Episode 7

The city they lived in, Tessenia, was not on the easy side of the mutant-hunting spectrum. Not only did they have multiple rival groups they had to compete with, but the process of flying over the ocean, luring in the mutants, and then dragging them up with harpoons was a difficult process.

“You really came.”
“I have to if I want to make up for the vandalism charges.”

However, the soul in the boy’s body had already been through more than enough harsh situations. Odysseus just grinned crookedly in response to Captain Songha’s comment.

“Very well, then. We take sail now.”

The hunting team led by Captain Songha boarded the vehicles with their gear.
Four of the odysses, who were in charge of luring the monster, rode on the single-mount Air Bikes that could accelerate from zero to sixty in two seconds; the eight harpooners rode in two-seat Air Bikes; and the three odysses, in charge of butchering and storing, rode on the Air Boat with a twenty-person capacity.

For reference, Odysseus was assigned to the Air Boat, the reason being that both the sleek, streamlined Air Bike of the luring team and the motorcycle Air Bike of the harpoon team were too dangerous for him.

“Are you disappointed that you can’t ride the Air Bikes, uh, Mister?”
“Not really. But what’s with the weird formalities? We’re the same team now.”
“But after yesterday—no, never mind. You’re right.”

On the other hand, the Air Boat looked like a yacht with proper railing. When Odysseus stared up at the strangely shaped Air Bikes lined up at the pier, the other team members snickered quietly. “Look at the kid. It’s so obvious he’s denying it.” They were clearly teasing the young boy.

“I said I’m not disappointed.”
“You don’t have to be like that. But do hold back on asking. No matter how good you get, you’ll never be riding one of those Air Bikes.”
“I’m telling the truth… But why won’t I be let on them?”
“Because you’re a magicks user. It would be insane to toss such a valuable asset into danger.”

Well… he had already heard from Aran that Air Bike riders had a higher casualty rate. Driving them was difficult enough, but apparently, staying on the bike with only the power of their legs was several times harder.
Since they would even have to withstand the struggle of the mutants once they were harpooned, it was definitely a role unfit for a small body like his. He didn’t even need to get started on the luring team, which had the highest casualty rate of them all.

“That’s a bit of a shame. I did want to try it out at least once.”
“Ask someone to give you a ride once we’re back on land. I’m sure the Captain will allow a little fuel usage if it’s the great Magicks User’s request.”
“You think so?”

While Odysseus replied to them, trying to pick out responses and words fit for a young child, he leaned comfortably against the railings of the Air Boat. His field of view heightened slightly as the Air Boat’s engine revved into action. This was the highest altitude allowed when driving on a road.

“You don’t seem scared for your first time flying.”
“Careful not to fall off. You’ll get at least a broken arm out of that.”

He’d set sail many times during his lifetime. However, he’d never imagined in his life that he would be riding a flying boat. That left him with a strange sensation.

‘If only Penelope were here as well.’

Suddenly, Odysseus began to imagine what it would have been like to have his beloved here.
Would she have been scared or fascinated? Maybe she would have smiled broadly. Although she didn’t admit it, Penelope liked it when he lifted her in the air.

“The winds are stronger than I expected.”
“They’ll get even stronger once we’re out on sea. You’ll really fall over the railing then.”
“I see.”

Letting such thoughts drift away in the wind, he obediently followed the directions of these men who were younger than him. Of course, although he had more knowledge of the ancient times, these people had more knowledge of the current times. He now had to learn everything from the beginning.

“Don’t ever take your glasses off.”
“I can’t take them off in the first place. I can’t see without them.”
“Oh, is your eyesight that bad?”
“Yes.”

Unfortunately, this young little body had practically slits for eyes and then had terrible eyesight on top of that.
It was as if they’d plucked out the eyes of the dead Odysseus and moved them here. Everything was annoyingly blurry up close.

“Go fix your eyes later when you get more money. Don’t get fucked over by going to a quack like this guy just to save a few bucks.”
“Damn it, I told you that wasn’t intentional!”
“Hey, hey. Eyes on the road, man. You know we’re gonna be in a hell of trouble if our dear little Magicks User here gets hurt, right?”
“Fucking asshole.”

The one manning the wheel let out a curse under his breath as he smoothly drove the Air Boat. With a short moment of static, the headset that he’d been wearing buzzed into life.

-This is the Commander. Go to Platform 4.

The Air Boat and Air Bikes belonging to Odyssia: Freedom entered the airfield. The sight of the aircrafts landing and taking off from the platforms looked like something out of a myth. Odysseus gazed out at the ocean beyond the barrier and the objects moving between them.

