Chapter 328
The 'Austin Gang,' which had inflicted devastating damage on the player-staffed extermination party, was withdrawing from the waters between Luxresia and Flamma as planned. They had never expected to lose a ship, but it had been their oldest, rattiest vessel, so the damage was not particularly serious.
Moreover, they had recovered the emplacement ballista and crew before it sank completely. With subordinates and powerful weapons at their disposal, seizing a new ship would be easy. With their current strength, they could probably recruit even more subordinates and build a larger fleet. James's ambitions kept growing.
"We're heading to that area as planned, Big Bro."
"Yeah. The wind's good today, so we shouldn't need magic. No need to rush; we'll take it slow..."
BOOM!
They had been sailing along leisurely when a tremendous noise and violent impact reverberated up from beneath the hull. Wondering what had happened, James leaned over the gunwale and looked at the surface. Several large fish could be seen moving through the water below.
Thinking they had been unlucky enough to run into a school of magical fish, James immediately ordered them to prepare harpoons. Before they could do so, however, he saw people riding on the backs of the fish as they surfaced and realized the truth. This was not an attack by monsters, but by enemies.
"It's the enemy! Bring every harpoon and all the oil we've got! And the ballista, too!"
"Aye, Cap'n... Gaaaaah!"
"Yo, fellow pirates! Good day—and die!"
However, the first to attack were the 'Blue-Scale Pirates,' who had successfully carried out a surprise attack. Ann and every member of her crew threw the harpoons they were carrying. The harpoons pierced the gunwales, the decks, and the pirates standing on them.
They had prepared thoroughly, coating the harpoon tips with paralytic poison. Several pirates who had merely been grazed on the arm became unable to move on the spot. Ann and the others circled the fleet of the 'Austin Gang,' continuing to throw harpoons until they ran out.
"Cap'n, we've finished setting up the ballista, but..."
"What are you mumbling about? Fire it!"
"B-but... it won't tilt straight down!"
"What!?"
A ballista was a weapon designed to target ships and the people aboard them, so it could not aim directly below. This was a safety measure to prevent it from blowing itself up, but it worked in Ann's favor.
Ann and the others threw grappling ropes from atop their mounts. Rather than drag the pirates into the sea, they boarded the pirate ship directly. They could have used the easier method they had employed against the merchant ship, but they chose to board because of their own sense of respect for fellow pirates.
"We could've just sunk you, but that wouldn't have any romance to it. Let's fight fair and decide who's stronger!"
"You bitch... How dare you look down on us! What the hell are you playing at!?"
"What am I playing at? Two pirate crews have met, haven't they? There's only one thing to do... Kill them all!"
"Tch! Boys, kill them!"
Ann's 'Blue-Scale Pirates' boarded the pirate ship and attacked the 'Austin Gang.' Although the 'Austin Gang' had equipped themselves with quality weapons, Ann and her crew had even better ones, as well as an overwhelming advantage in levels. Their numbers dwindled in no time.
The only ones putting up a decent fight were, as expected, the Austin brothers, the gang's leaders. James crossed swords with Ann, another leader, while Richard supported him with magic, and Edward rampaged according to his instincts. Edward was especially out of control; even when several of Ann's companions fought him together, he did not give ground.
"Gaaaaaaaaah! I'll kill youuuuuuu!"
"Whoa! What the hell is with this strength!?"
The other members tried to restrain Edward with the grappling ropes that were the specialty of the 'Blue-Scale Pirates,' but that was a mistake. When Edward pulled with all his might, he overpowered them. Several were punched, while the others were thrown aside. Those who fell into the sea were rescued by the orcas and were unharmed, but the players who had been punched slammed into the deck or gunwale and collapsed, only to be stabbed in vital points by other pirates and killed.
Ann was furious that her companions had been defeated, but she also realized that she was excited. This was the bloody, kill-or-be-killed battle she had wanted when she entered the game as a pirate. Her wish was being fulfilled right before her eyes. She could not help but be thrilled.
"Guaaah! What are you laughing at, you bitch!?"
"Why else would I laugh? Because this is fun! Guh... hahaha!"
"You crazy woman!"
Ann continued crossing swords with James and taking Richard's magic while never losing her smile. To the two of them, she looked frightening. They were pirates, but they mainly preyed on the weak. They did fight, but it was one-sided slaughter, and they had never wanted a battle in which their own lives were at stake. To them, the 'Blue-Scale Pirates,' who enjoyed such a battle, looked like a gang of madmen.
This was the fundamental difference between players, or Wanderers, and NPCs, or Residents. When the former died, they suffered a minor penalty and lost items, but ultimately they could revive and fight again—they could keep playing. The latter, however, died only once. The risks involved in a life-or-death battle were completely different for them.
