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“Ouch… Hey, are you guys okay!?”
“We’re fine, Boss… but what was that shake…?”
“How should I know! Hey, miss, are you alive!?”
“S-Somehow…”

I had toppled over and hit a container with the sudden sideways lurch, but I wasn’t seriously hurt.

That was some shock, though. Boss and the others were all jumbled up inside their cage. It sounded chaotic outside the room too. Clearly, something unexpected had happened for Miss Roche and her team as well.

“Could it be… an earthquake?”
“The ship is flying, miss.”
“Oh, right… But something definitely happened. I’ll go check it out!”
“Hey, wait! Moving around carelessly is dangerous!”

As I dashed out of the storage room and into the hallway, chaos greeted me. People were running around in a panic, others stood frozen in place, and some were shouting orders, trying to manage the situation.

Moving around aimlessly in this mess would only cause more trouble, and I noticed a burnt smell in the air.

“Could it be a fire…?”
“No, there’s no fire inside. If there’s a problem, it’s outside.”
“That voice… Master! What are you doing?”

I turned toward the voice and saw my master’s lower half sticking out of a ventilation duct.

“I got thrown by the shock and ended up like this. Just pull me out quickly without asking questions.”
“Alright, alright… here we go!”

I grabbed her flailing legs and pulled, extracting her upper body cleanly from the duct. Her face was covered in dust and cobwebs, indicating how snugly she had fit.

“Ugh, cough cough! This ship really needs better maintenance!”
“Let’s save the complaints for later. What happened?”
“I don’t know either. That’s why we’re going to find out. Hurry, Momo, we’re heading to the deck.”

With that, my master climbed onto my back, pointing decisively in the direction we needed to go, ready to navigate. Clearly, she wasn’t confident in moving through the chaos on her own.

“Got it. But Master, do you know the way to the deck?”
“I’ve mapped out the ship’s structure using magic power. It’s complicated, but once memorized, it’s simple.”
“Impressive! Alright, hold on tight then!”
“Drive safely. If you crash, whoever you hit will end up as a smear on the wall.”
“It won’t be that bad—whoa!”

Before I could start running, the ship experienced another jolt similar to the previous one. I managed to keep my footing, but the shock made standing difficult. With a second jolt, it was clear this wasn’t an ordinary situation.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ve been caught in a strange air current. Hurry, Momo.”
“Got it. Everyone, make way, make way!”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“―ANGYAAA!!!”
“Oh, you two are here together. What a lovely day, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. There are many things to comment on, but I’ll ignore them for now.”

Thanks to Momo’s swift legs, we easily reached the deck, where we were greeted by the cheerful Saint as if basking in the sunlight, and a sky filled with wyverns. All of them were already in a battle stance, openly displaying their hostility toward us. The shaking was undoubtedly caused by these creatures.

“Whoa, dragons!?” Momo exclaimed.
“No, wyverns. They are similar but distinct entities, so don’t confuse them. What exactly happened?” I asked the Saint.
“I am wondering that myself. We were supposedly flying through our usual safe route.”
“Then we’ll figure out the reason later. Is the ship alright?”
“Don’t worry, it’s much sturdier than it looks. Besides…”

Even as I spoke with the Saint, a particularly aggressive wyvern flapped its wings forcefully and charged at us. Its massive body was several times our size, and its sheer momentum alone could cause immense destruction. However, just as it was about to crash into the deck, it was repelled by an invisible barrier, preventing any damage.

“…In this way, I managed to protect the ship’s hull,” Roche explained.
“W-Wow… Miss Roche, what was that just now!?”
“Hehe, it’s basic protective magic. Anyone serving a god can handle it,” she replied casually.
“For something basic, that’s quite an advanced level of magic,” I remarked.

To combine such strength and transparency, repelling a creature of that size effortlessly, was no trivial feat. The Saint remained unfathomable in her abilities, calmly displaying extraordinary feats without batting an eye.

“But we can’t just defend indefinitely. Should I go ahead and kill them?”
“I would prefer to avoid taking lives if possible.”
“Easy for you to say…”

It was worded as a please, but the emotions hidden in it were firm. Perhaps it was her dignity as a believer of God of Healing Ascles.

To show mercy even to the beasts intent on killing us—That was quite a touching scene.

“Master, I’ll help too!”
“You stay by the Saint’s side. There’s nothing for you to do in aerial combat.”
“Okay…”

I got off the dejected Momo’s back and soared toward the wyverns in the sky. Their numbers were too many to count, and the task of incapacitating them without killing any felt overwhelming.

“Sigh… Flutter of butterfly wings and its end. Wings that bring about strom.”

Naturally, whether I sighed or felt a headache, the enemies wouldn’t wait. Without time for a leisurely incantation, lizard-like creatures lunged with gaping jaws toward the bait that appeared before them. However, their fangs were intercepted by a spherical protective membrane deployed around me.

“It’s absolutely frustrating how she seems to anticipate my every move. Eleventh Frenzy.”

The sigh I exhaled spun in my palm, creating a small vortex. Releasing it gently, it swiftly grew into a massive tornado as it sucked in the surrounding atmosphere.

“Gi-GIAAAAAAAAA!!?”

Caught in the sudden storm, the wyverns had no way to resist and were swept away, disappearing beyond the mountains in the distance. Perhaps I’d managed to drive away around forty to fifty of them with that, but there were still plenty surrounding the ship.

“Good grief, I’ll need to ensure I’m compensated adequately for this later…”

Now, with the constraint of non-lethality imposed upon me in this outnumbered scenario, how should I proceed?