Chapter 45
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Voyage (2)
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Splash!
Whoosh!
Every time a column of water shot up, silver scales sliced through the air.
Flap, flap!
Two massive fish thudded down at my feet, flopping around wildly.
Freshly caught ones, straight from the sea.
And then once more,
Splash!
Baekrin dove straight into the water,
and before long, she burst back up to the surface.
This time, one in each hand—two more fish.
Every time she emerged, she leaped into the air like some dolphin show,
tossing the fish precisely onto the deck.
"......Fuck me."
It was beyond awe-inspiring; it was downright terrifying.
You know those documentaries, right?
A big bear family heads to the river for a drink,
smacking upstream salmon out of the water.
Even that's in shallow rapids,
or snatching fish mid-jump at most.
But this girl? She's diving deep to hunt them down.
No spear or anything—just bare hands churning through the ocean depths, ripping fish out.
This is the real documentary footage,
this is what racks up ten million YouTube views,
and she's the true wild beast.
She's no human.
Just a pretty, sexy animal wearing a human skin suit.
Flop, flop!
Before I knew it, the deck was piled high with fish like a mountain.
Easily over twenty.
Once more, Baekrin shot out of the water.
"Hoo..."
"Hey! Stop! Enough already!!"
I yelled in a panic.
"Who's gonna eat all this? Ease up on hauling them in!!"
"......Last one."
She totally blew me off,
and vanished into the water again.
"Crazy bitch, she's gonna dry up the whole ocean."
I shook my head in disbelief,
gripping the rope tied around her waist tightly as I waited.
Sure, catching a few dozen or hundred won't deplete the vast sea's fish stocks...
But what's the point of overfishing?
Whatever we can't eat will just rot and get tossed back anyway.
"Still,
if you're this good at grabbing them by hand, why bother with the fishing rod earlier?"
All it did was waste time and stress me out.
Should've done this from the start.
.....
But...
This time it's taking a while.
Feels like at least three minutes have passed.
"......Why isn't she coming up?"
No matter how great her lung capacity,
can a human hold their breath this long underwater?
What if she got shark chow?
And then five minutes.
Now it's really dangerous.
She should've floated up dead by now.
"Old man! Get over here and pull! Haul her up!!"
I urgently called for Kain.
Worried she might be tangled in some tough seaweed,
just as I yanked hard on the rope—
Pfhaah!
The surface exploded apart as a black shadow rocketed up.
Splash!
Baekrin landed roughly on the deck.
Her whole body drenched, panting heavily.
"Hoo... haa..."
"You crazy bitch!"
Relief washed over me, but anger surged too as I shouted.
"I thought you drowned! What, holding your breath for a contest? Why'd you take so long!"
"......Shut up, slave."
Baekrin swept back her wet hair, catching her breath.
"Took a while to... grab this."
"What?"
Only then did I notice.
Something clutched in her left hand.
Not a fish,
nor a clam, abalone, or seaweed...
Pale, bloated flesh. Five fingers.
And a raggedly severed human wrist.
Thud.
She casually dropped it at my feet.
"What the fuck?!"
I recoiled in horror.
"You fucking psycho! Why'd you bring this shit?!"
Baekrin calmly pointed at the severed wrist.
"Ring. Looked expensive, so I grabbed it."
Up close, a gold ring gleamed on the swollen ring finger.
"Then just pry the damn ring off! Why bring the whole gross thing?!"
"Wouldn't budge."
She shrugged.
"Didn't go in with a knife to cut the finger.
Wrist was dangling loose, so I just ripped it off."
Ah, got it.
Ripped off a human wrist like tearing chicken drumstick.
Typical savage bitch.
"Saw a few more bodies down there."
Baekrin continued nonchalantly.
"And a ship sunk too..."
She added it was a big ship split in two, caught on thick rocks.
"......Hmm."
Kain, who'd been listening with arms crossed,
crouched down to examine the wrist Baekrin had tossed.
"Wreckage."
He muttered low, stroking his chin.
"Doesn't look old...
Bloated from water, but barely decayed. At most two or three days."
