PBP 24

chapter 24

“Illegal drugs?”

Pirates are raiders.

That was common sense—an established truth since long ago. Pirates had, for ages, wandered without a land to call their own.

They attacked merchant ships crossing the seas for trade, seized their goods, and sold them elsewhere to profit from plunder.

But that was old history. Sure, plundering still happened, but nowadays pirates collected “tolls,” or even ran businesses of their own. And among those…

“Is this the pirates’ doing?”

…was this.

Illegal drugs made by mixing cheap herbs with harsh additives. Unrefined and improperly prepared, the substances were closer to poison, often addictive, and rarely fulfilled any real medicinal function.

There were several varieties, though only a few became actual social issues. After all, “trends” never survived long.

Not that the mere existence of such a thing isn’t a problem.

Their distribution methods were clever—and vicious. They stayed hidden while victims acted as the intermediaries, slipping past the navy’s surveillance. And starting their networks not on the mainland but on remote islands only made them harder to catch.

And this illegal drug problem… it was something that troubled the Wita clan as well.

Among the Six Great Clans, Wita possessed the authority of healing. But even resolving issues within the Western Continent kept them overwhelmed. Their power was not omnipotent.

Unless someone carrying Wita blood came into direct contact with an afflicted person, treatment was impossible.

Meaning: Wita could not treat every infected victim themselves.

Doctors observed the Wita during treatment and used those observations to research cures. If even with Wita’s help no method could be found, the illness was declared incurable.

The disease I caught—the one that forced me to leave the ship—was also declared impossible to cure by the Witar Medical Association, Wita’s direct institution. It became known as the Death Plague.

Which was why my accidental discovery had shaken the entire continent, and that achievement alone had allowed me to join the Witar Medical Association.

Though out of the ten ranks, I was only Level 3.

Anyway, that wasn’t the point.

The important thing was: Nereus hated this kind of thing. Addictions with no escape brought not pleasure but suffering.

One of the reasons the Caelum Pirate Crew was so different from other pirate groups was because they refused to involve themselves in anything like this.

Caelum never engaged with illegal drugs. In fact, they despised them.

So, the moment the word came out of Ethan’s mouth, every nearby conversation stopped cold.

“Hmm~.”

In the sudden silence, only one man let out an intrigued hum.

Nereus rubbed his rough chin and chuckled. One of his eyes glimmered sharply.

“Our next destination is decided.”

No one questioned the captain’s decision.

Except—

“Dad.”

Me.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“Before we go… can we stop by somewhere?”

“Hmm? Where?”

“The temple.”

Although this wasn’t really an objection… more like a suggestion.

* * *

In the world I live in, people worship two gods: Daiera, the god of earth, and Cormare, the god of the sea. My adoptive father named me after Cormare’s daughter.

“This world was shaped by the blessings and love of Daiera and Cormare…”

Basically, the two gods created the concept of land and sea, Daiera blessed the first sages, and so on and so forth.

While the priest delivered his gracious sermon, I held my hands together, eyes closed—looking like the very picture of a devout believer.

“Ugh…”

Sitting beside me, Dexter seemed extremely uncomfortable with all this.

Poor thing. Hang in there, Dexter.

Since Dexter had the least work today, he ended up acting as my guardian. But watching him tremble like a sail in a storm made me feel like I should be protecting him instead.

Well, yeah. Even if he’s an excellent sniper, without his gun he’s basically helpless.

Poor Dexter. He was practically sniffling beside me, hands clasped tightly. With so many navy soldiers filling the temple for service, he was understandably terrified—but the worshippers around us didn’t know that. Instead, they mistook us for an adorably devout sibling pair and showered us with candies and chocolates.

“Did you come to pray with your big brother? How admirable!”

“Look how quietly that little one is praying. What a good child.”

“My grandchild won’t come even if I beg…”

And so, to me—

“Thank you!”

“My, such polite manners.”

“My dad said I should always thank grown-ups when they give me something.”

“What a wonderful father you have.”

Yes. Even though my dad steals things, disrupts maritime order, returns revenge a hundredfold, and jumps into anything he wants without a single plan—

He’s still a good dad to me. That’s what matters.

I giggled and unwrapped a chocolate, popping it into my mouth.

“For today’s prayer, we ask for blessings upon the Corne family, who search for their missing young son…”

When the sermon ended, the priest offered a gentle, compassionate prayer for a noble family who had lost someone to pirates.

Where is he?

