Chapter 130: Chapter 130
A tavern in the market district of Hasra.
A man who ran a nearby grocery store listened to the story of the man sitting opposite him with a frown.
The person talking to him right now was the owner of the clothing shop right next door, a figure who frequently brought back information from the royal palace thanks to one of his relatives working there.
“No, wasn’t that guy killed because he mated with a monster? But they’re picking a fight over that?”
“It’s all just an excuse! In the first place, aren’t those Ruman bastards pirate scoundrels who don’t even have proper parents?”
“True, that’s right. Those guys are specimens the Goddess made a mistake with when She created them.”
Originally, no nation in the Arman Alliance liked Ruman, but the residents of Hasra harbored a particularly strong hostility toward them.
It was because the Ruman pirates who had followed Elvin when he occupied the capital several years ago had caused all kinds of havoc.
Compared to Shan’s army, which had arrived right before them, plundered the royal palace and nobles’ mansions, and disappeared taking only dozens of artisans, those pirates went in and out of commoners’ residences as if they were their own homes, eating, drinking, and destroying whatever they pleased.
If that were all, it would have been fortunate; the extent to which they acted violently toward women was beyond count.
Even today, the orphanage established directly by the Queen housed a suspiciously large number of children with red hair, the characteristic trait of the Ruman people.
“All those Ruman scoundrels should be killed.”
The grocery store owner’s words were indeed the consensus of the citizens of Hasra.
They wanted revenge… they wanted to thoroughly exterminate those living on that island so that no more pirates would ever set out to sea.
*
Thanks to the explosive support of the citizens of Hasra, Cheryn was able to cover a portion of the expenses incurred during the army’s mobilization through donations.
This also served as great motivation for the soldiers embarking on the expedition.
The people had originally loved the Queen and respected her soldiers, but now, simply walking around dressed in the uniform of the royal direct guards led people in the streets to press food or useful items into their hands.
It was because news had spread far and wide that the Queen was sending her direct army to the south for a large-scale subjugation of the Ruman pirates.
And Shan, Duke of Velakar and Lord Protector who would command these forces, prepared for departure at the royal palace with the Queen’s assistance.
Fastening the sword to Shan’s waist, Cheryn let out a soft sigh.
“Ah, I really don’t want to send you off…”
“That matter has already been settled.”
Shan looked down at Cheryn and smiled.
While riding down on horseback with everyone, Shan and Cheryn had engaged in a rather fierce debate on this topic.
Of course, after Cheryn accidentally bit her tongue a few times while trying to speak while riding, they mostly spoke only during breaks.
In truth, Cheryn believed there was no need for Shan himself to participate in the expedition.
She thought that with knights armed with various powerful magic tools and elite troops, they could easily overwhelm the pirates sponsored by the Ruman royal family, so there was no reason for him to take unnecessary risks.
Above all, the sea was not a domain that could be navigated through individual martial prowess alone.
No matter how remarkable Shan was, he could hardly part the raging waves or hold up a sinking ship.
No matter how skilled a sailor was, collapsing before natural disasters took only an instant.
If they encountered a typhoon and the ship sank, all a swordsman could do was pray to the Goddess.
If she accidentally lost Shan in such a manner, it would be a colossal loss for the Kingdom of Pendia and an eternally irreversible tragedy for Cheryn personally.
“You said that kings and nobles have a duty to protect the people in exchange for receiving their taxes. The soldiers are also subjects of the kingdom, so I must protect them. Think of how many people can be saved that way.”
At those words from Shan, Cheryn took several deep breaths that made her shoulders heave before nodding.
Just as Shan said, the practical and symbolic benefits gained from his participation were immense.
Opposing this was purely due to her own personal greed and fear.
If she did not share an emotional bond with Shan, she certainly would not have felt the slightest hesitation in sending him to the battlefield.
The position of Queen was one where even those closest to her had to be deployed when necessary.
“You must come back alive. If you die…”
“If I die?”
“I will erase the Ruman Kingdom from this world. Leaving not even an infant behind. I will slaughter them all until not a single breathing human remains on the hundred islands.”
Shan, who had wondered if she might say she would die following him, burst into a dry laugh at Cheryn’s unexpected response.
Indeed, his Queen was far from a tragic young lady who would harm herself in grief over a lover’s death.
Unless it were a witch shedding tears of blood, cursing and seeking vengeance until her enemies were destroyed.
“Do not worry. I will never die.”
Remarking that the lives of their Ruman enemies had suddenly been placed on his shoulders as well, Shan lightly kissed Cheryn’s forehead.
That was enough for him to gather his strength.
