Pirates attack the architect

 ”Minister Dowal. It seems that Walker has set sail.”
 ”Tsk, I went through the trouble of spreading rumours to cause a riot, and even hired adventurers, and yet we still couldn’t kill them within the city.”
 
 Upon receiving the report from his men, Dowal bit his fingernail in frustration.
 
 ”Won’t you be troubled if they live and became a nuisance?”
 
 The one who spoke was the boss of the Abane Group. He too was aware of the minister’s plans.
 
 ”Well, there’s no problem. Just in case, I got in touch with some pirates. Rather, now that they’re at sea, there’s nowhere to escape to. He’ll just drown at sea.”
 ”Heh, just as one would expect from someone who’d submit a false quotation. You work cunningly.”
 ”Hmph. Don’t say such things outside, you got that? I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t about this good. The Grand Festival of Sorcery will be held next year. With that guy gone, we’ll have much more flexibility.”
 
 Dowal chuckled as he said so. The quotation he showed that time actually had a higher price than what it originally had. He intends to keep the extra portion for himself. Like it’s no big deal. In the end, it seems it was Dowal who was trying to embezzle money by inflating the costs.
 
 ”Kuku, either way, with this the obstacle is gone. We can finally get started on the exportation of magic trains and magic bikes which that guy was hesitant about. He’s such an idiot, saying “it honestly won’t work in foreign countries”! As long as they get the stuff, I don’t care what happens!”
 
 Dowal planned to make a fortune by turning all the architectural techniques Walker left behind into his own. However, Dowal didn’t know. All these techniques worked perfectly only because Walker, who had inherited magic architecture, was there. What would happen if they were to go ahead with the impossible renovations while ignoring all of that, Dowal had no way of knowing at that time…
 
 
 
 ◇◆◇
 
 
 
 We sailed forth leisurely on my magic construction boat, till that moment.
 
 ”The ship over there, f*****g stoooop!”
 
 I heard a shout, so I went out on deck and saw five ships, each flying skeleton flags, approaching our boat.
 Pirate ships?… but my boat isn’t a merchant’s. In the first place, a merchant ship would normally have an escort ship. I don’t see any reason why they would target this boat which is just one boat.
 Can’t be helped. I raise the megaphone equipped to the mast toward the pirate ships.
 
 ”A-, ah~, to the pirates. There’s nothing to be gained by attacking this boat~, except for a painful experience, so please stop.”
 
 Now then, my warning is over. Afterwards, I turned on the sound collection function and investigate the pirates’ situation.
 
 ”That guy’s an idiot. Our aim is to give him a watery grave.”
 ”Don’t worry about it. Just fire the cannons immediately.”
 ”But, that ship, why’s it got no sail?”
 ”Probably ‘coz it’s made in a rush. Seems it’ll sink if we just leave it alone, but it’ll be a bother if he survives.”
 ”It’ll be a really easy job for 5 million Corz to sink that half-made ship.”
 
 Huh… Seems those pirate ships aren’t after cargo, but our lives.
 But why’re they after our lives? No, it’s possible it’s the king or that minister. The island exile might’ve just have been a cover, and they actually wanted to dispose of me.
 That’s a sad story. Though in the end, it’s just a guess.
 Still, I can’t believe they’d be so surprised by the lack of sails. Though their ship is certainly a sailing ship, mine is a magic construction boat. It moves by manipulating the sea’s mana currents. Naturally, it’s much faster than a sailing ship.
 Ships of the type the pirates have can, at best, travel at a speed of 15 knots. But if it’s my magic ship, it can output ten times that.
 
 ”Fire, fireee!”
 ”Unyo!?”
 
 I was thinking about such things when those guys fired the cannons on their pirate ships.
 But, it’s a very old cannon model. Since the ships were sailing ships, I had a feeling it was so, but to think that they actually rely on old-fashioned gunpowder. Additionally, the cannon only shoots iron cannonballs, which seems to kind of be as strong as a catapult.
 A column of water rises in the surroundings. Thereafter, the pirates’ joyful voices could be heard.
 
