Chapter 315

To Drakenstead — Part 6

“Wow… That’s a lot of bugs…”

“Mhm… They’re cute . And everywhere,” said Enne, telepathically .

Unlike me, no one else that lived in the dungeon seemed to have a particular aversion to insects . In fact, Enne in particular happened to love them . She’d told me on many occasions that she liked the way they wriggled about . And each time, I nodded along as to not discourage her from pursuing her interests, but in truth, I disagreed with every last fibre of my being .

I was fairly certain that the crew aboard the airship was more likely to share my opinion than my daughter’s, especially given the experience they were currently going through . Upon approaching, I realized that their craft had suffered much more damage than I’d initially thought . It was barely flying . One of the two blimp-like parts had a giant hole in it, and the other was the only one really keeping the whole thing afloat . Unfortunately, its frame wasn’t designed to be positioned half on its side, so a lot of the more delicate parts had started to break down and bend out of shape after being subjected to unexpected stress . I’m guessing that’s probably why stuff’s on fire . And that the huge flock of oversized ladybugs chewing on the hull isn’t really helping either .

Long story short, it was somehow staying afloat despite having been half dismantled in midair . Hmm… It’s looking pretty bad, but I think it should be able to keep flying if I get rid of all the monsters and somehow fix all the parts that are busted .

“Lefi, would you mind getting rid of some of the bugs while I do something real quick?”

“I do not mind . But what is it that you are planning?”

“Nothing special . Just a quick chat with the captain . ”

I kicked myself through the air in search of the bridge . It’s probably somewhere near the front, right? Hmm… Oh, there it is!

After swerving around the front, I was able to locate a spacious cabin surrounded on nearly all sides by large glass panes . It was filled with all sorts of gauges and meters that I’d never seen before, as well as a series of speaking tubes that seemed to go here, there, and everywhere . All of these devices were gathered around a single helm that very much resembled that of a traditional ship .

Even that room was subject to attack . Monsters were swarming it and keeping all members of the crew busy . The guy at the helm was twisting and turning it from left to right over and over in a desperate attempt to keep the airship from crashing while also barking out a near continuous stream of orders to all sorts of different people . Captain found .

Though a single slash was all that I needed to deal with each bug, it still took me a whole minute to clear everything off the cabin . Once that was done, and the crew was in (slightly) less danger, I entered from a broken window .

“W-what!? A demon!?”

Several crew members swung their swords at me, but I repelled them with Enne .

“If you don’t want to die, then let me help!” I shouted at the top of my lungs to ensure that I would be heard over the noise, then transitioned into a slightly less loud voice as I directed a question at the captain . “Can you still fly if we repair the giant ass hole in your balloon?”

“You’re here to help!? Nonsense!” The captain scoffed . “You really think I’d trust something a demon says? What the hell are you really after!?”

“Look man, I don’t mind us shouting at each other until you figure out that I’m actually just here to help, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have the time for that . Either you let some suspicious ass demon lend a hand, or you all crash and burn . Take your pick . ”

The sky sailors in the middle of attacking me froze up at the ultimatum . They backed off, just a bit, and looked to their captain for advice . He too was a bit confused, at least for a moment .

“J-just, who ar—”

Apparently, it took yelling at him to fix his rattled mind and put it back in the right place . His expression changed several times in a row, as if he were running a series of quick mental calculations, and then spoke in a much more confident tone .

“Yes . It can . The mages can keep us afloat if we manage to patch it up . ”

“Do you still have all the shit you need to get it repaired?”

“We do, but there’s only one set of parts left . The monsters destroyed both our spares . ”

Alright, perfect . Now I don’t have to resort to Operation Buy a Blue Tarp From the Catalog and Slap it Over the Hole . Don’t judge . Blue tarps are super useful . There’s a reason you see them all over every construction site . Anyway, point is, now I know what to do next .

“Alright, get some of your guys ready to do the repairs . I’ll do something about the monsters . ”

“…” The captain adjusted his hat with a frown as he stared me down . “Can we really trust you?”

“Either you do, or you die!”

I didn’t bother waiting for a response . I jumped straight out the window I came through, spread my wings, and got straight to fulfilling my end of the promise . The first place I headed for was the ship’s underside, as I recalled it being one of the most heavily damaged, insect-flooded areas . Surprisingly, however, the number of bugs I had to squash while making my way over decreased drastically as I got closer and closer . Huh…? Where the hell did they all go? I swear there were as many insects on the ship’s belly as there were busted Tolmekian planes in the valley of the wind…

Another few dozen red-spotted beetles suddenly dropped to the ground while I contemplated the circumstances behind their mysterious disappearance, and in doing so, unraveled the mystery . Each ladybird had its head squashed in the exact same way, a telltale sign of Lefi’s work . She would almost always kill anything relatively soft and squishy in that exact same manner . Uhh… wow . That’s a high ass kill rate . It’s only been like five minutes since we each started doing our own thing, but there’s barely anything left here… Knowing her, she probably hasn’t even broken a sweat either .

I located and flew towards the dragon girl, who was apparently too busy casting to notice me . I took the opportunity to get right behind her and speak right into her ears to ensure that she could hear me over all the background noise .

“Hey, Lefi I’m ba—”

“Hyaah!?” She squeaked like a mouse, practically jumping out of her skin in the process .

“…Hyaah?” I repeated .

“D-do not suddenly whisper into my ear! It causes it to tickle!” she protested .

She seemed a bit embarrassed to have reacted the way she did . Her face was flushed, and she even placed a hand on the ear I’d stimulated for extra effect .

“Hmm… I see . So your ears are one of your weak points . ”

This is like the nth one I’ve discovered . She’s got a whole bunch . Her tail, horns, and wings are all pretty sensitive too . I’m pretty sure her wings are the worst off but I’mma find a time to compare just to make sure .

“T-there are few who would not react similarly should an individual suddenly breathe into their ears!”

“…Hyaah . ” I imitated, in a deadpan tone, both the squeal and the startled movement accompanying it .

“Hyaah!?” This time, I even threw in her tone .

“C-curse you! I will not forgive you for this . You shall be tickled until you no longer draw breath!”

She dug her fingers into my sides and started wiggling them back and forth .

“Okay okay, my bad,” I said between laughs . “I won’t do it anymore . ”

The dragon wasn’t satisfied with just that . She countered my attempt to escape by holding me down, and then followed up the attack by breathing into my ears . We likely would’ve continued to be distracted if Enne hadn’t sent us a telepathic sigh of exasperation .

“We’re supposed to help . With squishing bugs . ”

Oh yeah… Both Lefi and I calmed down and cleared our throats shortly after being admonished .

“R-right . Some of the guys aboard the ship are supposed to stop by and repair stuff once we get rid of all the bugs, so let’s hop to it . You get the ones near the blimp . I’ll head over there,” I said, as I pointed to a large cluster of bugs .

“V-very well . I shall continue to exterminate any that I discover . ”

In order to avoid any more judgement from Enne, who was giving us the telepathic equivalent of a silent glare, we split up and began attending to our respective duties .