Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter III: Divine Punishment

The ocean spread out in all directions, stretching as far as the eye could see. And in the middle of that vast expanse sat a tiny island. Not a natural one, but one made entirely of wood. More specifically, it was an island made by chaining a number of large ships together. Some ships were old while others were new, but they were all connected to each other with the same uniform metal poles. Wooden ladders spanned the space between decks, allowing people to move from boat to boat without going through the water.

Roughly 20 ships made up the entirety of this artificial island. They’d been arrayed in a grid formation, with all their sails removed. The empty masts had been converted into walkways, creating a second story to the island. The pathways connecting masts were lined with ropes on which laundry was hung out to dry. Most of the ships’ decks were stacked high with household goods such as soap, cleaning supplies, and the like. The whole island was bustling with activity; women chatted with each other as they went about their errands while men repaired the ships’ hulls or trained in the various combat arenas. Crow’s nests were filled with those on break, most of whom were smoking long tobacco pipes. People of all ages and races mingled freely with each other.

It was this island village that served as the Melusine Pirate Crew’s operating base. Incidentally, the reason Meiru had named her crew Melusine was because the word meant “master of the stormy seas” in a local dialect, and it was the name of the very first ship they’d commandeered. Most pirate crews took on the family name of their captain, but most dagons didn’t possess family names to begin with. Since Meiru hadn’t had a family name to name her crew after, someone had suggested naming themselves after their ship, and the idea had stuck. Though most of the ship island was peaceful, there was one section near the end that was filled with suffering. Twitching bodies lined the deck, their agonized screams forming a chorus of the damned.

“Curse you, you vixen! How dare you!”

One of the men with a bit of life left in him howled in rage. He got to his feet, picked up his cutlass, and charged. Meiru’s gentle smile didn’t even falter as she watched him approach.

“My, someone’s lively.”

She moved her right hand slightly. A whip of water appeared out of nowhere and lashed the man’s cheek.

“Bwaah!?”

The force of the blow sent the man spinning backward. He performed a beautiful triple axel as he turned, more on accident than anything. Once he finished his revolutions the man collapsed onto the ship’s deck, exhausted. He’d been forced to continue this one-sided fight since dawn. The man sprawled out onto the ground and started to bawl his eyes out. Meiru looked down at him with a gaze filled with mercy and said, “My, how pathetic. To think you’d start crying after only a morning’s worth of fighting. You should be ashamed of yourself, you worthless pig.”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Though her tone was gentle, Meiru’s words were scathing. Unable to bear her berating, the man completely broke down.

“It’s been eight hours, you know. Normally anyone would start crying after being forced to fight for that long without a break. Especially since you kept restoring him every time he got beat up just so you could do it again.” Miledi muttered quietly as she watched from the circular observation platform on the mast directly above Meiru’s torture grounds. Next to her, Oscar watched with the same stiff expression.

“She’s a pirate alright. No one else would torture their captives like that. It’s just scary because she looks so gentle while doing it...”

“Indeed. She resembles a saint in appearance, but only in appearance. Women are terrifying...”

“Hey, Nacchan. Please don’t put me, the very incarnation of cute, in the same category as Meru-nee.”

“You’re pretty terrifying yourself, you know that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Miledi turned to Naiz, pouting. Chris smiled ruefully as he listened Miledi and the others discuss Meiru’s sadistic streak. He had a cigar in his mouth, which accentuated his rugged good looks.

“Well, I get where you kids are coming from. But this is something we’ve gotta do, so don’t judge the cap’n too harshly for this.”

Oscar adjusted his glasses and thought back to what they’d told him last night.

“Because this is how you haze all the new members of your crew, right? No wonder all the pirates the Ghost Ship attacked vanished.”

“So you press-gang all the pirates you capture into your own crew? I guess it makes sense that Meru-nee has to teach them who’s boss before letting them join...”

Indeed, the men scattered across the ship’s deck were the former Brayed pirates Meiru had captured last night. In order to incorporate them into the Melusine Pirate Crew, Meiru was in the process of fixing their rotten personalities via a rather harsh training regime. Naturally, some pirates were rotten to the core, and those Meiru couldn’t rehabilitate, she released. She’d put the incorrigible pirates on a small boat and send them off to sea. If they were lucky, they made it back home alive. Meiru’s crew was neither a police force nor a peacekeeping one. Naturally, they had no interest in judging criminals. If someone was too evil to let into their crew, they let the ocean judge their fate.

“I’m amazed you can trust your new comrades after torturing them like that, though. Aren’t you worried some of them are only pretending to be one of the crew while secretly waiting for a chance to get revenge?”

Naiz’s question was a valid one. In response, Chris jerked his chin toward where the Brayed pirates lay.

“Just kill me already, you bitch! End it, damn you! I know you’re not planning on letting me leave alive anyway!”

The sobbing man desperately pleaded for death. Meiru’s smile vanished, replaced by a troubled expression. She walked over and squatted next to the sobbing man. Then she gently patted him on the head. “Huh?” he mumbled, confused. Meiru’s saintlike smile returned, and she caressed the desperate man’s cheek.

“Everything will be alright, don’t worry.”

She cast a healing spell on the pirate.

“I know it was tough, but you really hung in there.”

“Y-Yeah? Wait, what?”

Meiru enveloped the pirate in a loving embrace, healing him in both body and mind. Though he was confused, the man was too overjoyed at being freed from hell to give Meiru’s actions much thought.

“You’re such a brave, strong man. Why did you turn to piracy?”

“Huh? So... So I could feed myself obviously. Why else would anyone become a pirate?”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened to you? Maybe I can help.”

