A medium-sized passenger ship cruised through the relatively gentle waves, passing by a rather small island with a few infrastructures, mostly reminiscent of a port. Clearly, the ship had not long ago harboured it.
"And with this, our brief stop at Oak Island ends. We'll arrive at Pritz Harbour in a few hours." A burly tanned man with a low cap and an overall white crisp attire said to most of the passengers, who were seated or standing leisurely on the deck.
This was the captain of this average ship, and after observing the few who nodded in acknowledgement, he went back to his private quarters to rest for a bit.
Thankfully, we didn't have to pass through the Berserk Sea or butt in with some wretched pirates. The captain thought as he got up from his light nap, stretched his body, and walked towards the ship's bridge to make sure everything was working just fine. Following some light bickering, he moved to the front of the ship, breathing in the salty sea and observing the faint silhouette of land on the horizon.
About forty-five minutes… I can then go back to Jessica and my little angel Margaret. The captain couldn't help but smile as he briefly removed his hat while wiping his face and sparse black hair.
Hmm… This Fog is quite something though. He noted a faint fog slowly dotted the surroundings, having just noted their presence. It makes me think back to the few times I ventured through the Fog Sea. Those reckless days are gone, though.
He shook his head, but then his brows slowly furrowed, as he inwardly remarked on the fog's increasing thickness.
The Weather forecast never talked about such fog. Not to mention, on the Sonia Sea, this close to the Churches' headquarters on Pasu island, it's impossible for such fog to just randomly appear without warning.
His trained instincts as a seasoned pilot were activated, as he turned around to peer at the ship, and sure enough, the fog had permeated the surroundings.
Most of the passengers stared obliviously at the fog, with a few wondering out loud in a joking tone if it was a sign of the Lord of Storms. This joke seemed to cause the few who were tending up to relax.
However, the captain's body stiffened. He wearily observed the rapidly obscuring surroundings and soon moved with hasty steps to a point on the deck, where he could examine the ship's bridge. He didn't need to tell his crewmates twice as they had already accelerated the ship and moved it in a way that would prevent the mysterious fog from completely encircling the ship.
Again, his already furrowed brows deepened as he noticed the stirring of the ship suddenly stopped.
What's—his thoughts were cut short as a scream rang not far from him, causing all heads to snap to a blonde woman dressed in conservative clothing and a handsome man, wearing sailor attire, who had an arm swung around her shoulders. This arm also held a revolver, pointing at her as he slowly turned towards her with a disturbing smile.
"I like that scream. I hope you'll make more."
His words instantly sent a wave of panic to the passengers, who all finally reacted, noticing the obvious intruder. However, a cacophony of metallic sounds—with clicks of hammers suddenly sounded, causing most to freeze as more rugged, violent and smiling men walked out of the fog on the ship, pointing their guns at each of the passengers.
One man, dressed as a typical pirate, scoffed and spoke. "I wouldn't move if I were y—"
However, before he could continue, a sharp gunshot rang, as part of the head of a passenger, clearly no older than twenty years old, was blasted open, blood and brain matter splattering on the deck and on the passengers.
There was a moment of silence, before screams and a wild frenzy took over. Men and women alike, having forgotten long about their appearance, began to run away in all directions as their primal instincts took over.
"Dammit, Louis… Don't even use yer hand was as unsteady as an excuse," a pirate with dark blonde hair who had his arm around the conservative lady turned to the bald pirate who had just opened fire. The latter awkwardly scratched his head with a smile while observing the corpse of the young man he had just killed.
The dark blonde fellow adjusted his eye patch and then looked at a handsome man with yellow eyes, and towards a sharp gaze, who was observing the terrified blonde and young woman he held by the shoulder. He scoffed at his fellow pirate, trying him to take his prey as he tightly wrapped his arm, holding his revolver around her waist, causing her to jerk. However, she couldn't move away from his tight and powerful grasp.
Well, looks like that side will already be occupied. The dark blonde haired pirate observed part of his fellow pirates slowly killing and torturing their targets with a few putting up a fight, before succumbing. On another end, a few simply removed their clothes and threw away their trousers while aiming at the few defenceless men and most women on the ship.
The last group, which the eye patched man eyed, nodded at him as they went deeper into the ship to loot it clean of its possessions.
Not far from all this carnage, the captain of the ship stood motionless like a statue, staring at his passengers getting violated by the pirates who had suddenly appeared onboard.
