157. Search Operation 5
[Four degrees to the left! Eras is near!] (Mitsuha)
" " " " "Osssuu!!!" " " " " (Sailors)
Today is the day where the rescue fleet would meet with the distressed ship [Eras], and I"m sitting on the mast but [Not in the Crow"s nest] itself.
Well, I didn"t climb to up as if I"m on my last legs, I moved to the top by transfer.
If you"re wondering why I"m not sitting in the Crow"s nest, well, after all, the first discoverer should be the crew of the rescue fleet. That way, it would be more impressive. If it was the angel who discovers it, then that"s that, there would be nothing to be proud of.
The correction value of the course is notified wirelessly from the patrol plane. And a while after the last course correction…
It"s after sunset and the area is already quite dark.
And then, several dazzling lights came out from the sky.
"What is that!?" (Sailor a)
"Is it the light of the G.o.ddess?" (Sailor b)
Right, those are the light of the G.o.ddess. The name is [Parachute Flares]. It is a type of illumination sh.e.l.l that is dropped from an aircraft and slowly descends with a parachute. Then, something emerged from the darkness, illuminated by the light from above, that thing is…
"Eras!! Eras has been found!!" (Watchmen)
A throat tearing scream from the crow"s nest, which reached the deck.
" " " " "Oooooooh!!!" " " " " (Sailors)
" " " " "Banzai! Banzai! Megami-sama, Banzai!!!" " " " " (Sailors)
Alright, withdraw!
Disappearing at the whale of a time is the prudence of an angel.
That way, it fits the image of an angel more rather than staying until the end.
When the crew turned their eyes towards the angel who had been sitting on the mast until a while ago, there was n.o.body there, just the sails fluttering in the wind…
Yeah, this is it!
Alright, transfer!
In the dark, under the light of the torches, the evacuation continues.
Not only the personnel, but also important items such as logbooks and safes are carried out to the flagship of the rescue fleet. Only after dawn and bright that the crew of Eras would be a.s.signed to the other two ships. For now, the decision was to evacuate all the crew to the flagship.
"How"s the state of Eras" (Fleet Commander)
"Well, the keel is fine, but the other parts are severely damaged, and repairs would cost as much as building a new one…" (Captain of Eras)
"Well, that"s obvious. Originally, it would be difficult to tow. We have no other choice but to give it up. Should we dispose it by scuttling?" (Fleet Commander) (Note: Scuttling)
Said the Fleet Commander of the Rescue Fleet, but the Captain of Eras shook his head.
"No, we don"t have to. The destination of Eras has already been decided. She will leave for the new lord and set off on an eternal voyage…" (Captain of Eras)
"What? What are you talking about?" (Fleet Commander)
After confirming that the crew had been evacuated under the command of the fleet commander, the captain of Eras left the stern and took out what he had kept in his pocket.
He gripped it with his right hand and hold it out towards the sky.
Pan! (Shot SFX)
And an orange ball of light shot into the sky.
"Wh-what is it!?" (Fleet Commander)
With the surprise voice of the Fleet Commander, the captain of Eras stared at the sky, and there"s a glowing ball of light. It is the same light as the time when they found Eras.
And the captain looks at the stern of Eras, illuminated by the light …
"Oh! Ooohh…" (Captain of Eras)
Two small figures sitting on the roof of the stern.
On one side, the delicate figure of the angel who gave him the sacred treasure he used earlier.
The other is a pretty girl, about 10 years old, who looks cute, but is ragged, her left arm is hanging on a piece of cloth, and her feet were wrapped in bandages. The girl is smiling and waving her right hand. With full of energy…
" " " " "Ooooh!! Eras! Eraaaaaaa.s.s!!" " " " " (the Sailors)
The crew of Eras raised the shout of joy from the deck.
Yes, everyone knew without any explanation. That little girl is [Eras]. She"s the soul of [Eras]…
" " " " "Eras! Eras! Eras! Eras!" " " " " (the Sailors)
Then, in front of the screaming crew of Eras and the stunned crew of the Rescue Fleet, Eras disappeared.
