Chapter 123. The Pirates’ Assembly
The three maritime powers.
They referred to Aragon, Britain, and Frangia.
Ten years ago, Aragon’s Sailing Prince had dreamed of maritime expansion, but the Great Catastrophe ruined that ambition. Now, however, he had become the Sailing King, and he was once again dreaming of a resurgence.
Britain’s Prime Minister, Robert Melbourne, issued a pirate-hunting decree after the Great Catastrophe, beginning to eliminate all sorts of illegal captains.
And then he began filling those vacant positions with privateer captains loyal to them.
If you fell into Robert Melbourne’s hands, there were only two choices. Become a privateer captain, or remain a pirate and end up hanging from the gallows.
Frangia’s Victory King intended to send an expedition not only to the Outer Ocean but even further south. He planned to acquire entirely new land and claim it as his achievement.
In such circumstances, there was little the pirates could do.
“But Captain Whitebeard, we’re just pirates. If they push forward like that on a national scale, we don’t stand a chance.”
“That’s exactly why we need to unite.”
“Unite?”
“I know there are people here cooperating with various countries. Some of you probably have a foot in several camps. But you’re not seriously planning to serve under them, are you?”
Carmen, who had been watching quietly, crossed her arms. She did have a privateer captain’s license from the Kingdom of Britain, but she hadn’t become a privateer captain because she truly liked Britain.
At that moment, a man who had his feet up on the table shouted from afar. It was the enormous Long John Dark.
“Then what exactly are you proposing? Surely you’re not suggesting we work under you, Whitebeard.”
“You think I’d say that when there are plenty here who’d start a rebellion the moment they’re told to serve under someone? We need a legitimate organization. Hmm. Yes, something like a merchant guild.”
“Puhahaha! Are you saying we should create a pirate guild?”
“Why not?”
“First, if it isn’t a state-recognized guild, it’s no different from piracy anyway. Second, who would be the guild master? We’d just be repeating the same argument.”
“A state? Then we’ll create one. We’re a maritime nation settled in the Outer Ocean. The guild master? Let everyone be guild masters.”
At Whitebeard’s proposal of a loose alliance, everyone wore troubled expressions.
“I’ll pass. You all can work hard chasing that impossible fantasy, old man.”
“Fine, then get lost, you fool who can’t see what’s coming. You’ll end up captured and hanged anyway.”
Long John Dark raised his middle finger at Whitebeard and left his seat.
Carmen also thought Whitebeard’s proposal was interesting, but impossible to realize. Her thoughts were similar to Long John Dark’s.
The three maritime powers are like an enormous wave rushing in. The massive wave that once surged from the sea during the Great Catastrophe is now coming from the land.
Could the people gathered here truly respond together against a long, towering wave?
They could not.
Was there a captain like Captain Brix, someone with the charisma to bind them all together?
There was not.
Whitebeard was not as strong as Brix, the three of Calico Triple were far too selfish, and the Black Priest merely stood far away, watching with that inscrutable expression of his.
When the waves grow fierce, the only way to survive is to ride them.
Carmen stood up from her seat like Long John Dark.
“Sorry, old man, but I don’t think it’ll work either. Going against the waves isn’t a good idea.”
“…Blood Hand, that’s your opinion? I see. Windcatcher, what about you?”
“Me? I think what the old man said sounds better. If you belong to a country, there’s always a lot of annoying trouble. But if it’s a pirate nation, there probably won’t be that kind of hassle, right?”
“Right. That’s how it should be. Then that means we’ve gathered more than half.”
After Carmen left, Whitebeard looked at those who remained. Some liked his idea, while others simply had no alternative.
Sea Crow stepped forward and spoke.
“I’ve already got bounties posted everywhere. I can’t even move around anymore.”
“Same here.”
Calico Triple said the same. Then, finally, the Black Priest spoke.
“Hehehe. A pirate nation sounds quite interesting.”
Whitebeard nodded in satisfaction at that response.
“Is that so? Then, since those who wanted to leave have left, I’ll properly explain my plan now.”
“It’s a shame we won’t be able to witness the birth of that pirate nation.”
“…?”
The Black Priest, Jer Hyde, pulled a gun from his coat.
“What the—!”
BANG!
The bullet struck Whitebeard squarely in the forehead, but thanks to the formula covering his entire body, the bullet simply bounced away.
“As expected, that won’t work.”
“You bastard!?”
“It’s treason!”
Whitebeard and Sea Crow both raised their cutlasses, but the Black Priest didn’t even blink as he spoke.
“Then how about this?”
From the ground, gigantic black tentacles burst upward and attacked everyone in the meeting hall.
Countless tentacles crawled up their legs and began forcing their way into their mouths, ears, and noses.
Some managed to avoid them. Those with quick reactions, like Nathan, instantly leaped away as if flying.
Windcatcher, Nathan, didn’t even look back. He abandoned his subordinates and immediately fled.
But Whitebeard and Sea Crow, who were focused on their men, were captured by the tentacles.
“Guh—! What kind of betrayal is this!?”
“I already chose my side, Whitebeard.”
“What did you say?”
“From now on, everyone will work for the one who came from the Deep Sea. Your souls will come into me.”
It took only moments for the many pirates to be devoured by the writhing tentacles.
Soon, the meeting hall fell silent.
The Black Priest examined the magic he had absorbed from the pirates and licked his lips.
“I’d like to deal with the ones who left earlier, too.”
