Rei was momentarily surprised that the ship he touched couldn't be stored in his Misty Ring, but the feeling vanished almost immediately.
In principle, Rei's Misty Ring could store anything, no matter how large or heavy. Even so, there were things it absolutely could not hold.
Living creatures.
Dogs, cats, monsters, fish—no living being could be stored inside the Misty Ring.
Yes... even humans.
(Well, looking at how dilapidated this ship is, it might just be a rat or something similar stowed away inside.)
But the first ship he'd stored had been even more run-down than this one, and it had gone into the Misty Ring without any trouble.
That being the case, the fact that only this ship refused to be stored raised doubts.
"Someone's aboard this ship, aren't they?"
At Rei's murmured words, the Pirates stiffened almost reflexively.
Had they been more first-rate—the kind of Pirates people called genuine—they wouldn't have been so visibly shaken at being called out like that.
But the ones here were just rural Pirates operating in the middle of nowhere. The kind that wouldn't be out of place being called backwater Pirates.
Given that, expecting them not to panic in this kind of situation would have been unreasonable.
"N-no, that's..."
One of the Pirates stammered, but his attitude alone made it obvious they were hiding something.
(So much for the rat theory.)
Judging as much, Rei turned his gaze toward the ship still floating on the water.
"I don't know what you're all hiding, but someone's definitely in there, right? If so, I'll just respond accordingly. Set, if anyone comes out of that ship, capture them. Judging by how these guys are reacting, there might be someone important aboard. Maybe the one leading these Pirates."
At Rei's words, the Pirates wavered once more. Seeing that, Rei could hazard a guess about who was inside.
(The boss of these Pirates... or if not the boss, someone with at least some influence. Either way, they're clearly well-liked by the crew.)
If the person hiding were someone the underlings despised, the Pirates wouldn't go this far to protect them. The fact that they were being shielded at all confirmed that the hidden figure was someone admired from below.
"Now then, who's in there? I'm rather looking forward to finding out."
With that, he boarded the ship.
He sensed the Pirates raising a commotion behind him, but Rei tuned it out.
With every last one of them bound, he judged there was nothing they could do in their current situation.
"...I knew it already, but this ship really is on its last legs. Well, it might be good enough as study material for developing a Land Ship."
The first ship he'd stored had been even more deteriorated than this one. Considering that, he needed to convince himself and accept it.
Scanning the deck, he spotted a door leading into the ship's interior. There was only one proper door, but several other hatches dotted the deck as well. Whether they didn't connect inside or were simply there to cut down on travel time, Rei couldn't tell. Either way, he figured going inside would clear things up, and headed for the standard door.
There was a chance someone inside might try to bolt through one of the deck hatches, but Rei had absolute confidence that Set would catch them if they did.
He stepped through the door and found the interior just as marked with patch jobs as the outside.
"Is anyone there?"
He called out, but naturally received no response from within.
Satisfied, Rei reached out with his senses and probed the ship's interior.
One presence, below deck.
"Below, huh. I don't know what the person hiding is thinking, but do they really believe they can just lay low and wait this out?"
He muttered to himself, briefly wondering if some kind of trap had been laid, and made his way deeper into the ship.
But after walking the corridor for a while, no trap triggered.
(What on earth were they thinking, pulling something like this? Well, it makes things easier for me, so I guess I can't complain.)
Navigating the ship's interior, he eventually reached his destination—the source of the presence.
It was one of the rooms inside the ship. Not the Captain's Cabin or anything of the sort, just an ordinary room.
(This is the place.)
Rei came to a halt and gave the door a light knock. The sound echoed softly through the corridor, but no response came from within.
A few seconds later, he knocked again.
Still nothing. From somewhere, the faint sound of waves lapping against the hull seeped through.
(Not that hearing the ocean from inside here is a good sign... Well, I don't see any flooding, so I suppose it's fine for now.)
If the ship was taking on water just from being moored, it could go under at any moment.
Pushing that thought aside, Rei opened the door.
"Yaaaaah!"
The moment the door swung open, a blade lunged at him with a shout.
The strike was sharp enough, but Rei had already sensed the presence beyond the door and predicted an ambush. Dodging the blow was simple.
Without so much as flinching, he shifted his body to the side, evading the attack. He seized the wrist of the man wielding the longsword—no, the Saber—and used the attacker's own momentum to hurl him across the corridor.
"Gyah!"
The thrown man slammed back-first into the hallway wall, let out a scream, and crumpled to the floor.
Yet he immediately scrambled for his Saber and tried to rise, prompting Rei to regard him with a flicker of admiration.
That throw had carried real force—though that was largely because the man's own ambush strike had been so aggressive.
In any case, the man fought through the pain, got to his feet, and leveled the tip of his Saber at Rei.
"...You're young."
