"Mimi... hurry, get me a cup of hot water too..."
The bushy-bearded pirate sitting on the ground reached out his hand weakly to Takumi, who was holding a water cup.
"What kind of nickname is Mimi..." Takumi sighed helplessly, walked over, and handed the cup in his hand to the bushy-bearded pirate.
The bushy-bearded pirate hurriedly took the cup, blew on it a couple of times, and then poured it into his stomach.
"Ah~, came back to life..."
Feeling his much-relieved stomach, the bushy-bearded pirate relaxed entirely.
He hugged the water cup comfortably, leaning contentedly against the railing.
Just like an old man basking in the sun and drinking tea after retirement.
There were quite a few others maintaining the same posture as him, all leaning in a row against the railing.
Their sitting postures were also identical.
A glance over revealed an indescribable sense of comedy.
"And me, and me! One more cup of hot water, Mimi!"
A pirate on the other side suddenly waved and shouted to Takumi.
"Sigh, coming, coming."
After seeing him, Takumi walked over to take the cup from the pirate's hand, then went to the water boiling area to get water.
Obviously, those slumped here were all good brothers who had played the "drinking from boots" game.
Unfortunately, although the brothers played wildly, their bodies couldn't take the abuse.
Every single one who performed this talent was lying here now.
After all, they were wearing boots, and drifting on the sea most of the time, the number of times they washed their feet was probably pitifully small.
Suddenly taking off boots and pouring wine to drink, who knows how much bacteria they drank down?
Anyway, every single one of them vomited and had diarrhea. Takumi even had to drag them onto the ship.
It was fortunate that Takumi was here.
Otherwise, these pirates probably would have all called "GG" not long after setting sail.
Those who didn't die could be considered to have good bodies.
The water Takumi handed them was just ordinary hot water.
But Rune characters were inscribed on the wooden cups, and it was precisely these Runes that gave the water within a wondrous effect.
The effect was also simple: just used to treat and protect the health of the holder.
Speaking of which, Runes in the original world didn't have such great power; they were just used to bless and protect people. For now, it could be considered performing their original function once.
"Here."
After getting a cup of hot water, Takumi handed the cup back to that pirate.
Drake, standing above and taking all this into her eyes, said with an exasperated tone:
"Look at you guys. What do you all look like? I told you to take care of the rookie, so how come the rookie is taking care of you instead?"
Abstract!
Especially compared to the well-behaved and humble Takumi. The more she compared, the more Drake couldn't stand looking at her group of abstract little brothers.
Drake even regretted pulling Takumi onto the ship a little.
What if this bunch of abstract things lead Takumi astray?
"Oh my, Boss, don't just blame us. You know, we have always been unrestrained after getting drunk. As for this time?"
A pirate said with a bitter face, but showing no intention of repenting.
"We just played a little too hard."
"Okay, okay. Then why are Bessie and the others fine? Weren't they fooling around with you too?"
Drake pointed to a few sparse crew members at their respective posts, watching the show with smiles.
"Bessie? Boss, it's not like you don't know. With his wimpy look, when has he ever truly been promising?"
"Hah? How am I wimpy every day?"
Bessie was unhappy now. Why drag me into this when everyone is watching the show?
"Boss, you know me. I always treat your words as heavily as God's words. Listening to the Boss, how can that be considered wimpy?"
Bessie said with good reason.
"Hiss! Bessie, you finally have some backbone!"
Bombay, standing next to Bessie, gasped upon seeing this, looking at him as if looking at a ghost.
Such a spineless Bessie isn't Bessie at all. Who exactly are you!
"...I always feel like you are thinking about something bad..."
Bessie looked at Bombay with dead fish eyes.
After hearing Bessie's explanation, Drake didn't mind his banter with others.
"Mm-hmm?"
Drake looked at the others below, signaling them with her eyes to explain themselves too.
"Boss, you know me. I'm naturally fond of joining the fun, but I never initiate it. The reason for this scene must be because someone else took the lead first!"
Someone said righteously.
"Boss, you know me. I always drink only from a cup. Becoming like this, someone definitely forced it down my throat while I was drunk!"
"Boss..."
...
The people below spoke all at once, and it was unknown if what they said was true or not.
Seeing this, Takumi shook his head straight. Too lazy to watch the drama, he casually picked a rope to hang himself, then went down to continue inscribing defensive Runes on the hull of the Golden Wild Hunt.
There would definitely be tough battles to fight later. Although the Golden Hind was unknowingly strengthened by Drake's Holy Grail, it wasn't that much stronger.
Trying to compete with proper ship-type Noble Phantasms would definitely still fall short by a lot.
So he still had to do some normal protective work.
While Takumi was struggling, the conversation above naturally continued.
...
With the brothers' various excuses echoing in his ears, the big-nosed pirate seemed not to hear, just looking at his still weak and trembling palm.
As if having made up his mind, his eyes suddenly became firm.
"To think I was hurt to this extent by mere lousy wine... Decided! Starting today, I quit drinking!"
"..."
Suddenly, the entire ship fell silent. The brothers who knew what kind of jerk the big nose was all looked at him in unison.
Faces full of disbelief, sniffing disdainfully.
