6
Chapter 6
She could do nothing.
—K-boom!!!—
Even as the thunderous roar echoed from outside for a long time.
—Rumble...!
Even as the vibration of the naval guns firing vibrated through the walls of the cabin.
—Clang, clink!!—
Even as the noise of clashing steel followed immediately after.
She simply sat alone in Haydam's captain's quarters, imagining the unseen battlefield.
How much time had passed?
'...Is it over?'
The deafening noise receded like an ebbing tide.
And a chilling silence descended.
"...."
In that stillness, she suddenly felt a strange emotion.
Anxiety.
The man who had rescued her from that cold annex.
The presumptuous worry that... perhaps something had happened to him.
He was certainly a pirate.
A man who had likely killed and plundered countless people.
She understood all too well that he was someone who could never be called a good man.
But....
'...He was the only one who pulled me out of that place.'
The only existence to reach out to her after a lifetime of confinement.
Countless people had despised her for being a bastard, and he too had lamented her status.
Still, the fact that he was the one to save her was undeniable.
Because of that one fact, deep within her.
Gratitude toward him, and a fear that he might be dead... a wish for his safety, was beginning to sprout.
It was then.
—Creeeeak....
"Hmm, Miss? Madam? Hmm... what should I call you? Uh, whatever. Anyway, you can come out now!"
The door to the captain's quarters opened, and the pirate called Lawrence poked her head in.
Despite having just been in the thick of battle, her expression was as peaceful as if she had gone for a light stroll.
"...Yes."
Ines slowly stepped out of the captain's quarters, following Lawrence's lead.
As soon as she stepped onto the deck, she was blinded by the burning red glow of the sunset.
"...Ah."
The sun setting over the southern sea was more beautiful than ever.
Yet, the port and the castle were shrouded in black smoke and silence.
But, in the midst of it all.
"...Ah, you're finally out."
He was there.
At the end of the long wooden bridge connecting the deck to the land.
Standing against the red sunset, his black coat fluttering in the wind, was the black-haired... pirate.
"Over here."
Haydam spoke briefly to Ines.
"...."
Ines silently followed his lead.
The pirates stepped aside, creating a path for them.
As if enchanted, Ines approached him and stood face to face.
Then, Haydam reached out his rough, calloused hand toward Ines.
"......."
She looked down at his palm for a moment, then slowly placed her hand atop his.
It was at that moment.
—Thump!
Someone stomped hard on the deck.
—Thump! Thump!!
The vibration spread like a contagion.
From the seven ships anchored in the port.
And from the boots of the pirates lined up along the castle walls.
A heavy pulse began to shake the land of Morgue Bay.
"Farewell, fishy waves and rough seas!"
Master Gunner Lawrence shouted at the top of her lungs.
As if on cue, countless pirates responded by raising their glasses.
""Farewell, horizons drenched in the scent of blood!!""
"We shall now sail toward a new land!"
""The hardships of life on a swaying ship are finally over—!!""
The voices erupting through the salty sea breeze and gunpowder smoke were far from elegant.
Yet, within them lay the joy of men who had spent their lives rolling on unstable decks...
And had finally obtained 'land' of their own.
—♬♩——♪♬—♬♪♪♪————
Their sea shanty continued without pause.
A strange, rough, and raw melody that resonated in the chest.
"...Wow."
Ines could only watch the scene unfold, unable to find the words to describe it.
Then, Lawrence tossed a broom onto the ground in front of Ines and Haydam.
"Now! Captain, and the future bride! Step over it!!"
"What... is this?"
Not knowing what it was, Ines looked at Haydam and asked.
"Didn't I tell you? A pirate's wedding."
Haydam answered Ines's question in a low voice.
"This broom represents sweeping away the past. The moment we step over this together, we leave our old lives behind and become a married couple starting anew."
...A new life.
Those words pierced her heart.
A 'life' without the handcuffs of the annex.
And without the shackles of being born a bastard.
"Are you ready, Ines?"
"...."
