Chapter 289

Valenciaunos grabbed Tarti with his left hand and stepped towards the edge of the railing.

With just his right hand, he removed the shoes that Tarti was wearing, quickly discovering that an ice pick-style magic tool was attached to the soles.

“As expected, it was like this. From now on, I’ll use it well. Be thankful.”

He removed the ice pick from the shoes of the dead warriors while still holding onto Tarti.

It was a petty act that did not match his noble appearance and superior status.

“Are you still a duke after doing that?”

Sayah Yan raised her voice in shock, and Valenciaunos lifted Tarti like a shield.

“I didn’t permit you to speak. You scoundrel.”

He threw Tarti over the deck railing.

“What did you say her name was? You swung your sword when I asked a question, but I’m not some lowly pirate; I’m a duke of the Empire, so I’ll allow you to say your final words.”

Tarti looked at her ship with a sardonic smile.

“Well… I’m truly grateful.”

Three spirits flew through the sky and breathed fire, and the family’s flagship was burning fiercely.

The warriors who had served him for decades had grown cold, and the crew members sat on the deck with blank expressions.

‘What that blue robe priest said was right. This guy is not human, but a demon.’

Tarti glared at Valenciaunos, tightening her neck.

With a clang, the iron mask that had barely been hanging on his chin shifted inside his helmet, revealing his bare face.

His sharp eyes carried the aura of an admiral.

“You may not believe it, but I was also a noble.”

In an instant, a satisfied smile appeared at the corners of Valenciaunos’s mouth.

‘Yes. I knew it. Now beg for your life. Then I’ll let you live.’

The noble-born private admiral was exactly the talent he was looking for.

“I suspected as much. It wasn’t a magic tool that a mere pirate would carry. Nor could it have been subordinates that a pirate would command. Moreover, the fact that you weren’t trembling before me indicates that you are not of ordinary blood.”

“So, let’s have an honorable beheading—”

However, that talent did not seize his hand.

‘Talking about beheading!’

Valenciaunos ground his teeth.

“To be called a noble in the Empire, there is a condition that is more important than bloodline or inherited territory. To serve His Majesty, His Majesty’s vassals, or serve His Majesty’s betrayal. Only those of the highest bloodline, the sun of the Empire, the Sacred Majesty Himself can be free to serve no one.”

If you serve His Majesty, I will spare your life.

Even after saying that, Tarti continued to glare at Valenciaunos.

Valenciaunos suppressed his boiling emotions.

Having intended to spare her life, it fueled his murderous intent to see her talk of beheading.

“There were only two paths open to you. To die as a noble or to live as the leader of thieves. If you had gritted your teeth and waited for the right moment, perhaps one day you could have returned.”

Whoosh!

The splendid flag hanging off the pirate ship caught fire.

“Your useless pride has tripped you up.”

A look of pity darkened his golden eyes.

Tarti took it as an insult, twisting her body and cursing Valenciaunos.

“Valenciaunos! You too will end up like me! You will also become a noble without a master, just like me!”

Valenciaunos let out a deep sigh, fueling the flames.

‘Let’s capture her first. A bit of pain is nothing compared to oil on a rusty blade.’

“Sure. I heard you well. This is my story fee, so accept it gratefully.”

Whoosh!

The flames followed their master’s will, rising as Tarti’s whole body was engulfed in fire, while Sayah Yan, who had been attempting to ambush Valenciaunos from outside the railing, froze in place.

In that moment, Valenciaunos grinned and released Tarti from his grasp.

Splash!

“Oh dear. My hand slipped.”

He lightly kicked off the deck and jumped onto the assault boat, rescuing Tarti and returning to the Tempesta.

The spirits breathed fire one last time over the ship.

Whoosh!

The pirate ship, now without its master, slowly sank.

* * *

Cariosa sighed deeply as she looked at the debris.

“Valenciaunos. That kind of flagship is worth 9,000 gold coins. With a little fixing, it could have been used as a guard ship or a landing ship.”

“Oh dear. I’m sorry about that.”

“It can’t be helped. You’ll have to pay me back with your body tonight.”

Feigning nonchalance, I asked, “What should we do with this one? He seems like quite a high-ranking pirate, so I brought him along.”

