The Daughter of Evil - Volume 4 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1–signs of the enemy at sea
Praefacio of Blue, page 8-47

✥ Kyle Marlon ~In the “Hark Sea”~

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Not everything we do is done with a definite basis for doing so. This was true of anyone.

For me, having been giving my undivided attention to my work governing the territory of Lucifenia lately, it had been close to a year and a half since I’d returned home to Marlon. The ocean at dawn that I was gazing at from the main deck of the warship, the HMS “Victoricia”, was itself a sight I hadn’t glimpsed for some time.

During this season the tidal current was bad, and so for safety reasons voyages to Marlon from Lucifenia would often use a route that took a large detour to the south. In this case as well we were going along that course at the captain, Admiral Dylan’s, decision, however as we were using the HMS Victoricia, a ship equipped with the highest sailing performance out of all of Marlon’s battleships, we’d be able to arrive at Marlon’s ports in a little less than a day. If the tides were better it would probably take half a day.

Nonetheless, I’d been visiting Marlon less and less often these past few years. Or, to be truthful, before Lucifenia had even become a Marlon territory I had often been making excuses to leave for other countries.

To me, Marlon wasn’t a very comfortable place to be. Of course, I had never told that to anyone. I couldn’t imagine it would go over well if it got out that a king had bad feelings towards the country he was governing.

But if I were to speak out on my feelings, and get questioned on my reasons by someone else, would I be able to give a precise answer?

Maybe it was because Marlon’s cloudy weather in its royal city of Bariti didn’t agree with me, or maybe it was because I had come to know the flavor of foreign cooking that was richer in variety than weakly flavored Marlon cuisine. Or perhaps it was out of some feeling of inferiority at becoming king after having my dreams be destroyed, some childish whim not to be anywhere where my mother could see me.

However, it seemed to me that none of those reasons were entirely accurate.

Nevertheless it was with a gloomy heart that I gazed at the ocean leading back to my home country.

.

Not everything we do is done with a definite basis for doing so. Then what in her case?

“It’s because I want to learn even more about the world!”

It seemed as though that was the reason for leaving Marlon in the case of Yukina Freezis, who was gazing at the water alongside me.

To be accurate, she wasn’t born in Marlon. Yukina had been born fourteen years ago in Elphegort’s capital city, Aceid. Both of her parents had just fled from Marlon to Elphegort, and so, in the middle of such unstable footing in her life, to Madam Freezis Yukina was a long-awaited firstborn, and a light of hope.

Even as a bystander I could see that her parents, and especially Keel, treated her with an inordinate amount of love and care in raising her. It was to the point where the other nobles and merchants would seriously joke amongst themselves that if Yukina were to blather on in front of her parents about someday marrying so-and-so in her childish innocence, said person wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly without a guard posted outside their door every night.

I had no idea that Keel–my closest friend–would become such a doting father, so I’d been a little surprised. Nowadays he had a reputation as a gentle merchant, but I knew that when he was young he’d been raised to be bloodthirsty by his environment. It had been a characteristic of Keel’s back then to in some respects make fun of things like people’s affection.

Was that what it meant to become a parent? Being alone myself it was hard for me to understand.

Keel would never oppose his daughter in anything she wanted to do. So when Yukina had started writing novels when she was young, he’d cheered her on, claiming she was as smart as him, and that maybe she was a once-in-a-millenium prodigy. He’d also actively helped her with her debut into the literary world.

At first Yukina’s writing life was teased by those around her as merely the pastime of a daughter of wealth, but as time passed everyone had to admit that she was indeed a prodigy. All of Yukina’s books that she’d published up until now eventually became bestsellers, and even now she was still being watched as a well-anticipated up and coming novelist.

Keel had been extremely overjoyed at how well she flourished, and upon hearing of it from him I too was secretly gladdened. Although at the same time, I remembered feeling the slightest bit of envy. I compared my younger self to Yukina. My younger self who had sought to be a painter despite being royalty, and then been discouraged.

If my mother hadn’t gotten in the way, would I have been able to find success as a painter?

The flow of time was not kind enough to tell the vanquished loser the answer to that. The only one who could learn it was the person who had accomplished what they wanted. Such as with her–Yukina.

Keel’s miscalculation was that Yukina’s ambition would surpass his imaginings. Seeking knowledge to become able to write better novels, Yukina ran away from home and set out on a journey.

Now that journey had reached its end, and she was riding this boat heading to Marlon alongside me. She told me it had been about one year and a half since she had last been in Marlon, where her family was. The same as me.

There was no sign of any special emotion in Yukina’s eyes as she gazed at the ocean from a corner of the main deck. Just the sight of her calmly enjoying the quietness.

“How much longer until we reach Marlon?” When I told her it wouldn’t be too many hours longer, she said, “So we’ll be able to see the shore soon, huh?” and turned her gaze once more to the northwest waters.

Once we’d arrived in Marlon, first I would need to go see Keel. The whole reason I was coming home in the first place was because he’d summoned me.

I pulled out a sheet of parchment from my pocket. It was a letter from Keel that had “Invitation” written on the front. The contents inside was an invitation towards a banquet being held at the Freezis estate. Judging by its outward appearance, his words could probably be translated to, “You bastard, I’m going to beat the shit out of you for bullying my precious daughter, so you better drag your ass over here right now.” A man who was a commoner calling the king to him–if anyone was going to be able to actually manage that, it was him. I made a bitter smile.

