Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Pirate King
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“Attack!”
“Port side, load and fire!”
Cannon fire rained down from all directions.
Innumerable bullets and countless cannonballs.
And atop them, a tapestry of multicolored magic spells.
Deafening explosions battered her ears, interspersed with agonized screams slicing through the chaos.
Some wailed in grief, clutching the corpses of the dead.
Others stared blankly, gripping severed arms.
Or... those who couldn't even close their eyes, their chests pierced by shrapnel, now cold corpses.
Witnessing this horrific slaughter unfolding on the vast sea,
the girl with shackles on her hands and feet,
a cross-shaped scar on her forehead, golden blonde hair, and crimson eyes pondered.
Beautiful...
This was the face of death.
A scene of escape from a world filled only with pain, departing for peaceful, happy rest.
Envy for those who could embrace that joy welled within her,
and in that fleeting moment, she yearned to etch this sacred ritual-like sight even deeper into her eyes.
Then.
-Crack!!
“...”
In an instant, the radiance in her eyes vanished, leaving only dark shadows.
Pus and blood oozed from the deep gash torn by the whip.
Pain that would have felled an ordinary person.
Yet her only response was to silently turn her head and shuffle forward.
“Move it, you filthy slave! How dare you daydream like that!”
A sharp voice pierced her ears.
Perhaps due to the chaos, her “master” spoke in a gentler tone than usual.
“Move, now! Keep dawdling, and I'll toss you overboard!”
Her master's whip carved another wound into her back.
But even so...
no scream escaped the girl's lips.
It hurt, but the sensation was one she'd grown numb to.
Through endless lessons, she had learned.
That slaves had no right to scream.
No right to complain of pain.
“...”
She hoisted the cannonball, heavy enough to tear her arms from their sockets.
Walking the wildly rocking deck with her battered, wounded body was no easy task.
Water sprayed from all sides.
Wooden splinters grazed her cheeks.
The sweet temptation of death beckoned her from mere inches away.
But...
Even so, she had to keep walking.
Slaves had no right to complain,
nor the right to die.
Everything had to follow her master's will alone...
Then.
“Wha... what the...?”
“What... what is that?!”
“!”
Sudden voices thick with bewilderment.
And...
-Boom!!
With the ensuing explosion, the deck beneath the girl's feet shuddered violently.
A cannonball...
No, something far larger had struck.
The impact threw the girl off balance, sending her crashing to the deck.
The cannonball she'd barely held slipped away somewhere.
However,
in this moment, no expected whip cracks came.
No furious tirade sounded.
What she saw were the faces of her master and the others, dyed in shock.
And...
covering her body...
a massive black shadow.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“!”
A deep, resonant man's voice rang in her ears.
A voice that conveyed power and dignity through sound alone. Slowly, she turned to look behind her.
Then, the figure came into view.
A giant seemingly over 2 meters tall,
a body covered in bulging muscles.
And...
a middle-aged man with golden hair and beard that gleamed like sunlight.
His extraordinary presence was unmistakable at a glance. He glanced at the girl, then flashed a smile.
A terrifying smile,
yet one that inexplicably drew her in...
Then.
“G-Golden... Beard...”
“Ezra Drake!”
“The Pirate King! The Pirate King has appeared!”
Voices laced with terror and astonishment filled the air, the surroundings erupting in chaos.
But the massive man ignored the clamor entirely.
He simply extended his hand toward the girl.
“!”
A large, sturdy hand that could crush her skull in an instant.
As always, expecting pain, she squeezed her eyes shut without thinking.
However,
“!”
No pain came from that massive hand touching her head.
It simply caressed her hair gently.
It was the first time.
She had ever felt such a sensation.
Dazed for a moment, the girl looked up at his still-smiling face.
Then.
“Y-You bastard...! Do you know who I am to act like this?! I am Marquis Philippe, noble of the great Franz Kingdom! How dare a lowly pirate like you cause a scene!”
Her “master,” trembling in fear as he spoke.
However...
“Do nobles have two lives or something? Perfect, then. Time to test that theory.”
The man didn't bat an eye.
Golden mana began radiating from his body.
“Wh-What are you fools doing?! K-Kill that filthy pirate now!”
“B-But, Marquis! He's the Pirate King!”
“H-He reached 12th Grade! A monster like that... how could we...”
The soldiers, guns and swords in hand, already bereft of fighting spirit.
Then.
-Bang!!
“Gahk!”
“...”
Her master shot the head of one terror-stricken soldier.
Then he screamed in a shrill voice.
“D-Don't spout nonsense! Pirate King? 12th Grade? What does that matter?! I am the great noble Marquis Philippe! Bring me that bastard's head! Anyone who hesitates dies by my hand first!”
At her master's rage-filled command, as always, the people grimaced but obeyed.
As they gripped trembling guns and drew swords...
the man slowly raised his bandaged fist, assuming a stance.
