Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: Ghost Ship, Bane of Pirates

A number of beds lined a large room with rock walls. Glowing crystals had been embedded into the walls and ceiling at regular intervals, illuminating the numerous medicine-filled cabinets resting against the walls and alcoves filled with clean sheets. Most beds were filled, their occupants sleeping peacefully. Sleeping so peacefully, in fact, that one wondered if they were still alive.

A young girl walked over to the two beds furthest in the back. She dipped a towel in a bucket full of water, wrung it out, then wiped down the body of the boy sleeping on the bed beside her—Dylan. Once she was done she dressed him and checked his temperature. After that, she did the same for Katy, who was sleeping across from him. The luster in her hair showed that Corrin, the girl watching over her, had been taking good care of her for a while. Day after day, she’d nursed her two siblings who’d fallen into a coma after being transformed into living weapons by the church.

For Corrin, who was still only seven years old, it took a lot of effort to bathe and dress her comatose siblings. But despite how hard it was, Corrin not only looked after them, but also the other patients in this makeshift hospital. Most kids her age would have thrown a tantrum at the prospect of doing so much work, but she had never once complained in the four months since she’d left her orphanage and come to the Liberators’ hidden village.

Since that day, she’d tied her red hair up in a ponytail, imitating the hairstyle of her beloved older brother, and done everything she could to be helpful.

“Dylan-oniichan, Katy... It’s going to be okay. Onii-chan will definitely find a way to bring you back to normal...”

Corrin patted her siblings’ heads with her tiny hands. After the events in the Greenway, she’d been forced to mature much faster than a child her age normally would.

“Yo, Corrin. How’re Dylan and Katy doing?”

“Ah, Ruu-oniichan.”

Ruth walked into the room, his spiky black hair making him easy to identify even at a distance.

“They’re doing the same as usual. Just like everyone else.”

“Well, I figured as much.” Ruth shrugged as he looked down at Dylan. After a while, he sighed and looked over at the bed at the very back of the room. It was oddly tilted and currently unoccupied. Corrin followed his gaze and watched as Ruth pulled a pair of black gloves out of his back pocket, put them on, and squatted down next to the bed frame.

It appeared the reason for its tilt was that one of the bed’s legs was damaged. Ruth placed a gloved hand against the damaged leg and closed his eyes. Concentrating, he imagined himself transmuting with the same confidence and poise as his respected brother.

“Transmute.”

Faint orange mana ran down the length of his arm. A second later, the metal leg was completely repaired.

“Wow, Ruu-oniichan, you’re amazing! You’ve gotten even better than before!”

“Hehe.”

Ruth grinned bashfully and rubbed his nose. Just as Corrin had taken on the duties of a nurse, Ruth had been going around the village repairing buildings, weapons, and furniture.

The Liberator’s hidden village was located deep within Reisen Gorge, so normally it was impossible to use magic down here. The gorge’s unique properties dispersed mana the moment it exited one’s body. The reason Ruth was able to transmute even here was because of the black gloves Oscar had given him before he’d left. Those gloves were an artifact with transmutation circles engraved into them. On top of that, they strengthened the cohesiveness of their user’s mana. Though their range was limited, within a two-meter radius Ruth could use his mana without it getting dispersed. He’d spent the past few months tirelessly training his transmutation skills, motivated by a burning desire to be as skilled a Synergist as Oscar. Thanks to that, his skills had improved dramatically since he’d arrived in the gorge. At this point, even many of the Liberators depended on his transmuting.

“You’re awesome, Ruu-oniichan. I wish I could do more than just this...” Corrin looked down despondently at the bucket of water in her hands. It frustrated her that all she could do was nurse patients.

Ruth looked down awkwardly at her, then patted her head.

“Don’t be stupid. Oscar asked you to look after Dylan and Katy, didn’t he? And you’ve been doing just that.”

“I know, but...”

“Even I can only ‘just’ transmute things... All the other Liberators are way more amazing than me. If you want to be helpful, you just have to keep trying your best and getting better, right?”

“...Yeah.”

After a moment, Corrin nodded with conviction. The two young girls who’d joined the Liberators recently were around the same age as her, but they were way more competent. So she’d been feeling a little inferior. On the other hand, Ruth had matured as much as Corrin since The Greenway incident, which was why he’d known just what to say to encourage his younger sister.

“Fufu. What a reliable older brother you are, Ruth-kun.”

“Geh.” Ruth turned around with a grimace. He looked like he’d just run into his mortal nemesis.

Standing in the doorway was a young girl holding a tray. She had dark brown skin, jade green eyes, and golden-blonde hair parted down the middle. She was, of course, Susha, the twelve-year-old girl from the desert.

“Corriiiiiin. We’ve brought you lunch!”

“Ah, Yun-chan!”

Yunfa poked her head out from behind her older sister’s back. She looked like a younger version of Susha, with the same jade eyes, dark skin, and blonde hair. Incidentally, Susha had started growing her hair out since coming to the gorge, and her once shoulder-length hair now fell all the way to her back. Long hair suited her figure well, and she looked far older than she was. Though they were only one year apart, Ruth found it hard to deal with this surprisingly mature desert dweller.

“Oh my, Ruth-kun. That hurts my feelings.”

“Liar. You don’t care about what anyone other than Naiz thinks.”

Susha raised an eyebrow and muttered something.

“Is that really how it seems? That’s quite troubling...”

Then, she shook the thought out of her mind and spoke up.

“Moorin made some sandwiches for us. Why don’t we eat them together?”

Susha held out the tray full of sandwiches. Ruth’s stomach growled as he looked at them. Corrin and Yunfa turned to him and giggled.

“D-Don’t laugh! I’ve been practicing all morning, so of course I’d be hungry!” Ruth snapped as he snatched the tray from Susha. He then stalked out of the sickroom and carried it over to the break room’s table. Despite his frustration, he didn’t forget to do the gentlemanly thing. Just like his respected brother Oscar would have.

Many of the older women in the Liberators’ village were worried about Ruth-kun’s future. He was blunt and easily embarrassed, but also serious and courteous. It was likely he’d have women falling for him without ever realizing it. Right now though, he was surrounded by his sister and two girls who were obsessed with Naiz, so his charms didn’t really affect them.

Inside the break room, the four children stuffed themselves full of bacon sandwiches. Ruth observed Susha as he awkwardly listened to the conversation between three girls.

Tim, the Liberator’s messenger, had brought Susha and Yunfa to the village about a month ago. They’d traveled as fast as their legs would carry them, and the two sisters had been exhausted when they first arrived. The reason they’d pushed themselves so hard was that they’d wanted to rendezvous with the other Liberators as fast as possible and get started on helping Naiz from the shadows. Their unwavering devotion had allowed them to complete a trip that would normally take four months in just thirty days. Tim’s Animal Harmony magic had helped speed up the journey by making the horses both tireless and faster than regular horses, but it was still impressive that two young girls had managed to keep riding them for that long.

However, Ruth understood their obsession. After all, there was someone he wanted to match up to as well. It was for that reason he’d tried to get along with Susha and Yunfa at first. But after a few days, he’d realized the two girls were far more insane than he’d thought. To begin with, the way they used their jobs was far too bizarre.

Susha’s job was Wordsmith. She had an innate talent for writing poems and stories, and her derivative skills allowed her to absorb and disseminate information with ease. Those skills of hers were what had allowed her to come up with the “Fairy of the Desert” rumor, and spread it across the entire continent in just two years.

Yunfa, on the other hand, was a Bard. As one might expect, she had a natural proficiency with instruments and support magic. Furthermore, she could improve the efficacy of her support spells by boosting them with her performances. Since she’d never touched an instrument before, she hadn’t known of her abilities, but she’d been using them unconsciously when she spun her tales in a way that left lasting impressions on people. Her perceptiveness when it came to others also stemmed from her job. She supported her older sister from the shadows, and it was thanks to her efforts that the sisters had been able to leave a good impression on Miledi and Oscar when they’d first met them.

The two had first become aware of their jobs after arriving in the Liberators’ village, and they’d spent their time perfecting their talents ever since. However, their obsession with learning was so great that it terrified the Liberators in charge of their education. No matter how many times their teachers told them not to push themselves, they just smiled and repeated the same words.

“We have to work hard for Naiz-sama.”

For that reason, everyone, including Ruth, thought they were crazy.

“Oooh, Ruth’s falling for Sue-nee!”

“Huh!?”

Ruth looked up in surprise. It appeared Yunfa had noticed he was observing Susha. That little brat’s really sharp.

Before Ruth could argue back, or admonish Yunfa for not being respectful to her elders, Susha replied in a troubled voice.

“I’m sorry, Ruth-kun. But my heart belongs to Naiz-sama.”

“Quit it! You’re making it sound like you’re rejecting me! I don’t even like you! I was just wondering how your studies were going!”

“Fufu, sorry.”

Susha grinned playfully. It was that teasing attitude of hers that made it so hard for Ruth to deal with her. That, and how strangely seductive she looked whenever she was talking about her beloved Naiz. For someone only a year older than Ruth, she seemed far too much of an adult.

Hence why Ruth wasn’t terribly fond of her. He was also jealous of the fact that she’d been put in charge of the Liberators’ intelligence department the moment she’d arrived.

“Sue-oneechan and Yunfa-chan, you two really love Naiz-oniichan, don’t you?”

Meanwhile, Corrin was completely oblivious. Her innocence warmed the cockles of Ruth’s heart.

See, now that’s how little girls should act... Dear Oscar, our little sister Corrin is as angelic as always.

“Oh yes, how about you, Corrin-chan? How do you feel about Oscar-san?”

“Huh?” Corrin cocked her head. After a few seconds, the meaning of Susha’s words sunk in, and she blushed. Ruth gave her a bewildered look. However, she merely fidgeted bashfully and replied meekly.

“But Onii-chan already has Miledi-oneechan...”

“Hmm, I wonder, are those two really like that?”

“When I asked them if they were a couple last time, Oscar-oniisan said no with a straight face.”

It was certainly true that Oscar and Miledi shared a deep bond with each other. However, at least at present, they didn’t seem to be lovers. Yunfa and Susha weren’t even sure they had romantic feelings for each other. From what they could tell, Miledi and Oscar were more than friends, but not quite lovers.

Yunfa pounded her fist on the table and burst out into a passionate tirade.

“Corrin-chan, if you’re in love, you gotta go on the offense! If you really want to be Oscar-oniisan’s wife, then your feelings have to be strong enough to overcome Miledi-oneesan’s! You better send her a letter saying Oscar-oniisan’s yours, so she better not lay a hand on him!”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? I can’t do that. Besides, I like Miledi-oneechan too!”

Please leave, before you corrupt our precious angel Corrin any further. Also... Dear Oscar, I trust you’re not a pervert and would never actually lay a hand on a girl who’s not even 10 yet. Because if you are... I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again.

As Ruth monologued to an Oscar who wasn’t there, a new face joined the break room.

“You brats got enough to eat? If you don’t eat properly you’ll never grow bigger.”

A large man with an even larger voice walked over to the table the kids were sitting on. He was another one of the Liberators, Marshal Diamond. His cropped black hair was streaked with gray, and the hard contours of his face showed that his 45 years of life hadn’t been easy. He’d originally been a 1000-man commander in Velka’s army, but when he’d been forced between choosing the church or the lives of his men, he’d chosen his men. After that, he’d been forced to flee the kingdom and ended up with the Liberators.

“Excuse me, Marshal-san. I feel like you shouldn’t encourage girls to overeat.”

A white-haired woman in her mid-twenties walked in behind Marshal. Her name was Mikaela Eifield. She was wearing the white robe of an outlawed religion. Her people had been a band of pagans that had lived in the mountains to the north. When the church had discovered them, they’d been branded heretics and forced to flee for their lives. During her flight, Mikaela had run into the Liberators and ended up joining them.

Mikaela was blind, and so normally went around with her eyes closed. However, her special magic, Soul Sight, enhanced her perception far beyond what mundane sight would have given her, so her blindness was no handicap.

“Look, Mikaela. You’re the last person I want to hear telling other people not to eat...”

“Excuse me? I am no glutton.”

Mikaela was one hundred percent a glutton. Despite her slender frame, she usually ate through thrice as much food as Marshal. Whenever anyone saw her, she was snacking on something. Even now she was munching on a loaf of bread she’d taken from her pocket.

“Umm, did you need us for something, Captain, Mikaela?”

Most everyone who lived in this village referred to Marshal as just “captain.” It was a fitting title, since he was the village’s acting combat commander.

Mikaela was the one who answered Ruth’s question.

“We do indeed. My apologies, I almost forgot thanks to Marshal-san’s uncalled for insults. We came here to deliver this to you.”

She ignored Marshal’s glare of protest and took out a pouch of snacks. Realizing that wasn’t what she’d meant to pull out, she put it back into her pocket and pulled out a letter.

“That handwriting!” Susha leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Mikaela chuckled and responded.

“Yep, it’s a letter from Naiz-san. Creme-chan delivered it moments ago.”

“Th-Thank you very much, Mikaela-sensei.” Susha bounded out of her chair and grabbed the letter, her cheeks flushed. Yunfa followed after her, practically squealing.

“It’s a letter from Naiz-sama!”

Mikaela was one of the Liberators’ information department’s most vital members. She also happened to be Susha and Yunfa’s tutor, which was why they called her sensei. Mikaela’s smile widened as she watched her two cute disciples jump up and down in excitement.

“Already...? Tim’s awesome. Or maybe I guess it’s Creme who’s awesome.”

“Creme-chan’s super cute and super awesome.”

Ruth and Corrin sang Creme’s praises. Miledi and the others had traveled much further west since their last letter. It was entirely possible they’d reached the western coastline by now. Meaning Creme must have flown at an unbelievable speed to cross the entire continent in what had likely been just a few days. The children couldn’t help but be amazed at the speed at which they’d received a reply. Though they were getting used to the various powerful special magics most members of the Liberators possessed.

“So then, why are you here, Captain?”

Two people weren’t necessary to deliver a letter.

“Because I’m curious, obviously.”

“Oh.”

Most Liberators were interested in hearing about what kind of person their newest ancient magic user was, and how his relationship with the two young sisters was developing. Plus, they wanted to know if their leader and glasses-wearing Synergist had finally gotten together or not. Miledi sent her own reports of course, but they wanted to hear things from an uninvolved third party like Naiz. Diligent as always, Naiz made sure to address his letters to the two sisters, and usually included tidbits of their daily lives in them.

“Fufu, Susha. What did Naiz-san have to—” Mikaela’s words died in her throat when she saw Susha’s expression.

