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Chapter 36
Chobi Binhud firmly believed that his life was being toyed with by an invisible hand.
“Damn it.”
Nothing ever went the way he wanted.
Not his family, not his future, not his relationships… not even the results of his research.
“……”
Traveling with the Emperor and Henkel by ship toward the Kingdom of Bonia had been fine.
The Emperor had promised that if they found the Saintess and brought her back, he’d allow Chobi to shut himself away in his laboratory for several days.
The problem was—
“Broken?”
Flinch.
At Arlend’s words, Chobi’s shoulders twitched.
Inside the passenger ship bound for Bonia.
With disembarkation approaching, they had gathered in the Emperor’s cabin to plan what to do upon arrival.
But—of all times—right now, at this crucial moment.
“Ha, this damn ancient piece of junk~~~!”
Chobi stared at the Guide’s Eye resting on the table.
Those closed eyelids had never felt so hateful.
“Broken—broken?!”
He really wanted to throw that clueless pendant on the floor and stomp on it until he felt better.
“Hoo… damn my life.”
Forcing a grin, Chobi lifted his head.
“Why isn’t it working…?”
“……”
There was no one who could answer that question except Chobi himself.
It had been two years since the Emperor had entrusted him with repairing the Guide’s Eye.
And during that time, Chobi alone had studied it.
“What the hell is the cause?!”
That was what made it even more maddening.
He didn’t know the cause of the malfunction, and yet the responsibility rested entirely on him.
Watching Chobi fidget in distress, Arlend sighed inwardly.
“Director, you know this already, but without that, we can’t find the Saintess. If I give you time, can you fix it?”
In other words, he wasn’t going to demand immediate accountability—just fix it.
Hearing that his life had been spared a little longer, Chobi nodded rapidly.
“Yes. I’ll do my best to repair it.”
“Please do it as quickly as possible.”
Still, they couldn’t afford to simply wait for the Guide’s Eye to be fixed.
The three men and several knights who had followed them under assumed identities spread out across Ravel, Bonia’s capital, to search for the Saintess.
Arlend, Henkel, and Chobi headed for the street the Guide’s Eye had last pointed to.
A bustling district lined with shops and taverns.
They searched from day to night, but found nothing of note.
Then they entered a tavern.
“…Liri!”
A sailor, face flushed red, was calling out the name the Saintess had been using as an alias.
Liri. A common name—but what caught Arlend’s attention was the man’s face.
Handsome.
Without hesitation, Arlend walked up and grabbed the man’s arm.
Love. Confession.
Annoying words, but first he needed to confirm whether the person being spoken of was the Saintess.
“What did this Liri look like? Did she look different from people of the Odithria continent? Was she a young blonde woman?”
“……”
Showen shot Arlend a displeased look before answering.
“She did look exotic, but not blonde. She had brown hair.”
It was the Saintess.
Arlend’s grip on Showen’s arm tightened.
“So where is she now?”
“Ugh… I—I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I only met Liri for the first time yesterday. Our destinations were the same, so I said I’d escort her.”
“Destination?”
“She said she was going to Jendal. But hey, isn’t your attitude a bit rude for someone asking questions? At least let go of my arm—!”
Showen grabbed Arlend’s arm with his free hand.
That was when a loud noise rang out.
Showen turned his head.
At the table where his companions were seated, a man larger than Showen stood up and glared over.
“…How dare you speak to … like that…”
“Hey, calm down. Calm down. What would he know anyway?”
At Chobi’s attempt to stop him, Henkel halted the hand that had been reaching for his sword.
Arlend’s pale, luminous blue eyes rested on Showen for a moment.
He released his grip and spoke.
“Who is the ship’s captain?”
“Nalse Man.”
Dearn, captain of the Daedern, who had been watching with interest as his son was overpowered, answered.
“Oh?”
Though hiccupping from drink, Dearn admired the man approaching him.
Having lived through many things, he prided himself on being a good judge of character.
“No wonder Showen lost. A rare talent.”
Did he have some connection to the girl they met yesterday?
Well, she hadn’t been ordinary either—odd, sure, but still.
Arlend stepped up to the table and placed a hand on it.
At his next words, the alcohol instantly drained from Dearn’s system.
“How much for the ship—and for you people?”
“……”
“Captain?”
At the call, Charles lifted her head.
Her adjutant, Leconde, was pointing at a spot on the chart with a baton, looking at her.
“Oh right, I was in the middle of a briefing.”
Around 2 a.m.
Charles was receiving a report on pirate positions in the captain’s quarters.
“Boring.”
Sitting in the seat of honor, she habitually flipped open the lid of her compass with her thumb.
Unlike a normal compass, it had no needle—only geometric patterns drawn over a narrow grid.
A single red dot flickered atop it.
