Chapter 58

“Phew…”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… this much is fine…”

Cheshire asked cautiously.

In response, Dust put on a strained smile and began to compose herself.

She slowly let the aura within her body flow out to various parts of her being.

With the self-healing property of the aura, even the minor injuries started to heal.

The painful, burning sensation inside her gradually stabilized.

Though it drained some stamina to use the aura, the direct pain quickly faded away instead.

Just after Dust managed to recover, her face appeared much calmer.

As she looked at her, a feeling of relief began to blossom in Cheshire’s heart.

It was an emotion that felt even stronger than the previous unbearable presence that had retreated.

“I’m glad. And… thank you. If it weren’t for you, it would have really been a big deal.”

“I’m just doing what I had to do. Now, Cheshire, you should come over as well. Since I still have some spare energy, I’ll treat you.”

Cheshire, who had various minor injuries from the recent battle, wasn’t in a critical state, but Dust intended to show her kindness as a friend.

“It’s fine. If my mother just touches it…”

“Hehe, don’t be so modest. I can definitely help with this much. Now, come here.”

“Ah…”

Unable to refuse Dust’s words, Cheshire, with a slightly stiff expression, sat next to her.

However…

“…Huh?”

“…”

In the ensuing situation, Dust began to feel a moment of confusion.

As always, she concentrated the aura and applied it to the affected area.

This should be enough to not only heal the wounds but also restore the damaged organs.

But…

“No… why isn’t this working?…”

“…”

She wasn’t healing.

Even with the high-grade aura applied, the wounds on Cheshire’s body neither faded nor healed.

It was a common sense that wounds should heal when touched by aura.

The fact that this straightforward healing wasn’t happening left Dust with a perplexed expression, momentarily speechless.

At that moment.

Cheshire spoke in a calm voice, directing her words towards the bewildered Dust.

“There’s no need to be so surprised. The only person who could heal me has always been my mother.”

“Is… is that so?”

“Yes. My body… is different from ordinary humans.”

“?.. What do you mean by that?”

“….”

Cheshire maintained her silence, avoiding Dust’s gaze.

Seeing her demeanor, which hinted at an unspoken secret, Dust also fell into a brief silence.

Having traveled across the continent, Dust knew full well that every kind of human existed in the world.

Even so, she had never met a human whose recovery was hindered by the source of all life and divine power, aura.

‘Well, it seems there’s a reason behind all this, but there’s no need to pry deeper into the details.’

Having dealt with many people during her charitable activities, she had come across those who committed terrible crimes, completely fallen into despair, and even slaves fleeing from distant lands.

Even demons hiding their true identities were among the diverse individuals she encountered.

And…

In dealing with those who carried unspoken burdens without prejudice and understanding them as they were, it was something Dust…

No, it was something Auriel Stardust had become exceedingly familiar with.

The scripture’s teaching to see not a person’s background but the person itself.

Such was the mindset that a cleric ought to possess, and she decided to approach this matter with the same perspective.

Thus, looking at Cheshire, who seemed slightly downcast from their earlier conversation,

Auriel flashed a bright smile and said,

“Understood. Then let it be.”

“! Ah…”

“Is it some sort of unique constitution? Then you should definitely go see your mother later for treatment.”

“Y-yes. I understand…”

Without any great commotion or rejection, Auriel smoothly navigated the situation.

In response to her actions, Cheshire began to feel something stirring within her heart, similar to the sensation she felt while listening to her song earlier.

Though she ultimately failed to realize that this feeling was ‘emotionally touching.’

*

The situation that barely subsided due to the soldiers and high-ranking officers of Benessa.

However, following this incident, the atmosphere among the allied forces gathered on the Island of Sicilia started to feel tense.

“These bastards! How dare they insult our Kingdom of Frantz?”

“It’s not an insult, it’s speaking the truth. Isn’t it the Frantz Kingdom that’s being unreasonable?”