-Prepare for takeoff.

Taking the lead, Captain Songha led the odyssia to Platform 4. They’d already booked the time in advance, so nobody there stopped them.
Without taking a single stop, all of the vehicles arrived at the airfield. A transparent dome shielded the sky, and there was a thick iron wall ahead, blocking them from sailing out to sea.

-Masks on, everyone.
“Heh, I wonder how many we’ll catch today.”
“It’d be nice to fish up a big guy today.”

As soon as they were given the signal, all the aircrafts advanced towards the barrier. Like a drawbridge, the wall in front of them lowered to create an exit.
A lukewarm wind greeted them.

“Hey, Magicks Kid, you have that mask on?”
“…Yes.”

Because the pollution eating away at the world was unbelievably persistent and potent, a mask couldn’t completely protect them. However, by wearing a mask to filter out that air, they were still able to extend the time of their death by breathing this deadly air by ten to twenty years.
This was why they still wore masks, even with the discomfort it provided.

“You remember where your weapons are?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Engrave where they are in your head. You probably won’t ever have to use them, but you never know what could happen.”
“YESSIR.”

Recalling the locations of the two knives, pistol, and special weapon he’d brought, Odysseus glanced back at the city, shrinking into the distance. The city, isolated on top of the water, reminded him of a jungle comprised of steel and concrete.

-Commander to Hawk, Eagle, Owl. Located prey. Beginning the luring operation.
“Affirmative. We’ll follow.”

They’d begun the main objective of the odyssey after traveling out to sea for about thirty more minutes. The aircrafts that had been traveling in formation quickly took their places.

-Deploy bait.

The quickest to move was obviously the luring team. The streamline-type Air Bike descended close enough to the surface of the water to the point they were almost touching, then opened the trunk of the vehicle. Crimson blood and organs sprayed out into the waters in an instant.

Another member of the luring team dove into the ocean. They quickly resurfaced but then repeated the process of splashing around in the water until their prey emerged. Considering that their target was a mutant, beast who had been altered by the pollution with maximized danger levels, this was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

“…I can see why the luring team has the highest casualty rate.”
“Right?”

However, the current age had a society where literal lives could be bought with money. It was similar to how warriors spent their lives in pursuit of honor during his time.

-Hawk here. It’s coming!

Then, finally, their efforts reaped results.
Just as one of the Air Bikes managed to break through the surface, a massive sea creature emerged behind them. Its gaping jaw was clearly intending to swallow the Air Bike and its rider whole.

Unfortunately for the mutant, the Air Bike’s acceleration was slightly quicker. The mutant shark’s mouth clamped over empty air, and the luring team quickly took aim at the monster.

-Open fire!

In addition, the harpooners who were on standby shot at the mutant that appeared. These were not the fish spears of the past. With advanced technology, they’d created something called a spear gun to put on the market.

-Hold on!
-Who’s the dumbass that missed their shot?!
-Fuck, I’m sorry!
-Reload!

More spears shot out from all directions, ultimately impaling the mutant’s body with two of the spears. That was half of the four shots that had been made, which could be seen both as a good and bad shot.

The gunshots that followed pierced the mutant’s skin and sped up its bleeding.

“Get ready now.”
“Yes, sir.”

While the harpooners who made their shot first withstood the mutant’s violent struggles and the luring team shot a few more holes through the monster, the harpooners who missed their target reloaded their guns. This time, they all hit their target.

Once all four harpoons were in place, the mutant’s struggles weakened a bit. The Air Bikes that had been swaying along to the beast’s movement also stabilized.
Managing to avoid the ever-threatening fall, they slowly raised their altitude.

“Damn, we got a biggie from the get-go.”

Around the same time, the Air Boat also slowly began to move. Obviously, it wasn’t moving slowly on purpose; the sheer size of the aircraft just made it slower than the others.

“Porter here. Lowering the chains.”

Anyway, once the Air Boat was positioned directly above the mutant, its specially modified bottom opened up.

“Careful not to fall in. That’s the dumbest way you can throw away your life here.”
“Will do.”
“Hey! Hatches are open! Lower the chains!”
“Got it!”

After that, the pulley near the top of the opened space started to move, likely a mechanism activated by the person behind the steering wheel. The weight connected to the pulley descended with dozens of noodle-like strands attached to the bottom of the weight.

“Don’t peek out too far. You’ll fall in.”
“I’m just curious what’s happening.”