"Damn it! We're going to raid more merchant ships and make even more money! We can't die here!"
"What a petty little man! If you're a pirate, don't you dream of exploring unknown continents or finding ancient treasures?"
"What, are you a kid!? I'm just looking at reality! You're the one dreaming too big!"
Ann and James's battle grew fiercer, but even with Richard's support, the difference in levels and ability could not be overcome. The other pirates were defeated one after another. The third Austin brother, Edward, had fought well, but his end finally came.
Eight members of the 'Blue-Scale Pirates' restrained his arms and legs and stabbed his vital points over and over. Edward had possessed tremendous natural defense, but Ann and the others were using weapons suited to their player levels. His clothes—calling them armor would be an insult—could not protect him from fatal wounds.
"B-Bro... It hurts..."
"Ed!? You bastards!"
Seeing Edward's final moments, James flew into a rage, abandoned all defense, and charged at Ann. She met him head-on, and their swords collided in a shower of sparks. James had not noticed that Richard's support had stopped, but perhaps it was better that way for him.
Ann calmly defended against James's furious attacks while steadily dealing him damage. James had been ignoring the damage through sheer anger, but he was not invulnerable. As he gradually lost his sharpness, Ann knocked his sword aside. When he staggered badly, she did not let the opening pass, slashing down diagonally with both swords in the shape of an X.
"Gah... damn you..."
"You're still alive? If you want to say some last words, I'll hear them."
Ann looked slightly surprised as she rested her right sword on her shoulder and pointed the tip of her left at James. She had asked on a whim, but it was fortunate for James. He came up with the idea of placing a kind of curse on Ann through his final words.
James did not have the 【Curse Arts】 Skill, so he could not inflict status conditions on enemies like Izam. However, he figured he could threaten her with words.
"Heh, either way... you're finished..."
"Huh? Why's that?"
"You killed us... That person won't let it slide."
"That person?"
Ann looked down at James suspiciously. James's face filled with delight. He was certain that the bluff he had thought of at the last moment had worked on her.
"You mean our former employer who'd been the talk of the port?"
"No... the one who gave us our weapons. He just handed us fine swords and bows, and a powerful ballista we'd never seen before... Cough... heh-heh! He had such high hopes for us... You lot are finished for killing us!"
James laughed hoarsely, as if he had said everything he wanted to say, but then he noticed that Ann was smiling down at him as well. It was as if she had seen right through his bluff.
"What, you mean the King? I feel ridiculous for having been even a little cautious."
"What are you talking about...?"
"I'll give you one last parting gift, too. We have allies. One's a merchant, and the other's the King—the man who gave us those weapons."
"W-what...?"
James's face filled with shock, and he died before he could say anything else. Ann had no use for his now-silent corpse, so she immediately stood up and finished salvaging the supplies with her crew. They spread oil across the deck and packed the explosives Shiitake had given them into the ship. This was, of course, preparation for destroying the evidence.
They had been told they could keep everything salvaged from the pirate ships, so the food, weapons, and even the ballistas all belonged to Ann and her crew. What generous people the King and the merchant were, Ann thought with a laugh. At the same time, she hoped they could continue helping one another in the future.
"So, Boss, what do we do now?"
"Well..."
As she rode her orca mount away from the pirate ship, Ann considered what to do next. She had a clear goal: tame a monster somewhere in this vast sea and make it her ally. The information came from a tavern rumor and was almost certainly false, but every member of her crew knew that and had followed her anyway. Ann dismissed them as a bunch of eccentrics, conveniently forgetting that she was one of them.
Until now, they had explored the sea while carrying out small-scale acts of piracy. However, Ann realized that this incident had made them conspicuous. Until the heat died down, it would be best to lie low somewhere out of sight while focusing on finding the monster they were after.
"For a while, why don't we make the King's continent our base and go adventuring on the seas? We're pirates, after all—what's wrong with chasing romance? Right, boys!?"
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
The 'Blue-Scale Pirates' raised a battle cry and then threw harpoons all at once. These were disposable magic items that set whatever they pierced ablaze. They were a collaborative creation by Izam, Iris, and Shiitake, and Ann and the others had been asked to report their impressions after using them.
The harpoons rained down on the three ships, and the oil-soaked decks burst into flames. When the fire reached the ships' interiors, the three pirate ships exploded spectacularly. Three blossoms bloomed across the sea, though they were hardly beautiful, filling the air with the smell of blood and gunpowder.
After watching it happen, the 'Blue-Scale Pirates' dove into the sea and began moving away. The pirate crew that held the key to the incident that had unfolded around Twentino became flotsam along with the truth behind it. No one besides the people directly involved knew that those working behind the scenes had each profited from it. Thus, the players' conspiracy came to an end.