“That’s true. It’s only right to immediately root out the murderer and hand them over!”

With their icy voices, Elise and Blue Queen spoke.

However, despite their protests, Commander Pierre’s attitude remained steadfast.

If there were any common sense, it was a given that a death had occurred, and the least bit of apology and damage control would be expected.

Yet, this arrogant parachutist noble of the Kingdom of Frantz was still holding his nose high and not recognizing their own fault at all.

He had no interest in stirring up soldiers’ tempers over the death of a mere pirate, nor did he want to hand over the culprit even if they managed to find him.

From the very beginning, pirates were simply tools to be used.

Since he never thought of them as comrades even once, his stance was unwavering.

Meanwhile, the likes of Elise and Blue Queen were unable to push back strongly against such an obstinate Commander Pierre.

‘Damn it… I can’t even push further because of the Vanguard Captain issue…’

‘You filthy snail! Just wait and see. I will definitely have my revenge…’

It was disgustingly petty, but from their perspective, if this person got miffed and decided to step down from leading the vanguard, their hard-earned plan would fall apart.

In the end, the current situation forced them to step back with a resigned, ‘Well, it can’t be helped…’

Thus, the so-called “Higma Murder Incident” was insufficiently concluded at higher levels.

However…

“Damn it! What the hell is going on? You mean to say you’ll just finish this without an apology?”

“Someone died! No matter how much we are pirates, how can we treat our allies this way?”

Though the discussions might have come to an end above, the abnormal aftermath of their mismanagement began to spread more seriously than they anticipated.

Even though a comrade was unjustly killed, there was no proper investigation or even a decent apology.

Moreover, since Higma, who had some reputation among the pirates, had met such an unfair death, the wrath of the White Shark Pirate Crew and their counterparts in the Blue Shark Pirate Crew was steadily swelling.

Furthermore, another element was fueling their fury.

That was the fact that following this incident, the arrogance of the navy of the Kingdom of Frantz had become even worse.

“What? A single pirate’s death caused a commotion, but nothing happened in the end?”

“What do you expect? Those pirates wouldn’t dare do anything. Besides, pirates usually end up on the gallows anyway. After this is over, they can be wiped out without a second thought.”

Though humans possess intelligence, their essence was not much different from that of beasts.

Just as a puppy would turn a house into a mess if not properly trained, humans would gradually overstep boundaries if punishment wasn’t administered when it was due.

Speaking of which, the narrative of ‘there’s no problem messing with pirates’ began to spread, and the navy of the Kingdom of Frantz started increasingly provoking the pirates.

“Cough!”

“What the hell are these guys suddenly doing?!”

“A pirate… talking back?”

“Hey! Step on them! We can just kill off these filthy pirates without consequences anyway!”

Thus began the frequent clashes between the pirates and the navy of the Kingdom of Frantz following the Higma incident.

However, despite being the ones who initiated the conflicts, the overall outcome was overwhelmingly favorable to the Kingdom of Frantz.

It wasn’t due to some lofty ideals or principles.

The naval power was utterly lacking, and bringing in army personnel just to make up the numbers in the Frantz navy was just a facade.

But this was a place, not on a ship, but on land!

With sheer numbers and the inherent combat strength of the Frantz Kingdom’s army, which was among the best on the continent, it was easy to take the fight to the pirates and wipe them out.

Fortunately, due to the orders from higher-ups to not escalate matters further, no killings occurred.

However, the pattern of futile and unfair brawls was only aggravating the tensions between the two sides.

The only way to resolve this situation would be to complete the operation as soon as possible, finish the suppression cleanly, and declare ‘it was filthy being together, so let’s not meet again.’

Thus, while satisfaction wasn’t necessarily guaranteed, the coordination of operations between the privateers and the navy of Benessa was coming to a close, and it seemed this tiresome and meaningless conflict was naturally heading towards an end under the name of ‘deployment.’

That’s how it should have been…

—Boom!!!