"Captain! Fire!"
"At that huge thing? We might as well be using peashooters!"
"Just do it!"
"You really are insane! All right, we're going in! Ready yourselves, men!"
On Leo's order, the captain maneuvered to within firing range of Leviatano and began to send salvos from the magical cannons. Unfortunately, the sea dragon's hard scales remained unscathed.
Despite that, Leo insisted the cannon fire continue. Meanwhile, he picked up the receiver to the magical voice amplifier.
"Attention, all Rondine and Albatro sailors! This is Leonard Lakes Aadler, Eighth Imperial Prince of Adrasia! We are going to fire on Leviatano in order to draw its attention! If there are any crews out there not afraid of a sea dragon, follow my lead! Anything will help! We need to distract it from the city! Who's prepared to go down fighting with me?!"
There was one ship that responded immediately to Leo's request. They had already begun heading in Leviatano's direction as soon as they saw Leo's ship and were ready to provide backup.
"We will join you, Your Highness."
It was the same ship that had obstructed Arn's passage when he first attempted to enter the harbor.
The captain of Leo's ship recognized it immediately.
"Your Highness! That's the ship from before!"
"What ship?"
"The one that came to stop you from entering the harbor!"
Leo recalled Arn telling him that he'd simply barged into the harbor without permission. Lacking any further details, he was forced to answer vaguely and pretend he knew what the captain was talking about.
"Oh, right. That ship," he muttered unconvincingly, while mentally berating Arn for not telling him about something that had clearly made an impact.
At the same time, he thought to himself how like Arn that was. The fact that Arn hadn't said anything about the ship meant that it hadn't been that vital of a detail to him.
There must be a whole lot of other things he hasn't told me, Leo mused. But that was a source of excitement. To Leo, Arn was and would always be his amazing big brother. That made it all the more exciting to witness for himself the amazing things Arn did.
See? Isn't my brother awesome?
During the minute or so Leo was lost in his thoughts, Albatro's ships had begun gathering around his own. Not wanting to be left behind, Rondine's ships quickly followed. When Leo noticed, he let out a deep breath and gave his next command.
"I thank all of you brave ships and sailors. We must do whatever we can to catch Leviatano's attention! Everyone at once, open fire!"
Like that, the impromptu fleet began their attack on Leviatano. However, its eyes remained fixed on the capital city. Leo and the others did whatever they could to create a diversion, but the sea dragon continued its barrage of water bombs in an almost mechanical fashion.
Back on shore, Elna was able to change the bombs' trajectories, but she couldn't destroy them altogether. They steadily distorted the surrounding landscape as they fell on empty streets and buildings.
Amid that hellish chaos, one young woman wandered into the Albatro branch of the Adventurers' Guild. The branch office was already half-destroyed at that point, and all the staff had evacuated the premises.
Despite that, the young woman continued inside, where a long-distance com room could be found—the same com room the alert of the sea dragon's appearance had been made from a while earlier. The young woman, Eva, knelt within the unattended space and began to plead for help.
"Please...someone...anyone... Please save my country. Without help, we'll be completely wiped out! All of our people will become victims of the sea dragon! Anyone who's out there, anyone at all... Please save us. Please accept this request to defeat the sea dragon!"
After becoming separated from her bodyguards, Eva had left the other evacuating citizens to go searching for Guild. She knew if she found it there would be a com room inside. Following her success, she continued her fervent, prayerful pleas without pause. The only person who could save her and her country was an adventurer.
One of the Guild's SS-class adventurers should be able to do something to help.
That hope fueled Eva's unending requests for aid. Unbeknownst to her, damage from the attack had managed to switch the com room to broadcast mode, which was normally reserved for alerting all the Guild branches about extreme disasters that threatened the entire continent.
Her words were heard not only by Guild employees but by all the adventurers who were inside the Guild branches, too.
Those adventurers were filled with the desire and urgency to do something, but none of them possessed the ability to reach the southern region quickly enough. That included the adventurers of the Adrasia capital branch.
"Goddamn it!"
"Isn't there anything we can do?!"
"Shut up! Panicking won't do any good!"
"Shut up? There's a girl out there calling for help!"
"You think panicking's going to accomplish that?!"
The drunken adventurers listened to the pleas of the young girl and lamented their inability to lend aid. They cursed and raged as they drank and waited for someone else to speak up.
All the while, Eva's pleas continued to broadcast. The emergency transmission mode meant that they were audible throughout each and every branch building.
The Guild employees, too, wore anguished expressions as they listened.
During that time, one man strode briskly into the branch office and made a reply, which was similarly transmitted to all the branches across the continent.
"Hang on. I'll be right there."
That reply startled Eva. She hadn't actually expected anyone to come. And the voice had said they'd be there soon. What did they mean?
Eva's confusion was interrupted when a crack appeared in the air beside her. From it, a man wearing a silver mask and a black robe emerged.
"Who are you?"
"Silver, SS-class adventurer from the Adrasia branch of the Adventurers' Guild. I'm here to accept your request."
This declaration, too, was broadcast to all of the Guild branches.
A moment later, adventurers across the continent cried for joy that one of their own had arrived to save the day.
6
When I departed the castle, Finne stopped at the entrance and watched me leave. She must have known that following me any farther wouldn't change anything. Instead, she bid me farewell in a quiet voice only I could hear.
"Good luck. I'll be here waiting for you to return."
"Thanks. I'll be back as soon as I can."
After that short parting exchange, I transported myself along with Trau and his imperial knight escort to the Adventurers' Guild branch in the capital. Once inside, I heard Eva's voice.
"Anyone who's out there, anyone at all... Please save us. Please accept this request to defeat the sea dragon!"