Chapter 390: Kraken (1)

When you hear that a Kraken is attacking a ship, certain images automatically come to mind. Giant tentacles shooting out to smash the deck, panicked sailors being coiled like snakes and dragged into the sea.

Eugene and his subordinates expected a similar battle, but reality was quite different.

“Attack!”

The captain pointed at three tentacles that had risen onto the deck and gave the order. Not a single sailor fled; they charged in with swords and axes.

Judging by their coordination and ferocity, they were clearly first-rate. The fact that they alone set sail while everyone else in the city cowered and stamped their feet in frustration said it all.

The tentacles had sucker cups characteristic of octopuses clinging to them in rows, each one large enough to fit a human head inside. With over a hundred of these on multiple legs, just looking at them was revolting.

The three tentacles withdrew beneath the surface before being attacked. Their movement seemed less like an attack and more like measuring the ship’s shape.

“Here they come again!”

Two tentacles rose high and swept in a cross pattern from the front and back of the merchant ship. Naturally, they caught on the tall mast, coiled around it once or twice, and pulled in opposite directions.

Craaack!

“Aaah, get out of the way!”

The mast snapped, and the sailors’ screams rang out. Deprived of the favorable wind that had prompted the captain to set sail, the ship’s speed began to decrease.

“Get the oars out! It’s too late to turn the ship, so charge straight for the beach!”

The captain, biting his lip until it bled, made his decision.

Their plan had been to sneak out hoping the Kraken had temporarily left or fallen asleep. That gamble had failed, so now they had to save the sailors. Even paying penalties and going bankrupt was better than losing the ship and cargo as well.

In the oar room, a muscular man beat a drum. Oars simultaneously emerged from both sides of the ship and began working vigorously. Heat radiated from the bare-chested men’s bodies, making the oar room as hot as a sauna.

The plan was to get maximum propulsion and crash-ashore onto the nearest beach. Like a whale washing up on the shore.

Vooooom.

But the Kraken wasn’t about to just watch. This time, three tentacles rose vertically from the sea surface on the ship’s left side and advanced.

“Pull in the oars!”

The captain knew even as he said it that this was an impossible command. The ship and the tentacles, which had been moving toward each other, crossed paths.

Crack crack crack crack.

The left oars, caught by the three tentacles, snapped and fell into the sea in droves. The right-side oar workers, who had been rowing furiously inside, couldn’t react quickly enough.

“Stop! Stop!”

By the time the supervisor righted the spinning ship, tentacles had already risen on the right side as well.

“No, no!”

The captain’s scream was pointless. The three tentacles shattered all the right-side oars as well.

The brave sailors who had assembled on the deck never even got a chance to swing their weapons. They could only watch as the ship lost all means of maneuvering. But the Kraken’s real attack was only beginning.

Eight tentacles groped their way up from the bottom of the hull and located the holes where the oars protruded.

Squelch!

Crack!

The holes, smaller than the tentacles, expanded instantly, allowing entry.

“Aaaah!”

“Everyone get out! Escape!”

The oar workers’ discipline was such that standing from their posts without orders meant severe punishment. But now was not the time for that.

“You filthy monster!”

Brave souls, including the supervisor, attacked the invading tentacles. But in the oar space, their weapons were limited to discipline whips and clubs. Against an opponent that barely flinched even when struck with military weapons, subdual weapons were useless.

“It’s from below!”

“Everyone, get down!”

The armed forces who realized what was happening jumped down from the deck, but it was too late. With the Kraken’s full force on one side, the ship tilted dangerously.

Sailors lost their balance and rolled everywhere; some fell straight into the sea. Naturally, some jumped in of their own volition.

When the Kraken released its grip, the ship swung back to position and then tilted the other way from the recoil.

“Bleaaargh!”

The shaking wasn’t dizzying enough on its own, but the combination of extreme tension and fear caused some to vomit.

The Kraken applied force again. This time, it tilted much more than the first pull. Amid the screams, the Kraken’s cry could be heard, quite different from its initial roar.

A low, rumbling resonance. Eugene could tell the creature was enjoying itself. Just as humans couldn’t interpret a lion’s roar, this was an emotion only understandable to one who shared the same monstrous blood.

“Abandon the ship!”

The captain shouted the legendary line. Immediately after, the ship tipped past its limits and crashed onto its side. The tremendous sound echoed far and wide.

The small mercy was that thanks to their initial momentum, it had sunk close to shore. A not-insignificant number managed to escape to land somehow.

* * *

“That’s not the work of someone who’s attacked a ship only once or twice.”

“Among the merfolk sculptures, there was one of an octopus holding a ship with its tentacles. That wasn’t made for decoration.”