I’d been possessed by a demon at the time, but regardless it was true that I’d put Yukina in danger. I resigned myself to receiving a scolding from my friend for that.

Even so. Yukina had encouraged me to return to the castle.

“First you should pay a visit to the Empress Dowager. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you,” she said, grinning.

I was grateful for her concern, but I was reluctant to face my mother. I felt like that would be a more painful punishment than being decked by Keel.

Because once I did see her again I would have to ask her.

“Why did you give me a mirror possessed by a demon?”

The color of the water seemed to change slightly.

The color of sand began to mingle in the clear blue. A sign that the shore was nearby.

“Ah–I can see it!”

A mountain range hazily appeared where Yukina was pointing.

It looked like the Jamet mountains on Marlon’s eastern coast. At least to me, and probably Yukina as well, that was the only scenery we could catch sight of.

But that wasn’t the case for the bearded sailor standing watch on the observation deck.

“A ship is approaching. It’s pirates!” he cried, the alarm sounding. The sailors had looked half-asleep, but all at once their expressions tensed up.

“They might send some shells our way. Best take refuge inside the ship,” Dylan said to me and Yukina, having dashed over from his cabin’s quarters. He closely refastened his indigo blue captain’s cap.

Admiral Dylan would be 42 years old this year, a handsome man with a mustache that suited him well. He was thin but had a large build, and spent 90 percent of his year onboard a boat. Back in Marlon he had a wife who was twenty years removed from him in age waiting for his return, and it was only when talking to her that the creases etched into his face lightened a little.

It was apparent that a little thing like pirates was hardly a threat to him, and with a calm countenance he confirmed the situation from the other sailors.

“How many?”

“Six ships in all. All medium sized warships.”

“Odd to be picking a fight with a full-fledged battleship with those numbers. Perhaps they mistook us for a merchant vessel, or else they think they can overwhelm us with their numbers. Foolish, in either case.”

At that moment there was a bright flash and a loud boom.

Sounded like the pirates had fired a cannon. But the admiral was not alarmed in the least, and said to me, “Don’t worry. It won’t reach us from this distance.“

Sure enough, the cannonball splashed down far before the Victoricia.

“Yukina. This’ll be dangerous, so please return to your cabin.”

I lightly pushed on Yukina’s back.

"Are you going too, Mister Kyle?”

“I was thinking of taking the opportunity to observe Admiral Dylan’s heroic figure in action.”

Yukina looked reluctant to leave. Inquisitive as she was, she probably wanted to see the naval battle with me. But I somewhat forcibly pressed her to go down to her cabin. I didn’t need to give Keel any more reason to be angry with me.

My using a battleship for getting around rather than royal ship decked out in gaudy decoration was solely as a countermeasure against pirates like these. A battleship was a practical and safe way to travel, if you could put up with how uncomfortable it was. As the admiral said, there were no pirates who would attack a battleship when there was so little to gain and such poor chances of success.

On the other hand, that meant that up until now I hadn’t had the chance to see a battle between the navy and pirates. To me that was a slight disappointment.

I had been introverted as a child, but like other boys my age I did have some interest in exciting things like swords and cannons.

It was just that my mother had mostly forbidden me to touch things like that. She paid no heed to the ministers advising that I would need to know some swordsmanship for self-defense, or that the king of an island country ought to learn about naval warfare.

“A king doesn’t need to stand on the front lines. He should run the show majestically behind his soldiers.”

That was my mother’s opinion. It was in line with the traditional battle style for Marlon troops; the Lucifenian type of battle where the royal and general classes fought in front of their soldiers, for instance, was considered sheer stupidity in Marlon.

Eventually I gradually lost interest in such things, and instead I devoted myself to my painting.

In the end, I started taking up swordplay in about the latter half of my teens, after I’d given up on being a painter and inherited the throne. The impetus for that had been my indignation at Keel for teasing me for being unable to wield a sword, and because it was so shameful otherwise.

My mother didn’t try to stop me like she had when I was a child. My giving up on being a painter had largely been due to her dirty dealings behind the scenes, so maybe she felt a little beholden to me for that. She had stopped making so many nagging restrictions on me after I became king.

Nowadays I had some degree of pride in the merit of my sword skills. According to Lutwidge, my tutor, if I had been studying earnestly from my boyhood then I might have become one of the major swordsmen in the Evillious region. Perhaps it was just flattery towards royalty, but I had enough self-confidence to interpret his words as genuine.

It was just once, but there was a time when I’d taken my troops along and challenged a pirate crew to test my abilities. Naturally my mother stopped approving of any voyages since where I didn’t have naval protection, not to mention harshly remonstrated the ministers for it.

At any rate, circumstances like this involving naval battle with pirates was a situation I couldn’t help but be excited about, being a young man from the ocean-enclosed “Blue Country”. There was no way I was going to miss it.

The HMS Victoricia had already begun to return fire. It seemed that despite what his features might suggest, Admiral Dylan’s plan of attack was very precise; he endeavored to his utmost to avoid wasting valuable and expensive artillery cannonballs. He would calmly judge their position and distance between himself and the enemy ship, and then only when he was certain that it would strike would he fire the cannons. Several of them would hit the enemy ship’s broadside, and snatch away their attack power.