"First time, is it?" A deep and calm voice sounded by the captain's side, but the latter didn't move from his position. From his side, a thick bearded burly man with reddish brown hair, blue eyes, dressed in a more elaborate attire than most of the people on the ship stood, observing the carnage with a neutral expression.
"I'm guessing you're quite experienced. Maybe you had your fair share of encounters with other 'pirates' and from this, you've formed a certain bias and false confidence in dealing with such threats."
"Thoughts like: If I just stay clear from these places, or if I pray to God for protection. If some mysterious passenger boards my ship, I must show respect, or that so long as I'm in a certain location, then nothing can happen."
The man's languid eyes lingered on one of his pirate men, clearly having a rough time with a number of women, and his prey was soon snatched by more of his comrades.
"Unfortunately, even after a year, the war's effects are still palpable. The various forces are licking their wounds while being weary of other factors; an action which causes previously assumed "safe routes" to become plagued by 'us'."
He then turned to the captain and patted him with a smile, observing his attire. "But look at you, man. All good and fresh. An exemplary believer of the Storms. Just for this, you get to live."
This time, the captain raised his head and looked at the man with a slightly less empty expression. He then spoke in a low and indescribable tone. "I've heard of you and your Spectre ship—"
Before he could speak any further, the burly man shushed him and spoke in a light tone. "I can tell you've your own story to share and family to go back to. But let's not worry about all these details."
He turned back to peer at the disordered and nightmarish deck. "If you're wondering why I don't join my men, then it's simple: I prefer refined, older, and last but not least, consenting partners. I may be a pirate, but I still have a standard."
However, his words seemed to flow into deaf ears, as the captain simply stood beside him and watched with an empty expression.
…
Just adjacent to the medium-sized ship hidden by thick white fog was a rather large ship with a pitched black coloration, with a hull well armed like it was heading for war. This large ship boarded the passenger ship using various planks, with some pirates wearing satisfied and savage expressions while holding women with hollowed expressions using chains.
Apart from them, a number of pirates carried large, medium and small sized boxes all containing various goods in them.
"Nice catch, especially so for this conservative Loenese booty." A random pirate said with a wide grin.
"Of course, that ship didn't have much in loot," the man with dark blonde hair and a dark eyepatch said as he moved closer to the burly reddish brown-haired, tall man, standing with arms crossed observing the opposite ship.
"How are the ones still wasting our time, Étienne?" the tall man said nonchalantly, which prompted the man named Étienne to reply. "Bob captain. Just divined it too. He got bested again by the others for prey, and could only scavenge on the leftovers."
The captain of the pirate ship gave a faint nod and noticed the pirates having finished boarding the opposite ship, and had returned. As a result, he lifted an arm. Immediately following that, some men moved to remove the boards connecting the ships, an action which caused some pirates to look in surprise.
"Wait? Wasn't Bob still there enjoying the broken toys?" However, the pirate who posed the question simply shrugged and pulled a chain, causing several women who were tied to it to fall to the ground, tears evident in most of them.
After the boards were completely retracted, Étienne narrowed his exposed eye while pointing at a particular part of the ship. The moment he did, the captain mimed a bow and arrow with his fingers and arms as orange yellow flames formed into the corresponding shape. These flames soon turned white and grew in intensity. The Captain "knocked" on the "strings" causing the blazing arrow to fly at top speed and pierce through the hull of the passenger ship like butter.
Small scale explosions repeatedly sounded as flames spread throughout the ship, soon forming into a blazing inferno.
The pirates on the intact ship made their victims look at the explosions, with some pointing out at the burning ship. From this ship, a man with white flames ravaging his body tumbled out of the slowly sinking ship and fell into the waters.
"Gyaaahha! I can recognise that lanky form anywhere. Bob sure went with a blaze."
"I doubt he could even 'finish'."
Their unrestrained laughter sounded as a black-haired man with sharp and handsome features looked at the ship to observe a lone man standing on its sinking deck, not caring about the flames beginning to consume him. His gaze seemed to remain fixed beyond the horizon, where the faint land could be seen.
The black-haired man scoffed and then turned to his captain. "He simply stayed on that ship, even though you gave him the chance to take some supplies and scoot off?"
"A True devout believer in the Storm." The pirate captain responded while keeping his gaze on the crumbling, blazing man.
"His faith and pride were as big as the Fog Sea. What's the use of escaping and living in misery and shame as a captain who abandoned his ship and passengers to pirates? For a believer of the Storms for that matter?"