Eugene’s subordinates marveled at the Kraken’s precise attack. Even with a heart consumed by rage, it fought with cold precision. That was something even humans found difficult to maintain.

If the Kraken had fought wildly, by the time the ship sank, the deck would have been covered in blue blood and octopus flesh.

“……”

While everyone exchanged their impressions with interested expressions, only Eugene remained silent. The first to notice, as always, was his spouse.

“You don’t need to feel responsible. This isn’t your fault.”

Valda gently took her husband’s hand.

The dark elves might think ‘The fool sailed in waters where a Kraken lurks’ and feel not a shred of sympathy, but Eugene’s sensibilities were different.

“Don’t worry. I don’t feel no guilt, but I’m not consumed by it either.”

Valda nodded.

“If you had left all those eggs and merfolk unattended in the Crystal Cave, far more blood would have been spilled. This is blood shed in the process of purifying the evil that threatens people. It’s a tragedy and something to mourn, but you don’t need to offer anything more than that.”

“Hmm.”

Eugene looked at Valda with a perplexed expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your opinion is as rational and utilitarian as always, but…”

It also felt a bit too sharp-edged. The Valda Eugene knew had been a gentler, more compassionate princess.

“Ah.”

Perhaps because they were a couple who had been intimate, Valda immediately caught on to what he was thinking.

“Is it strange for a wife to take her husband’s side? I’m not as fair a woman as you think. If it can lighten the burden in your heart, I’ll gladly be shameless.”

“We’ve known each other for over six years, and there are still sides of you I’m discovering.”

Whether the comfort had worked, Eugene’s voice sounded relieved.

“Hohoho.”

Valda’s satisfied laughter. She pressed her index finger to her lips and raised the corner of her mouth in an odd smile. This too was a kind of smile Eugene had never seen before.

Around that time, Veros City also noticed the arrival of their rescue force.

* * *

“We are truly grateful for your difficult journey.”

Those who had come to greet them expressed their relief with their faces. After a string of unfortunate events, something that could be called good news had finally arrived.

“This evening, we will hold a grand banquet. Please enjoy delicacies gathered from around the world to ease the fatigue of your journey.”

Eugene was the savior they had invited. Even if circumstances prevented a proper welcoming ceremony, not offering even basic hospitality would be outrageous. Even a lowly mercenary captain would be displeased, let alone a king.

But Eugene waved his hand off.

“I just watched a poor merchant ship get sunk by the Kraken. The city has lost its vitality, and the ships can’t move an inch. Drinking in times like this would only leave a bitter taste. Let’s deal with the Kraken first, and then we can enjoy anything.”

It was exactly what the city’s people most wanted to hear.

“The city was divided over how to deal with it. There were more who wanted to wait and see than those who wanted to fight and drive it away.”

Not a bad judgment. Giant monsters were closer to natural disasters for regional powers; only nation-level entities could even consider fighting them.

Rashly provoking it could increase the damage. The typical response was to watch carefully and figure out what it wanted.

It wasn’t going to hang around people forever. Once tired of its rampage, it might just leave. Especially for sea creatures.

“Looking at the city’s atmosphere, the wait-and-see faction still seems dominant? Why did you call me?”

“The tide has turned. But fighting requires preparation time. We’ve gathered sufficient combat power, and with Your Majesty’s arrival, we can rest easy.”

The pro-subjugation council members looked like they’d been holding it in for a long time.

“Of course, there are famous monster hunters from the peninsula, but we’ve also received personnel from the Eastern Empire. They’re all proud individuals, but if Your Majesty leads, they’ll follow without complaint.”

Eugene was wanted not just for his military strength. In hastily gathering monster hunters by ability, many strong-egos had been assembled in one place.

Giant monster hunts required everyone to move as one, but they were at odds over whose method was right, and the lack of unity was causing difficulties.

If a knight of Eugene’s authority stepped forward, he could settle all disputes in one stroke.

* * *

Eugene entered the city and patrolled the harbor. From certain angles, parts invisible from outside came into view.

Near the wharf, facilities were clustered together for easy resupplying of docked ships. Among them were butcher shops and livestock pens.

Freshly slaughtered meat, salted preserved meat, even live livestock. You just had to take what suited your ship’s voyage distance and method.

“So the Kraken did come ashore at least once.”

“It needs to eat too.”

The butcher shops and livestock pens had been smashed as if a tornado had passed through. All the meat and livestock inside had been snatched by the Kraken’s grasp and dragged into the sea.

“The scale seems pretty large. Did it take everything?”

“That’s right. The screams of pigs and cattle in the deep of night were so terrible that all the citizens trembled with fear.”

On the other hand, this was also a golden opportunity to land a decisive blow on the Kraken, since it had come ashore with most of its body exposed.

