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“Set sails!”
“We will completely surround the Anchor Islands!”
“Fill up the warehouses. We won’t be able to set foot on land for a while.”
The eastern sea was deep and the waves were rough, but in front of the 150-meter-long unsinkable warship, even those waves seemed like small ripples.
Twelve battleships lined up in three rows on the deep blue sea, giving off an aura of dominance as if they were dominating the entire space.
At the head of the procession was a thirteenth ship, flying both the blue-and-white-shark flag and the swirling storm flag.
The flagship, 'Tempesta', commanded twelve battleships and hundreds of transport ships, landing ships, speedboats, and escort ships.
Tempesta remained silent, like a king choosing the moment to give the order to charge, while the twelve warships, like loyal knights, kept their eyes and ears fixed on their king, attended to by their squires.
“Biscuits, salted meat, holy water, ointment… … .”
The battleships were knights, and the ships that responded to the seeds were these transport ships.
The transport ships of the Storm Fleet were huge sailing ships with a length of 60 meters and a bulk as big as a puffed-up loaf of bread, but in front of the 150-meter-long battleship, they looked like suckers chasing sharks.
But the supplies unloaded by hundreds of such transport ships were truly enormous, so much so that even the huge hold of the battleship was filled to the brim, and the lower level sank a little further under the water.
“Your Majesty! The supply is complete.”
The sea men who followed Cariosa always said 'Your Majesty!' with an accent.
It was only last year that Cariosa, who had lived as His Excellency the Marquis for many years, became His Highness the Duke.
The honor of being part of a family that had been around for hundreds of years was evident in their voices.
Cariosa answered with a hearty, yet gentle laugh.
“Okay. Let’s go to the sea where the sun rises.”
Some of the transport ships and frigates alongside the battleship returned to port, and the twelve huge battleships moved forward, creating waves.
Choaaaah-!
Let's change the three rows into two rows, forming a formation with two rows on the left and right, and dozens of landing ships can enter the wide space between them.
The fast ships and frigates, like the knight's men, clung to the side of the battleship at a constant distance, forming a huge wedge-like formation.
Each battleship was so huge, and with ships such as escort ships and speedboats, the distance between the flagship Tempesta and the last battleship was over 5km.
It was so far away that it disappeared below the horizon and was barely visible.
But the sailors of the most powerful fleet in the East were able to convey the situation in an instant through flags, osprey scuttler, and dragon knights.
Cariosa nodded to the captain with a satisfied smile, and the captain of the flagship gave instructions to the navigator, who then gave instructions to the battle mages to raise the wind once more.
Flutter!
Choaaaah-!
The huge triangular sails were inflated, and the floating island began to move.
* * *
I stood next to Cariosa and watched all this.
“You are a minister.”
Before my return, my activities were mostly on land, so I had never really been on a battleship like this.
The sea breeze blew and brushed against my face.
Cariosa said with a grin.
“Our family has seven fleets like this, yet we have never been given the title of Duke. Do you think that makes sense?”
I looked around.
The enormous ship was filled with a huge number of pirates and fish-slaughtering experts.
This meant that she had six more such fleets.
I answered, feeling a slight tug on the back of my neck.
“That may have been why.”
“What is that sound of a fish feeding its milk… … Ah.”
She frowned, then nodded as if she understood.
“They are already a family of dukedoms, so we shouldn’t have acknowledged that. Our Asenortha would have completely devoured the East.”
“Before His Majesty Jaylilis, the imperial principle was to somehow strengthen centralization. Also, the issue of fairness was a big one. If you were to give them the title of Duke or Grand Duke, you would constantly be compared to Severic’s Septentrios.”
Cariosa gritted her teeth.
“No matter how much I think about it, that doesn’t make sense. What kind of logic would allow the royal family to give all of the northern lands to a family that didn’t want to shed blood, and then expect them to have the same power?”
I shrugged.
“That’s a foolish question, Duke. Do you think there’s a world other than this one where that kind of logic works?”
“Ha. That’s true. If you think about it, it’s a good world. That’s why I can be like this.”
She put her index finger in front of my lips and lightly bit my earlobe.
Sir Tentia, who was standing next to me, shook his head, and the chaplain on the ship cried out to the Lord.
“The sailors are watching.”
“I’m telling you to look. What a wonderful and beautiful man I have around me.”
“That’s something a 50-year-old court noble would say while taking his mistress with him.”
Cariosa shook her head slightly.
Her aqua hair flowed forward, and her gray eyes glowed with heat.
“If even a court noble in his fifties can do it, why can’t I?”
“Oh my god. You’re using the same word with different meanings.”
“Aren’t there many words like that? Faithfulness, mercy, loyalty… .”
I nodded with a bitter smile.
Throughout history, faithfulness has meant not the number of prayers but the amount of money donated; mercy has meant not forgiveness but the state of being forgiven; loyalty has meant not devotion but submission to the powerful.
“That’s why people who use it properly are praised. Like Sir Tentia and me.”
Cariosa opened her eyes wide.
“You’re leaving? You burned all the provisions of the Eastern Lords. Do you have any conscience left? Ah. That can’t be possible.”
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I nodded again, and we both giggled.
Valencian and conscience? Even I thought it was an unconscionable thing to say.
The Tenthia priest grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.
“Are you catching and killing the eroders well?”
“My direct territory was originally clean, and my vassals were also pretty clean. The newly annexed areas are the problem, so I sent troops to maintain public order and carry out colonization projects, and I am also providing additional funds to the seminary.”
“Good.”
“Yeah. Good. They say they’re burning to death about 1,300 people a day.”