Something fishy stirred him;
his eyes narrowed.
Then Baekrin let out a deep, weary sigh.
"Haa..."
She irritably shook water from her hair, grumbling.
"Saw a ton of stuff..."
She smacked her lips regretfully,
then reached toward her chest.
"Couldn't grab much. Ran out of breath."
Her hand slipped into the skin-tight top,
plunging into the deep, wet cleavage between her heaving breasts.
Something buried in those ample tits.
"Just this and this?"
Clink. Thud.
She set two items on the deck.
One: a metal epaulet embroidered with ornate patterns.
The other: a small dagger in a fancy leather sheath.
"Oho."
Me? I was more mesmerized by her firm, bouncy breasts than the junk.
The wonders of the human body—
Just then,
Kain carefully picked up the epaulet.
Brushed off dirt and water,
turned it over, frowning.
"This is..."
"Whoa, this is gold too?"
I squatted beside him quick.
"Looks solid gold, not plated. Worth a pretty penny."
"That's not the point, you idiot."
Kain tsked,
pointing to the emblem engraved on the back.
A large shield with an eagle perched, wings spread.
"Know whose crest this is?"
"Why would I? No reason to."
Ask a slum rat like me?
Kain shook his head with a sigh.
"It's the crest of the Roengrin family."
"Roengrin?"
"Yes. They've guarded the imperial family for generations..."
He bounced the epaulet on his palm, weighing it.
"One of the Arkan Empire's three great ducal houses."
"......Empire?"
I blinked.
Arkan Empire.
From the central continent's west to north.
A colossal territory claiming a full third of the landmass.
Economy, military—untouchable by puny kingdoms. Absolute top dog.
Simply put, continental hegemon.
While other nations' leaders call themselves 'kings,'
only they flaunt the grandiose 'emperor' title.
And a ducal house from that empire?
"So why'd some fancy noble from that house drown out here?"
"How should I know."
Fair enough; even this old coot spent a week on this rustbucket with me.
No way he'd know what went down two-three days ago.
"But why the sour face? Like you stepped in shit."
"......"
Kain just fiddled with the epaulet, face grim, no reply.
Then belatedly,
"Just... feels off."
"Off how?"
"Bad vibe. Like some headache's brewing..."
Crazy old fart's jinxing us with voodoo.
Talking shit like that summons trouble from thin air.
"Fuck, cut the bad omens.
This tub's already got me on edge; now you're playing fortune teller?"
"......Yeah, whatever. Probably nothing."
Kain chuckled dryly, then turned to Baekrin.
"Miss, mind if I hold onto these...?"
He politely asked permission.
Elder or not, she fished them up.
Ownership's hers.
"Need to look into this once we hit land."
Baekrin shrugged indifferently.
"Do what you want, old timer. Not interested anyway."
She nodded at the severed wrist on the deck.
"But the ring's mine. No giving it up."
"Haha, of course. Thanks."
Kain finally tucked the epaulet and dagger securely away.
And Baekrin grabbed her drab robe from the deck,
flung it on.
Whoosh.
That tantalizing body vanished under ragged cloth in an instant.
"Ah......"
A sigh slipped out unbidden.
"Hey, keep it off a bit longer."
"Why."
"Looked perfect."
Baekrin narrowed her eyes.
"Gonna pay for the show?"
"Fucking greedy bitch."
"Shut up and make a fire. Starving here."
She smacked my head's back, humming cheerily.
Excited for grilled fish, probably.
After ripping off a corpse's wrist minutes ago. Serene appetite.
"Tch."
I grumbled, pulling out flint.
Sizzle—
Soon, savory grilled fish scent filled the deck.
Sky clear, no clouds.
Waves gently lapping.
Nice day.
"......"
Minus that old man's shit-eating face,
a truly peaceful, perfect day.
On some sea,
inside a massive ship flying a black flag.
The cabin reeked of blood, semen,
and men's laughter.
"Gaaahhh!!"
A gut-wrenching scream echoed.
Not from torture or injury,
but helpless rage watching the horror unfold powerless.
"Stop! Enough, you dogshit bastards!!"
