Chapter 77 - The Pirate King of Laxas (4)

He had united all the pirates of the Seven Fleet Isles save one, earning the epithet Pirate King. He had single-handedly sunk more than fifty pirate ships and destroyed Black Fang, one of the strongest crews in the isles, earning the title Sea King. No one here was ignorant of Radan’s renown.

Which also meant no one was ignorant of the rumors about him.

He had torn the captains of the Seven Fleet Isles apart with his bare hands and slaughtered pirates with a demonically crazed smile, earning himself the epithet Demon. He was a villain who killed on a whim, as though embodying the words, “Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am supreme.”

And so...

“Big Brother...?”

The words from Radan’s mouth were enough to turn every gaze toward Alon: the pirates who had always watched Radan at his side, the workers aboard the merchant ship who knew the rumors, and even Penia, who had looked so anxious only moments before.

Alon stared at the white-haired, white-eyed man for a while before speaking.

“... Radan?”

A smile had already replaced the astonishment on Radan’s face.

“Why, Big Brother, what are you doing here?”

The pirates who had been staring blankly were collectively horrified by how naturally he called Alon Big Brother. Drake, Radan’s subordinate who had been at his side since he disposed of the first pirate of the Seven Fleet Isles, was particularly stunned. His jaw dropped, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

He had never once seen his boss act so warmly toward anyone.

‘W-what the hell is going on?’

Before he could recover from his confusion, he saw Radan swing his spear and free Alon from his ropes.

Penia likewise could not make sense of what was happening. She, too, knew the rumors about that man well.

‘Who in the world is he...?’

Seeing that Alon was on friendly terms even with Radan, Laxas’s Walking Calamity, reminded her once again that he was no ordinary man.

As for Alon himself, he was deeply surprised.

‘... This is Radan?’

Of course, based on what Evan had told him earlier, the white hair and eyes had made him suspect it was Radan. Still, he had not honestly expected it all to be true.

Unlike the other Five Great Sins, Radan had never had an illustration depicting him in his normal state. All Alon remembered were illustrations from after he became one of the Five Great Sins, when, apart from the somewhat unusual trait of white hair and eyes, he had effectively become a hideous monster.

“... I was on my way to Laxas on a little business.”

“You should have sent word if you were coming.”

“I did intend to see you if I could, but I never expected to run into you like this.”

“Come with me for now. Oh, it’s been a while, Uncle Evan.”

“... It has.”

Glad to see him, Alon exchanged a brief greeting and watched Radan casually raise a hand even to Evan, who stood there looking sickly blue.

“Everyone here is with you, right, Big Brother?”

“Yes.”

The instant Alon answered, Radan moved his trident and cut Penia and Pelin’s ropes.

“Let’s go.”

Smiling, he was about to lead Alon away when he stopped.

“Oh.”

As though suddenly remembering something, he turned toward the captain, who looked unable to believe what was happening.

“Come to think of it, what was it you said?” Radan murmured.

“... You said you would sell my big brother, didn’t you?”

His voice was neither loud nor quiet, but the captain heard it clearly. Only then did he seem to realize what he had done.

“Ah.”

A faint exclamation escaped him.

His face instantly filled with terror, and he tried to say something. Unfortunately, he never got the words out. The moment his lips moved to speak—

THUNK!

Radan’s trident was already embedded in his neck.

“Ah—?”

The captain stared in disbelief at the trident in his throat, then coughed up blood.

“Ghk!”

Blood stained the trident. Belatedly, the captain tried to grab Radan with a trembling hand.

But Radan still wore exactly the same smile he had worn while looking at Alon. And yet—

SLASH!

With chilling bloodlust gleaming in both eyes, he finished slicing through the captain’s neck.

The captain’s body collapsed onto the deck with a thud.

“Let’s go, Big Brother.”

Radan spoke with a smile, blood spattered across his armor and face.

Alon had seen his share of people die, but after witnessing the chilling bloodlust gleaming in Radan’s eyes, he recalled that Radan was one of the Five Great Sins.

‘... He hasn’t already awakened as one of the Five Great Sins, has he?’

Behind his expressionless face, he grew a little wary.

####

Alon left the merchant ship bound for Laxas and changed his destination to the Seven Fleet Isles. In just half a day, they reached the territory Radan ruled.

“I-I’m saved.”

Even after changing ships, Evan had crawled around the deck as though he were dying. The instant he set foot on land, he smiled in utter bliss.

“So these are the Seven Fleet Isles...”

Penia murmured involuntarily upon arriving on the enormous island Radan ruled, while Pelin uttered a tiny exclamation of wonder beside her.

Even Alon could not help exclaiming when they arrived. The city before him looked less like a pirate city than a meticulously organized domain—and not an ordinary one, but one that seemed to have been built according to an elaborate plan.

“...”

Everything on the island stood in straight, precisely measured rows. The houses differed in size and appearance, but every one was perfectly aligned.

‘... The island couldn’t have looked like this originally. Did he really arrange all this because of his obsession with order?’

As Alon recalled how severe Radan’s obsession with this sort of thing was, they reached his mansion on the island.

“Come inside, Big Brother.”

Like the rest of the island, everything was aligned, the left and right sides arranged in perfect mirror symmetry.

While his companions rested, Alon talked with Radan and learned something new.

“... You’re saying that merchant ship wasn’t headed for Laxas?”

“That’s right. It was headed to the Sea Wolf.”

“The Sea Wolf of the Seven Fleet Isles?”

“Yes.”

“... Then I was deceived?”

“You were. I went there in the first place to cut off that bastard’s supplies.”

Radan shrugged.

“That was a supply ship?”

“Yes. Human flesh, to be precise.”

“... What?”

“Human flesh.”