—Squeeze.
Ines gripped his hand tightly instead of answering.
"...Haha, alright."
Seeing this, Haydam looked down at the broom with Ines.
"Now."
As if by prior agreement, they stepped forward simultaneously and lightly jumped over the broom.
—Thump.
Finally, the moment her soles touched the ground.
"...Haha."
She felt a sensation as if something had truly snapped and a new connection had been forged.
At that moment, Haydam pulled out a gold ring set with a green gem from his coat.
"I told you before, didn't I? That I would protect your life no matter what. This is the proof, Ines. As long as you wear this ring, none of my crew will look down on you."
He roughly slid the ring onto her ring finger and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
"...."
A sense of security she had never felt before.
An emotion entirely different from the times when she didn't know when she would be abandoned or killed.
But before Ines could process the feeling, Haydam took her hand and held it high.
"Now! Let's celebrate the victory!! Tonight, this entire castle is a place of festival!!"
""Woooah———!!! ""
"Did you all hear? Bring out the liquor and meat!! It's a feast!!!"
The crew erupted in cheers in response to Haydam.
A place where neither the stifling etiquette of nobles nor the prison-like annex existed.
"Ines, come here. We are the hosts of this celebration, so you should be in the center."
"...Yes."
This was her new home.
The place where her new life began.
With that thought, she looked at Haydam's profile.
'...This man is my husband.'
The smile on his lips seemed exceptionally... reliable today.
*
The feast, naturally, grew heated.
The barrels of liquor typically stocked on pirate ships were moved into the castle.
The sight of them heating up the night air with a festival, cooking fish and pigs raised in Morgue Bay.
Truthfully, it was quite a pleasant sight to behold.
However, a few of us, myself included, did not raise our glasses.
Get drunk and party together immediately after a battle?
I wasn't stupid enough to commit such madness.
"Lawrence."
At my call, Lawrence, who had been fiddling with a bottle as if wanting a drink, turned her head.
"Yes, Captain."
"Bring Old Snake to me as soon as you wake up tomorrow morning. I need a precise understanding of Ines's physical condition."
Old Snake.
The name of the ship's shaman.
Since that man would be capable of accurately assessing Ines's state,
I decided that now, while a relative peace held, was the optimal time.
"Ugh, that guy is a bit... but fine, I got it."
"And you'll stay by Ines's side tonight."
After I issued further instructions,
Lawrence narrowed her eyes and looked toward the bedroom where Ines was resting.
"By the lady's side? Geez, Captain. It's their first night; would it be tactless of me to intrude?"
"I'm in no mood for jokes."
"...Yes, sir."
"Ines hasn't adjusted to this environment yet. Since you are also a woman—"
"—Ah...!! Let's not say things like that so loudly, Captain...!"
"...Sigh, fine. Anyway, as someone who can handle Aura, you'll be a safe presence by her side, so I'm entrusting her to you."
At my firm attitude, Lawrence shrugged and straightened her posture.
"Yes-sir! If any bastard so much as touches a finger to the madam, I'll put a hole right through them."
"Gidman, follow me."
After assigning a suitable guard to Ines,
I stepped away for a moment with Gidman.
Rubik was a truly madman.
Even though I had only checked briefly before starting the festival, a vast amount of loot had already turned up.
If I searched and rummaged more thoroughly, who knows how much more would emerge?
He was certainly a man who looked as if the very concept of greed had taken human form.
However.
'There is something that takes priority over treasure hunting.'
Treasures do not have legs.
Knowing they are inside the castle, they are things that will fall into my hands given a bit of time.
But people are not like that.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, Captain."
Gidman and I walked slowly into the deep, damp dungeons of the castle.
—Splosh, splosh.
Every time my boots stepped on the wet floor, the men inside the cells shuddered and curled up.
"...The, the Pirate King."
"I-It's over now.... What, what ever did I do wrong...!"
Whispers laced with terror echoed through the prison.
However, disregarding their gazes, I stopped in the middle of them.
