Baron Hans of the Resen Kingdom was about to lose his mind.
Just two weeks into their voyage on a medium-sized trade ship bound for the Gaukren Kingdom, disaster struck.
And there were still a few more days left on the itinerary.
“Uh…!”
But of all things, a pirate crew based on the distant Ubeur Island was gearing up to assault the baron’s ship.
They had deliberately plotted a course to avoid the notorious stronghold of the dreaded Dusks, only to run smack into them.
“We’re up against three pirate ships! There’s no way to escape their encirclement right now!”
Hans furrowed his brow at the report from his subordinate, Moran.
“…I can’t let them take everything from us like this. If that happens, the trust I’ve built for Hans Trading Company will crumble.”
Hans had not been born a noble.
He was a merchant.
As the most renowned trader in the Resen Kingdom, he earned recognition and was directly granted the title of baron by the king of Resen.
While they wouldn’t revoke the title, reversing the shattered hope once betrayed was no easy task.
“But we only have one magic cannon. We can’t possibly hold our ground. The only real fighter on board is Galros, a mid-level sword expert. What are the odds that these three medium-class pirate ships don’t have at least one high-ranking fighter among them?”
Hans nodded slowly at Moran’s words.
“Surrender… seems to be the best option. I know that, Moran. I’ll assess the situation and decide.”
“Understood.”
The young advisor, Moran, slumped his head in defeat.
—Resen Kingdom’s ship──! Halt immediately!!
A booming voice echoed through the magical loudspeaker.
—If you don’t stop, you’ll be hit by eight magic cannonballs at once!!
That shout rang out just before…
Boom────!!
The thunderous sound of cannon fire erupted.
A pillar of water shot up.
Cannonballs fell, crashing right in front of the Resen trading ship.
“…I’ll order the ship to stop for now.”
Moran said weakly. Hans slowly nodded.
“Yeah, do that.”
Hans climbed up to the deck with Moran.
Raising his hands high to show their intent to surrender.
They were surely watching from the magical telescope, keeping an eye on the Resen trading ship.
—Stay where you are. Don’t move a muscle.
A gruff voice pierced sharply through the air.
The anchored trade ship began to slowly come to a halt.
Whoooosh──
Two Dark ships approached, their black sails fluttering in the breeze.
He approached, grand and imposing.
The central ship was the largest. The ships on both sides were also no small matter.
In the center, the gigantic ship, nearly 50 meters long, was powerfully advancing, propelled by a magical engine that expertly caught the wind.
The pirate ship on the left began to draw closer to the trading vessel.
Behind that pirate ship was the largest ship of all, the flagship, carrying 58 pirates.
On the deck of the flagship stood a middle-aged man with a wild mane of black curly hair. Hectos, the captain of the Dusk Pirates, made his appearance.
He brought a magic loudspeaker to his mouth.
“Before meeting you, I sank a fishing boat from the Resen Kingdom.”
Behind Hectos, about a dozen pirates were bustling about.
The scene they created was quite bizarre.
Or perhaps, in the world where pirates lived, it was just an ordinary sight.
On the deck, they laid a long wooden plank extending outside the pirate ship.
And they dragged along four individuals by their hair.
Three men and one woman.
Hectos approached the woman with silver hair.
“Hey, girl.”
With a brutish hand, he lifted her chin. Hectos’ gruff voice rumbled in her ears.
“EEK…!”
The woman’s chin trembled in sheer terror.
Her ragged clothes hung loosely on her trembling upper and lower body like a quaking aspen.
SLAP!
His rough palm slapped the woman’s cheek.
Her head whipped to the side with a jolt.
“Ugh….”
She whimpered while touching her face.
“You need to answer, girl.”
“Y-yes, yes….”
Hectos continued.
“Girl, before we had our fun with the lads, did you spend the night with any of them?”
He motioned toward the three male captives with a jerk of his head.
“N-no… not at all….”
He cackled at her response.
“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
He laughed loudly.
Following the captain, the crew erupted into boisterous laughter.
“HA HA HA HA HA!!”
“Hey, you little brats, don’t need this stuff! Can’t even eat with it right next to you, you useless bastards! HA HA!!”
Hectos clapped forcefully.
The pirates’ laughter abruptly ceased.