 ”Yeeaaahhh, a direct hiiiiit!”
 ”He’s reduced to a watery grave!”
 
 I could hear the pirates’ delighted voices. Sure, it did hit a direct hit on the hull. However, I didn’t show any signs of avoiding it, because it wasn’t necessary.
 
 ”O-, oi, look!”
 ”Wh-, what the h**l is going on? Far from sinking, it doesn’t even have a scratch!”
 
 The pirates were all shouting noisily. But that’s natural. This boat makes use of plenty architectural techniques, and the armour is reinforced enough to withstand attacks from sea monsters and sea dragons. Naturally, it’s reinforced using architectural techniques. [TL: I assume that ぎゃぁぎゃぁ just means they’re being noisy, similar to the sound seagulls would make. Alternate would be an onomatopoeia such as “huh, huh”]
 Now then, naturally I’m not so kind-hearted as to silently take this bombardment.
 
 ”Unii!”
 ”Yeah, let’s counterattack them hard.”
 
 Uni jumped up and down like “pyon, pyon”, openly showing his anger. Pirates truly do no good.
 For that reason, I operate the panel on the mast and change modes.
 
 ”Boss! That boat, isn’t there something strange about its shape?”
 ”I-, it’s a bluff!”
 
 They seemed to have noticed the change. This magic construction vehicle changes its shape depending on the mode. And right now I chose icebreaker mode.
 It was made as a countermeasure for when the sea around the royal capital’s harbour froze over in the past. The sea around the harbour changed into a thick sea of ice, but I was able to break through the ice thanks to this mode.
 And that power is also useful for naval battles.
 
 ”Let’s go! Full speed ahead!”
 
 The speed picks up as the boat in icebreaker mode pushes forward.
 
 ”It-, it’s pushing forward with such amazing speed!”
 ”It-, it’ll be fine! This ship has thick armour!”
 
 Really? It doesn’t look like that to me. Incidentally, when in this mode, the bow below the waterline changes into a bulbous bow.
 With this, even more pushing power is possible! Double the power! [TL: I’m no expert, but a bulbous bow doesn’t look like it should have such a profound effect. Double is too much.]
 
 ”Take this! Ice-breaking Craaaaaaaash!”
 ”””””Aaaaaaaaargh!”””””
 
 Three of the pirate ships were wrecked by the magic construction vehicle’s charge. The other two ships were left scattered to the left and right.
 Also, it seems one of them has the captain on board.
 
 ”Damn it! Argh, it’s a monster, run away!”
 ”Hurry, hurry!”
 
 Hmph, they’re apparently trying to run away, but it would be irritating if we let the pirate ships that attacked us run away like this.
 So, I operated the panel on the mast. This boat is equipped with a powerful magic pump. This is originally meant for construction, but depending on how it’s used, it can also be a weapon.
 The magic construction boat is equipped with a magic water cannon. This equipment is used in case a fire breaks out at sea, but if the pressure is increased, it can also be used as a weapon.
 I aim the barrel at the remaining pirate ships and shoot out water at high pressure! Architectural techniques put magic power into the water, which shoots straight through the pirate ships like a laser, destroying them.
 
 ”Wh-, what the h**l’s this!”
 ”Why’s the water like thiiiiis!”
 ”A dragon! That must be a dragon with the appearance of a ship!”
 
 The pirates panicked while screaming out, and in a blink of an eye the two ships were destroyed, and so with this, all the pirate ships are wrecked.
 
 ”Unyu~!”
 ”Yeah, it’s a total annihilation, huh.”
 
 This time Uni jumped up and down like “pyon, pyon” to show his joy. Oh dear, seems things got turned around for the pirate ships, and they became the ones getting drowned at sea, huh…
 
 
 
 ◇◆◇
 
 
 
 The wreckage of many pirate ships drifted in the sea. Floating in the water is a pirate flag. Clutching at the broken pieces, the pirates looked to the sky and screamed in frustration.
 
 ”What the h**l’s that monster-like ship!”
 
 Not bothering with such cries by the pirates, the magic ship steered by Walker headed leisurely toward the intended island…