Episode 11 – Embarkation

*

 At the edge of Flavis Harbor, there was a ship that always floated silently in place without ever setting sail. 

 This ship, called ‘Baby’s Breath Woman,’ was the sailing ship of Baron Salvia, a prominent figure in Flavis.

 It wasn’t small, but it wasn’t big enough to cross the ocean. Baron Salvia never told the story of how this ship had drifted here from across the sea, but

 the fact that only three survivors were found on this ship, which required at least seven crew members to operate, made it clear that a terrible incident had occurred.

 The baron, who appeared one day out of nowhere, quickly integrated into the city with his unique wealth and sociability, but 

 his unique mystique stood out even among the people.

 This sailing ship, with its unique hull style that was distinctly different from those mainly made in the Empire, was also one of the symbols showing the baron’s mysteriousness.

 But perhaps even such a baron was just a human in the face of the whims of nature.

 The ship, damaged here and there from being shipwrecked in a violent storm, was currently inoperable, so the baron was using it as his treasure warehouse.

 Despite the baron flaunting his immense wealth and not even setting up any special security, this ship had never been invaded by thieves,

 thanks to the unique superstition of sailors, who were worried about catching bad luck from boarding a ship that had been shipwrecked.

 Daniel was now standing in front of that Baby’s Breath Woman.

“I don’t really believe in superstitions, but this is…”

 Daniel looked up at the baron’s ship.

 The ship, with its deep gray color, looked completely black at night.

 The torn planks, the broken mast, and the ripped sails made it look exactly like a ghost ship. 

 Daniel, who didn’t believe in superstitions and wasn’t afraid of monsters at all, was reluctant to board this ship.

“I really don’t want to do this. Haha.”

 The reluctance wasn’t just because of fear.

 Daniel respects his father, who defeated the Demon King, and dreams of becoming a hero like his father.

 This situation of stealing Rose’s bail money from the baron who was harmed by Rose pricked his conscience and made his heart heavy. 

 However, this was the only way he could think of to save Rose. 

 Daniel lamented his inability to find another way and steeled his heart for Rose.

 He didn’t know where all that money came from, but in just over a month, he had raised the economy of this trading city by another level,

 the baron was using a huge amount of wealth every day as if he were scattering it around. 

 The bail money wasn’t a small amount, but it was an amount that the baron wouldn’t care about at all.

 Daniel murmured.

“Goddess-nim, please forgive me.”

 Daniel looked around, but he couldn’t see a gangplank to board the ship.

 While looking for a way to board the ship, he saw several thick ropes tied to the stern railing of the ship, hanging down and hooked onto rings below the water’s surface.

 It seemed they were trying to tie the ship to the harbor so that it wouldn’t drift away because the anchor was broken. 

 Daniel approached to climb up the rope.

 At that moment, he felt someone pulling on his shoulder from behind.

 And then, he heard a thick, growling, husky voice.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Ugh!”

 Daniel tried to shake off the hand that grabbed his shoulder, but he failed because of the much larger hand and the strong grip.

 When he slowly turned around, a huge bear beastman was standing there. 

 Daniel knew this man.

 It was Hobeoba, the representative and leader of the workers who were famous as ardent supporters of the baron.

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous at the harbor on a dark night like this?” 

“…”

“Wait, now that I look closely, you’re a student at the Academy. You must have come with your friends to test your courage, go back quickly,”

“Ha… this is getting too big.”

“What did you say?”

 Daniel sighed and then quickly bent his upper body to pull his shoulder out of Hobeoba’s grasp.

 At the same time, he covered his face with his cloak and drew the sword from his waist.

“Please go quietly. I won’t hurt you if you pretend you didn’t see anything. Please.”

“…Daniel student, what are you doing?”

“Huh? I, I’m not Daniel?”

“Come on, would I not recognize the famous Hero-nim’s son? Who else has such clearly visible blonde hair in the middle of the night besides you?”

“…Ah,”

“…Don’t tell me you’re here to rob the Baron-nim’s ship?”

 Hobeoba lowered his body and began to growl.