“Oh, Naiz-sama... That just won’t do...”

Goosebumps rose on her arms. Susha was smiling, but that smile didn’t reach her eyes. She tapped her cheek thoughtfully and glared at the letter in her hands.

“Uh oh, Sue-nee’s going over to the dark side again. I need to bring her back before it’s too late...” Yunfa muttered.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What’s wrong, Susha?”

Her student’s occasional episodes terrified Mikaela to no end. Susha wordlessly held out the letter for everyone else to read. Mikaela, Marshal, Ruth, and Corrin all crowded around it. As far as they could tell, there was nothing strange written in the letter. Just an account of how Oscar and Miledi’s antics always got on Naiz’s nerves, and some comments about the tasty food and interesting sights they’d seen in the villages they’d passed along the way. There were a few sentences about how very annoying Miledi was, and how very impressive Oscar’s inventions were.

There was also a section where he talked about how he wanted to know just how Susha and Yunfa always happened to know everything about the exchanges he had with any woman, no matter how trivial. However, from the way he joked about the two of them maybe awakening to a new kind of special magic, it seemed he wasn’t really mad. Most of it was normal, though the final section did seem to have an undercurrent of fear to it.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything strange here?”

“Y-Yeah. Everything looks fine. Onii-chan and Miledi-oneechan look like they’re having fun too.”

Susha silently shook her head and pointed to a single paragraph. Confused, Marshal read it aloud.

“Umm, let’s see here...‘Have you ever had frozen dessert in the desert? Oscar made us some sweets made of ice and fruit syrup when we stopped at an oasis. All of the flavors were great.’ Huh, must have been nice to eat cold stuff in the desert... So, what’s wrong with this bit?”

“Indeed, he even mentioned how he would like to let you two try them sometimes.”

Everyone turned to Susha in confusion. Susha’s pupils were like dark pools, and for a moment it looked like her eyes had turned into a pair of Miledi’s gravity spheres.

“Fufu, don’t you think it’s strange that Naiz-sama knows how all of the flavors taste?”

“Huh? Doesn’t that just mean he tried them all?”

“Naiz-sama would never be able to eat three portions by himself. Meaning he must have tried Oscar-san and Miledi-san’s flavors.”

“Umm, is it bad if they all shared? I share with my friends all the time.”

“Had they just shared their dessert, that would have been fine... but knowing Miledi-san, she probably spoon-fed him.”

Shaking, Mikaela asked a simple question.

“How can you be sure?”

After all, Naiz’s letter hadn’t mentioned anything about how he’d tried all the flavors.

“Because this event is the only one he hasn’t described in detail. For every other thing they saw or did, he wrote a detailed description of what Miledi-san and Oscar-san thought, and what his own impressions were. But here, he just wrote a few simple sentences.”

The group read through the letter again, and now they noticed the irregularity that Susha had pointed out. That particular paragraph was as dry as a textbook’s. And it certainly seemed like Naiz had been a little nervous when he’d written it.

“Meaning Naiz-sama did something naughty with Miledi-san.”

The only “naughty” thing that came to mind was Miledi feeding Naiz some of her dessert.

“I guess I need to write a reply.”

Susha ignored the others, who were standing stiff and sat back down at the table.

“Oh Naiz-sama... and Miledi-san... you shouldn’t be so naughty...” she muttered in a flat voice.

There was no doubt that the first sentence of her reply would read, “Naiz-sama? Why did you let Miledi-san feed you?” And there was no doubt that her accurate prediction of what Naiz had omitted would leave him paranoid about how she’d found out.

“Sue-nee. Is it okay if I play some music while you write?”

“Of course, Yunfa. Please play something gallant, something that reminds me of Naiz-sama.”

“Okaaaaaay.”

Yunfa’s song was most likely intended to bring Susha back from the darkness. Before, she’d used her words alone to bring her sister back to normal. Now that she had access to instruments as well, it was an easy task to dispel the dark aura that possessed Susha.

“I-I’m starting to think that... there’s nothing more for me to teach Susha when it comes to information analysis,” Mikaela whispered, her voice trembling.

No one knew what to say to her. Corrin, Ruth, and Marshal exchanged glances. They were all thinking the same thing. Just what kind of monster did Miledi bring us?

“Aaah!? Where!? Where are you watching me from!?”

“Naiz, what’s going on!? Are they still chasing us!?”

Naiz suddenly shouted as the party made their way through the slums of Andika. Oscar looked at him blankly, then glanced around, searching for pursuers. After fleeing the casino, Oscar and the others had run all the way to the slums in the outer districts. They should have long since shaken off the black-suited goons chasing them, but Naiz’s sudden exclamation had Oscar worried.

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing. I just felt a sudden chill. Think it’s just exhaustion kicking in, though.”

“If you say so... Though now that you mention it, we’ve been running around ever since we washed up on shore. I’m pretty tired myself.” Oscar prided himself on his stamina, but this had been one draining day.

“At any rate, it looks like we finally managed to get away...” Naiz looked down at the girl in Oscar’s arms, an exasperated frown on his face.

“.......” Still in her dress, Miledi was doing her best to make herself invisible. In order to avoid not her pursuers’ attention, but Oscar’s. Though the fact she was in his arms made that impossible.

“Oh yeah, I guess I can put you down now Miledi.” Oscar gently lowered Miledi to the ground, his tone surprisingly normal. She blinked a few times, then looked hesitantly up at him.

“Umm... O-kun? Aren’t you mad?”

“Of course I’m mad.”

“Oh, okay.”

There was no way he wouldn’t be after what had happened. Oscar smiled mirthlessly, and Miledi broke out in a cold sweat. She averted her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. However, Oscar continued silently intimidating her for a few minutes. The moonlight reflected off his glasses, making it difficult to see what they looked like right now. But not knowing only terrified Miledi more.

“O-Oscar, I’m sorry. I ended up losing all of my money as well.” Naiz looked down despondently. At his age, there was nothing more embarrassing than admitting he was penniless.

“Don’t worry, I only gave you guys money I was okay with you losing. I’d specifically set it aside for us to have fun, so it’s no big deal if it’s all gone. As long as you had fun, Naiz, I don’t mind.”

“Hmm... I see.”

While he may have been egged on to bet all of his winnings and lost them in the end, it had been Naiz’s first time at a casino, so that was forgivable. Besides, it seemed he’d had quite a bit of fun.

“However, losing all your money and going into debt to keep betting are two different things.”

“I’m sooo sorry!” Miledi dropped to her knees and prostrated herself before Oscar, heedless of the dirt smearing her pretty dress.

Oscar folded his arms and glared down at her. Every few seconds, Miledi lifted her head a few inches to take a peek at Oscar’s expression, then instantly pressed her forehead to the floor again when she saw he was still glaring.

“Miledi, do you feel bad about what you did?”

“I very do much.” Her reply was so emphatic that she mixed her words up, but it at least conveyed to Oscar the sincerity of her apology. Sighing, Oscar stopped glaring and held a hand out to Miledi.

“O-kun?”

“I still think you went overboard, but as long as you reflect on your actions, I guess it’s fine.”

“O-kuuuuuun!” Miledi attempted to hug Oscar, but he grabbed her face and held her at arm’s length. He then shrugged and went on.

“Besides, this time it’s not entirely your fault.”

“Huh?”

“Hm? What do you mean, Oscar?”

Oscar smiled wryly and replied.

“Miledi, they were cheating you.”

“What!? Seriously!?”

Oscar explained how there had been faint traces of mana hanging around the table Miledi was playing at. The man playing across from her and the dealer had both been covered in a thin veil of mana, and that had likely been how the man had been able to get the cards he needed each time.

“Ugh. I can’t believe I fell for something like that!” Miledi stamped her foot angrily, and Naiz gave Oscar a thoughtful look.

“I see... Is that why?”

“Why what?”

“Well it just seemed to me you were more merciless than usual to the security staff chasing after us. Was that because you were angry at how they’d swindled Miledi?”

“Huh? Really, O-kun?”

Oscar adjusted his glasses. It certainly had pissed him off how smug that man had looked as he’d cheated Miledi out of all her winnings.

“It’s what they deserved for messing with my friends.”

An aura of pure malice flared up around Oscar. You want me to pay off her debts? How dare you even suggest that after cheating Miledi! You deserve getting your casino smashed up for that, you hear? You’re mad that I beat up your security staff? Don’t get the wrong idea here, we’re the victims and you’re the aggressors. That was just self-defense. We went too far? There’s no such thing as too far when it comes to protecting yourself.

“O-O-kun? Calm down. L-Look, we’re all fine so there’s no need to get that mad. Nacchan, help me out here!”

“Y-Yeah, Miledi’s right. It was a learning experience so it wasn’t all bad.”

Oscar might be the most suited to living here... Naiz and Miledi both thought as they desperately tried to calm him down. Realizing he was starting to sound like a villain, Oscar cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Well, anyway, we probably shouldn’t go back to the central district anytime soon. Let’s find an inn around here for tonight.”

Miledi and Naiz breathed sighs of relief.

“Actually, I’m hungry from all that running around. Let’s get dinner before looking for an inn.”

The group headed back to the main street and started searching for restaurants. As they strolled down the avenue, Miledi walked up behind Oscar and spoke directly to him.

“Hey, O-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks!” Thanks for carrying me out of there. And thanks for getting mad for my sake.

Oscar looked over his shoulder and found Miledi grinning at him. He turned back around and continued walking forward.

“Your welcome, I guess.”

He heard Miledi snickering behind him as he said that. Pretending not to hear her, he hastened his footsteps.

“Seriously... It never gets boring with you two around.” Naiz suppressed a chuckle as he followed after the pair.

Though all of the shops in the outer ring were dingy, they were quite lively. They’d fled straight west from the casino, so right now the party was in the Arrogan district, which was known for its craftsmen and workshops. Most of the people walking on the main street did look to be craftsmen of some kind, and most of them looked more diligent than the drunks Oscar had seen in the first district he’d walked through.

Furthermore, he saw nearly as many boats in the harbor as he had in the Avid District one, which was known for its port. However, most of the ships here were permanently docked for repairs or to be dismantled. There were also a couple of docks where ships were in the middle of being built. Oscar felt his spirits soar as he heard the familiar sounds of hammers clanging against metal and the spirited shouts of blacksmiths. This district felt like home. It had been a long time since he’d heard the symphony of journeymen practicing their craft. He could tell from the sweat dripping off the workers’ brows that they were all earnest about their art.

“Hey, hey, O-kun! Stop making googly eyes at the workshops and get in here! I’m starving, and the delicious smell coming from in here isn’t helping!”

Miledi grabbed Oscar’s arm and dragged him into the restaurant they’d picked out. The trio had changed out of their fancy clothes and were wearing simple travelers’ garb again. Oscar had decided to keep the tuxedos and dress they’d borrowed as consolation for being cheated, and had stored the clothes in his Treasure Trove. Neither Miledi nor Naiz had said anything for fear of once again awakening his evil side. Miledi’s stomach gurgled as the party passed underneath a sign that said “Wanda’s Inn.” It appeared the inn doubled as a restaurant, which was why the inside smelled so good. The reason they’d picked this one, in particular, was because it looked the cleanest out of all the buildings they’d passed.

“Welcome! Pick any table’s that open!”

A girl with tanned skin welcomed them inside. She appeared to be around Miledi’s age, and had shoulder-length dark blue hair. Her most distinctive feature was the two bunny ears growing out of her head though. She weaved between tables, a couple tankards of ale in each hand, and served customers with a grace that came with years of practice. Her tail twitched a little every time she spun past a table. She was both a very cute and very lively girl. The back of the room had been converted into an open kitchen, and the guests could watch the chef at work. This restaurant’s chef appeared to be a musclebound, bearded man with an eyepatch. He looked more like a pirate than a cook, but he was grilling a fillet of fish with consummate skill. Next to him, a woman poured beer into tankards with a speed that made Oscar question how she never spilled a drop. The woman also had bunny ears and a tail.

It appeared this particular inn was a family-run business. Though it was quite rare to see a human and a beastman couple.

“I see...” Miledi watched the pair with a smile on her face as she picked her way to an empty table.

The group ordered whatever seemed interesting, and before long their food and drink were brought to them. Oscar guessed that since this was the craftsmen district, there were a lot of short-tempered customers around, hence why this restaurant had learned to serve fast. As the trio wolfed down their piping hot meal, the bunny girl server walked up to them with a smile.

“Are you guys newcomers? Have you found a place to stay yet?”

“No, not yet. We were planning on looking after we ate.”

The bunny girl’s eyes sparkled at Oscar’s response.

“In that case, why don’t you stay with us? All of our long-term guests up and left a while back! And most of the people who come to eat here are locals, so they don’t stay the night.”

She winked invitingly. At that moment, one of the older customers catcalled her.

“Kiara, I’ll stay the night if you sleep with me!”

The bunny girl called Kiara picked up Oscar’s tankard and threw it at the man. It hit him squarely in the face, and the old man toppled out of his chair. The other customers cheered, making it clear this was both a common occurrence, and that this man wasn’t the most loved.

I’d heard rabbitmen were peaceful people who disliked fighting, but... I guess if you’re born and raised in a place like this, you’ll end up tough whether you like it or not.

“Why don’t we, O-kun? It’s going to be a pain to try and find another inn this late. Plus, this place seems nice.”

“Nice assist, girl! No wonder you’ve got these two guys wrapped around your finger!”

“Aww, you’re making me blush.”

Instead of denying it, Miledi grinned. Kiara seemed to approve of her response and chimed in once more.

“As you might have guessed, I’m Kiara. We practically never get outsiders, and never ones the same age as me! If you pick our inn I’ll give you a discount! Besides, you like the food, right?”

Kiara started massaging Miledi’s shoulders, intent on persuading her any way she could. Miledi, too, seemed enamored with Kiara and so didn’t see any reason not to pick her inn.

“Fufu... If we pick this inn, will I get to stroke your bunny ears!? Because there’s no way I can say no if so!”

“M-My ears? That’s a bit embarrassing... Oh well, if that’s what it takes to get customers! Plus, you’re a girl! You drive a hard bargain, you thief!”

Kiara hugged Miledi from behind and flopped her ears down to Miledi’s face. Panting, Miledi buried her face in Kiara’s ears and started rubbing them all over. Her ears smelled of the sun and the sea. The regulars watched on in awe.

“Kiara let her rub her bunny ears even though they just met...?”

Apparently, this was a rare occurrence.

“O-kuuuuuun! They’re so fluffy! I’m staying here forever!”

“Man, you look like an idiot... Umm, Kiara-san, was it? How much does it cost to stay here per night? And how many nights can we reserve?”

