I Got Fired As an Adventurer, So I’m Starting Anew As an Alchemist! Frontier Exploration? Alright, Leave It to Me!

171. The Ocean Is Full Of Excitement, Isn’t It?

“[Phoenix Talon Rend]!”

With a resounding battle cry, Solar unleashed his skill.

The arrow shot from his Orichalcum bow tore through the waves, enveloped in a tempestuous gale, ripping apart the sea and leaving a gaping hole in the Kraken’s body as if tearing it in two.

The power of the technique didn’t subside; the tempestuous arrow continued flying, vanishing beyond the horizon.

Whoa.

This shatters every perception I’ve had about rangers and archers.

The notion of the bow as a “support weapon” was utterly obliterated, sent soaring beyond the horizon just like that arrow.

While Raidoc only let out a casual whistle, being used to this sort of thing, everyone else—aside from their party—was utterly stunned.

Still, we were relatively prepared.

We knew Solar had acquired the [Artemis Emblem], and we were aware of her skill even before that.

But the reactions of Nobuna, Kanetsugu, and the rest of the Mizuho Divine Kingdom were off the charts.

“Wha!? What was that!? That’s not normal!”

“She’s not… a mage? That was… an arrow attack?”

“I know! But doesn’t it seem absurd no matter how you look at it!?”

“Even seeing it with my own eyes, I can’t quite believe it…”

Nobuna and her group, who had been heading toward the remaining Kraken, froze in their tracks, too stunned to proceed.

Honestly, I couldn’t blame them—our thoughts ground to a halt too, despite knowing how overpowered Raidoc’s crew could be.

“You’re hardly in a position to talk about others, are you?”

Eva jabbed at me for some reason.

I’m not nearly as bad as those guys, am I?

As Nobuna and the others hesitated, a new group of bird-mounted soldiers approached.

The group of about fifty, all clad in samurai armor, caught up with Nobuna’s team.

The man at the front dismounted his two-legged bird with a graceful leap—

—and tripped.

However, he quickly stood, dusting himself off as if nothing had happened.

“Hahaha. Nobuna! With me, Kagetaka, here, you can rest easy! Feast your eyes on my gallantry!”

The young samurai brushed his bangs aside dramatically.

He looked older than Nobuna, probably around my age.

“Hah… What gallantry? You’re one of the Triumvirate, yet you’re arriving so late. And your estate is closer to the port than mine.”

“Uh… W-Well, I heard about the Kraken, so I was mustering a force that could definitely defeat it…”

“What a disgrace to the name of samurai.”

“Grrr…”

I couldn’t follow every detail, but it seemed the two knew each other.

Even at a glance, it was obvious Kagetaka admired Nobuna, while Nobuna found him utterly insufferable.

There was no way she’d reciprocate.

“W-Well, anyway! Leave this to me! Let’s go, men!”

Kagetaka charged at the nearest tentacle with his squad of samurai.

Noticing them, a few of the Kraken’s massive limbs attacked.

The samurai coordinated to evade and counter, but their moves looked precarious, and it felt like they might get crushed any second.

“[Cyclone]! [Slash]!”

Kagetaka unleashed some flashy-sounding techniques, but they didn’t seem to do much damage.

In fact, his subordinates’ identical moves seemed more effective.

Since leaving them alone seemed dangerous, I activated the magical communication device to contact Raidoc.

“Hey, Raidoc. Are you really just going to leave them to it?”

[It’s not exactly polite to interfere with another nation’s military in battle…]

“I get that, but still…”

We only took out the Kraken earlier because Nobuna’s group clearly needed the help.

Jumping into the middle of an active fight might cross a line, though.

[Besides, there doesn’t seem to be any need.]

“Huh?”

Following Raidoc’s gaze, I saw Nobuna.

She sighed in exasperation, pulled out a talisman, and began chanting.

“I humbly beseech thee. From the underworld, come forth! [Kaizato Doji]!”

What!?

Nobuna wasn’t just a samurai—she could summon magical creatures too?

The talisman drifted onto the sea, where an elderly figure emerged from the water, carrying a lute on his back and leaning on a thin staff.

He casually stood atop the waves, clearly some kind of magical being despite his frail appearance.

At first glance, he seemed weak compared to Kanetsugu’s earlier summon.

But I was wrong.

When the old man waved his staff, the water around the Kraken churned violently.

A massive whirlpool formed, dragging the giant squid into its depths.

The immense water pressure trapped the Kraken, twisting its body like a wet rag.

Okay, I take back everything I thought about him being weak.

The effort clearly drained Nobuna; she knelt, sweating profusely.

At the same time, the Kraken’s lifeless limbs collapsed.

Despite this, Kagetaka placed a foot on one of the unmoving tentacles, raising his sword triumphantly.

No, no, no! You didn’t defeat it!

Standing proudly, Kagetaka extended a hand to Nobuna, who ignored him with a withering glare.

She brushed past him, heading straight for Raidoc.

“You helped. Thanks to you, I could use that draining spell.”

Raidoc shrugged.

“Glad to hear it. You seemed like you could’ve managed without us, though.”

“We could have, but it would’ve taken longer, and we’d have suffered losses. So thank you again.”

Nobuna expressed her gratitude before walking away.

As Raidoc returned, I couldn’t help but smirk.

“This country is never dull, is it?”

“Not one bit.”

Just then, Myrna murmured.

“Grilled squid…”

She was eyeing the Kraken hungrily.

Is she turning into the foodie of the group?

And so, we wrapped up our ocean-side spectacle, ready for whatever lay ahead.

This is gonna be one hell of an adventure.