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Chapter 102

Back then and still now, it was standard for Rank A expedition teams to be made up of many members. Each team had hundreds and sometimes even thousands of people. In fact, some teams were so big that they even had reserve troops.

But not even the supersized Zaratan could carry every single member. Because of that, it was common for explorers to travel with auxiliary vessels that were a little less impressive than the leading vessel, which was the ship named after the expedition team.

Aquamarine used to do that too. The team had two additional ships led by the Aquamarine.

Their names were the Pequod and the Essex. Unlike the main ship, which Frances and Marianne had escaped on, the two had sunk, never to be seen again.

“How shocking!” Russell exclaimed as he spotted the ship next to the Rift, interrupting Frances’s reminiscing. “I’ve never seen a phantom ship with my own two eyes. There are a few records that note their existence, but they are over a hundred years old, so their legitimacy is questionable. I need to tell those geezers about this once we return to port.”

A phantom ship?

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Well, everyone except one.

Leonard’s sight was sharp enough that he could see all the way to the horizon, and he saw that the ship was semi-transparent. Though it was indeed sitting on the water, there were no waves lapping around it, nor were the waves reacting to its weight, so the ship didn’t seem to have a physical presence.

I sense someone as strong as a Master. One at the very peak of that Tier too.

His hand automatically flew to the hilt of his sword, fingers twitching. There was a well-honed presence spilling out of the ship that he could sense even several kilometers away. It was completely different from a monster’s.

Russell seemed to sense it as well, as the mana around him wavered. The rest of the members were far too undertrained to have the same visual ability as them.

“A...phantom ship?” Lorelei asked carefully. She didn’t seem to know what it was.

“Mm. They’re not very well known,” Russell said, not looking away from the ship.

Naturally, the other members’ ears perked up. Marianne and Esther felt a sense of déjà vu and looked out across the distance, but they still weren’t sure what it was.

“A phantom ship is a naturally occurring undead entity that has been appearing since the olden days, albeit rarely,” Russell began. “According to the records at the Magic Tower, they were not originally undead entities. They are said to appear when a ship is left floating adrift in the middle of the sea after all its inhabitants die, whether due to starving in the doldrums or being attacked by pirates. They had become a ghost story of sorts after some people spotted one.

“Typically, it would simply remain a common superstition shared by sailors, but phantom ships will spawn if very specific conditions are fulfilled. First, the ship must have a central figure strong enough for their spirit to remain even after their death. Second, the ship that sank must have more years of serious experience than the average vessel. Third, the area in which it sank must have a higher-than-normal mana concentration. Lastly...”

Russel paused.

“...The ship and its crew must have felt a severe sense of resentment or cursed the cause of their death. Because it is so difficult to fulfill all these conditions, many question the very existence of phantom ships. Though, I suppose that won’t be the case anymore,” Russell said darkly.

This phantom ship, which ostensibly fulfilled all the conditions, was a Rank S vessel. One could surmise just how dangerous it was when considering how it was in the same classification as the Sea Serpent, which ruled its waters and was considered the king of the sea.

The captain of the Pequod, who could be seen as the heart of the vessel itself, was a monster at least in the Master Tier. If he and the ship itself became undead, they would have absorbed an enormous amount of mana and become monstrously powerful.

Because phantom ships sat on the boundary of material existence, they were immune to air resistance and physical attacks. Only weapon energies and magic spells could hurt them, but even then, they did less than half the damage.

“Divine powers, which were common in the ancient days, are effective against phantom ships, but there aren’t many people who have them these days. And most of those who do aren’t completely sane,” the Archmage explained.

“Russell,” Leonard said after listening quietly.

“Hm?”

“If the phantom ships are that powerful, I would assume they are hard to defeat. What happened to the phantom ships that were spotted in the past?”

The other members turned to Russell as if with the same question in mind.

Russel seemed to have expected the question. “As I explained earlier, in most cases, phantom ships appear because there is some kind of desire for vengeance. And since undead are not created with black magic, they will naturally disappear when they rid themselves of the intentions that brought them into existence in the first place.”

“Are you saying that they disappear once they exact their vengeance?” Leonard clarified.

“Precisely. As long as one doesn’t go too close or attack them first, phantom ships rarely attack vessels they have no relation to.”

“I see.”

Leonard understood it now. If phantom ships only pursued vessels they wanted to exact vengeance upon and disappeared afterward, there was no reason to attempt to destroy them and sustain such huge losses. Sailors simply needed to avoid the phantom ships’ paths and wait for them to disappear.

The same was true for even the ships that were chased, as long as they weren’t involved in the phantom ships’ vengeance. Fighting phantom ships in the ocean was extremely difficult, and if their true targets were strong enough to face them, they could get rid of the phantom ships on their own. There was no need for outsiders to join in on the fighting.

“I don’t know whose phantom ship that is, but it doesn’t look too friendly. Well, I suppose the people it begrudges have some level of responsibility in the matter,” Gallano commented.

Leonard was about to agree, but his enhanced senses didn’t miss the change in Frances’s demeanor.

Her heart was racing, and her blood was growing cold. It wasn’t like her at all. The mental wavelengths emanating from her body were fluctuating wildly. This was a reaction that could be seen when someone received a large mental shock. When Leonard noticed, he thought of possibilities for a very brief moment, but as soon as he realized what was going on, his face fell.

A ship that can fulfill all the conditions to become a phantom ship...

One: the ship had to have a Master-level captain.

Two: the ship that sank had to have more years of serious experience compared to the average vessel.

