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(296)
The moment Tentia priced Saya Yen, she felt something was wrong.
A huge recoil shot into my wrist with a “whoosh” sound.
'I got hit.'
Everything that happened next raced through my mind clearly.
The assassin was surrounded by thick darkness, making it difficult to clearly see the outlines of his hands and feet.
So, Tentia's resistance would be easily broken, and it was certain that a dagger would be stuck in her left armpit.
It was too late to withdraw his left hand, and his right hand, holding the sword, was too far away to aim at the assassin.
At that moment, she remembered the stabbing of the Eastern Knight Jules.
A long stabbing slash to catch one person at a time, on a rocking boat.
Percussion.
The next moment, Tentia let go of the sword Manha.
Saya Yan's sharp eyes widened for a moment.
'Not just the shoulders, but the upper body as well.'
'Just run straight ahead.'
As if she was holding a sword without a sword, a red mana blade burned at her fingertips.
Saya Yen's dagger stabbed Tentia's left armpit.
Phew!
The capital of Tentia pierced deep into Saya Yen's left shoulder.
Phew!
Saya Yan gritted her teeth.
'Tarti. I'll go.'
Tsk tsk tsk!
Her black hair stood out like thousands of strands of spit.
Tentia laughed heartily and shouted, even though she was faced with the bizarre sight head-on.
“I won, Assassin!”
The dagger came in from the side, but she stabbed straight ahead.
From the front, you could also attack from a standing position.
Woohoo!
Amplify mana by resonating it from your shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and release it by stepping on the ground.
Footprint.
Phew!
The red mana blade rippled through the air, and blood spurted out like a spray from behind Saya Yen's shoulder.
Choaaaak!
“Ugh!”
The assassin let out a rough groan, and the darkness that had been enveloping her body finally collapsed.
With a bang, the sound of breaking glass came back into sharp focus.
“Ugh!”
Saya Yen fainted, bleeding from her eyes, nose, and ears, due to the recoil of her mana flow being forcibly cut off.
Tentia let out a soft sigh and dragged the assassin towards Valencianus.
“Your Majesty Valen! This Tentia has returned with the evil assassin.”
Valencian looked as if he had a lot to say for a moment.
"kyung."
If we had attacked together, we would have won much faster.
That technique of blurring outlines could have been dispelled with a single blast of Dragon's Flame.
In the first place, it is largely his responsibility that Sayaya Yan came in.
However, Tentia tried to fulfill her duty as a knight, and Valencian decided to respect her wishes.
'I guess it's respectful not to do what you can. You're being so extravagant because you have such a good driver.'
He collected his emotions, smiled brightly, and congratulated Tentia.
“Well done, sir. I am very proud to have a knight like you. Please get him treated quickly. I will reward you greatly when you return to land.”
That's what the knight's lord had to say.
Tentia took off her helmet and smiled, tying up Saya Yen tightly.
Valencian fired a spear of fire into the sky to signal the end of the situation.
The soldiers, knights, and sailors of the Storm Fleet returned on their ships.
But the master of the fleet was anxious to see the assassin who had killed his knight, and so he flew up from afar on the wind and landed on the upper deck.
“Valencianus.”
“It ended well.”
“Yes. You are the assassin who killed my knight.”
Cariosa glared at Saya Yen as if he was literally going to chew her up.
His grey pupils gleamed at the sight of blood, and his jaw gaped open to reveal sharp teeth.
It looked like he was going to bite my neck at any moment.
After a moment, she threw Sayaya Yen down on the floor.
“There’s a lot to figure out.”
* * *
“Kwaaaaak!”
A terrible scream echoed through the interrogation room.
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Torture technicians who could make even the most mercenary people speak human language and military priests who could revive the half-dead were attached to Saya Yan.
As for the level, my throwing the prisoner into the Wyvern Pit was just a show of affection.
Cariosa's anger at losing her knight was that deep.
She stood in the hallway, staring blankly at the ceiling.
I was very embarrassed because I had never seen her look so disappointed even before her return.
“These are the guys who fed me, clothed me, and gave me a place to sleep since I started living as a young boy at the age of seven.”
"okay."
