64. Pirates (1)
64. Pirates (1)
Baron Hans of the Lesen Kingdom was on the verge of losing his mind.
Just two weeks after setting sail with a mid-sized trade vessel headed for the Gaukren Kingdom, a catastrophe had struck.
Two weeks and several days of the voyage still remained.
"Dusk...!"
But of all things, a pirate band that had established its base at the distant Wieber Island was attempting to raid the baron's ship.
He'd deliberately set a course to avoid Wieber Island, the notorious Dusk pirates' stronghold, yet he'd ended up running straight into them.
"Three pirate ships, no less! There's no way to break through their encirclement at this point!"
Hans furrowed his brow deeply at his subordinate Moreuan's report.
"...We can't let them take everything. If that happens, the trust of the Hans Trading Company, so painstakingly built, will inevitably crumble."
Hans had not originally been a noble.
A grand merchant.
He'd been active as the most renowned merchant in the Lesen Kingdom, and in acknowledgment of that value, the King of Lesen himself had bestowed upon him the title of baron.
The king wouldn't strip away a title once granted, but reclaiming broken expectations was no easy task.
"But we have only a single magic cannon. We can't exactly stand our ground, can we? The strongest military asset on the ship is solely Master Gelos, a mid-level Sword Expert. What are the odds that bastards running three mid-sized pirate ships like that don't have someone of advanced rank or higher aboard?"
At Moreuan's words, Hans nodded his head slowly.
"Surrender... would be the best course, I know. Moreuan. I will judge after seeing the situation."
"Understood."
The young advisor Moreuan bowed his head weakly.
-Ship of the Lesen Kingdom! Halt!!
A massive shout rang out through a magic loudspeaker.
-If you do not stop, you will be struck by 8 magic cannon rounds simultaneously!!
It was directly after that shout ended.
Kkwaaaaang──!!
A thunderous roar of cannon fire rang out.
A pillar of water had shot up into the air.
The shelling had landed. Directly ahead of the Lesen trade ship.
"...I will give the order to stop the ship for now."
Advisor Moreuan spoke weakly. Hans nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, do that."
Hans came up onto the deck with Moreuan.
Raising both hands high to display his will to surrender.
Surely, they were watching the deck of the Lesen trade ship through a magical telescope.
-Stay still. Don't even twitch.
A rough voice rang sharply in their ears.
The movement of the trade ship, which had dropped anchor, slowly ceased.
Chwaaaaa─
Two of the Dusk pirate vessels approached, their black sails fluttering.
The sailing ship in the center was the largest. The sailing ships deployed on either side were by no means small either.
The scene of the massive, nearly 50-meter sailing ship in the center approaching fiercely, powered by the mana engine device that played a crucial role in catching the wind and direction, was truly intimidating.
The pirate ship on the left began drawing closer to the trade ship.
The flagship, the largest sailing ship carrying 58 pirates, was situated behind that pirate ship.
On the deck of that flagship was a middle-aged man with wildly disheveled black curly hair. Hectos, leader of the Dusk pirate band, revealed himself.
He brought the magic loudspeaker to his lips.
"Before facing you lot. I destroyed one fishing boat of the Lesen Kingdom."
Behind Hectos, fifteen or so pirates were moving busily.
The scene they created was a rather strange one.
No, perhaps in this world of pirates, it was merely an everyday scene.
On the deck, they'd laid a wooden plank lengthwise over the outside of the pirate ship.
And they dragged four people, gripping them by the hair.
Three men and one woman.
Hectos approached the woman with silver hair.
"Wench."
He lifted the woman's chin with a brutish hand. Hectos's rough voice bored into their ears.
"Hiiik...!"
The woman's chin trembled due to excruciating terror.
Her upper and lower body, clad in clothes reduced to rags, also trembled like an aspen leaf.
Jjeo─eok!
A rough palm struck the woman's cheek.
The woman's head snapped to the left.
"Uuugh...."
The woman whimpered, touching her own face.
"You gotta answer, wench."
"Y-yes...."
Hectos continued.
"Wench, before you go a round with my boys. You ever slept with any of these guys?"
Saying that, Hectos gestured with his chin toward the three male prisoners.
"N-no... I haven't...."
"Kulkulkul...."
Hectos laughed at the woman's words.
"Kuhahahahahahahaha!"
Very loudly.
And following their leader, his subordinates let out loud laughter as well.
"Hahahahahahaha!!"
"You little shits, guess you don't need goods at all!! Couldn't even touch her with her right next to you, you limp-dick bastards! Hahaha!!"
Hectos clapped his hands sharply.
The pirates' laughter stopped dead instantly.