Three: the ship had to have sunk in an area with a very high concentration of mana.

Four: the ship had to have had a deep sense of resentment relating to the reason it sank.

It can’t be!

He immediately figured it out after seeing Frances’s reaction and recalling the story she had told him.

There was a ship that had fulfilled all those tediously specific conditions. It had sunk eight years ago in the sea district where the large Rift Charybdis used to be. Not only that, their cause of death was an ambush from explorers they’d thought to be their comrades, not something as simple as a monster attack from the Rift.

It was very likely that that ship had become a phantom ship.

—Warning.

The Aquamarine’s crystal ball lit up red and spoke in a mechanical voice, as if confirming Leonard’s suspicions.

—Unknown vessel spotted eleven seconds ago has turned around and is approaching at top speed. Unknown vessel is about to enter within firing radius.

“What?!” everyone exclaimed in shock.

They all looked out into the distance and spotted the phantom ship. It was heading toward them at high speed. Because it had no physical body, it was not slowed by either air or water resistance. It was almost impossible to deny that it was pursuing them now.

“Master! You said that phantom ships don’t attack first!” Esther shouted to the Archmage.

“Hm, well, the most recent records are over one hundred years old, so they could be incorrect. Especially when there weren’t many sightings in the first place,” Russell said vaguely, looking a little self-conscious.

“We must retreat as fast as possible,” said Frances as she watched the phantom ship grow nearer. Her voice was lower and more serious than usual, but because they were in such an inexplicable situation, no one noticed.

Except for Leonard.

“Reroute destination! Activate maximum speed! Remove power limits!”

The Aquamarine obeyed its master and vibrated as the power engine stored at its core reached maximum output. With enough power to launch countless Class 6 spells, the ship was ready to launch forward at top speed.

The Aquamarine turned its head and began to sail in the opposite direction of the phantom ship.

Zoom!

The ocean blurred past them as the members watched from the wheelhouse.

What incredible speed...! You’re telling me that the rate it was going before was far below its maximum speed?

Of course, the ship couldn’t maintain this speed for long, but right now, it was shooting forward more like the tide itself than a vessel.

The magic arrays carved on its hull even used the air to speed up by pushing it back, and the jet propellor, a masterpiece of magical engineering, shot the ship forward like an arrow.

The ship streaked forward so fast it was as if it were skimming the water’s surface like a seagull. It moved at an extraordinary speed, and the phantom ship grew smaller behind it.

“Ha! As expected of the Aquamarine. Not even a phantom ship can keep up with such speeds,” Gallano exclaimed in wonder as he watched the phantom ship grow smaller and smaller in the distance until it was only the size of a fingertip.

No normal ship would be able to outrace a phantom ship, but the Aquamarine was no normal ship. It was a masterpiece made of unique metals and artifacts of magical engineering, and some called it a treasure that could not be reproduced.

“We will continue at this pace for ten more minutes,” Frances announced with a calm voice. “We cannot be sure that we have lost the phantom ship, so once we are far enough, we will return to the Alliance. I will not accept any objections.”

“Well, I would expect as much.” Even Russel, the one person who could question the captain’s authority, nodded in agreement.

This was a Rank S undead entity. Even though the Aquamarine carried two people who were as strong as Masters, they didn’t dare think they could guarantee victory. Most importantly, they had no reason to engage the phantom ship in battle. They didn’t know why it was chasing them, but the phantom ship’s number one goal was to exact revenge on the cause of its death. Even if they fought and won, they had nothing to gain from fighting something so dangerous. If they left it alone, it would disappear on its own.

Though the crisis was now behind them, the mood in the wheelhouse was uneasy.

“Fran.” If Leonard didn’t bring up the topic, everyone would likely disperse.

Frances looked at him with unfocused eyes. There was no light in her eyes, and they resembled a corpse’s. Only then was Leonard sure that his suspicions were correct.

“If you don’t want to talk about it at this moment, we can discuss it later,” he offered.

“... Leonard?” The life returned to her eyes when she understood what he meant.

“If my suspicions are correct, this is something the others should know. Besides, you cannot consider Gallano, Esther, and Lorelei to be uninvolved with these events.”

“...”

“Marianne and Esther are already starting to remember,” Leonard pointed out. “Even if you don’t tell them now, Fran, it won’t be long until they realize.”

“Sigh. You have a point. Though, I didn’t think you would be the first one to bring it up.”

Leonard was right. Though Frances’s brilliant mind was still frozen with shock, she was still able to make the right decision. If telling them was inevitable, it would be better for her to explain it to the others herself.

“If I may have your attention for a moment,” she called out.

The others immediately halted their small talk and turned to Frances. She looked each of them in the eye, one by one.

“I have just discovered the identity of the phantom ship we encountered,” she announced.

“Just discovered” was a strange choice of words. She could see the entire field of view of the Aquamarine, so she was the first one to have spotted the Pequod. And it only took her a few seconds to recognize it.

She remembered the events of eight years ago as if they had happened yesterday, so unlike others, she didn’t have to dig around her memories. The fact that she recognized it so fast was part of the reason why the shock was so powerful.

“That phantom ship was Aquamarine’s secondary ship,” she said.

Marianne’s and Esther’s eyes widened. They’d already been feeling a sense of déjà vu. The others responded a step slower. Their shock was only natural.

Frances had the bitterest taste in her mouth as she continued, “It is the ship that was headed by the vice-captain of our expedition team, ‘The Maestro’ Ahab. It is... the Pequod.”

The wheelhouse went as silent as a graveyard.