 Daniel revealed his face, which had been covered by the cloak, and readjusted his grip on the sword with both hands.

“Please. Just pretend you didn’t see anything.”

“…I heard that your younger sister poisoned the Baron-nim’s maid, are you aiming for the Baron-nim’s life as well as his property?”

“…Please, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Why are the Hero-nim’s children going so far astray? Do you have some kind of grudge against the Baron-nim?”

“…This is my last warning.”

“Daniel student, you’re lacking in awareness.”

 Hobeoba’s arm instantly plunged into Daniel’s abdomen. 

 There was a sound as if his abdomen was bursting.

 Daniel’s back bent at a 90-degree angle, and he collapsed to his knees, coughing.

“I’ve been sending you a last warning with my whole body since earlier, shouldn’t you be able to feel that much if you’re in the Knight Department?”

“Huk… Huk…”

“If you leave now, I won’t hit you anymore.”

 Daniel used his sword as a support and staggered to his feet.

 Hobeoba lowered his upper body again, lowered his stance, and growled.

“…Haa… Haa, I have no choice. I’m really sorry.”

“…Heh, I’ll try not to kill you, but,”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

 Daniel disappeared from Hobeoba’s sight in an instant.

 Hobeoba, flustered, bristled all over and tried to sense his presence.

 Something was falling from above him.

 Hobeoba unconsciously raised his claws and swung them upwards.

 Daniel was putting his weight into the sword from mid-air, slashing down at Hobeoba.

 The sword collided with Hobeoba’s claws, and there was a sharp, tearing sound of huge metals clashing.

 The impact made Hobeoba kneel, and Daniel, who had been in the air, flew backwards, but landed while maintaining his posture.

 Daniel leisurely regained his stance.

“I don’t know how to do things moderately either.”

 Hobeoba also got up, dusted off his knees, and glared at Daniel, raising the claws on both hands. 

“So, the Hero’s son is doing things like bullying a poor person who drifted in from a foreign country with that kind of talent?”

“Keuk, I had no choice either.”

“I don’t know your situation, student, but since I get fed by the Baron-nim every day, I can’t just leave here,”

 In the time it took Daniel to blink, Hobeoba’s huge hand had flown in front of his eyes.

 That huge hand, with thick calluses and sparse fur, and sharp claws.

 It was closer to a paw than a hand. 

 Daniel jumped back, but he was too late to dodge, and that huge paw grazed his abdomen.

 With a tearing sound, his abdomen was shallowly ripped in three places.

 Daniel gritted his teeth and leaped forward at the same time his feet touched the ground.

 After instantly taking the rear of Hobeoba, who had briefly lost his balance due to the arm he had thrown with all his might,

 he stabbed the sword into his back.

 Hobeoba screamed in pain and writhed.

 Daniel, hanging on the sword stuck in Hobeoba’s back, twisted the sword and said.

“Kakh!”

“Stop! I avoided the vitals, but if you move like that, you’ll bleed a lot!”

“Keeeueuk!”

 Hobeoba widened his eyes, then approached the baron’s ship, bleeding from his mouth.

 And then, he sharpened his claws once again, and swung them at the ropes tying up the ship, cutting them off.

 “Damn it!”

 Daniel twisted the sword out of Hobeoba’s back, stepped on his shoulder, and jumped towards the rope.

 Hobeoba reached out to stop Daniel, but 

 his vision blurred and he collapsed forward with a thud.

 Daniel grabbed the rope and boarded the ship.

 Then he looked down at the fallen Hobeoba with concern. 

 What if that worker died,

He never intended to kill him.

 Amidst the complicated situation, workers who had heard the commotion from afar ran towards the fallen Hobeoba.

 They were shouting to carry Hobeoba on their backs and take him to the hospital.

 Fortunately, he seemed to be alive.

 Relieved, Daniel cut off all the remaining ropes that were tied to the harbor before he was noticed.

“Everyone! Look at that!”

“T-the Baron-nim’s ship!”

 The workers who were supporting Hobeoba pointed at the baron’s ship.

