<585 – Delicious Linked Quest (9)>
Jigoku had been notorious as a southern pirate long before entering the Gift Academy.
Naturally, there were pirates who followed her as their captain, and many pirate villages relied on her gang for supplies or protection.
“Did Captain Jigoku have a real pirate crew before enrollment?”
“Uwahaha! So you’re a little interested in being a real pirate after playing pirate games, huh?”
“To be honest, I don’t really want to be a pirate, but I do want to follow Captain Jigoku who helped us.”
Jigoku gave a hearty laugh and slapped the back of the weak subordinate crew member A who had come up alongside her in the second year.
“I’m quite impressed, so let me tell you about my hometown.”
“Before you do that, I think I might die… could you ease off on the slaps, Captain…?”
“The Southern Seas are a mess where you can’t find a navy even if you wash your eyes! It’s a region filled with numerous islands and reefs, whirlpools, monsters, and pirates. The infamous pirate Magellan ruled that sea. If you didn’t pay tribute to him, his men would beat you up.”
“Did you pay tribute, Captain?”
“Are you crazy? I told them to shove it and darted through the reefs. I even dove into a whirlpool to eliminate the pursuers; no one came after me after that.”
“Wow! That’s amazing, Captain! You truly are the Captain!”
“Gahahaha, aren’t I great? You all are going to be crew members of this great captain’s pirate gang.”
Jigoku laughed heartily, but there was a story she couldn’t tell her crew.
She had survived the whirlpool with her strong body, but her subordinates hadn’t been that lucky.
– Captain. To escape, someone must steer until the end.
– Shut up, navigator! The captain doesn’t leave the ship until it sinks!
– Uwahaha! Don’t act all tough as a female captain. That’s for the men to do!
A magical rope, meant to keep high-value prisoners restrained, wrapped tightly around Jigoku’s body.
The crew forcibly loaded her onto the Escape Speedboat, equipped with an autopilot function, and launched her beyond the whirlpool.
She survived because she was a woman, while the crew perished because they were men.
‘I made up my mind to see what that so-called great man is like, and thanks to that, I met these guys.’
Although the bumbling subordinate crew members were weak compared to her, they were stronger than the ones who had been trapped in the whirlpool.
Now, even if they were caught in the same cursed sea, they predicted they would survive alone and could attempt to escape together without making the same sacrifice as before.
As long as they hoped to stay on the same ship.
Reality would be different.
This was the Gift Academy.
The world’s top educational institution.
Even those who seemed incompetent were only weaker compared to battle jobs or upper classes; outside, they were all capable Competent Persons or promising direct descendants of renowned figures or elite members of massive organizations.
It was doubtful how many of these promising individuals would actually follow her, but after crew member A volunteered, others joined in like whoosh!
“Don’t even think about leaving me behind! The position of deckhand is definitely mine!”
“You won’t graduate while leaving our future artillery commander behind, right?”
“I’ll develop any necessary sailing magic tools in the Production Department somehow!”
Having thrown away their promising futures to become members of the pirate gang, they finally felt the warmth of togetherness and learned to live together.
In Jigoku’s eyes, they were becoming fine apprentice pirates who were learning what freedom is and what responsibilities come with it, moving away from a bleak future.
‘Bottom-tier pirates have nothing and are awfully poor.’
Jigoku had a conscience too.
Poor pirates had become desperate after just escaping from a ragged fishing village, with no prospects for their future, banding together to plunder merchant ships or getting dragged down by drunks in cheap taverns, thus stuck in poverty.
She couldn’t let those who turned into pirates after living well endure such a bottom existence.
Having benefited from her at the Academy, they joined the pirate gang, but thinking about after graduating, she needed to prepare more support for the pirate gang early on.
Food supply.
Weapon trades.
Crew recruitment.
Information gathering.
She needed to pull in residents to substitute for diverse activities and make them allies with the pirates.
To do this, it would actually be fastest to lend help forcibly to those exploited by the government or living in poverty to turn them into benefactors of the Jigoku Pirate Group.
During the last winter vacation, Jigoku had graciously aided the impoverished coastal villages in the northern continent.
“Whenever a ship docks, we will supply food.”
“We ask you to regularly eliminate monsters threatening our village in the future.”
“I will keep an eye on the movements of the Imperial Army and prepare information to exchange for additional support.”
The people had developed a commendable spirit of repaying what they had received.
There were despicable trash who didn’t want to repay their debts and ended up being indebted to pirates while selling out pirate positions to the navy, but these folks were not that way.
It was fortunate for Jigoku, who didn’t want to see the blood of innocent people.
