Translator: Nat
–Aegir POV–
「Fufu, you have a cute navel.」
I lick the white skin in front of me.
「Hauu!」
The stomach pulls away from me on reflex and the owner of the body lets out a little cry.
When I look up, I see the agonizing face of a cute girl―― of course belonging to Celia―― and our eyes meet.
We exchange a silent signal and kiss.
Celia blushes bright red and she looks at me with wet eyes like she's drunk.
「Fufufu, this place is cute too.」
I suck on the pink nipple resting on top of the same white skin.
「Hiuu!」
Celia's body trembles again, and when I proceed to drag my tongue all over her breasts, her arms wrap around my head.
Then, we kiss again without saying anything.
「You have such nicely toned legs.」
I lick the tanned skin along her calf up to her thigh, which is in stark contrast to her pale stomach and chest.
At the midway point, I stop and kiss the tan lines located on her thigh before giving them a nice suck as well.
「Auu…… you left a mark.」
Celia moans happily as she bends her limbs.
We kiss again, this time involving tongue.
「This is looking quite juicy and delicious.」
I turn Celia on all fours and rain kisses her ass cheeks from behind.
「M-my ass is getting kissed!」
Celia sticks out her butt and stretches her body forward like a cat.
「There's more where that came from――」
I grab her ass, now riddled with kiss marks, with both hands and spread them apart.
「I'll show you lots of love.」
I put my face in between the crack.
Her entire body has a cute appearance, yet this part is the only place with a pungent womanly scent.
My mouth touches her genitals that are still pink like when she was a virgin and slightly open with honey accumulating in anticipation of a man.
「You can't lick me thereー!」
Celia cries out in embarrassment and resists by wiggling her butt, though that only further excites me.
「Whew.」
I would normally begin pleasuring her for real now, but she got plenty of her juices on my face, which I wipe with my hand.
Celia sees that and turns around swiftly, then spreads her arms.
「Nn.」
「Nnhー♪」
We kiss again.
「Fuaaah……」
It was a simple pressing of our lips and briefly tangling our tongues, and Celia is already melting like butter in a hot frying pan.
After reporting her victory in battle and dealing with the aftermath, Celia snuck into my sleeping quarters.
Her expression was awfully stiff and awkward.
Then Celia spoke in a tone as if she erased her emotions.
「My lips were taken by a stupid and perverted muscle head I don't know.」
Then she pounces on me and clings to my body……
「I'll accept the punishment for letting my guard down. Please…… just overwrite the kiss!」
That's what she pleaded.
I warmly envelope Celia and not only kiss her, but push her down so I could lick all over her body.
Deeply moved by my kindness, she literally bared her heart and her body to me.
A pang of guilt stabs my heart, but it's not necessarily a good thing to tell her everything.
I'll keep the truth to myself.
With the intent to atone for what I did, I spent several hours and lick her body from her toes to her forehead and from her armpits to her asshole, causing Celia to agonize so much that she passed out without penetration.
The next day, maintenance and the resupplying of Ivanna's fleet was completed.
And as if it was all planned, an urgent report came in from a spy saying the enemy fleet is looking to set sail from Tebia.
The Next Day. North Teries River.
「Flag signal from the flagship Suvarov―― "Stay the course, continue patrolling while following along".」
The lookout relays the message to the ship captain.
「No changes to our orders. Maintain strict vigilance of the area while keeping up with the flagship.」
Aaval officer repeats the captain's orders in a loud voice so the sailors could hear.
One of the sailors looks questionably in this direction.
I can't blame him, since I'm an outsider in a place like this.
The Supreme Commander of the fleet is Ivanna, and it's her orders that move the captains of each ship, who in turn order the sailors to act.
We aren't in that chain of command.
Since any unnecessary conduct would only interfere with their operations, I refrain from overstepping my boundaries.
「Well, that applies only if they still have a chain of command established.」
The one who quipped from the side was Sekrit.
She is stroking her left arm.
「Don't talk like you're trying to imply something, S――」
I cover my mouth before saying her name.
Her name is widely known amongst all the sailors of the Federation, after all.
I almost caused needless trouble.
Ivanna's fleet sortied as soon as the notice came in saying the enemy fleet was headed toward Patena.
It's not clear how many of the gathered ships in their fleet will be coming, but it's unthinkable for them to send a small force when they know we have a fleet of combat vessels.
They're obviously aiming to destroy our fleet, so leaving them in the harbor is too dangerous.
