Chapter 10

“Ugh…”

Magellan lay in the cabin, letting out pained groans.

Thankfully, there were no broken bones, but he was so thoroughly beaten that there wasn’t a single part of his body that didn’t ache.

It was a stark reminder of just how refined the Pirate King’s punches were.

‘I really should be more careful in the future… I must never antagonize that guy known as the Pirate King…’

Yet, despite these thoughts, Magellan also recognized this incident as a valuable experience.

Although it wasn’t exactly complete, he had witnessed firsthand the fragments of the Pirate King’s power that he had only heard about before.

Even now, the immense flow of magical power was vividly etched in his mind.

That power, which could stir the atmosphere with mere condensation, was a realm of greatness that Magellan couldn’t even begin to contemplate attaining.

As a bounty hunter, he was simultaneously a warrior filled with immense admiration for strength, and witnessing that pinnacle directly was an experience he wouldn’t trade for anything.

‘That’s the King of the Sea… the power of someone at the apex…’

His heart began to race.

In this world, there exists a being with such incredible strength.

If he continued to train relentlessly, maybe…

Though he might never reach that height, perhaps he could at least touch the hem of it, and that thought began to blossom with hope.

‘This feeling… it’s been so long. Though, I have been a little lazy lately… I need to dedicate myself more to training once this situation settles down.’

The long-buried thirst for power ignited once more.

Feeling excited by that pleasant motivation, he also felt a bit of gratitude toward the Pirate King for stirring such emotions within him.

A deep smile began to spread across Magellan’s face.

Just then…

Knock!

“Yes, come in.”

Magellan called out as he granted permission to enter.

A female hunter cautiously stepped into the cabin.

She was Elkana, his childhood friend and the squad leader of the Demanes.

With a bandage wrapped around one arm, she asked in a worried voice, “Are you okay, Captain?”

“Hmm… well… it still hurts, but it’s manageable…”

Magellan endured the pain and started to rise from his spot.

Seeing him, Elkana spoke with a tone of concern, “Don’t overdo it; your injuries are serious, after all.”

“It’s fine, this level of injury is nothing… Hmm…”

As he spoke, the pain caused Magellan’s expression to slightly contort.

At that moment, while getting mercilessly beaten by the Pirate King, Magellan had been doing his best to protect his subordinates, moving vigorously.

That was the best resistance he could muster as a captain at that moment.

Thanks to that, Elkana and the others had mostly managed to collect themselves, but Magellan still struggled to get back on his feet.

“I’m sorry; I should have looked into this more… I never expected this to be tangled up with the Pirate King…”

“It’s alright. Honestly, considering we touched the Pirate King’s wrath and it ended here, we should count ourselves extremely lucky, don’t you think?”

“Magellan…”

Even amidst the throbbing pain, he managed a cheeky grin.

Seeing him take care of himself even in this situation made Elkana feel a bit lighter, lifting her mood.

However, unrelated to that, she shifted to a more serious expression as she continued their conversation.

“By the way… Magellan? I’ve been thinking, this incident was definitely…”

“Hmm… It’s highly likely it was that Duke or whatever noble who deliberately arranged for this to be such a mess.”

Reflecting on it, they had barely received any information, yet had been offered an enormous amount of money just to bring back one girl—very suspicious, indeed.

If they had known this job was linked to the Pirate King, they probably would have declined the request altogether.

Although they had been careless enough to fall for it, they felt thoroughly disgusted at being used in this way.

“We didn’t really do anything wrong to the nobles, did we?”

“Have you seen nobles caring about that? It seems they wanted that little girl so badly they resorted to this kind of thing. If they failed during the process, it’s us who would bear the blame anyway.”

The request was made through an agent, and aside from recognizing that this individual was a Duke, they had no detailed information about him.

This was clearly a setup to discreetly sever ties with them.

Yet, even with this realization, Magellan and his crew felt utterly powerless to act.

No matter how skilled of bounty hunters they were, they were still dealing with high nobles.

Above all, regardless of the outcome, the decision to take on this job was theirs; whining about unfairness seemed quite silly at this point.

All they could do was report the mission failure peacefully and return the deposit.

Thus, while suppressing the uncomfortable feelings of the situation, Magellan lay back down on the bed.

“What can we do? This isn’t the first time we’ve been through something like this. At least we can say we didn’t get scammed out of our fees after a successful job…”

“Phew… right. Let’s forget it. Forget it. I was thinking of maybe changing our fortunes here…”

As she spoke, Elkana edged closer and lay beside Magellan’s bed.

Then, she cautiously began to reach out and grope his body.

“…What are you doing? I’m still injured, you know?”

“And so? You’ve partied with two ladies after being hurt worse than this before.”

“That was only because those ladies were absolutely stunning and stole my breath away, but I have to deal with your insufficient frame sober!”

“Tsk! Sorry for being flat! I was just trying to comfort you…”

As she puffed her cheeks slightly, Magellan found her action quite cute.

However, amidst that, he thought that he shouldn’t let her overexert herself since she was injured too.

He spoke in as gruff a voice as he could muster, “You should take it easy and rest; we still have a few more days to get to the Port of Marinseu.”

