When I regained a little amount of composure, I took a deep breath before jumping to the next ship. I waved my hand, sending a bolt of magic to cut off the ropes hooked to the ship. The pirate ship was shattering apart in the flames behind me. Whosoever that was left inside should be dying by now. Otherwise, they would be floating on the sea without their precious ship.
I turned around to see the fire grow taller. I could feel the heat even from here. As I stood on the navy guys’ ship, I observed their fight. They paused when they saw the ship behind me crumble apart.
The pirates that remained looked at their burning ship with wide eyes full of shock. One of them glared at me.
“Damn bitch! You did this?!”
I have no motivation to speak with trash right now.
I sat down on the rail of the ship and stared at my crew. “Be done with this.”
As I was just chilling here at the side, a pirate seemed to be irritated and started charging towards me, his sword raised.
“What the hell are you sitting around for?!”
I pointed an annoyed look at the imbecile. I was about to obliterate him amidst my internal frustrations when Galik, the cursed child, grabbed the pirate’s throat and started choking him. But it didn’t seem he had the patience to choke him out and so instead instantly snapped his neck. He casually threw the corpse aside.
I glanced at the panicking pirates as a burst of flames exploded on the ship behind me — must be more of the flammables. Who wouldn’t panic at seeing their only way to escape, and their own ship, which was basically their home too, get destroyed right in front of their eyes? It would be demoralizing. And that was the point, aside from me just wanting to see destruction.
After hearing my order, Velar finally didn’t hold back and began easily cutting down the pirates. Whether or not they had magic, Velar didn’t find any trouble taking care of them. Hartwin was also there, casually beating the opponent in front of him. As a wanderer, I suppose he already possessed an excellent skill that helped him survive the dangerous environments wherever he might end up in.
There were still several navy personnel that survived, but of course many of them were also sprawled bloody on the floor. I glanced at the one next to me, his eyes still open but absolutely dead.
Sucks to die, right?
I returned my attention to the fighting as I twiddled around with my hair. It reminded me that the pirate just called me a bitch. How could people call me that? It hurts to be called that. I sighed internally.
I covered my mouth as I stifled a yawn.
I’m sleepy already?
I was feeling tired. Looks like I was not yet fully healed. But would I ever be? And that was just the minimum utilization of my abilities.
I guess I should sleep as soon as possible. This sucks.
At least I didn’t spew out blood.
A short while later, what remained of the pirates was only four.
“Surrender while you still can,” this ship’s captain warned the four.
Of course, considering the dire situation they were in, the pirates immediately dropped their weapons. Better be in confinement than dead. The navy guys quickly tied them up.
“Take them to the brig.”
The navy guys aggressively brought them below deck. The captain sighed and looked at his surroundings, grief in his eyes as he saw the corpses of his comrades. He turned towards his remaining men.
“Tidy our perished friends. Treat them with care.”
As his men gathered the corpses of their friends, I saw my crew talking to each other. Relief washed all over their faces. Taneva was healing those that were wounded. He was quite proficient in that spell.
The ship's captain, Suda, faced Velar with a friendly and grateful smile.
“Thank you for your help, um…”
“I’m Velar.”
“Ah, Velar. You can call me Suda. Thank you so much for your help. We’re in your debt. Without your help, we would have been dead.”
“You’re welcome, Captain Suda.”
“You have a brave crew. You’re their captain, right?”
Velar shook his head. “I’m not.”
“You’re not? Then who is it?” He looked at the other strong looking guys among my crew.
Velar pointed at me. “She’s our leader.”
Suda turned towards me with a confused frown. “That girl?”
Yeah, yeah, I’m very young.
Velar approached me. “Captain, it is safe now. I think you might want to speak with Captain Suda.”
Before any of this, I instructed my crew not to address me with my royalty in mind. It might spell trouble if people knew I was a royal. With a nod, I stood up and began approaching Suda, and he too slowly approached me.
“Greetings, I’m Captain Suda.”
“I am Estelia. Nice to meet you, Captain Suda.”
We shook hands, and he seemed to be taken aback by my soft hands, wondering how I even became captain. Then he glanced at the burning ship behind me. He seemed to subtly gulp while hiding a nervous look. Oh? Did I scare him a little?
“I am grateful to you for saving us. We are in your debt.”
I glanced at my crew. “I hope you won’t forget about it so soon.”
He formed a stiff smile. “... Of course I wouldn’t.”