“Just call me Kiara, Onii-san. Honorifics just make me feel weird!”

She then gave Oscar a quote which he found more than reasonable. He found no problem with staying here and turned to Naiz to get his opinion. Mouth full of food, Naiz nodded emphatically. Once that was settled, Kiara blushed slightly and asked a question.

“W-We do have two rooms open, but... what would you prefer?”

“Hm? One room should be fine right? Or are the rooms too small for three people?”

The three of them always slept next to each other when they were camping, so Miledi was hardly embarrassed about sleeping in the same room now. However, Miledi’s nonchalance was a bit too stimulating for Kiara. Her bunny ears flit back and forth and she stammered her words.

“M-Miledi, you’re so bold. I didn’t think those two really were both part of your harem...”

“Huh?”

Kiara clapped her hands around her cheeks and blushed even brighter.

“You’re so refined, like those nobles in the central district... A poor country girl can’t ever hope to be as popular as you...”

“U-Umm, Kiara-chan?”

“I know, I know, Miledi! Don’t worry, we have three-person rooms! And you can be as loud as you want, we won’t mind!”

“Hey, I think you’re misunderstanding—”

“Though I’d prefer if you keep your voice down when we’re trying to sleep... Actually, forget it! Sorry, feel free to have as much fun as you want!”

“Okay, you’re definitely misunderstanding something here. Hey, wait—”

Squealing, Kiara ran up the inn’s staircase. She was likely setting up the room for her new guests.

“Miss... try not to be too rough, okay?”

Miledi looked up and saw the innkeeper’s wife grinning at her. She looked around and noticed the other customers were grinning at her as well.

Miledi blushed to the tips of her ears. She opened her mouth to protest, but she was so embarrassed no words came out. Lips flapping soundlessly, she turned to Oscar and Naiz for salvation. They exchanged glances, then grinned. It was rare to get an opportunity to tease Miledi like this.

“Hey, Miledi, don’t you think you could just let us sleep for tonight?”

“We’ve been going at it all week, and I’m starting to reach my limit...”

“Wha—”

Her only allies had betrayed her. Of course, the three of them weren’t actually having orgies every night, but none of this inn’s patrons knew that. They yelled their approval and patted Miledi on the back. She’d become one of them in the span of a few minutes. Beet-red, Miledi trembled in her seat and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“We’d like two rooms, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!!!”

Ten days had passed since Miledi became famous in a certain corner of Andika for having a harem of men. The party had made Wanda’s Inn their temporary base and were in the process of gathering information. They’d had a bit too much fun on the first day, but now they were back to focusing on work. Today they were searching the Night District in the south. It was wedged in between the district where they were staying, the Arrogan District, and the Gadaf District. The Night District was full of small-scale casinos, and the Gadaf District that it bordered held the city’s famous gladiator rings, so it saw a lot of traffic.

“The sun’s already set. Let’s go back to Kia-chan’s inn before someone tries to pick a fight with us again. I need my daily dose of fluffy ears.”

Miledi spread her hands out to keep her balance as she hopped from one breakwater to the next. She had on a fake mustache, an eyepatch, a black and white pirate’s hat, a sturdy leather belt, a frilly blouse, knee-high boots, and a skirt that was longer on the right side than the left. On top of that, she was carrying a fancy cutlass in her right hand. This morning, she’d told Naiz and Oscar that she’d wanted to be a pirate today. According to her, it would be easier to gather information if she looked more intimidating. However, she’d looked cuter than imposing as she’d run around the district flailing her arms wildly and asking people if they’d knew anything about the saint. Her endearing attitude had made her easily approachable though, and she’d technically succeeded in making it easier to gather information. Oscar and Naiz shook their heads sadly as they watched their pirate-leader frolic atop the breakwaters.

“She’s really getting along with that bunny girl.”

“For whatever reason, weirdos love Miledi.”

“Hey Nacchan, what’s that supposed to mean!?”

Exactly what I said. Miledi twirled around on the breakwater and insisted, “Kia-chan’s a nice, normal girl with really fluffy bunny ears!”

Oscar and Naiz sighed simultaneously.

“Miledi. Do you have any idea how many times Kiara-chan’s tried to peek into our rooms?”

“She even rappelled down from the roof once to try and look through our window. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to see an upside-down head glued to your window in the middle of the night?”

“Uh...”

“And that’s not all. One time she hid underneath our bed.”

“She also attempted to camouflage herself as part of the wall.”

Her attempts were made even more terrifying by the fact that she was extremely skilled in hiding her presence. Most of the time Oscar and Naiz only noticed her because she’d let her delusions get the better of her and started panting. If it wasn’t for that, even they wouldn’t be able to sense her. At any rate, she was very much a weirdo. Just like Miledi. Oscar could see how they’d hit it off so well.

“A-Ahem. Anyway, what do you think of that rumor we heard?”

“Changing the subject I see.”

“Changing the subject, huh?”

“Can we please just talk about the rumors!?”

Oscar and Naiz grinned to each other. Oscar then looked off into the sea and mentally organized the information they’d gathered these past ten days.

“So we’ve got a bunch of people who were attacked either on the island or out at sea by pirates. But even though their ships were sunk and they were nearly killed, right before they lost consciousness they heard a gentle saint’s voice. Then the gentle lapping of waves lulled them to wakefulness, and they found themselves wrapped in the luminous safety of Andika’s bosom, their wounds healed and the pirates vanished like the morning mists...”

“You should become a poet, O-kun.”

“You certainly have the talent for it.”

Oscar blushed and adjusted his glasses.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I stole those words from the guy who told me that story. It left an impression on me, which is why I still remember it. Anyway, it looks like this saint really does exist. Most of the stories we heard are too detailed to be mere rumor, and besides...”

“We have a few firsthand accounts.”

Indeed, Miledi and the others had run into a few sailors who’d been saved personally by the saint. Just knowing that she really existed made this entire trip worthwhile. However, oddly enough, no one knew anything about this mysterious saint. Even those who were saved by her didn’t remember what she looked like. Both those who’d been attacked by pirates on the sea and those who’d been raided on land and then kidnapped had only vague memories of the entire ordeal.

The only thing all of them remembered was hearing a woman’s gentle voice, then waking up in Andika completely healed. Oscar folded his arms and chimed in.

“Supposedly her healing powers are enough to even restore missing limbs... It’s hard to believe. At the very least, no healing magic I know of is capable of that. Of course, everyone’s memories are fuzzy, so it’s possible they exaggerated how badly hurt they were, but...”

“If what they’re saying is true, then... she’s definitely one of us.”

“A wielder of ancient magic.”

The three of them nodded to each other. Considering there was a strong possibility the person they were searching for really was a wielder of ancient magic, they couldn’t help but be a little excited. Oscar was especially hopeful, since this saint’s powers seemed capable of saving his two younger siblings.

“O-kun, we’ll definitely find her.”

“No matter what.”

Blushing, Oscar adjusted his glasses again.

“Thanks,” he whispered, then got back on topic.

“What really interests me is the other rumor that’s almost as popular as the saint’s.”

“You mean that ghost ship that everyone’s calling the bane of pirates?”

As one could guess from the name, it wasn’t a very friendly rumor. Miledi’s expression grew serious, and Oscar nodded in affirmation.

“Those rumors are even vaguer than the ones about the saint. All we know is a bunch of fishermen and traders are claiming it exists.”

“Supposedly when they were about to be attacked by pirate ships a deep fog rolled in, swallowing the pirate ship whole,” Naiz added. Miledi picked up where he left off and said, “And once the fog has them, the pirate ships never come back out. On top of that, no one ever sees or hears of those pirates ever again. From what I heard, plenty of famous pirate brigades have been wiped out by this mysterious bane of pirates. It feels like one of those ghost stories you tell to scare children.”

Goosebumps rose on Miledi’s arms, and she shivered. Unlike the stories of the saint, these rumors were a lot scarier. I know how you feel, Oscar thought with a wry smile.

“Normally I’d just write it off as unrelated... but considering all the pirates who kidnapped people the saint saved ended up vanishing...”

“They’re definitely connected.”

“Indeed. It’s a shame we can’t dig for more information in the central district. I imagine they would know more about these missing pirate ships and how the two rumors are related.”

The central district was where the rich gathered, and they were far more interested in the current state of the pirate crews roaming Andika. Their wealth was directly affected by how safe the waters were, after all. Most people in the outer ring weren’t interested in anything past their immediate concerns of making enough money to get through the day, so they didn’t pursue these rumors too far. For them, swapping stories like these was just a way to pass time. They didn’t have the time or the money to investigate them at length.

“Ugh... I’m sorry.” Miledi hung her head, her once light steps now heavy with regret.

The group still occasionally spotted men in black suits combing the central district looking for them. It appeared they really wanted their money back. Thanks to the strict security, gathering information in the central district wasn’t feasible. The only silver lining was that the residents of the outer districts hated those living in the center, so even if word got out that Miledi was wanted, no one would turn her in. However, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. Feeling a little guilty, Oscar did his best to cheer Miledi up.

“Don’t look so depressed, Miledi. It’s partially my fault for being so rough with them too. Besides, if we have to, we can always just kidnap someone from the central district and torture them for answers.”

“Umm, O-kun? Recently I’ve noticed your suggestions have been getting a bit extreme. Did you really just suggest kidnapping and torture?”

“What’s so strange about that?”

“Everything! O-kun, you’ve let Andika’s ideals poison you! Remember the kind O-kun you once were! The O-kun I know and love was a gentleman, not a monster!”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting so worked up about...”

“Nacchan, there’s no time to lose! We need to find the saint right away and get out of Andika before the city corrupts O-kun any further!”

“I’m pretty sure he was always like this, and the city just gave him the opportunity to show his true colors...”

Naiz and Miledi were a former soldier and noble respectively. On top of that, they’d spent a long time in seclusion after leaving their old lives behind. On the other hand, Oscar had been born and bred in a large city’s slums, where he’d lived until just recently. While many of his acquaintances had been kind people, there had been many others who’d tried to exploit him. They’d thought him easy prey, since he’d come from an orphanage. Had Oscar let his guard down on the streets, he would have been eaten alive. If he’d shown any weakness, he would have been ripped to shreds.

From the start, he’d been raised differently than Miledi and Naiz. That was why he came up with some truly nasty suggestions from time to time. Plus, he knew there were some people who just responded better to threats than to polite words.

“C-Come to think of it, O-kun does tell me ‘I’ll fucking kill you’ a lot...”

“That’s your own fault.”

Miledi ignored Naiz and gave Oscar a sincere look. She held her hands up to her chest as if praying and said, “O-kun, even if you are a vicious monster deep inside, I’ll never abandon you! But even if you’re a merciless brute, I still think it’s important to keep up your facade! I’ll help rehabilitate you, so let’s work on getting that fake gentleman act back!”

In response to Miledi’s insulting offer, Oscar pushed up his glasses and said his trademark phrase.

“Miledi, I’ll seriously fucking kill you.”

Miledi grinned and dashed off, a renewed spring in her step. Oscar pushed a button on the frame of his glasses, readying his blinding beam. Before he could unleash it though, Miledi came to a halt and spoke up.

“Hey, O-kun, Nacchan. Is it just me, or does it look weird over there?” Miledi pointed into the distance. The streets were oddly bright in the direction she was pointing, backlit by a fierce orange glow.

“Miledi, use these!” Sensing something dangerous, Oscar whipped off his glasses and threw them to Miledi.

Miledi grabbed them and put them on as she jumped into the air. She activated the glasses’ night-vision and farsight abilities to get a better look at what was going on. From the looks of it, whatever the oddity was, it was located somewhere near the Arrogan District’s coast. Right around where their inn was.

“It’s Kia-chan’s inn, guys! The whole area’s on fire! It might be a pirate attack!”

The moment he heard Miledi’s shout, Naiz chose their course of action.

“Let’s go,” he said. Then, he picked up Oscar with one hand and teleported into the sky next to Miledi. And after that, he took her arm as well and teleported all three of them to the street in front of the inn. As they’d feared, the inn was on fire. However, it had just started to burn, and the building hadn’t taken much damage yet.

“Tch... O-kun, take care of the flames! I’ll go make sure Kia-chan and the others are safe!”

“Roger!”

Oscar unfurled his umbrella as Miledi dashed into the building.

“Umbrella Arts ability number three, Genesis Torrent!”

It unleashed a downpour of rain, dousing the flames licking at Wanda’s Inn.

“Oscar, I’m going to go take care of the other fires. Give me all the healing potions you can.”

“Gotcha! Take this with you too!”

Oscar handed Naiz one of his Silver Slates along with a handful of healing potions. Naiz took them all with a nod, then vanished. As he watched Naiz disappear through his portal Oscar pulled out a spare pair of glasses. He then leaped as high as he could and used his boots to create a foothold in mid-air. Once that was done, he examined his surroundings.

“This is awful...”

Fires were burning all over the district, and the agonized screams of injured residents filled the air. However, the perpetrators of this attack where nowhere to be seen. Or so he thought, but as Oscar swept his gaze over to the pier, he spotted a group of figures running toward a boat. He activated the night-vision mode on his glasses to get a better view and saw that they were regulars of Wanda’s Inn. Most of them were injured, and the boat they were pointing and shouting toward was already slipping out to sea. If it went much further, it would be lost under the cover of night.

“Now that’s cliched. What is it with pirates and skull flags?”

Oscar then turned to another section of the pier and saw a small knot of men trying to push a small boat off the dock. It appeared some of them had spent a little too long looting. From the looks of it, the boat was one of the jet-propulsion types powered by magic. They were quite fast, so once they cast off the pirates would be able to catch up to the rest of their crew in no time. They finished prepping the boat, then calmly headed out to sea.

“They’re about two hundred meters out, and there’s a slight tailwind. I can do this.”

Oscar pointed the tip of his umbrella at the small boat, his right hand holding the handle while his left hand supported the shaft and made minute angle adjustments. A second later, he unfurled the fabric again. There was a creaking noise, like that of a bowstring being drawn back.

“Let’s put you to sleep, shall we.”

Oscar twisted the umbrella’s handle, and with a twang, an arrow shot out of its tip. The arrow flew true, and it slammed into the boat’s stern with a loud thud. The pirates turned around in surprise, but before they could even process what had happened, lightning snaked out of the arrow, electrocuting the entire boat. The pirates stiffened, then collapsed.

