Moonlight spilled down from the hole above, illuminating the floating dust in the air, creating clear "tracks."
Under the dust and moonlight, Takumi's expression became increasingly awkward.
Clatter!
One of the pirates' wine glasses fell in shock.
As if receiving a signal, the entire room suddenly became lively.
"Boss! A strange person fell from the sky!"
"Why are you shouting so loud? Do I look blind to you?!"
"Hehe, I just wanted to report to the Boss. After all, isn't this how the atmosphere is usually portrayed in storybooks?"
"Bastard! I told you to read less of that junk!"
"Next time we dock, you're not allowed to buy those useless storybooks again!"
"You can't do this, Boss! Without those, Watashi (I)..."
"Scram!"
"Hahaha, Bessie, you're such a wimp. Instead of thinking about your storybooks, why don't you think about how we can get out of these waters."
"We've been circling in this damn place for over ten days!"
"Hah, why worry about that crap? Anyway, the Boss will definitely lead us out. We should eat and drink as usual!"
Saying this, the pirate held up his wine glass. With his movement, wine spilled from the cup.
"Oh!"
It aroused the agreement of a large number of pirates raising their glasses.
"Hah? Rely entirely on me? To think you guys can say such things. You bunch of guys with absolutely no ambition!"
"Not to say anything, Boss, but we all ran out to be pirates; where would we still have ambition?"
"Well said! Bombay, starting tomorrow, you go scrub the deck for me. When you find your ambition, you can return to your post!"
"Ah? Don't! Boss——"
Bombay wailed, causing the other pirates to slap the table and laugh.
"Hahahaha..."
"...By the way, isn't the most important thing right now this lad who suddenly appeared?"
A pirate suddenly found the blind spot.
"Why did everyone suddenly go off track?"
Because no one paid attention to him, Takumi, who was idly cleaning up the wood fragments and dust on the table, suddenly raised his head upon hearing this.
Ah? Finally talking about me?
Takumi blinked.
"Hiss! That's right. I actually forgot. Who led the topic astray?"
"Get lost! Don't think about bringing up random things again!"
"In my opinion, since he fell from the sky, he's naturally not here with good intentions. I estimate he should be an enemy!"
A pirate said quite seriously.
Many pirates beside him nodded in agreement after hearing this.
"Damn, how can I accomplish big things with you bunch of idiots?"
"Can't you use your brains, which aren't much bigger than a rat's, to think carefully?"
"Where would an enemy look this purely stupid!"
Another pirate clutched his head, looking like he was about to faint from anger.
'Haha... for a moment I don't know if you are praising me or insulting me...'
The corner of Takumi's mouth twitched.
"Stop! My head is about to explode listening to you guys arguing back and forth. I don't think this young man looks like a bad person either. Instead of saying so much, just bring him up for a chat, alright?"
Seeing this chaotic scene, Francis Drake rubbed her temples with a headache and hurriedly called for a stop.
"Right! As expected, the Boss has a way!"
A group of pirates hurriedly crowded Takumi and brought him before Drake.
—(Time Skip)—
Francis Drake, adventurer and privateer captain, the first person to complete the feat of circumnavigating the globe alive.
After circumnavigating the globe, she was appointed Vice Admiral by the Queen of England at the time. During her service, she buried the powerful Spanish Invincible Armada (Spanish Armada), arguably a model of a pirate turning over a new leaf.
Of course, in serious history, she was a male, but in this Type-Moon world, she ultimately couldn't keep her Gil (manhood) and became a female.
However, it didn't make much difference. Everyone who knew her felt she was a female pirate more manly than men.
And the Drake appearing before Takumi now, like Nero, was not a Servant but a living human.
It was just that Takumi didn't quite remember which period she was from.
Perhaps she was Drake during her time as a privateer captain?
After listening to Takumi's story, Drake nodded in understanding.
"I see... It's not that I don't believe you, but isn't this development a bit too strange?"
Drake spread her hands, feeling quite ridiculous.
"A person falling from the sky suddenly runs over, saying I am a future person from the future, and the reason for coming here is to save the world—Even the storybooks Bessie reads don't seem to have this kind of plot, right?"
"Indeed not... But Boss, even if there were, I wouldn't believe it. Unless I saw with my own eyes someone taking a cannonball with their head and still jumping around lively, even if you held my head and told me, I wouldn't believe it."
"Hey, wait! If no one else has written this kind of plot, will it sell like hotcakes if I write it out?!"
A brilliant idea suddenly popped into Bessie's head.
"Be good, stop daydreaming. If you keep being like this, I'll send you to scrub the deck too."
Drake gently said words that made Bessie shudder.
"Boss is right! With your level of needing someone to translate even when reading storybooks, Bessie, better stop daydreaming, hahahaha..."