A moment later, Cheryn entered the grand hall where the others were waiting alongside Shan, and shouted in a dignified voice.
“The battlefield you are about to fight on will be a place unlike any you have experienced before!”
The Queen’s army had achieved victory time and again across Pendia, but they had never fought at sea.
Her soldiers, mostly selected from northern and eastern Pendia, could hardly have any experience in naval warfare.
“However, even if you fight in an unfamiliar place, do not forget this one thing. Before you stands the Lord Protector! An invincible warrior who has never lost a single battle!”
As Cheryn grabbed Shan’s hand and raised it high, thunderous cheers erupted.
Shan Barendil.
A man born after a thousand years who was ‘like Great Emperor Baren,’ a glowing-eyed Altoan, a self-made figure born of humble origins who rose to become the second most powerful person in the kingdom solely through his sword skill.
That invincible knight had already proven his strength in countless battles, and he would continue to prove it in the future.
No one present dared doubt that single fact.
*
“For some reason, even though I’m wearing armor, it feels like I’m not wearing any.”
On the road leaving Hasra and heading south.
Roden, riding his horse beside Shan, mumbled as he fiddled with his armor.
Hearing this, Lug on the opposite side nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. If an arrow flies at me, I feel like I’ll dodge without thinking because it feels like I’m not wearing armor. We’d better get used to it quickly while heading down.”
While assembling forces for the Southern Sea expedition, the Queen summoned her knights and performed several modifications on their magic tools.
Full plate armor was a walking fortress that blocked all attacks except those powered by potent magic tools or Fighting Spirit, but in exchange, it was tremendously heavy.
No matter how exceptionally strong a warrior was, falling into the sea while wearing such gear meant they were bound to drown.
For that reason, Cheryn adjusted the ratio of magic enchantments on the armors for those fighting at sea.
Instead of spells that increased durability or assisted physical abilities becoming so weak as to be almost meaningless, the armor that once weighed over ten kilograms lightened to less than half thanks to weight-reduction magic.
At this level, it was comparable to decent leather armor, allowing anyone with superior physical capabilities or good swimming skills to keep themselves afloat without sinking.
Instead, however, it lost almost all defensive power against attacks infused with proper Fighting Spirit.
Roden, who had been sharing impressions of the new armor with Lug, turned his gaze to Shan and asked.
“How about your armor? That one is custom-made, right?”
“Mine is similar. Though this one should still be a bit sturdier.”
Unlike the other knights’ armors, which had become hardly different from ordinary steel armors in exchange for being lightened, the ‘Five Stars’ worn by Shan was in a slightly better situation.
It was thanks to the Mana Stone of the Ogre Pack Sovereign embedded in his armor having an output that overwhelmed other armors.
As Mana Stone mining increased, the knights had also come to wear armor that utilized a whole Mana Stone from a decent large monster, but it was still weak compared to the power of the Mana Stone embedded in Shan’s armor.
As a result, although its defense and other auxiliary functions were weakened due to dramatically raising the weight-reduction ratio, his armor still maintained defensive capabilities comparable to ordinary magic tool armor.
Furthermore, because it had become immensely light, he felt like wearing it like this even in ordinary times.
Of course, armor durability and body enhancement functions could not be overlooked, and above all, considering that body weight was also a factor carrying great weight in hand-to-hand combat, being light was not entirely a good thing.
This was especially true for Shan, whose weight was lighter than others.
While talking, they shifted the topic to the swimming skills required to survive in the sea.
“Come to think of it, it’s surprising that Sir Lug is good at swimming.”
“Certainly… is it feeling somewhat like a water strider?”
“No, calling a person a water strider…”
As Lug grumbled, everyone around them burst into laughter.
Imagining Lug, with his lanky body and limbs, swimming was indeed an image that came right to mind.
Lug, laughing while shaking his head, looked back.
“Well, as for me, my hometown wasn’t that far from the sea. Rather than that, I’m worried about Lady Ravana.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s enough as long as I don’t fall into the sea.”
Ravana, riding her horse a short distance away, spoke in a tone full of confidence.
Though she was an experienced mercenary, the reason she could not swim was precisely that her rabbit ears easily let water in due to their structure.
Similarly, Altoans with animal-shaped ears generally did not know how to swim or tended to avoid it.
Conversely, although extremely rare, there were individuals equipped with gills who could breathe using both lungs and gills, and Shan specially selected them to serve as rescue personnel.
In fact, because of this, he had initially considered excluding Ravana from this expedition.
Since she had just reunited with her daughter Kiri after a long time, going on a distant expedition would mean not seeing her face for several months.
