The Kono was towed by a thick rope 20 meters away from the stern of the Flying Leaf. Many kerosene lamps and torches were placed on her deck to allow people to see clearly on the Flying Leaf.
Galadia leaned against the side of the stern of the Flying Leaf and watched the alert Griffith walking around: "Didn't we agree not to carry weapons on board the ship? Now I don't have any weapons. It feels like
It’s like you’re not wearing any clothes.”
Griffith couldn't help but look at the elf's graceful figure, quickly looked away, took out a dagger from his waist and handed it over: "Here's this for you."
"Yes," Galadia took the weapon, checked the blade, nodded and inserted it into her boots.
"Maybe there is a surviving passenger who is looking at us through the gap," the elf girl said with a hint of complaint in her tone, "He was calling for help, but we didn't hear it due to injuries or other reasons."
Griffith looked at the girl and swallowed back what he was about to say.
Such thoughts and thoughts are not uncommon. When Griffith first set foot on the battlefield, he and his companions often had similar thoughts.
"Have you ever seen familiar friends and family members killed in battles and accidents?" Griffith said.
"No," Galadia shook her head, and then asked angrily, "Are you trying to say that I have no knowledge?"
"no."
"Then what do you want to say?"
"I'm thinking that it's hard to feel the regret at that moment and after that if you haven't lost someone you cherish," Griffith said with a bitter taste in his mouth, "If possible, I hope you don't have that experience."
The elf girl was stunned for a moment. She looked at Griffith, then lowered her head and thought about it, then nodded as if she understood.
After a few seconds...
"who is she?"
"Um?"
"Is that the girl named Krista?"
"..."
The summer night was calm as usual. When the warm night wind blew across their cheeks, for a while, the two of them almost forgot why they were on duty here.
Steady footsteps were heard on the deck, and the patrolling Lana and Murat came to the stern of the ship.
"It's a shift change. Is there anything unusual?" Lana asked, pressing the two sharp axes stuck in his waist. While he was asking questions, Murat beside him always faced the opposite direction and was alert.
"There's no movement from the Kono," Galadia replied, "The water is also calm. What about you?"
"Some sailors said there were noises in the bottom cabin. We have arranged for people to check, but nothing was found," Rana said. "Students who are not on duty are concentrated in the cabin on the first floor below the deck for the convenience of guarding."
"Okay, let's go take a rest," Griffith nodded to his companions and walked to the cabin with the elf. Lana and Murat took their place and continued to be on guard.
"Would you like to go to the bottom cabin and have a look? I will check it with listening and inspiration." Galadia slowly walked down the escalator to the stern of the ship. "The situation on the Corno is too weird. I think we should carry out patrols and alerts as usual.
It’s not enough either.”
It wouldn't hurt to go take a look... Griffith nodded, picked up a makeshift wooden shield from the side of the deck and walked towards the lower level.
The two first passed by the cabin where other students were resting. Several Shutorals and sailors were armed with daggers and wooden sticks and guarded there vigilantly. The other first-year students in Homemon Watts, regardless of their background, were all with the crew.
Rest on the floor.
The cabin on the next floor is the kitchen, dining room and luggage storage room. Due to the enforcement of security, there is no one here.
Griffith held the wooden shield and walked in front, checking from time to time whether Galadia was still behind him. The ball of light formed by Sonia's spell still surrounded him brightly, showing no signs of being extinguished.
The third cabin below the deck is already below the waterline. From time to time, a dull rattling sound can be heard from the solid ship plank, as if it is being squeezed.
There are multiple cabins divided here, most of which are used to store some wine barrels and food and groceries shipped to Homonworth. They can be accessed and loaded through several patios that lead directly to the deck. The oil lamps that have been set up provide good lighting.
As if nothing was wrong, Griffith carefully opened the doors of each cabin, and then the firelight peeked inside.
"Bah!"
There was a sudden sound of treading water under his feet, and Griffith hurriedly looked down. Colorless water seeped out from the floor of a cabin in front and flowed into the passage.
"Griffith." The elf girl who was following behind grabbed his arm, leaned almost her whole body against him, and asked uneasily and nervously: "There is water here!"
