Duke Pendragon

Woosh!

The red waves swept the bodies of the pirates to the beach.

Hundreds of the 7th regiment soldiers lined up around Viscount Moraine, and the freed rowers glanced at the soldiers and orcs with eyes full of fear and tension.

“Let the land and sea be split! I thought I would get a chance to warm up coming all this way…”

Karuta muttered in a grumpy voice. Far from being heroic, Karuta had even lost the battle against the seasickness. In reality, he had not even realized that battles had been fought until now.

However, he didn’t seem overly upset because the battle had been against humans, and not the island orcs. Karuta and the Ancona Orcs wanted to battle against every orc tribe in the islands to prove that they were the best orcs in the world, not waste their time against weak humans.

“All stand!”

“Thud!”

The 7th regiment soldiers stood at attention at Isak’s shout. A group was slowly walking through the sands, and awe filled the eyes of the freed rowers when they saw the person at the forefront. It was a young man in a deep blue naval uniform with two swords at his waist, standing slightly in front of the knight who led the griffons.

He was Duke Pendragon, the man who had brought hell upon the pirates and salvation to the liberated rowers.

“…that is everything.”

“Okay. Good work.”

“I have only done my duty as the sword of His Imperial Majesty.”

After completing the battle report, Viscount Moraine gave a military salute and moved to stand in front of Raven.

“Then, bring him.”

“Yes, governor-general!”

Raven turned his head and spoke, and the soldiers brought forth two men from the group of pirates that were bound and on their knees. They were John Myers, the captain of the Winter Storm Pirates, and the Pufferfish Yusuf, henchman of Toleo Arangis.

“Keuk!”

When the soldiers violently forced them to their knees, Yusuf groaned and bowed his head. But John Myers raised his face with calm eyes.

His gaze met Raven’s.

The pirate captain maintained a calm attitude, but his eyes seemed to be devoid of something.

‘Hmm?’

Raven was a little surprised.

It was not the attitude of a man standing in front of death.

‘Now that I see it…’

He had seen people with the same eyes in the past.

All of them had been imperial knights of the great territories. They were able to escape the death penalty due to their status, and had been sentenced to serve in the demonic army instead.

After noticing the subtle fact, Raven nodded inwardly and moved his sight.

Viscount Moraine informed him in a quiet voice.

“Aile Yusuf. He is called the Pufferfish. A black marketer and a known close associate of Toleo Arangis.”

“Hmm..”

Even though he had his head lowered, Yusuf shivered when he felt Raven’s cold gaze head towards him.

“Listen well. Your fate will depend on how you answer the first question.”

Yusuf became startled by Raven’s words and raised his head. He had resolved himself to vicious torture, but now he saw a ray of hope from the young duke’s words.

Raven continued while staring into Yusuf’s eyes. Faint expectations could be seen.

“How close are you to Toleo Arangis?”

“…..!”

Yusuf’s eyes shook greatly.

It was a simple question at first glance, but it held many meanings.

‘Depending on how I answer here, my future will be decided!’

Yusuf made a quick judgement.

“I am his right arm! No one knows more about Toleo Arangis than I, your excellency! Just ask me anything!”

Yusuf answered instantly, filling his face with the most pitiful smile he could muster. He could feel the cold sweat soaking his body.

When Raven looked down at him, Yusuf could make out a faint smile on the young man’s face.

‘Ah, as I thought, I can liv…’

“I feel bad for Toleo Arangis. Imagine having a guy like this as his right arm.”

“Ye, yes?”

Raven continued with an even icier voice at the puzzled Yusuf.

“Just die.”

“…..!”

Yusuf became shocked.

At that moment, Isla took one step forward. A flash of line drew a short line.

Slice.

Yusuf’s thick neck fell onto the sand with open eyes.

Thud.

The severed neck became half-buried in the sand, and the area was soon dyed red. His fat, headless body also slowly fell forward.

Shoosh!

After lightly shaking off the blood from the sword, Isla sheathed his blade.

“…..!”

Everyone was shocked at the instantaneous turn of events, and Viscount Moraine stepped up.

“Your Excellency, Aile Yusuf was a close associate of Toleo Arangis. Would it not have been better to try and find out some information about their fleet?”

Raven shook his head at the regretful words of Viscount Moraine.

“I was going to, but it was unnecessary.”

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“Even dogs do not bite the hand that feeds them. But the self-proclaimed right hand man sells out his master as soon as he opens his mouth? Do you think any truth would come out of his mouth?”

“Ah…”

Viscount Moraine’s mouth opened slightly in understanding.

“And I have already informed you, haven’t I? That you would not need to worry about the fleet of Toleo Arangis.”

“Hm…”

“Their fleet will be reduced to less than half.”

When he recalled the words of Raven on Isu Island, Moraine nodded.

“Now, then…”

Raven shifted his gaze slightly. John Myers was still kneeling, but his expression remained impassive even though the person next to him had been beheaded.

“Are you John Myers?”

“That’s right.”

“How impudent…”

Isla’s eyebrows wriggled at the man’s rude attitude, and he started to take a step forward. Raven raised a hand to stop him, then continued in a cold voice.

“Attacking imperial merchant ships, murder and looting, confinement and forced labor… These are the charges against you. Do you accept them?”

“I have attacked merchant ships, but I have never killed anyone unless they were hostile to me. And plundering is the right of pirates, and all with status have been released for a ransom. Anyways, how much is the bounty on my head now?”

