Chapter 149: Hydra? Should I roll for Heracles?
[A new Servant has appeared again!]
[Xu Fu? The one who tricked Qin Shi Huang into giving him a fleet of three thousand men just to flee? Yeah, that famous con artist.]
[If we look at it in today's terms, she was basically just a project manager. Running away is pretty standard.]
[What? Xu Fu is a woman too?!]
[Welcome to Type-Moon, ladies and gentlemen.]
[This ship looks fancy, even the interior is exquisitely crafted. Host, steal the ship and set sail to become the Pirate King!!]
…
After hearing Xu Fu's words, Ethan froze.
Can't leave this sea? What the hell???
"Looks like you're also trying to find a way out of this sea, aren't you?"
Xu Fu let out a helpless laugh.
"Heh heh... It's pointless... no matter what we do, it's impossible to sail out of this sea."
"Why?"
"Of course it's because that thing exists—no ordinary Servant could ever stand a chance against it."
Xu Fu crouched down, hugging her knees in a corner. Her face looked no different from a corpse as she spoke.
"That thing?"
Ethan pressed further.
"A Sea Monster, or Demon of the Sea—whatever you want to call it. That kind of thing can swallow a whole ship in a single bite."
Apparently recalling something painful, Xu Fu lowered her head and buried her face in her arms. Her mood crashed completely.
"I tried all kinds of different routes, but every time, that thing found us precisely. My three thousand people and sixty ships… now there's only this one left."
"Ahhh, I don't want to do this anymore. Maybe I should just live in that village forever. I knew from the beginning that the elixir of immortality doesn't exist."
Looking at Xu Fu in front of him—someone on the verge of becoming Aqua 2.0—Ethan more or less pieced the situation together through her words.
Basically, when Xu Fu was summoned, she dragged along the entire fleet of three thousand men, keeping the same appearance as when she told Qin Shi Huang she was setting off to find the elixir of immortality.
Then, while sailing across the sea, something evil from the depths blocked their path. They couldn't escape, and in the end, from a fleet of sixty ships and three thousand people, only this one ship remained.
No wonder Himiko said this merchant ship would make periodic stops. Turns out it was to exchange items provided by Qin Shi Huang for supplies in the village.
Suddenly, an image flashed in Ethan's mind.
When he had fallen from the sky into the sea, he vaguely remembered seeing a massive shadow underwater.
But then Draco threw him ashore in a totally unnatural way. Things were too chaotic back then, so he'd forgotten about that detail.
Thinking about it now, maybe Draco had already known something was in the sea.
"Do you know what that Sea Demon Xu Fu mentioned actually is?"
Ethan immediately turned to Draco.
After all, even he could feel something. There's no way she didn't notice.
"Oh? So you just realized."
Draco gave a light smile.
"If I hadn't been there back then, that monster would've definitely treated you—a guy with a Command Spell—as a tasty little snack and eaten you alive. But you belong to me, so how could I let that thing have its way?"
As expected, Draco knew about the thing lurking in the sea.
"That thing gives off a presence similar to Hydra. No idea why it showed up in this sea."
After saying that, Draco looked at Ethan's face with interest, as if she wanted to see his reaction.
"Hydra?!"
Ethan was horrified.
He vaguely remembered that Hydra was the nine-headed serpent from Greek mythology—each head that got cut off would grow back as two, and the central head was even immortal.
Later, it became one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.
Connecting it with the Lamias that appeared near the village, maybe they were related to the nine-headed serpent too.
But why the hell did that thing end up here?!
Ethan looked at Xu Fu, who was completely drained, and suddenly recalled that there was once a time she'd complained to Qin Shi Huang during a yearly report that a giant shark was blocking their path at sea, making it impossible to set sail.
After that, Qin Shi Huang even sent more archers to deal with the shark, and then Xu Fu was finally able to set off.
Could it be that weird legend somehow dragged Hydra into this world?
"I'm done. You should give up too. With just this one ship, there's no way we're making it out to sea. And the remaining goods on board are only enough to trade for maybe ten days' worth of food. We can't hold out anymore. It's all over."