“That Marindis will take courses in ‘Marine Ecology’, ‘Underwater Resources’, and ‘Introduction to Sea Monsters’ to study the resources that could revive the pirate gang and problematic monsters as well as mana distribution areas.”
“That Filter registered for ‘Artillery Techniques’, ‘Rapid Cooling’, and ‘Maintenance Techniques for Alcoholic Beverages’ to become the future artillery commander!”
Now even the bumbling subordinate crew members were steadily preparing for the future, and Jigoku had no concerns.
As long as that signal didn’t show up on the signboard indicating a situation in her territory that she would need to respond to.
‘Is it an invasion of marine monsters? Or a reconnaissance unit of the snow legion wandering in the north? The regular army of Northern Grand Duke Yuda dispatched for supply issues and troop recruitment? Or the Northern Resistance Army which is weakened after the first Revolutionary Army was crushed?’
She thought of all possible outcomes, but to accurately grasp the situation, she would have to commandeer a pirate ship and head directly to the village.
“El Draco Professor, there’s been a problem in my territory! I am applying for a permit to go out, so I ask for your approval!”
“These damn cadets have no respect for professors whatsoever. I wonder where they threw their respect out.”
“But you also speak casually to the principal. Let’s not be rude to fellow pirates.”
“Oh, come on. What kind of subordinate reflects on their captain’s dignity while siding with the cadets? The pirate discipline is a mess.”
Grumbling, El Draco Professor still issued the permit without hesitation.
“I can extend your time saying I assigned you other work for about a week. After that, you should prepare for a fine, kid.”
Understanding the importance of Jigoku’s territory, El Draco Professor granted a favor of extending the period, likely due to their shared bond as pirates.
Jigoku had half the mind to seek out El Draco Professor, but she was indeed moved by the daring spirit of a pirate!
Among the malicious professors, the only trustworthy one was certainly the pirate-born El Draco Professor!
-Captain, to be honest, are you plotting to use the extension of the outing as an excuse to naturally turn Jigoku into an apprentice for your subordinate pirate gang?
-Would you even call that a plan? What do you take me for? I totally aim for that.
Jigoku was clueless, unaware that the grumpy professor and the supportive instructor were communicating behind her back through Mind Link magic…
“Is this it?”
Using the Teleport Station, they quickly arrived at the Northern continent.
It would still take a while to reach isolated villages without a teleport station or a pirate ship, but the northern city where a teleport station was installed was still rife with an unsettled atmosphere.
Feeling something strange, Jigoku stopped a passerby to ask.
“Is something happening in the North?”
“Some damn fool…”
The man, who started clenching his fists and cursing, abruptly halted.
Startled by Jigoku’s imposing physique and feeling weaker than her despite being a muscular guy, he found his body unable to move due to her gripping a bottle of alcohol.
If one were to say it nicely, it meant they could share a drink, but if they used vulgar language, it meant they were about to be clobbered with the bottle.
“That damn fool, what?”
“Those guys are causing a ruckus at the critical location on the northern front, and there are rumors spreading that they are urgently sending reinforcements or suppressing them under the orders of the Northern Grand Duke.”
Jigoku chuckled lightly as if granting him a pass.
“And just what kind of fools are they?”
“Those Northern Resistance Army guys have been causing trouble ever since their connection to the first revolutionary leader was severed. You’re huge; why not get an adventurer certificate before you’re conscripted and go do personal missions? If you get dragged to the front lines, you might end up signing up for military service thinking you can get a passage or a fee discount, and clean up the battlefield in no time.”
Jigoku found the ongoing mess in the North to be nothing new, so she asked dispassionately.
“Any news from the Eastern Village?”
“There is.”
So something really did go down.
Seeing Jigoku’s serious expression, the man hurriedly continued.
“In the Poor Fishermen Village, there have been reports that groups wearing the regular army uniforms have invaded looking for food.”
“What the hell? The regular army is raiding a fishing village? Where are those bastards now? Are they still in the village, or did they run off to the military right away? Just tell me. I’ll blow everything up!”
“Uh… I’d say they’re likely on the snow-covered ground right now.”
“What?”
“They got cleaned out by passing travelers.”
“What now.”
Isn’t that the village I’ve been looking for?
“Is it that village that’s been struggling to fish for ice fish, recently worried because the ice is melting?”
“Umm… that’s probably it.”
Jigoku felt a profound shock.
Isn’t that within our territory?
She came all this way to help, but some passerby came in and cleaned our territory out?
It was a situation where she couldn’t fathom that Elahim Professor’s administrative instructor was unaware of the raid on the foundation’s troops happening right beneath him!
