Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Abyss of Sachsen
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The Drowned Duke, Francis Barbarossa, was there.
He was a man who looked like a drowned rat.
The ‘admiral’ who commanded the continent's greatest invincible armada, and a pirate. For Francis, there was no such thing as noble birth from the start. He was, after all, a seaman without even a surname.
Born a seaman in the Dead Sea Archipelago, where sailing was a way of life, he expanded his power with a unique charisma. He showed a particular talent for piracy, plundering his enemies on the high seas.
Before long, Francis was reborn as an outlaw of the sea, boasting a notoriety that made all the nations of the continent tremble.
That was why, when the Empire began the Unification War, it bestowed the surname Barbarossa upon the mere pirate 'Francis' and, at the same time... by appointing Francis Barbarossa as admiral, entrusted him with the command of the entire Imperial fleet.
Along with a letter of marque, a license to ‘legally plunder enemy ships.’
Immediately after, Barbarossa became the admiral of the Imperial fleet and achieved victory against the invincible armada of the 'former Kingdom of Britannia,' which was called the strongest of its time.
That very crushing defeat in battle served as the direct blow that destroyed the former Kingdom of Britannia, and through that merit, the mere pirate Barbarossa was reborn as one of the 'Empire's Three Great Dukes,' ruling over the Dead Sea Archipelago.
Sachsen, Lancaster, Barbarossa.
However, even after the Empire unified the continent, Barbarossa did not easily give up his true calling.
As a duke of the Empire and simultaneously an outlaw of the sea, he endlessly engaged in piracy. As long as he was based on an island, not even the Empire could dare to touch him, at least in the ‘world on the water.’ That was why people finally gave him the name Pirate Duke.
Some time after that.
The Pirate Duke, Francis Barbarossa, suddenly took five ships and sailed beyond the eastern sea of the continent.
To witness firsthand the ‘end of this world’ that was said to lie beyond the sea.
No one thought he would return alive. Even the Empire believed the Pirate Duke had fallen off the cliff at the ‘end of the world’ and died.
But Francis Barbarossa returned alive.
Four of the five ships had sunk, and only the single ship directly commanded by the Pirate Duke returned alone.
He had discovered the eastern continent beyond the sea of death, and furthermore, he had even surpassed that eastern continent to succeed in the ‘first circumnavigation of the world.’ In the process, countless stories told by gossips adorned his tales of heroism.
For instance, there was a legendary anecdote that when he fell into the ‘Devil's Triangle’ and his entire fleet sank, and he too was on the verge of drowning, he made a deal with a ‘demon’ of the sea and obtained immortality.
And what Dale was now facing was the reality behind that legendary anecdote.
The Drowned Duke, Francis Barbarossa.
Just as the stories said—always soaked to the bone like a drowned rat.
“—How did you find my heart?”
The Drowned Duke spoke. His voice was incredibly heavy and somber, carrying a weight that felt as if it could sink to the bottom of the sea at any moment.
“As I've said, that is a trade secret.”
The City Master, wearing the mask of 《The Laughing Man》, replied with a sly smile.
At the same time, the scenery of the Black Market sank.
Into the darkness of the deep sea, a bottomless ocean below.
It wasn't a metaphor. A feeling of suffocation washed over them, as if they were truly sinking underwater, unable to breathe.
‘A Conceptual World...?!”
But he had never heard that the Drowned Duke had any expertise in magic. Furthermore, it was even more impossible that he could use that world in the ‘form of a weapon.’ There was no certainty. But he could feel it instinctively.
At first glance, it seemed similar, but something was different.
It wasn't the power of magic that Dale was familiar with, but something more alien and unknown.
“...I could cast you all into the abyss of the deep sea and drown you right now.”
The Drowned Duke spoke from within that very deep sea. Despite being underwater, he was as calm as if they were conversing on land. —No matter how much one tried to overlay the power of concepts with magic upon it, it was impossible.
Thanks to the seawater pouring into his throat, even maintaining consciousness was a struggle.
It was at that moment.
*Shwaaa!*
The surrounding scenery flipped, and the feeling of suffocation vanished. Everyone in the area, including Dale, was back on the marble floor of the Black Market.
“Gasp, cough!”
He coughed up the water that had flooded his throat, his entire body soaked like a drowned rat.
Even the City Master, wearing the mask of 《The Laughing Man》, was no exception. His mask had fallen off, revealing his true face beneath it.
There were no impressive scars or wounds. He was a man with a faint image, nothing one could call a distinct feature.
The Drowned Duke, his wet uniform coat flapping, snatched the City Master by the neck.
“Gak, keuk...!”
A feeling of suffocation, not much different from having water pour down his throat, washed over him.
“I'll ask again.”
The Drowned Duke continued.
“How did you find ‘that box,’ and where have you hidden it?”
There was no way an answer would come while he was being choked. After the threat, the Drowned Duke flung him away, and the City Master regained his breath and smiled.
“Hah, hah! My, my... At this rate, it's getting confusing whose hands Your Grace's heart is in.”