 I stood next to him, and his shoulders tensed.

“I thought I told you to take refuge.”

“I wanted to see the Victoricia’s capabilities for myself. They missed, didn’t they? The enemy ships.”

When I observed the situation, I could tell there was a large gap between the Victoricia and the pirate ships when it came to the range of their artillery. The cannons themselves were an unknown armament outside of Marlon, only developed in recent years. Marlon military boats were equipped with cannons fit for flat-out practical use; you could say that the kinds the pirates made as a cheap imitation weren’t even worth talking about. If they didn’t cross the distance between us, we’d be able to keep on the offensive one-sidedly, without any of their cannonballs making it over. With the gap in capability between us and the pirate ships, or else the difference in competency with their helmsman, the pirate ships would never be able to approach the HMS Victoricia.

“It’s because we’re heading windward,” Admiral Dylan answered, sighing in perhaps relief or even the slightest bit of disappointment. “I guess those pirates are smaller fish than I thought.”

When I asked the reason why he thought that, Admiral Dylan inclined his chin towards the Jamet Mountains.

“They deliberately came from the direction of the mainland…they’re attacking from downwind. Complete amateurs.”

Despite the fact that we were at a disadvantage in numbers, six against one as it was, the fight proceeded along overwhelmingly in our favor. While we were winning, two of the pirate ships sank quickly into the ocean. There were four left.

 "It’s already over.“

Admiral Dylan estimated that the pirates would soon realize they had no hope of winning and turn tail to escape.

But it was there that our enemy took an unexpected action.

The four remaining ships turned their sterns our way, and started charging at us at full speed.

Considering their surface tactics, that was a reckless action. I knew that. Certainly, if they kept charging at us straight on like that, they’d close the gap between us. But their guns were affixed to the sides of their ships. Even if they got closer, they wouldn’t be able to fire at us. Rather, they’d just make themselves into easier targets.

Of course, Admiral Dylan didn’t let that slide. The Victoricia turned its broadside towards the enemy ships and bathed them in concentrated artillery fire. At once two of the pirate ships were destroyed, but the enemy kept on without lessening their speed.

"It can’t be…Are they planning a suicide attack?” Admiral Dylan’s voice became nervous. For the first time there was a glimmer of suspense in his eyes.

The barrage continued, and another ship sank. But the last one came right up before us.

“Your Majesty! Grab onto something!”

I gripped a rope that was affixed to the nearby mast’s sail. And then it happened.

There was a thunderous roar, and a massive crash rocked the ship.

The stern of the pirate ship collided with the Victoricia’s broadside.

From the admiral’s tone, I had thought that the blow would send me flying. I didn’t have wings anymore. If I got blown off my feet I would just fall into the water.

But the impact hadn’t been as big as I’d thought it would be. It seemed the HMS Victoricia wasn’t so poorly built that it’d sink from a charge by a mid-sized ship like that.

Admiral Dylan probably knew that too. He’d told me to grab onto something earlier but he was just calmly standing there, despite not holding anything himself.

“Looks like they plan to board us!”

At the sound of the sailor’s cry from the side of the boat, the other soldiers took up their weapons and prepared themselves.

“If they’re going to be taking such a classic method as close quarters combat…” Admiral Dylan started, looking completely aghast and briefly glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

“I have no intention of taking shelter. I want to see what kind of pirates these men are with my own eyes,” I replied to him, anticipating what he was going to say.

The admiral shrugged and said only “Please stay behind me just to be safe,” making no more attempt to persuade me after that. He and I had known each other for a while. He knew of my ability with a sword, and my personality.

“Oooooi! Ye scallywags!” A loud voice with a thick accent rang out from the pirate ship. “This ship is being commandeered by th’ Yarera pirate crew! Surrender quietly and hand us all yer loot and food!”

Good lord, what pirate accents.

The owner of the voice was a large man who was sporting some stubble. His hair was cut short, and his countenance belied the fact that he was very accustomed to fighting.

“It’s as my big bro Yarera says! Bow to us if ye want to live!”

The one who shouted that next was a smaller man next to the big one. He was very thin, and he sported a very particular hairstyle that looked sharp enough to cut someone, seeming hardened by something.

It looked to me like they were the pirate captain and his confidant.

…Huh?

For some reason, I felt as though I’d met them some time before. Along with everything else I recalled the name “Yarera”.

But I was certain I didn’t know any pirates. I must have been under a wrong impression. I decided not to pay that feeling any mind.

Well, the Marlon navymen were unlikely to accept their recommendation to surrender; the youthful soldiers quickly boarded the pirate ship.

Upon roughly comparing the numbers of our Marlon soldiers to that of the pirates, I was surprised to find that they were about equal.

Rather, the pirates perhaps outnumbered us by a small margin. Despite the fact that our ship was much larger than theirs. What gall, shoving so many people in such a small ship.

Now that our ships were so close together, the artillery wasn’t of much use. We’d risk damaging our own ship if we fired. Smaller, carryable firearms were in development, but there was nothing yet suited for practical use. On land or on sea, when it came to close-quarters combat, people still chiefly fought with bows and swords.

