Ch.395Return Journey

The impact of free-falling hundreds of meters into the sea is nearly impossible for a human body to withstand. This remains true even when wearing armor.

In fact, the weight of the armor might make the impact even worse.

For this reason, when Cesare hit the water’s surface, he couldn’t even scream as his body burst with blood and was crushed like an insect hit with a hammer.

A rather pathetic death for someone of Master rank, I’d say.

He paid a steep price for his hasty judgment.

Thanks to him absorbing most of the impact, I was able to enter the water relatively safely.

Though I did take a hit to the face from his chest as it suddenly surged upward.

Anyway, I began swimming underwater, moving my limbs vigorously.

I discarded the now unnecessary chain mail in the depths.

With the king assassinated and the palace burning, the entire capital would be under emergency lockdown.

I needed to stay hidden underwater and make my way to the coast outside the capital without being spotted by enemies.

Diving hundreds of meters down and swimming through the late autumn sea to escape the capital—what a harsh task.

I wonder if anyone else could have even attempted such a mission.

—-

The escape itself went quite smoothly.

Underwater, nothing I did was visible from above, so by spreading my Karma of Murder like fins and kicking simultaneously, my body shot forward rapidly.

Even a motorboat wouldn’t be as fast as I was now.

There was just one small issue I hadn’t considered:

The salt in seawater.

‘This really stings like hell.’

My body still had some wounds I’d deliberately sustained for a convincing performance, and having salt water seep into them was excruciating.

Thanks to torn pieces of cloth serving as makeshift bandages, the bleeding wasn’t severe, but there was no way to prevent seawater from seeping through.

Of course, I’ve experienced far worse pain before, so it wasn’t unbearable… but the irritation was unavoidable.

[You reap what you sow. You enjoyed torturing enemies so much, and now you’ve reached the point of torturing yourself.]

Hersella mocked me in an amused tone.

She must be feeling the pain too, so if she’s laughing like that, I must look pretty ridiculous right now.

Anyway, after swimming until dawn, I finally reached the rendezvous point outside the capital as planned.

Everything went smoothly from there.

I arrived at the new hideout where a waiting priest treated my wounds, then disguised myself as cargo and boarded a ship bound for the Empire.

Crossing the border by land would be far more dangerous during a national emergency.

Eleonora was also safely rescued and would be heading to the Empire through a different route.

It’s a shame—I would have liked to see her face at least once.

—-

After leaving the port, I was free to move around outside my cabin.

I still wore a hood and mask just in case, but I could at least enjoy walking the deck and feeling the sea breeze.

Hersella, true to her nomadic origins, seemed thrilled to be on a ship for the first time.

For me, it was a familiar experience, so I wasn’t particularly excited.

I spent three days like that.

Playing cards with agents in the cabin, watching the sea and smoking on deck, or swinging my sword to send enemies to watery graves.

The sea route wasn’t entirely safe.

There were unexterminated monsters lurking in the depths and occasional pirates targeting ships disguised as merchant vessels like ours.

Honestly, I never imagined we’d encounter pirates.

Piracy in monster-infested waters seemed like a job requiring nine lives.

But surprisingly, there were quite a few of them.

Come to think of it, bandits were abundant in remote mountains too, despite the monsters there.

“Hahaha! Merchants venturing into the sea without escort ships—how bold! We’ll be taking that ship!”

“Any women aboard?” “What about alcohol?”

The pirates gathered on deck, brandishing weapons and roaring with laughter. This was already the umpteenth time.

Their bright smiles, like children receiving Christmas presents, were utterly disgusting.

I drew my bow.

“If you resist, you’ll all become fish food! Prepare to become our slaves—”

*Thwack!*

The head of the leader who was jeering at us snapped backward.

His shattered skull and white brain matter splattered across the deck.

“W-what the?”

“The captain’s dead…?!”

The pirates who had been laughing alongside him ducked in terror.

Not that it would save them.