However, not only did Ravana herself strongly desire to participate, but since the other knights did not particularly know how to swim either, she ended up joining.
At any rate, her skill ranked among the upper tier even among the royal knights, so it was odd to leave her out when she volunteered.
“Even so, let’s practice floating in the sea before setting out. One never knows what might happen.”
“Mmm, if the Lord Protector says so.”
However, even Ravana could not remain stubborn against Shan.
Since they planned to conduct adaptation training for a few days after arriving in Beshalia anyway, she and the other knights who could not swim decided to practice swimming together then.
Thus marching while staving off boredom with small talk during the day, Shan visited the unit’s scribe when night fell and issued orders.
“Deliver this message: The Southern Sea Expedition Corps is currently encamped approximately 15 kilometers away from Mount Shahtar. No unusual occurrences.”
“Understood!”
The scribe immediately pulled out the communication device he was storing and conveyed this news to the capital.
A moment later, the response ‘Confirmed’ returned below.
That meant the capital clearly knew where the army dispatched from there was and what it was doing, and could convey orders at any time.
This too was a sight that heralded the changing times.
Of course, unlike these brief exchanges, that night Shan conversed with Cheryn under his tent while placing a spider inside a magic tool box.
This was a privilege exclusive to them that no one else knew of.
*
After about a week of marching, the Southern Sea Expeditionary Force safely arrived in Beshalia.
This port city, which had once been the stronghold of the rebel Elvin, overflowed with vitality unlike in the past.
Not only Pendians, but also Libert merchants dressed in conspicuously flashy clothes, red-haired Rumans, and even people presumed to have come from the Selim Republic on the southern continent were visible.
At that exotic sight, Shan unknowingly widened his eyes.
“Was this town originally like this…?”
“This side is normal. It’s the largest and most vibrant trading city in Pendia. It was only like that before because it was under attack.”
Roden, who had examined part of the city administration at the time, knew that quite a few foreigners resided in Beshalia.
The reason Shan had not seen such sights in the past was that most of them had left Beshalia in advance or, even if they remained, hid in places like inns and did not come out.
Naturally, during chaotic times, outsiders were easy targets for attack.
In truth, even now, it could hardly be considered bustling compared to its golden age.
This was because not much time had passed since the end of the civil war, and the atmosphere was subdued due to several merchant ships belonging to Pendia being plundered recently.
Entering the city amidst everyone’s attention, they were first welcomed by Roden’s father and the deputy of Beshalia, Callion Weavers.
“You must have suffered much on your way here, Your Highness.”
“Not at all. Is there a place where the soldiers can rest? While we rode horses, the rest must be tired from walking all the way.”
“Everything has been prepared, so you need not worry. Archon! Guide the soldiers!”
“Understood, Lord Administrator.”
At Callion’s order, a man appearing to be an official of Beshalia bowed politely and replied.
Seeing this, Roden let out an ‘Oh’ and whistled.
“Why, father, your complexion looks much brighter since I last saw you. I thought you’d have aged more because of all the work.”
“Old folk only live long when they have work to do. Even His Lordship the Royal Count… Tsk, this isn’t something to talk about carelessly. So, did you see him off properly on his journey?”
“As for me, I offered my greetings.”
“If only the distance weren’t so far, I would have visited him as well. Ah, dear me.”
Callion, who had served as an administrative officer assisting Cheryn in Palles in the past, had also known Orum, who had passed away not long ago.
It was just that the places where the two resided were the southern and northern ends of Pendia, making visits difficult.
In truth, without communication devices, even the obituary would not have reached Beshalia yet.
The two regions were far enough that walking took a full month, and unless someone rode hard on horseback to deliver news quickly, rumors were bound to travel slower than human movement.
Callion, after lightly scolding Roden, looked at Shan and spoke.
“I hope Your Highness will also send your regards to Count of Shedil from time to time. Old people act like they don’t, but they wait for family to stay in touch. In the past, sending a letter took several weeks, but that’s no longer the case now.”
After the last ‘play’ ended, Count of Shedil had left Hasra and returned to stay in his hometown of Shedil.
Since he held no particular post at court anyway, it was for the reason that he wanted to rest while seeing familiar faces.
Even if the Velakar Mansion was grand and luxurious, living alone in the capital with few acquaintances was lonely.
Thanks to that, quite some time had passed since Shan had last contacted the Count who had departed like that.
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Mmm, I wonder if I spoke out of turn.”
“I don’t think so at all, so please feel free to speak to me anytime, Elder.”
At Shan’s polite response, Callion, who had been wearing a somewhat worried expression, chuckled softly.
At his respectful attitude, the eyes of the people surrounding them changed.
