Ch.123[Episode 123] Towards the Administration

Unryu Hime became momentarily dazed.

Her expression was one of disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“So two equipment slots are ‘locked’ now?”

“They said they were broken due to an error.”

“Can you still equip items?”

“Well…”

Sir Dominic felt the spot where he usually kept his shield strapped.

He could only feel his back.

“It seems the equipment has disappeared as well.”

“Good heavens.”

Hime couldn’t understand how this one-eyed knight could remain so calm.

The truth was, Sir Dominic remained calm because he had experienced such situations far too often.

The demon forces’ offensives didn’t distinguish between day and night.

The cunning demons would even analyze humans’ psychological weaknesses and physical fatigue to attack at the most effective timing.

Sir Dominic was a knight with so much experience that he had once fought with nothing but a torch in such malicious situations.

Missing a shield didn’t mean much to him.

“This is no time to be relaxed. We need to go to the Executive branch and file a recovery request. As quickly as possible. If someone with a simple skill set and equipment like Sir Dominic is affected like this, others must be in the same situation.”

The Market Area wasn’t just filled with people coming for enhancements.

Craftsmen used materials to create equipment and blueprints, which were then delivered to the central system through the Executive branch and distributed throughout the maps for explorers to discover.

Judging by the backup’s impact, the explorers must be experiencing problems too.

Some explorers who couldn’t tolerate even minor issues might lead their clans to storm the Executive branch demanding compensation.

If that happened, the Executive branch would be paralyzed, and compensation would inevitably be delayed.

That was exactly what Hime was worried about.

She hoped it would end with just worry, but as the daughter of the Unryu family, who belonged to the upper echelons of Gachaland, she had seen such incidents more than once.

“The Executive branch will close soon. We need to get there for compensation before then.”

Hime looked at the sundial on her arm.

4:12. Time was extremely tight.

The Executive branch usually closed at 5:00. With the backup aftermath, there would be overtime, but it would be open until 5:30 at the latest.

That meant she needed to take this clueless Sir Dominic there before then…

Hime glanced at Sir Dominic.

If she were alone, she could get there instantly, but considering Sir Dominic’s speed, it might be cutting it close.

“Do you have any mounts? I’m not expecting high-speed flight capabilities. I just need a way to get there faster.”

“I do.”

Hime thought it would be faster to ride a mount.

Basically, all mounts provided at least a 30% movement speed increase.

“That’s fortunate. There’s a mount summoning station nearby. Going by air would be faster, but by land would be sufficient—”

“We can go by air.”

Sir Dominic interrupted Hime.

Hime stopped speaking and looked at Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic’s expression was serious.

“Then we can get there quickly. That’s good. Let’s go to the summoning station right away.”

“Lead the way.”

Hime nodded and guided him with quick steps.

Sir Dominic, unfamiliar with the geography of this place, simply followed behind Hime.

“Master, are we finally going to ride that thing?” Alice whispered quietly to Sir Dominic.

Alice’s cheeks were flushed red with anticipation.

“Yes. I was initially worried about where to use it, but we’re putting it to use sooner than expected.”

Gachaland was a place with well-developed public transportation like portals and gates, so there weren’t many occasions to use mounts.

It might be different in Story Mode or pioneer territories, but within Gachaland itself, there was rarely a need for mounts.

Sir Dominic actually wondered why they couldn’t just use a portal to go directly to the Executive branch entrance, but he soon realized the answer himself.

Hime had just mentioned that people would be rushing to the Executive branch.

That would inevitably overload the portals, extending loading times.

In such a situation, riding a mount would actually be faster.

Surprisingly, this was one of the few instances where Sir Dominic had gathered information about Gachaland and reached a conclusion on his own.

“It’s here.”

Sir Dominic snapped out of his thoughts.

He looked in the direction Hime was pointing.

There were three signposts, labeled land, sea, and air respectively.

Since Sir Dominic planned to use an air mount, he walked toward the direction marked “air.”

This time, Hime followed behind him.

When they finally arrived at the summoning station, there was a massive runway.

