“You can’t move, hm? You two idiots have already stepped into my trap. Now then. Before I kill you nice and slow, let me ask you some questions. Who are you people, where are you from, and who ordered you to come? How did you deduce the location of my ship through the water dragon incident?” Giel took another puff from his pipe, after which a vulgar smile appeared upon his face. “But before that, I’m going to have me some fun with this woman here, hm?”
Snap. Snap. Snap.
“Eh?”
Paying no mind to whatever it was that continued trying to wrap around his body, Shouzou walked briskly forward.
“H-How can that be? How can you be moving?!”
Shouzou did not understand what he was being asked. Every time he moved, a soft snapping sound could be heard, but his eyes weren’t seeing anything. Perhaps it was something magical. It might even be what Giel himself mentioned just now.
However, none of it was of any consequence to Shouzou. “Once more, I ask you.” He brought his face right up to the man’s, then blew the pipe away with a sharp exhale. “What is your aim in controlling the water dragon to attack your own country’s ships?”
“Eep?!” Giel was so startled that he fell off his chair. “Th-This can’t be happening. I don’t feel even a scrap of magic from either of you. You have no resistance magic cast on you, and I personally checked the magicks cast on this room. Yet how... HOW!”
The couple were not beholden in any way to answer Giel’s question, but it seemed clear that the conversation would not proceed if he didn’t get his answer.
However, this was not a question that Shouzou could answer, so he passed the baton to Silvia. “In the first place, the quality of a goddess’s magic is simply different from that of a human’s. Furthermore, for fear of affecting nearby unrelated people, I’m using a certain amount of concealment magic, powerful enough that a less wary magician would be unable to detect it. And lastly, there is no need for me to resort to resistance magicks. As a Grade 1 goddess, such crude and sloppy magic is far too lacking to affect me.”
“Hah? Eh......” All that went over Shouzou’s head, but it seemed like Giel didn’t quite understand any of it either.
“As for Shouzou-san—” A blush abruptly blossomed on Silvia’s cheeks. “That... would be because of love.”
Now Giel was really confused.
Moving the conversation along, Shouzou grasped Giel’s shoulder as he shrunk back in fear.
“Eep, o-okay, I’ll talk. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” As if some internal dam had burst, Giel began to babble on without stopping. As it turned out, just as Shouzou and the others had suspected, everything was indeed a charade directed and carried out by the empire itself. They would control the water dragon, and make it attack their own merchant ships, carefully note the forces deployed by the kingdom in response, and use that information toward future naval battles. In addition, they also intended to demand a large amount of reparation. If the kingdom refused, then they would use that as the pretext to declare war. As for the cargo that fell out of the sunken ships, they actually were also using the water dragon to retrieve whatever could be salvaged from the ocean floor.
“And if I get caught, I was told to not resist and share all of the above. Even if you make me out to be a criminal and question the empire about all this, the emperor can just play innocent. Conversely, he would even use that as the pretext for war.” While talking, Giel got so hysterical that his face began to smile and twitch at the same time. “Ha, hahaha. That’s right. Everything is as the emperor predicted. The instant the empire decided to go after your country, you were already checkmated. So, what will you do now? Go ahead, apprehend me. Fuha, FUHAHAHA. I’m just saying, but even if you take me prisoner, make sure that you treat me with courtes—eep?!”
Shouzou grinned deviously. “Giel-san, what are you saying?”
“Heh?”
“Apprehend? Take you prisoner? You’re making no sense. See, I’ve come here only to make a request and offer an invitation.”
“R-Request? Invitation...... to what......?”
Shouzou drew his face so close that their noses almost touched. He had the back of Giel’s head in an iron vise, so that he couldn’t draw back. “Release the magic you have cast over the water dragon. This... is a request.”
“O-Okaiii......”
Shouzou backed off a little bit to nod firmly. Then in the same motion, he moved his hand down to grab Giel by the back of his head, and dragged him out of the room. The man had said “yes,” and there was no time like the present. The point was to not give him time to think.
The instant they stepped out onto the deck, Shouzou had Giel call up the water dragon. By playing a special flute, the gigantic beast with an eel-like body and a swordfish-like horn appeared. Immediately, Giel went to work chanting the release spell. Shouzou could not tell what had been done, but the water dragon jumped out of the ocean once in delight before diving back into the depths. Thanks to that, the ship had to ride out an enormous wave.
With the added confirmation from Silvia, this meant that their biggest goal had been cleared. During that time, the sailors on the deck were staring in dumbfounded bewilderment at the scene of Giel being ordered around by Shouzou.
Giel turned to Shouzou anxiously. He still hadn’t asked what the remaining “invitation” would be.
Shouzou gently laid a hand on Giel’s shoulder, then gave him a smile that looked so carefree it could have come from a child. “So then, Giel-san. Let’s enjoy a barbeque together.”
“I’m sorry, what? Baabe... kyu?” Giel’s confusion only served to make him even more flustered. Exactly what was it that this man was about to make him do?
“It means we are going to enjoy a meal together outdoors. The man who stands over all of the kingdom’s military, Marquis Goldas, is there already. How about sharing with him the story of how you helped resolve the problem with the water dragon?”
Giel got it in a split second. He understood the full extent of Shouzou’s terrifying plot.
“This time it’s only going to be a modest feast, but worry not! If Marquis Goldas expresses his support, then surely our king would invite you to an official celebration. Since you are not an adventurer, a monetary reward separate from the quest completion reward will be bestowed upon you. Without fail.”
“P-Please spare me...... If you do that, then I—” He would be branded as a traitor in the mind of his emperor.
“Ha ha ha! Come on, there’s no need to be so reserved. Well, let’s get going then. Oh right, as for your sailors, go dock the ship at the nearest port. I’ll ask the marquis to treat you all to some good alcohol when you land.”
“Aaa...... uuuu......” Shouzou tightened his grip on the back of Giel’s neck, then jumped off of the ship. Witnessing this giant of a man running on water without the help of any magic once again struck fear deep into Giel’s heart. All he could do was curse his fate, a fate that he had no hopes of escaping from—
In one corner of the beach laid Giel on his side, eyes staring off into nowhere. The barbeque turned out very boisterous and fun. The children, who knew nothing of the circumstances, had the time of their lives playing with the water dragon that had come to pay its parting respects, all the way until the sun set over the horizon—