Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Pirate Assault
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"Oh, it's an ogre!"
The pirates screamed, and the Asthasidian who appeared to be their leader shouted.
"Don't panic! It's just a crewman! Without the ogre, they're nothing! Shoot the arrows!"
At his command, arrows flew toward Hwesa in unison.
Their marksmanship wasn't bad, even from the rocking ship.
Several arrows lodged into Hwesa's body, but they couldn't pierce his thick hide, only scratching his skin.
Basen Rak Orasun was impressed.
'An ogre is still an ogre, after all.'
If Hwesa could just shake off the ropes hooked on the railing, they might prevent the pirates from boarding.
But the barrage of arrows was the problem.
"Ack, ow...!"
Hwesa advanced toward the railing, but to the pirates, he was nothing but a massive target.
As the arrows rained down, he covered his face with his forearm and retreated.
"Ugh... Number One Imperial Hwesa... has lost..."
Basen stared in disbelief at Hwesa's quick loss of fighting spirit and turned to Tione Itimo.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Huh? No one here would be fine after getting shot with arrows."
"But it's an ogre."
"Ogres aren't people?"
Tione added this while hugging the deck as low as possible.
"Well, Hwesa's stubborn, but he's a bit of a wimp. With that size and eloquence, if he had any guts, he'd be a general somewhere."
It didn't sound wrong.
Basen said,
"Even so, we can't just let the pirates board."
"True."
"If Hwesa buys us even a little time, I'll handle it somehow."
"Captain... I mean, Commander?"
Basen glared as if to say, what about it?
Tione cut in.
"No way. What happens to my neck if you get hurt?"
"No, if the pirates board, what's to guarantee the crew stays safe?"
"You're a prince from Blackrin at least, so they'd spare your life. Assuming these pirates have any brains."
If they were lucky, maybe.
Pirates sometimes took nobles captive for ransom.
"Fine for me, but what's to say you'll be safe?"
"I've believed in Lord Yacheon this hard for times like this. It'll work out somehow, right?"
"......"
"Kidding. Don't get serious. For now, with Hwesa there, they can't get close to the crew..."
To Basen, it seemed overly optimistic.
An ogre made an excellent fighter, but not invincible.
And if it couldn't perform ogre-like tasks, its advantages were wasted.
Basen slung his bow over his shoulder and drew his sword from its sheath.
"Why are you drawing your sword?"
"I'm going to jump to the pirate ship behind us."
"Are you insane?"
"The ship's slowing down. Once the other two catch up, pirates will board from the opposite side too, and no ogre can beat that many. We need to take them out first."
"But..."
"If you don't want to watch me become a pincushion, tell Hwesa to earn his keep."
Basen dashed to the stern, and Tione urgently called out to Hwesa.
She knew he was serious.
Fortunately, a good idea had just occurred to her too.
"That's right, Hwesa!"
"Why call me, Captain?"
"Didn't you board this ship to conquer the sea?"
"Yes. But arrows hurt... Hwesa... defeated..."
Tione slapped the dejected Hwesa on the back.
"Then attack from afar!"
"...From afar?"
Basen crouched low at the stern, peering under the railing.
Sure enough, the pirates' eyes were fixed on the center where the ogre had vanished.
'But the moment I jump, there'll be noise. What about Hwesa...?'
As he thought that, Hwesa raised both arms high and charged the railing.
In his hands was a massive water jug.
"Hup!"
The jug soared through the air toward the pirate ship's railing.
"Dodge!"
"Over here!"
But the damage wasn't great.
Hwesa's throwing motion was so exaggerated that people could evade it, and the gravitational acceleration from the height difference alone couldn't inflict serious harm on the pirate ship.
And what spilled out was just familiar seawater to sailors.
'But this is enough.'
The pirates were dodging the flying water jug every which way and couldn't return fire.
Basen jumped down, rolling once upon landing.
Only the rearmost pirate sensed the presence and turned.
"Huh?"
Those were his last words.
As Basen rose, he thrust his sword into the pirate, the blade snapping the cervical vertebrae and piercing through.
Basen withdrew the sword as the pirate fell and approached the next one, who had his back turned.
"Brother! The ogre's throwing again!"
"You idiots! Shoot first, and it can't throw!"
"But it's shielding itself with the jug..."
-Crash!
The pirate deck buckled from the cumulative impacts where Hwesa had hurled the jugs.
"Grab the ropes and board first!"
"B-Brother!"
"What now!"
"From behind... Gahk!"
A slender blade emerged from the speaking pirate's chest, then vanished as if sucked back in.
As the pirate collapsed, Basen revealed himself.
"You must be the captain."
The pirate ship captain, Asthasidian Godan, jumped in shock.
Behind Basen lay the pirates who had been alive moments ago, all dead.
Only three remained, standing behind Godan.
"Y-You bastard! ...H-How?"
"Will you surrender?"
Godan nearly accepted the offer on reflex.
But in his view, he still held the advantage.
The other two pirate ships were close by, and he'd realized Basen was the merchant ship's best fighter.