I retracted my hand. “I’m sorry for the comrades that you lost today. It is tragic.”
“... Indeed. It would be hard to deliver the news to their families.”
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“Hard, but it is necessary.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
I looked around at their ship. It was a pretty good ship.
“How did you end up in this situation? I had imagined that pirates would rather avoid the authorities than outright attack them.”
“There are many kinds of pirates, Miss Estelia. Some would rather avoid, while others are brave enough to attack us. They are a savage, spiteful bunch.”
“And you’re a lone ship. Didn’t think of bringing allies before sailing through a pirate controlled region?”
He smiled a little. “Looks like you haven’t been to Hokunoa yet. The government has started taking action against the pirates.”
“Oh? Finally annoyed by them?”
“It’s bad for business. We’re here as scouts. We just got unlucky, we were discovered by pirates daring enough to attack us.”
I placed my hands behind me and looked up. “I see. How unlucky indeed.”
Well, judging from what they said, they provoked the pirates. I imagined they would be more aggressive now. The sounds of crumbling wood resonated again, I turned towards the slowly sinking pirate ship.
“Captain Suda, I advise that you send some men to look after that. There might be pirates that survived.”
He stared at the sinking ship and saw glimpses of the corpses on it. “H-How did you even manage all that? Did you do that alone?”
“As you said, they are savages. They are unlike trained warriors. Well, most of them at least.”
He furrowed his brows. “Savages, but not bad fighters.”
“Then I guess I was just the better fighter.”
His face twitched. He seemed to be a bit disturbed by what I said.
“Miss Estelia, would you mind having a recess? I have plenty of sweets at my disposal.”
Oooh sweets.
“Sure, if you offer it.”
“We can eat in my cabin, if it’s no trouble. You can bring your men if it brings you comfort.”
“Hm. Velar alone will be fine.”
“I-I see.” He turned towards one of his men. “Send some guys to check the enemy ship for any survivors. If there are, try apprehending them, otherwise, kill them.”
With that, tagging Velar along, Suda brought us to his cabin. It was a decent room. Not as fancy as mine on my ship. But I guess this was to be expected if it were a ship of the navy. More standardized, sort of say. I sat down by the table as Velar stood behind me.
Suda poured cookies on a couple of plates from a wooden box.
“Luckily, my wife managed to grab some decent ingredients and made these for my travels.”
Grabbed some ingredients, huh? It sounded like there were some difficulties in getting the ingredients for just some cookies. Were they poor? No, that couldn’t be. This guy was a captain of a ship. No way his salary would be so low that they would struggle.
This reminded me how weird of a place the archipelago was. Where everyone had to get some fruits, which I imagined some ingredients as well, from sailing traders. So ingredients for cookies might not be so common there.
“Please, eat as much as you want. Think of it as my thanks for saving us.” He sat down in front of me.
I nodded and grabbed a piece of cookie. With a little bit of anticipation, I began eating in the most refined way, as how a lady should be.
Hm.
It was okay. It was cold. Unlike in the palace where it would be at least a bit warm when served to me. And this was also a bit less sweet. Saving on some sugar, I suppose. But oh well, not like I was complaining. I actually appreciate that I could eat cookies again.
I formed a little smile as I ate. I glanced at Suda. “Why are you not eating? You should eat with me. Is this not prepared for you by your wife?”
He faintly nodded. “Ah, if it’s alright, then excuse me.” He grabbed a cookie and began eating. As he chewed, he had a smile on his face, seemingly satisfied with it.
“I’ve been wondering, Miss Estelia, where are you heading?”
I paused. “Did you bring me here for an interrogation, Mister Suda?”
He shook his hands with a wry smile. “I would never do that to our saviors. It was not my intention. I am truly just curious.”
“Hm. To a city called Mahana.”
His eyes widened. “Are you perhaps traders?”
“Nope. My ship and crew have a particularly strange story.”
Hm, perhaps I should make a good connection with this man. Maybe it could help in the long run. So I should speak a little. I deliberated for a moment to just say we were traders, but I decided to be honest. I imagined that making ourselves as traders might be troublesome, there might be things such as verifications, requirements, papers that they may request when we arrive there. If I were to garner this man’s trust, honesty was the best policy.
“Oh?”
“It was originally a slave ship.”
“A slave ship…?”
“Me and my current crew were captives on that ship. But we managed to successfully revolt, and here we are.”
“... Wow. That must have been hard. What happened to your captors?”