Oscar had only recently added this sniping feature to his umbrella. He’d used the durable yet flexible web of a spider monster they’d run into during their travels to fashion the bowstring that launched his arrows. Because the mechanism inside his umbrella drew the string back far further than any human could, it could fire arrows over a greater distance than a regular bow. That gave him an effective sniping range of 200 meters, and a total flight range of 500. On top of that, the increased force meant that at close range, his arrows could pierce through multiple knights equipped with plate armor and tower shields. Its biggest downside was that he could only load one shot at a time. However, a single powerful shot would be far more useful than a dozen weak ones against an apostle. After confirming the pirates were down for the count, Oscar fell back to the ground and headed into the inn after Miledi.

He found her right away. She was healing Marcus, Kiara’s father. He was slumped atop the bar counter, blood pouring out of his chest and head.

“Those bastards took... Kiara... and Vera...”

“Don’t worry, we’ll bring them back to you! Just save your strength!”

Miledi’s healing spell gave off a sky-blue glow. She’d also fed Marcus a healing potion, and his wounds rapidly faded. From the looks of it, he’d just narrowly escaped death. Reassured by Miledi’s confident tone, he nodded weakly. Freed from his worries, he closed his eyes and let unconsciousness take him.

“Miledi, I found the pirate ship responsible. They’ve got a pretty big ship and only a slight tailwind, so they won’t be going too fast. There was another group trying to escape in a small boat, but I stopped them already. If we leave now, we can still catch up to them.”

“Nice going, O-kun. Let’s fuck their shit up!” Miledi turned back to Oscar, her eyes brimming with fury. He matched her gaze with one just as intense, and nodded.

“What about Nacchan?”

“He’s putting out the rest of the fires. He can teleport seawater from nearby, so that shouldn’t take long, but there’ll probably be a couple injured people he needs to heal too. He can handle it all on his own, but it’ll take some time...”

“I see. We’ll leave things here to him then. Meanwhile, let’s ruin those pirates’ day, O-kun.”

“Sounds good. I gave Naiz a few healing potions and a Silver Slate. He’ll know where to find us once he’s done.”

“Thorough as always, I see.”

The two of them dashed out of the inn and headed for the pier.

“Miledi, that’s the boat!”

“Okay, get ready to fly!” Miledi used gravity magic to lift them up. They soared through the air, passing the dumbfounded regulars of Wanda’s Inn, and landed on the pirates’ small boat.

Three unconscious, filthy men were lying inside it. As Miledi and Oscar were short on time, they unceremoniously dumped all three of them into the ocean. The pirates fell in with a splash.

“Cough... Cough... What the hell was that!?”

It appeared swallowing a mouthful of seawater had been enough to wake them up. Still a little stiff from the jolt Oscar had given them, the three pirates flailed back to the water’s surface. Though they seemed perilously close to drowning, their exceptional swimming skills saved them.

“Wh-Who the hell are you guys!?” One of the pirates yelled when he spotted Oscar and Miledi on his boat. The pair had considered killing the pirates, but when they’d seen the murderous glint in the eyes of the inn’s customers, they ’d decided to leave the pirates fate to them. Dealing with the inn’s customers’ resentment would be punishment enough for the pirates.

Miledi twirled her false mustache and tipped her pirate’s hat toward the real pirates.

“Sorry, but we’re taking your boat! Try your best not to drown!”

While Miledi was taunting the pirates Oscar got its jet propulsion system up and running. He sent the boat racing off at top-speed, hitting the pirates with a blast of water as he sped forward. The pirates watched helplessly as their boat was stolen from them. Mistaking Miledi for a real pirate, the three of them screamed.

“You damn pirates!”

Smiling at the irony, Miledi and Oscar made their way toward the pirates’ main ship.

“They’re almost past the horizon so... maybe about four kilometers away? It shouldn’t take us long to catch up.”

Thanks to his glasses, Oscar was able to make out the pirate ship’s mast, even though it was miles away. Considering the difference in speed between their crafts, he estimated they’d be able to catch up in around ten minutes. Miledi breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed that Oscar was still wearing a pair of glasses. She took out the pair he’d given her from her pocket—she’d put it away when she’d started treating Marcus—and looked down at it with trembling hands.

“Th-There’s two O-kuns...”

“How many times do I have to tell you, my glasses aren’t me.”

Oscar snatched his glasses back from Miledi and glared at her.

“I didn’t know you had two pairs of glasses.”

“I have a lot more than just two.”

Oscar fished inside his pocket and pulled out multiple pairs of glasses, which he spread out in a fan-shape like he was holding a hand of cards. All in all, he had ten identical pairs of glasses.

“I will never run out of glasses. And now that I have my Treasure Trove, I’m making an extra spare per day.”

“What’s the point in having that many?”

Since they were all the exact same design, they didn’t even serve as a collection. Why’s O-kun so obsessed with those glasses?

“Actually, if you have that many, give me a pair. Your glasses are super handy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the only one allowed to wear this style of black glasses. That’s the only way to preserve the superiority of my design. If I’m the only one wearing the ultimate glasses, then that makes me the supreme king of glasses.”

“Sorry, I have no idea what you’re saying anymore.”

This was one of the few sides of Oscar Miledi just couldn’t understand. His obsession with maid outfits was another. The pair continued chatting about similar such nonsense as a way to distract themselves from the rage burning in the pits of their stomachs. After a while, the moon slipped behind some clouds, and the sea turned black as pitch. It felt to Oscar like the ocean was trying to swallow them whole. He used his night-vision enchanted glasses to peer through the dark and make sure their quarry was where he expected them to be.

“Hm...? Is that fog?”

“What’d you see, O-kun?” Miledi cocked her head in his direction.

“It looks like there’s a fog rolling in. You should be able to see it yourself now, it’s pretty thick.”

“Hm? Oh, huh, you’re right. It’s making it pretty hard to see the pirate... Wait, O-kun! There’s something weird about this fog! What if...”

“No, there’s no way that...” Oscar’s expression stiffened.

Like Miledi had said, the fog was behaving in an erratic manner. It was wrapping itself densely around the pirate ship as if trying to hide it and only it. In mere seconds, it had completely eclipsed the pirates.

“O-kun, we gotta hurry!”

“I’m going as fast as I can! We should be there in another minute!”

Oscar had initially kept his speed slow to avoid being spotted by the pirates and have hostages used against him, but this was no longer the time for stealth. Oscar quickly transmuted a stabilizer to allow the boat to handle higher speeds, then used Godstorm to push them forward. The prow tilted dangerously upward from the force propelling them, but Miledi used gravity magic to keep the boat from capsizing. It didn’t take even a minute for the boat to reach the fog.

“Ugh, this fog really is dense. I can’t see anything.”

It’d be a pretty sad state of affairs if they came all this way to rescue Kiara only to ram into the pirates’ boat and sink. But it was hard to navigate through this dense fog. In fact, it was so thick Oscar, who was at the back of the boat, and Miledi, who was at the front, could no longer see each other. It felt like they’d wandered into the afterlife. Just in case, Miledi walked over to where Oscar was and clung to the sleeve of his shirt.

“Don’t worry Miledi. My glasses can detect heat too.”

“How many features do your glasses have?”

The heat sensors in Oscar’s glasses displayed the information they picked up in infrared so he could see just fine even through fog. I kind of want to know the list of everything those glasses can do now, Miledi thought absently to herself.

As they approached the pirate ship, Oscar picked up a number of human-shaped heat signatures.

“There they are! I see a bunch of people on a boat... Wait, they’re under attack!?”

“Hey, O-kun! This has to be that bane of pirates ghost ship or whatever, right!? They’re the only ones who attack pirates in the fog!”

“No doubt about it, yeah. Looks like your luck at sea’s still holding up, Miledi.”

“Why did it have to be the ghost ship!? Why couldn’t it have been the saint!” Miledi whined. A second later though, her expression grew serious. She could hear the screams and shouts of the combatants on deck. The fog parted a little, and she realized that Oscar had brought the boat up right beside the pirate ship. It appeared the area directly around the ship wasn’t as thickly covered in fog. That made it obvious it was man-made. The fog was clearly designed to give the attackers an advantage.

“The ship isn’t really piloted by the spirits of the dead, right!?”

“I guess this is our best chance to find out.”

First things first though, we have to rescue the kidnapped townsfolk. While it was possible the saint and the ghost ship were related, there was no proof yet. Meaning there was no proof this ghost ship would be as nice to the hostages as the saint supposedly was. Oscar used his boots’ Footholds of Light to leap up the side of the ship while Miledi used gravity magic to float up. They alighted on the deck to find most of the pirates either incapacitated or in the midst of fighting a losing battle. Interestingly enough, their assailants were neither ghosts nor spirits of the dead though. Whatever the nature of the ghost ship was, its crew was made up of flesh and blood humans. In the distance, Oscar could make out a ship even larger than the one they were on. Judging by the skull and crossbones flag it was flying, the mysterious ghost ship was a pirate ship as well.

“Umm, O-kun? Does this mean both sides are our enemy?”

“Only beat down anyone who comes at you. We’re still not sure what the ghost ship’s objective is. If it looks like we can negotiate with that side, we should. But first, let’s go to the hold. We need to make sure Kiara-chan and the others are safe before we do anything else.”

One of the pirates spotted Oscar and charged at him with a gap-toothed snarl. Oscar sent him flying with a flick of his umbrella as he explained the plan to Miledi. She nodded in agreement and started looking for the door leading to the ship’s interior. During her search, she spotted a group of pirates carrying people across boarding ladders. They were carrying this ship’s prisoners back over to the ghost ship.

“Ah!”

Just then, Miledi spotted a familiar rabbit-eared figure. Kiara’s face was red, likely from being beaten, and blood dripped from the corners of her mouth. She was slung across the shoulder of a tough-looking pirate who was attempting to scale the ladder back to his ship. Seeing her friend’s unconscious form, Miledi completely snapped. Oscar’s comments about the ghost ship being someone they might be able to negotiate with completely vanished from her mind.

Only beat down anyone who comes at you? Screw that! Miledi dashed forward.

“Milediiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

“Huh?”

The pirate carrying Kiara turned toward the unfamiliar voice. He saw a furious girl flying toward him, completely disobeying the laws of physics. She had her legs in the air, posed for a kick.

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!”

“Bwah!?”

Miledi’s foot slammed squarely into the pirate’s face, knocking him off the ladder and into the ocean. He let go of Kiara as he fell, and Miledi floated the unconscious bunny girl into her arms. She carried Kiara bridal-style as she watched the pirate splash into the water below.

“Nedddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!” one of his comrades screamed. Another exclaimed, “Someone kicked Ned off!” Yet another screamed, “What the hell was that!?”

“How dare you do that to Ned, bitch!”

One of the nearby pirates raised his cutlass and charged Miledi. He balanced himself perfectly on the precarious ladder and lashed out with a well-aimed slice at Miledi’s legs.

“Piss off, you molester!”

Miledi somersaulted forward, Kiara still in her arms. The pirate watched in surprise as she performed an acrobatic feat that defied the laws of physics, all while carrying someone. His swing struck empty air, and Miledi doubled her weight as she fell, hitting the hapless pirate on the skull with a marvelous dropkick. His eyes rolled up inside his head and he staggered off the ladder.

“She got another one!”

“She’s no ordinary wench. Surround her!”

The ghost ship’s pirates swarmed the ladder.

“Miledi!”

Oscar tried to rush to her aid, but the moment he took a step forward, he felt a chill run down his spine. He instantly deployed his umbrella behind him. A second later, something hard and metallic slammed into it.

“What the!? How did an umbrella stop a knife!?”

“When did you get behind me!?”

Oscar was just as surprised as his attacker. He’d moved on instinct, but he hadn’t even noticed her circling behind him. He warily turned around.

“A catgirl, huh...?”

She looked to be in her early twenties and moved with feline grace. Her tight leather corset and short white pants accentuated the curves of her body well. Cat ears poked out from her short white hair, and her white tail swished behind her. Her wine-red eyes burned with a fierce determination.

“I’ll get you next time!”

It appeared she took offense to the fact that Oscar had blocked her first blow. She arched her back, then launched herself at Oscar with unbelievable agility.

“Damn, you’re fast!”

“You’re just slow!”

In less than a second, the catgirl had closed the distance between them. She stabbed forward with twin daggers, aiming for Oscar’s stomach and leg. He wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, and she was too close for him to block with his umbrella. So instead, he used his coat.

“Wha—!? What the hell’s with that coat!?”

Her surprise was understandable. After all his coat had moved like a living creature and blocked the catgirl’s daggers with its sleeves. Oscar tried to wrap his coat’s sleeves around her daggers and wrench them from her grasp. He was freely controlling his coat using wires enchanted with gravity magic embedded in the fibers, but to the catgirl, it looked like his coat was alive. She involuntarily shrunk back and shouted.

“God that’s creepy!”

In response, Oscar merely tutted and uttered a few simple words.

“Now that’s mean.”

Seeing his attempt to steal her weapons had failed, Oscar backflipped to gain some distance and adjusted his glasses.

“What’re you getting all high and mighty for!? You’re just a bunch of low-life scummy pirates! Don’t think being handsome gives you a free pass to do whatever the hell you want!”

“You’re the pirates, not us... And wait, did you just compliment me?”

The catgirl didn’t deign that with a response, and she bent her legs as if preparing to pounce. A second later, pearl-grey mana enveloped her body.

“I’ll end this in one blow! No one can keep up with my speed!”

“You can use magic!? And without an incantation!?”

Oscar was stunned. Beastmen were a race that was supposed to be magicless. Some mixed-race beastmen could use magic, but usually not with much proficiency. Using magic like this without an incantation was unheard of. Before he could recover from his shock, the catgirl vanished. By the time he heard footfalls behind him, the catgirls daggers were already aiming for the tendons in his legs.

This catgirl possessed the unique magic Acceleration. Acceleration boosted not only her physical speed, but the speed of her thoughts and reaction times as well. That was the power of the unique magic this catgirl pirate, Kyaty Cougan, possessed. Naturally, no one would ever guess that a catgirl of all people was capable of using unique magic. Kyaty had been banking on that shock as well and had expected to slice through Oscar’s legs with ease. However, Oscar wasn’t normal himself. There was another loud metallic clang.

“No way!”

Oscar had blocked one dagger with his umbrella, while he’d guarded against the other using the metallic plate embedded in his boot.

“Sorry, but no one’s fast enough to escape my glasses.”

Indeed, his glasses were glowing with a faint light. This was another one of the features embedded within them... perception enhancement. Speeds normal people wouldn’t be able to follow were nothing in the face of his glasses. Oscar crushed one of the daggers underfoot and looked up at Kyaty. She attempted to leap backward, but before she could—

“Sorry, but I’ll need you to stay put for a while!” Chains shot out of Oscar’s sleeves and bound Kyaty. Oscar then had the remaining length of chain wrap itself around one of the mast’s spars and then hoisted Kyaty into the air.