“You’ve been looking at that compass a lot lately.”
Charles smiled brightly.
“I marked something important. I’m planning to go get it once today’s business is done.”
“Then we’d better finish the sweep quickly.”
With a grave expression, Leconde continued.
“As reported, we’ve secured the positions of three ships. Their targets are two merchant vessels heading to Doitam via the Noxdam Sea.”
Following Leconde’s baton, model ships moved across the chart.
“As planned, we’ll pursue Ben Wolfman’s ship among the three. If we can locate the other pirate ships in advance, we should be able to eliminate them before they reach the merchant vessels.”
Leconde folded the baton.
The report was complete.
“Hm. Think we’ll be done before lunch?”
“So far, everything has gone according to your plan, Captain, so the rest should proceed smoothly… but he is a big fish.”
“Right. A big fish.”
Charles grumbled inwardly.
Why couldn’t he have been troublesome when Ruid was around? Why now?
“Ben Wolfman’s pirate crew… five ships under his command.”
She flicked a nearby ship model with her middle finger and thumb.
The model representing the pirate ship fell off the table and rolled across the floor.
“Annoying.”
“I like lively ones like you.”
Creak. Creak.
A pirate wearing a wide-brimmed hat walked across the deck, swinging a short, broad single-edged sword menacingly.
With each step on the old deck, nails rattled and planks groaned.
“Slave traders have gotten real picky lately. Weak-looking ones don’t sell for much. Right, crew?”
“Yes! That’s right, Captain Wolfman!”
“Idiot! If you say it like that, they’ll know I’m Wolfman!”
“S-Sorry! …sir!”
“Forget it. Can’t believe someone as stupid as you is my crew.”
Wolfman stopped walking and sighed, covering his face with one hand.
“You see? All my crew are idiots like this.”
His wolf-like eyes scanned us one by one as we stood lined up with the railing behind us.
The pirate ship was docked near the shore, but one side bordered a jagged reef zone.
Waves crashed violently against it.
If we fell over the railing, our bodies would surely be torn apart on those terrifying rocks.
“I used to think you were all idiots too. Slaves don’t think, after all. Told to sell, you sell. Told to die, you die.”
“……”
“But I’ve been wondering why you suddenly got smart. Seems like there’s one clever one among you.”
Wolfman pointed his sword at us.
“So. Who led it?”
“…What do we do?”
An impromptu pirate-ship escape party formed below deck.
Every captive participated, and our coordination was flawless.
Everyone screamed while luring the lone pirate below deck.
I acted like a rabid dog, pretending to bite people, while those I ‘bit’ faked seizures.
The others begged from inside the cage.
“Please save us!”
“We’re merchandise!”
“Getting bitten makes you sick! We’ll all die here!”
“D-Damn… what the hell is that…?”
The pirate fumbled for the keys at his waist and opened the cage.
Then, excluding Poin and the child, we all charged him like mad dogs.
“You bastard!”
“How dare you trick us!”
“Aaaagh!”
“You sold your soul for three gold! Even the God Seikan wouldn’t accept your soul!”
That part was easy.
The pirate was reduced to rags, and we marched proudly onto the deck.
We thought we’d escaped—
“Slaves? Getting some fresh air?”
An unfamiliar group of pirates was climbing aboard.
“Who are you…?”
“My ship got tailed by kingdom forces. So we relocated here.”
And that’s how we were captured again.
“……”
I glanced at my party members.
Everyone was pale with fear.
In the past, maybe—but now that I was the party leader…
“What will you do with the one who led it, sir?!”
“Obviously kill them, you idiot.”
…Should I try to be cautious?
Right. I have to meet His Majesty. I must meet him.
“So tell me. Who was it? The leader. I’ll just kill that one.”
“……”
“Oh? You’re more loyal than you look. Surprising. Not talking?”
Honestly, I was surprised too.
I expected someone to step forward and say I led it.
“Then we’ll throw them out until someone does.”
Throw? Throw what?
Before I could process the words, Wolfman moved faster.
In an instant, he snatched Poin from my arms, grabbed her collar, and extended his arm over the railing.
Above the reef zone, Poin dangled helplessly in midair.
“We’ll start with the least valuable merchandise—this one.”
“…M-miss…”
Tears pooled in Poin’s fever-clouded eyes.
Wolfman began spreading his fingers one by one.
“Goodbye, cursed child.”
“…Goodbye my ass.”
What goodbye?
I muttered under my breath.
It felt like blood rushed to my head, like a trigger being pulled.
Wick. Human-trafficking pirates. This man too.
Why do people treat human lives so lightly?
Especially lives weaker than their own.
“Hey, seaweed-hair lady.”
I stepped forward.
Wolfman turned his head, still keeping his index finger and thumb locked.
“I’m the party leader, so trade her collar for mine.”