“Let’s just toss him in the sea. I have no intention of negotiating with scum like him. I wouldn’t have said a word if I’d just thrown him overboard….”

“But how about at least letting him live?”

I nervously asked, and fortunately, Cariosa nodded.

“Sure. Since you went through the trouble of bringing him, I’ll at least put him in the prison below deck.”

I sighed in relief and, aside from the ice picks I had claimed for myself, the ones for Lady Trentia and those for Marcus, I handed everything else over to Cariosa.

Knowing how much she hated pirates, guilt pricked at my heart and wouldn’t go away.

Cariosa smiled as if pleased and raised her magic sword, pointing it at the sea.

“Look, Valenciaunos. Naval battles are harder to win than you think.”

About a quarter of the pirates I had burned to death on the water were seen.

For a single spell to have decimated 25% of the enemy forces was a tremendous achievement, but conversely, it meant 75% were still alive, and they hurriedly began to flee back to their own ships.

I narrowed my eyes at the fleet of pirate ships.

“Even after killing that many, it still seems there are more than 120 of them.”

“Ships are sturdier than you think. But still, this is enough. I just got a report.”

“A report?”

A battle mage was perched with a water bird on his arm.

Cariosa read aloud the letter that was likely tied to the water bird’s ankle.

“There are no signs of movement for the diversion operation. Proceed to encirclement and annihilation.”

“Ah.”

In the distance, lights from magical lanterns began to appear on the horizon.

The flag fluttering against a blue background depicted a white shark, accompanied by the sounds of high trumpets and low drums.

Boo-oo-oo!

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Twelve massive battleships, like floating islands, approached, leading the escort vessels from all directions.

The numbers seemed to converge at a point on the clock.

Lady Trentia took a light breath, and Cariosa smiled.

“This is it.”

I asked, watching the imposing flag flutter.

“Aren’t you supposed to keep the identity of your opponent a secret while fishing?”

Cariosa made an oddly embarrassed expression.

“There’s a difference between when you need to stall for time and when you need to sweep everything up. We have their morale to think about as well.”

“Got it. I understand.”

“I want to bite you.”

I nodded as if I understood, and Cariosa poked my side.

In that moment, a tremendous headache overwhelmed me.

Ouch!

“Cough!”

I reflexively grabbed my head and hung onto the railing.

Cariosa laughed before her voice turned serious.

“Your reaction is too good… Valenciaunos?”

I felt something hot and sticky in my hand, and when I pulled it away, blood was dripping over my black gloves.

“Blood?”

Blood was pouring from my nostrils.

That wasn’t all.

My head felt like it was splitting, and I could hear ringing in my ears.

Beeeeep-.

“Duke! What have you done!?”

Clang!

The sound of Lady Trentia drawing her sword could be heard.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s happening?”

“Protect the His Majesty!”

The Eastern knights looked confused as they gazed toward me.

I raised one hand, signaling to Lady Trentia first.

“Lady, it wasn’t the Duke’s doing. It was a stunning timing.”

I teased Cariosa, whose expression looked awkward.

“It’s nothing much. Just… I was a little tired. I’ll rest in the cabin for a bit. Now that the fleet has gathered, I don’t have anything to do, right?”

“Yeah. Just rest for now. I’ll send over priests and mages.”

I could see Cariosa’s pale face struggling to form a relieved smile.

It seemed my teasing hadn’t worked.

I braced myself and slowly made my way to the cabin.

I had no idea what kind of ridiculous situation I was in.

* * *

“Are you awake?”

An unfamiliar voice came to my ears.

It was a gentle yet enchanting voice.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Fortunately, the headache had subsided, but my whole body ached.

I remembered somehow getting into the cabin on my own feet, but nothing beyond that.

“Who are you?”

A soft reply came.

“I’m Laurelai. A vassal of Cariosa and a collateral of Asenorta.”

“Sent by Cariosa, a mage?”

“Yes. My lady, Her Majesty sent me.”

I slowly turned my head to look at him.

He was sitting on a chair next to my bed.

He looked to be around my age, with bright orange hair covering his forehead.

His eyes were the same orange as his hair, with vertical black pupils like Cariosa.

His skin sparkled like scales, and he even had shark teeth.