Unlike their crude sailing and naval combat ability, in actual combat the pirates were unexpectedly difficult, and put up a good fight.

But that was just in the beginning; eventually the progress of battle went in the navymen’s favor, and the soldiers were gradually defeated and captured.

While taking a higher position to see it all from, I once again turned my mind back to the thought I’d banished earlier.

I still feel like I’ve met those two somewhere…

It probably wasn’t recent. Though it didn’t seem like it was that long ago, certainly not when I was a child or anything.

But in the end I couldn’t remember.

Come to think of it when I’d met Yukina again at the Corpa mansion I hadn’t been able to remember her immediately either. Maybe I was becoming forgetful. Though I’d hate to think it was because of my age.

That pirate captain and his confidant put up a considerable fight. It seemed the soldiers were at a loss regarding how to deal with them.

Even so, the gap in numbers was overwhelming, and soon enough they would be caught as well– right as I was thinking that, it happened.

“Yaaah!”

Something flew my way from the confidant’s hand.

Thinking it was some kind of arrow, I quickly dodged. The “something” he’d thrown whizzed over my head, and stabbed into the mast.

It was indeed a sharp arrowhead, but on the tailfeather part there was a wire-like object attached. When I looked along the wire I saw it led to the confidant’s gauntlet.

In the next moment, his body flew into the air. Along with the pirate captain, whom he was holding onto.

The two of them steadily made their way closer, along the wire. And then, still barreling along, they collided with the mast. A dull thud rang out through the deck.

“Uugh, ow…”

The two pirates were sprawled out before my eyes. As they evidently weren’t that badly hurt by the impact, they quickly stood and glared at me.

“Judgin’ by his appearance, this greenhorn is the owner of this here tub. His blue hair matches the description that woman gave us. …Bloody hell. I didn’t think we’d have to go through this much trouble.” The pirate captain turned his scimitar in my direction.

“Bastards! I won’t let you touch him!”

Admiral Dylan quickly brought up his sword and slashed at the pirate captain. But he was easily dodged, and fell forward from his excess momentum.

“What’s this? Is this lubber’s looks just for show?”

The pirate captain looked down on the admiral sprawled out on the ground with a disappointed expression, and then kicked him in the face as hard as he could. The admiral was knocked unconscious with one strike.

Admiral Dylan was an old associate of mine. So I knew.

Despite his strong-looking appearance, and his detailed battle strategy, he was useless with a sword.

Just as I gripped the handle of the sword affixed to my waist, I realized that there was a dull, gleaming knife at my neck.

“Ah ah, you better not pull yer sword.”

At some point, the confidant had circled around behind me. How nimble. I had no choice but to obediently put my hands up as he commanded.

“Oi ye dogs! Don’t come any closer! If anyone tries to be a hero, we’ll gut this lout like a fish!” the pirate captain cried towards the soldiers. Alack, I was being used as a hostage.

“Was I your objective from the beginning?” I asked, and the confidant gave a coarse smile.

“Yeah. We’ll get a big payout if we take you in. And then it’s bye-bye to this ill-fitting pirate life!”

I didn’t know who would pay them to kidnap a king, but it was an extremely bold thing to plan.

“Do you think they’re going to just let you escape like this?”

I tried to bluff, but with these circumstances the navymen weren’t going to be taking any reckless actions.

I would have to take matters into my own hands, but my foes were apparently fairly skilled–they weren’t likely to let me simply draw my sword.

And then, an innocent exclamation cut through the tense atmosphere that permeated the area.

“Oh my! What a dramatic development!”

There was a stairwell connecting to the ship’s residential quarters. When I looked over, I saw Yukina gripping her notebook with her eyes lit up.

“Yukina! What are you doing out!?” I cried without thinking. When I did, Yukina–who didn’t seem to have yet grasped the situation–harriedly floundered about with both arms.

“Huh!? Uh–Miss Germaine looked a little green, so I thought I’d escort her outside…” Yukina restlessly looked around her. “Hm? Where did she go?”

At that I too quickly looked around. As did the soldiers and the pirates both.

“Guh–”

Suddenly there was a scream from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw that the one who had screamed was the confidant. And there was another person, a woman in red clothing who was throwing up at the base of the mast–Germaine Avadonia.

“Blugh, in the end I’ve been done in by a ship…”

Her eyes were cast down, bracing herself with a hand on the pillar. She looked pretty sick.

“Th-that’s disgusting!”

The confidant unthinkingly started trying to get away from the mast–I didn’t let the moment slip by.

“Ah–Hold it!”

I thrusted the point of my broadsword at him. Thanks to him being distracted with Germaine I was able to draw it from my scabbard.

“Tch.”

The other man ignored my command and ran away to the pirate captain’s side.

Seeing the two of them standing side by side like that, the difference in their heights was even more than I’d thought. If I’d been looking at them from far away I might have mistaken them for an aged parent and child.

“Well well, if it isn’t Yarera and Zusco,” Germaine said in a wild tone, having finally looked up.

“Th-that blackguard is Germaine! What’s she doing here!?”

The pirates were clearly uneasy at having seen her.

It sounded like they were acquaintances of hers. I drew closer to her without dropping my stance, handing her a handkerchief.

“Do you know these two, Germaine?”

“You could say that…You’ve met them too, haven’t you? Yarera and Zusco. They’re the thugs we beat up in that bar in Lucifenia.”

