novelzi Chapter 180 : Chapter 180
Chapter 180 : Chapter 180
The representative of the Plank Kingdom's envoys, Ronak.Before returning to the kingdom, he had gathered a few of his comrades in the captain's cabin to discuss something important.
"The purpose His Majesty sent us as envoys was to confirm if the Jerpan Archipelago would truly invade the Plank Kingdom. As you all know."
—Nod.
His comrades—currently members of the bandit army and former pirates—who were listening to Ronak, nodded their heads silently.
Seeing that, Ronak continued.
"As a result of that investigation, they are definitely preparing for war. I don't know if the tip of that spear will be aimed at our kingdom or not, but you all understand that the only reason for a kingdom that has just finished a civil war to prepare for war again is for an external invasion. And geographically, the only place the Jerpan Archipelago can attack is the Plank Kingdom."
—Nod.
"In this situation, I believe we must prevent the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago from entering the Plank Kingdom as much as possible. Also, I believe we must reduce the number of Jerpan Archipelago's knights or soldiers by even one more in advance. Our King would prefer peace if possible, but… we can't just sit back and be attacked while they are already preparing for war to attack us. Since His Majesty told me to judge for myself, I have judged so."
—Nod.
"So I plan to eliminate all the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago at sea. But if we openly attack the Jerpan Archipelago's soldiers at sea, the damage could be great, so—."
After speaking for a while, Ronak unfolded a map.
The map showed the sea route between the Plank Kingdom and the Jerpan Archipelago.
"When we return to the Plank Kingdom, we will pass through here."
"Ronak, that sea route… is a region where ‘Sea-Lions’ appear, isn't it?"
Rollo tilted his head and spoke as if he slightly disagreed.
"Why go through there? Isn't it dangerous? We can't handle more than ten Sea-Lions with our numbers, even if it's one or two."
"That's true. But now is not the time for Sea-Lions to come up to the surface. It's the time when the Sea-Lions' natural enemy, the kraken, is active."
"That's true."
"So even if we pass through here, we'll encounter at most two or three Sea-Lions. Of course, it would be a real pain if we met a kraken… but we've all already met a kraken once, so we wouldn't meet one again, would we?"
The pirates chuckled at Ronak's words.
It was funny that Ronak said they wouldn't be attacked twice by a kraken, a creature that was hard to see even once in a lifetime.
"So? What's the reason for going through here?"
"To lure the Sea-Lions into attacking us. In the chaos, we will kill the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago."
"Ah, right. I understand."
The pirates, who understood Ronak's intention just like Rollo, nodded their heads.
Eliminating the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago in the chaos of a monster attack was a good idea.
The Sea-Lion is the lion of the sea. It is similar to a land lion but has gills and webbed feet, and uses magic.
And above all, its size is incomparably larger than a lion's. The largest Sea-Lion Ronak had ever seen was a ‘monster’ half the size of a ship.
‘Like most marine monsters, they have tenacious life force, so they are a pain to encounter in many ways.’
But Ronak was not very worried.
As he had said, now was not the time for many Sea-Lions to appear. At most, there would be one or two.
"To summarize again, first, we will cross the Sea-Lion infested waters. If a Sea-Lion attacks, we will eliminate the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago in the chaos."
"What if a Sea-Lion doesn't attack?"
"Then after passing through the Sea-Lion's waters, we will attack on the first rainy night. If it doesn't rain, we will attack at dawn the day before arriving in the kingdom. The night before a long voyage ends is when people's guard is down."
—Nod.
While the other comrades were nodding their heads.
This time, Rollo asked Ronak.
"Then what about the woman who is the Grand Lord's daughter? You said she seemed to pursue peace."
"We will not kill that woman. We need to keep her alive so that His Majesty can use her later, whether for peace negotiations with the Jerpan Archipelago or to start a war."
"She'll find out we attacked the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago, won't she? If we fight on the ship, there's no way to hide it."
"It doesn't matter if she finds out."
"It doesn't matter? If that woman returns to the Jerpan Archipelago and says we attacked first, then that would give the Jerpan Archipelago a pretext to attack us… ah."
Rollo made a sound of realization as he spoke.
"Since the Jerpan Archipelago is already trying to attack us, it doesn't matter if we give them a pretext to start a war or not… right?"
"That's right. Since they're going to attack us anyway, there's no need to be considerate. And this is my guess, but… perhaps if we show our strength, that woman will be even more useful. She might even join our side."