“Kyaaa!? You pervert! How dare you, you four-eyed bastard! Let me go!”

Oscar shrugged his shoulders in response to Kyaty’s insults. Though he looked outwardly calm, he was sweating inside. If he hadn’t fought against Hearst, he wouldn’t have been at all prepared for that final Acceleration Kyaty had used. It was entirely possible he might have lost there. However, he’d noticed she’d never once aimed for his vitals, so he, in turn, had decided to incapacitate her instead of killing her. Even the attack aimed at his stomach hadn’t been meant to kill. Upon closer inspection, Oscar realized none of the pirates these ghost ship pirates had defeated bore any fatal injuries. These guys are definitely people we might be able to negotiate with.

“Now then, let’s see how Miledi’s—”

Just then, Oscar heard a loud clang. Someone had cut through his Metamorph Chains. Kyaty fell onto her butt and squealed in pain.

“Hey, Chris, that hurt!”

“Come on, Kyaty, is that what you have to say to the guy who just saved your hide?”

A grizzled old man with blue hair and a blue beard walked up to the Kyaty. He looked to be in his late 40s and had a longsword strapped to his waist.

“First mate!” Someone called out.

Ah, that explains it. No wonder he can cut through azantium chains with such ease. Plus that look in his eyes isn’t ordinary. Oscar mused.

“Hey there, handsome four-eyes. You’re pretty tough. And you’ve got quite a few crazy magic artifacts on you. Who the hell are you?”

Finally, someone who’s willing to talk... Oscar opened his mouth to explain their situation.

“Gaaah!?”

But before he could, he was interrupted by someone slamming into the mast at unbelievable speed. No way. Oscar couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way she’d lose to mere pirates. But slumped against the mast was none other than Miledi. Worse, she was bleeding all over. Before Oscar could process what had just happened, a torrent of water flooded toward her, making Oscar pale, forced to watch on in horror.

Let us turn back time to a few moments ago. While Oscar was dueling Kyaty, Miledi had to deal with all the pirates who’d surrounded her. Still carrying Kiara, Miledi lightly leaped out of the way of their sword strokes.

“What the fuck is with those movements!? They’re not normal!”

Miledi’s movements were clearly disregarding the laws of physics. She looked down at the pirates surrounding her and unleashed words filled with rage.

“What did you lowlife pirates do to this girl’s mother!? If you spit it out, I might just forgive you!”

“Shut up, you scummy pirate! Like hell we’ll tell you anything! Now, let that girl go!”

“Who do you think you’re calling a pirate!?”

“You, obviously! What are you, if not a pirate!?”

Indeed, Miledi was currently dressed up as a pirate. She’d taken off her eyepatch and fake mustache, but she still had the rest of the outfit on. Both sides continued insulting each other, too enraged to think straight. Miledi was pissed because she thought the ghost ship pirates had hurt Kiara, while the pirates were pissed that Miledi had knocked their allies overboard. Tired of the standoff, one of the ghost ship pirates unleashed a blast of wind, while another sent forth chains of ethereal light.

“Die.”

With that single word, Miledi obliterated all the attacks heading toward her. The pirates surrounding her stood there in shocked silence; a fatal mistake. Miledi took the opportunity to reverse their gravity and sent them shooting off into the distance. She watched with a satisfied smirk as the magic wore off after a while and the crew splashed into the ocean. After letting off some steam she calmed down enough to finally realize something.

“Wait... they were being awfully careful not to hurt Kia-chan.”

Thinking back on it, she realized the pirates had held back to avoid hurting Kiara. Even though they’d possessed more deadly attacks, they hadn’t used them.

“Am I misunderstanding something here maybe?” But before Miledi could take that thought any further, she was attacked again.

“Torrential Burst.”

A calm, gentle voice rang out, and a second later a massive sphere of water was floating overhead. Even Miledi, who was a genius when it came to magic, was shocked at the speed her assailant had weaved their spell.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!” Miledi cast the advanced-level wind spell Godstorm to deflect the massive deluge of water. The compressed storm of wind she’d cast at lightning speed clashed with the giant ball of water. The two spells collided with the force of meteors and canceled each other out, exploding in a blast of wind and water. Droplets rained from the sky, the only remaining remnants of the Torrential Burst.

“Hah, how do you like—”

“Tetragrammaton!”

The massive sphere of water reformed, completely unscathed.

“Wha?”

Before she could even react, the deluge swallowed her whole. The force of the torrent knocked the air out of her lungs. For a moment she blacked out as the varied currents of water within the sphere buffeted her. Though Miledi tried to keep Kiara safe in her arms, the water snaked around her like a living creature and tore the bunny girl from her grasp. Finally, Miledi managed to cast Hallowed Ground and secure her footing.

“Cough... Kia-chan!” Miledi coughed up water as she frantically searched for Kiara. However, she needn’t have worried. Kiara was safely nestled within a pocket of air sitting in the center of the water sphere. Though the water elsewhere was raging violently, the area near Kiara was calm.

“Such precise control...”

Miledi couldn’t help but be impressed. However, that didn’t stop her from using her magic to break apart her liquid cage. Once she was free she dropped down onto the ghost ship’s deck, water splashing behind her. In front of her was a woman. She was sitting on an arch of water and gently carrying Kiara in her arms. She had wavy, emerald-green hair, and narrow, jade-green eyes. Her gaze was resplendent with kindness and mercy.

From what Miledi could tell, she was in her early twenties. She was wearing only a bikini to cover her voluptuous chest and had on a thick belt and mini-skirt. Strapped to her belt was a beautiful saber with an elaborately-designed crossguard. Most striking, though, were her gill-shaped ears. Unbelievable as it seemed, this master mage was a dagon.

“You’re quite skilled, my cute little pirate.”

Her smile was so soothing that it could probably stop wars all on its own. So much so that Miledi almost blurted out “You’re the cute one here, Onee-san!” Miledi shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and glared at the beautiful dagon woman.

“What are you going to do to that girl?”

“I have no reason to tell you, now do I?”

The pirate’s smile grew wider, and she cupped her cheek in one hand and tilted her head. The gesture suited her so well that it irked Miledi. It was extremely rare for Miledi, who was always the one annoying others, to be annoyed herself. Part of the reason she was so ticked off was that this strange woman had far larger breasts than she did. Miledi opened her mouth to argue, but was interrupted before she could.

“Cap’n, we’ve rescued all the captured townsfolk! All that’s left is to mop up these pirate bastards!”

“My, well done. Can I ask you take care of this girl as well?”

A jet of water branched out from the woman’s arch, and she sent Kiara sliding down it. Miledi tried to dash toward the bunny girl, but the dagon woman shot out a dagger of water, forcing her to back up. Judging by the fact that the other pirate had called her “Cap’n,” it appeared this unassuming, gentle young woman was the ghost ship’s captain. Though she didn’t look the part at all, her magical ability was the real deal. Miledi could see why she’d been chosen as their captain. Right now though, she was at a loss for what to do. If these ghost ship pirates had truly been evil, she would have been able to fight them without reservation. Their captain’s abilities were certainly powerful, but nothing short of an apostle could stop her when she unleashed her gravity magic at full power. So long as they weren’t in space, none could escape Miledi’s gravity manipulation. The reason she wasn’t going all-out was because now that she’d calmed down, she’d realized they were being extremely gentle toward Kiara. It was possible these guys weren’t actually evil.

Come to think of it, didn’t O-kun say we should try parleying with the ghost ship crew if possible? Crap, he’s gonna be so pissed... Maybe he should be the leader instead of me... Miledi avoided dwelling on that thought for too long and turned to the ship’s captain. But before she could ask for a parley—

“Now then, there are quite a few things I’d like to ask you, and I have no intention of letting you escape, so...”

“Wha?”

“Sorry, but I won’t be accepting your surrender. You need to be punished for what you did to my men.”

Still smiling, the captain got to her feet and drew her saber. Despite the gentle look in her eyes, the things she was saying sounded quite dangerous.

“H-Hold up!”

“The time for talk has long since passed. I won’t forgive anyone who hurts my family. I’ll have you repent for your sins by whipping you until you’re a squealing pig!”

“You look nice, but you’re really a huge sadist, aren’t you!?”

The arch the captain was standing on began to squirm like a snake... No, it was more like an uncoiling dragon. She jumped onto the dragon’s head, her sword held out in front of her. More dragons made of water shot up around the sea, all of them swirling around her.

“Fine, if that’s how you want to play then I’ll get serious too!”

I’ll flatten them all with gravity magic! She raised her hand high, gathering her mana.

“Wh-What!?”

But a second later, the captain was sitting on the arch again, Kiara held in her arms. Panicking, Miledi quickly canceled her spell. She couldn’t possibly let Kiara get hit by it too. A sense of foreboding washed over her, and she instantly deployed defensive magic around her. Miledi’s hunch paid off, and a second later the captain’s saber slammed into her barrier.

“My, you have good reaction times.”

Despite the fact that she’d just tried to cut Miledi in half, the captain’s voice was still gentle. Sweating profusely, Miledi asked a question.

“What was that illusion just now? Did you do that?”

“Whatever could you be referring to? Fufu, you cute little thing. You look like you just saw a mirage.”

“You little—” Miledi raised her hand again to cast a gravity spell, but the captain reversed her dragon’s current and put some distance between her and Miledi. At the same time, she sent five other water dragons after Miledi. The speed they were traveling at, they possessed as much force as a ten-ton boulder. Furthermore, they were coming at Miledi from all directions.

“Heavensfall!”

A malefic black sphere appeared above Miledi’s head. The water dragons all changed course toward the sphere, as if they were being sucked into it.

“That’s quite the interesting ability you have there.”

Something whistled through the air, and Miledi leaped backward. A second later, a whip of water cracked onto the deck where she’d been standing. The whip wasn’t made of just water either; there were dozens of shards of metal swirling around within it. Perhaps it was more apt to call it a shrapnel whip. Had that hit Miledi, it would have shredded her clothes and skin.

“That’s my line!” Miledi looked up to see that the captain’s sword was missing from the hilt up, and instead had a long whip of water extending from the guard. Meaning the shards of metal within the whip were actually pieces of her saber. The captain raised her hand and a large amount of seawater surrounded Miledi again. Though the wall of water obstructed her view, Miledi was able to make out the captain well enough to throw a black sphere at her. This was a new gravity spell, Onyx Blast. It fired off a tiny cannonball of gravity, compressed to the point that it possessed the force of a charging battering ram. However, the silhouette turned to be an illusion and disappeared the moment the ball passed through.

“Tch, not again.”

“You realize you’re aiming where I was two seconds ago, don’t you?”

Miledi heard the captain’s voice from behind her. As she whirled around, she saw the dagon’s saber bearing down on her. It had returned to its original, unbroken form.

“Ah!”

At this point, she’d lost track of how many times this captain had surprised her. Knowing she needed to be fast, Miledi cast a beginner-level barrier. Though it didn’t have much defensive power, it was still able to deflect the slash aimed at her shoulder.

“To think you would block even this... You truly are amazing. I find it difficult to believe you’re a member of the Brayed Pirates. When I investigated them some time back, I never heard anything about a girl like you being among their ranks... In fact, I doubt you’re a pirate at all.”

“I-I know I’m dressed like one, but I’m not a pirate, I swear!”

Sparks flew off the captain’s saber as it dug into Miledi’s barrier. Despite the fierce fighting, the dagon never once lost her soft smile. Fending off the captain’s series of unfathomable attacks had left Miledi in a cold sweat. But at the same time, she felt joy welling up within her heart. The magic this dagon woman used was far too abnormal for it to be combinations of the known elemental spells. Meaning that this ghost ship’s captain was the one and only—

“That beautiful blonde hair, those refined features, and that impressive display of magic... You definitely seem more like a noble than a pirate.”

“Ah!” Miledi gasped.

Then, the captain narrowed her eyes and continued.

“I know not what a princess like you is doing here, but... I suppose this is a fitting punishment for a noble such as yourself. Suffer the wounds of your past!”

“Huh?”

The captain stopped pushing down with her saber. What shocked Miledi wasn’t her words or the fact that she’d stopped attacking. No, her surprise was because the dagon had gently placed her hand over Miledi’s own. Maybe she’s finally willing to hear me out? Miledi thought hopefully, wondering if the captain would hug her next.

“Now then, show me how badly you have suffered in this past year. Revival Reversal.”

A second later, Miledi was drenched in blood.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

For some reason, the captain seemed just as shocked as Miledi. Though the dagon had shown no sign of attacking, Miledi was covered in numerous wounds. The largest of them was a deep gash that ran from her shoulder to her chest. The cut was so deep it could only have been made by a greatsword. There were plenty of other smaller cuts and bruises as well. Along with numerous burns and welts. Each and every one of them was an injury Miledi had received during the fight with an apostle.

“Gah— Obsidian Vortex.” Miledi coughed in agony, but still managed to cast a gravity spell. Though she couldn’t understand how her old wounds had been reopened, she knew she needed to put some distance between her and the captain as soon as possible. She fell backward, not even checking to see what was behind her. Because of that, she didn’t notice that she’d gone all the way back to the Brayed Pirates’ pirate ship and slammed into its mast at full speed.

“O-Oh my! This isn’t good!”

For some reason, the ghost ship’s captain seemed flustered, despite being the one who’d done this to Miledi. Her gentle smile crumbled for the first time, and she quickly shot a jet of water toward Miledi. This jet of water wasn’t made of seawater, but water she’d created herself, and was crystal clear. Judging by her expression it didn’t appear to be an attack, in fact, it seemed more of a way to heal Miledi. However, a certain Synergist, who’d only seen the part of the fight where Miledi slammed into the mast, had no way of knowing that.

“Miledi!” Oscar moved faster than anyone could follow, putting himself in between Miledi and the torrent of water. He unfurled his umbrella and activated Hallowed Ground. As the torrent hadn’t had much force behind it to begin with, Oscar’s barrier deflected it with ease.

“O-O-kun...”

“Don’t worry, Miledi I’ll heal you right away! Ability eleven, Benison Aura, maximum output!”

Healing light rained down on Miledi, closing her wounds.

“Your wounds are dire, it’ll take some time for them to heal.”

“Gah... I’m sorry. Be careful, O-kun. That woman’s probably—”

Before Miledi could finish, the ship’s captain alighted on the deck in front of Oscar. Looking around, Oscar realized that all of the Brayed Pirates had been defeated and that they were surrounded by the ghost ship’s pirates.

