Chapter 76 - The Pirate King of Laxas (3)

Pelin Kraisinne was a genius. He had already reached the third tier at a young age—a genius whose talent no mage could dispute.

Unfortunately, however, his name was not particularly well known. His talent fell short of that of his elder sister, Penia Kraisinne. His genius had been overshadowed by her still greater gifts.

Even so, Pelin did not dislike Penia. On the contrary, he admired her.

She cast spells he struggled with as though they were nothing. Seeing her earn the tower master's recognition and become deputy master of the Blue Magic Tower at such a young age filled him with a certain pride.

Pride that he shared Penia Kraisinne's blood. Pride that the girl who had become deputy tower master so young was his sister.

And so, to him, the scene unfolding now went beyond utterly surreal. It could only be described as a shock.

"It's been a while."

"It... has."

"Have you been well?"

"Y-yes... Of course...!"

"So what brings you here?"

"Ah, w-well—the tower master said there was some business in Laxas—"

Pelin gaped at Penia's awkward smile. She treated everyone except the tower master with her usual overbearing arrogance. He had never, not once, seen her act like this toward anyone.

"Impossible..."

"What's impossible?" Evan asked from his seat in the carriage when he heard Pelin mutter.

But Pelin remained in shock, as though he could hear nothing.

"My sister can actually speak that politely?"

"...?"

He looked devastated, as though he had just witnessed his proud sister, who had always walked her own path, compromise with the ways of the world.

And yet...

"My sister, who slapped some noble brat three times just yesterday for acting like an asshole, then froze him with ice magic...?"

"??"

"My sister, who caught a merchant caravan trying to rip her off a few days ago, smashed every one of their wagons, froze the guards who showed up afterward, and then went all the way to the lord's castle to raise hell...???"

"..."

Despite that expression, accounts of Penia's outrageous behavior poured effortlessly from his mouth. Looking at Pelin, Evan thought once again,

'... Mages really do have a lot of lunatics among them.'

Both Penia, who went around doing those outrageous things, and Pelin, who admired her for them.

As Evan listened to the staggering stories and updated his prejudices about mages yet again...

"So that boy is your younger brother?"

"Y-yes, yes...! I'm terribly sorry...! He's spent his whole life holed up in the magic tower, so he knows nothing about the world...!"

Penia bowed her head deeply as she answered. Alon replied casually,

"There's no need to bow like that. It seems he didn't know any better, so I'll be understanding."

"Th-thank you!"

She bowed again, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Sister, why on earth are you speaking so politel—"

Pelin, who had looked so disillusioned moments earlier, finally spoke up at the sight. But he never finished.

"Just shut up!"

THWACK!

Before he could finish his sentence, Penia began mercilessly beating him with her staff.

A little while later...

"S-sorry—hah—I'm sorry... Hah, he's still so young...!"

Leaving Pelin twitching behind her, Penia approached and apologized again. Alon was reminded that the game's lore had occasionally portrayed her as something of a terrible person.

"No, it's fine. More importantly, if you're heading to Laxas, we have the same destination. You can come with us."

"Pardon? No, there's no need to—"

"You don't want to?"

"N-no! It's not that. It's just, how should I put it..."

Penia, who had been thrashing Pelin like a demon only moments ago, began darting her eyes about, cautiously gauging Alon's reaction.

She looked like a mouse before a cat, desperately thinking of a way out.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to come."

"Ah, w-well..."

Alon spoke lightly, intending nothing more than a genuine kindness. But Penia abruptly stiffened, as though goose bumps had risen all over her body, then murmured,

"I-I'll come."

"Will you? You really don't have to."

Her expression looked so unhappy that Alon checked again.

"N-no! Please let us come with you!"

Unlike a moment ago, when she had been wavering, she now insisted she wanted to join them the instant he asked again.

Her somewhat desperate expression left Alon feeling oddly as though he had threatened her. Still, he nodded.

"Then let's go."

####

After they had tended to the twitching Pelin and set off for Laxas, Alon heard two things from Penia.

First was an explanation of why the pair had been procuring food(?) in the middle of the road. Apparently, they had gotten into serious trouble with the leader of the caravan they had been traveling with.