Alon frowned. Even in Psychedelia’s dark-fantasy world, human flesh was taboo, and he, too, found it repulsive. Besides, those words immediately brought a certain keyword to mind.

“Does the Sea Wolf happen to have ties to the fishfolk?”

Looking a little surprised by Alon’s question, Radan nodded and explained. After listening for a while, Alon was able to sum up the situation simply.

“Just as you were about to take over all of the Seven Fleet Isles, the Sea Wolf appeared with fishfolk and began fighting you. Is that it?”

“That’s right, Big Brother. Though I have no idea how he’s controlling those monsters.”

At Radan’s nod, Alon felt a headache coming on. He did not know exactly how the Sea Wolf was involved, but the moment “fishfolk” and “human flesh” came together, a word naturally sprang to mind.

‘An Outer God?’

He knew that if the fishfolk were seeking human flesh, it meant they were trying to summon an Outer God. Without beating around the bush, he asked directly.

“... Do you intend to dispose of the Sea Wolf?”

“Of course. You personally gave me this chance for revenge, Big Brother. Now that I’ve cut off his supplies, I plan to finish it in three days.”

“...?”

Me...? When...? Alon wondered. But deciding it would be best not to ask in this situation, he continued.

“... May I come along?”

“You, Big Brother?”

“... There’s something I’d like to ask that pirate crew’s leader. Would that be possible?”

The fishfolk had already appeared, but if he could stop them from offering up human flesh even now, he might prevent the Outer God’s arrival.

Besides awakening his artifacts in Laxas, Alon needed to find the mermaid and descend into the Deep Sea. A chance to prevent an Outer God’s appearance beforehand was extremely important to him.

If the fishfolk did summon an Outer God, Laxas’s destruction would be all but certain, and the Seven Fleet Isles would not escape its reach either.

In short, both to get his business done sooner and to keep Radan safe, he decided it would be best to deal with the fishfolk. Unlike the others, Radan had gone a little(?) astray and become a pirate, but Alon still felt somewhat like a father toward him.

And so—

“As long as I’m the one who takes his head, I don’t mind, Big Brother.”

With Radan’s agreement settled, they continued talking about this and that. In the process, Alon learned something reassuring about him.

“Oh, come on, Big Brother. I may like going wild, but I don’t kill people just because I’m in a bad mood.”

“... Really?”

“Of course. Those things only happened because of the circumstances. I wouldn’t have touched the man I killed today either, if he hadn’t brought you into it.”

“... I hear they also call you the Demon.”

“Well, that’s true, but I only act like that when I’m killing pirates. It’s only now that I’ve finally been able to take revenge.”

Radan was considerably more normal than his notoriety or first impression suggested. Watching him laugh and talk so affably, Alon inwardly sighed in relief.

‘... I was worried he’d become a complete sociopath and all my support would have been for nothing.’

In fact, when Alon first boarded Radan’s ship and heard more rumors about him from Penia, he had seriously worried that Radan might have become the sort of person destined to become one of the Five Great Sins.

But it seemed the rumors were somewhat exaggerated.

... Being a pirate was hardly a good thing, and Radan’s behavior today had been a little psychotic, but Alon decided that much was understandable. The other Five Great Sins were certainly normal enough, too, but each had one or two strangely broken aspects.

As he reminded himself of that—

“But you seem surprisingly ordinary, Big Brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the others change so dramatically after meeting you. I was curious. Like you were using hypnosis magic—”

“... Hypnosis magic?”

“I’m not saying you actually do. I just mean they changed that much.”

“Did they?”

“Yes. They certainly did.”

After chatting like that for a while, Alon eventually changed the subject.

“Radan, could I go to Laxas?”

“You want to stop by Laxas?”

“Yes. There’s something I need to do there.”

“What is it, Big Brother?”

“There’s someone I need to meet.”

As he spoke, Alon thought of a man.

‘Alexion the Identifier.’

Unlike the artifacts found in labyrinths, the ring he had received from Heinkel and the relic he had obtained from Coloni’s treasury were special. Thinking of the special appraiser who could assess them, Alon felt uneasy behind his expressionless face.

He had indeed come all this way to meet Alexion the Identifier, but he was not someone Alon particularly wanted to see. His personality was vicious and fucking awful.

In the game, he could be found in the slums of Laxas. He was notorious among players for setting prices however he pleased depending on his mood. The rude lines he spat out with every click made Alon want to strangle him.

But aside from Alexion the Identifier, most relic appraisers were special merchants encountered purely by chance in labyrinths or dungeons. That was why Alon had gone out of his way to come to Laxas.

‘Thinking about the game pisses me off...but I have no choice. I’ll just have to put up with some abuse and humor him.’

And so—

“Who is it you need to meet, Big Brother?”

“Alexion the Identifier.”

“You only need to meet him?”

“That’s right. That’s why I’d like to go to Laxas.”

At Alon’s answer, Radan hummed and fell silent for a while.

“Understood. Get some rest, Big Brother.”

“...?”

His answer was puzzling, but Radan urged him to go inside and rest for now. Leaving him behind, Alon went to sleep.

The next day—

“Big Brother. I brought him.”

“?”

To the left of Radan, who wore an innocent smile, Alon saw Alexion the Identifier trembling like a leaf.

“P-please spare me. P-please...!”

Whatever had happened to his vicious temperament, the middle-aged Alexion was pleading through tears.

“Hey, did I kidnap you? I invited you politely, didn’t I?”

“Y-yes, you invited me very politely. Truly...!”

“Then why are you shaking?”

“... Hup.”

Watching Alexion hold his breath at a single word from Radan, Alon was at a loss for words.

‘... He really isn’t going to become one of the Five Great Sins, is he?’

The doubts that had subsided yesterday quietly resurfaced in his heart.