Ah, that’s right. I remembered. It was those two. Yarera and Zusco of the Venom Mercenaries.

Five years ago in Lucifenia, under a false name I participated in the revolution that Germaine headed. The day the battle began, in a bar just before the town square where the assembly to call everyone to action had occurred, some poorly-behaved mercenaries had been thoroughly punished by the members of the revolutionary army.

The leading figures of those mercenaries had been Yarera and Zusco. If memory served, we’d wrapped them up in a mat and tossed them in the river. Seems they survived.

“At any rate, why are they acting as pirates, of all things?” I voiced instinctively, though I could guess the gist of it. After the revolution, the Venom Mercenaries must have disbanded upon losing their leader, Gast Venom. They’d lost their support, and been swept away…Or so I surmised.

In any event I had little interest in the particulars, and there was no point in thinking about it.

The important thing was…who was it who had hired these men now?

“This is perfect…We’ll pay her back for what she did to us back then!“

Yarera and Zusco re-prepared their weapons. Flames of hatred blazed in their eyes. And it looked as though that hatred was entirely directed at Germaine.

I had worn a mask back then. So the two of them probably hadn’t yet realized that I had been there that day.

“Germaine, don’t kill them. I want to catch them and ask who hired them,” I whispered. Germaine looked at me in openmouthed shock.

“Huh!? I’m fighting with you?“

“Of course, that was what I’d planned.”

“But I don’t have a weapon.”

On top of her being unarmed, she also wasn’t wearing armor.

"Well that was careless of you. Aren’t you currently Gumillia’s bodyguard?” I asked sarcastically. Germaine sternly glared at me.

“It’s too suffocating to be wearing armor all the time! And weren’t you the one who broke my sword!?”

Now that she mentioned it, that is what happened. She’d thrown down the gauntlet with me in the Millenium Tree Forest while I was transformed into a demon, and her favored rapier had been broken. I somewhat regretted having brought up such guilty memories.

 “Miss Germaine, use this!”

Yukina threw a cylindrical object towards Germaine. It was somewhat heavy for her, being so petite, and so it didn’t quite reach, landing on the floor at Germaine’s feet. A metallic clang rang out.

Germaine obediently picked it up and undid the cloth it was wrapped in.

It was a brand new rapier.

“Chartette brought that to me before we departed! Please use it!”

Germaine pulled the sword from its scabbard, and brought it up to bear. The point of the sword dazzlingly gleamed in the light of the morning sun.

“This’ll do nicely. Thank you!”

Though it seemed she was lacking a little in her constitution. Her footing was a little unsteady.

I figured I ought to speak to her a bit more kindly, as a gentleman.

“You sure you’re alright? You don’t have to do this if it’s too much.”

“But didn’t you just tell me to fight?”

“Well yes I did, but…Don’t you have a hangover from drinking too much?”

“I haven’t had anything to drink! Isn’t it obvious I’m seasick!?”

After yelling as much, Germaine once again swayed.

I told her that we just had to be able to hold out until the soldiers were able to come over to us from the pirates, and Germaine strengthened her stance.

“Alright, if that’s all then I’ll manage somehow.”

At those words, Yarera brought his eyes to her.

“You’ll manage somehow? Watch your mouth!”

Zusco continued after him, sneering “We’re gonna teach you that this is different from back then.”

The two of them slowly closed the gap between us.

A smile was playing out on Germaine’s lips. These days I had come to realize that she didn’t do stuff like that because she was making light of her foe, but rather it was just a habit of hers.

.

I didn’t know much about Germaine’s origins. I knew she was the adopted daughter of Leonhart Avadonia, one of Lucifenia’s Three Heroes, but I didn’t know the details that led to that–Where and when was she born? How did she come to be taken in by Leonhart? She hadn’t told me, and I didn’t think there was anyone else who knew.

But I had heard that apparently she was an abandoned child. That hadn’t been from her, but rather York, one of the revolutionary members.

York hadn’t thought very much of me, so our social interactions had been few and far between.  But after the revolution had come to a close, we drank together one day. That’s when I’d heard him tell me about it.

After prefacing it with, “This is all just conjecture, mind,” York had told me:

“That was probably Leonhart’s atonement, huh?”

He said that while Leonhart was famous as a hero through all of Evillious, due to his fierce loyalty he committed countless acts of barbarism against civilians of other nations when he was young, particularly against those in the Beelzenian empire.

–Supposing he’d killed innocent civilians in Beelzenia, and supposing he’d found a sole surviving baby, and supposing he’d realized there the foolishness of his actions–

In any case, Leonhart was dead now. There was no one left who knew the truth.

Leonhart hadn’t taught his daughter how to swordfight. Germaine had been dissatisfied with that, and so by doing things like spy on him training his other child and secretly taking lessons from York, who was a former soldier that lived nearby, she gained some self-taught swordsmanship.

You could say that her besting the master swordsman Gast Venom, regarded as the best in Evillious, using her self-educated skills was nothing short of a miracle.

Furthermore, Germaine had apparently received instruction from a legendary master swordsman who lived in Asmodean, the aged Nahed, during her post-revolution wanderings. Nahed had also been Leonhart’s tutor.

