As expected, the first to arrive near the Sea Emperor Turtle was the small ship carrying Linford.

Linford gave a wry smile, while Adelie brought a hand to her mouth in elegant surprise. The two B-rank adventurers, on the other hand, were pointing at us and making a commotion.

“Didn’t expect you guys to get here first.”

“I’m quite surprised… But how exactly are you floating in midair?”

Even with the enormous Sea Emperor Turtle right in front of them, that didn’t seem to be their main concern. Well, to be fair, it wasn’t doing anything other than slowly moving forward.

“Let’s focus on the Sea Emperor Turtle for now.”

“Indeed… But do explain that magic to me later.”

When I steered the conversation back to the mission, Adelie backed down easily. I had assumed she might be the stubborn type due to her noble-like demeanor, but she didn’t seem that way.

“How close should we get?”

I directed my question to Linford.

While it was common knowledge that most ranged attacks lost power over distance, being too close carried the risk of retaliation. The ideal distance was a balance between safety and effectiveness.

“Hmm…”

Linford turned to observe the Sea Emperor Turtle, pondering for a moment before looking back at me.

“More importantly, how close do you think you two can safely get?”

“Huh?”

“You might as well board our ship. No need to waste mana before the battle even starts.”

Though I was the one asking the question, it seemed like he wanted our opinion. I could hear someone behind him grumbling about why our opinion mattered, but Linford completely ignored them.

Still, if we could conserve our energy, I saw no reason not to take up his offer.

“You look confused, but from what I hear, you two were the first to investigate the Sea Emperor Turtle. That means you probably know more about it than I do.”

The murmurs behind him stopped immediately. Well, thanks for answering my question.

Since he wanted my firsthand assessment, I figured I might as well share my thoughts.

“If that’s the case…”

As I recalled our investigation, Rio was the first to speak.

“During our investigation, the turtle didn’t show any signs of aggression, so I think getting close—even landing on its shell—should be fine.”

“However, we don’t know what kind of attacks it might have, so no matter how far we stay, there’s no guarantee of safety. That said, if we believe the records from 150 years ago, it never retaliated, so we don’t have to be overly cautious.”

“Right. As long as we stay out of reach of its bite, we should be fine.”

Since we’d be attacking from the ship, keeping out of range of its physical attacks seemed like a reasonable precaution.

“I see. That’s helpful. It’s hard to judge distances with something this massive, but let’s stay about a hundred meters away. Any further, and our long-range attacks might be less effective.”

Just as we finished our discussion, the second ship finally arrived, bringing with it a loud and chaotic energy.

“H-how the hell are you guys already here!?”

The loudest of them was, of course, Rex. The other B-rank adventurers were also making a fuss, though Saskia, the elf, didn’t seem particularly interested.

“Why? Because it’s our job, obviously.”

“That’s not what I meant, dammit! I’m asking how you even got here!”

Oh? Wasn’t it you guys who tried to stop us from getting here in the first place?

Well, I supposed we’d be revealing our method soon enough anyway. If we went all out on the turtle, there was a good chance the ship wouldn’t survive the aftermath.

“We flew, of course.”

As I spoke, I gently floated into the air and drifted toward the ship we were originally supposed to board. Nir, on the other hand, leaped effortlessly onto the deck, landing without so much as a tremor.

“W-what!?”

The B-rank adventurers stood there, stunned into silence.

“Oh… now that’s interesting magic.”

The one to react was Saskia, who had previously shown no interest.

“I can sense wind mana, but there’s something else mixed in… Which element is it, I wonder…”

She didn’t ask me directly, though. Instead, she just kept muttering to herself while scrutinizing us.

“F-flying… You can actually fly…?”

As we landed on the ship, Rex instinctively took a step back.

“Well, I do have some confidence in my magic, so I look forward to working with you,” Rio said with a pleasant smile.

Rex took another step back and nodded vigorously. The other B-rank adventurers seemed to have no objections either.

“Alright! Now that we’re all here, let’s go over the plan one more time!”

With all ten of us in position, Linford’s voice rang out, calling us to order. Our mission was to divert the Sea Emperor Turtle’s course, and we had to see it through.

The enormous creature before us looked more like an island than a living being. Its limbs and head remained hidden beneath the water, leaving only its massive, jagged shell visible above the surface.

The shell’s towering ridges and sheer size made it clear—this wouldn’t be an easy fight.

And so, our battle against this colossal monster was about to begin.