We have the option to evade momentarily in the downstream section, but in that case, there is a high probability that the mooring facilities in Patena would get destroyed.
Ivanna also strongly insisted on repelling the enemy via fleet battle, so it was ultimately decided that we would intercept them on the river.
Our entire fleet consists of the battleship Suvarov, 5 large combat ships, and 20 small combat ships.
Our flagship is the only battleship and naturally Ivanna is riding it.
Meanwhile, we're riding the large combat ship named Dolta―― which Sekrit said, is a ship that tried to balance firepower and mobility and ended up average in both categories.
「We can't let you board the Suvarov.」
Many of Ivanna's close aides have seen Sekrit's face after all.
Her time on the ship would be a bed of thorns, plus she might set off the short-tempered Ivanna and hinder her command.
With that said, I couldn't let Sekrit ride here on her own since I don't know what kind of problems she might cause, that's why I also came along.
「Kuku, that woman's face when you said you would board the same ship as me was quite the sight.」
Sekrit says as she touches her left arm amusingly.
Along with a crisp metal click, the hand covered with a black glove springs open.
「I made her angry, huh?」
When I said I wanted to accompany her, Ivanna naturally thought I would be riding the Suvarov with her.
Telling her I would ride with Sekrit on the Dolta would obviously enrage her.
She didn't yell probably because she was in front of her subordinates, but she puffed her cheeks like Celia does when sulking, and said "Do whatever you want! I don't care if you sink!" before turning away as if ignoring me and walking away in a huff.
Leopolt expressed a desire to observe and took my place on her ship, though Ivanna's mood didn't improve.
I'll have to cheer her up when we get back.
I wonder if licking her entire body like I did with Celia would work.
「Fufun.」
On the other hand, Sekrit plops herself beside me as she brushes her hand over her artificial arm with a content expression.
Seeing that, the sailors start gossiping.
「Hey, isn't that man a Goldonia commander? Why isn't he riding on the flagship?」
「How would I know? ……rumor has it that he's friends with our admiral.」
「Seriously!? Then who's the woman beside…… hah!」
Don't unjustly suspect me.
「Interesting rumor. I'll enlighten them to the truth.」
Sekrit grabs my arm and blows on my ear.
The sailors let out surprised voices while the ship captain clears his throat in disapproval.
「I'll exaggerate it a little.」
I feel something slimy in my ear. Sekrit, don't put your tongue in my ear.
「Hey, by the way.」
Sekrit suddenly changes her tone.
「Do you like tattoos on girls?」
「Huh?」
Did she see Annette's body?
「If you like that, I can get one on my ass or maybe abdomen……」
「I don't particularly care for it. You don't have to purposely mark up your body.」
Honestly, I get turned on when I see the tattoos on Annette's body.
However, I don't want to ruin the beautiful dark skin Sekrit has.
I make a face like I don't know what the captain and the sailors are saying.
「Is that so…… well, if you have something you want me to do, let me know. I can't guarantee whether I'll do it though.」
Sekrit says as she strokes her left arm.
I'm guessing this is her way of thanking me for the arm.
But, I still haven't completed my objective yet.
I went as far as upsetting Ivanna to bring Sekrit along.
She wasn't depressed because she lost her arm.
It was because she lost her freedom to move and ability to fight.
I can only say she's back when she's running around on the battlefield.
And what better place for her to get her groove than a surface battle, the thing she's the best at.
「A large ship has been spotted in the west-southwest…… it's a combat ship! Multiple combat ships confirmed! There…… there are at least 50!」
When the lookout shouts, everyone's gazes turn away from us.
「Adjust the sails, ffill the cannons with gunpowder!」
The sailors run to fulfill their duties like they were shot out of a cannon.
I look to the ship beside us and also see flag signals being waved incessantly by someone on the mast.
Although I don't understand them, they are probably used to share information have on the enemy.
I don't want to get in the way so I sit on top of a box off to the side of the path.
「I'm borrowing you for a second.」
As soon as I heard Sekrit's voice, she uses my shoulders as a stepladder to climb onto the mast.
「Nice.」
「Of course. How many meals do you think I've had over the years?」
Sekrit easily climbs up to a high point, stabs a knife into the wooden mast and hangs from it.
「Fumu…… there are about half the ships from what was scouted. The composition…… is mainly large combat ships. I see.」
Sekrit comprehends the situation alone from above my head.
「Hey, explain it to me. I don't really get it.」
Also, don't wobble so much, you'll make me worried.