For sailboats sailing on the sea, it is not uncommon for water to seep from the bottom of the ship. The wood that makes up the hull will expand when exposed to water, so there will be gaps between the wood when building the ship.
"It's not surprising that water leaks from a sailboat. If no gaps are left in advance, the expanded shipboard will deform," Griffith explained nonchalantly. "When I took a Navy transport ship to the East, I lived in such a humid place.
I’m about to vomit.”
"But the sailboats of our people will not seep water," the elf shook his head. "Although our boats are more beautiful and exquisite, they are also made of wood."
Is there no water seepage because the elves' ships have a sealing effect of magic or special materials? Homonworth's Flying Leaf is blessed with rapid and stable spells, and overall it can be regarded as a huge enchanted item. Ordinarily.
It should have a similar effect, so water will still seep...
Could it be!
Griffith's hair stood on end. He turned his gaze to the water-seeking cabin, held the dagger and held the shield, leaned over, and gently pushed the cabin door.
"Hey~"
The hatch made a tooth-itching sound, and the gap opened allowing soft light to illuminate the small space.
The light of the illumination swayed in the water on the ground. Griffith looked inside and found no danger within sight. However, the light ball guarding the magic spell suddenly became dim, like
It's like the quilt is covered with a layer of gauze.
The apprentice knight quickly raised his head and looked overhead. The low deck could not hide the enemy.
If there is something hiding in the cabin, the only place it can hide now is the small space behind the door.
Griffith turned to look at the elf standing aside, nodded to her, and then slammed into the hatch.
The cabin door hit something without making a sound. At the same time, the light ball floating in the cabin glowed with green and black shadows as if it had been splashed with paint, and began to rapidly disintegrate.
Galadia's pointed ears suddenly stood up. She clearly saw that the hatch that was opened by Griffith was not close to the wall.
There is something behind! Something that can conceal the aura and pollute the guardian spell! Griffith realized this problem at the same time, he raised his sharp blade and stabbed towards the hatch.
The dagger pierced the wooden hatch, and there was a strange feeling in the hand. Before Griffith could figure out what it felt like, a huge force bounced from behind the door, pushing the wooden door and hitting it.
on his face.
The trainee knight did not expect that such a huge force would erupt in such a small space, and he was hit hard on the face and fell to the ground.
"ah!!!"
At this moment, Galadia, who was standing aside, let out a scream, grabbed Griffith and dragged him away towards the stairs.
Griffith, who was dazed by the shooting, only heard the tearing sound of whips lashing the air, huge collisions and shattering sounds all around.
The familiar viscous liquid flowed into his mouth. Griffith recognized it as the blood flowing from his forehead and nose.
Galadia didn't know where the strength came from, and like a gust of wind, she dragged her dizzy companion and fled into the corner of the stairs, leaving only a blurry scene in Griffith's sight.
Many thick shadows broke through the wooden doors of each cabin, like tentacles or worms, waving wildly and twistedly in the narrow passage.
Griffith was frightened by this crazy scene and could not understand what he was seeing. Unrecognizable murmurs roared in his brain. Fear, timidity and chaotic emotions were mixed together, making him lose his mind.
Ability.
If Galadia hadn't dragged him, Griffith would have had difficulty even moving.
…
The Flying Leaf was in chaos, with screams of terror everywhere. Shutoral, who was guarding everywhere, was attacked at the same time.
"Griffith, hold on."
A soft and frightened voice sounded in his ears. Immediately afterwards, two liquids with different flavors were poured into his mouth.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Griffith woke up and found Sonia looking at him with concern, while his head was resting on the girl's lap.
"What happened to me?" Griffiths sat up like a spring after regaining consciousness, "What's going on now?"
"You fainted," Sonia said with a pale face. "The Flying Leaf is being attacked by monsters, and the professor and everyone just sealed the hatch."
Beside the two of them, Galadia and several other Shutorals were holding weapons and guarding the cabin doors at both ends. Several boys were holding wands and tables and chairs, trembling while staring at the wooden hatch.
The twin boys they met in the old bookstore were also on the boat. They hugged each other and screamed at the same time in exactly the same tone:
"What the hell is this? (How did it come out!)
"They're coming in! (We're almost doomed!)"
There were noisy sounds one after another.
"Rana, where is Rana?"
"Ms. Marian, we need support!"
