Raidorl Seiken Senki

Chapter 173: Drifting Ship

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by SoundDestiny

So, what’s this report about?”

Justy asked his second-in-command as he walked down the corridor, leaving Neferte in his room.

He glanced behind him to make sure the door was closed and then whispered his report.

“Well….I’ve just had a report from a fisherman who’s been out fishing, a ship flying the flag of the Kingdom of Athena is coming offshore.”

“Athena’s ship…..? Don’t tell me that’s the ship that Prince Neferthe was on?”

“They’re safe”– Justy patted his chest.

Neferte seemed quite depressed to learn that he was the only one who had survived. He would have been happy to know that there were other survivors.

“But, there’s something strange…. that boat. It was clearly not a normal condition…..”

“Hmm..that’s too vague for an explanation. Could you be more specific?”

“I’d love to, but……the fishermen just can’t get their heads around it. I’m sure they’ve already been in the sea, so it would be quicker if you could see them in person.

“………..?”

With a dubious look in his eyes behind his glasses, Justy left the house and headed for the harbour.

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When Justy arrived at the harbour, there was the same crowd of people there as before.

The inhabitants of the town,fishermen and sailors: were gathered, buzzing and pointing in the direction of the sea.

“What’s going on? Explain!”

“Aa,Captain. There’s a funny-looking ship off the coast…..”

“What’s so funny about it? Let me see.”

Justy took the telescope from the sailor and looked through it.

In the lens, he could see a ship approaching the harbour from a distance.

The ship did indeed fly the flag of the Kingdom of Aterna.

But, that was not the unnatural part. The ship was damaged and battered in many places.

There were holes all over the hull. Of the three masts, the main mast was barely intact, but the other two had been snapped in half. The sails were also completely torn, the rags clinging to the masts.

It’s a miracle they can make it through the sea without sinking.

“…….I heard that the ship was hit by a storm and also by a demon, are there any survivors of the crew?”

“What shall we do, wait for the ship to come to us?”

“No,it’s too much trouble for them to run into the harbour while it’s being repaired. We’ll get a small boat and get on board, and if there are no survivors, we’ll sink it.”

The ship was heading straight for the harbour with great speed, even though her sails were torn.

It was clear that the waves were not the only force at work. It was necessary to get on board to see what the anomaly was.

“I’m sorry, but I need to borrow your fishing boat. Is that all right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Justy and his men boarded two fishing boats and rowed their oars towards the Athena’s ship off the coast.

The closer they get, the more they can see the wreckage of the boat.

The hull was so full of holes that Justy could almost see the other side, and it looked less like a ship and more like a lump of scrap wood floating on the water.

“Anybody there? Answer me!”

Justy shouted from the boat, but there was no response from the deck, which was a few metres higher. There was no sign of anyone.

“…… Let’s have a look inside, just in case.”

Justy grabbed a rope hanging from the top of the boat and dexterously climbed up using only the strength of his arms. The soldiers follow him and climb up to the deck of the ship.

The deck of the ship was as battered as the hull looked as if it was about to collapse.

There is no sign of human life. At least not a living human being.

“There’s a body here …… badly damaged.”

One of the soldiers shouted.

Justy looked over and saw a human corpse lying there, one arm missing.

The older man’s carcass was soaked with water and wet, and his left shoulder was missing, as if it had been ripped off by a shark or orca.

“Here’s another one! It’s in …… bad shape too.”

Behind the ship’s deck, another soldier discovers the wreckage.

The bones of this one were broken all over, and the arms were glued to the body as if they had been gripped by the arms of a giant. What kind of death would cause such a figure?

Then, all of the bodies were found all over the ship, but all of them were so badly damaged that only a few of them were intact.

“It seems there are no survivors on …….a tragedy.”

Justy closed his eyes and shook his head.

The result is more disastrous than he had expected.

Justy wondered how he was going to tell the little boy about this, and gritted his teeth.

“Mu……!”

In the meantime, the hull of the ship shook loudly with a creaking and squeaking sound.