This was no time to leisurely savor the almond-bonbon chocolate from Witdresa. I had a purpose here today.

Today was Earth Day—the sixth day of the week—when the temple held its weekly service. Navy personnel with free schedules were required to attend.

I rolled my eyes around and finally spotted my target.

Found him!

Of course Hyperion was here too. But he wasn’t my target. Hyperion stood out so much that I didn’t have to look for him.

Gather a crowd and pick the one who shines the brightest—that’s Hyperion Parus.

The person I was looking for was—

“Are you alright?”

A piece of chocolate was suddenly offered to me.

Perfect.

Letting candies “accidentally” fall around me had paid off. The man who picked one up had cocoa-brown hair, gentle green eyes, and features soft enough to make many hearts flutter.

Not quite as striking as Hyperion, but still handsome—this trainee priest was…

“Thank you!”

Under normal circumstances, even I might’ve been fooled by that smile.

His name was Steve Adeve—known, in the previous timeline, for his monstrous greed.

He had been caught embezzling temple donations, beaten by the mob, and sentenced to five years in prison. I knew this because his case caused a huge controversy within the navy.

The embezzlement itself wasn’t the biggest issue. The reason it caused such a stir in the navy was because of their rule about attending temple services.

Every Earth Day, the navy attended service and afterward went to the confession room for a short confession. The confession room allowed no surveillance or magic. It was the one place the navy could not influence.

And the priest responsible for hearing confessions was called a Confession Priest.

Meaning: Steve being here on this island—at this temple—was no coincidence.

Especially since no one, not even a fool, would wander from temple to temple searching for him.

Steve was slated to be Hyperion’s first Confession Priest.

And when Steve was arrested, Hyperion got dragged into the controversy. By then he had already become Admiral, so the uproar was enormous.

“Since he was the current Admiral’s first confession priest, Admiral Parus must be involved in the embezzlement!”

The accusations didn’t go anywhere, but Hyperion’s reputation suffered for a while.

The navy valued righteousness and honored traditions. To a navy soldier, a first Confession Priest held deep significance.

So Steve wasn’t just here by chance.

He didn’t show himself to me by accident either.

I was nearly certain.

After all, I’d placed a jewel—about the size of an adult thumbnail—into the donation envelope. And while donations were anonymous…

Anonymous doesn’t mean untraceable.

I’d also put a strand of my hair inside. No one else in this hall had the same hair color.

Donation checking was done by trainee and regular priests. According to the recorded case, Steve had been embezzling since his trainee days, so he must be checking envelopes again today. The task was dull, unrewarding, and unwanted—perfect for someone making stealthy pocket money.

So imagine his surprise when he suddenly found an expensive jewel worth around 80,000 weton inside.

It was one of the spoils from our recent voyage. My conscience stung a little.

I looked up at Steve with clasped hands, wearing the innocent expression that never worked on Nereus.

“You know… Sir Priest… are you a really, really amazing priest?”

“Well… I’m not a real priest yet. I’m still a trainee.”

Dexter’s face had gone pale watching me act like a sweet little child. Not disgusted—just horrified, like he was witnessing something he shouldn’t.

Not my problem.

“But beginnings are important, right? I think you’re amazing. You even found my chocolate!”

Steve, thanks to the hair in the envelope, probably thought I came from a wealthy family. Hopefully a noble one with influence.

I gestured for him to lean in, and he did. I whispered:

“Actually… I did something bad behind my dad’s back. Could you… tell the gods my confession for me?”

I held out the chocolate to him.

“You can have this. Please?”

Steve’s green eyes flicked to the chocolate. After a moment of silence, he smiled softly.

“Of course. The public confession rooms are over there, but there’s a long line. I’ll take you somewhere else.”

Dexter, standing at a distance, looked like his soul was leaving his body.

“La–Lara?”

I shoved all the candies and chocolates I’d been given into his hands.

“Eat these while you wait. I’ll be back before you finish.”

“If the c–captain finds out, we’re dead…”

I narrowed my eyes at him but then smiled sweetly.

“He won’t know if you don’t tell.”

Dexter was too timid to stop me. Besides, after what happened recently, I really couldn’t afford more trouble.

He trembled.

“A–are you sure it’s safe?”

“Of course!”

I declared proudly:

“There are navy soldiers everywhere. What could possibly go wrong?”

Dexter shut his eyes tight and whispered, barely audible—

“T–that’s exactly the problem…”