In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 3

by Patora Fuyuhara

  “Not happening.” As he rattled out some more laughs, I fired at Captain Trepang. Though I was aiming at his head, it went a bit lower and shattered his neck bone, making his skull fall to the deck.

  Since the deck was tilting back and forth as the ship was being rocked by the waves, his skull began to roll around.

  “Arrghhh! Me eyes be spinning! Stop me head, ye worthless bilge rats! Don’t let the brine take me!” The captain’s — his skull’s, anyway — order made the crew hastily follow after the head.

  I used that opening to cast [Accel], instantly went up the mast, and cut the rope holding them up.

  Once they landed on the deck, Linze ran over and cut the ropes that bound them. Okay, now there’s no reason to hold back.

  “Heh, you’ve got stones, laddie. It takes big ones to go against me — Captain Trepang! But the price ye pay for that is heavy, indeed! Grit yer teeth, for I’m about to fillet ye like a crab!” Captain Cucumber roared that out as the first mate helped him reattach his head. ...Fillet?

  “...Uh, vice cap’n, sir. Can you even fillet a crab...?”

  “Shh! Shut up!” After a random crew member and the first mate had that exchange, Captain Cucumber shot them a glare. The two looked away from him in a highly forced manner.

  “Who cares ’bout the details?! Just attack them, ya salty sea dogs!”

  “Aye aye, sir!” In response to the skeletal captain’s order, the bone pirates began closing in on us. It was quite a discomforting sight.

  “[Enchant]: [Cure Heal]!” I imbued my weapon, Elze’s gauntlets, and Yae’s katana with Light magic. With that, their weapons should’ve been able to purify the undead.

  “Hhaah!” Elze launched a straight punch from her right arm, blowing away the skeleton before her. Said skeleton became dust and disappeared from the ship.

  Yae, too, was using her Light-imbued katana to sweep through the bones coming close to her.

  Keeping up with them, I was firing Light-imbued bullets at the skeletons, destroying them one after the other. Linze was casting lances of light, while Yumina was keeping the bone pirates at bay with her wind magic. Kokuyou and Sango were firing some water projectiles as cover.

  One by one, the pirates became dust, mixed with the wind, and simply disappeared.

  “Oohhhhh?! Y-Yer pretty good at this!”

  “I have a question. Are you the ones sinking all the ships that get close to this area?”

  “Huhh? We never sunk any ships. Not a single one. Here, let me show ya.” After saying that, Captain Trepang created a pale-blue, soul-like flame in his hand It was about the size of a basketball.

  As if it was some sort of call, similar flames began appearing all over the thick fog around us.

  Once the fog, littered with countless such flames, began to clear, I could see more ghost ships. They rode the waves around us and were as numerous as the lights. What the hell is this...?

  “Wait, are these all...?!” Straining my eyes, I saw that there were both war and merchant ships among them. They were all crowded with similar skeletons to the ones here, and I could see them raising their swords and the like.

  He changed all the ships that came here into ghost ships!

  “Hyahahah! I’ll make yer death swift and painless! Ah, today’s rum will be a blessing on these organs of mine!”

  “...Vice cap’n, sir. We don’t have any organs, do we?”

  “Shh! I told you to shut up!” I could hear the first mate and the underling whisper to each other again. Man, having a sea cucumber like this for a captain sounds like a pain.

  “Kheheheh! With there being so many of us... What the bilge are ya doing?” I ignored captain sea cucumber as he turned, or at least seemed to turn, looking confused, then took out my smartphone and ran a search. Obviously, it was for ‘undead.’ I should’ve done that from the start.

  The map that extended as far as my sight quickly became covered in pins that marked my targets. At the same time, the sky above the undead became covered in small magic circles from the [Multiple] spell.

  Target locked.

  “Rend, O Light! Bright, Sacred Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” I cast the spell through the smartphone, making the magic circles above the undead create a rain of holy light lances.

  “Gnyaaaaahhhh!”

  “Ghyaaaaahhhh!”