John Myers answered in a nonchalant manner, even flashing a smile with his last words. Even Viscount Moraine’s expression distorted at the man’s attitude.

But Raven replied with a smile of his own.

“1,000 gold coins, dead or alive.”

“Dammit! It’s still only that much…”

Raven felt flabbergasted at the murmurings of John Myers. A thousand gold coins were a huge sum of money that ordinary people could not collect, even after decades of effort.

“And your words are somewhat ambiguous as well. Never mind the other accusations, but I have never forced labor on those captured ever since I became captain.”

“What…?”

Raven turned his head towards Viscount Moraine with a slight frown as if asking for an answer. Viscount Moraine responded with a shrug.

“Well, I am not entirely sure either.”

“Hmm…”

After stroking his chin, Raven shouted towards the group of hundreds of rowers that were next to the 7th regiment soldiers.

“Over there! Any one of you, come this way!”

The rowers started to murmur at the sudden calling. However, a representative soon came rushing over.

“I, I greet the great Duke of Pendrag…”

“Enough with the greetings.”

Raven continued towards the man who kowtowed in the sand.

“Who were the ones that captured you and forced you into labor?”

“The R, red Skull, Your Excellency.”

“Hm, how about the others?”

“All of them were captured by the Red Skull or the Zagielka pirates, Y, your Excellency! We just wanted to live… I heard that you would be killed unless you did as the pirates said…”

Regardless of the reason, the rower had ultimately aided the pirates. He begged while bowing and rubbing his hands together. Tears and snot soaked his face.

“I already know. Do not worry about what will happen to you.”

Raven did not intend to hold accountable those who were forcibly taken and lived lives worse than slaves. Furthermore, all of them had been ordinary fishermen and sailors before they were captured as rowers.

“T, thank you for your mercy! Your Excellency!”

The rower had been worried about his future. He had thought that he would become a slave for the Pendragon Duchy at best, and now he bowed his head and shed tears of joy. The others seemed to have had similar thoughts, as they cheered and praised Duke Pendragon in tandem.

“Hurrah! Bless His Excellency the Duke of Pendragon!”

“May the goddess of the sea bless you! Heavens guide you!”

Raven raised his hand slightly to calm the rowers, then turned back to John Myers.

“Well, I guess that part may be true. Then I will ask you one more question. Where are the crew members of the ships that you and the Winter Storm Pirates looted?”

“They are right in front of you.”

“Hmm?”

Raven narrowed his eyes.

That meant…

“Are you saying that those pirates over there are the sailors?”

“That is right. More than half.”

Raven looked at the kneeling pirates with an interested expression. He had been ignorant until a moment ago, but now that he took a closer look, the pirates’ expressions were different from any prisoners he had seen.

Even though they were frightened, they did not appear servile.

‘Hmm.’

After inwardly nodding his head, Raven raised his voice with a solemn expression.

“I hereby order as the Governor-General of Leus, as a representative of His Majesty. Those of you who were forced into joining piracy, get up. With the authority given to me as the governor-general of the empire, I will spare you from the death penalty. However, if you lie, you will become shark food.”

“Your Excellency…!”

Viscount Moraine became surprised at the unexpected remark.

It was clear that all of them would declare themselves to have been forced regardless of the future consequences. If they lied and did not get caught, they would be able to live.

“…..!’

The pirates showed an even larger shock at Raven’s words. They murmured with each other with widened eyes.

“Quiet! Be quiet!”

The pirates shrunk at the shouts of an imperial knight. But even after a while, not a single pirate stood up.

“Hooh…”

Viscount Moraine stroked his chin with a look of surprise.

“I told you.”

John Myers laughed before continuing.

“I told them to catch fish on the island and farm, but how could I stop them when they insisted? It is the same with the others as well. Those who used to be pirates elsewhere gathered on their own.”

“Hmm, certainly, the Winter Storm Pirates have grown rapidly in recent years.”

Viscount Moraine chimed in, and Raven looked down at John Myers with a hint of wonder.

“Then where are the others who are not a part of your crew?”

“I told you, didn’t I? They are farming and fishing on the islands I occupied.”

John Myers responded as if it was the most obvious thing, and Raven turned to the other pirates.

“Are his words true?”

Despite Raven’s question, the pirates glanced around and did not answer easily.

“The governor is asking!”

Nearby soldiers shouted, and a few hurriedly raised their voices.

“I, it is true! The older men and women are all living on the island!”

“Captain said he would let me go, but I chose not to! I don’t know about the nobility, but all the commoners remained behind on the island! I even have a wife and children on the island too!”

“Huh?”

Viscount Moraine displayed shock at the surprising answer.

Raven also sank into thought with narrowed eyes at the unexpected story.

“Good.”

Raven spoke while slowly looking around.

“I will hold off on your judgements until I can verify the authenticity of your stories.”

“Well, governor-general, do you mean to just leave them be?”

Viscount Moraine spoke.

“It will be fine. We will be back in two days, and they will not be able to leave the island without a ship. There is nowhere to run anyways, the waters are teeming with so many sharks.”

“But if we want to keep a watch over them, the troops…”

Even if Toleo Arangis’ troops had really been halved, they were a powerful enemy. They could not afford to leave any troops behind.

But despite Viscount Moraine’s worries, Raven answered with a grin.

“I was wondering what you were worried about. If we want to keep a watch over them, we have plenty of bodies over there, don’t we?”

“What?”

Viscount Moraine turned his head at Raven’s gesture.

“Ah…!”

Hundreds of freed rowers caught the eyes of Viscount Moraine.