「The enemy's goal is for sure to destroy our home port and annihilate our fleet. There's no meaning in withholding their forces…… so they probably divided their fleet in two. The one composed mainly of large ships will attack Patena and the fleet of high-speed combat ships will head downstream, to intercept us if we were to evade in that direction…… something like that, I guess.」
I get it now. Even if we try to avoid, we'll end up fighting and Patena will be attacked.
「It's good that we don't have to face the entire enemy fleet right off the bat…… although having to deal with most of the large ships doesn't make the fight easier. Even considering the difference in firepower between the Federation ships and Central Plains ships, we have no chance of victory if we simply exchange fire with them head-on.」
「Ivanna will manage. She's a capable woman.」
Sekrit's voice becomes a little harsher.
「She was trounced by me though.」
「That's because you were more competent.」
Her voice became a little gentler.
The enemy sails at full speed from upstream and travels in a straight line toward us.
We also challenge them head-on by sailing directly at them.
「……fumu, that woman also knows the bare minimum.」
Sekrit turns her body and clings tightly to the mast.
「Hard to port――!!」
Dolta's hull creaks loudly as the boat tilts far to the right.
「Gue.」
I wasn't expecting the sudden movement, so I slid off the box I was sitting on and hit my head on the deck.
「A rapid change of direction to circle around to the right side of the enemy, huh?」
It wasn't only the Dolta, the rest of the military vessels veer to the left.
「A maneuver war where we travel along the perimeter of the enemy and shower them with cannonfire…… you'd be a total idiot if you chose to do anything else in this situation.」
Sekrit drops down from the mast, rolls to soften her landing on the ground and then stands back up.
It was a big difference from the unsightly way I got up.
Looking at the state of battle again, our fleet has turned the ships around so that the sides with powerful cannons installed are facing the enemy.
Accordingly, the enemy fleet attempts to match us by doing the same thing, however……
「We are upstream. The speed of turning the boat when the current is against you is completely different than when the current is on your back. At the expense of a great loss of speed……」
As Sekrit says, our ally ships began to fire their cannons before the enemy could finish turning.
「Fire――!!」
The one to shoot first was the flagship Suvarov, followed by Dolta and the rest of the ships in the fleet.
Several moments later, smoke and fire rises from various enemy ships.
「Full speed ahead, accelerate!」
In time with the firing, oars are lowered and the Dolta noticeably picks up pace.
Despite the enemy's sporadic counterattack, none of their shots hit.
「That's the obvious result. They're barely diagonal and the smoke from our collective cannonfire obstructs their view. It's no use to shoot blindly.」
While the enemy is at a loss for what to do, our ally ships cut across the front of the enemy fleet, move to the side, then around to the rear.
「Fire――!!」
Cannons fire again and bombard from the side.
Shots coming in response from the enemy don't cause any damage to our allies.
「It's the difference in ability of the cannons. Federation cannons are annoyingly excellent and can shoot at the edge of their range without the opponent being able to do anything.」
「Shooting when we're barely in range won't deal any fatal blows to the enemy though.」
None of the shots that hit have really sunk the enemy ships.
「That's fine. Our goal right now is not to annihilate the enemy, it's to repel them. If we can damage several ships and injure some of their crew, the enemy fleet can't continue to fight. A small fire will result in smoke that blocks their view, and if one ship starts to drift after being rendered unable to steer, the formation of their fleet will be messed up. That's what a surface battle is like.」
I see. We certainly are not obliterating ships, but the enemy fleet is clearly in disarray and the ship line has clumped together like one big dumpling.
The state of battle now appears to be in our favor despite the clear disadvantage in numbers.
Dolta's captain smiles contently and boasts to us.
「The Central Plains ships may look impressive, but they don't have any decent cannons installed. I also hear many of their smaller ships are not even equipped with cannons. Numbers don't matter to the proud Federation fleet――」
Fumu…… I remember getting blasted rather fiercely when I went on that scouting mission though.
「In the first place, only veteran navy soldiers like ours can hit at this distance. A city state with an underdeveloped navy can't hit me even if I was giant――」
Before the captain could finish, I hear the sound of something whizzing through the air from above.
When Sekrit and I instinctively take cover, a big explosion and shockwave blows over our heads, spraying fragments of wood, metal and something squishy against our bodies.
「……t-the bridge was hit!! The captain has died――! Lieutenant captain is injured――! Requesting for medics――!!」
I raise my head and see a familiar ship…… the battleship that mercilessly fired upon us during the reconnaissance operation.