Anyway, it was definitely certain that Germaine was presently a top-notch swordswoman….as long as she wasn’t drunk.

.

She might not have been in top shape, but Germaine was not to be outdone by the pirates.

She casually warded off her opponents’ slashing attacks. She was calm and composed, with the air that, though she wore no armor, that didn’t matter as long as their attacks never connected

Undaunted myself, I also attacked our enemies. There was no need to get too deeply involved. We just needed to keep them occupied there for a short while.

Sweat was beading on Yarera’s face.

“S-son of a bitch! Why does a merchant vessel have this much military power on it!?”

Seemed he had mistaken the HMS Victoricia for a merchant ship. Perhaps whoever hired them had talked them into thinking it was one, but one would think he’d notice the make of the ship and the military uniforms on the sailors manning it. The two of them must be pretty stupid. I sympathized a little with the late Gast Venom, who they used to work under.

The navymen had left the pirate ship, and were starting to gather around the mast. The other pirates had pretty much all been taken prisoner.

“It’s over Big Bro! Let’s get outta here!” Zusco shrieked.

At the same time, he gripped Yarera’s body, and with a “Shah!” he once more fired a wire from his gauntlet. Their mark was the mast of the pirate ship.

I panicked and tried to stop them, but it was too late. The two of them were launched towards the pirate ship.

It didn’t matter much to me, but it was quite impressive acrobatics from Zusco to carry along Yarera, a man a whole size bigger than he was.

“It’s an assassin art.”

It sounded like Germaine knew something of this wire movement technique.

“I saw it in Asmodean.” I asked Germaine if she was able to use it too, but she quickly shook her head. “You need to be trained in it since childhood. It’s not a skill you can pick up in a day.”

I didn’t know if it was stupid or pitiable that they would take on work as mercenaries and pirates while having such talents under their belt.

But well, isn’t that how things were? Prodigies weren’t always successful. Money didn’t always buy happiness.

Yarera and Zusco this time elegantly touched down on the pirate ship without colliding into the mast pillar.

Shouting their parting words of “We’re gonna get you for thiiis!”, they two of them turned the pirate ship away. Also ignoring their underlings’ cries of, “Don’t leave us behiiiind!”

The pirate ship moved along towards the Marlon mainland.

Maybe we’ll run into them again in Marlon, I mused thoughtlessly for some reason, giving a sidelong glance at the ruffled sailors.

.

But that guess was off the mark.

.

Something coiled around the pirate ship, and then it suddenly sank into the ocean without a sound.

.

They had not been shot by the Victoricia. Perhaps the ship had already had a hole in the bottom? That would be pretty stupid of them.

That’s what I’d thought at first.

I realized that I was mistaken when Yukina screamed, “Wh-what is that!?”

In the direction she was pointing–it was very close to where the ship had sank–I could see a warped and winding figure.

It was still far away, so I couldn’t tell clearly, but it looked to be far and away much larger than the Victoricia. It wasn’t a ship. It wasn’t some type of bundle made out of wood and iron.

It was a living thing. To me, it looked like some immeasurably large serpents.

The serpents’ bodies curled, and splashed on the water’s surface. They were gradually heading our way. If we collided with them, even our ship would go down easily too.

“Sh-shoot it! Ready the cannons!” Admiral Dylan gave his instruction to the artillerymen, having regained consciousness at some point.

The soldiers were dumbfounded before this strange encounter, but this was after all a collection of skilled men of valor. They quickly got their wits about them and each returned to their respective stations.

They fired the cannons at the large crowd of serpants. But they scattered and sank beneath the water’s surface, and the cannons missed.

During it all, the roiling things moved towards us.

And then–with a huge sheet of ocean spray, their whole form appeared above the water.

They weren’t serpents. Those undulating shapes weren’t the main body, but tentacles…limbs.

It was—an enormous octopus….!

.

The sheet of spray raised by the enormous octopus eventually became a wave, and swept its way towards the HMS Victoricia. The whole ship rocked.

I immediately ran to Yukina and held up her small body from tumbling about on the deck.

“Th-thanks.”

“Yukina, you’re pretty knowledgeable–do you know of any large octopuses like that?”

“I’ve never seen one until now. But there are plenty of legends about sea apparitions like it.”

Yukina’s eyes were moist, but I knew that it wasn’t because she was holding back tears or anything like that. It was clear just by looking at her expression; the smile on her face showed her great excitement in encountering such an enormous octopus for the first time in her life.

With an expression like that I can’t imagine she’ll simply listen if I told her to take refuge inside the ship.

I called Germaine over. She came our way, looking dissatisfied.

“Well, aren’t you quite suave with women, King Marlon. And you already having such a lovely girl nearby.”

“I figured it’d be alright in your case.”

“Somehow everyone always treats me so rudely.”

Germaine puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. Such calm in a time of crisis. So my judgment had been correct after all. There wasn’t a great difference between her and this girl so wrapped up in optimism.

I asked Germaine if she wasn’t afraid of the monster, and she, smiling, began with:

“I was pretty surprised, I’ll admit,” and then, speaking sarcastically, “But I also saw a winged beast a while ago, too.”

Looking my way.

After asking Germaine to take care of Yukina, I next headed to where Admiral Dylan was.

They were still firing artillery at the octopus. But it didn’t look like it was having much of an effect. The octopus kept drawing closer, without so much as flinching.