“At the age of fifteen, I saw him go around begging for slaps to become a servant.”
"okay."
“And then he became a sword expert at the age of twenty-one, and I gave him a sword.”
Cariosa gulped down the cold water.
If I wasn't on an operation, I would definitely be drinking.
“He wasn’t the kind of guy who would die for a bastard from a ruined family.”
She talked about the dead knight for about ten minutes, and I listened to the whole story without saying anything.
She drank the last of the cold water heartily and slammed the glass down on the railing.
Exactly.
“Okay. That’s enough mourning. I’ll tell you what my faithful subordinates have found out.”
At that moment, the sadness in Cariosa's voice melted away.
A smile of composure like that of a strong person appeared again on the corners of his mouth.
I looked at her with an emotion somewhere between bewilderment and absurdity, and she shrugged.
“Don’t look at me like that, Valencian. A monarch’s debts can only be repaid with victories, not tears. I will pay his family a knight’s pension, and burn all the pirates of the Anchor Isles to death. That is what I must do.”
It's the same thing I said to Jaylilith.
I nodded and added timidly.
“But isn’t 10 minutes too short?”
“Three minutes of silence, five minutes of mourning, and two minutes to sort out my feelings. That should be enough. But listen up. I’ve found out a lot of very interesting facts.”
It was foolish to argue with someone who had no intention of listening, and it was also unbearable to see a nobleman continue to be defeated, so I nodded in defeat.
“Yeah. I’d like to hear it.”
“Okay. First, those guys-.”
Just as Cariosa was about to begin her story with her gray eyes sparkling, her adjutant knight Jules came running into the hallway.
"majesty!"
It was a rather embarrassed voice with a rather embarrassed expression.
Cariosa asked with a hint of annoyance.
“What's going on?”
“The pirate leader Aquila has sent an envoy.”
This time it was my turn to panic.
“An envoy? What kind of envoy is a pirate?”
“A ship raising a white flag is approaching.”
Cariosa clicked his tongue once.
“Be prepared to strike at any time.”
* * *
Knights and battle mages gathered on the upper deck of the Tempesta.
I came out onto the deck with Sir Tentia, and Cariosa with Sir Jules.
“That’s true.”
Two frigates were approaching, surrounding a pirate ship raising a white flag on either side.
Woohoo!
Battlemages aboard the frigate were seen casting destruction spells on large crossbows.
Looking at the purple glow, it seemed like just a few shots would be enough to destroy that pirate ship.
Kiiik!
I also saw four dragon knights flying from the rear battleship where the dragon landing pad was located.
If there was even the slightest suspicious ship in the area, he would immediately start throwing javelin magic tools at it.
The pirate ship and its escort stopped about 300 meters away from the Tempesta.
A small boat came down from the pirate ship, carrying two oarsmen and a pirate in fancy clothes.
A small boat came to a halt beneath the Tempesta, the two oarsmen stood about ten meters from the Tempesta, and the dressed-up pirate climbed up the rope ladder alone.
Sir Tentia let out a sigh.
“It’s not an assessment you should give to a pirate, but I don’t see any fault with him whatsoever.”
I nodded slightly.
“It is as you said. I can admit that even a small boat is pushed back.”
Knock, knock, knock.
A well-dressed pirate climbed onto the Tempesta's upper deck.
He carried his left hand behind his back, placed his right hand, palm open, over his heart, and bowed his head respectfully toward Cariosa.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Duke of Cariosa. I am Nel, here on the orders of His Highness Aquila, King of the Anchor Islands and Governor of the United Ports. I hold the position of Foreign Affairs Officer in His Highness Aquila’s court.”
The pirate, who introduced himself as Nell, had clean-cut hair, wore a black uniform with a green checkered pattern, and carried a thin, one-handed straight sword.
As expected, it was a suit that had no flaws.
But the way he introduced himself was full of things that made me want to find fault with him somehow.
In the imperial records, Aquila was not a king but a pirate chieftain, the place was not a Union port but a den of bandits, and not a palace but a mountain fortress.
Cariosa muttered, “Huh, right?”
That alone made me feel like she wanted to tear Nell apart at any moment.
The knights were also looking at Nell with ominous eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“What about that bastard Aquila, Your Majesty?”