His words caused Étienne on his other side to chuckle as he said in a mocking tone, "You can't expect the second mate, who I suspect is somehow already an Unwinged angel to care, do you?"
The Ship's second mate—Gargas, simply shrugged while Étienne silently mused to himself. But the compression of those flames... Much faster than a typical Pyromaniac. And there's how captain Nathael has turned even more cryptic and calmer than usual… He has definitely advanced and became a Conspirer the past week.
He then noticed the fog slowly receding with their large ship, which moved at a rapid pace away from the burning passenger ship.
Thankfully, this "fog" has anti-divinatory properties. My Clown capabilities would always fall short otherwise.
Étienne shook his head as he turned to his captain. "Of the 119 passengers on that ship, 78 were killed one way or another while 42 were captured."
"Bad," the captain said without a change of expression as he added. "I'll burn five of the most incompetent alive and make the twenty-three others who fooled around too much to eat their burned corpses for the following days."
He turned to Gargas, who looked slightly excited and said, "You can skin them to a certain extent, then I'll burn them alive."
After saying this, the captain walked along the polished deck of his ship, accompanied by his two men. While doing so, he glanced at Étienne. "Pull Yargrat from his psychological nonsense, and tell him you two would be following me to Pritz Harbour. You can pull the lookalikes as well."
What now… Étienne complained in his mind while nodding as he moved ahead of their group. Soon, Gargas took his leave to take care of "business" while the captain—codenamed Mad Provoker, also known as Nathael, held onto the pitch black railing of his ship, and breathed in the Sea's air.
I'm adapting quite fast to this pirate life. His lips faintly curled as he listened in on his crew's ramblings and jovial celebrations.
…
Pritz Harbour, considered by many to be the busiest port in the world, with many in Loen passing through it to get to the colonial colonies in the Southern Continent and colonial islands to seek out opportunities. This was especially so following the war with the Loen kingdom gaining many of the colonies belonging to the Feysac empire, Intis Republic, and the Feynapotter kingdom.
Within the vibrant and lively Oaktree bar, seated on an average table, the mad provoker took a large gulp of his Lanti Proof while examining the newspaper before him.
The date it was printed was Monday 31 of October 1352, which was this very day. His gaze swept its content, which mostly focused on the situation of the Southern Continent colonies, with a few articles focused on the Loen Kingdom, in particular Backlund, the capital of capitals, which was an hour away, on the train from the harbour.
Taste the Sin and Savour delicacies, available to anyone regardless of social class… Hmm, this restaurant has quickly grown beyond East Borough to encompass Backlund itself in a bit over a year… This growth is quite unprecedented, but the Kingdom's tight situation following the war explains this.
Nathael then glanced at another article, causing him to crack a smile. The Spectre ship makes yet another appearance around the Sonia Sea… Hehe, how unprecise. This should've been a headline with my 7000 pound bounty used as the main point instead.
As he inwardly mocked the sloppy attention grab that was the newspaper, he gave glances to various occupied tables, noticing most of the people occupying the tables to be reading the same newspaper. On one table in particular, a tall man with a bald spot and a moustache laughed out loud, reading it.
"These pirate hunters are so sloppy, not being able to take care of that traitor!"
"But I heard said traitor stole the Ghost ship from the now destroyed Earnesti household. Or is it the Spectre ship?"
The man didn't reply to his companion and simply shook his head while forking a piece of sausage and taking a bite from it. While still eating, he spoke. "Earnesti Von Squarell Nathael was supposedly killed by some fledging pirate hunter, who eventually got his head blasted open by another bounty hunter just to claim that sweet bounty."
He shrugged and added. "Too many so-called pirate hunters these days, acting like they're the second coming of the 'Legend.'"
His words caused many, especially the drunkards in the bar, to burst into laughter as Nathael, who had been discussed by them and his companion Étienne smiled while shaking his head.
The Legend, huh? Well, you won't be seeing him for like six more years. Nathael thought of the infamous figure—Gehrman Sparrow, who had quickly become a sensation at sea in recent times.
He then pushed the thought aside and focused on what the man had spoken of before. Indeed. He had died, for some time at least.
Not like that Dawn Paladin could expect me to walk out of the underworld soon after. He shook his head while eating his salad.
Having woken up as a Conspirer, he quickly stabilised his situation and made his corpse's escape look reasonable in a way his bounty hunter wouldn't suspect anything unusual.
Nah. It was too reasonable. So, I'm guessing Klein had something to do with it.
