Huh? That Was Easy?
"Eeeek! Splash!"
"Aaagh! It landed right next to me!"
"Quiet down and keep rowing, you rascals!"
Landing a cannonball that close to you would startle anyone — those ruthless bastards, honestly.
"Koom. Kugoong. Koom."
Smoke was billowing up from that mountain, so apparently they weren't firing from the coastline after all. From that distance, hitting our little boat would come down to pure luck anyway.
"Keep your eyes on the coastal forest too! They'll be waiting with arrows!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Boom! Kwa-kwang!"
And we have cannons too! Our side opened fire. In an instant, the smoking spot over there was turned into a scorched wasteland.
We fired exactly three volleys, and then their cannon went silent — either they'd fled, or they'd been dealt with.
"Good! Their cannons have gone quiet! We push straight ahead!"
"Yeehaa! Let's go!"
"It's our turn now, you bastards!"
We rowed like mad, closing in on the island, and soon figures began flickering among the trees of the forest.
"Enemies lying in ambush — stay sharp!"
"Watch the lead boats!"
It would be hard to manage an ordinary firefight from here, wouldn't it?
"They'll probably loose arrows at us! The two at the front act as shields, the two at the back return fire with their guns! Everyone else keeps rowing!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Click-click. Click-click."
The two at the rear scooped a fistful of bullets from their pouches, loaded their muskets, and then—
"Bang! Bang!"
Whether or not they could actually see anything, they opened fire immediately.
"Click. Clack. Bang!"
Cocking the bolt, extracting the cartridge by hand since it wasn't even hot yet, reloading, and firing — the whole process ran as smooth as machinery.
Even though the kids looked loose and easygoing, I could feel how much training they'd actually put in. It made me proud.
"Thwip-thwip-thwip. Splash!"
Arrows came flying and started dropping near the boats.
They'd noticed the ambush and were shooting back, but a bow is honestly a poor weapon at sea or on the water's edge.
No matter how well you treat the wood against moisture, the moment the bow limbs drink in the humidity, the tension starts to weaken.
"I can see where they are! Pick your shots!"
They'd emerged from the underbrush to use their bows, and instead they'd made themselves easy targets for us.
"Bang! Bang!"
In less than ten seconds, our office workers loosed shot after shot, steady as clockwork. I could see the pirates dropping one by one.
"Well done! We're almost there! Just a little more!"
"Let's gooo!"
"Don't leave it all to the others!"
Even in a life-or-death battle they weren't scared — is that discipline, or is it too relaxed? I honestly can't tell….
"Right in front of us!"
"Sreeeech."
At that moment, I heard sand and stones scraping along the bottom of the boat. We'd run aground too far from the beach, apparently.
"No, wait — the hull's hit bottom. We get off and push it the rest of the way!"
"Everyone off, quick!"
At this point, using the boats as shields while pushing forward might actually be safer. The arrows were still flying.
"Ma'am, get down!"
"I'm fine — push, hurry!"
"Bang!"
I was shooting away too. My rifle was a special custom job with a telescopic sight, so I was actually hitting more targets than the kids were.
"Careful getting onto land — that's when you're most exposed!"
"Everyone brace for an ambush!"
They knew their bows were this weak, and they hadn't managed to land a single hit on us, so they'd definitely try to settle it on the beach itself. It's the smartest way to leverage superior numbers.
That steel-plate armor's strength is its protection, but its weakness is how hard it is to put on.
I need time.
Someone has to go ahead and buy it for them.
"The four of you in armor, push forward and draw their eyes! The rest, once you're on shore, prop the boats up as barricades!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Whoosh. Whoosh."
Even as we cut roughly through the waves toward the nearby shore, the arrows kept pouring down.
"Ugh!"
"You got hit?"
"I'm fine! Keep going!"
Our own casualties were steadily accumulating too. No one had been struck down in a vital spot, but a few people needed to get ashore and treated quickly, which made my heart race.
Damn it — I should've shelled the coastline from the boats first!
"Land ho! Four armored, move up front! The rest haul the boats up and tip them on their sides!"
"Thwip-thwip-thwip."
The arrows came relentlessly, studding the sandy beach.
"Hyaaap!"
"Use the oars as posts!"
"Clack-clack-clack."
We tipped the boats over to create cover, and the office workers hurriedly began donning their armor.
"Hey! Treat your wounds before you put that on!"
"Ugh! There's no time!"
"Do what needs doing first, damn it!"
"Fine, fine!"
Everyone was equally impatient.
"Waaargh! @#^@"
And then shouts — and unintelligible language.
"They're charging out! Hurry!"
"Anyone armored, get up front!"
"There's a lot of them — the armor is a must!"
"Clang! Clatter-clatter! Thud!"
"Aaargh!"
"Guh!"
The four at the front moved up to hold the line, but there were so many of them it became hard to even move.
"I'm going ahead!"
"Ma'am!"
I need to get out there, fast!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
My beloved revolver spat out six rounds in the blink of an eye, clearing out the enemies first — the ones flanking behind my armored vanguard.
"Watch your backs! Fall back slowly!"
"Yes, ma'am! This is not easy!"
The enemy fought like cornered beasts too, clawing at the gaps in the armor, trying to rip it off.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A lightning-quick cylinder swap, another six shots — at this range there was no way to miss. One lead ball per pirate, served up fresh.
Hit anywhere once, and a man goes down. They were only wearing leather armor, after all.
"Gah! Thank you, ma'am!"
"Eyes front!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
With four holding the front and me covering from behind, the enemy couldn't press forward either.
