Chapter 283

If there are bandits in the mountains, there are pirates in the sea.

And if bandits have their hideouts, pirates have their ships.

This conversation took place on one such pirate ship sailing the seas.

“Hehehe… Finally, the time has come. We’ve gathered all the funds we need…”

“It’s been a long wait, indeed!”

“Finally, the captain’s dream!”

On the deck of the pirate ship, beneath the mast adorned with a flag bearing the skull of a dragon, gathered a group of rugged men.

Among them, seated at the head, was a red-haired, muscular man with tanned skin.

He smirked sinisterly, rejoicing in the fulfillment of his long-held ambition, while the men around him wore expressions of awe and gratitude, some even shedding tears at their captain’s words.

“Um… Captain?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“But we’re pirates. No matter how long you’ve dreamed of this, isn’t it a bit unrealistic to pursue it now…?”

At that moment, one crew member cautiously raised his hand to voice his opinion.

He carefully, yet firmly, expressed a view contrary to the rest of the crew, including the captain, and the atmosphere on the deck instantly turned icy.

“…”

“…”

“Uh, uh… Why did the mood suddenly…?”

“…You brat! What did you just say?!”

“I-I mean, there’s no need for us to give up our profitable piracy to chase after such a thing…”

The captain’s voice roared with anger.

It was essentially the last chance for the crew member who had voiced dissent.

But instead of realizing it was his final opportunity, the crew member seemed to double down, as if testing the captain’s patience.

“…What did you say? ‘Such a thing’?”

“Isn’t it true? We’re pirates. We should just keep plundering merchant ships and making money like we always have. Why bother with… uh, uh-oh! Captain…?”

Splash!

But the crew member’s words were cut short.

The captain, having heard enough, grabbed him with one hand and tossed him overboard.

“There’s no place on my ship for a man like you.”

“Stupid fool. Always acting like a pathetic opportunist…”

“If you’re lucky, you might swim to shore. That is, if you don’t become food for the ferocious man-eating piranhas in the waters near Leila Harbor.”

“Hehehe. The man-eating piranhas near Leila Harbor love the taste of opportunists…”

Despite their former comrade sinking into the waves, the pirates on deck remained unfazed, coldly watching his fate.

Perhaps it was because the crew member had never been well-liked.

Or maybe it was just the pirates’ inherently ruthless and violent nature.

Only the crew of that pirate ship would know.

“Now, anyone else have objections?”

“None, sir!”

The crew responded in unison to the red-haired captain’s question.

The captain, observing their reactions, smirked confidently and declared:

“Good! Today, we leave behind the life of the Lowdrake Pirate Crew and return to Leila! We will end our lives as pirates and take on new identities! All to achieve our new goal!”

“Finally…!”

“Hehehe… My mouth is watering already.”

“My hands are itching to get started!”

“Ah… Yes. I can’t stop getting excited thinking about cooking them…”

“That’s right! We’ll end our pirate lives and open a restaurant in Leila! And we’ll make it the best in Leila… no, the best in all of Yustia!”

The captain of the Lowdrake Pirate Crew, Drake (aspiring chef), declared boldly.

“Wooohooo!!”

And at the captain’s declaration, the crew—no, the former crew—cheered with gleaming eyes.

It was the day a notorious pirate crew vanished from the waters near Leila.

And it was just a few days before they would cross paths with Kurt and his group.

—

**Boom!!**

A battle axe, as large as a man’s torso, slammed down, piercing through the shell of a monster.

The monster resembled a crab, but its size had been enlarged to that of a human, with thicker, bulkier armor and more violent-looking claws and horns.

“Hoo… That should be all the monsters in the area taken care of.”

“We should tackle the other zones tomorrow. But who would’ve thought we’d be back in Leila in less than half a year…”

“Well, it’s a request, so what can we do?”

Indeed.

The owner of the battle axe was none other than Karina.

And naturally, Mari and Serena were the ones speaking to her.

They had returned to Leila after half a year.

Leila was the coastal city where Kurt, Mari, and Karina had once visited to hunt a Sea Golem.

Just as they had come to Leila to hunt the Sea Golem back then, they had now returned to fulfill a request to exterminate a new monster: the Man-eating Crabs.

The request was to eliminate the Man-eating Crabs that had recently appeared in large numbers around Leila.

Crabs typically appear in late December to February, and the same was true for their monstrous counterparts, the Man-eating Crabs.

But this year, for some unknown reason, the Man-eating Crabs had appeared a month earlier than usual, and some had even ventured beyond Leila’s waters to nearby beaches, threatening the citizens.

Thus, the coastal city of Leila had urgently issued a request to exterminate the Man-eating Crabs, which eventually reached Astram. Upon seeing the word “crab,” Kurt had decided to return to Leila once more.

**Thud!**

**Squelch!**

And so, Karina continued to swing her battle axe, shattering the shells of the Man-eating Crabs one by one, turning the waters near Leila red.

The Man-eating Crabs were clearly a step below the Sea Golem they had faced before.

But their shells were just as tough as the Sea Golem’s armor, if not tougher.

Yet, Karina was breaking through them with ease, unlike her struggle with the Sea Golem.

It was a sign that her skills had continued to grow over the past half year.

“Hoho… How about it, Kurt? My skills?”

“Yeah. You’ve improved a lot since we hunted the Sea Golem.”

“If cooking well is a condition for being a good wife, then preparing ingredients is also part of cooking. In that sense, I feel like I’m getting closer to being a good wife, don’t you think?”

“Uh… I guess?”

Karina looked at Kurt with puppy-dog eyes, as if expecting praise. Kurt, seeing her expression, briefly wondered if smashing monster shells with a battle axe was really fitting for a good wife, but quickly gave up on the thought and awkwardly trailed off.

Perhaps Karina’s dream was still a distant future.

The battle continued smoothly without much tension.

While the Man-eating Crabs were indeed a threat to ordinary people, they posed little danger to Kurt’s party, all of whom were Silver Rank Adventurers.

Karina, Mari, and Serena each dispatched the Man-eating Crabs in their own way, and soon the ferocious crabs that had been preying on humans in Leila’s waters were reduced to piles of meat.

“Well, we’ve taken down most of the monsters we aimed for. Shall we head back to the inn?”

“That sounds good!”

Having easily defeated the Man-eating Crabs, Mari and Serena suggested returning to the inn where Kurt had been staying. While they fought, Kurt had been packaging the crabs for transport, and he nodded in agreement.

“Right. Any more, and it’ll be hard to carry them all. Let’s call it a day.”

“Yay! Let’s eat dinner as soon as we get back!”

“Using the crabs I hunted, of course!”

“Alright! Let’s head back!”

“Good. We’ve got some great ingredients, so we should decide what to cook on the way back.”

Seeing the girls excited to return to the inn after the hunt, Kurt smiled as he imagined what dishes they could make with the Man-eating Crabs. And so, Kurt’s party, each with a cheerful smile, began carrying their defeated prey back to the inn.

—