“Hey, Meiru. Be careful. That kid over there’s more dangerous than he looks.”

“Yeah, he’s a weird guy who has all these weird items!”

Chris and Kyaty shouted out warnings to their captain. However, she paid them no mind and walked over to Oscar.

“Would you be so kind as to move out of the way?”

“You really think I would?” Oscar met the captain’s gaze, his resolve unyielding. Then, he spread his legs slightly apart and tightened his glove, glanced at the other pirates surrounding him, and proclaimed his intent.

“Prepare yourselves. If you try and hurt another hair on Miledi’s head... I won’t let any of you leave here alive.”

“H-Hey, O-kun?”

Oscar’s voice had gone as cold as ice. The pirates flinched, and Miledi hurriedly called out to him. She could tell he was on the verge of snapping.

Originally, Oscar had wanted to talk things over with the ghost ship pirates, especially after he’d seen how reasonable they’d appeared. However, the injuries the ship’s captain had inflicted on Miledi were nearly fatal. Seeing his partner on the verge of death had blown away whatever rational thoughts he’d had. In response to his threat, the captain smiled and sheathed her saber.

“No one who can make an expression like that would be part of this pirate crew.”

“Huh?” Oscar gave her a confused look, and the captain smiled at him. She had the same gentle air about her that she’d had before.

“I’m sorry for injuring your precious comrade so badly. I would never have imagined that such a dainty girl had experienced this much pain in the span of just one year.”

“I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

The captain nodded, as if that was understandable, and walked forward. Oscar held a gloved hand out threateningly. However, the dagon didn’t slow her pace.

“If you wish to kill me, I won’t stop you. But if you let me see that girl, I will be able to heal her much faster than you.”

“......” Oscar silently blocked the captain’s path. However, he seemed to be hesitating. In the end, it was Miledi who convinced him to step down.

“O-kun, it’s fine.”

“Miledi... But these pirates are way stronger than your average thugs. If we’re not careful, you...”

“It’s alright, I promise.” Miledi grimaced in pain, but she still forced those words out of her throat. And so, after a brief pause, Oscar relented.

“I understand... Please heal her.”

“You may count on me.”

Oscar stepped to the side and watched as the captain placed a hand against Miledi’s bloody cheek.

“You’re quite the cute pirate. And quite the reckless one, too.”

“Hehehe. The easy way out doesn’t suit me! Owowow!”

Sweating, Miledi forced herself to smile.

“Tetragrammaton.”

“Whoa.”

Bright orange mana the color of the setting sun enveloped Miledi. A second later, all of her wounds vanished as though they’d never existed. On top of that, even the blood she’d shed vanished, and her soaked clothes became dry again. That wasn’t something mere healing could do.

“R-Restoration!?” Oscar exclaimed.

Miledi looked down in shock, experimentally poking her healed injuries.

“Who on earth are you?”

The captain stepped back and smiled gently at Miledi and Oscar. She held out her hand, and one of her subordinates brought her a coat and pirate hat. After that, she donned the coat and hat with a flourish and spoke up.

“My name is Meiru, leader of the Melusine Pirate Crew.”

She seemed rather proud of the fact that she was leading a band of pirates. Her crew of tough-looking men and women all smiled fearlessly as she made her declaration. Clearly, they were just as proud of the fact that they were part of her crew. Oscar found it hard to believe they were a group of evildoers. The glimmer in their eyes had far too much kindness in it. At any rate, it appeared the “ghost Ship” that had become the bane of pirates everywhere was actually Meiru Melusine’s crew. On top of that, the fact that she used magic that surpassed normal limits meant that—

“Can we ask you something?”

Miledi’s expression grew serious as she said that.

“What do you plan on doing with the kidnapped townspeople?”

“Before I answer, I would like to ask you a question of my own, my cute pretend pirates. What do you plan on doing with them?” The reason Meiru had decided not to resume fighting wasn’t just because she’d seen the sincerity in Oscar and Miledi’s gazes, but also because she’d realized pushing them any further would be dangerous.

Oscar had been serious. Even if she’d been able to survive a duel with him, she was almost certain some of her comrades would get killed in the crossfire. Moreover, Meiru had realized Miledi hadn’t been fighting against her seriously.

Miledi looked away awkwardly, her words catching in her throat. The whole reason this misunderstanding had started was because she’d dressed up as a pirate.

“Umm, sorry for deceiving you. This is just a costume, I’m not really a pirate. We’d finally made it to Andika, so I wanted to try dressing up as one. It was just a little joke.”

Next to her, Oscar rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

“O-Oh...” Meiru’s pirates muttered.

“Sh-She’s so cute...” Kyaty squealed, blushing. Everyone gave Miledi a sympathetic look.

“Ahem. Allow me to explain. We’re guests at Wanda’s inn, and the hostess and her daughter have been very kind to us, so when we heard they’d been kidnapped by pirates, we went to rescue them.”

“I see. I take it that bunny girl you fought so hard to protect is the innkeeper’s daughter?”

“That’s right! Her name’s Kiara-chan, and she’s my friend!”

“In that case, I suppose I can understand why you kicked Ned into the sea.”

“I’m sorry...” Miledi grimaced, clearly regretting her actions. Upon closer inspection, Ned, the man she’d kicked overboard was among the crowd of pirates surrounding them. He looked sheepish, as though embarrassed that a girl had managed to kick him off the ship. For some reason, Meiru blushed a little as she watched both Miledi and Ned squirm. However, after a few seconds, she cleared her throat and spoke.

“Very well, I shall believe you. And to answer your previous question, we were planning on returning the captives to Andika.”

Still a little suspicious, Oscar questioned her.

“After healing them?”

“Fufu, but of course.”

Oscar and Miledi exchanged glances, then nodded to each other. In a trembling voice, Oscar muttered one final question.

“Are you the Saint of the Western Seas?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

Though Meiru played dumb, Oscar and Miledi could tell from her amused grin that she was the one. The leader of the ghost ship, which actually turned out to be Melusine’s Pirate Crew, was indeed the Saint of the Western Seas. She rescued people kidnapped by pirates and sent them home after healing, no, restoring their injuries. And she was one of the people Miledi had been searching for. Miledi beamed at that revelation.

“O-kun! We did—”

“I’ve spent so long searching for you!”

“Oh my?”

Oscar ignored Miledi’s hi-five and ran over to Meiru. The pirates warily raised their weapons, but they put them back when Oscar grabbed Meiru’s hands and gave her a pleading look.

“Umm, would you mind not getting so close—”

“Meiru-san.”

Meiru’s smile stiffened as Oscar pushed his way into her personal space. She tried to back away, but Oscar took one step forward for each one she took back. The pirates seemed confused, while Miledi stared at Oscar in shock. However, right now, Oscar had eyes for no one but Meiru. He spoke passionately, his cheeks flushed and a strange fervor in his eyes.

“My name is Oscar Orcus. I’ve wandered the continent looking for you.”

“H-Huh? You were looking for me? But aren’t you and that girl—” Flustered, Meiru looked over at Miledi.

“Forget about Miledi! There’s something important... I need you!”

The other pirates shot Miledi a sympathetic look. They’d misunderstood and thought Oscar had dumped her.

“Look, we don’t have that kind of relationship!” she yelled, but the pirates didn’t buy it.

Oscar ignored the drama going on behind him and cornered Meiru at the ship’s railing.

“Meiru-san.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Please come back with me to the continent! I need to introduce you to my family! Please, I’m begging you!”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?”

The pirates watched on in awe.

“H-He just proposed. That four-eyes just proposed to the Cap’n!” “Wow, I can’t believe he’d try and hit on another girl when he already has such a cute girlfriend! This is why I hate hot guys... Fucking playboys, the lot of them!” “Whaaa!? I can’t believe that perverted brat’s trying to make a pass on Meiru!” “Interesting... I underestimated you, boy! You’ve got guts!”

Amidst the chaos, Miledi finally snapped.

“Miledi kick!”

“Gaaah!?”

Miledi slammed her heel into Oscar’s head, using gravity magic to up the force of her attack. Oscar fell to the ground and Miledi landed right on top of him.

“Oh shit, the girl’s lost it!” “Course she has! You go, girl! Beat that good-looking bastard to a pulp!” “Meiru, don’t let this chance escape! There aren’t many guys who’ve got the guts to confess to you! If you let this guy go, you’ll be single for— Bwaaah!” Cheers, jeers, and some rather rude comments directed toward Meiru filled the air.

“Umm, sorry about all that... I’m Miledi. Miledi Reisen. The beautiful genius mage!” Miledi lifted one leg, made a peace sign, and winked. That was her signature pose. Oscar groaned as she did a little twirl, and the other pirates all exclaimed in admiration.

“And this perverted four-eyes I’m stepping on is Oscar Orcus, also known as O-kun.”

“Who’re you calling a pervert!?” Oscar shook Miledi off him and got to his feet.

Miled lightly jumped to the side to land next to Oscar. Seeing how easily she defied the laws of gravity, Meiru once again exclaimed “Oh my.” Oscar adjusted his glasses and took a few steps backward, embarrassed at how heated he’d gotten. He then let the leader, Miledi, take the floor. Miledi placed a hand on her chest and declared her intent.

“We are the Liberators! A group dedicated to fighting the church and freeing the continent from the gods’ grasp!”

The pirates broke out into an uproar for an entirely different reason this time. And while Meiru’s smile didn’t budge, the expression in her eyes changed. Miledi and Oscar hadn’t come to Andika to flee the church. No, in fact, they were a group dedicated to fighting them. Considering how unknown their group was, it was hardly a surprise that most of the pirates looked at them like they were crazy. However, Miledi unflinchingly met Meiru’s gaze and continued her pitch.

“Moreover, we’re just like you.”

“How so?”

“We, too, can use ancient magic.”

“......” Meiru had suspected that was the case. She narrowed her eyes, but remained otherwise unfazed.

“We came here because we wanted to confirm whether the rumors of the Saint of the Western Seas were true or not. Because if they were, it might mean there’s another user of ancient magic here.”

And this time, Miledi’s bet had paid off. The saint was real. Though Miledi had never in her wildest dreams imagined that she might be the captain of a pirate crew.

“We came here with two objectives in mind. The first was to convince the saint to join our group. The second... regardless of whether she joined us or not, was to get her to heal O-kun’s little brother and sister.”

“Brother and sister, you say?”

Meiru cocked her head toward Oscar. He eventually nodded and responded.

“Sorry I got overexcited back there. The truth is, my younger brother and sister were experimented on by the church, and now they’re both stuck in a coma. No healing magic or medicine I’ve tried has been able to cure them. So, we thought maybe the Saint of the Western Seas might possess powers we don’t... which is why we’ve been looking for you.”

“I see...”

A somber silence followed Oscar’s explanation. As he’d initially thought, the Melusine Pirates were no scoundrels. Meiru muttered “Brother... Sister...” quietly to herself as she lapsed into thought. A few minutes later, she looked up and told Oscar the news he’d been wanting to hear for months.

“You guessed right. With my abilities, I may be able to cure them. You see, my magic isn’t recovery magic, but restoration magic. It restores things to their original state.”

“Then—” Oscar’s eyes glimmered with hope. However, that hope was soon dashed.

“But just because I can, doesn’t mean I will. I have no interest in joining your Liberators, nor will I travel to the continent.” Meiru flat-out rejected both of Miledi’s requests.

“Why!?”

“Is it not obvious?” Meiru spread her arms wide and looked around at her men.

“This here is my family. And we have our own lives to live.”

“But—” Oscar was desperate. Dylan, Katy, and all the others experimented on by the church were stuck in an eternal coma. Without Meiru’s help, they’d never recover. Oscar opened his mouth to argue further, but stopped when Miledi clutched his sleeve. Realizing he was letting his emotions get the better of him again, Oscar adjusted his glasses and took a step back to calm himself down. He knew it was best to let Miledi handle this conversation. But before she could say anything—

“Ah! Below us, Cap’n! There’s—”

One of the pirates nearest the railing paled as he looked down into the sea. Before he could finish his warning, a huge shockwave rocked both pirate ships. The Brayed Pirates’ ship began to tilt. It seemed as if something had ripped out the bottom of the hull, as the ship suddenly began taking on water.

“This is... You two, suppress your mana!” Meiru shouted toward Miledi and Oscar. However, neither of them understood what she was getting at. Confused, they watched as the Brayed Pirates’ ship continued to tilt even further. At the same time, white smoke began rising up around it. On top of that, the water around the boat began to churn, as if something was lurking underneath it. Eventually, Chris grimaced and yelled.

“Meiru, we’ve got trouble! It’s the Hell Eater!”

“Very well. You’ve finished rescuing all the civilians, correct? Dump those pirates somewhere on our ship. We’re retreating immediately.”

“Aye aye, Ma’am!” The Melusine Pirates sprung into action. They slung the unconscious Brayed Pirates over their back and tossed them onto the deck of their ship. Once they were done, they made preparations to set sail. But before they could weigh anchor, their own ship, the Melusine, began to tilt. White smoke rose around it as well. A second later, Miledi and Oscar realized what was going on. The churning waters swelled, and an extremely familiar jellyfish-shaped monster rose to the surface. Miledi and Oscar both screamed.

“Not this agaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!”

Indeed, this was one of the same monsters that had made Miledi, Oscar, and Naiz’s journey to Andika so difficult. It appeared it was called a Hell Eater, and from the looks of it, it very much wanted to eat Miledi.

Why is it always me!? Miledi thought despairingly. To her surprise, Meiru provided an answer.

“You know, if you don’t suppress your mana while crossing the ocean, monsters will flock to you, right? They’re drawn to mana like moths to a flame.”

“I wish someone had told us that earlier!” Miledi groaned and held her head in her hands. So it really was all my fault!

Aquatic monsters had much better perception skills than terrestrial ones. They needed them to hunt down prey in the vast expanse that was the ocean. While normal mages didn’t emit enough mana for it to be a problem, wielders of ancient magic possessed such a large mana pool that if they didn’t conceal their presence, monsters from all over would be drawn to them like a beacon.

“Shit, this isn’t good, Miledi! Kiara-chan and the others are on that ship!”

“It’s already starting to sink...”

Miledi paled. Meiru leaped onto the deck of her ship and cast restoration magic on it. In seconds, the sinking ship had returned to its original, magnificent form.