'Leave the ogre to the others. Eliminate this one, and it'll be easy. Sneaking behind was clever, but swordplay isn't everything.'
Godan drew a dagger with both pincer hands, raising one large claw overhead into a combat stance.
The Asthasidians, also called crayfishfolk, had claws that could snap weak points instantly.
Even if it only gripped, the other claw could subdue the enemy.
It was common for Asthasidians to be confident in close combat.
'Die!'
Godan's head-sized claw lunged at Basen.
Basen dodged lightly, then retreated quite far.
'Scared of my claw? Coward who only aims for the back.'
Godan stepped forward, convinced of victory.
"B-Brother! Dodge!"
"Huh?"
Godan turned his head.
A water jug hurled by Hwesa smashed right into his face.
"Crayfish are crayfish, huh. Surviving that is impressive."
"Commander, I've got a question."
"What is it?"
"Lizardmen call Asthasidians crayfish, so what do real crayfish call them?"
"...Edible crayfish?"
"...If they knew Lizardmen distinguish based on edibility, wouldn't Asthasidians hate them?"
"Maybe?"
Godan, finally regaining his senses, lifted his head and said,
"Exactly!"
He tried to swing his claw vigorously, but naturally, he was tied with ropes.
He wasn't even on his pirate ship anymore.
Two people stood before him on the merchant ship, while the crew busily cleaned up after the battle.
His three subordinates were bound behind him.
"Gasp, where's my ship?"
Tione said,
"Sent our crew over to bring it."
"There were other pirate ships too, right?"
"They fled."
"No way!"
Tione nodded toward the pirate's stern.
A warship had already caught up and was providing escort.
Godan shuddered, his antennae trembling in shock.
"We smashed you quickly, so the other pirate ships started yelling at each other to board first while hesitating. That's when our awaited warships arrived."
"Urk, my brothers abandoning me? No way..."
Though he said that, Basen thought Godan had quickly grasped reality.
And his next words confirmed it.
"...But please spare me just once, big sis!"
"Be grateful you're not tossed overboard right now. With Blackrin warships escorting us and our next stop Sashian, you'll face proper punishment there."
"Blackrin? Punished by Blackrin law, and I'm dead!"
"Too bad. ...However,"
"However? What?"
Basen stepped closer and said,
"If you answer my questions well, I'll consider alternatives."
"Questions?"
"I have some curiosities about the Yabun Pirates."
"Even so, I can't betray my brothers..."
"Answering or not is your choice."
Godan seemed to ponder, then shook his antennae in agreement.
"Fine."
That alone confirmed to Basen that pirates had no honor.
"Alright, first question."
"What?"
"Asthasidians can walk on the seafloor. Why use ships?"
Tione stared at Basen wide-eyed, as if asking what he was doing.
Crew passing by who overheard chuckled.
Basen said, flustered,
"Aren't you curious? I've always wondered."
"Shows how indifferent you are to other races usually."
Godan pondered how to answer before saying,
"W-Well, obviously, ships are faster than walking or swimming underwater. Less effort too. Best part is loading tons of cargo."
"Ah, that was personal curiosity. Next question."
"...Okay."
Basen said,
"Where did the 'White Spider God' religion you mentioned come from?"
"It's the faith from where I was born."
"Where were you born?"
"South of Blackrin by ship, where Asthasidians gather. Each island has its name, but Blackrin calls it the Southern Isles."
"Ah, there."
Islands discovered shortly after Blackrin's founding, with nominal duchies.
"Tell me more about the White Spider God. What kind of deity?"
Godan hesitated a bit.
To Basen, it seemed less reluctance to explain and more figuring out how, due to lack of experience.
"The White Spider God appeared a century ago as a giant white spider, saving our chieftain from a three-tailed land serpent. When our tribe starved, it created shrimp on land. Such miracles happened across islands, but each calls the same god differently."
"Examples?"
"The northernmost island near Blackrin calls it the Blue Insect God."
Basen laughed at that.
Tione asked blankly,
"Why?"
"The Blue Insect God is one of Lord Yacheon's old names. This guy's tribe worshipped the same god as us."
"Huh?"
"The distance from Orasun is vast, so doctrines aren't unified. But..."
Basen's eyes grew colder.
"Pirating while calling on Yacheon's other name? Unforgivable. Yabun Pirates' name echoes around Babrin. Surely not your whole tribe are pirates?"
Godan frantically shook his antennae.
"N-No. Other Asthasidians live well in the Southern Isles. I was captured young by a pirate crew, which got absorbed into Yabun's, so now we operate under Yabun."
"So Yabun isn't from the Southern Isles either?"
"Right. He came from another continent."
Basen was puzzled.
From Blackrin, the only other continent was west.
No ships came from the east.
Even merchant ships claiming to go west returned saying only endless ocean eastward.
"Another continent...?"
But a west continent native pirating past Tanri and caves into Tan Yeom and Blackrin seas was odd.
Basen doubted other continents existed in his mind.
"So this Yabun is from the western continent?"
Godan said,
"No, he came from the southern continent."