Full Speed Ahead! We're Being Surrounded!
The sailor gripping the rigging shouted with all his might. The crew, who had fallen into panic the moment they realized their opponents were imperial forces, regained their morale after witnessing Sara and Nelia's capabilities and sinking one of the Empire's warships. But the enemy was no pushover either. Even after losing a ship from beyond firing range, they calmly maintained formation.
Centered around their flagship frigate, two brig-class vessels of the next rank spread out to the left and right, providing cover. Two sloop-class patrol ships then made wide arcs toward the bow and stern of the Bloody Requiem, slipping out of the line of fire before charging straight in.
"This is strange. The enemy isn't being very aggressive," Sara said, carefully watching the movement of the ships.
The Empire clearly had no intention of simply letting Rose's vessel go, yet their cannon fire was limited to single shots from the forward guns. They weren't trying to sink the Bloody Requiem—they meant to capture it. Their true objective was undoubtedly the Navigator's Blood.
"Everyone, grab your weapons!" Kein shouted excitedly.
The patrol ships that had been closing in on the blind spots at the bow and stern were nearly upon them. In that time, they had sunk another brig, but the enemy didn't seem to care. The imperial ships moved with the precision of thoroughly trained marines, latching onto both sides of Rose's vessel.
"My turn!" Before their grappling hooks could even fly across, Kein leaped onto the enemy ship with his massive sword in hand. He then butchered the foes with such savagery that no reinforcements were needed. On the opposite side, enemies began boarding, but under Rose's command, they were easily repelled.
Meanwhile, the enemy's flagship approached at terrifying speed. From its angle, it wasn't aiming for a ram; as expected, it was preparing for a boarding battle.
"Captain! Loading complete! Should I fire?" Nelia shouted while slicing through an imperial soldier's throat.
"No. Their flagship is attempting to grapple. We'll strike first and board them."
"But it's a warship. What would be worth taking?"
"Even warships have their uses. Especially if it's one of the Empire's standard fleet vessels."
Nelia's eyes sparkled. Her gaze locked onto the Empire's culverin cannons that gleamed brilliantly. Soon after, the enemy flagship pulled alongside the Bloody Requiem. The moment the wooden boarding planks were laid across, Nelia led her sailors and crossed over to the imperial ship.
The vessels instantly turned into a battlefield. Rose was in the middle of cutting down enemies when a voice filled with hatred called her name.
"Rose Black!"
The enemy admiral who had crossed onto her ship was someone Rose recognized.
"Lucas."
It was the bastard whose ledger she had targeted during her previous mission.
"You damn bitch! Where's my stuff?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Did you hit your head when you fell?"
"Don't play dumb! I went easy on you because you're a pretty little whore, and you dare toy with me? You'll regret not dying nicely!"
He drew his sword and charged at Rose with ferocious momentum. But she easily dodged his blade and slipped behind him.
"So you really are an admiral. I thought you were just some pathetic braggart."
"Y-you bitch!"
He swung his sword wildly, but he was nowhere near skilled enough to face Rose. She could have killed him at any moment, but there was something she needed to confirm first.
"More importantly, why are you here? Did you come after me? Or are you looking for something else?"
There was no way he would have moved the fleet privately just for his secret ledger, but she needed to be sure.
"Shut up!"
But he was too worked up to give a proper answer. Rose assessed the state of the battle. The opponents were well-trained marines, so a pirate crew filled with dockside drifters couldn't match them. However, Kein, who had finished massacring the enemies on the patrol ships and returned, was nearly done clearing the deck.
Wielding his enormous sword, he fought like a beast rather than a man—more like a demon. Every enemy he struck was cleaved clean in two. On top of that, there was no one among the enemy capable of standing against Nelia and Sara, who had crossed to the other ship.
"Time to calm you down a bit."
Shunk—!
"Aaaargh!"
Rose's sword plunged into Lucas's thigh, forcing him to his knees in agony. As he tried to rise, her blade mercilessly pierced his other thigh. In the end, he remained on his knees with both hands on the deck. Rose flicked his sword away with the tip of her blade.