‘For that Duke of Velakar to display such a polite demeanor…’
‘The saying that he was practically the Duke’s foster father wasn’t nonsense after all.’
When Callion came down to Beshalia, he had not come alone but brought along several people, including his butler, through whom it was already known that his relationship with Shan was far from ordinary.
However, because such rumors were usually exaggerated, people had been half-doubting, but seeing it in person, was it not even greater than the rumors?
The gazes of the subordinates looking at Callion could not help but turn even more respectful.
After taking a rest and replenishing their stamina to a certain extent, the knights of the Southern Sea Expeditionary Force gathered in the banquet hall that the Marquis of Beshalia had used in the past.
Shan looked around and slightly knitted his brows.
This was the very location where he had previously fallen into the night hag Yure’s scheme and inhaled a large amount of aphrodisiac incense.
Of course, since several months had passed since it was cleared away back then, not a trace remained, but coming back to this place did not feel particularly pleasant.
Meanwhile, Callion cleared his throat lightly toward the knights and introduced the person beside him.
“This is Captain Giznu, who has sailed ships based in Beshalia for over thirty years, and he has been granted the rank of Admiral to command the fleet mobilized for this expedition.”
“I offer my respects to the brave warriors of the kingdom.”
Giznu, who appeared to be in his early-to-mid-forties, had weathered skin from the sea breeze, an eyepatch over one eye, and a physique of average height with broad shoulders and a rugged frame.
Seeming like a figure uninterested in formalities, he bowed respectfully in greeting and immediately began his explanation.
“Those who captured Pendia’s ships this time consist mainly of three factions. They are called the Red Eagle, the Devil’s Banner, and the Curse of Elam, respectively.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of the Red Eagle before. Wasn’t that referring to the torture where they extract rib bones and spread them out like wings? I heard there was a pirate who enjoyed that.”
As Lug spoke with interest, Giznu nodded.
“So you are aware. That is correct. Eranta, leader of the Red Eagle Pirates, gained notoriety by inflicting that punishment on captured enemies. He claimed that if a prisoner from a captured vessel endured without screaming he would let them go, but it is said that not a single person has succeeded yet.”
At this terrifying explanation, strong interest rather than fear lit up the faces of the knights.
After all, wasn’t an enemy all the more worth defeating the more powerful and cruel they were?
After that, explanations continued regarding the ‘Devil’s Banner,’ which flayed human skin to use as flags, and the ‘Curse of Elam,’ which used humans as sacrifices to cast evil magic.
Every single one of them was trash undeserving of being left alive.
“The Ruman Kingdom is using scoundrels like these?”
“Yes. A few survivors reported seeing knights belonging to the Ruman royal family. In the first place, had it not been for them, our ships would not have been captured.”
What was puzzling was why the Ruman Kingdom would bother provoking them in such a manner.
For if they had left not a single survivor in the first place, Pendia would not even have realized they were provoking them.
The one who explained this was Callion.
“According to what I’ve heard from sailors, the authority of the Ruman royal family is not what it used to be.”
The reason, needless to say, was because of the past Pendian civil war.
At that time, the Ruman royal family had expended considerable funds and supplies to support Elvin, but all of it had vanished without bearing fruit.
Of course, they had gained quite a bit of wealth while plundering Hasra, but it was not enough to make up for the lost human resources.
“I see, creating an external enemy to strengthen solidarity. A classic tactic.”
“So, where are the bases of those three groups?”
At Shan’s question, Giznu swallowed hard and spoke.
“We have won over a few former pirates and secured the locations of their strongholds. However, the problem is that pirates are not the only ones living there.”
Pirates were symbols of terror and disgust to continental folk, but to those born and raised on the islands of the Southern Sea, it was one of the avenues for making a name for oneself.
Thanks to that, traveling around those areas made it difficult to distinguish between fishermen, merchants, and pirates.
For once they hauled in their fishing nets and drew a hidden blade, a fisherman turned into a pirate from that very moment.
Children admired famous pirates and dreamed of becoming like them, and residents in close collusion with them also did not hesitate to harbor pirates when they tried to hide from pirate hunters.
Even more so, because the aforementioned three pirate groups enjoyed the protection of the Ruman royal family, lords and soldiers appointed by the Ruman royal family were stationed at their strongholds.
This meant that if the pirates fled there, the soldiers of the Ruman Kingdom might block the path.
“If they shield pirates, then they too are pirates. And the command I received from Her Majesty the Queen is to subjugate the pirates.”
Meaning that if the Ruman royal family tried to protect them, he would consider the entire kingdom a pirate syndicate… Shan declared in an exceedingly composed tone.