He straightened his clothes, leaving the mask of 《The Laughing Man》 on the floor behind him.
“As I've said, the obsidian box containing Your Grace's heart will be traded according to the procedures of the ‘Black Market’.”
Like an actor on a stage, with an inscrutable smile.
“And once the transaction is complete, you won't get an answer no matter how you grab and choke my neck.”
“...Are you daring to threaten me?”
“I am merely fulfilling my duty as an ‘auction mediator,’ nothing more.”
The City Master extended his arm toward Dale and continued speaking.
“As I just said, the starting bid for the auction is ‘one black chip’.”
The participants in the auction here were not just Dale.
Ray Yuriseu, Mikhail Lancaster. But the only one who had faced them and seized victory in the Fight Club was the ‘Black Prince’ of Sachsen... and in Dale's hand was the special privilege to instantly win any one item from the Black Market.
And the starting price of the item was just one chip.
“As the winner of the Fight Club, will you use your privilege?”
“...”
After a moment of silence, Dale glanced aside. He saw the Drowned Duke staring at him, exuding an intimidation so powerful he could hardly face it.
“I will use the winner's privilege.”
Dale spoke.
A starting price of one black chip.
“Ah, a truly excellent decision.”
The City Master smiled as if delighted.
“Then, for one chip, the Duke's heart to Lord Dale...”
“No.”
Just then, Dale cut the City Master off. He took out a heavy pouch hidden within his black robe.
He called out the price for the item he wished to win on the spot.
“Eight hundred and thirty-nine.”
“Oh?”
For the ‘Drowned Duke's heart,’ which had a starting price of just one chip, Dale wagered everything he had. The City Master gasped with interest.
Dale, the City Master, and the Drowned Duke.
The air between the three of them was stretched taut, as if it could snap at any moment.
Ray Yuriseu, Mikhail Lancaster, and the assassins of the ‘Shadow Court’ were merely extras on this stage.
“How dare a brat like you.”
And at Dale's words, the Drowned Duke spoke.
“Are you trying to win my favor with such a cheap trick?”
Each word carried a weight that seemed to sink to the bottom of the sea.
“Your Grace the Drowned Duke must know this well.”
But Dale was not so easily intimidated by his pressure.
“That in this world, there is no one who would refuse a deal that puts the life of a powerful man in their hands.”
“And you think a brat like you can get away with it unscathed?”
“And you, Your Grace? Are you unscathed?”
Dale asked back calmly.
“If you bastards so much as lay a finger on that box.”
The Drowned Duke spoke.
“I guarantee that not even a single ant in this city will be left unharmed.”
With a force that seemed ready to drown everyone in the area in the sea at any moment.
As he said, the invincible armada that the ‘Drowned Duke’ prided himself on had surely surrounded the seas of Guild City, and by now, his men who had landed on shore would be surrounding the entire city.
“You still haven't answered my question.”
But Dale continued, unconcerned.
“I am asking if you, Your Grace, are unscathed.”
“...Are you, a brat like you, trying to threaten me now?”
The Drowned Duke asked back.
At the very least, one thing was certain: this man was not a coward like Cardinal Nikolai who would tremble in fear for his own life.
A man who started as a mere pirate, soon reigned as the king of the sea commanding the pirates of the region, became an admiral of the Empire and defeated the invincible armada of the Britannia Kingdom of his time... and who made a deal with a demon of the sea along with completing the first circumnavigation of the world.
A man of such stature would not tremble over his own life.
“Your Grace would surely rather give up his life than yield to such a threat.”
“Then you must also be well aware that you bastards will be joining me.”
“I am not trying to threaten you with your life, Your Grace.”
Dale said.
“Have you still not realized?”
“Realized what?”
“Your Grace must have hidden that box ‘in a part of the sea where no one could find it’.”
Dale continued.
“But that box is now up for auction at the hands of this man.”
He pointed at the City Master.
“I, too, do not know how he found it.”
“...”
“But there is one thing I can say for certain.”
“And what is that?”
“No matter where in this world you hide it, this man will eventually find it, and Your Grace will never be able to shake off the anxiety.”
Dale said.
“You know well.”
The Drowned Duke answered coldly.
“That I will never again let that heart leave my side.”
“Ah, if I had my way, I too would like to return the heart to Your Grace and leave safely.”
“Then hand over the heart.”
Dale replied as if it were someone else's problem.
“But if I did that, everyone here would be dragged down to a watery grave.”
“I can make a special exception and spare your life.”
“No.”
Dale shook his head coldly.
“Now that I know the secret, Your Grace will ‘never’ let me live.”
His voice held not a shred of doubt.
“And I, too, have no intention of dying so meekly.”
For a brief moment, a hint of interest appeared on the Drowned Duke's face.
“That is why I wish to make a proposal.”
“Speak.”
“The deep sea could not protect Your Grace's heart.”
“...”
“But I know a place that can protect both Your Grace's heart and my own life.”
“And where is that?”
The Drowned Duke asked, and Dale answered.
“The Abyss of Sachsen.”