Zane’s face played a major role in us getting onto the pirate ship.
They shot judgmental glares, as if questioning whether we had run away during the battle, but as soon as they laid eyes on Zane’s beauty, they started drooling and shouted for her to get on their ship right away.
So, together with Zane, Eve, and Sen, we boarded the nearby pirate ship. Eve and Sen covered their faces with hoods to avoid unnecessary glares.
“Whoa, the woman looks delicious!”
“Is it okay to take a bite?”
They spoke as if planning to eat her, but since I knew this was just the usual vulgar banter of pirates, I said coldly as I stepped onto the deck,
“She’s a Dragoness. The captain goes first.”
The mention of the pirate lord immediately silenced them, like they had swallowed honey.
“We know! Don’t act all high and mighty! How rude!”
“Tsk.”
“Ugh, I just want to lick her soft skin just once.”
“What a knight. Such dedication!”
Hearing the pirates’ crude words while deliberately putting myself in a protective stance for the Dragoness only seemed to annoy them more.
“You guys originally aren’t from our ship, right? Head to the cabin and wait there. We’ll transfer you to the captain’s ship.”
As all eyes were on us, we made our way inside. Since this was the middle of a battle, the cabin was empty, giving me a bit of a breather.
Eve and Sen removed their hoods, but the stench wafting from the ship made them put them back on.
They realized that the magic blocking the tear gas was also keeping out the violent stench of the pirate ship.
“Guh, I almost threw up.”
“There are strange smells mixed together.”
The inside of the pirate ship was a disgusting, bizarre mix of raw, rotten smells. Even the Dragoness Zane seemed to struggle, pressing her lips together and holding her breath, so I wrapped my hood around her mouth.
“Phew, thank you.”
Finally able to breathe properly, Zane opened her mouth.
I looked around the ship and frowned.
“I often thought it was unfair when girls said the boys’ floor had strange smells, but is this what they meant?”
Usually, the ones with the smell don’t even realize it’s coming from them. I wondered if the pirates were unaware of their own stink.
Anyway, searching the pirate ship didn’t seem necessary.
Once Zane caught her breath, she cautiously asked us,
“Why did we come on a pirate ship, though?”
I hadn’t explained the reason why we had to board the pirate ship since I just said to run away in a hurry.
I answered honestly,
“We need a ship to see the Dragon God.”
“……!”
Zane’s eyes lit up, questioning how I knew that. Her trembling gaze hinted at the answer, but I pretended I didn’t see.
“I originally planned to convince the Elders and you to go together.”
I glanced at Zane.
Her expression darkened, having been forcibly removed from her position as Dragoness.
“The situation isn’t so simple, so we’re going to take you by force.”
After all, we wouldn’t be meeting the Dragon God just to see what kind of ship it was.
From what Rin had told me in the second round, the Dragon God is supposedly residing on a remote, deserted island.
At the time, I thought the Dragonkin would hate the ocean and be uncomfortable taking a ship, but once I saw the wyvern, it all made sense.
I could tell how they find the Dragon God.
“……”
Zane looked displeased.
Eve and Sen exchanged glances, rolling their eyes between me and Zane. Zane clenched her fists and responded,
“Did you think I would tell you where the Dragon God is?”
“Yeah. And if you don’t say it, you might be in danger. The Cardinal said if you return to the Dragon’s refuge, it’s execution or an arranged marriage.”
“……”
“If we meet the Dragon God, maybe something will open up?”
“The Dragon God is asleep.”
Now that the desired topic had come up, I couldn’t help but smirk.
“I know they’re awake.”
“……!”
Our eyes locked. She was trying to figure out if I was just fishing for information or if I really knew the truth.
Then she looked at Eve and Sen with disbelief, as if asking if they knew too.
“Zane, listen carefully from now on.”
Since coming to the Dragonkin’s land, hadn’t she just been listening to everything you guys talked about?
Like the pirate attacks, the compensation, or how they forcibly killed prisoners.
Zane seemed to finally realize that she hadn’t heard our actual purpose in coming here, sealing her lips.