A glance at Admiral Dylan’s face told me his forehead was still reddened where Yarera had kicked him earlier. But it seemed he didn’t have time to concern himself with that.

“Do you have any experience with fighting a monster like that before?”

I could imagine the answer, but I tried asking anyway.

“I’ve brought down a whale before. Although it was a whole lot smaller.”

“Do you think we should try to escape?”

“We’re trying! We’re going full speed hard starboard. That thing is faster.”

This had probably ended up being his worst voyage yet. Would he complain to his wife about this when we got back to Marlon? If we could get back to Marlon.

The cannonballs themselves were hitting their target to some extent. It had a pretty large body. If the entire thing was above the water then aiming for it would probably be a piece of cake. The HMS Victoricia’s artillerymen were an elite group.

However, the large octopus didn’t let up on its speed. The cannonballs would push into its flesh for a moment, but then immediately bounce out again and sink into the ocean.

If it caught up to us that would be the end. Our ship would be capsized by those tentacles just like the pirate ship.

Admiral Dylan might have had great success in naval battles, but the circumstances would be different against a monster opponent.

A person who specializes in monsters, huh?

Someone did come to mind. And right now she was riding on the Victoricia with us.

I called for a messenger soldier. He had finished his report to Admiral Dylan and was just about to leave to go somewhere.

“What is it?”

“Do you know where the sorceress Gumillia is right now?”

“Yeah, I saw her on the artillery deck earlier. She looked like she was arguing with the gunner over something.”

I told him to bring Gumillia over here, but it seemed that wasn’t necessary. When I turned around she was already standing on the main deck.

“Who is the captain, of this ship?“ Gumillia called out with her somewhat halting, clumsy speech.

"I am. What is it?” Admiral Dylan replied.

“I want to work on, the cannons. I need permission.”

The admiral was clearly a little bewildered by Gumillia’s unflinching demand.

“As you can see, now isn’t the time for that. And I can’t let a novice go messing with them. You’ll get hurt.”

“I just want to inscribe, a small phrase on the guns. It won’t take but ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes, hm? Let’s hope the ship hasn’t sunken by then.”

I cut into their conversation. “Admiral Dylan. Do as she says.”

“But…”

“When it comes to monsters, she knows best. At any rate, the way things are now we’re all going to end up scraps of seaweed on the ocean floor.”

“…”

Admiral Dylan again made a dissatisfied expression.

“I owe her for saving me. We have no choice but to bet on her.”

“…Hey!” The admiral called to the helmsman. “How much longer until it catches up with us?”

“At this pace, about fifteen minutes!”

“That just gives us five minutes to spare…” The admiral once again turned to Gumillia. “Sorceress, there are close to a hundred cannons on this ship. Is ten minutes enough?”

“The work I’m doing, is on the guns, aiming at the octopus–half the guns, fifty, is enough. And I have, prepared some help.”

Gumillia snapped her fingers, and out from the ship’s hold a boy came running, along with several men all in black.

It was Yukina’s brother, Shaw, and his entourage.

“You called, Miss Gumillia!”

“We have permission. Go according to plan.”

“Yes ma'am!”

The moment he responded, Shaw returned to the hold with his entourage.

.

The sorceress Gumillia had a great many mysteries surrounding her. She was the apprentice of Elluka Clockworker, who had been one of the Three Heroes like Leonhart, and recently she had been working as a consultant for the Beelzenian Empire. That was really all I knew.

To be frank, our relationship was pretty bad. I’d had several quarrels with her, and we’d exchanged blows several times. Until just recently, I’d had her on a wanted list as a “witch”.

Though I’d done that to Germaine too.

I was dimly aware of the fact that her hating me was really caused by what happened with her best friend, and the woman I loved. Michaela.

It was my fault. But no matter how I tried, I could not openly apologize to her. To apologize would be to admit that I had been a cause of Michaela’s death.

Her eyes, the way they saw through me as a hopelessly dishonest person, it frightened me. So without really meaning to, after the events that happened in the Millenium Tree Forest, I’d avoided coming into contact with her.

Even now, when she’d entered into the conversation with Admiral Dylan, I hadn’t been able to look her in the eye.

I didn’t know why Shaw, the son of the distinguished Freezis family, had ended up acting as Gumillia’s underling, but at any rate his preparations were made without delay, completed in the promised ten minutes.

The octopus was almost upon us. Each time its tentacles slapped the water, the boat rocked.

“At my signal, fire all at once. Aim for, the octopus’ brow.” Gumillia continued rattling off instructions to Admiral Dylan.

“Its brow?”

“Yes, there.”

Gumillia unflinchingly tapped on the admiral’s reddened forehead with her index finger.

“H-hey, ouch!”

 "This is the octopus’ weak point.“

Despite how large it was, aiming at the octopus’ brow would not be such a simple matter. We’d have to have faith in the skill of Marlon’s boasted artillerymen.

The octopus drew closer, its body bobbing up and down.

And then, right at the moment where most of its body was above the water:

"…Fire!”

All of the cannons fired at once.

Not all of them made it, but I could see that about thirty cannonballs hit on their mark, close to its brow.

As far as I knew octopuses didn’t make any particular noises, but this monster octopus was different.

It screamed.