"Just hold them! All we need is time!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Five of us held back what looked like fifty pirates. Just as the standoff was starting to drag on—
"Waaah! Here we come!"
"Kill them all!"
"Leave not a single one alive!"
All the hardship they'd suffered getting here had clearly made the kids furious. They were sprinting across the beach like they'd sprout wings.
Once you're facing cold steel up close, a fight is all about momentum. Looking at those snarling, charging faces — even I would want to run.
"Aaargh! !#%!#!"
"#%!@#!@"
"*$^$%^@#"
Pirates fleeing with screams in a language we couldn't understand, screaming in their own tongue. But it was far too late. If they wanted to run, they should have run a while ago.
"They're running!"
"Fire! Hurry!"
"Get down in front!"
"Bang! Bang! Bambang! Batabang!"
The ones blocking the front dropped flat, and the office workers poured bullets out without mercy. The coastline was cleaned up in no time.
"Wow. Cold-blooded bunch, aren't they."
Not a single one escaped. With the smoke in the way, they just kept sidestepping and firing.
Counting the ones already sprawled on the ground plus the ones lying in the underbrush, it looked like a group of roughly a hundred or so.
"Regroup and sweep the island!"
"Aigoo…."
"My aching bones…."
Kicked and battered from every direction, with a few arrow wounds each besides, groans were rising up on their own.
Still, better that than being one of those bodies going cold over there, right?
"Search begins!"
"Ma'am, please stay back!"
Having secured the coastline and hidden the boats, our Daehan Company employees marched briskly toward the forest.
Just one question on my mind — aren't I actually stronger than these kids? I mean, most of the corpses scattered around here were my handiwork?
"Heading for the center of the island!"
"Let's find their ship!"
"Keep your eyes peeled, you rascals!"
The vibe itself was loose and chaotic, but look at those sharp, glaring eyes. If anything popped out, it'd be riddled with holes before it took a step.
"We detour around anywhere with limited visibility!"
With the armor, they'd win a close-quarters fight anyway, but choosing the safest option of ranged combat — they're doing everything right!
"Swish. Swish."
Pushing through the forest, we spotted a ship floating between the trees.
"There's the ship. Check the surroundings!"
A ship is something you claim before any treasure. If we sank it or sailed off with it, these men would simply starve to death — there's no one else to call for help.
Which means they're definitely hiding nearby.
Just as we were advancing carefully, someone in the underbrush locked eyes with me.
"Enemy!"
"Bang!"
No hesitation — I squeezed the trigger right away. They were close enough that if he bolted, we'd be face to face in two or three seconds.
"Aargh! *@$%^@"
"!%(*$*"
Just as expected, they were ambushed all around us. They moved to encircle us, but by now we were armored and loaded.
"Tabatabatabang!"
Smoke bloomed all around in an instant, and a dozen-odd enemies dropped where they stood.
"Draw your axes!"
With no time to reload, the office workers pulled their axes and charged the remaining foes — absolutely rock-solid.
Blood spattering in every direction, my revolver belching smoke without pause — before long, even the enemies hidden along the shore were wiped out.
"Looks like it's mostly wrapped up, ma'am?"
"Still, split into teams and search anyway."
"Yes, ma'am!"
And so we set out on the loot sweep we'd all been waiting for.
"Nothing of note on the ship!"
"They must've hidden the rest somewhere on the island?"
"We'll keep looking!"
"Good — put your backs into it."
Whatever they'd plundered, they clearly hadn't planned to carry it back to their homeland.
And when it comes to digging up hidden goods, nobody outdoes our kids.
"It's in this cave!"
"This patch of ground's suspicious — get a shovel!"
"There's something up in that tree too!"
One by one, the hidden treasures started turning up. True to form, the pirates had eaten through their supplies and provisions, but had carefully set aside currency — gold, silver, and the like.
"Ahh~ but this is kind of sad, isn't it?"
"Right? They've been at it for two whole years!"
So disappointing. I'd assumed they were pirates with a long history, but they're just tiny-time operators.
Ah, so they really couldn't hack it, huh? Come to think of it, when it comes to pirates, the megacorporation is ultimately us, isn't it? It almost feels like a big corporation robbing the neighborhood corner store….
"Let's load at least this much onto the ship for now!"
"A few of you go to the shore and bring the small boats!"
And so preparations to depart began. The ship — we should take theirs, right? We're bringing our rowboats too. Anyone left behind on the island? Not my problem!
We hurried through the departure prep at speed.
To drag the ship outside, we had to haul on the ropes tied here and there and pull the whole thing out, but even our kids strained against it.
"How on earth did these guys even operate this ship?"
"It's not even that big — why won't it move?"
It's just smaller than our ship, but it's not something a handful of people should be able to haul around….
It looked to be about ten meters or so, after all.
An awkward middle size, and yet they somehow roamed around pirating in it. Keeping a lid on these guys completely is going to be difficult.
Simplest fix would be to load up our own warships or better armaments and make it sturdy enough that no pirate would even dare glance this way. That'd be the cheapest option in the long run.
"Aaaaargh! This damn thing is heavy!"
"No choice about it! The treasure's way beyond what a rowboat can handle!"
What we'd gained here had filled that ten-meter ship to the brim — ferrying it back and forth by rowboat was already off the table. We'd be making hundreds of trips!
"Shut up and put your backs into it! The ship keeps drifting toward your wall!"
"YOU push a little gentler, damn it!"
"What was that?! Who do you think you are?!"
They're on the verge of brawling amongst themselves. Noisy wherever they go, which makes it fun — but lord, embarrassing to show anyone. Wrap it up, kids. Or at least save it for when we're back home.