Xu Fu seemed to have completely given up.
Suddenly, she turned to look at Ethan.
"Right, you and the queen here seem pretty close, so why don't you go negotiate with her? Tell her to split half the farmland with us, and I'll offer up all the craftsmen and materials on the ship in exchange. Everyone becomes neighbors, well water doesn't mix with river water, how about it???"
"..."
Ethan was at a loss for words.
Trying to run away again, huh? And dragging Japan into it every time too—is that her fate or something?
(Note: According to the wiki, when Xu Fu set out to search for the elixir of immortality, he ended up staying in Japan and never returned to China.)
"I think there's an eighty percent chance the queen of Yamatai won't agree."
After all, her relationship with Xu Fu's fleet was purely a trade-based one.
Suddenly accepting a large group from the ship onto the island—there's no way the village's food supply could support that.
"So that's how it is..."
Xu Fu buried her head back into her arms.
"Ah, First Emperor, Xu Fu's journey is coming to an end again. I am deeply sorry—I still couldn't find the elixir of immortality. I suppose His Majesty won't blame me, right?"
In Pan-Human History, Qin Shi Huang would probably want to tear her limb from limb on the spot…
Not only did she fail to find the elixir, but she also fled with an entire entourage.
Those three thousand people and massive amount of supplies were gathered with the full force of the nation, and she just ran off like it meant nothing.
But right now, the urgent matter was borrowing Xu Fu's ship to leave these waters. As for the Hydra—
Ethan turned to Draco, as if trying to say something.
"What's with that look? Don't tell me you want me to deal with the Hydra?"
"…Could I ask you to?"
"It's not like you can't, but—why should I help you?"
Draco smiled with a twisted grin that didn't match her currently adorable appearance at all.
"I already told you, my goal is to watch you die in despair, or to once again let Chaldea's 'save the world' wish stimulate the growth of my Beast horn. The day I evolve again will be the day the Human Order is wiped out."
"That's why I'll temporarily acknowledge you as my Master, but you don't have the right to command me!"
"..."
Faced with Draco's arrogance, Ethan felt a headache coming on.
Looks like it's time to hurry up and summon a new Servant.
"Oh? So this is the kind of relationship between a Servant and a Master? Human relationships really are such a pain…"
Xu Fu, standing nearby, let out a long sigh after listening.
"Fine, I'll try to negotiate with the queen of Yamatai."
"Oh! Then I'm counting on you!!!"
Seeing Ethan agree to help, Xu Fu immediately brightened up and sprang to her feet.
"But if you want to negotiate, you need leverage."
Ethan's tone changed, and he gave Xu Fu a meaningful look.
"Leverage? You don't mean…"
"Just basic diplomacy. If you really want to settle down here, then I'm sure you understand."
Ethan looked at Xu Fu's face growing paler by the second.
After a long inner struggle, Xu Fu finally gave in.
"Fine, I'll take out a portion of the supplies worthy of an audience with the queen."
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you. If it's too heavy, just have someone bring it over."
At this point, Xu Fu, who just wanted to live a quiet life, sighed in resignation.
"I get it… haaa… I never thought I'd see the day I was the one being asked for handouts."
...
....
"They want to settle in New Yamatai? Those people on the ship?!"
In the queen's chamber, Himiko instantly rejected the idea.
"Absolutely not! This place is already tiny—way smaller than the Yamatai I once ruled!!!"
"…Could you maybe not say that while eating food they brought?"
Ethan looked at the queen in front of him, who was holding an enormous bowl of white rice.
"Hmph! It's only because that miso those ship people brought is way too delicious!!!"
She spoke while scooping another huge spoonful into her mouth.
Well, fair enough—after all, she was a Servant, someone who lived thousands of years ago.
Even a soybean paste from the Qin era, after proper refinement, had a deep richness and lingering flavor.
To this Yamatai queen, that miso was clearly far better than the one her villagers made themselves.
"If it's just to let the craftsman who made this miso into the village… I might be willing to accept that much."