"Hey, hey! What kind of looks are those! Is what I said very funny?"
The big nose was angry. We are all brothers; can't you show a little trust?
The rookie is still watching!
"Cough cough, it's not that we want to criticize you. Do you want to think about how many times you've said this sentence?"
One of the pirates coughed twice, spread his hands, and said helplessly.
"Yeah. If you said you won't eat meat or cheat in the future, we might believe it. But this?"
"..."
The big-nosed pirate fell silent.
"Alright, stop talking. I can see it now; every one of you has unique skills."
Drake was too lazy to argue with them anymore, so she waved her hand, putting a period on this conversation.
"Look at the time. If you don't hurry up, are we still setting sail or not? Hurry up. Those who can move, come help quickly. Those who can't move, rest well!"
"Roger that, Boss!"
The pirates nodded grinningly, but not a single person showed signs of getting up.
"Sigh..."
Drake sighed and covered her face.
Fine, probably no one wants not to slack off.
"Cough cough, Mimi, come up quickly. Help Bessie and the others adjust the mainsail. The few of them are a bit too busy to handle it."
Drake had to cough twice to hide her embarrassment and called Takumi.
"Oh, got it. Coming up now."
Hearing this, Takumi climbed back to the deck along the rope without another word.
Drake's eyes filled with tears.
Look, what a good kid!
So good that Drake wanted to go back to the past and kill herself for showing off her crew members.
Cough cough, just kidding.
Takumi wasn't stupid, and possessed strength far exceeding ordinary people. Under the guidance of Bombay and the others, he soon initially learned part of the operation methods of the Golden Hind.
"Mimi, in which direction do you think it is suitable for us to go next?"
Watching Takumi fiddling with the mainsail, Drake, who was steering above, had a flash of inspiration and asked immediately.
"Ah? Asking me?"
Takumi blinked, a bit surprised.
He wasn't the boss of this ship, so from the beginning, he never thought about giving orders.
Just like when following Nero before, at most he offered some ideas and strategies he knew; the one who truly made decisions was always Nero.
"Of course! After all, saving the world is forcing a duck onto a perch for me (forcing someone to do something beyond their ability). I am completely confused."
Drake said noncommittally.
"In comparison, you, who have walked all the way here, should know the current situation better than me no matter what, right?"
"Besides, as the Captain, I trust you very much—By the way, I always have a feeling that I won't get lost following you, hahaha!"
Feeling she said something strange, Drake laughed loudly to cover it up.
Emotionally speaking, Captain, you also have [Instinct]?
Takumi looked at Drake suspiciously.
But indeed, possessing the [Revelation] skill, he was undoubtedly the most suitable person to give directions here.
"Alright, let me think about what we need to do first..."
Saying this, Takumi closed his eyes and began to activate the [Revelation] skill.
In this Singularity, similarly, there were no particularly powerful existences to win over on their side. Even Orion, who possessed the Grand title, wasn't much stronger than a regular Servant because Artemis cut in line.
It could be said to be a powerful alliance turning into weak chickens.
In contrast, the enemy Servants were stronger by more than a star and a half. Besides great heroes like Hector and Heracles, there was probably a Demon God Pillar waiting for them at the end.
Especially Heracles. Even manifesting in the Berserker class, which didn't quite suit him, he was terribly strong.
Everyone shouldn't think Heracles is weak just because he acts as a stepping stone every time in the anime. Before saying such things, one must think about what kind of monsters he faced.
Moreover, in this Singularity, he wasn't the kind of "Sea-Powerless" (pun on Heracles/Hercules) where overkill damage could take out several lives. It was probably a serious case where one Noble Phantasm could only take out one of his lives.
For God Hand (Twelve Labors), one would need to scrape together twelve A-rank Noble Phantasms to truly kill him.
But adding up both sides in the entire Singularity, there were only twelve Heroic Spirits. Where would twelve A-rank Noble Phantasms come from?
To defeat Heracles head-on, probably the only way was to fish out a powerful counter card like Gilgamesh.
So the key to this Singularity still lay with King David—or rather, with the Noble Phantasm [Ark of the Covenant] he held.
As long as one touched the [Ark of the Covenant], no matter how many lives he had, and no matter what Servant he was, there was only a dead end.
And mentioning the [Ark of the Covenant], one had to mention a certain Goddess with not much combat power.
According to the setting, once the Goddess Euryale, who descended into this Singularity, touched the [Ark of the Covenant], it would cause the destruction of the entire Singularity, and this journey to save the Human Order would also call "GG" in advance.
Analyzing it this way, isn't the goal Takumi needs to achieve next very obvious?
The [Ark of the Covenant] was hard to carry, and King David was guarding it, so no need to worry for now.
In comparison, there were more people looking for Euryale, and it was more urgent and critical, so—
Find Euryale!
Takumi cleared his mind, leaving only this one thought.
Soon, just like when he used it before, a direction appeared in Takumi's mind.
"Let's go in that direction next."
Takumi opened his eyes and pointed southeast.
"Alrighty! Lads, prepare to set sail!"
Accompanied by Drake's high shout, the Golden Wild Hunt finally left the coast, sailing towards the deep sea.