“Dead, of course.”
“Huh. I never heard slaves successfully overthrowing their slave traders before.”
He didn’t seem to be particularly bothered that there were people being transported to be sold as slaves. Was it so common that they were indifferent to such a thing? Now I couldn’t help but feel wary of him.
“I heard slave trading is pretty common in this region.”
“It is. From what it appears, slaves have been pretty helpful in our nation.”
I lowered my cookie. “Captain Suda, it would seem your country is not against having slavery. So different from the continent.”
“Is it?” He smiled a little. “Slaves are commonly treated well by their masters. So there is no issue.”
“I doubt it.” Treated well? That was hilarious. “Not all masters are kind. In fact, I think kind masters are extremely rare.”
He forced a smile. “... I sense that we have a conflict of culture, Miss Estelia. Now I’m wondering where you came from.”
“Honestly, I don’t care about your culture of slavery. It wouldn’t be right for me to impose my values and culture on you and your nation. I’m just concerned about perception.”
He was puzzled. “Perception?”
I took a bite of the cookie, and after swallowing, I continued. “Now that you know my crew are supposed to be sold as slaves to your lands. How do you see us? Are you prejudiced?”
“That’s quite an outright inquiry. I expected you would beat around the bush.”
“I dislike being discriminated against.” I looked him in the eyes with a neutral expression.
“Is that so? Worry not. You were about to be sold as slaves, and you managed to free yourselves. So you were never officially slaves. Again, we are not prejudiced against slaves. Doesn’t mean that you are slaves, that we would throw rocks at you.”
“I see.”
“That said, you’re free. But you’re still heading to Mahana. You could have changed your course back. Why are you still going forward?”
“I will depart in Mahana.”
“Oh? Why?”
“For personal reasons.”
He paused for a moment before faintly nodding. “I understand. Well, the waters are quite restrictive right now around the city. Considering what happened, we’ll be returning to Mahana as well. How about we sail together?”
“... I don’t mind.”
“With us with you, you will not have trouble with the coastguards.”
“That is good to hear. Thanks.”
He smiled and nodded.
I took a bite of a cookie. “Hm…” I just had an idea. “You owe us, right? Captain Suda? I have something to ask of you.”
“Hm? Ask away.”
“When I leave with my strongest, I fear that if my crew sails back to Eventon, they might face trouble. I would like to ask you to escort them until they return to Eventon. Provide them with a good amount of security that ensures their safety.”
“The Eventon Republic?” He pondered for a moment. “I can do that. Maybe I can ask another ship to come with us.”
“Then it’s decided. Thank you for the help, Captain Suda.”
“It’s the least I can do to repay a debt.” He let out a short chuckle. “So you’re from the Eventon Republic?”
I merely smiled.
“I never ever saw someone like you, Miss Estelia. You’re too unique.”
“Is that so…?”
“I fear you will stand out too much when you make land. Be careful.”
He sounded sincere.
“I appreciate the concern.”
“Seriously, if you heard about our archipelago, it is a dangerous place. We tried to keep the peace and safety, but there are still holes all around. A dangerous party might get interested in you.”
“I’ll be very careful. Thank you.”
Then suddenly, I yawned again. I covered my mouth. My eyes were getting heavier and moist. I gently rubbed my eyes with my sleeves.
Suda curiously looked at me with a concerned look. “Are you alright?”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Apologies, Captain Suda. But I must go. I didn't get a good amount of sleep last night.”
“Oh.” He looked a bit baffled by the reason I gave.
I stood up. “Thank you for the cookies. They were delicious. Almost reminds me of home.”
He stood up, and we shook hands.
“Please discuss matters with Velar from here. I will be returning to my ship.”
“Of course.”
As I walked to the door, I turned my head to Velar. “I’ll leave things to you.”
“Got it.”
When I arrived outside, I faced my crew. They all looked at me.
“Good job, everyone! Your performance was splendid! There are still many things you need to work with, but it is good progress, nonetheless. If there are still wounded, no matter how minor, and those that are so exhausted, get treated and rest. Those that can still move very well, please assist Velar with anything he might need.”
With that done, some of my crew returned to our ship. While the others remained to help the navy guys. For a short while, I checked up on my crew to show how compassionate I am. After that, I returned to my room and jumped on the bed. The tension all over my body evaporated away. I must have a decent amount of rest before arriving at my destination. Hugging my pillow, I immediately fell asleep.