"Hey, hey, hey! What are they doing over there?"
Jason stared at the commotion ahead, his eyes wide, a feeling of dread washing over him.
"Obviously, since they can't escape over the surface, they're planning to leave via the underwater route."
Medea shrugged and spoke helplessly.
"Hah? Then hurry up and stop them for me!"
Jason made a sound of disbelief, urgently giving orders.
"I can't stop them. From this far away, and in stormy weather, trapping that ship earlier relied entirely on effects prepared in advance. A spell cast in haste won't be enough to restrain that vessel."
Medea sounded even more helpless.
"So we just have to watch them leave right before our eyes?"
Jason pointed at the Golden Hind ahead.
"That's right."
"■!"
Jason could only stomp his foot in impotent fury.
Then, he watched helplessly as the Golden Hind was swallowed up by the whirlpool, disappearing without a trace, as if flushed down a toilet.
On the other side.
"Mmm, Darling, it seems we're trapped on this island, aren't we?"
Artemis crouched on the ground, resting her chin in her hands as she gazed at the boundless sea, looking slightly troubled.
"So, do you have any ideas, Darling~?"
Artemis's sweet voice reached Orion's ears.
"If I had been summoned alone, I could probably just swim out and have a look…"
The stuffed bear next to Artemis rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"But, you see, I'm just a stuffed animal right now. What can you expect a plushie to do?"
Orion spread his hands in resignation.
"Aww, how can you say that, Darling? I believe in you, very, very much, you know!"
Artemis looked at Orion reproachfully.
"In that case, when I go out to play with pretty, cute girls, can Artemis believe in me like that too?"
The stuffed bear rubbed his furry paws together, his expression suddenly turning lecherous.
"That's a no-no~! Darling must not cheat!"
Artemis immediately grabbed the stuffed bear by the throat, interrupting his fantasy, while warning him with a smiling face.
A dangerous light flowed in her eyes.
"Gah... Stop... I can't breathe—!"
Orion patted Artemis's hand, his face full of pain.
"Darling, what are you joking about? You're just a stuffed animal right now; you don't need to breathe."
"Ah? I-Is that so?"
Orion's expression instantly stiffened, and he looked at Artemis with an awkward laugh.
"Of. Course. It. Is."
Artemis proceeded to shake Orion violently up and down.
"I apologize, I'll apologize! So please don't shake me so hard ahhh—!"
Orion felt like his brains were about to get scrambled and hurriedly begged for mercy.
But clearly, Artemis was still angry and wasn't listening to Orion's words at all.
Only after a long period of apologizing did Artemis finally let go of the poor little stuffed bear.
Having regained his peace, Orion breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, and said helplessly:
"But no matter what you say, I have no way to get the two of us safely off this island. It's not like a ship is just going to suddenly emerge from the sea, right...?"
Before Orion could finish his sentence, a ship glowing with golden light, like a bubble rising to the surface, suddenly emerged from the sea in the distance.
"...Huh?"
Orion was stunned.
"Oh! As expected of my Darling, you even predicted this!"
Witnessing all of this, Artemis clenched her small hands in front of her chest and looked at Orion with admiration.
"R-Really?"
Orion scratched his head in confusion.
"Really!"
"Since a ship has come, let's hurry and catch a ride!"
Artemis grabbed Orion and broke into a small run towards the ship.
"Hey, couldn't you carry me in a hug instead—"
...
—Dividing line—
What other ship could it be, suddenly emerging from the sea and glowing with golden light?
Of course, it was the Golden Hind.
Amidst a variety of screams, the Golden Hind, carried by the massive ocean current, was finally forced upwards by the buoyancy of the sea.
It even left the sea's surface, hanging in the air for a brief moment before settling steadily afloat on the water.
"We survived again!"
The pirates looked up at the sky, their spirits shaken, unable to believe they had survived even that.
It was truly hard to believe.
Lin Qi, who had lowered the flag and was utterly exhausted, looked at the single remaining mark on the back of his hand, hardly able to imagine that he had used both of his used Command Spells on escaping.
"Haa…"
Lin Qi let out a long breath and put the matter out of his mind.
Since neither of the two Command Spells was used in vain, there was no point dwelling on it.
The scenery underwater couldn't be called beautiful, especially for those who had been flushed down by the "toilet."
Caught in the powerful undersea current, the Golden Hind was like a leaf swept into a raging river, spinning round and round, completely incapable of steering.
All anyone could do was secure themselves firmly to the ship and go with the flow. On top of that, they had to guard against the frequent collisions with giant rocks and various underwater terrain. The constant bumping and crashing was no different from being thrown into a washing machine.
Coming out unscathed was pure dumb luck. Otherwise, with all that sequential impact, even if Lin Qi had used up all his Command Spells, he wouldn't have been able to protect everyone.
There was no scenery to speak of underwater either; it was pitch black down there, with sunlight barely penetrating. It was a chaotic mess, and you couldn't see anything clearly. Besides, even after reaching the surface, everyone was too busy trying to stay alive to have any leisure to look around.
Even so, once they had recovered, Drake and the pirates all cheered, celebrating their accomplishment of yet another great feat.
Beside them, Euryale rubbed her dizzy head and looked at the cheering, celebrating crowd with exasperation.
Having been terrified out of her wits, she simply couldn't understand the mental state of these pirates.
"Huh? Boss! There's a strangely dressed pretty woman over there waving at us!"
A pirate suddenly spotted Artemis standing on the shore, waving at them, and hurriedly reported to Drake.
"Hah? There are still people all the way out here? Looking to hitch a ride?"
Drake looked over, her face full of suspicion.
Lin Qi and the others also looked suspiciously in the direction the pirate indicated.
"Is that… Artemis?"
Seeing the combination of the woman in white and the small bear plushie, Lin Qi, who knew their identities, was shocked.
So, we run away twice, and run into a Servant each time? Is that it?
Could such a coincidence really happen?
"Artemis? As in the moon goddess Artemis, from the same pantheon as me?"
Euryale, who knew Artemis's identity, was also stunned.
"That's right…"
"Are you sure? It's not strange for a minor goddess like me to be summoned, but for a high-ranking goddess of her caliber to manifest just like this… it's impossible!"
Euryale found it somewhat hard to believe.
"That's why she descended by occupying Orion's Saint Graph. In terms of combat power, she probably isn't much stronger than you are right now."
Euryale hesitated, then relaxed.
"Alright then, that makes sense…"
…