“I want to die right now-.”
It would have been enough to make any other person faint, but Nell continued speaking calmly.
“First of all, I would like to formally apologize for Admiral Tarti’s indiscriminate attack some time ago.”
As soon as I heard his first words, I let out a sigh of relief.
“The island council did not permit the admiral to sortie, but Admiral Tarti led his men and sortied. I apologize for not being able to restrain him. It seems that he did not suffer any major damage, so I would appreciate it if you could be generous and understand for the sake of friendly relations between our two countries.”
He was as great a sophist as I was, and a diplomat with the devil's beak.
“To get to the point, His Majesty the King Aquila deeply regrets the large-scale privateering activities he has engaged in, and is willing to compensate directly or indirectly.”
It was a pity that he was born in the empire and did not become a subject of Jaylilith.
“The neutralization of the Anchor Islands has been decided by the agreement of the Eastern Continent Kingdoms, and reclamation has begun, so there is no longer any reason for us to engage in privateering activities. I have no intention of asking for forgiveness for what has happened so far, but I swear that no more ships carrying the Jolly Roger will appear in the Eastern Sea.”
And if you think about it as an upward compatible version of that thing.
That was complete bullshit.
It was an attempt to repay a thousand chests of gold in one word.
Cariosa burst into laughter, and the eastern knights grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
I stood close to Cariosa and whispered to him a few things I had gleaned from his words.
“Your Majesty. It seems that Aquila has kissed the kings of the Eastern Continent. Can you subdue the Anchor Army and tie them up?”
Cariosa nodded.
“That’s what I started out with. Don’t worry. They’re the guys who hired privateers and supplemented their navy. They’ll never lose on the sea.”
Then there was no problem.
I took a step towards Nell.
“Did you say Foreign Service Officer Nell?”
He just looked down at me and didn't react any further.
“Yes. Excuse me, how should I address you?”
“I am the Grand Duke of the Soletaras Empire, His Royal Highness Valencianus. Please call me Grand Duke.”
I had a subtle smile on my lips.
The reason Cariosa called me was at this moment.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I spoke so that everyone on board could hear.
“I bring you the word of His Majesty Jaerilis, the Holy Emperor of the Soletaras Empire. He has declared the Anchor Isles, the Serpent Isles, and the Ship Grave Isles to be all part of the Empire, and has appointed the Duchess Cariosa as Governor of the Ship Grave Isles and the Serpent Isles, and has acknowledged her as King of the Anchor Isles!”
The eastern knights smiled brightly.
Amid the commotion, cheers erupted one by one.
“Long live His Majesty Jaylilith!”
“Long live His Majesty King Cariosa!”
Cracks began to appear on Nell's face.
From now on, it was no longer the arbitrary action of the Duke of Cariosa, but an official move by the Soletaras Empire.
He said it as if he was holding on to the last remaining string.
“Your Highness Aquila is the one who effectively rules the Anchor Islands.”
I nodded.
“I know. That’s why you’re leading the fleet, right?”
Nell smiled bitterly.
“I knew Your Majesty would appreciate the virtues of negotiation and compromise.”
I held up my middle finger to the bastard's face.
“Yeah. I really like negotiating too.”
“… … .”
“I hereby formally propose to you as a Grand Duke of the Empire. You may either evacuate the Anchor Islands immediately and save your life, or burn alive. Your choice.”
* * *
Before Nel returned, Cariosa received one of her arms as a boarding fee.
“I came here raising the white flag, but wasn’t it unnecessary to do that?”
“I’ll kill them all. If you keep your mouth shut, Valencian, no one will know.”
“Hmm. Good.”
“Your expression doesn’t seem very bright. Is there something bothering you?”
I nodded.
“I don’t think Aquila would have said something like that to us seriously. He probably knew we wouldn’t accept it.”
Cariosa confirmed it.
“그렇지. 그놈은 개새끼지만 멍청한 새끼는 아니니까.”
“Then why on earth would they send someone like that? There’s a risk of losing their poor subordinates and their ship. I don’t know what they’re aiming for. That’s what’s bothering me.”
Cariosa chuckled.
“You should buy that,” Yan said.