-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Chapter 261-

Not giving her time to catch up, Kenshin hurried for the boat leaving behind a trail of exploding water. It took a scant of seconds to reach the boat. It was still rowing lightly on the waters, with everyone busy with their things. Some were sleeping while others were chatting. Only a few stood near the edges of the boat, looking at the ocean in the alert.

They were already inside the enemy territory, there was no knowing when the sea monsters would attack them. Being alert all times means they can have a higher chance to stay alive. These independent hunters had already made a secret deal about the rotation of the guard without the knowledge of the so-called captain.

Up in the terrace of the boat, that captain was also looking viciously towards the direction the sea monster was coming from. His face was filled with anticipation and vengeance. He wanted to deal with these low-class people but was also afraid of the monster’s strength being higher than his. If that’s the case, his plan would backfire and even put him in the precarious situation. But its already too late for the regrets, he could only endure and pray that the monster wasn’t that strong.

Plop! Plop!

Suddenly there was a loud noise that came from the left side of the boat, attracting everyone's attention. From hunters that were keeping guard to the captain on the terrace, everyone looked at that direction with anticipation and varying reasons. The noise was akin to someone slapping the surface of the water, knowing that they were in sea monster’s territory, everyone looked alerted, thinking that they attacked.

As the sound came closer, their anticipation turned to shock. These sharp eyes hunters had already seen who was responsible for it but had a hard time believing it. A man in a long coat was walking on water, holding a sword in his left hand. Who would believe this fairytale-like news? But they have to believe it as its happening in front of their eyes. Within a few breaths of time, the man had already arrived near the boat, with a mighty leap he jumped from the water surface and landed on the deck.

Seeing so many weird gazes on him, Kenshin felt weird and looked at them with a lost expression. Initially, he wanted to just go away but remembering that giant squid and its unusual stats, he hesitated. Looking at all these men who could die at any moment, Kenshin decided to reveal some of the information.

“You guys should be very careful. These sea monsters aren’t something that could be taken lightly.” Kenshin’s serious tone attracted everyone’s attention. Very soon a few hunters surrounded him, forming a ring around him.

“What do you mean?” one of the older hunters asked while looking at him in anticipation.

“These sea monsters are very sneaky and likes attack when we least expect. They are a master of this tactic. Also, individually, each seam monsters have the power that’s irrelevant to their levels, so that level measuring device in your hands won't be accurate. Of course, you can use it more reference. Just remember that each monster might be a few levels stronger than what appears on that device, so be prepared.” Kenshin explained and also warned them to be not overconfident. In reality, he shouldn’t have bothered with these people as long as he returns alright. But if they die here, Mito would be the one to suffer.

It had few powerful hunters in the first place, now if it loose even more, then all those dungeons would become left uncleared which would affect Mito’s financial condition. There would also fear of lack of manpower in case of another dungeon break. Most of all, Kenshin didn’t want to forget about his roots, he didn’t want to forget that once upon a time he was alosa independent hunter like them whose life no one cared about.

“Have you fought with a sea monster before?” a woman with a bow on her back and a dagger strapped to her waist questioned worriedly. Kenshin’s ominous warning just spooked her, making her have second thoughts about this mission.

Shaking his head, he replied, “Not before, but just a few seconds ago I did.”

Although he said it calmly as if talking about whether to listeners, it came as a huge shock. Those people who had seen him returning while walking on water also made an understanding face. The girl who asked earlier also couldn’t help but shudder when she thought about him silently fighting some monster without anybody realizing.

“What monster was that? How strong was it?” the man who ridiculed him when he entered the conference room back then came forward and asked. All these people had never fought with a sea monster, so they were dying to know about their power.

“I don’t know if it can be used as a reference, but the monster I fought was very powerful. Even though it didn’t reach level 100, it might not lose to a level 100 hunter. Not only it was powerful, but also it's very annoying and intelligent. It was a squid though…big enough to sink this ship. You guys should really keep an eye on the boat captain’s chambers.”

“What? There was such a monster coming at us? Why weren’t we informed?” a big man with an even bigger sword strapped to his back shouted loudly before marching towards captain of the boat’s chambers. With him, a few people also went in to ask for answers. In reality, Kenshin also realized about this when he was returning. That monster was definitely on this boat’s more radar, then why don’t they warned these men? What's happening? But the answer to his question came in almost immediately when he saw the snobbish Tanaka standing on the terrace, looking at the ocean the same direction he just came through. That’s why he warned them to keep an eye on the captain’s chambers.

After questions and answer session was over, Kenshin excused himself and went to the back of the boat. He wanted to search if the girl he was searching really was on that boat, or on the other one. There were actually two boats dispatched for this mission, carrying close to 200 hunters. He only came to know this after entering this boat.

XXX

“Old man, did you see it? Those two! I never knew such a monster is also boarding my boat. Haha! I should have known, DCB won't leave the lives of so many hunters at the hands of an incompetent person.” The old captain who had felt the fight between Kenshin and Vera vs. The squid laughed loudly.

“Hey! Hey! Old man, you calm down first. How did you know he is from DCB?” the other old man asked, although he acted like its nothing big, there was still a smile lingered on his wrinkly lips.

“Hmph! I don’t know, its just a gut feeling. Maybe it was because of my trust in DCB for all this year and the fact that they never disappointed me yet!” the old captain sighed as he silently looked at the calm ocean.

“But to think that brat being so powerful…his fighting ability is bordering on a level 100 hunters. I wonder who is he?” the other old man also muttered while sitting near the other old man.

“Who knows? Maybe-” suddenly the old captain stopped speaking, staring at the roof with surprise. His sudden lag also startled the old man prompting him to look at him. Seeing him staring something in surprise, he also looked back.

On the roof, the wheelhouse, the man about whom they were just talking about, stood calmly as he looked at the calm ocean with his black eyes. It's dark, so normally, no one should see him, but these old men were no ordinary old men.

For a second these old men had a hallucination of a man with a heroic bearing, holding the sword as he faced many powerful opponents, shilouheting the young man standing there.