Chapter 70

“Really? The Pirate King, huh…”

“Is Lady Achroiel alright? What if there are traps…”

The subordinates expressed their concerns over the summons from the Pirate King.

But to this, Achroiel slowly shook her head and said.

“Perhaps that is not the case. He may be a filthy pirate, but he isn’t the kind of person who would stoop that low. More importantly, he has sufficient reason to call me right now.”

“Hmm…”

In order to clean up after the war, and moreover, to rescue Ambasha, they had to meet him.

Of course, they couldn’t be entirely unprepared.

“Then let’s go. But just in case, let’s keep our guard up.”

“Yes, Lady Achroiel.”

Thus, Achroiel headed towards the place where the Pirate King was waiting.

During this time, a thought she had nearly forgotten flashed through her mind about another pirate.

‘By the way… I wonder what happened to those guys along the way? Those… White Shark folks…’

*

With a face filled with fear, General Garden was being led by pirates somewhere, and trailing behind him was Napoleona, wearing an indifferent expression.

At this moment, Garden, who was wearing Magical Power Sealing Handcuffs, was filled with deep concern and anxiety.

Just after attempting to escape, they had encountered enemies from whom there was no resistance or escape.

Due to quickly surrendering instead of resisting in this hellish situation, they had managed to stay alive so far…


Nevertheless, it definitely wasn’t a state of relief.

Their adversary was the famously notorious Pirate King.

If he got even a little upset, he could snuff out the lives of the captives in an instant.

Being in a situation where a leash was tied around their necks, Garden couldn’t think of anything other than how to survive this place.

‘Damn it… No matter how unlucky I am, how can it be this bad…’

In the past six months, Garden had already encountered the Pirate King twice.

At this point, it felt like the goddess of fate was cursing him.

As he lamented his wretched fate, Garden finally arrived at a rather large cabin.

And the person waiting for him there was none other than…

“I brought them, Pirate King.”

“Good work.”

A man speaking with an imposing voice while sitting in a chair.

Pirate King Ezra Drake.

And the executives of the Pirate King standing next to him.

Gazing at them, Garden hastily knelt down.

It was unthinkable for a navy officer to kneel before a pirate… Anyone saying otherwise clearly hadn’t experienced this situation.

It was only natural to show respect to someone possessing the power and authority to tear him apart at any moment.

Casting aside dignity and rules, Garden awaited the words of the Pirate King with his head bowed as politely as possible.

“Raise your head.”

“Y-Yes! Pirate King!”

At his words, Garden reluctantly lifted his head with a stiff demeanor.

Even so, he couldn’t muster the courage to directly meet the eyes of that monster in front of him; he could only wait silently in dread for whatever the Pirate King was going to say.

‘Ah… Great God, Creator of mountains and trees, and my Eternal Lord! Please save this foolish and pitiful soul from the grip of that terrifying demon! If you rescue me from this crisis, I shall offer you half of my fortune and truly commit to doing good from now on! Just this once, grant me salvation!’

Of course, while his outward appearance seemed calm, Garden was internally screaming ‘God, please save me!’

Just then, in the midst of the confusion and fear…

“I will now ask you a few questions. If you speak without a hint of falsehood, I will consider sparing your lives.”

“! Wh-Whatever you wish to ask! I will only speak the truth!”

Garden responded in a hurried voice at the words of the Pirate King.

While talking, he was filled with fear about what might happen if he couldn’t answer something, but for now, he had no choice but to speak in order to live.

The Pirate King asked him in a calm yet commanding voice.

“Who sent you?”

Fortunately, it was the first question which he could answer easily.

With a trembling voice, Garden tried to give a proper answer.

“W-We came here under the orders of General Rafael…”

“No. We are here under the direction of Duke Ocleang.”

“!?”

In that moment, Napoleona suddenly cut in, interrupting him.

Caught off guard, Garden was momentarily speechless and then gripped by overwhelming terror.

‘What the hell, if you say that now, what am I supposed to do? It’ll make it look like I lied to the Pirate King!’

While Garden was blaming his suddenly emerging junior, Napoleona continued without caring.

“Formally, it was under General Rafael’s command, but in reality, it was Duke Ocleang who led everything. Following his orders, we filled the insufficient warships, and many of us, including myself, were temporarily assigned from the army to the navy.”

“I see… So it was Duke Ocleang again this time…”

For an instant, the Pirate King spoke with fierce anger.

Even though it wasn’t directed at him, Garden felt like his heart was being squeezed.

Yet, even in this situation, Napoleona maintained a composed demeanor, staring directly at the Pirate King.

At that moment.

“Then the next question. While participating in this incident, did you receive any orders from the Duke? You wouldn’t have come all this way just to help Achroiel, would you?”

“Of course. There was a directive from Duke Ocleang to myself and the leadership. It was to… abduct the Pirate King’s adopted daughter.”

“…”

“Cough!”

As soon as Napoleona’s statement ended, a chilling pressure washed over them.

Garden felt as though he couldn’t breathe and every hair on his body stood on end.

Even just the simple act of releasing magical power felt like it could crush him, and General Garden’s face turned as pale as a ghost.

‘W-What… Isn’t this going horribly wrong?… Damn it… If I knew this would happen, I should have stopped that Napoleona from talking…’

He made a mistake by keeping quiet after the first shock.

Filled with pointless late regrets, General Garden simply bowed his head and trembled.

To him… More specifically, to both him and Napoleona,

The Pirate King spoke in a voice tainted with murderous intent.

“I see… That means you also came to kidnap my daughter. You have no excuse if you die here.”

At that moment.

“No! While we did receive such orders, we had no intention of following through. We are not actually Duke Ocleang’s people.”

“What did you say?”

“!?”

Despite the overwhelming pressure, Napoleona maintained her calm composure.

The Pirate King seemed to react with slight skepticism to her words.

And a moment later…

“…”

“! Hoooh! Hoooh!… Hoooh….”

The terrible pressure gradually lifted, and Garden finally found it easier to breathe.

However, unlike his heavy breathing, Napoleona simply continued to stare at the Pirate King without any movement.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you just say you came here under the leadership of Duke Ocleang?”

“Yes, that is correct. However, this was only from the military’s standpoint. My actual mission here has been to obstruct Duke Ocleang’s work from the very beginning. And to make contact with you, Pirate King.”

As she spoke, Napoleona pulled a small letter from her pocket.

The Pirate King took it and began to read its contents.

However…

“…Could it be… You were Napoleona…?”

“? Yes, that is correct…”

“…I see… So you are…”

Even without stating her name, the Pirate King recognized her as soon as he read the letter.

Though Napoleona also expressed a bit of surprise as the letter’s content seemed unrelated to that.

For General Garden, the confusion only intensified.

As he remained quietly silent, the Pirate King slowly set down the letter in his hand.

And then…

“Before I respond to this…”

With those words, the Pirate King began to approach them slowly.

He then…

Looked down at Napoleona, who was gazing up at him.

“I want to make you a proposal.”

“…What is it, Pirate King?”

Still maintaining her composure even as she stood directly in front of him.

With a momentary gaze filled with what could only be described as ‘tenderness’,

The Pirate King slowly extended his hand.

“Will you become my comrade?”

“…What?”

“…?!”