But fighting a monster in the darkness couldn’t be easy. Pressured by the council, the guard unit had sortied in a hurry, but all that changed was that human screams were added to those of cattle and pigs.

-Vance! Come back!

-We have to release the livestock! Are you just going to let them all get eaten?

-No!

A great livestock keeper had rushed out to open the pens, but his courage proved futile as he was dragged under the sea.

Eugene examined the opposite side of the destroyed buildings. Over a hundred people were cleaning with large mops and buckets. A council member who noticed Eugene’s gaze spoke up.

“Even if we’re not fighting immediately, we had to prepare for resistance. We’ve gathered large harpoons for whaling ships and brought in ballistae from outside. Installation began several days before Your Majesty’s arrival.”

Since Eugene had traveled by main road, the city had been constantly updated on his approximate arrival time.

Like servants heating bathwater in preparation for their master’s arrival, they had planned to set up siege weapons so they could fight at any time.

But the cunning Kraken hadn’t just watched. It had ambushed the engineers who were in the middle of their work.

“The brave workers counterattacked with the installed ballistae. After taking a few hits, it got nervous and then…”

“An octopus through and through.”

The ballistae, roads, and buildings behind them had all been painted black. The Kraken must have sprayed ink everywhere. Everyone had a hard time cleaning off the sticky fluid.

“At this rate, it still seems to think the city is easy prey.”

With no meaningful resistance and being one-sidedly beaten, the Kraken was likely somewhat off its guard.

“My subordinates and I are skilled in land combat but know nothing about naval warfare. Even if we fight, luring it out is the priority. Do you have something in mind?”

“We’ve reached a consensus on using food as bait. Land meat is like a drug to sea creatures.”

After cows, pigs, livestock, and sheep had all been dragged away, cries of joy had continuously echoed from the waters before the city.

Even Eugene thought it was a good idea. The merfolk had probably offered sacrifices diligently, but those would have been limited to sharks or whales at most.

“It’s had a proper feast of land meat once, so it won’t forget that taste. The question is how to pile it up.”

Even using the same bait, hunting efficiency varied depending on how the trap was set up and positioned.

The council members seized the moment to voice their ideas. For ordinary citizens, this incident was merely a disaster, but for those in power, it was also an opportunity.

If they could claim credit in driving away the Kraken, they would gain a tremendous advantage in the next mayoral election.

“I consulted with fishermen who have caught nothing but octopus for decades. They say octopus particularly prefers fat over lean meat. If we butcher pigs on a day with fair winds, scrape off only the fat, and pile it up, it won’t be able to resist coming.”

“A fine idea.”

Eugene nodded with a serious expression, and other council members, emboldened, spoke up as well. The ideas themselves were largely similar, but they diverged on what kind of meat to place where.

While examining the city’s layout and surrounding map, Eugene noticed one council member hesitating.

It was the Adventurer’s Guild Master, whose mouth was itching to speak but was too afraid to bring it up.

‘Ah, should I say this? What if it backfires? But it’d be a waste to keep quiet… Screw it, close my eyes and just blurt it out?’

The expression of someone thinking the same thing.

“Adventurer’s Guild Master. I’d like to hear your advice as well. I won’t criticize, so speak without reservation.”

“!!!”

Look at that. The moment the stage was set, his face lit up.

“There’s a secret technique offered by a mage who came from the Empire, from the Eastern Empire.”

“What, this fellow?!”

Other council members tried to stop him urgently, but Eugene intervened.

“Let him speak. I’ll judge after hearing it.”

“It will only dirty Your Majesty’s ears!”

“That makes me even more interested. Do tell.”

When Eugene pressed the matter this far, there was no refusing. The Adventurer’s Guild Master continued his explanation.

“We perform a ritual for the Kraken. The mage from the East specializes in ancient powers, particularly communion with mysterious entities beneath the sea. If we prepare a proper sacrifice and perform the ritual correctly, we can definitely lure the Kraken out.”

“…”

The listening council members covered their faces with their palms. Wasn’t this practically inviting a charge of heretical worship?

To suggest this to a king, and moreover to a reigning champion of the goddess Vanas — they anxiously watched Eugene for a burst of anger.

“Indeed! Ancient entities must be met with ancient powers! Continue the meat preparations as planned, but we’ll make that Plan B. Adventurer’s Guild Master, can you arrange a meeting with this mage? I want to meet him directly and seek detailed advice.”

“…Your Majesty?”

Naturally, Eugene was delighted rather than displeased. The council members were taken aback by the king, whose eyes were gleaming with interest.

“What is his name? He must be a renowned mage. Is there any additional title I should use?”

“You may call him Hassan.”

Just hearing the name was already convincing enough.