Hectos grabbed the woman's chin once again.
"Pick."
"P-pardon?"
"You pick which one stands on that wooden plank there. Wench."
"...What?"
Hectos drew the sword strapped to his back.
"If you don't, you die."
Trembling all over, the woman scanned her comrades.
Her expression distorted grotesquely, in a way that couldn't be described with words. And the faces of the comrades facing that expression hardened.
Even within her crumbling mind, the woman had to rank her comrades.
Who had committed some minor fault.
Who had spoiled her mood on a certain day.
Who had ever looked at her with sullen eyes.
The woman pointed to the man farthest to the left.
The man's eyes widened.
"Ma, Mary?"
The woman responded to that question with tears in her eyes and her lips trembling.
"S-sorry...."
Hectos raised the corner of his mouth.
"Take that bastard over."
"Yes, chief."
The pirates came over and dragged the man's body along.
His upper body and feet were already bound with rope.
"Get up there, you bastard. Kkilkkilk!"
A vicious laughter rang out.
"Uwaaaahk!"
Screaming, the man stood on the wooden plank, his legs shaking uncontrollably.
"Tch, what a man. Sniveling and crying."
A pirate muttered as he nocked an arrow onto his bowstring.
Kkigigigeuk!
And he fired.
Paahk!
The arrow that shot out like a bolt pierced through the man's thigh.
"Kkuaaahk─!"
A scream rang out across the ocean surface.
The pirate who'd fired one shot nocked another arrow onto the string.
Puuk!
This time, it lodged in the center of the man's back.
Stagger-
The man's body slowly tilted, then plunged headlong below the wooden plank.
Pungdeong─
A pillar of water shot up from the surface.
The man's fate was sealed.
The two remaining male comrades and the silver-haired woman, Mary, were watching that spectacle with utterly devastated faces.
Hectos once again grabbed Mary's chin and lifted it.
"Now, who's next."
Mary's eyes grew round and wide.
"P-pardon?"
"You've gotta pick the next one. This is just picking the order, wench. The other two, unlike you, don't have any use, you see."
"H-hii... Kkuiaaack!"
Mary, completely overwhelmed by terror, bit her own tongue and shrieked.
In the end, the pirates drowned both men, leaving only Mary.
Hectos stood before the railing, his long black hair fluttering.
"Aah, trade ship of Lesen. You folks don't need to worry. Those with plenty of money are useful in and of themselves."
Baron Hans of Lesen knew well why they were putting on this display while capturing them.
Don't needlessly resist, was what they were saying.
It was probably an act to plant intense fear in advance.
'Or perhaps, it's just amusement, typical pirate scum.'
Hans and Moreuan furrowed their brows deeply, with both hands still raised high.
It wasn't just the thirty-odd people aboard the Lesen trade ship who witnessed the pirates' atrocities.
"...."
Kiiing-
Yuma, who'd received a magical telescope from one of the sailors, had watched the entire scene of the men being drowned.
"They're trash."
And there was one more person beside him: Beldo, who'd been walking the deck with Yuma, had also received a magical telescope and witnessed that scene.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
"Can you do it?"
Beldo grinned.
"Those pirate bastards?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I can do it."
A sharp light glinted in Beldo's pink eyes.
"If my lord says subdue, I'll subdue them. If he says kill, I'll kill them."
***
Chwaaaaa-
The pirate ship carrying 41 pirates, which had been on the left side of the leader's ship, pulled right up alongside the Lesen trade ship.
Tadak! Kuung!
And from there, 32 pirates, excluding 9, climbed aboard the Lesen vessel.
Sseureung!
A pirate with a bushy, unkempt mustache pressed a blade against Baron Hans's throat.
It was that very moment.
Chwaaaaaa──
The sound of waves spreading out thickly echoed across the ocean surface.
"Huh?"
"One more ship is coming from behind!"
The gazes of the pirates and the Lesen people turned toward the sailing ship faintly visible far in the distance.
It was the sailing ship of Viscount Amon that Yuma was aboard.
"They'd have seen us with a telescope, and on top of that, they're approaching as if charging straight for us instead of avoiding...?"
Hectos, muttering lowly, had his brow deeply furrowed.
The waves spread, creating ripples.
Now the sailing ship that had been faintly visible could be seen clearly.
A sailing ship flying the flag of the Astes Empire.
A voice boomed loudly in the ears of the pirates and the Lesen people.
-This is the Astes Empire.
-We will aid the Lesen Kingdom, our ally.
-Having witnessed your evil deeds with our own eyes, even if you fight, you will die. Even if you surrender, you will die.
Yuma's declaration of war spread across the sea.