After the battle with the Water Spirit Dancer, Bid cornered me.
She inched closer and closer. Too close, way too close.
"What was that all about, Wof?"
"The knife—well, that was—"
"That's not what I mean. Well, that too, but I'm talking about you turning yourself into bait."
"I thought... it might be better that way..."
"I get that, but we could have talked it over a bit more and worked out a strategy first. We managed to take it down this time, but there's no guarantee it'll go well next time. When lives are on the line, you have to be more careful about this stuff."
"I'm sorry."
She was right. I'd gone and acted on my own again.
When I reflected on my mistake and apologized, Bid patted me on the head.
"Even so, that's an amazing knife. Is it an OOPArt?"
"Well, that's... more or less, yeah."
"You should've told me about the knife."
"Sorry."
Bid kept patting my head with a smile on her face.
As part of my penance and apology, I quietly let her do it without a word.
Once she was done, we headed for the shrine.
When we peeked inside, there was a boat floating on the water.
A black boat. Too big for just two people.
The front was shaped like a bamboo leaf, and it had an inverted tail fin at the rear.
On top of that, an oval guard was mounted on the front of the boat.
In the back, there were strange white boxes installed. Four of them, two on top and two on the bottom of the boat.
Moreover, the backs of the boxes were thrusters, connected by tubes.
Looking more closely, the inverted tail fin was a thruster too.
Are they all connected? Bid muttered.
"What is this thing? I've never seen anything like it."
".............."
This boat was something else.
It was amazing that a boat like this had survived. Since it was deep in the forest, nobody had probably come out here.
But weren't there any eccentrics or curious people who'd thought to explore the forest?
Well, since crossing the great river by boat was the route to the next floor, maybe nobody had ventured this far in.
Even if they had, they either fled after seeing the water spirit dancer or fought and lost.
It was a bit puzzling that no one powerful enough to win had never come deep into this forest.
Either way. With my past life memories, I could tell.
This boat was a motorboat.
Or something close to one.
"Haaah, it's a boat but there's nothing to— Wof? What are you doing?"
Bid looked at me, puzzled, as I climbed aboard.
The inside of the boat was pure white, with a glowing blue line running straight down the middle.
There were three seats, arranged in a triangle.
I looked around, and the most suspicious thing was this.
The seat at the triangle's apex, directly beneath the forward guard. There was a black pedestal on that seat.
On the pedestal sat a ball with two black horns growing straight out from the sides.
The black horns were blunt, not pointed — shaped to fit comfortably in the hand.
The ball was grey and somewhat translucent.
I lightly placed my hand on the ball. It glowed.
"Whoa!"
"What's that!?"
Bid climbed into the boat too, as if on reflex.
Characters were floating on the ball. Ancient script.
Hmm, hmm. Start it up, or shut it down.
Looks like you press with your finger to choose.
An LCD panel? An LCD ball? I pressed Start.
Whiiiirrrrrrrrrrr.
"That sound…"
"Huh?"
"Aaargh, come on! Now what's going on!?"
I could hear something spinning up from behind — like an engine coming to life.
And from the seat's position, the two horns growing from the sides of the LCD ball were… Ah, I see.
I turned around.
"Bid. Wait, wh-what are you doing!?"
Bid was in the middle of peeling off her jumper and jacket, and she just blinked at me.
Underneath her black shirt, a pale pink bra was completely on display.
Modest yet... huh, that's cute. No, wait—that's not the point.
"What do you mean? I'm not totally sure myself, but you're planning to head out on this boat, right, Wof?"
"Y-yes, that's right, but why are you getting undressed?"
"Why? If you reduce the amount of fabric, it's easier to swim when you fall in the river."
"Th-that may be true, but b-but in your underwear..."
"This is a swimsuit, you know."
"Huh? A swimsuit?"
"That's right." With that, Bid took off her jacket.
Then she started on her spats.
"A-are you taking those off too?"
"Hmm? Yeah, why?"
"..."
Since the spats were clinging tightly to her skin, Bid peeled them off slowly.
Halfway through, one of the spats got snagged on her foot, and tugging it free was... far too much stimulation for me to handle.