“Miledi-chan, Oscar-kun. Could you please hold off that monster for us? I know it’s dangerous, but... I cannot allow my ship to become a battlefield while there are civilians onboard! Don’t worry, once we’ve evacuated, I’ll come back to help you! I know a good way to drive this fiend off!” Some of the giant jellyfish tentacles leaped out of the water toward the Melusine. Meiru fended them off with blasts of water magic as she spoke. Still on the sinking Brayed Pirates’ ship, Miledi replied.

“Leave it to us! We won’t let it get close to you! Asura!”

A ring of gravity magic encircled both ships. The rising seas were pushed back down as Miledi put pressure on the sea surrounding them. At the same time, Oscar dug into his Treasure Trove and pulled out a number of enchanted blades. More specifically, his Ice Dagger artifacts. He threw them into the sea, freezing everything except the Melusine’s path of retreat. Even Meiru couldn’t help but be surprised at the scale and power of both Miledi and Oscar’s magic. Miledi was constricting the sea itself, while Oscar was burning through waves of Artifacts, each powerful enough to be a national treasure. Miledi turned to Meiru and made a peace sign. Oscar twirled his umbrella and covered Miledi’s rear. The two fought back to back, fearless smiles adorning their faces.

“Monsters like this are a piece of cake for us!”

“If we’re the ones who called it, then we’re the ones who should take care of it. That being said, I’d still prefer it if you come back soon to help us, Meiru-san.”

Meiru smiled kindly at them and manipulated the current around her to speed her ship up. As the Melusine pulled away, she gripped the ship’s wheel.

“Thank you so much. I promise I will never forget you two!”

“Hm?” Oscar and Miledi both cocked their heads. Meiru’s choice of phrasing was a bit odd. But before they had time to dwell on it any longer, the Hell Eater melted the frozen ocean and began assaulting the ship once more. Oscar and Miledi bombarded the Hell Eaters with spells, determined to keep the monsters’ attention focused on them. After a while, Meiru waved merrily at them and shouted.

“As for your brother and sister... If you bring them to me, I might heal them for you, depending~”

“D-Depending on what!?”

“You’ll find out when you bring them here~”

Her tone was far lighter than one would expect from someone fleeing sea monsters, but thanks to her expert steering, the ship quickly sailed toward safer waters. At the same time, the thick mist began to vanish. The Hell Eater was too interested in Oscar and Miledi to bother giving chase to The Melusine.

However, the Brayed Pirates’ ship was on the verge of capsizing. There were so many holes in the hull that parts of the Hell Eater were pouring through them and breaking through the deck to attack Miledi and Oscar.

“A-At any rate, let’s try to stay alive until Meiru comes back, O-kun!”

“Y-You got it. I certainly have no intention of dying here!”

The pair began their life and death struggle against this seemingly invincible monster. This time, though, they couldn’t afford to run. If they left, it might chase after The Melusine. Miledi fired off blasts of gravity magic one after another, pushing the Hell Eaters into the sea again and again. Meanwhile, electricity and flames shot out from Oscar’s umbrella in quick succession, burning through swathes of the Hell Eater. He also periodically threw Heater Knives down into the ocean, causing steam explosions that blasted through the bits of the monster still in the ocean.

However, it attacked relentlessly. Assuming the Hell Eater was a monster, it shouldn’t have an infinite amount of jelly to draw from. But no matter how much of it they destroyed, it just kept regenerating. To make matters worse, the ship was seconds away from sinking. Both were already fighting in the air.

“Ngh, this guy’s so goddamn persistent!”

“Don’t complain, Miledi! Look, Meiru’s ship is already pretty far away! She should be coming back to help us, so—”

Oscar looked over at the ship, using his glasses’ farsight ability to make it out. He spotted Meiru watching them from a telescope. For a second, it felt like their eyes met. No, they definitely did. Meiru lowered the telescope and smiled benevolently. She then waved her hand, as if waving goodbye.

“Miledi.”

“What!? Whoa, that was close. Like hell I’m letting you strip me again, you bastard!”

Oscar turned to her and spoke quietly.

“Just now, Meiru said ‘I promise I will never forget you two,’ right?”

“What of it!?”

“Also, she told me to bring my brother and sister back to her, right?”

“Yeah, so what!?”

The Hell Eater grazed Miledi’s skirt, dissolving parts of it. She fought with all her might, fiercely protecting what little of her dignity she had left. Oscar adjusted his glasses and revealed the truth to her.

“Thinking about it now, doesn’t that mean she’s not planning on meeting us again anytime soon? Meaning she’s just going to run away and leave dealing with this thing to us?”

“Ah!? What’s she doing right now!?”

“Smiling and waving at us. Oh, she just went back to the ship’s wheel...”

She isn’t coming back, is she? Hell, she probably planned on abandoning us from the start, meaning there’s no way to drive this stupid monster off either. A loud rumble interrupted Oscar’s thoughts. He and Miledi turned around slowly, a shiver creeping up their spines. Behind them rose a wall of seawater a good 300 meters high. The Hell Eater hated nothing more than prey that wouldn’t let themselves be eaten. At the same time, The Melusine disappeared beyond the horizon. Miledi and Oscar’s lips twitched, and they screamed simultaneously.

“You damn piraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaates!”

They wouldn’t forget this betrayal. Unfortunately, they had a 300-meter tall wave to deal with at the moment. Just before they were swallowed up by it, however—

“Sorry for the wait guys, Void Fissure!”

The space around them twisted, and a hole opened up in the center of the wave. The three of them passed through the newly created tunnel, safely evading the tsunami.

“Nacchaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”

“Naiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiz!”

Their savior appeared in the nick of time, and Miledi and Oscar hugged him with all their might. Confused, Naiz looked down at his two comrades.

“That bitch played me for a fool!”

“And she crushed my hopes and stepped all over them!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but for now, please come back to your senses, Oscar.”

Naiz peeled Miledi and Oscar off him, then turned toward the giant jellyfish preparing another wave of water.

“This guy again?”

“Yep. But now we know why he’s after us.” Miledi explained how sea monsters were attracted to mana and how it would leave them alone if they suppressed their leaking mana.

Still, while three of them were well-versed in emitting large amounts of mana, they weren’t nearly as practiced in holding that mana in check. Figuring it out in the middle of battle wouldn’t be easy. Though they knew they needed to master this new skill, or they’d bring the Hell Eater straight to Meiru when they chased after her. And so, the three of them nodded to each other and focused on the mana swirling within them.

Around the same time—

“Oh my. Those two are impressive. They’re actually fighting on even footing with the Hell Eater.”

Meiru watched Oscar and Miledi fight through a retractable telescope. Her first mate, Chris, sighed as he spoke.

“Meiru... you’re a horrible person, you know that?”

“I simply chose the right people for the job. Besides, those kids don’t want the rescued townspeople to come to harm either.”

“I’ll give you that much at least.”

Under his breath, Chris added, “But that’s why even though you’re over twenty, you don’t have a single suitor.” The rugged old man had looked after Meiru for a long time and was like a surrogate father to her. Meiru ignored him and muttered “Oh? Can they actually see us from all the way over there?” She cocked her head, then smiled and waved goodbye.

“I’ll say it again, you’re a horrible person, Meiru!”

Chris felt a twinge of sympathy for the handsome bespectacled youth and fake pirate girl. After a few minutes, the ship pulled far enough away that the battle with the Hell Eater passed beyond the horizon and out of sight. Meiru turned back to her subordinates like nothing had happened and clapped her hands together. Everyone turned to look at her.

“Now then, while we might have had a few hiccups, I’d say this operation was a success. Good work, everyone. We can’t leave the poor townspeople unconscious forever, so let’s hurry back to port and return them home.”

Her crew cheered.

“As for the pirates we captured, let’s subject them to the usual punishment~”

The cheers faltered. Quite a few members of Meiru’s crew were former pirates who’d only joined her after suffering her “punishment.” Amidst the cheers, Kyaty timidly raised her hand and asked a question.

“H-Hey, Meiru. Are we really just abandoning that four-eyes?”

It appeared Chris wasn’t the only one with a conscience among Meiru’s pirates. Meiru smiled warmly and spoke in a confident voice.

“Those two will be just fine!”

“Where’s that confidence coming from!?”

She probably doesn’t even believe what she’s saying! Kyaty grew even more worried about the pair still fighting out on the ocean. Most of her fellow pirates seemed to be thinking the same, judging by their expressions. Meiru shrugged her shoulders as she replied.

“Look. If those two aren’t able to handle that monster and look like they’re about to be defeated, that’s when it’ll be our turn.”

Our turn to save them, right!? Kyaty thought, her eyes sparkling. Chris, on the other hand, just groaned and massaged his temples.

“Our turn to pray for them.”

“You can’t just watch them die!”

Kyaty was much kinder than she looked. Incidentally, she was also Meiru’s childhood friend. The pirates were used to this attitude of Meiru’s so they just waved it off, muttering things like “Well, that’s the Cap’n for you,” and “When’s all said and done, she’ll probably do something about it anyway,” and returned to their posts. Satisfied, Meiru nodded and said, “Alright, now that that’s settled, let’s head back to—”

But Meiru never got the chance to finish her sentence.

“Like hell we’ll let you escaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape!”

“Ah!?”

A girl had latched herself onto Meiru’s back.

“You’re mine!”

“Hiii!?”

No one had ever heard Meiru shriek like that before. That was how terrifying Miledi, who was currently clinging to Meiru and glaring wildly into her eyes, looked. In fact, Miledi wouldn’t be out of place in a horror movie right now.

“Sheesh, we finally got that monster off our tail... That took forever.”

“It’ll probably take some time before we’re used to suppressing our mana.”

Oscar and Naiz conversed casually as they landed on the deck behind Meiru. Chris stumbled backward with a yelp. He could have sworn no one was there a second ago.

“H-H-H-How did you catch up!?”

Frantically trying to calm her pounding heart, Meiru asked what everyone was wondering. Miledi grinned evilly and declared her beliefs boldly.

“No one escapes from me!”

Everyone present privately thought, Holy shit, Miledi-chan’s scary... Miledi had her arms wrapped tight around Meiru’s neck, while her legs held Meiru’s stomach in a death grip. No matter how hard Meiru tried, she couldn’t peel Miledi off. Miledi looked ready to cling to Meiru for life, but they wouldn’t get anywhere like this so Oscar tore her away.

“Um, it’s not what you think, I promise. I wasn’t planning on abandoning you.”

Meiru’s crew glared coldly at her. Didn’t you just say you were going to pray for their souls?

“Don’t worry, we don’t care about that. It was our problem to deal with in the first place. But you better hear me out this time! Don’t even think you can run! No matter how far you go, there’ll always be a Miledi-chan chasing you!”

“Please don’t make it sound like there’s more than one Miledi-chan, that’s a terrifying thought.”

Meiru looked away awkwardly as Miledi puffed her chest out proudly. Naiz stepped forward and added his thoughts.

“By the way, I’m Naiz, a fellow Liberator. Let me warn you now, I’m also able to use ancient magic. My particular magic allows me to control space. That’s how I brought everyone here.”

“I-I see... I suppose it would be quite hard to escape from someone who can teleport.”

Cold sweat poured down Meiru’s back. She had no way of running from someone who could cross vast distances in the blink of an eye. That was practically cheating. Granted, her own powers were broken enough in their own right, but now she was beginning to see that the world was much larger than she thought. Her crew looked flustered as well, but Naiz wasn’t done yet.

“That’s not what you should be afraid of. What I’m trying to get at here is, even though I can teleport freely, even I couldn’t escape from Miledi.”

Meiru and her crew fell silent. Few things could faze the dagon captain, but that sentence was enough to leave her speechless.

“You... can teleport at will, correct?”

“Yeah. I even used my powers to teleport Miledi and Oscar far away from me, but...no matter where I sent them, they’d always be waiting for me when I got back home. To be honest, it was a little traumatic.”

Holy fuck, Miledi-chan’s scary... The Melusine Pirates all thought. Miledi and Oscar looked away sheepishly. They never knew Naiz had been that scarred by their persistence. Thinking back on it now though, they realized they’d probably gone overboard. The normally dour-faced Naiz gave Meiru pitying smile.

“You said your name was Meiru, right? I’m telling you this for your own good. Just give up and accept your fate.”

Though his words sounded like a threat, Naiz’s tone was gentle.

“I-I see. Well, my sleep magic will wear off soon, so can we return the kidnapped townspeople to the harbor first?”

Meiru decided to put off answering Miledi’s request for now. She’d realized too late that this fake pirate was far more troublesome than she looked, and now she needed to buy time to come up with a strategy.

And so, the Melusine changed course and turned toward Andika with Miledi, Oscar, and Naiz still on board. The lone pirate ship sailed through the moonlit sea. It made good time thanks to Meiru’s water magic speeding them along. Miledi and the others went down to the hold to make sure Kiara and her mother, Vera, were safe. Once they’d confirmed both girls were fine, they returned to the deck and whiled the time away. Oscar and Naiz watched inquisitively as the crew went about their tasks. They were sitting with Chris at the edge of the boat, enjoying the night breeze. Meanwhile, Miledi was hovering around Meiru, who was at the helm of the ship.

“Hey, Meiru. How do you use water magic to make a current like that?”

“Hey, Meiru. How’d you make that whip-sword thing?”

“Hey, Meiru. What’s that? A compass? How does it work?”

“Hey, Meiru. How’d you get your boobs to grow so big?”

“Hey, Meiru. Where do you guys live? And what are those conditions you wanted us to fulfill? And what are you guys going to do with the pirates you captured? Hey, Merumeru~ Answer me~”

This girl is unbelievably annoying. Meiru thought to herself. The crew was stunned to see Meiru, who was always wearing such a composed smile, look so blatantly annoyed.

Before long, Andika’s coast came into view. Meiru used her magic to cover The Melusine with a deep fog as they approached. The pirates then began rolling stacks of lumber into the sea. Meiru stripped off her coat and hat, then dived elegantly into the sea. She touched the stacks of lumber one after another, using restoration magic to turn each into a small boat. It appeared Meiru usually kept her boats dismantled to make them easier to store, then remade them with restoration magic when she needed them. The pirates carefully stowed the sleeping townspeople on the boats.

Once they were all on board, Meiru created a sphere of clear, pure water. She then sprinkled droplets of that water on the sleeping townspeople. As she did so, she poured her sunset-orange mana into the droplets, using them as a medium to carry her magic. It appeared this was the way in which Meiru was able to grant her restoration magic longer range. She’d healed the more gravely injured civilians earlier, but now she removed even their minor wounds, like the bruise around Kiara’s eye.

As Kiara and the others began to awaken from their magically-induced sleep, Meiru wrapped them all in a thick fog and whispered something to them. She then used water magic to send the boats off to the pier. With this, Kiara and the others would begin to spread rumors of the Saint of the Western Seas as well.