We began to tell a lengthy story.
*
The battle of Royen ended quickly.
Although the Dragonkin responded better than expected, the pirates weren’t here to win, so they swiftly disengaged from the battle.
Actually, it had always been this way.
It was the same when they attacked Royen twice and Salamada.
To be honest, the pirates had no intention of winning, but the Dragonkin’s response to artillery was so insufficient that they accidentally won by just fighting lazily.
Only after the third attack, when they finally started to put up some defense, did the pirates turn their ships around as if they had been waiting for that moment.
Seeing the Cardinals arrive in Royen, I guessed they had deployed quite a bit of force to Salamada as well. This way of diverting attention was a promise the pirates made with the Chokugen Faction.
Anyway, having completed their mission, the pirates waited on the sea for the next command.
It was dreadfully boring, tedious, and tiresome.
Jumping into the sea as a man of the ocean, the thrill and excitement I felt at the start was now a dull feeling, as if my emotions had worn out.
So what made their hearts race?
It was obvious.
It was women.
Moreover, it was the Dragoness, rumored to be the most noble among the Dragonkin, who was onboard their ship.
With her bulging chest.
The excitement bubbling uncontrollably, the wind whistling out in exhilaration.
Caught in a frenzy like a young man having his first night, this deck full of pirates was presently in love.
“Besides the Dragoness, the girl behind her looks pretty decent too.”
“One of them has a body…”
“The white-haired one must be dispatched from the Chokugen Faction, right?”
Other pirate ships usually had a few female crew members. But this ship was purely a boys’ club.
Their desires only piled up and up.
“Ugh, this isn’t good.”
Eventually, one of the pirates stood up, setting off a chain reaction as others followed suit. The captain was probably busy reporting to the pirate lord.
“Let’s just keep an eye on the Dragoness and handle the two girls.”
“Let’s just kill that guy.”
“Throw him overboard, and it’ll be the same.”
If he fell into the sea, there would be no trace of the crime.
Blood stains?
Such things were no different from the dirt and marks on this pirate ship.
After all, they all knew it in their hearts.
Despite what they said, they would surely reach out to the Dragoness in the end.
But everyone pretended not to know.
What about the responsibility that would come later?
To them, such things felt light, like cheese shared with their brothers, cut into bits and pieces.
The weight one person had to bear was carried by two, and that shifted to three, and four. In the end, they were pirates.
They were the type to indulge in their desires over anything else, used to ignoring the future and the fear that came with it.
“Haah, haah.”
In front of the cabin doors below deck.
As the swarming pirates gasped for breath, their breath stank up the area.
The leading man, asserting his ignorant claim to be first, grabbed the doorknob.
Bang!
The door exploded, and the pirates behind him were crushed together like a lump of clay.
They didn’t even have time to scream.
The sound of bones crunching and flesh being mashed rang out first. Only after that did the pirates’ screams pour out.
“Guhh, urrrrrgh!”
“Argh, my arm! Aaarrrgh!”
“Get out of the way! I can’t breathe!”
Watching them tumble over each other, the boy with black hair chuckled, resting his sword on his shoulder.
At the sight of his so-called brothers, who had just been shouting like a team, being distorted behind the door, another pirate didn’t feel fear.
“The line just got shorter?”
“That’s great. I was feeling uneasy using someone else’s gear.”
Disgusting conversations flowed back and forth.
Daniel McLean immediately felt that this place was similar to the Forest of the Demon Realm, full of magical beasts roaming about, faithful to their instincts in search of combat and prey.
And the pirates, swept up in lust, ignoring their hierarchy and camaraderie, and solely looking out for their own benefit.
If he had to compare, he felt the magical creatures were a bit more decent, as Daniel slowly lowered his sword and asked,
“I’m a bit clueless about ships, so I’m curious.”
He tapped his shoulder with the sword as if giving a massage.
The pirates couldn’t even think of rushing in, feeling more laid-back than relaxed.
“How many of you are needed to operate this ship?”
He followed up with a coercive declaration.
“I’ll only leave this many alive.”