Good brothers who didn't mind watching the fun immediately chose to hit him while he was down.
The heartbroken Bessie went to the corner to sulk.
"At worst, I'll tell my idea to someone who can write, and then ask him to share some money with me..."
He muttered softly as he left.
This caused another burst of wild laughter from those who heard him.
"■! Led astray again!"
Drake, who was also laughing loudly, suddenly remembered something, slapped her head, and looked full of regret.
Beside her, Takumi, who was ignored again, had a slightly resentful look in his eyes.
Keenly perceiving Takumi's gaze, Drake immediately smiled awkwardly:
"Ah haha, don't mind it, don't mind it. Pirates are just like this, relatively unrestrained and uninhibited. I personally still believe you quite a bit!"
Drake wasn't lying to Takumi about this. As soon as she met Takumi, she felt he was pleasing to the eye; her initial favorability wasn't low.
"It's just... don't you think this development is a bit strange? Saving the world actually relies on pirates?"
Drake scratched her head, her expression seeming to say, "Can you understand the absurdity in this?"
"Indeed strange, otherwise I wouldn't have appeared here alone."
Takumi said expressionlessly.
Feeling Takumi's resentment about to break through the sky, Drake coughed twice and stopped joking:
"Cough cough, alright, alright, I won't joke anymore. Isn't it just saving the world? For us, this is also an adventure we've never experienced before—Right, mates?"
Drake addressed the last words to all the pirates present.
"That's right!"
"Hahaha, saving the world relies on pirates? This is too interesting! Don't forget to bring me along when setting sail, Boss!"
"Oh oh oh! Some time ago we fought a guy looking like a seal, later flew in the storm, and now we are going to save the world. Woohoo! Just thinking about it makes me want to raise the flag!"
"Great! A new big adventure!"
...
Under the dim light, the group of pirates cheered all at once, surprisingly none of them flinching.
Standing beside Drake, Takumi somewhat envied their mental state.
Finding her little brothers quite reliable, Drake also grinned and said:
"Very good! This is the state I want. Since no one objects, then the next goal is—Save the World!"
"Of course, being happy is the most important! Even saving the world must be done happily!"
"Oh oh oh!!"
Responding to Drake were the pirates' cheers rising one after another.
As if in their eyes, saving the world was just an ordinary adventure.
Being in such an atmosphere, Takumi, feeling a bit unadapted, couldn't help asking Drake:
"Then what now? What do we do now?"
Drake repeated Takumi's words, looking at Takumi as if looking at a weirdo.
Then she grinned and said as a matter of course:
"Now? Of course—Hold a Banquet!"
"It's night now! And we are on land. Moreover, I still have this Holy Grail that can conjure food at will. Thinking about it, isn't it a good time to hold a banquet no matter what!"
Surely no one would think of taking action at a time like this, right?
Takumi remained silent.
If this were land, he really would have chosen to act at night...
As for why Drake knew about the [Holy Grail]?
That was naturally because Takumi told her.
"...By the way, isn't this a bit too unfair?"
Drake suddenly touched her chin, looking like she was in deep thought.
"Unfair...?"
Takumi couldn't quite keep up with Drake's train of thought.
"Think about it. Saving the world or whatever doesn't have much to do with us. It's only because of you, lad, that we have this idea. Thinking about it, isn't it unfair no matter what?"
Drake winked at Takumi.
"...I have nothing on me except a few knives..."
Takumi subconsciously touched his pocket; inside were only a few Black Keys.
"Hah, we are about to save the world; who still cares about that little bit of money?"
Drake giggled, wrapped her arm around Takumi, and dragged him in front of all the pirates.
Although Takumi had no thoughts about a woman-man like Drake, Drake's massive assets still made Takumi somewhat unadapted.
He couldn't stop wanting to tilt his head to the side.
Drake, however, didn't care and placed her hand on Takumi's head.
Smiling at the little brothers below, she said: "Isn't this kind of thing easy to solve? Since as an outsider we have to talk about remuneration, then becoming our partner solves it, right? If we are all on the same boat, helping our own brothers is a matter of course!"
"So, he will be our crew member from now on!"
"Show me the appearance of seniors and take good care of the rookie, you bastards!"
Ah? I became a rookie?
Listening to Drake's words, Takumi, who completely didn't expect it to develop like this, had his brain crash instantly.
"Oh oh oh oh!"
"It's a rookie! We've been looking forward to a rookie joining for a long time!"
"Pull the fresh and tender rookie over so I can have a look!"
...
The group of pirates all looked at the little rookie being held by the Boss with shining eyes. Those looks like wolves and tigers made Takumi stiffen all over.
Don't misunderstand; this isn't a tradition of the British Empire.
Actually, their thoughts were more like veterans who were bored and searching the world for non-existent rookies to carry...