“Yes, yes, understood, Captain! I’ll follow your orders.”

With that, Elkana showed a hint of sulkiness as she left the room.

Yet, despite it all, a faint smile lingered on her lips, hinting that maybe the situation wasn’t so bad after all.

Left in solitude once more, Magellan felt the wave of drowsiness wash over him and mulled over the different source of regret he now felt.

‘But it’s such a pity… if this incident had gone well, I could have granted Elkana the trading group she dreamed of…’

Unlike himself, who enjoyed roaming this rough world, Elkana and some of the others quietly longed for a peaceful life.

Regretting that he had missed the opportunity to fulfill their hopes as a captain, Magellan quietly closed his eyes, slipping into sleep.

He still believed there would be another chance someday…

*

After finishing shopping and heading back,

I carried Ambasha, who had fallen asleep on my back, while in my other hand I held a bag filled with the spices, vegetables, and meat I had purchased, striding toward the port.

“I-I’m sorry for having you carry my burden…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re the injured one; just make sure to get treated by Lemain as soon as we get back.”

While comforting Franklin, who was expressing his guilt, I reflected on today’s events.

“Those guys… said they received a request from some duke, right?”

“Yes, I couldn’t get the exact name, but that’s the gist of it. They offered a fortune to bring Ambasha back.”

“Hmm…”

There wasn’t enough information to make any judgments just yet.

Even if he was a duke, without knowing which country he belonged to made the situation murky.

Moreover, the fact that they were directly targeting no one other than Ambasha had plenty to think about.

Spending such a fortune for just one slave girl?

If they knew who I was and still committed to this, it simply didn’t make sense.

Of course, it was still possible that this person was just some obsessive, twisted pervert…

But with the scale of the operation, it was likely he had some knowledge about Ambasha as well.

Perhaps he was someone who recognized the incredible potential that this child possessed…

Or perhaps…

‘He might even be a fellow transmigrator like me…’

I couldn’t be sure I was the only one who had been transported to this world.

Though I hadn’t encountered anyone over the past eight years, it’s entirely plausible that someone else similarly displaced was wandering around in this vast world.

And if that transmigrator had played the original work, Ambasha would be someone he would want to capture at all costs—someone he must ensnare.

For the sake of smooth narrative progression…

Or even if it wasn’t strictly necessary, considering her future potential to become one of the strongest, it was certainly worth the trouble to go through all this.

Especially when considering the impending era of war set to sweep the continent.

In the midst of all these assumptions, I concluded that I needed to approach this matter with utmost caution.

If the other party was truly a fellow transmigrator like me…

And if this incident would lead us into opposition in the future…

Then, I would need to prepare myself even more thoroughly than ever before.

*

Magellan’s group arrived at the Port of Marinseu.

Due to the inability to sail normally because of his injuries, they were delayed and barely made it on time.

Eventually, without any chance to rest, the hunters from Demanes headed straight to the rendezvous point with their client.

The meeting place was an isolated ruin on the outskirts of the port.

Throughout their journey there, a gloomy atmosphere enveloped them.

Since they were on the way to report their mission failure, a lighthearted step was simply out of the question.

Above all, the dissatisfaction of having to give up on touching the massive sum of money that had been at stake made things all the more frustrating.

At that moment, to break the bleak mood, Magellan raised his voice as high as he could for his subordinates.

“Everyone, cheer up! We can just earn that money back again! Once again, I’ll say this: We’re extremely lucky just to be alive today, having touched the Pirate King and still breathing!”

“Hmm… Well, that’s true but…”

“Still, Captain, it’s disappointing. The thought of letting that huge pile of money slip away…”

“There will certainly be more chances. Regardless, we’ve completed the job; tonight, I’ll buy us a round of rum! I’ll even invite a lot of ladies, so enjoy yourselves!”

“Seriously?”

“Hmm… as long as you’re treating us, well…”

Upon hearing that they would be treated to drinks, the subordinates’ spirits lifted instantly.

As always, they were simple-minded fellows, which amused Magellan while also making him value them all the more.

With a smile on his face, he resumed his journey to their destination.

“Still… it’s rather annoying, isn’t it? Why can’t that noble send a proxy or come himself instead of summoning us to this sort of place?”

“Nobles pulling these stunts isn’t anything new, is it? They probably want to put on a show, creating some sense of importance or ceremony.”

“Hmm… hearing that does sound plausible…”

He recalled back to a time when a noble had insisted he travel a hundred kilometers just to find him instead of coming to see him in some lowly space.

Magellan was beginning to feel like this situation was reminiscent of that.

Continuing to muse on the absurdities of the nobility, he pulled himself up the gentle hill path, still feeling hints of pain in his body.

‘Come to think of it, the Pirate King also seems to really dislike nobles, huh? I wonder what happened to him…?’

A fleeting thought drifted into his mind.

In an instant, Magellan felt something unusual brush over him.

At that moment…

“Tsk, we’ve finally arrived.”

In Magellan’s sight appeared a group of people.

They halted as they discovered a corpulent nobleman whose expression was scrunched up—a grim sight upon meeting the requestor.