  “Goaaaaaahhhh!” Countless pirates released their final screams. After getting hit by the spears of light, one after the other, the undead became dust and disappeared from this world.

  Of course, the pirates before us were no exception. I looked and saw Captain Trepang getting reduced to ash.

  “Ooaghhhhh?! This can’t beee! What the bilge is thiiss?!” As he expressed his shock, Captain Trepang joined the rest of his crew. Good bye, Cap’n Cucumber...

  Once the undead had all become dust, all that was left were the ships and the waves that gently caressed them.

  “Well then, we’re done here.” As if timed for when I took a sigh of relief, an unpleasant voice rang out around us.

  “Heheheh... I wouldn’t be so sure about that...”

  “What?!” Like a will-o’-the-wisp, a new flame appeared in the fog and came out of it with another ghost ship.

  Standing on it and folding his arms was a skeletal captain wearing a differently-colored coat than Captain Trepang. In all honesty, since they were both just bones, that was the only difference I noticed. I could see more boney pirates behind him. They, too, were all holding cutlasses.

  “I suggest against getting uppity just because you defeated Captain Trepang. He was the weakest captain of the ‘Pirate Elite Four.’ Your next opponent is me: Captain Turbanshell!”

  Turbanshell...? As in, ‘turban shell’? The sea snail?! Does every pirate in these waters have a terrible naming sense?! And what the hell’s the ‘Pirate Elite Four’ supposed to be?!

  “...What now, Touya?”

  “...Rend, O Light. Bright, Sacred Lance: [Shining Javelin]!”

  “Ughyaaaahhhhhh?!” Goodbye, Captain Snail.

  I paid my respects to the ghost ship, which was now cleansed by Light magic. A moment later, I saw yet another pale-white flame appear, which was followed by yet another ghost ship. Seriously? Again?!

  “Heheheh. You are now faced with another of the ‘Pirate Elite Four,’ Captain Seahorse! Your lives are forf—”

  “Rend, O Light! Bright, Sacred Lance: [Shining Javelin]!”

  “Fghaaaaahhhh!” Fare thee well, Captain Seahorse. Suddenly, another ghost ship came out of the fog and... “Heheheh... I be the—”

  “Just stop already!”

  “Gyoeeaahhhh!” Without even letting him name himself, I made what was probably the fourth and final captain return to dust. I didn’t care what they were called. To me, they were nothing but troublesome piles of bone.

  “Is that all of them?”

  “Who knows? The fact that I can still feel some magic around here is pretty damn...”

  “T-Touya-dono! Look there!” Yae noticed something and pointed at the fog-shrouded sea.

  Can you just stop it already...? This is getting really annoying. The same joke can only be funny three times, at most, is what I... think...

  Sure enough, the thing that appeared from the fog was a ghost ship. However, its size was different. This one was significantly larger.

  In fact, it was at least four times bigger than the ship we were on. Not only that, but this one seemed to be somehow different from the others.

  Standing on the bow of the ship, there was a new skeletal captain. He was clad in a crimson mantle and arrogantly spread his arms outwards.

  “Been a while since such good prey came along! Very well! I, the King of Pirates — Captain Wharfroach — will bring forth a bloodbath!”

  ...Wharfroach? Of all things, a wharf roach? Captain wharf roach? Seriously?

  As I grew increasingly pissed with the pirates’ absurd naming scheme, Captain Roach raised his black cutlass and shouted an order.


  “Fire, you bilge rats!” The giant ghost ship’s side, which was directed straight at us, suddenly started barraging us with cannon shots.

  Cannons were basically a weapon that did nothing but fire cannonballs. Though a hit would break the ship, it would never result in an explosion.

  I also heard that cannonballs fired from ships had a low accuracy and rarely landed where intended. That was why the sides of ships would be lined with many cannons and used in unison to increase the chances of landing hits.

  We happened to be aboard a ghost ship, which basically put us in the palm of their hands. In fact, the ghost ship we were on was actually heading straight toward the rain of cannonballs they’d fired.