According to Penia, she had made a small mistake after a minor argument and fled.

... Alon wondered why a small mistake had forced them to flee without even taking food, but he had no particular reason to press the matter. More importantly—

"..."

"..."

Seeing Evan and Pelin look at Penia with two different, complicated expressions, he more or less grasped what had happened and smoothly changed the subject.

In doing so, he heard another interesting story from her.

"... Ships are disappearing?"

"To be precise, it's only happening near the Relic Coast, but they say ships are being dragged beneath the sea."

"A natural disaster?"

"No. A treasure hunter said it seemed to be 'fishfolk.'"

"... Fishfolk?"

"Yes. Of course, it's not certain. Fishfolk haven't been seen for a long time now."

Alon fell silent for a moment at her words.

'Why are fishfolk showing up now?'

Of course, he knew fishfolk appeared in Psychedelia. What puzzled him was the timing.

Their existence should not yet have been revealed.

With two Outer Gods having already appeared, the timing of such things had effectively lost much of its meaning. Even so, the fishfolk were appearing far too early by the game's basic setting.

Alon tilted his head slightly.

'No, they shouldn't even be able to emerge at this point, should they?'

Unlike the Outer Gods, whose arrival times had only been vaguely defined, the fishfolk had their own specific lore. Recalling it left him uneasy.

Whatever the case, if fishfolk had appeared now, it meant another Outer God might appear as well.

As Alon pondered this, Evan's voice came from outside.

"We've arrived."

He gathered his thoughts. Even if fishfolk were appearing, it did not change the fact that he still needed to go to Laxas.

He alighted in the Kimin domain, part of Laxas's territory, left the carriage behind, and immediately headed for the harbor. Taking a ship was the only way to reach the capital of Laxas.

The four soon reached the harbor and, fortunately, found a ship just about to depart.

There was one problem, however.

"A hundred gold coins per head."

The man who appeared to be the captain was attempting to fleece Alon and Penia with an unmistakably mocking smile.

"Ha? A hundred gold coins per head?"

"That's right."

"Do you think that makes any sense?"

"If you don't, you can take the scheduled ship that arrives in two weeks."

The captain grinned.

He had some inkling that Alon was a noble and knew Penia and Pelin were mages, yet he was still brazenly trying to rip them off.

"Ha—do you even know who I am?"

Penia spoke menacingly, even releasing her mana. But he merely flinched slightly before continuing.

"Who you are is none of my concern, is it? Noble or mage, this is my ship. I can charge whatever I please."

The man spoke with complete confidence.

Watching him, Alon could roughly guess why he could afford to be so stubborn.

'He must have connections higher up.'

For him to speak without fear even in front of a noble, he clearly had a powerful connection who would cover for him even if he fleeced nobles this way.

Alon considered it for a moment.

"Well? Are you boarding or not?"

Looking at the captain as he spoke arrogantly, Alon opened his mouth.

"... Four hundred gold coins, then?"

"That's right."

"I'll pay."

"?"

The captain's face went blank with bewilderment. Apparently, he had never expected them to accept the offer. He stood stunned for a moment, but only a moment.

"Here."

When Alon handed over a purse, the captain took it. Though he still looked somewhat doubtful, he gestured with a delighted expression.

"Come aboard. I'll take you there."

He went onto the ship, wearing a nasty grin beneath his thick beard that made one want to punch him.

"My lord, you're really paying him? Even allowing for a high fare, that's nearly ten times the price!"

Evan questioned him in astonishment at the absurd situation, but Alon replied,

"There's no helping it."

With the captain connected to someone higher up, there was nothing he could do. Even if he bargained the price down, it was obvious that unless he paid a sum like this, he would not reach Laxas for another two weeks. He had no choice but to hand over the money.

... Normally, such extravagance would have been unthinkable. But thanks to the treasures he had received from Coloni's king, his pockets were very full.

'... Penia and Pelin should have plenty of money. Should I have told them to pay for themselves...?'

... Of course, having full pockets did not keep such thoughts from occurring to him.