Only then did he begin to look around. His flagship was already engulfed in flames and beginning to sink. His subordinates had dropped their weapons and were begging for their lives. The battle was coming to an end, and there was nothing left for him to do.
Instinctively, his face twisted into a pathetic expression as he looked up at Rose.
"This can't be... P-please, spare me."
"I have a question. Why is your fleet here?"
"We didn't come for you. We came to find our wrecked galleon."
"Then why did you attack us?"
"It was dark! We thought you were pirates! I swear! If I'd known it was you, I never would have done this!"
He was spewing whatever he could think of to save his skin. In the end, his presence here was about half coincidence. The Empire had also been searching for the artifact, and they had likely dispatched Lucas because he was already nearby or had been assigned the task from the start. His claim of not knowing she was aboard was probably genuine.
"Then why did you attack even after seeing the Nostrum Trading Company's flag? You should have been able to see it from a distance."
"T-that's... there are plenty of pirates who fly false flags."
"Exactly. As you suspected, I am a pirate. So what are you going to do about it?"
Lucas's face crumpled in despair. There was no escape. In the end, he had no choice but to resort to his final option.
"P-please spare me. I'll report that I saw nothing, that I never found any wrecked ship."
"Tie him up."
Rose gave the order to Kein, who had approached her. The sailors bound Lucas tightly. The battle was over. The enemy's flagship frigate was consumed by flames and slowly sinking. Most of the imperial marines were dead; only a handful who had surrendered were taken captive, desperately begging for their lives.
"Leave one ship. We need to send them back."
At Rose's words, Lucas's face lit up with a bright smile.
"What? Admiral, what kind of nonsense is that!"
Of course Kein had to object strongly. He practically stepped in front of her in defiance.
"The imperial navy attacked a Nostrum Trading Company vessel. Nostrum needs to know about this."
And the fact that an imperial fleet had been annihilated by a Nostrum ship. It was better to let some of them survive and stir up trouble between Nostrum and the Empire than to wipe them all out here. Of course, there was one person who needed to exit the stage for that to happen.
"However, that one is yours to do with as you please."
When Rose jerked her chin toward Lucas, Kein grinned with delight.
"Hehe, perfect. If that's the case, then sure."
Lucas, who had thought he would be spared, screamed in terror and tried to flee. Still bound by ropes, he stumbled and fell to the deck, then rolled desperately across the floor to escape Kein.
"Roll some more. If I catch you, you're shark bait."
Kein deliberately followed slowly so Lucas could keep trying to escape, laughing mockingly as the man rolled frantically. Nelia had lined up the culverin cannons taken from the imperial flagship and was gazing at them with an ecstatic expression. Sara, as usual, was inspecting the ship to make sure no enemies were hiding. Rose steered her vessel and pulled alongside the last remaining brig.
"T-take me too!"
Seeing Rose sending the imperial survivors onto the brig, Lucas, still rolling on the deck, let out a desperate scream. But by then he was pinned helplessly under Kein's foot, unable to move an inch. His subordinates returned with terrified faces, glancing at him nervously, but none dared attempt a rescue.
"Aaaah..."
Eventually, as the ship carrying the survivors slowly began to move away, Lucas slammed his head against the deck in utter despair.
"What? Already done?"
Kein kicked the broken toy a few times with his foot. When there was no reaction, he lost interest and handed him over to his subordinates.
"I've lost interest. Just feed him to the sharks."
The sailors approached with wicked laughter, but Lucas didn't move. Then, the moment his ankle was grabbed, he began thrashing like a fish out of water. The more he struggled, the more the pirates enjoyed themselves. In the end, just like before, Lucas was left dangling pathetically in the air.
Watching the scene, Rose felt a sense of relief. No one who knew what had happened to her while she was with Nostrum could be allowed to live. She would deal with Mateo and Emma when the opportunity arose as well.