Everyone had a frightened expression, and several freshmen collapsed on the ground, drooling from the corners of their mouths, and lost consciousness just like Griffith before.
"Calm down, calm down," the dignified Provost Lady Marian shouted with her wand, "We have closed the door, it can't get in. The professors from Homemonworth and the royal fleet will arrive soon."
After listening to Ms. Marianne's words, the noisy cabin became quiet for a while.
At this moment, a series of screams and curses suddenly came from the deck overhead, followed by loud noises of heavy objects hitting the deck one after another, as if a giant was using the deck of the Flying Leaf as a drumhead.
It was like beating hard. Immediately afterwards, the hatches at both ends of the cabin were also beaten.
The freshmen who had just calmed down started screaming again.
Griffith grabbed a torch and was about to rush to the hatch. At this moment, there was a slight tug on his waist. He turned around quickly and saw Sonia's eyes wide open, pointing to the wall on one side.
He said in a trembling voice:
"That, there."
Griffith hurriedly turned his head to look, and instantly understood why there was no sign of damage to the hatch of the Kono.
There was a tiny gap left in the closed porthole, and a twisted, dead gray thing that looked like the tentacles of a mollusk was squeezing in through the gap little by little, and then rapidly expanded, stretched, and swelled.
"ah!"
Several freshmen witnessed the horrific scene and screamed together, and several of them fainted and fell to the ground.
Before Griffith and others could rush over and chop the thing into pieces, more tentacles squirmed through the hatches, portholes, ceilings, and decks, and appeared as if they were growing out of wood.
The cabin was twisted and twisted.
One of the tentacles slowly approached the frightened Fiona, swaying from side to side less than one meter in front of the girl, as if observing something.
Still worried about Lana's safety, Fiona, who usually likes to read adventure stories and is brave enough, trembles like an alarm clock in the morning. The freshman Fisher next to her pokes the disgusting tentacle with a wand. The thing immediately attacks
Shrink back.
"Haha!" Fisher's face was distorted with fear, showing a terrifying smile, "This thing..."
Before he could finish his words, the swollen death-gray tentacles rushed over, splitting the slippery outer skin, and bursting into six petals like a flower. Inside the split tentacles, there were layers of sharp tips.
There were teeth and a huge bottomless black mouthpart, filled with the stench unique to corpses.
Fisher was so frightened that he fell to the ground, and the fanged mouthparts rushed toward Fiona like a poisonous snake looking for food.
Griffith rushed forward like lightning, pulled Fiona away, faced the open mouthparts, and inserted the lit torch into it.
The tentacles immediately began to twitch, and the six-petal limbs spread out and danced like an epileptic patient. Then, the tentacles exploded with a "boom", and the flying mucus and bone fragments covered Griffith's body.
"Counterattack!" Griffiths, who recovered from the confusion and dizziness, raised his ax and shouted loudly, "Beyeland is victorious!"
"Hurrah!"
The trainee knights, who were almost petrified with fright at the sight in front of them, instinctively roared in unison. Although there were not many of them, the war cry they sent out at the same time was as powerful as hundreds of sergeants. Ms. Marianne, assistant teacher, was using magic spells to resist the tentacle attack.
The freshmen and several brave freshmen felt their minds were shaken, and the magic power gathered on the wand disappeared instantly. However, those freshmen who had not cast spells felt refreshed and had the courage to resist.
The strong blood energy surged in the closed space, and the tentacles that opened the mouth seemed to have hit an invisible wall, and they shrank back one after another.
Galadia felt that she had seen a familiar scene again, and immediately put away her useless wand and moved it aside. The trainee knights present immediately gathered around Griffith, waving their weapons to attack the tentacles squirming everywhere.
"Ms. Marian, please cover everyone and follow us," Griffith split a tentacle and turned to the somewhat dazed professor and shouted, "Everyone, follow us!"
Although the deck may not necessarily be safe, it is better than staying in this cabin surrounded by tentacles from top to bottom, left and right. Relying on the effect of the war cry, nearly a hundred students ran towards the upper deck together.
Countless swollen, twisted death-gray tentacles have wrapped around the Flying Leaf. They are twisting wildly in various gaps, or opening their disgustingly huge mouthparts to feed greedily.