A middle-aged man rolled on the floor, howling.
Elite of House Roengrin,
one of Arkan Empire's top twenty Sword Experts.
A superhuman realm with fewer than fifty across the continent.
In a mere kingdom, he'd command a knight order.
His personal might a strategic weapon.
But now? Worse than a slaughterhouse dog.
Armor shredded to rags,
body bloodied, ankles severed,
just meat chained up.
"Shut your trap, or want your tongue next?"
A man stomped his hair, cackling.
They called themselves pirates,
crude speech and acts on full display,
but their eyes and auras screamed elite killers, not street thugs.
"Hic... haa..."
The knight's gaze fixed on a woman.
The empire's Third Imperial Princess, 'Isila von Arkan'.
Bearer of the 'von' middle name symbolizing the golden sun.
Noble blood mortals dared not meet eyes with—empire's flower.
Yet her now? No imperial dignity.
Dress torn to shreds, pale skin exposed raw,
lovely platinum hair matted with tears, snot,
and men's saliva.
"Haha! Princess, skin like silk!"
"Imperial pussy's grip is art!"
Even now,
two men ravaged her body.
Others took turns kneading breasts, slapping ass,
stuffing every hole with cocks, cumming repeatedly,
gangbanging her dignity to dust like beasts.
"Ah... ah, st... op......"
Isila, strength gone,
trembled, staring blankly ahead with unfocused eyes.
"What... are you...?!"
The knight spat blood, roaring.
"Told ya, we're pirates?"
"Bullshit!!"
Absurd, by his common sense.
Sure, pirates hit merchant or noble ships sometimes.
But which lunatic pirate touches an imperial warship flying the empire's flag?
That's declaring war on the empire—suicide.
And their power? Even more nonsense.
The warship guarded imperial blood with ten elite knights, plus him, a Sword Expert.
Pirates sea-savvy or not,
no match for imperial elites.
Yet they weren't rabble.
Their moves, swordplay—refined, lethal as imperial high knights.
And the decisive defeat? Something else.
Thud, thud.
Someone emerged from the cabin's dark corner.
A gaunt elder shrouded head to toe in jet-black robes.
"......Grr."
The knight gritted teeth, shuddering at the sight.
When their ship rammed the warship,
this old man chanted unknown spells, slammed his staff—
allies' auras, including his, dissipated like smoke.
Forcing apart a swordsman's lifelong power with magic.
Unheard-of demonic force.
They poured in then,
slaughtered the crew; all sank with the ship save him and Princess Isila.
"Monsters with that... just pirates?"
The knight spat in fury.
The leader, about to shove into a cum-soaked hole,
chuckled.
"Why? Law against pirates with wizards?"
"You... nonsense..."
"Ocean's vast; world's full of weird talents.
We just lucked into a fine wizard first mate."
The leader shrugged brazenly.
Pure mockery, deception.
No mere pirates.
Power to defy an imperial warship, backing to survive it,
plus mystery mage—an unknown syndicate.
'Trap... targeted Her Highness from the start...'
Too late to realize,
price too cruel.
"So accept it and watch."
The leader eyed the sprawled Isila with greedy lust.
"Our princess craves my thick cock."
"Ah...... uuh......"
Isila half-mad, foaming at mouth, gasping raggedly.
"Hic... stop... please......"
"No worries. My station's low, but,"
The leader grinned lecherously,
pressing his grotesque member against her.
"This tool's premium, better than any noble's.
I'll thrust it deep, real thorough."
"Ha... aaaah!!"
Isila's tearing scream again,
and
"How's it? Princess. My boys' pathetic pricks
or my mighty cock feel better? Haha!"
"Ah.... kuh... ah.... haa!"
Flesh slapping lewdly
filled the cabin.
"Uwaaaaa!!!"
Bam! Bam!!
The knight bashed his head on the floor, sobbing.
Wanted to gouge his eyes,
but limbs bound, couldn't.
Just cursed his failure to protect his lord from those horrors.
"......"
The black-robed elder
watched it all with emotionless eyes,
silently.
As if scripted,
preordained.
His face merely bored.