Chapter 148

In front of my eyes, the words were vividly displayed.

Obituary.

And beneath those words were details about the ‘situation at that time.’

It was the story of Queen Louis, who fell in battle during the last fight with the Holy Empire, killed by the enemy’s onslaught.

Robes Fiora, upon seeing this, fell silent for a moment before speaking in a dazed voice.

“…W-What… is this… Is this for real? Are you telling me that… that Queen Louis is dead?”

“Of course it’s true. Do I look like someone who would joke about something like this?”

“Y-You’re not saying that right now, are you?! The ruler of this land has met her demise! As a… courtier, how do you intend to take responsibility for this?”

Honestly, discussing courtier duties at this point felt a bit ridiculous, but it did serve as justification for the attack.

The general who led the monarch into battle had a duty to protect the king with his life.

If he failed in that, he deserved to take responsibility.

However, that was a simple observation about the situation…

“Why should I be held responsible for that?”

“W-What did you say?”

“I asked why I should take responsibility for Queen Louis’s death.”

“Are you actually saying that? Obviously you…”

“Sure, I was moving close to her, but protecting her was entirely the Pirate King’s duty, wasn’t it?”

“! Th-That…”

“General Rafael decided that, so what can I say? If you want to hold someone accountable, go speak to the Pirate King.”

“Ugh…”

Those were the facts spoken by Napoleona.

The truth was that throughout the war, Queen Louis was entrusted to the Pirate King, and Napoleona had no involvement in that whatsoever.

It certainly wasn’t because she was negligent.

While the war ended in victory, it was a hard-fought battle under incredibly disadvantageous circumstances, leaving her hardly any time to concern herself with Queen Louis’s wellbeing.

She merely thought about being under the Pirate King’s command and delivering her safely once the war ended, but hadn’t even laid eyes on her directly.

In any case, Napoleona, extremely occupied with the war, had no obligation or time to worry about Queen Louis, making it impossible for Robes Fiora to hold her accountable any further.

“…Then… what happened to the… the Queen’s body?”

“The body is something you can’t bear to look at, decimated by a direct shell hit and then burned shortly thereafter. We’ve managed to bring it back in a coffin, but I personally recommend not viewing it.”

“…That’s unacceptable. Even so, she is the ruler of this country. I must confirm that body myself.”

“I warned you.”

Despite Napoleona’s words, Robes Fiora immediately commanded her subordinates to open the coffin upon arriving at the location where the coffin of Queen Louis was allegedly held.

Suspicion lingered that Napoleona might be trying to deceive her, and she thought that if that was the case, she would reveal the truth herself.

However…

“Oof!”

“Ugh…”

The moment the coffin lid was opened, Robes Fiora and her subordinates grimaced instantly.

To be honest, they had been somewhat prepared.

Regardless, they were seasoned warriors of the battlefield.

Seeing a horrifically damaged corpse was something they were all used to.

Yet…

The sight of the corpse revealed before them was all too grotesque, enough to turn even their stomachs.

Napoleona’s prior warnings were no idle words.

The head completely ruptured from a direct hit by a shell.

In place of the once relatively beautiful face were scattered ‘parts,’ looking as though someone had attempted to piece together a puzzle and failed miserably.

Only a single eye remained, and it was crushed.

Golden hair drenched in blood, shattered skull fragments and flesh everywhere.

Moreover, the condition of the head below was equally unfortunate, making it impossible to recognize who it was.

Except for a few accessories that barely indicated it was the attire the queen wore, her body was charred black.

Having failed to roast it properly, it had turned to ash, with splinters of wood and debris embedded all over, including traces that looked like they had been sliced or cut.

The body was horrendously mutilated.

Thus, gazing at something so utterly unrecognizable as the body of a queen,

Robes Fiora concluded that it wouldn’t be easy to discern anything further here.

Simultaneously, she thought.

If this were truly the queen’s lifeless body, then indeed, it was a fitting end…

‘Being killed in such a horrendous manner must have been far more painful than being executed at the guillotine. Politically, it might be a shame, but… perhaps this isn’t so bad after all. It is a fitting end for such a monstrous tyrant.’

From her perspective, having long awaited Queen Louis’s death, the queen’s tragic demise was genuinely pleasing.

Although it was somewhat regrettable that she couldn’t achieve it with her own hands, causing her even greater agony felt like a rather favorable outcome; thinking this, Robes Fiora turned to her subordinates and said,

“Let’s go back. Regardless of anything, the queen is dead, so we must announce this fact and hold mourning for her.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“Understood.”

Queen Louis had yet to marry, thus had no heirs, and most of the nobles capable of succeeding her had either lost their heads or fled abroad thanks to Robes Fiora.

Although it might not pack the same punch as an execution, declaring her death and holding mourning for her would mark an event heralding the end of an era.

Thinking that it could serve as an opportunity to realize her policies, Robes Fiora immediately set her plans in motion.

*

Right outside the Kingdom of Frantz, we, the pirate crew, were charting a course southward after causing quite the commotion.

Being in the midst of planning our next move, I took a breather to think things over.

‘First, it’s crucial to determine how the Brittania Empire will proceed from here…’

Given that we had already left the Kingdom of Frantz, it would be a bit awkward for them to outright declare war on it.

Moving independently would be one thing, but dragging Esban into this just for such a flimsy justification might be beyond their capacity.

Plus, we were currently out at sea after departing the Kingdom of Frantz.

When floating at sea compared to being on land, the difficulty of tracking us rose to a completely different level.

Immediately, just the speed of our ship had drastically improved, able to move much faster by riding the currents and winds compared to mere walking or horseback.

This made it immensely difficult to gauge our position or attempt to track us.

Unlike on land, it was exceedingly complicated for them to pinpoint our location.

Unless we were organizing our fleet like before, or attempting to strike at our base in Creta, the very idea of moving there on their own was a daunting task, considering the reach of the Brittania Empire.

Moreover, given the recent war’s outcome, we had reached a sort of ceasefire with Benessa, heightening the complexity of the situation.

However, as there’s no such thing as absolute certainty in this world, I ultimately concluded it would be best to watch the situation quietly for now.

In the meantime, she approached me…

Franklin personally made a request.

“Gibraltar…”

“Yes, Captain, your presence isn’t necessary. If you grant permission, I can handle this myself and return.”

“Hmm…”

She asked for permission to go to Gibraltar to replenish the nearly depleted spices.

And I began pondering for a moment.

I already had an understanding of what that place was like.

It was a trading hub for many goods arriving from the East, a sanctum for smugglers endlessly coming and going for backdoor dealings.

It had even appeared as a setting in the original work when acquiring special items and, in this world, served as a gateway to the Atlantic Sea, a place I had traversed a few times.

Franklin mentioned that a large-scale spice smuggling operation was planned there, so we could procure a large quantity of spices at a lower cost without needing to head all the way to Cyprus.

‘Indeed, with the current currents and winds, it would be a bit tricky to go to Cyprus…’

Under regular circumstances, I would have accepted her request without a second thought.

However, considering the unpredictable maneuvers of the Brittania Empire, heading into Gibraltar, which lay within their sphere of influence, gave me pause for thought.

After some contemplation, I looked at Franklin and responded.