Badge in Azure

Chapter 246: The Migration Plan (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In reality, Saleen really wanted to stay on the alchemical boat, but he could not trust the pirates. With Daniel's help, all of the pirates had signed contracts and become his warriors, but the validity of the contracts depended on whether Daniel was alive. If Daniel, the contract maker, were to die, then the contracts would be invalidated together with the disappearance of Daniel's soul.

Saleen came to his captain's room. Sika ordered the pirates to go back to their set positions, and brought Jupiter to Saleen.

Jupiter asked uneasily, "Sir, do you really want to sail at night?"

"What's the matter? The weather is fine now."

"Many folks are from the Cloudflow Empire and they think that it is unlucky to sail at night. What about waiting one more night?" Jupiter's yellow beard trembled, and he was afraid that Saleen would become angry. It was hard to predict a mage's temper. Although Saleen had been quite nice to the pirates during recent times, he did not think that Saleen respected them.

"Really? Cloudflow people have this kind of tradition?" Saleen kept it in mind after hearing this.

"It's not so much a tradition. It is said that when the King of Pisa was on the run, he set sail at night and was murdered by his men. Thus, the people of Cloudflow began to stick to this habit," Jupiter said cautiously. Saleen looked at this yellow-bearded pirate, and did not think he was rude.

"Jupiter, are you educated?"

"Yes, sir. I was a mage apprentice for some time," Jupiter answered honestly, despite feeling ashamed.

"Really? Then how did you become a pirate?" Saleen became interested. Jupiter's words were logical, and he could write and had good management skills. However, Saleen had not expected for him to have once been a mage apprentice.

"An accident occurred when my teacher was hunting magic beasts. He died because of magic backdraft and left nothing behind. I had no one for guidance and had no money, and then became a swordsman trainee. After learning swordcraft for several years, I stopped my cultivation out of a lack of money and joined a mercenary team. My first task was an operation at sea, and pirates robbed the employer's ship. I was captured by them and stayed because I was never ransomed. I began in the team as a sailor and worked as one for ten years. It was just like this…"

"Where are you from?"

"From Kosan Prefecture, sir."

"You are from Loulan then. Loulan is at war now. Do you want to go back? If you do, you may be able to dispel your identity and become a swordsman for your empire again."

"Sir, I have no relatives in Loulan anymore." Jupiter lowered his head and whispered, "Am I a person with no ambition? Actually, I could have left these pirates years ago. I saved a few hundred gold coins secretly and put them in the imperial bank, but I don't want to leave the folks on the ship."

Jupiter was in his thirties now, and when he said those words to Saleen, he spoke as though he were a young man confiding to an elder. Saleen did not find this attitude wrong. He had more knowledge than Jupiter, and his status was much higher than his as well.

"Do you want to learn magic again?" Saleen asked Jupiter all of a sudden.

"Of course I do!" Jupiter looked up at Saleen, then bowed his head quickly, and said, "But I am already in my thirties now, without any hope for the rest of my life. Besides, I am now an intermediate swordsmaster with a bit of success with the sword aura. If I practice magic again, I cannot attain magic chords anymore."

"Magic chords are not necessary as long as you can learn to memorize magic. That was only level-0 magic. Your mental power did not regress, did it?"

"No, sir. Every time I had trouble going to sleep, I used the method of meditation which my teacher taught me."

"Well, Jupiter, even if you want to learn magic again, I cannot accept you as my student. My teacher would kill me if he knew that I accepted a pirate as my student. Don't mind this boat anymore. I will have someone else take care of it for you."

"Sir!"

"Don't worry. If you follow me, I will find a teacher for you and teach you senior-grade swordcraft. As for magic, I'll need you to memorize a lot of knowledge."

Jupiter became excited. He was quite talented but had run into bad luck, now being a man over thirty-five who did not have any achievements. Saleen's words meant that he intended to get him promoted.

"Jupiter, the things I will want you to do in the future will be very dangerous. You need to think it over. I won't force you to do anything."

"Sir, I… I!" Of course Jupiter was well aware that the things Saleen would want him to do would be dangerous, but what was not? His daily sailing and robbing of merchant ships had also been dangerous. Sometimes escorts would sail far behind and would appear only when pirates did.

He had not lived a single day in this position without risking his life. Pirates could be killers, but they were by no means dominant over the seas. Mercenaries could also be killers, and they could kill pirates and claim rewards over their heads. This was what mercenaries on the sea enjoyed doing the most.

"I just want you to understand. You will have many ships in the future, and when to set sail will not be for you to decide. So, do not mind those people from Cloudflow. Now, set sail."

"Daniel, go with Jupiter. If someone disobey your orders, handle the situation as you please."

"Yes sir."

Daniel was extremely reluctant to carry out Saleen's orders. As a death mage, he was extremely angry that he had to deal with a group of despicable pirates, but he could not disobey Saleen's orders. He held wrath in his chest and hoped that there would be a pirate who could not see the situation clearly. If one disobeyed orders, they would be the punching bag to ease his wrath.