This was the thought he had some time before his tired Astral projection was transported to the mysterious gathering.
The next gathering is tomorrow… I still haven't found an Artisan for that Dawn Paladin Beyonder characteristic. Well, maybe there's a Weapon Master among them… Two days after "waking up," Nathael tracked down, trapped, and killed the Dawn Paladin who had come for his head.
Juliette was the one who hired him… Hehe, promising the Ghost ship too as a reward, apart from my bounty… His ship, simply known as the Ghost ship, was the property of his now destroyed noble household, the Earnesti house. One he himself had burned down.
The Earnesti house was a noble household of the rank of baron, with his father being the head of a family of four. He, as the eldest son, was expected to eventually inherit the title of baron from his father, though he never did.
While I didn't inherit it, I still took over the family's inheritance, as well as its secret weapon. Nathael smiled. He had grown ambitious due to his chance encounter at a ruin, but was never confident in killing his father who was a Reaper compared to him who was then a Pyromaniac.
And who thought the lunatic would die in the war… I can only lament that I couldn't recover his characteristics. Nathael shook his head with a chuckle, a gesture he had made directly after hearing of his father's demise.
Naturally, he had no intention of sharing whatever he could get from the household with his siblings, and thus, he burned the main house, digesting half of his potion, and setting two of his brothers ablaze. He then took over the Ghost ship, which was a secret inheritance only he and his father knew of, and used it to make his own Pirate crew, which debuted as mercenaries during the war.
Father, I and all the others were always quite on the cunning and planning side. Until certain situations occurred and a reckless and crazy side would appear. Sounds quite familiar…
This was something he always contemplated before "transmigrating," but after this, he could deduce his ancestors might have been from the Tudor family, and therefore, he too carried the mad Red Priest's bloodline within him.
Of course, nothing is perfect. For example, Juliette, my dear sister who likely wants me burned at a stake. I wonder what more she has planned for me. He mused as he noticed the rowdy people within the bar grow quiet.
Most of them kept sending glances at a tall, burly man with reddish brown hair, dressed in a refined attire and beside him a man with dark blonde hair sat beside him, both focusing on their meal in silence.
They were—Nathael and Étienne. However, they were fake, and instead, the real ones sat on another end of the bar, with unassuming attires. However, the bar's clientele didn't know that, with some fearing for their life as they had previously mocked this ruthless pirate.
As the air grew still, it was suddenly broken as a man walked in, took out his revolver and aimed "Nathael" who had already thrown the table before him, to cover himself.
Bang! Bang!
Two bullet shots rang through the bar, causing most to not panic too much, and instead assume defensive postures, with some holding on to their guns. Even though this was Pritz Harbour, in recent years, it wasn't uncommon for the pirate's madness to expand to this place.
The shooter clicked his tongue as he rushed out of the bar and into the streets, while "Nathael" and "Étienne" rushed after him.
While all this took place, the actual Nathael brushed his now raven black hair and calmly sipped his drink, while his subordinate—or first mate eyed him curiously.
"You anticipated our pursuers would be some Gerhman Sparrow wannabe?"
Nathael smirked at his first mate's remark and responded. "It's a reasonable deduction, given the bar's name, and the overall atmosphere."
True… It's called Oaktree bar, just like the one in which the Slaughterer Kircheis was killed by that man… Talk about a 1-on-1 reenactment… Étienne chuckled as he heard his captain add. "'The Pirate Hunter's' popularity will keep rising in the upcoming years, so don't be shocked we find more of this kind of people."
The first mate nodded, but then frowned as he asked. "We came all the way here just for this trash? You even had Yargrat lay in ambush some distance away just so the attacker would be captured unharmed."
Nathael reclined on his chair and observed the crowd, who were beginning to calm down, with most having gone outside to take a peek at the pursuit.
This pirate captain seemed lost in thought as he recalled the basic information he had obtained from his intelligence crew on his possible pursuer. Gerhman Sparrow, I know who you really are… Yes, the Baboon "transmigrators" are also here. When I saw that, I thought it might be one of them, and thus I wanted to talk with him…
He then looked at his subordinate. "I'll clear all my warehouses here. We'll go deeper into the sea from now on."
It seems we might also get some sweet advancements with this. Étienne thought in excitement but didn't show it and instead calmly nodded.
He then inwardly wondered. I've already digested the Clown potion, having realised I'll never escape the lackey status with the captain. I wonder how I'll be able to act as a Magician though…
He felt his future, even as a subordinate, was quite bright.