After disposing of Lucas, Rose's ship returned safely to Arcanos. There had been some anxiety about whether additional forces might appear because they had sent back the imperial survivors, but it seemed the Empire couldn't react immediately. Rose did not bring Kein with her when she went to the chairman's office. She had no desire to let him know about her situation.
Until they fully reached the chairman's office, Silver remained extremely tense, never letting down his guard. Even though they were on solid land, he trembled with anxiety as if an assassin might appear at any moment to kill him and steal the box. Perhaps because of that, he looked much gaunter than when they had first met, and it seemed he hadn't slept properly.
Thud.
Finally, in front of Chairman Mateo, Silver set the box down.
"Ooh, at last!"
Mateo shot to his feet with an ecstatic expression and reached for the box. Instead of opening it right away, he seemed to be savoring the flow of magical power emanating from within.
"You've truly gone through a lot, Captain Rose."
"Hurry up and verify it so we can end the contract."
Rose had no desire to stay here even a second longer. She tapped the choker around her neck impatiently.
"Would you consider continuing to work with us? We can offer you excellent treatment."
He spoke with a sly smile. Rose placed her hand on the box and spoke threateningly.
"What is inside this box is exactly what you requested. Silver confirmed it was the right item, and you said the contract would end once it was brought here."
"Correct. Then, let me verify it."
Mateo slowly opened the box. A red gem appeared, releasing an ominous wave of magical energy. From the look of it, Silver clearly hadn't opened the box during the voyage. Silver waited anxiously for Mateo's response. Of course, Rose was just as nervous. The real Navigator's Blood had been made into a necklace and was currently hanging around her neck. She had deliberately worn it to create confusion in case he could read the flow of magic and realize the item in the box was nothing more than an ordinary stone.
"Ah... Look at this light. Isn't it truly radiant?"
But from Mateo's enchanted expression, it seemed her worries had been unnecessary. He hadn't noticed anything. He probably lacked sufficient information about the Navigator's Blood, and an ordinary person wouldn't be able to detect the spell Nelia had cast.
"The contract is complete."
At Rose's words, Mateo snapped his fingers with a look of clear regret. A contract document materialized in the air. Moments later, the document burst into flames and vanished. The slave chokers around the necks of Rose and her close companions automatically released and fell to the floor.
At the same time, Sara's sword pierced straight through Mateo's throat.
"Haha, did you think I wouldn't anticipate something like this?"
But Mateo, with a sword through his neck, showed no sign of pain and shed no blood. Instead, his body slowly began to blur before vanishing completely, still holding the box containing the gem. He had prepared a teleportation spell in advance.
"You may leave. I'll overlook it this once. However, if you do not withdraw immediately, we will have no choice but to use force."
Mateo's voice echoed from the air. Only the terrified, trembling Silver and Rose's group remained in the room.
"P-please spare me."
The moment the contract ended and he witnessed Mateo being attacked, Silver collapsed to the floor, having wet himself. Rose had no desire to escalate the situation unnecessarily, and since Silver had done nothing more than act arrogantly as an attendant, she had no intention of killing him.
When they returned to the pier and checked the ship, the Nostrum flag had already been taken down. In its place, Kein had raised the black rose pirate flag. A few imperial soldiers were watching the sight with uneasy expressions.
"Set sail. We're leaving this place immediately."
Rose gathered the crew and departed at once. There was no telling how long Nelia's spell would hold, and imperial troops could arrive at any moment. Fortunately, since Lucas—who had been commanding the imperial fleet here—had been annihilated, there was no fleet currently capable of stopping Rose.
"Where shall we head?" Sara asked after they had moved a good distance from the port and confirmed no ships were pursuing them.
Rose thought carefully. First, they needed to grow the pirate crew further.
"We're going to Carcadon."
"The lawless pirate port?"
Sara spoke without surprise. It seemed she had expected this to some degree.
"We need a base and capable sailors. We'll also need to make our mark among the pirates."
"Understood."
Sara called Kein over and gave instructions. The ship caught the wind and glided forward swiftly.