Chapter 599

We got Zelyse's whereabouts out of him. Apparently, he was in the atelier where the Scarlet Waterweed medicine was made.

(Should we head to where Lovren is going?)

『Yeah, but...』

Could he have possibly run away from this? It wasn't like I was making a fool of Lovren, but I didn't think he could handle Zelyse.

If they found out that we were suspicious of their atelier, Zelyse might try to flee immediately.

But we couldn't leave this ship unattended either. We hadn't been able to capture all of their top brass, such as the head of the merchant association.

As I was wondering, I then heard Urushi's howl from outside. And at the same time, I could sense that multiple presences were coming towards this ship.

『It looks like the Adventurers have arrived』

There was no hint of tension in Urushi's voice. So, they were probably not enemies.

As soon as we stepped out onto the deck, we saw a group of Adventurers coming towards us in a small boat. Some of them looked familiar to me. They were Daghour and some C-ranked Adventurers that we fought during the mock battle.

「Black Lightning Princess-dono! It's been a while! I'm glad to see you are well!」

「Nn. Likewise」

「Hahaha. Well then, we've been asked by Lovren-dono to assist you to take over this ship, but what's the current situation?」

She then explained to Daghour, the leader of the group, that Gregory, who was tied up and lying next to her, had told her everything, and that this merchant association was a front for the Raidos Kingdom.

「I had heard about it from Lovren-dono, so it was actually true, huh...?」

「Can I leave the rest to you then?」

「Yes, you can leave it to us. But Black Lightning Princess-dono, what are you gonna do now?」

「I'll head to the atelier」

「I see」

「No one has escaped since we went in. But I don't know if they could have teleported or not」

As she said, it would not be surprising if their top brass had some kind of teleportation device to help them escape. However, they should not be able to travel very long distances.

In fact, it would be just far enough to escape from the ship. It would have been impossible for Urushi and I to not notice if someone had teleported that close to us.

However, there was a possibility that they had a magic tool that we did not know about, and there was also a possibility that the president of the merchant association was actually a Space-Time Magic-User himself. In that case, there was honestly nothing we could do.

「For now, we need to capture everyone on this ship」

「Understood」

With this handled, we could finally head for the atelier. We just didn't know exactly where it was, so we would need a guide. It would be much easier if we could just see it from here.

But just as I was thinking that―――

Boooom!!

「Uh!」

「Woof!」

「Wha!」

Fran and Urushi were surprised at the sudden explosion. I was so surprised that I couldn't help but let out a yelp.

When I looked in the direction where the sound came from, I immediately knew the cause.

A huge pillar of fire was erupting into the sky from a small ship that was part of the Commercial Fleet. There must have been something that exploded.

What happened?

Was there an accident? Or was it attacked by a magic beast?

The ship that was still engulfed in flames was similar to an oil tanker that I had seen on the news. Well, this one is smaller in scale though.

But still, with that sort of fire, the surrounding ships might be in danger of catching fire, and it would be difficult to save them.

『I wonder what ship that is?』

The ships of the Commercial Fleet had a wide variety of functions and ownerships. Some were used for residency, fishing, offices, workshops, and even the Guild Headquarters. That's why it was hard for outsiders like us to identify them at first glance.

「Daghour. That ship, what ship is that?」

「T-that is the atelier that Black Lightning Princess-dono said she was heading for!」

Eh? That ship?

『Is Lovren and the others safe?』

(Master, is this Zelyse doing?)

『I don't know!』

But still, that possibility was very high.

『Let's head for that ship for now!』

「Nn! Urushi!」

「Woof!」

Fran jumped on Urushi's back and headed towards the burning ship. Since it was an atelier, it was probably filled with flammable chemicals, and from time to time explosions of various sizes occurred.

Moreover, it seemed that a hole had appeared in the hull and the ship was sinking at a considerable pace. This could be quite a catastrophe.

This didn't seem like something that could be handled by just pouring water on it with magic.

『Oi oi, what's going to happen to Lovren and the others...』

「Master! Over there!」

At where Fran pointed, I could see Lovren floating in the lake, holding on to a board.

「Lovren!」

「Aah, Fran-san...」

Maybe it was because he had already seen Urushi many times before, Lovren didn't seem to be frightened by his giant wolf appearance. Or maybe he just couldn't afford to be, though.

I then used my telekinesis to pull Lovren up onto Urushi's back.

「Are you okay?」

「I somehow made it out of there... But the Adventurers who went into the atelier with me are...」

「What happened?」

Fran asked the tragic-looking Lovren about the cause of the explosion.

「The alchemist in the atelier suddenly unleashed powerful Fire Magic. Then his magic ignited the medicine inside the ship」

「Do you know who that alchemist was?」

「He must have been caught in the explosion... I don't think he could survive from something like that」

According to Lovren, he was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, however, he spoke just like a child.

「But he's not just an ordinary alchemist. He's more like a terrifying opponent... Just looking at him gave me goosebumps」

No doubt about it, he must be Zelyse. With his sharp intuition, Lovren must have sensed that he wasn't just an ordinary person.

『Fran, we must prioritize on rescuing those in danger for now』

「Nn!」