Odysseus took a peek down the hatch. He could see the mutant shark, which still seemed to be alive and moving. Captain Songha, who was part of the luring team, had come near the mutant at some point.

“What’s the Captain trying to do?”
“She’s finishing it off. It’ll cause us some trouble if that thing starts struggling after we pull it up.”

The odyss told him about an actual case where they pulled up the mutant, thinking it was dead, then had a guy die from getting caught up in the monster’s final movements. It definitely sounded like an experience a seasoned odyss would have seen.

“She’s being very… careful.”
“The less wounds it has, the better. Ones we can harvest leather from have more value when they’re less damaged.”
“Ah.”

The mutant twitched occasionally, but Captain Songha continued to circle the monster without flinching a single time. There was a moment where she could have been hurt, but she instead used that as an opportunity to stab the mutant shark in the gills. Her movements were truly skilled.

“How long did you say it’s been since the Captain made this odyssia?”
“Uh… Not sure. I’ve only been here for a year.”
“Hasn’t it been about ten years? Wait, aren’t you one of the earlier members?”

Was Yul an early member? Odysseus slowly sifted through his memories. He wasn’t very sure, as the memories of his childhood were hazy, but it seemed something along those lines. He vaguely remembered Yun saying something like, ‘I don’t like that they’re talking about debt and all that… but they’ve only been established recently, so the treatment won’t be so bad.’ Then he’d taken Yun’s hand and showed off some primal magick in front of the Captain.

“That’s true.”

It seemed like Yul was around four or five back then… and since he was twelve now, that meant it had been about seven or eight years since this odyssia was established. Surviving seven to eight years in this field, infamous for its short lifespan, meant they were seasoned veterans.

“My memory is a little fuzzy since it was so long ago.”
“That’s understandable. You’re already plenty young now, so if you were even younger…”
-Kill confirmed. Pull it up.
“Ah, they’re done.”

News of their successful hunt was delivered through the headset. It was finally time for the people on the Air Boat to do their jobs.

The weight hanging above lowered down to the mutant and wrapped itself around the mutant’s corpse. What seemed to look like noodles were devices used to restrain the mutant more effectively.
Like magnets, the tentacles stuck onto the mutant’s body and anchored in place.

“Is it secured?”
-Secured. Proceed.
“Roger.”

Immediately after, the pulley dragged up the mutant’s body. The wires that had been connecting the harpoons to the Air Bikes were released, leaving no obstacles for its ascent. When the mutant’s corpse reached the upper deck of the Air Boat, the floor closed back up.

“Now, let’s get to work.”
“YESSIR.”

The corpse was released from the stringy tentacles, and the blood seeping out of the body began to soak the floorboards. The salty scent of the ocean and the metallic stench of blood penetrated his mask into his nose.

“Now, we’re going to start with the fin first.”

He didn’t have any work to do up to this point, but now it was his time to step up. The odyss in charge of butchering cleanly sliced off the shark’s fin. He would be in charge of harvesting the parts with value, but the rest was left to the young boy. Taking a butchering knife in hand, Odysseus quickly took on his job.

“Oh, you’re good with a knife. You’ll get the hang of this in no time.”
“Glad to hear that.”

This could only be considered natural, as Ithaca had also been an island. Even if it weren’t for his homeland, he’d spent nearly ten years at sea after the war with Illion—no, Troy—so he was confident in his ability to fillet fish.

“You gotta cut off the tail next. I’ll set the saw in place, so you pull every time I give the signal.”
“Okay.”
“Hehehe. It would have been nice if you were a telekinetic.”
“I think so, too.”

Telekinesis was one of the subfields of magick.
In theory, the act of spreading one’s mana into the air to move an object sounded simple, but there weren’t that many users of the field because every single movement had to be calculated over and over. It was such a tricky study that there was a saying that only those with innate talent could take the path in that field.

“At least I know how to enhance my body. I won’t hold you back.”
“That’s true. If you didn’t know how to do that, the Captain wouldn’t have let you on our team.”

Unfortunately, Odysseus did not possess the talent to accomplish all of those calculations through intuition. Instead, he was more than confident in his enhancement magick, one that let him enhance his body with mana.

“Now, pull!”

Anyway, it was possible to produce several times his original strength if enhancements were used properly. Using this, Odysseus helped saw off the mutant’s tail.

-Hawk reporting to Commander! Multiple Air Bikes are approaching at 2 o’clock on the horizon! They’re coming our way!

However, around the time they finished peeling away the scales and were in the middle of cutting off the head and gills, something happened.
An organization with a symbol of an iron bar carved into their aircraft had appeared on the horizon.