He wanted to obtain Carmen’s blood magic, Nathan’s wind magic, and Long John Dark’s darkness-type magic, but that was as far as he could go.
The traitor of the pirates.
The infamous reputation of the Black Priest, who devoured and consumed everything, began to spread.
* * *
Of course, Lucian handled almost everything, but Yul hadn’t realized that there were so many tedious procedures involved in getting a ship to depart.
‘If we had done this in the Kingdom of Frangia, it probably would’ve been faster than this.’
Sure, he could’ve just thrown around some authority and shortened the procedures with the power of influence, but departing together with Lucian for the first time was interesting in its own way.
“If we had some experience with this, we could’ve handled it faster. That’s a bit of a shame.”
“Yeah. Are the preparations finished?”
“Yes. We’ve taken possession of the ship and completed various magic engineering modifications.”
“What’s the ship’s name?”
“Apparently, its original name was… the Strellock.”
“……”
Yul recalled that insurance investigation record that seemed to predict the future.
“Do you think it’ll really happen? Getting caught in a massive maelstrom? Fighting someone called the Black Priest?”
“Well? Let’s think about it.”
If that insurance investigation record predicting the future was real, then they would end up fighting someone called the Black Priest.
“But what if we don’t fight him? What happens to that future then?”
“…Who knows?”
“Let’s just ignore it and focus on what we need to do.”
“Yes.”
After all, what they had seen was only a fragmentary glimpse of the future. And whether it happened or not, they were going out to sea anyway.
Better to forget that strange insurance investigation record.
“Move it, move it!”
Boatswain Blanc Muhari shouted loudly as the sailors busily carried cargo aboard.
Watching them, Yul asked,
“What kind of cargo is that?”
“Specialties from Britain. According to the Golden Sea Chart, the starting point is Frangia, you know?”
“Ah?”
“We’ll buy Enfield Company clocks and British black steel, sell them in Frangia, then buy a huge stock of preserved food there before heading to the Great Azure Ocean.”
While the cargo was being loaded, there were some unfamiliar figures dressed in officer uniforms.
“Oh, are those the officer-class crew members?”
“Yes. I received help from some acquaintances at the academy. Corman, Cowin, and Coren. They’re the first, second, and third navigators, respectively.”
Naturally, all three were older than Lucian and were nobles by birth.
“Their names sound similar.”
“I recruited them from different places, but it turned out to be a coincidence. What do you think?”
“They don’t seem to have any problems.”
Even when examined with Yul’s perception, there didn’t appear to be any major issues.
“I originally tried to recruit John Hopkins Nix, who’s apparently going to become famous someday, but it didn’t work out. He said he still has a lot to learn at the academy.”
“That can happen.”
“Oh, and those people standing with the navigators over there—they’re apprentice navigators.”
“Apprentices? That big guy in the middle doesn’t look good.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you keep him, there’s a high chance he’ll cause trouble.”
“Understood. We’ll exclude him.”
Aside from removing one piece of trash from the apprentice navigators, the lineup looked decent.
Still, there were over two hundred crew members. Yul wondered if Lucian would really be able to manage all these people properly.
“Corman!”
“Captain!”
When the first navigator, full of discipline, snapped into posture, his subordinates straightened up as well.
Watching this, Yul thought there might not actually be a problem after all.
“There’s someone I’d like to introduce. His name is Yul. He’s the owner of this ship, and also a Seaborn.”
“…Excuse me? A Seaborn?”
“You’ll see his true form later. Make sure you serve him properly.”
“Understood.”
Escorted by them, Yul entered the captain’s cabin and saw that it had been decorated entirely according to Lucian’s tastes.
“Lucian, what did you do to make the first navigator so disciplined like that?”
“I paid off his debts as part of his hiring fee. He’s also an acquaintance of a senior.”
“A senior? Oh. The Occult… something club president?”
“…Yes.”
Probably (according to Yul’s imagination) the person who possesses a bunny girl photo of Lucian.
“Even though he’s got leverage over you with those photos, he still helps you out?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Those aren’t photos, they’re—”
“Not photos? Then what, videos?”
“…It’s nothing. Anyway, he said it was repayment for helping keep the Occult Club from being shut down.”
“I’m really curious who that senior is.”
“You’re better off not meeting him.”
Anyway, the first voyage had begun. Yul felt his chest beating with excitement for no reason.
‘This really feels like a proper voyage.’
He had traveled around on ships before, but why did this feel more exciting than back then?
Perhaps Lucian’s emotions were flowing through their link.
“About that Golden Sea Chart, it only records the ship’s movements, right?”
“Yes. Even if the crew disappears or changes, as long as the ship continues on the same route, it won’t deviate from the Golden Sea Chart.”
“Then even if I leave for a while and come back later, the ship will still arrive at its destination.”
“That’s right.”
Yul was planning to move separately whenever he needed to leave the ship for a while.
The development of the Island of Boundaries still wasn’t finished, after all.
‘Hm?’
When he closed his eyes and concentrated, Yul felt that the number of beings who believed in him had increased.
But one of his believers was in a completely unexpected place.
‘I can feel faith coming from the Arctic.’
Was there any reason for one of Yul’s believers to be in the Arctic?
After thinking about it briefly, Yul examined a portion of the Golden Sea Chart placed in the captain’s cabin.
Britain, Frangia, the Great Azure Ocean, and after that, the route passed near the Arctic.
He could stop by and check when they got there.
“Set sail!”
A moment later, the order to depart was given, and the ship began to move.