The soul of the ship, and the huge hull that lost the mast, the main body …
"…she left for the G.o.ddess. The G.o.ddess bestowed her mercy to Eras, who fought for our country and fought the storm to protect her crew, and she fulfilled her mission to the end…" (Captain of Eras)
Was it an honor?
As a captain, and for the soul of the ship, was it an honor?
The rescue fleet commander is aware of the tears that flowing on his cheeks.
However, he doesn"t think that it"s embarra.s.sing for a man to cry in public.
If a man doesn"t shed tears in this moment, then just when he would?
Right now, there are no man who doesn"t cry in the radius of several tens of miles.
And after a while, the fleet hoisted the sails and departed for home. The crew has delightful expressions, which was completely different from the harsh expression when they left the port.
The captain of Eras noticed that the sacred gift from the angel had disappeared from his hands, but he did not wonder. [The sacred treasure lent by the G.o.ddess disappears after finishing its role]. There is no wonder.
"Yaay! Although it"s wrecked, but we got a new 40-guns advanced ship!" (Mitsuha)
Pon! (High five SFX)
Saying so, I high-fived with Colette-chan.
"Thank you, Colette-chan!" (Mitsuha)
"No, I didn"t understand anything, but it was fun! Please call me anytime if you"re doing something like this again!" (Colette-chan)
Colette-chan, who dressed in tatters and full of bandages with her arm hanging on a cloth, smiled and said so. Certainly, it might have been fun for Colette-chan.
Villagers of Fishing Village, who have been arranged in advance, are leaving the pier on fishing boats to tow Eras. If I transferred Eras too close to the sh.o.r.e, the waves generated by the sudden appearance of Eras would hit the fishing village, so I transferred it a little offsh.o.r.e.
The tide is low right now, but it will rise soon. And there"s the fine condition where the wind is blowing towards the land. Furthermore, the land will be warmed by the sunlight after dawn, and the stronger wind would blow from the sea towards the land. Somehow, we should be able to tow Eras to the pier.
Well, if the wind changes direction and swept Eras offsh.o.r.e, then I just need to relocate it using transfer to the port in Count-sama"s territory where there are plenty of manpower and fishing boats to tow it.
This time, of course, I wanted to help hundreds of sailors. But it was a great opportunity to be able to get the newer 40-guns shop for free.
I was thanked by everyone and get a new ship for free! It was good!
The captured ships are the same 40-guns ships, but that was the [biggest main battleship] at the time when the first 40 ships were built. So, it is now an old ship that is about to be destroyed. That"s why it seems that it was loaned to a slaver"s reckless expedition as it was about to be destroyed anyway.
On the other hand, the Eras we got is a relatively new ship.
In any case, the Navy doesn"t build only the largest battleships. They also need cruisers and destroyers. So, the newest 40 ships were built with the technical ability to build 64 ships. This should be helpful for our ship constructions.
It seems that repairing takes as much work as constructing a new one, but it will be a good study, so it"s not that bad.
Anyway, let"s hand it over to Count Bozes for the research and repair. …… However, after the negotiations with the king. Regarding how much he would pay to buy Eras.
Yeah, I"m not doing this for charity project.
I"m still the lord of the Yamano Viscounty, so I have to make money for the territory. There are a lot of things that we want to improve, like researching mineral resources, constructing fishing boats, and so on. If possible, I"d like to give some allowance to those who are in military service.
Oh, why did I let Colette play the role of the soul of [Eras], you say?
I thought that it would have more impact on the tale of the G.o.ddess among the sailors if they think that a ship has a soul and that they would take care of the ships, and eventually make it harder for them to retire the ships. That would slow down the pace of building new ships and delays its performance improvement.
Ships cost a lot of money to maintain, so they can"t just increase the number of vessel they own.
Umu-umu, it"s doing well. Just as planned…
Now, let"s return to the patrol plane who is currently circling the rescue fleet.
…Transfer!