“As expected... you nobles are all utterly repulsive.”
His voice carried undeniable strength.
He held no weapon from the start.
Yet the faces of the dozens of armed soldiers bore anxiety and fear even the girl could recognize.
In contrast, the giant man showed not a trace of worry...
His face radiated leisure.
Then, the golden aura blooming from his body blazed even fiercer.
To the girl's eyes, it looked utterly magnificent.
That radiant energy, like the morning sun, coiled around his clenched fist like threads of yarn.
Then.
“! F-Fire... FIRE!!!”
-Bang bang bang!
Bullets flew at her master's frantic shout.
Indiscriminately toward the giant man—and even the powerless girl before him.
A situation where even she couldn't help but envision death.
But...
-Whoosh!
“!”
In an instant, a brilliant flash erupted before her eyes.
A wave of dazzling, irresistible power swept forward, deflecting every incoming bullet.
Though not the target, the numbing sensation prickling her entire body forced the girl to curl up.
And moments later.
Once the blinding light filling her vision faded...
“Ah...!”
A thread of clear surprise dawned in the girl's eyes, where thick shadows had lingered until then.
“Guh... ugh...”
“Kuh... heok...”
Bloodied figures collapsed on the deck.
Those who had stood armed moments ago now lay in utterly wretched ruin.
And...
“Ugh... uuk... wh-what... what the hell...”
Among them, her “master.”
Both arms that once wielded the whip were shattered beyond recognition. He writhed on the ground, groaning in agony.
The being who held the power of life and death over her and all who now lay broken—like an invincible god.
Seeing him sprawled like trash, the girl felt something stir deep within her heart.
Then.
“!”
The giant man held out a small dagger to her.
He spoke in a calm voice, different from before.
“Finish it. With your own hands, sever the chains of oppression and claim your freedom.”
“F-Freedom...?”
Something she'd longed for but never experienced.
At his words to seize it herself, the girl hesitated briefly.
The unknown breeds fear.
Even if it was what she'd always desired,
her steps toward the unknown carried inevitable hesitation.
However,
“Wh-What are you doing?! S-Stop! Stop right now! If you touch me, the Franz Kingdom won't let you—!”
This egg called fear.
Clutching the dagger like a chick's tiny beak,
the girl began to crack it open, slowly.
-Stab!
“Gaaaaah!!!”
Her master's scream rang in her ears.
But in this moment, to the girl, it sounded utterly refreshing.
“Kuhk! Sp-Spare... me! I... I was wrong... I-I'll never hit you again... pl-ple... kuhheok!!!”
Gone was his earlier arrogance.
Tears and snot streaming down his ugly face, he begged desperately.
But that voice no longer reached her ears.
Her focus was singular:
shattering the shell before her eyes...
the world named slavery and bondage.
Pure passion, pure yearning.
Embracing only that,
the little chick pecked at the fragile shell with all her might.
And finally...
-Crack!!
“Ku... he... uh...”
Her master's skull shattered cleanly.
The dagger pierced bone and brain, snuffing out his fading life for good.
Thus... with her own hands, one world lay in pieces.
Vaguely realizing the world called “slave” had vanished,
the girl slowly raised her head.
The sky, hazy with acrid smoke rising everywhere.
Yet to her, this sky seemed clearer and more radiant than ever.
A sensation as if something binding her heart had grown hazy.
Frightening, yet...
for the first time, feeling joy.
A single tear traced down the girl's cheek, without reason.
“Well done. You're free now.”
A calm hand patted her shoulder.
Belatedly, she turned to the man who had granted her freedom...
the one many had called “pirate.” She bowed her head politely.
“Th-Thank... you. Pirate... sir.”
“No need for thanks. That freedom was won by your own hands. I just gave you a little push.”
The pirate smiled—a smile both fearsome and bright.
She returned the smile.
Then.
“Captain! All clear over here!”
“Sheesh... you went overboard again. You didn't kill them all, did you? I appreciate the hard work, but leave some cleanup for us!”
A ship approached.
But its grandeur far outclassed the sinking galleons here.
A massive warship slicing through wrecked hulls,
black sails bearing a stark skull emblem.
After lightly waving at the voices from aboard, the pirate turned back to the girl.
“Then let's head back. Tell me your name and home. I'll have you sent there.”
Offering kindness once more.
Grateful, yet somewhat troubled, the girl answered cautiously.
“I... I have no home. I've been a slave since birth...”
“Hmm... I see...”
A faintly bitter expression crossed the pirate's face.
The first heavy look from the man who had laughed heartily until now.
Feeling an odd discomfort at that,
she blurted out urgently, almost without thinking.
“B-But I have a name! I'm... Ambasha.”
“Kuhk!?”
Suddenly, the pirate wore a complex expression and coughed harshly.
Moments later, he knelt swiftly before her, peering closely at her face...
precisely, the cross-shaped scar amid her hair.
And...
'Fuck? Why's the protagonist here?'