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I took it out of my Inventory and handed it to her.

 

She shouted excitedly and tears of joy ran down her face.

She had done almost nothing but dig since she came here.

And now her efforts had finally been rewarded.

 

As for the other thing…

 

I asked the Advisor to analyze the crystal.

 

<<Substitue Stone… It can be changed into any other known stone.>>

 

In other words, it could be anything you wanted it to be…

It could be an Ascending Stone or even a Dragon Sphere Stone that could bring people back to life.

 

“This is quite the find…”

“The crystal? What does it do?”

“Apparently, it can turn into any other stone. Including the one you’re holding or the one that resurrects people.”

“It-it can…”

“You should save it for now… And think very hard about what you will do with it… Here.”

 

I handed the Substitute Stone to her.

However, Fule shook her head.

 

“I just need this one Ascending Stone! Without you, Lord Heal, I would never have survived long enough to acquire it. In fact, I almost died a minute ago… You should use it.”

“But you’re the one that found it, Fule.”

“No. I was only able to concentrate on digging because of you. Besides, I haven’t been helping at all with the fishing and other work… If you don’t want to use it, use it for the others.”

“I see… Thank you, Fule. Well then, I’ll discuss it with everyone else.”

“Yes. Take these two Ascending Stones as well.”

 

Fule said as she handed them to me.

I put them away in my Inventory.

 

“Alright then, we finished getting what we wanted. Why don’t we go back and eat? Then we can use the stones.”

“Yes!”

 

And so we decided to return to the surface.

On the way, Fule was so happy that she hummed while she walked.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy!”

“I see. But, I hope you’re not so busy training with magic all of the time, that you’ll forget to visit us down in the caves once in a while.”

“Of course! In fact, I’m going to work harder in the caves than before!”

 

That’s when it happened.

Someone was sliding down the stairs while using a slime as a sled.

 

It was the fifteenth. The Mithril Golem.

 

And it was ringing a bell.

Judging by the way it was ringing it, something must have appeared on the sea.

 

And so I rushed towards the entrance.

 

On the way, goblin and kobold children ran passed me.

They looked worried, and so I asked them,

 

“Did something happen out there?”

“Lord Heal! The-the enemy… There’s an orc ship!”

“Orcs…”

 

As they said enemy, it must be the orcs that the kobolds had been fighting with… In other words, the famous pirates. The Korbas tribe.

 

But I had heard that they were a great fleet of a hundred ships… Then this was the biggest threat that our island had ever faced.

 

As the elderly and the disabled fled into the caves, I came out.

 

And then, I saw the giants sails on the sea.

It was a battleship of the royal navy… Just one of them could carry a crew of one thousand, and it had dozens of ballistas installed on both sides of the deck. It was the most powerful ship in the navy.

 

However, while the sails were supposed to be white, these had been dyed black.

The royal flag was turned into a terrible skull, proving to us that this ship was no longer in service of the kingdom.

 

The Korbas had probably captured it from the royal navy.

 

But there was something else that bothered me more.

 

It was that there were no other ships around it.

As these kinds of ships could not make sharp turns, they were usually escorted by a fleet of smaller ships.

Not only that, but the Korbas were supposed to have a hundred of them…

 

And this battleship itself seemed odd.

It would usually have four masts, but the two in the center seemed to be broken.

 

I headed to where Rienna, Baris, Erevan, Ashton, and Haines were gathered.

 

“Is it the Korbas!?”

 

Ashton was the one who answered.

 

“Yes, that is the boat that attacked us. However, I cannot see the other ships. As for this one…it seems that a lot has happened since our last encounter…”

 

And that had only been a few days ago, so clearly something had happened to the Korbas.

 

Erevan muttered.

 

“Hah. Perhaps they got overconfident and were taken by a storm?”

“That seems the most likely… No matter how strong the navy is, I doubt they could destroy a hundred ships…”

 

Ashton agreed with Erevan.

 

Then Baris said, 

 

“Lord Heal. For now, I have placed ten Golems in the advance guard. In the back, there is a defense force comprised of goblins and kobolds. On your command, we will be ready to attack.”

“I see… Hmm?”

 

I noticed that a small boat had been sent out from the battleship.

 

“A messenger? …Let’s see what this is about.”

“Chief, we will accompany you.”

 

Erevan said. The others nodded.

 

“Thank you. However, Rienna, Baris, and Haines. Could you three stay here? It’s possible that the other ships might be hiding somewhere. We must keep our guard up.”

 

They all nodded.

Then Rienna said,

 

“Yes. But Lord Heal, please be careful…”

“Aye, of course, I will…”

 

I said and then headed towards the boat.

 

A large orc was standing on the prow.

He was wearing the hat and coat of an admiral…and a long golden wig.

And in both hands, I could see he was holding sabers.

 

When the boat was close enough to the reclaimed ground, the orc jumped up high.

 

And then he landed heavily in front of us.

 

“You… I demand that you allow us to harbor here at once!!”

 

The orc, who had a heavily powdered face, demanded.

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