“KISYAAAAAAN!”

Rather than a roar, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a sound wave. I reflexively dropped down on the spot at the unbelievable ringing in my ears.

Apparently it had a greater effect than what Admiral Dylan was expecting, for he gave out a groan that expressed both admiration and chagrin. I was a little less surprised, having experienced for myself the effects of Gumillia’s magic.

I didn’t know how much “work” she’d done on the cannons. Considering the amount of time it took, it probably wasn’t that much. But that octopus’ suffering didn’t seem to be just from getting fired on at its weak point.

“Good, it’s working! Keep firing!” Admiral Dylan raised his voice.

But no more came. The artillery deck was completely quiet.

“What’s going on!? Why aren’t they still firing?!”

A messenger soldier came sprinting over to the admiral.

“It’s a disaster! The cannons have all gone to shit!”

His choice of words had become a bit crude, I guess from his agitation. I’d heard some of the former pirates had mingled in with the navy crew. Perhaps he was one of their lot.

“Maybe the recoil, or our preparations were too hasty.”

Gumillia was composed. I thought perhaps she had some other plan in mind, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She wasn’t the kind of person to show her anxiousness towards other people. When I looked more closely at her I saw that there was sweat going down her white right cheek. The situation needed an urgent response.

I commanded Admiral Dylan, “Turn around. We’re going to cut past that giant octopus and head for Marlon.”

“…! Are you insane!?”

“Now’s our chance, while it’s stunned. As long as we can make it to shore, things’ll turn out somehow.”

“…Looks like we don’t have an alternative.”

The ship changed course, and the top of the deck swayed. Then we charged at the big octopus at full speed.

As we gradually got closer, the ship’s route strayed to the octopus’ right. I counted in my head the seconds until we passed by it; ten…nine…eight… If the octopus were to rear up again in the middle and strike the ship with its tentacles, everything would be all over.

Seven…six…five…It felt like the octopus’ eyes were glaring at the ship. Four…three…two. Starting with Admiral Dylan, all of the soldiers started holding their breath. One…one tentacle twitched, and then slowly rose up.

…Phew. It was okay, we’d safely made it past. From there we’d head to Marlon, without lowering our speed.

“After this, assuming the direction of the wind doesn’t change we should be able to keep out of its reach until we arrive at the shoreline!”

Cheers rang out on the deck.

 .

Among the sailors sharing their congratulations, there was one person who looked depressed. It was Gumillia.

I hesitated, but decided to speak to her. If Gumillia hadn’t been there, all of us would likely have ended up as octopus bait.

“Thank you. You saved us, Gumillia.”

Gumillia didn’t react to my words. I had anticipated being ignored, so I didn’t mind. I just wanted to extend my gratitude as a representative of Marlon.

I turned around, and started to head back to my cabin. We would arrive in the port soon. I wanted to make preparations for getting off the ship.

“That was…a Very, Amazing, Octopus,” Gumillia murmured behind me.

A very amazing octopus?

I recognized those words. It was the creature that my mother had shown to the head minister of the Lucifenian Kingdom as a souvenir when he’d come to visit Marlon five years ago.

“You’re saying that’s that octopus from before!?” I asked Gumillia, whirling around without thinking. This time she did not ignore me.

“Before?”

“The octopus five years ago. The octopus my mother–the Empress Dowager Prim–sent to Elluka Clockworker. My mother clearly said that it was a ‘Very Amazing Octopus’.”

“Ah…That was different. That octopus, was made a sacrifice.”

“Then what was the one this time…!?”

I sighed. I didn’t know the difference between the “Very Amazing Octopus” from back then and a regular one. So I’d tried asking mother what was so “Very Amazing” about it.

“Generally speaking it’s amazing, nothing but,” she had replied, not telling me much. She was always like that. She wanted to know everything about me, but never made clear anything about herself.

She had also told me something else. That the only people in Marlon who could tell the difference between a “Very Amazing Octopus” and a normal one were herself, and her employed sorceress Abyss. I.R.

And so assuming that enormous octopus had been set on us by someone, whether that was my mother or Abyss I.R., I could only arrive at one answer.

Mother, were you trying to kill me…!?

I shook my head. It was too soon to come to conclusions. And did there even exist someone who could control such an enormous octopus in the first place?

“Gumillia, could you, for example, bring forth and control an octopus like that?”

“Not me, no. I have, a lot of, very powerful magical, power, but I have strong points and, weak points.“

My mother had some connection to magic, but I couldn’t imagine that she herself was capable of a powerful spell like that. If she was, she wouldn’t have kept around that ghastly old woman–Abyss I.R.

In that case, was Abyss I.R. the mastermind?

After taking in a big breath, Gumillia continued speaking. "To rouse a ‘Very Amazing Octopus'…There is only one person, in the world who can do that–the 'Eternal Sorceress’, Elluka.”

.

It had been around twenty five hours since we had set out from Lucifenia’s port. We were a little later than planned, but the HMS Victoricia had safely arrived in Marlon’s port town of East Jamet. From here it wouldn’t be that far a trip to the western royal city of Bariti.

There was already a carriage on standby in East Jamet. Keel had probably prepared it for us.

I wasn’t clear on what was correct. I couldn’t put forward any basis for these actions.

Even so, right now I had no choice but to press on.