“Hmm, I want to be there when Kia-chan wakes up, but...”

“In that case, feel free to go back with her.”

Meiru gave Miledi a pleading look, silently begging her to leave.

“Sorry Merumeru, but I can’t do that. I won’t leave until you’ve heard me out!”

“Could you please not give me such a childish nickname. I am older than you, you know?”

“Alright, I’ll call you Meru-nee then!”

Miledi was expecting a comeback or retort of some kind, so she was surprised when she saw Meiru’s reaction. For some reason, Meiru looked completely stunned.

“U-Umm, Meiru? Is Meru-nee no good either?”

Flustered, Miledi checked to see if Meiru was angry. To her surprise, Meiru smiled and shook her head.

“No, you can call me Meru-nee if you wish... However, I would be utterly delighted if you would just leave me alone forever.”

“Not happening!” Miledi made a cross with her arms. Meiru sighed and dropped her gentle smile. She turned to Miledi with a serious expression and spoke her thoughts.

“No matter how many times you ask, no matter what you tell me, I, and the Melusine Pirates, will never join you. This is the life we’ve chosen, and we have no intention of changing that.”

Miledi grew serious as well, her clear eyes sparkling with bottomless determination.

“That’s fine. But at the very least, tell me why. I want to know more about you all. We didn’t come all this way just to be turned away without a good reason.”

Oscar and Naiz drew closer to Miledi as if backing her up. Their gazes were just as solemn as hers.

“Saint of the Western Seas, Melusine Pirate Crew. Allow me to formally introduce myself.”

Miledi placed a hand on her chest and said in a voice loud enough to reach Andika, “I am the Liberator, Miledi Reisen! One who fights against this world’s gods!”

Miledi knew she was asking a lot. She wanted Meiru and the others to abandon their current life and rush headlong into danger with her. Despite knowing the gravity of her request though, Miledi did not back down.

“I want you to join me from the bottom of my heart. This warped world, where not even children can smile in peace, needs to change. And I need your help to change it.”

No one said a word. It was easy to claim you wanted to change the world. But these pirates, outcasts, and outlaws who’d been driven from the continent, knew just how difficult such a task would be. And yet the girl standing in front of them was seriously trying to do just that. The group of burly pirates sucked in their breath, overwhelmed by this tiny girl’s resolve. After a moment of silence, Miledi relaxed a little.

“So if nothing else, please allow us to accompany you for a while.”

Miledi had laid everything bare to Meiru. Unable to handle her sudden sincerity, Meiru struggled to find a reply. She was surprised at how much of an impact Miledi’s words had had on her. Meiru had thought she’d easily be able to refuse Miledi’s request, or at least sidestep it with her usual evasiveness. Even if she knew Miledi would chase her down, she hadn’t had any intention of saying yes. Meiru thought back to the time she used her restoration magic to bring back Miledi’s old wounds. Just what kind of opponent could do that to someone who’s capable of using ancient magic? As Meiru was hesitating, an unexpected ally came to Miledi’s aid.

“Why not let them stick around, Meiru? It’s not like we can run from three users of ancient magic even if we wanted to. Plus they seem like decent kids. They might turn out to be just what we needed. Either way, if you don’t decide soon, someone in Andika is gonna notice we’re here,” Chris said with a knowing smile. Meiru put a hand to her chin and considered the proposal. Or rather, appeared to consider the proposal. She’d long since come to a decision

“Haaah... Fine, if you insist. We’ll take you with us. But you must swear not to reveal our secrets to anyone else. If you ever betray us, I—”

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Thank you so much Meru-nee! We did it, O-kun, Nacchan! We’re pirates now!”

Miledi was already on cloud nine. She didn’t even pay attention to Meiru’s warning as she jumped up and down with joy. The Melusine Pirate Crew watched her with a smile, and the atmosphere grew too festive for Meiru to repeat her warning.

“This is the first time I’ve ever met someone so exhausting to deal with,” Meiru said with a sigh.

“Sorry about our moron of a leader. Don’t worry, I swear we won’t betray you. Though I guess just my word doesn’t really mean much...”

“No, I believe you. Despite appearances, I have a good eye when it comes to people. And you look like people I can trust.”

Meiru gave Oscar a defeated smile and shrugged her shoulders. She then put on her coat and cape and returned to the helm of the ship. The Melusine vanished into the night, leaving as quietly as it had come. It was time for the Melusine Pirates to return home.

As Meiru watched Miledi easily mingle with the rest of her crew, an old memory resurfaced. It was a memory from long ago, long before she had started this pirate crew. A young Meiru gripped the iron bars barricading an underground room’s window.

On the other side, inside the room, sat an even younger girl with the same color hair as her. Meiru would never forget that girl’s tear-streaked face or the hand she’d desperately reached out to Meiru. But most of all, Meiru would never forget the promise she made.

“...Meru-nee, was it?”

Meiru chuckled to herself. The fog disappeared, and Meiru steered her ship across the calm waters. She’s a bit too much of a tomboy to be my sister though. She thought as she turned the ship’s wheel.

A magnificent corridor, supported by intricate pillars, stretched on for what seemed like eternity. The pillars were thick enough that it would take 4 people to wrap their arms all the way around one, and each had ornate carvings running down its length. In the middle of the hallway lay a lush, crimson carpet, on which a single man walked. He wore a white priest’s robe, indicating that he was a member of the church and a high-ranking one at that. He had a stern expression, and deep wrinkles lined his aged face. From his gait, it was clear he was more of a warrior than a priest. After walking for quite some time, the man finally reached the end of the hallway.

“Laus Barn, reporting for duty.”

The man, Laus Barn, bowed reverently at the foot of a winding, marble-white staircase. At the top of the stairs was a shrine, and in that shrine sat an ostentatiously decorated throne. On the wall behind the shrine was a massive, ten-meter wide painting. The painting depicted a figure with soft features. It was impossible to tell if the figure was a man or a woman. But that was because the painting didn’t depict a human. No, it was a painting of the great creator that the church worshiped, Ehit.

The reason it stood even above the throne was to remind the man who sat in it—the king of the Elbard Theocracy, and the Pope of the church—that even he served a higher power. That being said, the Pope was Ehit’s representative, and thus held the most power in all of Tortus.

“Laus, the western seas grow turbulent,” the Pope, Lucifer Slaine Elbard, said in a hoarse voice. Laus said nothing. Questioning the man who represented Ehit’s will simply wasn’t done. Laus’ duty was simply to carry out whatever orders Lucifer had for him. Lucifer was an old man, well into his nineties, and had white hair that extended down to his knees, along with an equally white beard that went down to his chest. His droopy eyebrows hid his mouth, making his expression difficult to read. His thin, bony fingers curled around the throne’s armrests and his ash-grey eyes glared down at Laus.

“Andika’s existence is a necessary evil for us, and is part of a system Lord Ehit himself approved.”

A hint of vigor entered Lucifer’s frail voice.

“Those who would disrupt this system are enemies of god, heretics who must be purged.”

Therefore—

“Annihilate the filthy pirates who threaten the shores of Andika. Bring down the divine hammer of justice on those heretics.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Laus bowed low. After a few moments, he stood back up, offered the customary prayer, and turned on his heel. He was used to this routine. At this point, he didn’t even have to think; his body moved on its own. However, it appeared this time Lucifer had more than one order for Laus.

“Laus.”

Laus instantly swiveled back toward Lucifer and knelt. He pressed his forehead against the floor in apology for attempting to leave before Lucifer had finished. However, Lucifer didn’t mind, as this was something that had occurred to him just now.

“We have received no reports.”

“......”

“And yet, there exists within Andika a saint. She is one of God’s Children, an Atavist. Bestow upon her the wisdom of Ehit, and teach her what it means to be a believer. That is both the fate and the supreme bliss that awaits all of God’s Children.”

Lucifer frowned.

“And yet, I was not told of this saint’s existence. That man seems to have forgotten the debt that Andika owes us... Laus. Tell him this: ‘Is there not something you need to report to me?’”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Certain Lucifer was done this time, Laus got back to his feet again and walked out of the audience chamber.

Elbard’s palace sat atop the peak of an 8000-meter-tall mountain—the divine mountain. The palace had been carved directly out of the mountain’s face, and it’s soaring towers rose another 600 meters from the mountain’s peak. Elevators facilitated movement within the palace’s different wings, and aerial walkways connected the various towers and keeps. The walkways had been built using architectural techniques that made them appear and disappear with shifts in lighting angles. Those living in the capital at the foot of the mountain spent every day looking up at the palace’s sprawling majesty.

Laus walked down one of the palace’s aerial walkways toward the east wing. He furrowed his brows, deepening the wrinkles that lined his forehead. He’d swapped out his priest’s vestments for a military uniform, so he looked even more intimidating than usual. On top of his white battle garb, he wore gauntlets, greaves, and a breastplate.

Despite the wrinkles on his face, Laus was still only 32 and in the prime of his life. He had been born and raised in the Theocracy, to a noble family that had for generations produced exemplary templar knights for the church. Naturally, Laus had been indoctrinated with the church’s ideals from a young age. Unfortunately for him, he’d always had his doubts about whether the church’s methods were truly correct.

Like Miledi and the others, Laus too could use one of the ancient magics, spirit magic. It was a dangerous branch of magic that allowed him to interfere with the souls of others. He could use it to speak to the spirits of the dead, strengthen his own soul, or control the minds of others. But most impressive of all was the fact that under certain conditions, he could even revive the dead.

Naturally, the Barn family had been overjoyed when they’d learned that Laus was an Atavist. After all, that meant the next head of their family had been chosen by Ehit himself. The church, too, had been happy to hear the news. That a famous family such as the Barn’s had produced a wielder of ancient magic was something to celebrate. Because that meant that Ehit had answered the church’s prayers. With the birth of Laus, the church’s followers became even more fanatical than before.

However, Laus himself wasn’t brainwashed by the wave of religious fervor like everyone else was. He couldn’t shut his eyes to the contradictions he saw between what the church preached and what it practiced. And so, he began to have his doubts, both about the church’s creed, and the organization itself.

The reason Laus was able to maintain his sanity where all others could not was because no one, not even Ehit himself, could control Laus’ mind. But despite being able to see clearly, Laus did not oppose the church. He wasn’t that foolish.

He knew objecting to the church’s doctrine would avail him nothing. Not only would it drag him into a pointless war he couldn’t win, the church would almost certainly target his family, friends, and comrades—all people he needed to protect. There was nothing to gain in picking a fight with the church, whose influence spanned the entire continent. But there was a lot to lose.

Speaking from a purely utilitarian view, protecting the happiness of the majority was the most efficient solution. That would mean ignoring the plight of the minority, but happiness came at a cost. That was how Laus convinced himself to continue following orders. He didn’t resist. He didn’t object. He didn’t even let himself think too deeply on his doubts. He became a pawn of Ehit, an emotionless, unthinking machine who did what he was told.

“I will once again snuff out the light of freedom. That’s the only way to preserve the happiness of the majority.”

Laus Barn frowned as he turned that statement over in his mind. Though he’d told himself those same words hundreds of times, they only served to strengthen his misgivings. Brow furrowed, Laus looked down at the theocracy’s capital. He didn’t know what possessed him to do so. But when he spotted the darkness shrouding a corner of the city, he stopped walking.

“......”

He focused his gaze on a winding alley on the outskirts of the capital. He thought back to the only seditious deed he had ever committed in his life.

“I wonder... what that girl is doing now.”

There had once been a divine priestess in the church, but she had been abandoned by god. When she had still been in the church, Laus had once happened to overhear her say “I pray that humanity will one day be free...” He had just coincidentally been passing by the terrace she was on at the time. But perhaps that was why. Why he’d felt compelled to save her.

Even he hadn’t known what was driving him back then, but before he knew it he’d gone to the gorge where she’d been tortured, branded a heretic, and executed. He’d found her body and used all the magic at his disposal to try to revive her. By the time he’d returned to his senses, he’d come back to the capital. He’d expected to suffer the same fate as the girl. After all, he’d defied Ehit’s will. He was a rebel, a heretic.

He’d returned to the palace, fully prepared to be executed. Yet the divine punishment he was expecting never came. In fact, no one even mentioned the fact that he’d revived a heretic.

Perhaps Ehit isn’t as all-knowing as he would like us to believe...Or perhaps he simply let this transgression slide... Sighing, Laus shook his head. Thinking about this wouldn’t solve anything. Just then, one of his men came running up to him.

“Laus-sama! I finally found you!”

The young templar knight was carrying a huge mace in his arms.

“The airship is ready to launch at any time, sir.”

He proffered the mace to Laus as he said that. Laus took it without a word, easily lifting the oversized weapon with one arm. There was a slight whoosh of air as he slung it across his shoulder.

“Our mission this time is to eliminate a large band of heretics, isn’t it? This is a perfect opportunity to show our devotion to Lord Ehit. I can hardly wait to get started!”

“Yeah...”

The eager look in his subordinate’s eyes terrified Laus. And yet, he too was one of the people Laus wished to protect. However, Laus couldn’t bring himself to meet his gaze. The madness and hunger in his men’s eyes wasn’t something he could bear to look at. Laus turned to the horizon and watched the sunset. The crimson sky slowly faded to blue as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sight seemed symbolic to Laus, a representation of someone’s hopes fading away. As the light of the sun faded, a massive object rose up from below the aerial walkway. It looked like a large galleon, but it was floating in the sky.

This was the templar knights’ airship, a vessel created specifically to hunt down heretics. It was also a symbol of the church’s might. With a loud rumbling noise, the airship came to a stop in front of Laus. A gangway extended out from the deck, connecting the aerial walkway to the ship. Without batting an eyelid, Laus marched up the ramp and onto the deck. A squad of fully armored templar knights saluted him as he passed. Laus walked over to the prow of the ship and gazed at the horizon for a few minutes longer. When the sky had turned from navy blue to pitch black, he turned to his men and spoke with feigned coldness.

“We have our orders, men! Annihilate the heretics infesting the western seas! As knights of God, it is our duty to mete out divine justice!”

With a spirited yell, Laus called for his men to partake in the same madness he personally found unforgivable. Laus pointed his mace toward the west and talked in a voice loud enough to echo down to the capital below.

“Holy Templar Knights, move out!”

At his command, the church’s strongest fighting force advanced toward the western ocean. Those in the capital cheered Laus’ departure. Laus kept his gaze fixed firmly westward, toward the city where those who loved freedom resided.

“Let’s see you resist Ehit’s will...” Laus’ quiet voice sounded more like a plea than a threat.