Himiko added the statement nonchalantly.
Phew… Looks like this won't be easy.
Up to this point, Himiko's reaction was still within Ethan's expectations.
A bit of supplies and some condiments weren't nearly enough to make the Queen of Yamatai nod in agreement. But if it was just a favor—there was still a chance.
"Right, I also heard some very important news from the people on the ship."
"Umu? What important news? (chew chew)"
Himiko asked while still eating rice.
"I've more or less figured out the origin of the Lamia around the village."
"AH!"
Hearing that, Himiko immediately put her bowl down.
"You mean you know where that thing that makes people feel unbearable pain just by looking at it comes from?"
"I can't say for sure it's a hundred percent accurate, but there's a strong chance it's connected to the giant nine-headed serpent out at sea."
"So that thing out at sea is a giant serpent…"
Himiko seemed to recall something.
"I've always known there's something extremely dangerous in the sea, that's why I forbid the villagers from going too far when collecting clams."
Then she lowered her head, as if pondering something.
"If those wicked creatures are minions of that thing, then as queen, I can't just stand by and do nothing."
At that point, Himiko suddenly looked up and stared at Ethan with a resolute gaze.
"Can you speak with the captain of that ship? If they're also willing to fight that sea monster, then I'll lend my aid."
"Okay, got it."
Ethan nodded.
"I'll go right now."
"Umu, sorry to trouble you ~~~"
Himiko picked up her bowl of white rice again.
"This black miso is just too delicious, could you see if they're willing to part with a little more? We've used up quite a bit of the village's rice reserves. If we could trade something else for it, that would be great."
"Alright."
Ethan nodded and left the room.
...
...
"I didn't think she'd actually agree."
As soon as he stepped out, Draco, who had been waiting outside, spoke up.
"Well, it is something that concerns her own village. For a queen who genuinely cares about her people, she wouldn't just ignore it—right?"
Then Ethan asked with a hint of curiosity:
"You don't like that queen?"
"Hmph, a queen who has no ambition beyond maintaining stability, whose goals begin and end with filling her people's bellies—someone like that, I don't feel even a shred of desire from her. Utterly boring."
Draco finally expressed her opinion of Himiko.
"I see."
True, Yamatai wasn't exactly flourishing, and given Draco's nature, it was understandable she disliked someone like Himiko.
"But even with her help, I doubt you can defeat that nine-headed serpent out at sea."
Indeed, the Hydra was a completely different level compared to the ordinary Lamia. It was one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles in Greek mythology. Just Himiko alone wouldn't be enough.
And in her current state, Xu Fu likely wouldn't be of much help either.
At this point, there was only one option left.
"What exactly will it take for you to help me, Draco?"
Ethan looked seriously at her.
With Draco's assistance, they'd practically be guaranteed a one-hit kill.
There were still enough points left in the livestream to unlock the Divine Servant Summon feature.
If she insisted she wouldn't help under any circumstances, he would immediately use both pity pulls to change fate.
"Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"My goal is to repair the Singularity. In order to do that, I have to use Xu Fu's ship, which means I need your help. Whatever conditions you have, just name them—I'll do everything I can to meet them."
Looking into Ethan's eyes, Draco seemed to feel his resolve, and she nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good—that's the look! That little slip when you said 'I want to save the world,' it alone helped my horn grow just a little more. In that case, I'll give you a hand for now."
"————————?!"
Ethan froze.
Was it really that easy?
But wait—did she just say that because of him, her horn had grown?
If that's the case, doesn't that mean he's helping the Beast destroy the Human Order???
"That panicked expression of yours—it's absolutely delicious. Hehe, just keep letting me feel that desire of yours, and I'll keep helping you."
Draco smiled, licked her lips, and turned to walk toward their temporary base.
Wait! Don't say stuff like that! Otherwise I'm going to get misunderstood by Alaya again!!!
Watching Draco's satisfied back, Ethan couldn't help but feel like something was very wrong, but he really didn't want to think about it anymore.
Oh well. First things first—go share the good news with Xu Fu.