Since this wasn’t my bow, I couldn’t use Piercing Arrow to penetrate the deck without mana, but I could always switch to my sword.

“Row faster! Let’s avenge the captain!”

At the first mate’s command, the pirate ship began approaching more rapidly.

Since dwarves strictly monopolized firearms technology, naval battles in this world ultimately came down to bringing ships close for hand-to-hand combat.

These pirates were no different. Their intentions were obvious from their ship’s movement.

They planned to ram our ship with their prow, then board us for close combat.

Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.

The intelligence agents wouldn’t be hurt fighting mere pirates, but a hole in our ship would be troublesome.

I slung my bow over my shoulder and drew my black iron longsword.

“Are you going?”

The agent acting as our captain approached me.

His tone was as casual as if he were asking what I wanted for lunch.

He too felt not the slightest concern about the situation.

Understandable. This wasn’t the first or second pirate ship to be sunk by my hand.

“Yes. Keep your distance from them. This won’t take long.”

I ran across the deck and leaped toward the pirate ship.

With a cracking sound, my body soared into the air.

The spot where my foot had pushed off was damaged, but it was just the upper deck—easily repaired later.

“A-a person flying through the air! A person is flying!”

“It’s a knight! Fuck, they had a knight!”

“You idiot! Knights can’t fly! That’s, that’s…!”

The pirates panicked at the sight of me flying toward them in an arc.

Of course. When would pirates who only raid merchant ships have seen such a sight? Only Master-rank fighters could even attempt such a feat.

Their deck came into view.

*BOOM!*

With a thunderous impact that shook the ship, wooden splinters shot up like a fountain.

The pirates stared in shock at me standing in their midst.

“Ugly, filthy pirates, did you enjoy your little raiding game? From the way you talk, this isn’t your first time…”

I looked over the pirates with a smile.

Those who met my eyes flinched in terror.

“…Time to go out of business.”

I gripped my black iron longsword and charged at the nearest pirate.

A slaughterhouse unfolded on the deck.

—-

“Aaaagh! Monster, it’s a monster! Run!”

“Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!”

“Sea God! Please spare me, Sea God!”

I tore apart those who charged at me half-crazed, kicked and crushed those who sat pissing themselves in panic, and pulled back those who tried to escape by jumping overboard only to crush them as well.

It was more like processing than combat.

It didn’t take long for all the pirates to become pieces of meat.

Soon after confirming the pirates’ annihilation, the agents brought our ship alongside and came aboard.

They seemed a bit nauseated at the pirates’ remains but quickly regained their composure and began searching the cabins. Meanwhile, I smoked on deck.

The pirates must have been at it for quite some time, as the cabins contained substantial amounts of supplies and valuables, and several people without even clothes were found in the prison hold below.

Merchants and civilians who had been captured by pirates and were about to be sold as slaves.

Their expressions were half-dead, suggesting they had endured no small amount of suffering.

The ones in slightly better condition thanked us tearfully for saving them, but some women seemed to have lost their souls entirely, showing no response even when shaken.

“…What should we do with them? If we send them back to Panam, there’s a possibility our movements will be exposed…”

One of the agents approached and whispered to me.

Since they were captured in Panam waters, they were all likely Panam citizens.

Normally we should return them, but our need for secrecy was concerning the agent.

We couldn’t forcibly silence them either.

Killing them would make us no different from pirates, and threatening them to keep quiet might not be effective.

So there was only one option.

“Try to persuade them to settle in the Empire. Distribute all the wealth recovered from the pirates as settlement funds, and offer support until they’re properly established.”

We had more than enough money, so sharing the spoils wouldn’t be an issue.

It was their property to begin with.

Family ties in Panam could be problematic, but we could probably persuade them by offering to welcome their families to the Empire as well.

“Yes, I’ll do as you command. They will surely be grateful for the Count’s mercy.”

Well, I’m not sure if I’m merciful.

But if that’s how you see it, so be it.