  Exposed to the shots, the ship’s mast broke as many holes opened up on the deck. It was already a wonder why the ship was still afloat. It had basically no endurance to speak of.

  “Touya, at this rate, the ship’s going to sink!”

  “Khh, [Gate]!” Since Sango and Kokuyou were with us, there was no chance of us drowning, but staying on the ship was dangerous nonetheless. I opened a [Gate] on the deck and went through it to end up on Captain Roach’s ship.

  “Wha—?!” I materialized on the stern of the ship, behind the enemy, and used my smartphone to lock onto the undead. Spears of light rained down upon them like lightning.

  “Gwaaaaaaaaarrgh!” With a final agonized scream, the skeleton pirates turned to dust. Thinking that had to be the last of them, I let my guard down. Then suddenly, there was a blade swinging down at me from behind the curtain of ashes.

  “What?!” Instinctively, I flung myself down on the deck, avoiding the blade by hair’s breadth. The owner of the ominous black cutlass that had nearly taken my life was none other than Captain Roach.

  “Tch, almost had you there, laddie. Anyone who dies by this cutlass becomes my eternal servant.”

  “What’d you just say? That cutlass... Don’t tell me that’s the cursed Artifact?!”

  “Aye. This here be the Soul Reaper, a cursed Artifact that lets me turn anyone I kill into my undead slave. But it turns its wielder into an undead too. Guess that’s where the ‘cursed’ part comes from!” Captain Roach’s jaws clacked together as he laughed heartily.

  I see now, he turned all the other captains I fought into the undead with that cutlass. In other words, they too were victims. Brandishing his cursed blade, Captain Roach charged at me again.

  “Come forth, O Light! Shining Duet: [Light Arrow]!”

  “That ain’t gonna work, lassie!” Linze fired a barrage of Light arrows at Captain Roach. But with a single wave of his red cape, the arrows all vanished before they could strike him.

  What the hell was that?! Is that what he stopped my [Shining Javelin] with earlier?!

  “Hehehe, this is a very special cape. You see, it can nullify all Light magic, which means you have no way of defeating me! Shame, ain’t it, laddie?” How kind of Captain Roach to reveal his secret to me. This guy’s a moron too.

  “Come forth, Fire! Whirling Spiral: [Fire Storm]!”

  “Kakaka, you fool! Fire magic can’t hurt the undead! Even if you do scorch these old bones, they’ll just regenerate!”

  Captain Roach was enveloped in a whirling torrent of flames. But they burnt out quickly, revealing an unhurt skeleton. He stood there unfazed, his pale bones on display for all to see. Some of them had cracked from the heat, but they’d regenerated almost instantly.

  “Kekeke. See? You finally understand now?”

  “Well, I do understand that you’re a complete dumbass.”

  “Huh?”

  “Why don’t you take a good look at yourself?”

  Captain Roach obediently looked down at himself. There was a cursed cutlass in his hands and the white bones that made up his frame, but that was all.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” Indeed, his coat, his hat, his shoes, and most importantly, his Light magic repelling cape had all been torched the flames. His shock was evident on his face. He looked more like a comical Halloween costume than a fearsome ghost pirate.

  I started chanting slowly.

  “Gather, O Light. Shine bring the radiance of exile—”

  “W-Wait! We can talk this out! I’ll listen, so please don’t. Don’t—!”

  “[Banish]!”

  “Huhaughaue?!” My purifying Light magic reduced Captain Roach to dust.

  His black cutlass fell to the deck with a metallic clang. I deftly picked it up and activated the Null spell, [Power Rise].

  “Hiyah!” With my empowered arm, I split the sword in two and flung the pieces into the depths of the ocean. It didn’t matter how rare an Artifact it was, I had no need for a cursed sword.

  “Touya-dono, the fog is...” I looked up, and watched as the fog began to vanish. So even the fog was part of that cutlass’ curse.

  The gloomy clouds that had been hovering overhead cleared up as well. Sunlight poured down from the gaps in the clouds, its dazzling radiance illuminating the ocean.

  “Looks like this sea’s curse has been lifted.”