The difference was that he lacked the aura of a ruler like Cariosa.

He was slender, with thin arms and legs, and his neck was very delicate.

Swallowing unconsciously, I rose.

“Do you know what happened to me?”

The first thing that came to mind was the magic tool’s side effect.

If you approached the flow of mana too closely, which naturally wouldn’t occur, it could lead to problems.

The “invisible hand” gloves given in the Ivory Tower and this uniform made by Jeilliris absorbed into the body, so it wouldn’t be strange to have unexpected side effects.

Laurelai nodded lightly.

“I specialize in mental magic. Neither the priest nor the life magician could lay a hand on you, your Majesty.”

I furrowed my brow.

This was a far more serious situation than a magic tool’s side effect.

“Mental? You mean I’m insane?”

Laurelai waved his hand.

“No, not that. It’s more physical. It’s a strange expression, but yes. Um, would it be accurate to say that your body and mind aren’t matching? This is the side effect of the process of adjusting them. Have you perhaps consumed a high-grade elixir like ‘Eternal Life’ recently? It’s a change in your very being.”

“Ah.”

I sighed softly.

“Uh, I really ate anything I could find.”

There were many possibilities that came to mind.

Majesty’s grace, Eternal Life, Dragon’s Praise, Spirit Essence implantation, absorption of foreign power through purification of fire, Cuith Az absorption…

I had certainly vowed to practice neatly and reach that level, but somehow it had ended up like this.

Laurelai sighed.

“I can make you comfortable, but ultimately it’s a problem that time can resolve. Your soul also needs time to adjust to the body. For a while, you mustn’t overdo it. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise?”

Laurelai spoke pointedly.

“The soul might not be able to adjust properly and may get fractured. It must seep into the body while preserving human nature, and if that part gets fractured… in the worst-case scenario, you could become a shell.”

I slowly nodded.

As I listened, I had a hunch.

It seemed that amplifying my powers using the shard of Az had put a significant strain on me.

That was really changing my body with a substance that hadn’t even existed in this world.

My soul must have screamed.

Laurelai reached out to me.

His hand looked very small and fragile.

“If I know how your body has changed, I can offer you even greater help. Will you let me peek into your heart for a moment?”

After hesitating for a moment, I absorbed the invisible hand gloves and extended my left hand.

Mages who handle souls are incredibly rare and vulnerable to corruption.

The fact that he remained sane demonstrated his abilities.

Clutch.

Laurelai took hold of my hand with one and my wrist with the other.

His grip was stronger than I had expected.

“You might feel a bit dizzy for a moment.”

He blushed slightly as he spoke, and the next instant, a white light flashed.

Flash!

And then everything in front of my eyes turned pitch black.

“Cough, cough!”

As if I had been directly hit by a powerful destructive spell, all strength drained from my body and my limbs trembled.

I could hardly even breathe.

“Yo, you. This, dammit…! Is this what you call dizzy?”

I barely managed to raise my head, feeling as if I was about to vomit blood.

“What’s wrong? Why is your expression like that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Laurelai’s face was contorted with concern and fear.

His shark teeth clicked together, his pupils dilated infinitely, and his face was devoid of any color.

The expression I must have had when witnessing a colossal foreign object during the capital’s capture incident was likely just like that.

* * *

“You’re quite capable. But you’re oddly timid and reserved for our family. Well, in fact, those who deal with souls and minds are like that. You know it too. Being able to see people’s hearts means you’re likely to be disappointed in them. That disappointment can manifest cynically in some, or defensively in some like him.”

I was invited into Cariosa’s cabin.

To be precise, it was one of her four cabins.

The maids approached and filled a large cypress wooden tub with hot water.

Steam billowed, making it hard to see inside the cabin.

The refreshing scent of cypress made me want to jump right in.

“Feeling stiff? Come in and warm up.”

Cariosa suggested sweetly in a low voice.

But I had to address an important part before taking action.

“I have two questions. Why is there only one tub?”

Cariosa laughed enticingly and replied.

“Because the cabin is too small to fit two of this size? What’s your second question?”

“Why can’t I see your shoulder straps?”

She slowly lifted her head to meet my gaze.

Her hands, shoulders, and neck, wet, shone like opals.

“So, are you not getting in?”