Why was that? It was incredibly lewd.
Bid gave a faint, wry smile.
"Hehe, I almost tripped there"
After stuffing her clothes into the pouch, she changed into a swimsuit and put on a blue jumper.
"Wait, is that really okay?"
"If we fall in the water, it works as a life preserver. Plus it dries really fast."
"I see… that's handy."
"Riv gave it to me."
"Ah, gotcha."
But still… a swimsuit paired with a jumper, or whatever that was.
"What is it, Wof?"
"Oh, no, I just think it suits you."
"R-Really? Hehe, that makes me happy."
Bid smiled, looking bashful about it.
My heart skipped a beat, and I took a seat in the very front row.
It must have been sitting inside that shrine for a long time, even if it was sheltered.
Yet the seat was practically brand-new — soft and plush.
That was when I noticed it. Inside this boat, there was not a single speck of dust.
I fastened the belt and realized something else — I was a little too short for it.
The moment I noticed, the seat adjusted itself on its own.
That was some seriously impressive technology. No, wait — what even was this boat?
I was starting to get nervous, but at this point, there was nothing to do but get in.
"Wait, the seat is this chair?"
"Yes. Please sit down and fasten the belt."
"Belt...? Oh, got it."
Bidd sat down and buckled the belt.
Once I confirmed that, I gripped the two black horns jutting out from the side of the liquid crystal orb — the control sticks.
Water dungeon. The great river on the third floor was the first great river that delvers visited.
So wide you couldn't see the far bank, dotted with islands of all sizes, which you'd reach by boat.
Aquatic monsters lurked in the great river, and the ones you especially had to watch out for were the large monster fish.
Among them were troublesome ones capable of swallowing the entire boat — and the delvers inside — whole.
Since it was the third floor, none of them were particularly strong.
But you still had to fight in the narrow, confined space of a boat.
And all around was water. Fall in, and you'd likely end up as monster food.
More dangerous than that, though, was getting swept away downriver.
If you were lucky, you'd make it to an island.
But the great river ended in a waterfall. A massive one.
And it didn't even stop at the fifth floor — it connected straight down to the thirteenth floor's great river.
That drop, and the torrent of churning water. There was no surviving it.
"Come on, dammit — row, row, ROW!!"
The delvers aboard the large boat, more than ten of them, were rowing for their lives.
Closing in from behind was the large monster fish — Baogorn.
Its scales glittering as it opened its massive jaws.
Several delvers attacked, but their strikes kept missing.
Hitting anything from a boat tossed around unpredictably — at this point, only a Relic could do it.
But none of them carried a Relic of that kind.
Almost everyone had attribute Relics or ones specialized in close-quarters combat.
"Come on, the next island — just make it to the next island!"
"Leader! I can see the island!"
"We're almost there — row, row, ROW!"
"Leader!?"
Something sharp struck the leader on the head, and he tumbled into the great river.
Immediately, a swarm of small fish burst from the water's surface.
Each one had a single eye and a pointed mouth shaped like a gun barrel.
A delver saw them and screamed.
"Gunfish — they're gunfish!!"
"No way — you're kidding me!"
The large boat was riddled with holes in an instant. The gunfish fled just before it sank.
They had probably noticed the Baogorn approaching. A handful of delvers barely survived.
But behind them, the Baogorn was closing in with its jaws wide open.
The delvers despaired, certain it was all over.
That was when an unfamiliar, deafening crash rang out — and the Baogorn went flying through the air.
With its surprisingly scrawny lower half on full display, the Baogorn crashed down onto the island ahead.
A fish washed ashore is nothing but a ready meal.
Whether the Baogorn could even be eaten was beside the point — it was as good as a carp on a cutting board.
"Wh-what just..."
"A-anyway, we're saved..."
"Y-yeah..."
"What was that. That black thing."
The mystery remained, but they had been saved.
Something black had shot past at an impossibly incredible speed.
"W-wait, wait, I just hit something!"
"Huh? That's not gonna help — I really can't stop!"
"Whoa, whoa — an island!?"
"No way! S-st-st-stop already!"
The black ship soared through the air.