 The ship, with its ropes gone, slowly began to drift along with the tide. 

“Someone go get help! The Baron-nim’s ship is about to drift away! Hurry!”

“Hobeoba-ssi, wake up! Hey! Bring the carriage quickly! He’s bleeding a lot!”

“What’s going on in the middle of the night!”

 Daniel, who had been bowing his head, raised his head again as the ship moved away from the dock.

 Soon, they would call people and tie this ship back to the harbor.

 If he was on the ship by then, he would be caught.

 He had to grab as many valuable items as possible as quickly as possible, then jump into the sea and swim back.

 Having finished his thoughts, Daniel ran to find the cabin.

 After jumping down the stairs leading below the deck all at once, he ignored the tingling in his legs and raised his head to look around.

 Beyond the pieces of planks and the tumbling junk, he saw a wooden door with a window.

 Daniel approached the door and wiped the blurry window with his sleeve to look inside.

 And then he gasped in surprise.

 He couldn’t see the detailed shapes, but glittering things were piled up like mountains all over the room.

“It’s here.”

 The wooden door was firmly locked with a large padlock.

 Knocking on the door and kicking it didn’t help at all, and time was running out.

 Daniel, feeling anxious, picked up his sword again and took a deep breath.

 Daniel recalled his father’s downward slash.

 The swordsmanship that the hero used to kill the Demon King.

 He was very proud that such a hero was his father,

 and because he had admired his father’s sword, he didn’t know how much he had practiced since he was young.

 Daniel took a breath, then raised his sword and slashed down in one go.

 The large padlock split and fell off with a crashing sound.

 The abdominal wound inflicted by Hobeoba had slightly opened, and blood was seeping out, but he had no time to worry about it now.

 If only his actions today weren’t discovered, everything would be alright.

 If he could just save Rose,

 he could bow his head as much as necessary until the baron forgave the maid for poisoning him.

 If he was told to leave the Academy and the city, he could leave as much as necessary.

 If the baron told him to escort him without pay until he returned to his hometown, he could do it as much as necessary.

 He would definitely apologize to him in some form,

 so please, please forgive him.

 Daniel opened the door and went inside.

 And at the same time,

 he was pierced through the leg by a dagger that flew out of the darkness.

*

“Aaaaaaagh!”

 Daniel collapsed to the floor and screamed.

 He couldn’t figure out what had happened.

 He groped around and found the dagger stuck in his thigh and pulled it out.

 The dagger, which was wickedly serrated like a saw, caused tremendous bleeding and pain the moment it was pulled out.

“Keuk…! Wh-who is it?”

 Daniel’s vision went dark, and he almost lost consciousness.

 No, he seemed to have fainted for about 1 second.

 Daniel threw the dagger he had pulled out.

 And at the same time, two more daggers flew and struck his right shoulder and left arm.

“Ugh!”

 He had definitely heard that there was no one guarding this ship, was it wrong information?

 In this darkness where nothing could be seen except for the moonlight reflected on the gold coins, the skill of throwing a sword so accurately was clearly a skilled one.

 As Daniel staggered and fell, the piles of gold coins that had been piled up around him poured around Daniel due to the impact.

 Gold coins,

 Even Daniel, the eldest son of the Count’s family, had never seen so many gold coins piled up.

 The blood spurting out every time Daniel struggled stained the glittering gold coins, illuminating the surroundings in red.

 Ttuk. Ttuk.

 Footsteps slowly approached.

 Daniel struggled to lift his head and identify the approaching person.

 Black hair, black mask

“Salvia… Baron…?”

‘Baron Salvia.’

‘Why is he here?’

‘Did he throw these daggers?’

 Daniel seemed confused. 

 I approached Daniel, who was lying on the floor writhing, and pulled out the daggers stuck in his body.

 I smiled as I watched Daniel, who couldn’t even scream anymore.

“Thanks for cutting the ropes.”

“…Wh-what are you…?”

 I said, placing the edge of the dagger’s blade on my index finger.

“Thanks to you, no one can interfere.”

.