Hectos clenched the woman’s chin again.
“Choose.”
“W-what?”
“You’ll pick someone to stand on that wooden plank. It’s up to you, girl.”
“…What?”
Hectos drew the sword strapped to his back.
Hectos drew the sword that had been resting on his back.
“If you don’t, you die.”
The woman trembled all over as she scanned her comrades.
Her expression twisted in a way that words couldn’t describe. The faces of her companions stiffened in response to her look.
Even in her crumbling state of mind, the woman had to rank her comrades.
Who had made a minor mistake?
Who had, one day, sullied her mood?
Who had ever looked at her with a gloomy glare?
She pointed at the man on the far left.
The man’s eyes went wide.
“Ma, Mary?”
The woman reacted to his question with tears in her eyes and a trembling mouth.
“I, I’m sorry….”
Hectos smirked.
“Take that bastard away.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The pirates approached, dragging the man along.
His upper body and legs were already bound with ropes.
“Get up, you loser. Hehehe!”
The cruel laughter echoed.
“Ughhhhh!”
The man screamed as he trembled on the wooden planks.
“Oh, look at this wimp, just crying like a baby.”
One pirate muttered as he notched an arrow to his bowstring.
Kiiiiiik!
And shot it.
Fwawsh!
The arrow shot out like lightning, piercing the man’s thigh.
“Kyaaaaah─!”
His scream resonated across the shore.
The pirate who shot the arrow readied another one.
Thunk!
This time it lodged into the center of his back.
Swaying—
The man’s body slowly leaned and then toppled off the wooden platform.
Splash─
A column of water erupted as he hit the ground.
The man’s fate was sealed.
The two remaining male comrades and the silver-haired woman, Mary, looked on in horror at the scene.
Hectos lifted Mary’s chin again.
“Now, who’s next?”
Mary’s eyes widened in shock.
“Y-You mean?”
“You gotta choose the next one, right? It’s just picking numbers. Woman. The other two aren’t particularly useful like you.”
“Hii, khhiiiaaak!”
Overwhelmed by fear, Mary bit her tongue and screamed.
In the end, the pirates dispatched all the men except Mary.
Hectos stood at the railing, his black long hair fluttering.
“Ah, the trade ship of Resen. You don’t need to worry. Those with a lot of money are useful just as they are.”
Baron Hans of Resen knew very well why they were showing such behavior when capturing them.
“Don’t resist needlessly,” he had said.
It must be an attempt to instill fear in advance.
‘Or maybe just a pirate’s amusement.’
Hans and Moran raised their hands high, scrunching their brows together.
The only people who witnessed the pirates’ rampage were the thirty or so aboard the Resen trade ship.
“….”
Screech—
Duke Yuma had seen everything through the magical telescope he got from a crew member, watching the men being captured.
“Garbage.”
And next to him was another person. Bell, who was walking on the deck with Yuma, had also received the magical telescope and witnessed the scene.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
“Can you handle it, Bell?”
Bell grinned widely.
“Those pirates?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, I can do it.”
A sharp light flowed in Bell’s pink eyes.
“If my lord says to subdue them, I’ll subdue. If he says to kill, I’ll kill.”
*
Swoosh—
The pirate ship on the left, carrying forty-one pirates, drew close to the Resen trade ship.
Clatter! Bang!
Then, excluding nine, thirty-two pirates boarded Resen’s ship.
Swish!
A messy-bearded pirate pressed a knife against Baron Hans’s neck.
It was at that moment.
Swoosh—
The sound of waves spreading echoed on the shore.
“Huh?”
“Another ship is coming from behind!”
The eyes of the pirates and Resen people turned to a faintly visible ship in the distance.
It was the ship of Baron Amon, where Yuma was.
“If they looked through the telescope, they’d be running away; why are they charging at us like this…?”
Hectos muttered, his brows furrowed tight.
The waves rippled and created a splash.
Now the ship that had looked faintly was clearly visible.
It was a ship flying the flag of the Astes Empire.
A voice echoed loudly in the ears of the pirates and the Resen people.
– It is the Astes Empire.
– We will assist our allied Resen Kingdom.
– Having witnessed your wicked deeds, we shall kill you whether you fight back or surrender.
Yuma’s declaration of war spread across the sea.
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