"Are you... afraid of me?"
I looked down at them with cold eyes.
"Hiee..."
I understand their fear.
To them, I am a pirate.
At the same time, I am the man who killed Rubik, their commander, in a single stroke.
Facing such a man and not feeling fear?
Well... that would be impossible unless they were knights who knew how to use Aura.
Therefore, inhaling the humidity that filled the prison, I gave a predatory smile.
"You've chosen the wrong person to fear."
One thing I've realized while living as a pirate for many years is... fear is useful.
Fear paralyzes thought and causes hesitation.
But what if an existence that terrifying... showed mercy?
"What you truly should fear is hunger."
—Jingle, jingle.
The dull yet seductive sound of clashing gold coins broke the silence.
The soldiers' gazes instinctively began to drift toward the pouch in my hand.
"Checking the ledgers, I saw that bastard Rubik didn't even pay the soldiers' food expenses."
Contrary to public prejudice, pirates are relatively egalitarian.
If someone is too greedy, they simply leave the ship, which in turn means the voyage will be disrupted.
Therefore, we usually pay as fairly and according to ability as possible... but this place was not like that.
"So, I will take his place. In stead of that pig, I will pay you what you are owed."
As I spoke, I untied the string of the leather pouch.
Then, I roughly threw the pouch into the cell.
—Clatter, clatter—!!
The pouch burst upon hitting the floor, and golden coins spilled out across the filthy prison ground.
The soldiers gasped and recoiled, then looked back and forth between the gold and me in disbelief.
"Follow me."
I looked at each of them slowly and spoke as if making a declaration.
"I will pay you your fair due. I will ensure you live a life different from the one you've known until now. So...."
—Creeeeeak....
Then, I crushed the bars... I broke through the iron gates they were imprisoned in and took a step closer.
"Choose. Whether you will leave this place, or fill your bellies under my command. I, Haydam, never let those who belong to me go hungry."
""....""
The men's eyes changed.
Some began to reach out with trembling hands to pick up the coins scattered on the floor.
Looking at them, I turned and left the prison without a second thought.
"...Gidman."
"Yes, Captain."
"Tomorrow, we will thoroughly investigate everything Rubik hid. It seems... there is quite a lot to fix in various ways."
"Of course."
I inhaled the night air and slowly looked around Morgue Bay.
The treasures Rubik left behind.
The scrawny soldiers.
And a wife with a unique constitution.
'...Truly interesting.'
The trash heap the Admiral of the South had given me was full of intriguing things the more I opened the lid.
'There is so much to be done.'
How shall I remodel this rotten Morgue Bay into a pirate's... my own fortress.
I was genuinely looking forward to it.
*
And the next day.
"...."
""....""
To be honest, I couldn't hide my admiration.
"...What is this?"
"Hmm, not just the soldiers... it seems everyone has a lot of unpaid wages."
The treasures and gold coins in Rubik's personal warehouse were mountainous, yet I hadn't realized he'd been filling his own pockets to this extent.
"Besides the ones I gave gold to last night, there were more soldiers? Then why weren't they in the castle?"
"They said they went to the fields or the forest to earn a living because they had no money. They felt it was the same whether they stayed or not, since they lived on the handouts of pirates anyway."
Due to hunger, the soldiers were too busy with their own livelihoods to perform their roles as guards.
"...Come to think of it, the administrator and the head of military affairs are gone. Is this the normal state of a territory?"
"...How could that be, Captain? They all ran away."
A dire situation where not even a proper system to manage the territory had been established.
That was the reality Morgue Bay faced.
To summarize.
The previous lord tried to run away with all the money.
The soldiers were starving.
And there was no one willing to work—a total disaster.
However, I didn't find this bad at all.
"Good. I can just build everything up from scratch."
Wouldn't it be a pain to correct and reuse bugs that don't even listen?
It was more comfortable for me to designate and build everything up step by step.
Now, let's see....
"Gather all the captains. I need to hold a meeting."
Let's do this the pirate way.