Facing the man head-on and studying his face for the first time, Rei muttered those words.
Of course, even calling him young, the man clearly looked far older than Rei. In terms of age, he'd barely entered his twenties. No—he was young enough to make one wonder if he'd even hit twenty yet. At the very least, none of the Pirates Rei had captured were younger than the man standing before him. The oldest was around fifty, the youngest in his late twenties.
"What are you talking about?! I've got no reason to be called young by a kid like you!"
The man's face flushed red as he kept the Saber pointed at Rei.
Fair enough, Rei thought, understanding the man's anger, yet he felt no urgency whatsoever.
Under normal circumstances, being unarmed against an opponent already brandishing a Saber and ready to swing at a moment's notice would put the barehanded fighter at an overwhelming disadvantage.
But that only applied when both parties were roughly equal in strength.
When the gap in power was overwhelming—such as between Rei and the man before him—it didn't matter what weapon the opponent held.
"Well, I can see that. So, what are you going to do?"
What am I going to do? The man stared at Rei, seemingly unable to process the question.
"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
"Are you going to keep this up? After that little exchange, you've probably figured it out already. The difference in strength between you and me."
Rei's words left the man speechless.
The gap in power between them was undeniably that of a child versus an adult. No—greater than that. The odds of the man beating Rei weren't even one in ten thousand. And it wasn't just about winning; even if he tried to flee, he had no chance of escaping.
Knowing all that, would he still resist? That was what Rei was asking.
"Guh... damn it... even so, I can't let this pirate crew I just took over be wiped out!"
"Ah, I see. That's what this is about."
The man's words gave Rei the answer to why someone so young was running a pirate crew. The fact that his underlings had tried to protect him meant he was undoubtedly well-liked. If he'd inherited the crew purely through blood ties, the other Pirates wouldn't have accepted him on that alone.
"That's why... that's why I can't just roll over and get captured here!"
As he shouted, the man plunged his free hand into his shirt and tried to slam something against the floor—
"Too bad."
With those words, his hand stopped dead.
Before he knew it—truly before he knew it—Rei had closed the distance and seized the man's wrist.
A moment ago, the Saber's tip had been pointed squarely at him. Now Rei stood right beside the man.
What had just happened? How could anyone move like that? The man couldn't comprehend it at all.
And while he reeled in confusion, the grip on his hand gradually tightened until whatever he'd been holding slipped free and clattered to the floor.
It was a small cube, small enough to be completely concealed in a palm.
(What is that? He tried to smash it against the floor in that situation, so it's definitely some kind of tool with an effect... or a Magic Item.)
The first thing that came to mind was the Teleportation Stone used by operatives of the Bestia Empire.
But there was no Magic Circle on the floor. Could a simple impact with that cube trigger Teleportation? He considered it for a moment, but he couldn't imagine rural Pirates achieving what even the Bestia Empire's foremost Alchemists couldn't.
"What is this?"
When in doubt, ask someone who knows. Rei put the question to the man.
Since the man had tried to use what appeared to be a Magic Item, there was no possible way he didn't know what it did.
"Shut up! Like I'd tell an enemy something like that!"
"...Enemy?"
Rei's questioning expression drew a brief look of confusion from the man. Then it dawned on him—Rei didn't even consider him an enemy. His cheek twitched.
He'd been steeling himself like a hero—one who happened to be a Pirate—challenging a fearsome, insurmountable foe. Yet Rei hadn't even registered him as a threat.
Given the man's strength, there was never any chance Rei would perceive him as an enemy. At best, he was prey to be captured.
"Enemy or not, what exactly does this Magic Item do?"
"You think... you think after being treated like that, I'm just going to tell you?!"
"You won't? Well, if that's your stance, that's fine too. But I want to know what this Magic Item—or whatever it is—does. And I have no intention of being particular about my methods."
With that warning, Rei began applying pressure to the hand clamped around the man's arm. Slowly. Truly slowly.
At first it was just a light squeeze, but the force of Rei's grip steadily mounted, twisting the man's face in agony.
"Guh! Gaaah! It hurts! Damn it, let go! Let go!"
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not letting go until you start talking."
The man had tried to use it in a desperate situation, which told Rei it was a Magic Item with a significant effect. The man's misfortune was that Rei collected Magic Items as a hobby—including ones with practical combat applications.
For someone like Rei, learning what this Magic Item did was worth any cost. And the one who held the answer was a Pirate. Rei had no reason to hold back for his sake.
The skin on the man's trapped arm had already split, the flesh beneath beginning to crush. If this continued, the bones would shatter without question.
The man endured the pain and looked up at Rei—a cold chill running down his spine.
No. What he felt was a genuine fear for his life.
"Ah—a Smoke Screen! This Magic Item creates a Smoke Screen proportional to the impact when it's struck with enough force!"
In the end, the man talked.