They would summon the mount on this runway and fly away.

Sir Dominic muttered “Summon” softly, and soon saw a massive airship being summoned onto the runway.

Like a person emerging from a gate, the airship slowly summoned from the hangar was slightly hovering, positioned to fly away immediately.

“This is… amazing.”

Hime expressed genuine admiration.

The airship, which took up three runways, had something overwhelmingly impressive about it just by looking at it.

After briefly gazing at its imposing appearance, Hime remembered her original task and was about to leave.

Mounts were basically single-seaters.

Since Hime didn’t have a mount yet, she had no business here.

“Well, I’ll run ahead then. I’ll see you later—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Yes! That’s right!”

Sir Dominic stopped Hime.

Alice chimed in, agreeing with Sir Dominic’s words.

“This doubles as a transport ship!”

That’s right.

Such a large airship wouldn’t carry just one person.

This airship, originally designed to pair with spider tanks, was built to accommodate up to four spider tanks for event personnel.

In other words, it could carry 3-4 additional people besides the pilot.

“Master! Can I board first?”

Alice, not even waiting for Sir Dominic’s response, stomped her feet excitedly and ran toward the airship.

“Please board, Lady Hime.”

Sir Dominic gestured toward Hime.

When Hime hesitated, Sir Dominic smiled happily and said:

“You agreed to help me today, so please help me until the end. Preferably up close.”

Critical hit!

Hime’s heart began to race.

Was it because she was impressed by the airship’s overwhelming coolness?

No.

Hime already had feelings for Sir Dominic that went beyond mere attraction.

With her eyes already clouded by affection, Sir Dominic’s additional attack caused her recently recovered heart to fill again with peculiar emotions.

Whether aware of this fact or not, Sir Dominic extended his hand to Hime and spoke once more.

“So, are you not coming aboard?”

Hime suddenly realized she had no reason to refuse Sir Dominic’s offer.

Hime had only one choice.

She blushed and lowered her head deeply.

Her hidden fox ears and tail popped out with a “boing!” expressing her confused feelings.

“…Yes.”

“Good. Board quickly. Didn’t you say we don’t have much time?”

The airship carrying Sir Dominic and Hime soon lifted off from the runway and began flying toward the Executive branch.

At this moment, Alice, who had boarded before Sir Dominic and Hime, thought:

If a ninja on this ship became a pirate, would they be a flying ninja or a ninja-pirate?

A childlike thought.

…

“Port side! Port side—!”

“Turn right quickly!”

How did it come to this?

The airship carrying Sir Dominic was now in great danger.

“Master! Should we fire?”

“What? This thing has weapons too— Kyaah!”

Hime fell from her seat due to the shaking from an explosion.

The airship was rocking so violently that even her ninja-like balance couldn’t withstand it.

Why was this airship shaking so much?

The reason was this:

Bombs and magic exploding from all directions.

Attacks that seemed too rough for the fragile airship to withstand were assaulting Sir Dominic’s vessel.

Sir Dominic was desperately trying to follow the route, but something seemed wrong with part of the airship as the steering wheel and direction of travel kept misaligning.

“Who are they?”

Sir Dominic asked Hime.

Among the people here, Hime was the most knowledgeable about Gachaland.

“I don’t know! But they’re certainly not friendly toward us!”

Hime, who had barely gotten up from her seat, shouted to Sir Dominic.

While Hime knew a lot of information, she didn’t know everything.

The current situation was something she had never experienced before, and those attacking them were unknown to her.

Sir Dominic looked at the route displayed on the navigation system inside the airship.

The distance to the Executive branch wasn’t far.

However, the mount’s durability was critically low, making it doubtful they could reach even that short distance.

“Um, Master?”

It was then.

“I think we’re in big trouble!”

Alice warned Sir Dominic in a trembling voice.

Sir Dominic turned around at Alice’s words.

Alice was looking in one direction with a troubled expression.

Following her gaze, he saw a shattered, burning engine, visible through a gaping hole.

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic instantly realized that, as Alice said, they were indeed in big trouble.

And the airship began to fall.