"If we show our strength, that woman will join our side? I don't know, she didn't seem like the vile type to side with the strong."
"That woman is not an opportunist. But she is a person who will do anything for the people of the Jerpan Archipelago. She has similarities to our King."
"Do anything for the people… what exactly do you expect her to do?"
Rollo asked carefully.
Ronak replied even more carefully.
"She might start a rebellion to prevent a war with the Plank Kingdom. With the help of that General Milton who fought Hark back then."
"…Start a rebellion to prevent a war? Then the people would suffer great damage, wouldn't they?"
"That's true. But it would be better than facing our King's wrath. The way he looked on the battlefield… I didn't see it myself, but just hearing the rumors, he seemed like a ‘demon.’"
…Nod.
The pirates nodded their heads. Even they, who had lived rough lives, were truly terrified just by imagining facing their King's wrath.
In the first place, who could withstand the wrath of a king who had purged hundreds of nobles at the age of twelve?
"If not a rebellion… perhaps she might kill the lords who are trying to start a war."
"Kill the lords who are trying to start a war? Including her own father?"
"I told you. That woman has similarities to our King, and I think she would ‘do anything for the people.’ I haven't spoken to her directly, but after investigating here and there, I've come to that conclusion."
"…I see."
Rollo and the pirates nodded their heads.
They all respected Ronak, who had never been wrong in such judgments before.
After they became knights and soldiers of the great King thanks to Ronak, the pirates' trust had grown even stronger.
Ronak, who had roughly finished the conversation, folded the map and put it in his bosom, saying.
"We are as good as at war. Keep that in mind."
***
Splash— Whoosh…!
On the ship heading to the Plank Kingdom.
Loa was silently thinking as she looked at the constellations in the dark sky, which were indistinguishable from the night sea.
‘The constellations… are hard to read.’
After departing from the Jerpan Archipelago, Loa had checked the constellations every night.
To know what would happen in the future in advance.
But since her departure, the stars had only given Loa difficult information. Confusing and difficult information.
‘What on earth do those constellations mean? If I had to interpret them… it seems that the fate of the people of Jerpan will change depending on my choice.’
Haaa—.
As Loa sighed, her escort behind her spoke.
It was the woman whose whole body was covered in black cloth, and Loa’s one and only friend, Aeris.
“My lady, the night sea breeze is chilly. It would be better for you to go inside.”
“I’ll stay a little longer. My mind is complicated.”
“……”
“If you’re cold, you go inside first, Aeris.”
“I cannot do that. When you are outside, my lady.”
At Aeris's words, Loa gave a heavy smile. In this confusing situation, she felt reassured to have a friend who cared for her.
"And… lately, the movements of the envoys from the Plank Kingdom have been strange."
At Aeris’s cautious words, Loa tilted her head.
"Strange?"
"Yes. They look as if they are preparing for battle."
"…For battle? I didn't feel anything like that."
"Perhaps only I could feel it. But I feel that the envoys from the Plank Kingdom are definitely preparing for battle."
"Hmm…."
Loa kept Aeris’s words in her mind and looked at the constellations again.
‘But the stars are telling me that nothing will happen to me… still, Aeris wouldn’t say such a thing without any basis…’
Aeris was an escort trained by Loa’s father, Hideon, since she started walking.
She was a person raised to dedicate her life solely to Aeris.
Because it was the words of Aeris, who had undergone such high-level training, Loa had no choice but to take it seriously.
After thinking for a moment, Loa turned around and said.
"Let's go inside. I'm getting sleepy—."
It was at that moment, as Loa was speaking.
Creak….
Suddenly, the ship shook a little. It didn't feel like it was shaking from hitting a wave.
It was more like something had shot up from under the sea, and the force of it pushed the seawater up, shaking the ship.
"…What was that?"
—The moment she said that.
Boom—!!! Whoosh—!
Kiyaaaaaaaak!!
Behind Loa.
The front of the ship.
A scream she had never heard before came from there, and seawater splashed, drenching Loa’s clothes.
Before she could even check what it was, Loa saw it.
The tentacles that were striking and beginning to wrap around the ship.
The tentacles looked like the legs of an octopus, which was considered a delicacy in the Jerpan Archipelago, but… it was too big to be thought of that way.
"…Huh?"
"M-My lady!!"
Grab!
Aeris grabbed the arm of Loa, who was letting out a dazed sound.