  “Most likely.”

  The curse that had plagued this sea for over a hundred years, claiming the lives of any crew unfortunate enough to sail into its waters, had finally been dispelled.

  “I see. So the cutlass was cursed. Among Artifacts, there are those that use the life force of people to power themselves. That sword was probably one of them. Had we ignored it, it would have only continued to grow more dangerous.” I was back in the Garden’s gazebo, listening to Cesca’s explanation. Her description of it reminded me of those magical swords that fed on blood. Breaking it had been the right choice.

  The jewel Yamamoto Kansukay had back in Eashen must have been something similar. Curses and the undead seemed to go hand in hand.

  According to Cesca, some items had their curses woven into them as they were made, while others were normal items that were cursed later on.

  “I believe there should have been a grimoire on curses in the Library of Babylon.”

  “Hey, don’t just leave dangerous things like that lying around.” So Doctor Babylon had been a dangerous person after all.

  “If you want to break a curse, you have to start by learning how to make them. Plagues, banes, divine retribution... There’s all sorts of curses out there. Come to think of it, I believe there’s a curse out there capable of calling forth disaster too.”

  “A curse that can bring about disaster...”

  That sounds like one of those misfortune curses. Kind of like how there’s people who are always hounded by bad luck. You know, the kind of people who always have bad things happen to them... Hm? Huh? Why’s everyone staring at me?!

  “I see. A curse that brings disaster, you say... Or if you want to rephrase it, a curse that invites misfortune,” Yumina replied.

  “Why do I feel like you’re all making fun of me?”

  “Can such a curse be dispelled?”

  Hey, wait just a second. What are you all implying? That I’m under this disaster curse? Haha, don’t make me laugh

  “It’s a shame he isn’t aware of it...” The four girls all sighed at Elze’s comment.

  Huh? I glance over at Kohaku, but the damn tiger just averts its gaze. Hey now... It’s not like I go out looking for trouble, all right? Trouble just always finds me... Yep. There’s no way I’m cursed. No way at all... I think.

  I offered a small prayer up to God, just in case. Though I had no idea if that would be enough to free me from any such curse.

  Afterword

  Hello there. Patora Fuyuhara here.

  For no good reason, the third volume ended up being full of undead. Really, how did this happen?

  I thought this when I finished the second volume too, but I can’t believe we’re at the third volume already.

  I introduced a lot of characters that are going to become important in later volumes here. They probably won’t have a chance to shine in the near future, but I’d be happy if you at l
east kept them in the back of your mind somewhere as you continue reading.

  I’m sure most of you have guessed, but Eashen, which makes an appearance in this volume, was based off of Japan’s Warring States Era. However, while some of the characters’ names may resemble those of famous historical figures, there’s no direct relation between them whatsoever. Sorry about that.

  Oh yeah, I think I already mentioned this back in volume one, but I write this whole thing on my smartphone. Even when I pass the manuscript off to my editor, I check over everything on my smartphone. Plus, all of my submissions to the website, Shosetsuka ni Narou, were done on my phone as well. And when I stop for a break, I just play mobile games.

  Honestly, staring at my smartphone all day puts a lot of strain on my eyes. I should probably look into getting some good eye drops. Or eat more blueberries. Though apparently studies on how antioxidants affect sight aren’t conclusive… Too bad.

  Alright, enough with the rambling and on to the acknowledgments.

  I’d like to thank my illustrator, Eiji Usatsuka. Those swimsuits you drew for this volume’s color pages were amazing. Thank you so much for all your hard work.

  I’d also like to thank my editor, K. Thanks for putting up with all my phone calls. Sorry we always end up getting off topic…

  And a big thanks to everyone at the Hobby Japan editorial department, along with everyone else who had a hand in the publication of this book. Without you, I would be nothing.

  Last but not least, thank you to all of the readers on Shosetsuka ni Narou that gave my story a chance in the first place.

  Patora Fuyuhara

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  Copyright

  In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 3

  by Patora Fuyuhara

  Translated by Andrew Hodgson

  Edited by DxS