* * *
Pirate Admiral Tarti was busy gritting his teeth as he prepared to set sail.
The well-maintained oriental red armor gleamed brightly, and the deer-antlered helmet was as majestic as the gate of a mansion.
“I’m going to catch that damned purple priest and kill him. I’ll soak him in seawater a few times and he’ll learn to be a good person.”
His thirty ships and a hundred or so ships belonging to other admirals who were to join him in his plunder were gathered in the harbor.
“Move quickly!”
“I see your legs! You idiots!”
Pirates brandished whips and tormented the convict immigrants.
They dragged their barnacle-like bodies onto the ship to load supplies.
A prisoner stumbled while walking up a plank ladder.
"uh?"
The prisoner fell straight into the water.
with a plop!
Normally he could have swum out, but now he was exhausted and had heavy chains around his legs.
“… … ! … … !”
There was a loud noise of struggling and foaming, and Tarti approached the shore, roughly attacking the pirates.
“Move over. I wonder if it’s a pretty boy.”
“Hahahaha.”
“How could that be?”
The pirates of the Eastern Continent were famous for carrying pretty boys on their ships instead of women.
“Please save me!”
Tarti confirmed that the drowned prisoner was a bearded man in his forties, clicked his tongue, and closed his eyes.
“I missed you. I missed your eyes.”
The woman standing next to him like a shadow sneered.
“Why don’t you save me even though you can? You can walk on water.”
Her voice was very low and neutral, she had a long scar on her face, and she wore black clothes and a black hood.
It was Saya Yen, a notorious assassin and Tarti's long-time friend.
Tarti raised both hands theatrically.
“A precious body like mine cannot do such work carelessly. Neither can my subordinates. And that guy is a heinous criminal with at least the level of robbery and murder. Wouldn’t it be atonement to sink here?”
Sayaya Yan taunted again.
“You know you’re a big-time pirate, right?”
“Am I the only villain? You’re the same, Inma. Let’s go quickly. We have to raid all the eastern port cities.”
“Are you going up?”
Tarti replied as if he was tired of it.
“No. I’m going south. The Northern Grand Duke recently acquired a floating port in the north, and it’s causing quite a stir. I have no intention of fighting the Sword Master.”
When he heard the words Sword Master, Saya Yan also trembled.
“I don’t know why such monsters exist. Okay. Let’s go south.”
Tarti's men, wearing red armor and red hoods, boarded the ship one by one.
They were loyal subjects who followed Tarti even after the fall of their family.
Tarti looked back and forth between his men still holding the crest and the other pirate admirals who were cheering him on.
For a moment, his cruel eyes filled with sorrow, and he unfolded his bamboo map to determine the route of the sea.
He drew a dotted line with a few chess pieces, and Saya Yan, who was watching from the side, frowned.
“You’re not planning on fighting that fleet led by that great white shark, are you? You’ll really die if you do. You know the ship classes are different. If you take them over saying something like a mistake, they won’t leave you alone.”
Tarti smiled awkwardly, not at all strange.
“You know, no matter how big the ship is, if you lure it out by yourself and then attack from all sides, you can still catch it.”
Saya Yan put her hand into her bosom.
“If you want to die, just tell me.”
Tarti shook his head.
“Of course I’m not saying I’m doing it alone. That’s why I’m bringing so many people. I’m even promoting it.”
“!”
Sayaya Yan looked around.
“Raise the anchor!”
“Let’s go to the warm south!”
“Operation burglary has begun!”
When they heard that the famous pirate admiral Tarti was joining them, many pirate admirals and privateer ship captains flocked to the area.
No matter how strong the unsinkable ship was, it might not be able to do anything about one ship.
Tartiga laughed like an ambitious boy.
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on fighting the great white sharks in the ocean. If they stall for time, I’ll get on a boat and fight them hand-to-hand. My kids can all walk on water. With just one of those unsinkable ships, we can go anywhere.”
Saya Yan kept a suspicious expression until the end.
“What if they point a knife at you when it’s over? Saying, ‘You used us as shields?’”
Tarti laughed bitterly.
“I’ll have the unsinkable ship then. And… …what’s there to worry about when you’re here?”
Sayaya Yan put her five fingers together and made them point like a spear.
Tarti ran away over the sign, giggling.
“Okay! Let’s go!”
'Let's take this opportunity to wipe out some of our competitors, buy a big ship, and give that damned Violet Priest a big treat.'
* * *
It was an evening when the sun was slowly setting.
The sight of the sun setting beneath the sea always brought about a feeling of sadness.
“If we must die, we will all die here together.”
“If we must burn, let us all burn here together.”
“Your Majesty, you are not burning, are you?”
“That’s true too.”
As I was reciting the epic poem of the fall of Tentia, a sea eagle flew down from the eastern sky.
“It’s reconnaissance.”
The repairman returned and sat upon the battle mage's leather gauntlets.
The eyes of both the repairman and the wizard glowed orange, and the light died down after a while.
The wizard fed the eagle a piece of meat, and the eagle happily cried and went into the cage.
“Your Majesty. Their ships are approaching. A fleet of over 170 ships. It seems that a famous pirate admiral, or rather, the leader himself, has set out.”
The battle wizards reported to their overlord.
For a moment, a cruel smile appeared on Cariosa's lips.
Her vertical pupils constricted and her face flushed.
His lips curled up, revealing shark-like teeth.
It was as if a hungry beast had smelled the hot blood.
Finally, she gave an order in a voice full of excitement.
“Storm Fleet. Prepare to hunt.”