"We can finally relax a little bit, Sika. Let's go up and take a look."

"Up?"

"Well, the watchtower." Saleen smiled and pulled Sika out of the cabin.

Saleen sent those pirates who had been taking care of him away. He did not really want to be the captain of a pirate ship. Saleen and Sika went to the rear deck. The design of this pirate ship was different from that of most standard warships. The watchtower was actually a deputy mast with a small upper platform.

They came to the mast and Sika was about to climb up, making use of her agile hands and feet. Saleen stopped her and said, "No need for that."

As he spoke, Saleen cast his unique Flying spell, and black clouds enveloped his and Sika's bodies. The clouds were chilly. Saleen had grown accustomed to this coldness, but Sika was not and yelped because of it. The stream of air formed by the water vapor wrapped Sika and Saleen together and rose up. Then, Sika adapted to the cool water vapor.

Saleen did not know that this vapor, different from an enchanted magic shield, would penetrate through Sika's clothes and armor directly. The flowing vapor felt like numerous hands were touching Sika's skin, and those hands were cold like those of a zombie.

Once their feet had touched the floor after arriving at the watchtower, Saleen scattered the cloud. With the sea winds blowing and the stars twinkling, the vast view visible at this height made people relaxed and happy.

"Sit down," said Saleen, seating himself against the railing. The platform was only one-meter wide and seemed crowded with two people on it, leaving no room for a third.

Sitting against Saleen, Sika blushed and asked Saleen in his ear, "What are we doing up here?"

Turning his head, Saleen said in Sika's ear, "Being prepared to escape. I feel anxious staying in the cabin."

"Escape?" Sika cried out. The sea wind carried her voice to a distance, and Saleen stopped her in a hurry.

"Lower your voice. The only kind of ship we can run into will be that of an enemy. We don't have a magic compass, and Lex did not make a second. It's really…"

Sika lowered her voice and said in Saleen's ear, "How will you contact Lex? I know there is a magic sound array, but it is in her ship. It isn't easy to transmit sound, is it?"

"Well, Sika. In any case, if there is danger, I will take you and run. Now that Daniel isn't afraid of water, going down by himself shouldn't be a problem. "

"So we just sit here?" Sika looked around and found that none of the working pirates were looking up, and the pan's turtle alchemical boat dragged behind the ship was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that only her and Saleen were left in this vast space.

"Yes. You are not afraid of this hardship, right?"

"I'm not afraid, just a little bit cold," said Sika, burying her body in Saleen's arms.

Saleen's demonic mage robes were not close to his skin, so he could not feel the coldness of the sea. The grey magic robe he was wearing was Lex's, and it was set at a comfortable temperature. Seeing Sika feeling cold, Saleen untied his magic robe and wrapped Sika inside.

"Everything will be fine. I'm guessing we're one thousand and five hundred miles away from land. Although the ship is slow, it will take ten days at most to arrive if our direction is correct."

Ten days?

Sika lowered her head. Am I going to stay here for ten days with Saleen? Not bad.

"Saleen, can Lex and the others stand staying ten days under the sea?"

Hearing this, Saleen become somewhat worried. If I leave Nailisi and Lex to spend ten days on their own, will they cause any trouble for me?

"Don't worry about them, Sika. A long time has already passed since I've apologized to you."

"Saleen, what are you talking about?"

"I never asked you about your plans for the future, Sika…" Saleen suddenly did not know how to continue his words. He had always thought about the futures of others, except for Sika's. Sika was close to him, but she had also been forgotten by him.

"Future. Haha, Saleen, have you lost your mind? I'm Caucasian. I don't need to think that far ahead. I will become a warrior priest for now. Even if you don't need me, I can always go back and become the leader of the village."

Leader of the village? Saleen felt discouraged after hearing Sika's hopes for the future.

"Sika, although the Caucasus region has difficult terrain and a harsh environment, it won't be left alone once war completely breaks out. If the Holy See takes over the entirety of Loulan, it will certainly deal with the Caucasus region. Have you ever thought about moving your village away?"

"To the beach? Saleen, few Caucasians have become good sailors," Sika said with a somewhat depressed mood. She felt that Saleen was a little bit lost in his pursuit for unrealistic power. He wants the village to migrate. Has he taken a fancy to the fighting strength of the Caucasus people?

Saleen felt Sika's body stiffen in his arms, and with his sharp mind, instantly knew Sika's thoughts. Saleen laughed aloud, rubbed Sika's hair, and cast a Cleaning spell for her after noticing that she had not washed her hair for several days.

"I'm just afraid that you won't be at ease following me, so I thought of migrating your village to a safe place. I did not accept those one thousand swordsmen that Lex promised me. How could I ask your friends to fight a meaningless battle?"

Sika's body softened, and then she whispered, "Then, what are you going to do?"