Then, without permission, driven only by the thought of saving Loa, she started running to drag Loa to the inner part of the ship.
"Run, my lady!!"
"Uh, uhh…?"
It was unknown if there was a safe place on this ship from the monster's attack, but Aeris judged that it was best to go inside for now.
So she tried to open the door and go inside the ship.
But then, a group of men came out of the open door.
They were the envoys from the Plank Kingdom. At the front was the representative of the envoys. The man named ‘Ronak.’
"……."
He stared blankly at the monster attacking the ship.
His dazed look made him seem as if he had lost his mind.
‘Is he mesmerized by the monster?!’
"Move! We need to get the young lady inside—!"
As Loa was shouting.
Suddenly, Ronak started laughing like a madman.
"Ha, haha… haha… hahahaha!! Ahahahahaha!!!"
"……?"
"We meet again. Damn it, we meet again!!! And that kraken bastard, isn't that the one who had an arm ripped off by me? Uhahahahahaha!!!"
The Ronak she had seen until now, although his appearance was like a pirate, the man himself was calm.
But now, he was just… just a madman.
"Rollo! I'm leaving the command to you!! Uaaaaaah!!!"
That madman shouted in an excited voice and started running, holding a large axe in each hand.
The place he was heading for was… the octopus monster that had attacked the ship.
Seeing that, the man called ‘Rollo’ began to command in a tense voice.
"R-Ronak! Shit, Ronak, that bastard's sickness has relapsed!"
—…!
"To your positions! Leave the kraken hunt to Ronak! The rest of you, focus on tearing off the kraken’s legs so the ship doesn't sink!!"
—Ooh!
Even in this chaotic situation, the envoy from Plank moved with surprising calmness and order.
On the other hand, the knights and soldiers of the Jerpan Archipelago who came out late.
—U-Uaaaah!
—What is that!!
—Ah, aaaaaah!!
—Run! We have to run!!
Far from trying to fight, they were busy running away.
There were even soldiers who jumped off the ship.
But what stole Aeris’s gaze more than all of that was Ronak.
"Uahahahahahahaha!! That wound! The kraken with one tentacle missing! It's you! It's you!! I also got a scar on my face thanks to you!! Nice to meet you!!!”
—Kiyaaaaaaaak!!
“Are you happy to see me too?! Or are you in pain?! Hahahahahahaha!!! This is fun, isn't it?! Right?!”
The madman who had charged at the sea monster alone.
He had driven one axe deep into the sea monster's body, and was holding onto it to support himself, while ‘beating’ the sea monster with the axe in his remaining hand.
Like a carpenter chopping wood.
"Die!! Die!!! I will bring your heart to my King!! Your heart, kraken, which is said to be as precious as a dragon's heart!!"
—Kiyaaaaaaaak!
"My King has spoken! That he trusts me! So I will not die here!! Then the one who dies is you! Uhahahahahahahaha!!!"
Madness.
Even in that madness, Ronak’s loyalty was maintained.
And Aeris, who had been watching it blankly without realizing it, felt a strange emotion.
‘…There are men like that.’
Having protected Loa from men her whole life, Aeris had only seen the lecherous side of men.
But that kind of madness… was truly new.
To the point where she became interested.
To that Aeris, Rollo, who had been carefully observing the situation, spoke.
“Don’t go inside the ship, go to the back. If a hole is pierced in the ship and water rushes in, it will be difficult for someone like you who is not used to ships to get out.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And if you go to the back of the ship, you’ll see a small boat, so if the ship seems like it’s going to sink, get on that. After that, survive on your own.”
Rollo finished speaking.
He drew the twin swords he was carrying on his back and shouted.
“We have already defeated that kraken once! Don’t be afraid, and fight!!”
***
The next morning.
Around the time the sun seemed to be rising from under the sea.
As if that were a signal, the kraken let out its final scream.
Kiyaaaaaaaak…….
Splash— Whoosh—!
As the huge tentacles and body fell into the sea, a huge splash of water erupted.
The one who was hit the most was Ronak, who had been fighting a mad and bloody battle with the kraken from beginning to end.
Ronak, his whole body covered in blood, bruises, and clearly broken bones, said with the sun at his back.
"Heh, hehe… I've secured a gift for my King."
In Ronak's hand was the kraken’s heart. A heart that was still beating.
Looking at Ronak, Rollo said in a half-dead voice.
“……It’s good to see the real captain after a long time.”