou from beside, armed with her flintlock, asks.

"Its attack would have been best at full speed but it's stopped, why?"

"It's attacking!" Aqua shouts readying her spear to attack the tentacle that had risen above the surface.

"No, it's not," I say reassuring her.

I'm not clear why but I don't think this thing is a threat. Well, it's a threat of course but I don't think it means us harm.

The raising tentacle finally rises completely from the ocean. On the very tip, it holds onto an old woman. Or, no, rather it's attached to the old woman isn't it.

Oh, it's like an angler fish I bet. It uses this to lure ships. Interesting.

The old woman figure rises up and then begins to lower near the deck of the Excalibur. The Princess and Aqua are flanking it on either side with spears in hand. I hold a hand up to stop them though.

"Look," I say pointing to the hands of the lure figure. She holds a small white envelope in her crinkled hands.

"That is…?" Aqua asks looking at it with confusion but not lowering her spear from the tentacle. I understood. If this thing wants, it can drop this heavy tentacle at full force and crush the boat. But instead, it just rests it above the ship holding the woman like a marionette.

I step towards the woman, the crew fuss but I calm them. If I wanted I could just yank the tentacle and tear the creature apart but for now it wasn't attacking so I will inspect the letter. It seems to have come far to deliver it after all.

"Oh, Aqua, come look at this." I hold the letter to Aqua after reading over it. I figure she would get a kick out of it.

It's a chance to meet her idol. I imagine she would quickly change her opinion of this creature after reading.

She glances down the paper while keeping one eye on the tentacle. She then drops her eyes completely to the paper.

"It can't be real. How… but, I suppose if it's Captain it makes sense… But…"

"Aqua what are you stammering about? What did it say?"

"It seems, Ocean Spirit Goddess wants to meet with Captain. She also said we all can attend. It's an invitation, and Rou, she even mentioned us by name!" Aqua says with still a bit of confusion in her voice.

"That's impossible!" Rou says grabbing the paper from Aqua's extended hand and reading it carefully.

"Does this happen often?" The princess asks stepping towards me.

"No, this is a first. It seems this creature will lead us there, so please El, put down the spear gun."

"Understood," El says reluctantly lowering her aim from the beast.

"But captain you know it could be a trap. It could be luring us to death."

"If it wanted to attack it would have already. Plus I would really hate to beat up an escort again. Twice in a week feels like too much." I turn to the old woman who is looking around the boat very human like. "Well, I will leave leading to you. I assume you can understand me?"

The woman, attached to the tentacle, nods silently. And then begins to float off the deck and her tentacle slides back deep into the water. The creature turns away from our ship, it extends a tentacle in a single direction pointing away from the ship.

"Well, that appears to be our bearing. Rou do you mind?"

"Y…yes, Captain. Right away!"

She runs off to the wheel and Aqua snaps back to reality, handing me the letter and rushing off to help raise the sail.

I let Mirna and Alice know of the turn of events and they are remarkably unsurprised by it.