The stimulus of Justy and the soldiers coming aboard must have brought the ship to its limits.

“We have no choice but to escape the ship. You don’t have to collect the bodies. Just cut off a tuft of hair from the corpse you find!”

Normally, the body should be properly removed and buried in a grave.

But if the ship collapses during the recovery operation, they’ll be caught up in it and cause unnecessary damage. Taking the hair with them was the best possible way to mourn.

“…… Allow me to leave you like this. Rest in peace.”

The soldiers obey the order and begin to collect the hair. Justy also crouched down beside a body lying nearby and took out a knife.

He grabbed the young man’s hair and tried to cut it off with the blade then someone grabbed his hand.

“What the hell ……?”

Justy’s right arm was grabbed by the right arm of a man who should have been dead.

The man who had fallen moved his head with a grin and turned his face towards Justy, opening his jaw to the limit.

“Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Gnuuhhhh……!”

Pierced by a spine-chilling scream, Justy reflexively struck the man in the head with his left hand.

His strong, trained arm growled and the man’s neck was stretched beyond its limits.

His neck was torn off with a buzzing sound and his head was blown away from his body like a ball.

“Kishaaaaaaaa……!”

The head continued to scream as it was separated from the body, but eventually it hit the mast and shattered like a trampled tomato.

The headless body slammed down and this time it didn’t move.

“Gyaaahah!?”

“Uwaa, What the hell is this!”

“Th-e, The corpse!Aaaaa”

There were screams all over the ship.

One by one, the lying corpses rose up and attacked the soldiers who had accompanied Justy on board.

The living dead rose up like spring-loaded toys, biting the soldiers and beating them with their broken arms.

“…..!!”

An unbelievable situation. A hellish scene that was out of this world.

In the face of this shocking situation, Justy is frozen in place for a few moments. He quickly remembers his role as a commander and gives instructions to his soldiers.

“Fight back! They’re unarmed and not moving very fast! Stay calm and we can easily defeat them!”

With that, Justy drew his sword from his waist and cut down the carcass that had been biting the soldier’s neck.

He didn’t bring his beloved spear, but the slashes from his thick, well-trained arms were powerful enough to easily cut a human body in two.

The carcasses lie on the deck in a heap, cut in half.

“Shaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Mmm!”

“……!. Follow Captain Justy!”

“Come on! Clear out all the undead!”

Inspired by Justy’s initiative, the other soldiers slash at the undead sailors.

Fortunately, the living dead doesn’t move fast due to the severe damage to their bodies, or maybe they are just that way. It’s the kind of fighting ability that can’t even reach a thug who misbehaves in a back alley.

At first they were attacked because they were upset by the improbability of the situation, but if they remained calm, they could win without any problem. In less than a few minutes all the corpses were exterminated and the living dead became real corpses that would never rise again.

“Is anyone hurt? Report the damage!”

“One man has been bitten on the neck. The rest are lightly wounded, none of them with life-threatening injuries!”

Justy’s question was answered by his second-in-command.

There were no dead soldiers. One of them had been bitten on the neck, but it did not seem to be fatal.

The suddenness of the battle took them by surprise, but for the moment they seem to have been able to win without casualties.

“…… Keep your guard up. They are the undead. They are cursed wrecks. When you return to land, have the priests cleanse you. They may have some strange curse on them.”

Undead. Immortal.

The undead are the bodies of people who have died with no hope of ever being alive again, and have mutated into demons.

Some of them even infect people with a curse and are feared by them.

“But how could so many bodies have become undead? Was it so regrettable that they lost their lives at sea?”

“It’s impossible. It’s impossible for one or two bodies to turn into undead all at once.”

In order for the dead to mutate into the undead, they must have strong feelings of remorse, regret and hatred.

It is unlikely that the entire crew of the ship died with such strong emotions, however horrific their deaths may have been.

“In conclusion……these people did not become undead naturally. They have been forcibly resurrected by someone else.”

“….. More things to report to His Highness Raidorl. It’s a very challenging job.”

Justy muttered and jumped off the “ghost ship” into his small boat.