At any rate, after paying the fare, Alon and his companions boarded the merchant ship and set off for Laxas.

####

A day after the merchant ship departed for Laxas, Alon was resting in the cabin the captain had assigned them. He had been told they would reach the city in another three days.

"Bleeergh—"

He looked at Evan, lying on the bed beside him with a blue-tinged face and groaning.

"Are you all right?"

"I think... I'm dying, my lord... I think I'd be better off dead. Urp—!"

Evan had already rushed out more than five times since waking. Watching him, Alon learned that he was prone to seasickness.

"U-urp..."

"..."

And Penia was no better.

Her face was as blue as Evan's, and she looked dizzy. Before long, she clapped a hand over her mouth and rushed out just as he had.

'Even a sixth-tier mage can't do anything about seasickness?'

Since yesterday, Penia had been practically half dead, as unable to lift a finger as Evan. Alon sighed in relief at the sight.

'Thank goodness I don't get seasick.'

How long had it been since he had, for the first time, found something positive to say about his own body and its miserably tiny mana reservoir?

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Until then, there had been only the sound of the waves and the creak of rusted iron with each swell. Suddenly, a bell rang out over the sea.

"A-attack!! P-pirates!"

"!"

Feeling the merchant ship erupt into chaos, Alon got up and went outside. He saw what was happening on deck: countless pirates were boarding, leaving no time to act.

He immediately moved his nail-guard-clad fingers to activate Bitter Cold.

"..."

Then he hesitated.

If he mishandled his magic here and destroyed the ship, he would be in grave danger. Without another option, a wrecked ship would mean a watery grave.

As he continued deliberating, pirates were before him in the blink of an eye, swords leveled at him. For now, he decided to let them capture him.

####

In the end, Alon was captured by the pirates.

Overcome by seasickness, Penia had passed out half draped over the deck railing. She was captured without offering any resistance, and her staff was confiscated. Evan and Pelin fared the same.

And in that situation...

"A deal, let's make a deal...! You can take all the cargo. And there are mages and a noble here, too—you'd like that! There, right there!! He's quite a wealthy noble! You'll surely get a large ransom for him!"

The captain, captured along with the other mercenaries and crew, sold them out to the pirates without hesitation. Alon stared in disbelief.

"That bastard...!"

Evan, likewise enraged, scowled fiercely.

Alon, however, did not feel particularly threatened. His magic required time to speak phrases and form hand signs, which was why he had deliberately allowed the pirates to capture him in the first place.

Besides...

'... Just as I thought.'

Penia, still unwell from seasickness, had long since removed the mana restraints the pirates had placed on her and was looking at Alon. She was plainly waiting to move the moment he acted.

'... Shall I give it a try?'

Having finished weighing his options, Alon was just about to utter a phrase when a voice interrupted.

"You're fucking noisy."

A man appeared from the pirate ship, which had been secured with grappling hooks. He wore a full set of silver armor that looked expensive at a glance and carried a blue trident.

Far too refined to look like a pirate, he approached the captain with a thoroughly relaxed expression.

"The Sea King...!?"

The captain uttered his epithet with an expression of utter shock.

Penia, who had only recently regained consciousness and taken stock of the situation, grimaced anxiously. She had done some preliminary research before coming here and knew whom the title Sea King referred to.

'The Pirate King...!'

She clenched her teeth at the appearance of the powerful man who had unified six of the Seven Fleet Isles, earning renown as a great pirate and an enormous bounty in Laxas alone.

The situation was growing steadily worse.

'... What on earth is he thinking!?'

As Penia anxiously watched Count Pallatio, who was still doing nothing but calmly looking at the Pirate King, the man spoke to the captain as though he had no interest in any of this.

"That shouldn't be possible... There's a noble here?"

"Y-yes, there, right there!"

The captain stammered and pointed toward Alon. The man naturally turned his gaze that way.

"... Huh?"

After a brief silence, surprise spread across his face. Then—

"... Big Brother?"

Radan, the man known as both the Sea King and the Pirate King, looked at Alon in astonishment and spoke.

""?""

Everyone's gaze, including Penia's, shot toward Alon.