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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Jane’s eyes questioned how I knew. Her trembling pupils hinted at the truth, but I deliberately pretended not to notice and continued.
“Originally, I was just going to persuade the elders and you to come along.”
I glanced at Jane.
Her expression was dark, forcibly dismissed from her position as Dragon Priestess.
“But the situation isn’t very favorable, so I’m going to force it.”
The Dragon God doesn’t care what kind of ship we take or if it’s allowed to meet him.
According to Rin from the second iteration, the Dragon God was secluded on a deserted island.
When I heard that, I thought the dragon-kin, who hate the sea, would be uncomfortable traveling by ship.
But the moment I saw the wyvern, I understood.
How they visit the Dragon God.
“……”
An unpleasant expression.
Sen and Eve subtly shifted their gazes, looking back and forth between Jane and me. Jane clenched her fists and replied.
“Do you think I’ll tell you where the Dragon God is?”
“Yes. And if you don’t, you’re in danger. The cardinal said it himself, if you return to Dragon’s Rest now, it’s either execution or forced marriage.”
“……”
“If we go to the Dragon God, wouldn’t that open up some possibilities?”
“The Dragon God is asleep.”
Finally, the desired topic had come up, and I couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“I know he’s awake.”
“……!”
Our eyes met. She was trying to determine if I was just testing her or if I knew the truth.
Then she looked at Eve and Sen with disbelief, as if asking if they knew too.
“Jane, listen carefully from now on.”
Haven’t we been listening to you since we arrived in the dragon-kin’s land?
About the pirate attacks, the compensation, the forced killing of the prisoners.
Jane seemed to realize only now that she hadn’t heard our original purpose for coming here, and she closed her mouth tightly.
We began a rather long story.
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The battle at Royen ended quickly.
The dragon-kin defended better than expected, but the pirates hadn’t intended to win anyway. They quickly disengaged from the battle.
It had always been like this.
The two attacks on Royen, and the attack on Salamander.
Frankly, the pirates never intended to win. The dragon-kin’s response to the shelling was so poor that the pirates won even without trying.
Only after the third attack did the dragon-kin finally start to defend properly, and the pirates retreated as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Seeing the cardinals at Royen, they assumed considerable forces would be deployed at Salamander as well. Distracting the dragon-kin was the pirates’ promise with the Chokugen Faction.
Having completed their mission, the pirates waited on the sea for their next orders.
They were incredibly bored, dull, and weary.
The sea, which they had rushed into, calling themselves seafarers, had been exciting and thrilling at first, but now their emotions were worn out, and they felt nothing.
So, what made their hearts race now?
Naturally.
Women.
And it was none other than the Dragon Priestess, rumored to be the most noble among the dragon-kin, who was on their ship.
Bulging crotches.
Snorting breaths of excitement.
Sexual desire rampaging like a young man on his first night.
If one were to equate love and lust, every pirate on this deck was currently in love.
“The girls behind the Dragon Priestess looked pretty good too.”
“One of them had a body…”
“The one with white hair must be from the Chokugen Faction, right?”
There were a few female crew members on other pirate ships. But this ship was entirely male.
Their desires could only build and build.
“Haa, I can’t take it anymore.”
Finally, one of them stood up on the deck, and other pirates followed. The ship’s captain was probably busy reporting to the Pirate Lord.
“Let’s just look at the Dragon Priestess for now, and have our fun with the other two.”
“Let’s just kill that guy.”
“It’s all the same if we throw him into the sea.”
If thrown into the sea, no trace of any crime would remain.
Bloodstains?
Those were no different from the handprints and smudges on this pirate ship.
They all knew it deep down.
They pretended otherwise, but in the end, they would extend their hands towards the Dragon Priestess.
But they all feigned ignorance.
The responsibility they would bear later?
To them, it felt as light as cheese sliced thinly and shared among brothers.
The weight one person had to bear was shared by two, then three, then four. In the end, they were pirates.
They were the ones most faithful to their immediate desires, accustomed to ignoring the future and the fear that would come.
“Huff… huff…”
In front of the cabin door.
The pirates crowded into the hallway, their heavy breathing filling the air with the stench of their breath.
The man at the front, asserting his crude right to go first, grabbed the doorknob.
BANG!
The door itself shattered, crushing the pirates standing behind him like a lump of clay.
There was no time to scream.
The sounds of bones crushing and flesh being mangled echoed first. Then the pirates’ screams erupted.
“Ugh… uuuugh!”
“My… my aaarm! My arrrrm!”
“Get out of the way! I can’t breathe!”
Watching them scramble over each other, the black-haired boy chuckled, his sword resting on his shoulder.
Seeing their former brothers crushed and mangled behind the door.
What the other pirates felt wasn’t fear.
“The line’s shorter now.”
“Good. I didn’t want to use what everyone else had used anyway.”
Disgusting conversations ensued.
Daniel McLean felt a strong resemblance between this place and the Demon Realm Forest. The monsters, driven by instinct, roaming around in search of battles and prey.
And the pirates, swept away by lust, disregarding command structure and camaraderie, seeking only their own gratification.
If he had to compare, he felt the monsters were slightly better.
Thinking this, Daniel slowly lowered his sword from his shoulder and asked,
“I’m not really familiar with ships, so I have a question.”
He tapped his shoulder with the sword as if massaging it.
Seeing his relaxed, almost leisurely demeanor, the pirates couldn’t even think of rushing at him.
“How many people does it take to operate a ship like this?”
Followed by a forceful declaration.
“I’ll only let that many live.”
He could somewhat understand what the pirates meant by “convenient.” Cleaning up the bodies was certainly convenient.
Just throw them to the fish and it was done.
Thanks to this, sharks were swarming near the pirate ship.
“So, that biggest ship over there runs on magic stones, right?”
“Y-yes! That’s right!”
Looking at the corpses strewn across the deck, the ship’s captain trembled and nodded exaggeratedly.
“It’s called the Deep Royen, belonging to the pirate executive, Bethany! It’s famous for being a ‘magic ship’!”
“Must have made a lot of money pirating. Well, Jesant and Zavalanco had a lot of money too.”
Thanks to them, he never had to worry about money while attending the academy.
Perhaps surprised by the unexpected names, the captain subconsciously focused his gaze on Daniel.
“C-could you be the one who killed Jesant in Byron…?”
He couldn’t finish his sentence.
Daniel’s sword pierced his throat.
“That’s gruesome.”
Eve, who had followed, carefully stepped around the corpses and approached. Daniel had told her to stay put, so he was displeased that she had come to see this scene.
But she brought urgent information.
“Daniel, the commotion on this ship seems to have reached the other pirate ships. The situation outside…”
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