The Sun! The Sea! Come To My Aid!
It took Neito the whole morning to issue orders to his subordinates in the branch. So, it was already in the late afternoon when he went to the beaches with Tsurugi. There were reports of a marathon runner being attacked a few days ago.
[Not a single trace of humans here…]
[That’s obvious. It is a restricted area after all, and there’s the threat of being attacked by the Santana. It would be illogical for a mere civilian to come to this area.]
The sound of waves was heard throughout the entire beach. He was together with a thirty year old man under the starry night sky. This was too much of a cliché to him, that he decided to ignore the situation.
Anyway, there isn’t anyone looking at us.
[There’s not much we can get here, And the Santana aren’t probably going to appear either. We should start heading home.]
[I agree. Niina has apparently found something interesting. Let’s go and hear his report then.]
A moment ago, the beach was calm with the waves beating up the sh.o.r.e. Suddenly, the sound changed into a constant splashing. Something was approaching them.
[! Boss, look out!]
[…Aa]
Changing stance, they turned towards the sounds. Then…
There they were.
Their distinct figure was clearly visible.
They must have come from underwater.
[….Takko, Takko…](TL Note: They sound like that… I guess that’s equal to a Murlock’s gurgling sound)
It was a mysterious yet creepy sound.
Their whole body was covered in blue scales, and their feet were those like of a scuba diver’s fins. They were moving their mouths quite a lot, but it seems like they were giving out non-sensual sounds. Their height was about two meters tall.
Fish-men.
Neito read a detailed report about the Santana, but those reports couldn’t fully grasp what he was seeing now.
It creeped him out. The sound of [Takko, Takko] was constantly heard, and one by one, they emerged from underwater. There were a total of six Santana that emerged from underwater. One of them was particularly bigger than the rest and had bluer scales.
He must be their leader huh?
The larger one was wearing something like a wristband.
[…Takko…Takko…Strong…Souls…Must…take]
[!… Did they… just say [Take]? And not [eat]?]
[…Give it… Before Ramone… Comes…]
There were some un-understandable parts, but most of the words spoken had a meaning. This wasn’t mentioned in the reports….
[Shall we do it Boss?]
Tsurugi put his hand on the hilt of his katana.
[Wait Tsurugi…A-…Ehem!]
Neito faked a cough.
[Umm… You’re the Santana right?]
[… Takko… Takko…]
[My name is Neito.]
[Boss?!]
Tsurugi unexpectedly raised his voice. But, to Neito, this was the most obvious thing to do. If they are intelligent enough to abduct any person for his soul instead, then their battle capabilities must be high, they can’t possibly get away easily. The situation had changed. The Santana were able to speak human language.
[…Takko…]
[I have a proposal for you]
[Pro…posal?]
It seems that they can hear him clearly. It was pointless to run away, but they were still cautious with him and Tsurugi.
[Tell me your objective. Aren’t you going to devour the souls?]
[…Takko… Gather… Souls… Rebuild… Castle…]
They seem to have a common goal by gathering human souls. Gather the souls and [rebuild] their castle? What the heck is going on?
[Tell us more about your plans. We may be able to a.s.sist–]
[Takkkkoooooo!!]
Neito wasn’t able to finish his sentence. Their leader ignored Neito’s words, and let out a deafening howl. They started approaching Neito and Tsurugi aiming for an attack.
[Dammit!!]
They were fiercely fast. As soon as they stepped onto the beach, sand exploded as they accelerated towards them. Their leader swung his scaly arms, aiming for a decisive hit. They were supposed to go for the strongest first, but for some reason, their leader went for Neito and not Tsurugi. Neito had no plans on getting hit.
[Tsurugi!]
[Understood!]
Tsurugi quickly reacted to Neito’s words. Unsheathing his blade, he swiftly deflected the attack.
Gang-!
The sounds of blade clashing echoed throughout the beach. The sand around them was flying in every direction.
[…You mere Fish-men!… I won’t let you touch my Master!]
Tsurugi pushed the Santana back.
[That was close. You have my grat.i.tude Tsurugi.]
[No problem boss… But, at this rate… Boss, I’ll hold them here. You go and get away as far as possible…]
Neito knew what Tsurugi meant. There were six of them and two of us. There was no chance of winning. At this point, they were going to be defeated. But, Neito noticed something.
[… That may seem like what a villain would do, but there’s no need to do that.]
[Wha-?]
Neito stepped back away from the sand and pointed towards the wave barriers.
There was a figure of a man standing near them. His face wasn’t visible, but he looked young. From his silhouette, he was wearing beach pants and a T-shirt. His getup was quite rough, but you can clearly see that it was a person.
[Boss… Who is he? … Is he …?]
The man’s right hand was burning. Literally. As the words imply, his right fist was on fire. His left fist was also abnormal. Water was swirling around his left fist.
[Takko! Takko!! Ramone! Ramone!! Takkoo!]
The Santana were panicking.
[That’s quite a dangerous thing you’re having there! Don’t worry, leave everything to me!]
The man, maintaining his calm vibe, raised his voice and continued
[The Sun! The Sea! Come to my aid! Haa-!]
The man, along with his words leap towards them. His right fist was burning more fiercely while the water in left fist formed into a blade with a shape of a cross.
Under the dazzling night sky, the man changed his appearance.
Neito was bedazzled by the bright light.
He wasn’t some faker or a bluff.
I don’t know how much he was significance in displaying the power of supernature, but his power is undeniable.
Beetle was a tough and serious guy but this man’s dignity goes beyond him. He feels manlier. And that was kinda cool.
[Here I come, Santana! I won’t let you do as you please!]
With the protection from the sun and sea spirits, Ramone revealed himself in the southern part of the island.