Meiru healed the other pirates lying sprawled on the deck as well. They, too, were confused by her sudden kindness but they still obediently told her the story of how they became pirates. She listened to their tale with a sympathetic ear, and when they finished gave them the most benevolent smile Miledi had ever seen.

The effect was multiplied by the fact that Meiru happened to be quite a beautiful young woman. Her looks alone were enough to captivate the pirates. The combination of her saintlike demeanor and stunning looks was more than enough to move the simpleminded pirates to tears. Once she was sure she had them in the palm of her hand, Meiru’s expression grew stern and she declared, “Listen up, you louts. Join my family and be saved!”

“Huh? Wait, where’d that come from!?”

The pirate who’d hung on for longer than the others asked the question all his men were thinking. Meiru smiled again and replied, “You have nowhere else to go, do you not? Or do you have a home to return to?”

“W-Well...”

The Brayed Pirates had fled to Andika because they’d had nowhere else to go. And they’d found even the city wasn’t welcoming to them so they’d headed out to sea and become pirates. But now that their ship had been destroyed and their crew subjugated, they had nowhere to return to. The men turned to each other with despondent looks. Before they could discuss their options, Meiru spread her arms wide and added, “In that case, why not let me look after you? If you join my family, then you’ll be able to live together with us. And even if it turns out you don’t like it here, you are free to leave at any time. I promise I won’t be harsh on you anymore. And if the time ever comes that you want to leave, I’ll even send you back to Andika.”

“I-I know you’re up to something, bitch! There’s no way you’d make an offer like this if there wasn’t something in it for you!”

His men nodded in agreement. They weren’t used to being treated with kindness, so their suspicion was natural. However, Meiru’s smile just grew deeper and she said, “This place is a haven for those who’ve lost everything.”

There didn’t have to be anything in it for Meiru, that was just what kind of place this island was. That’s the angle Meiru used in her attempt to convince the pirates. Seeing the men falter, she pushed even harder.

“Also.. .if you ever manage to defeat me, you’ll be able to make both me and the Melusine Pirate Crew yours.”

“Ah!” The men gulped. Not only would they become leaders of a huge pirate crew, but they’d also be able to do whatever they wanted with the beauty in front of them. She was already offering to look after them, but if they beat her in a fight they could get to know her on an even more intimate level. All thoughts of refusing fled from the pirates’ minds.

“My, how wonderful! I always love watching my family grow. Now then, let’s all share a meal to commemorate your inauguration.”

The moment she said that, members of her crew started bringing out food. This had obviously all been planned. The pirates hadn’t eaten since last night, and their eyes lit up at the prospect of a proper meal. The leader of the Brayed Pirates bowed his head and said, “Th-Thank you for your kindness, Ane-san.”

With that, the lunch banquet began.

“There you have it.”

Chris’ words brought Miledi and the others back to their senses. Shivering, they voiced their thoughts on the spectacle they’d just witnessed.

“A-Am I the only one who thinks that’s a pretty nasty way to brainwash someone?”

“Not at all, Miledi. I was just thinking the same thing.”

“I-I knew it, women are terrifying...”

First, Meiru had cornered the pirates by showing them the overwhelming difference in strength between them, then given them a tantalizing out. She really was a master of the carrot and the stick. She could be cruel when necessary, but she could also be sympathetic, kind, and understanding. She’d insidiously wormed her way into the pirates’ minds, planting into their heads the idea that they really had nowhere else to go. Finally, to seal the deal, she’d fed them right after they’d agreed, showing off how they were comrades who’d eat and live together from now on. She had such a good grasp of their thought processes that she’d effectively brainwashed them.

“Those guys look like the type that’ll get carried away and try something stupid before long. But even if they do, Meiru’ll just repeat this whole process again. Mark my words, she’ll have those poor saps licking her boots in a month.”

“God that’s scary.”

“Give it a few more months, and they’ll be as trustworthy comrades as the rest of our crew is.”

The truly terrifying thing about Meiru’s modus operandi was that she really did care about her men. She’d never abandon them, she was always there to listen to their worries, and she made sure they always had enough to eat. It was because of that everyone who joined realized that her family really was the best home for them. That was why no one tried to betray her after they’d lived with her for a while. In the end, it was a win-win situation for both sides, so there wasn’t anything really that wrong about it either.

“Women are scary... Women are scary...”

“P-Pull yourself together Nacchan! Sue-chan’s not... okay she’s scary for a different reason but... dammit, how come there aren’t any normal girls around Nacchan!?”

“Miledi, you realize that was a self-own, right?”

Naiz didn’t even respond to Miledi’s comment. He just looked down with dead eyes, wishing he’d never left his cave. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Oscar turned to Chris and changed the topic. Incidentally, Oscar had initially been a lot more polite to Chris since the rugged pirate was older, but Chris had said pirates didn’t care about manners so Oscar had taken to being more casual with him.

“By the way Chris, I’ve noticed a lot of the people living here don’t look like pirates. Hell, there’s kids and stuff too. Where’d they all come from?”

“Oh, most of those guys were with us when we first made this place. Some of the others came here because they couldn’t live in Andika any longer, or were abandoned. Oh, and a few of the kids were born here.”

According to Chris, Meiru had been born in one of Andika’s outer districts. She’d lost her parents at the tender age of 10 and had been forced to eke out a living on the streets. She’d instinctively been able to use magic from a young age, so she’d spent most of her days healing the less fortunate residents and protecting them from thugs and the like.

“But, well, once word got out that her healing magic wasn’t just any healing magic, things got difficult for her back in the city. By the time that happened, we’d gotten as close as family. We had a goal in mind already, so all us louts from the slums decided to go to sea together with Meiru.”

Oscar’s ears perked up at the word “goal.” He asked what exactly Chris was talking about, but the old man just shrugged his shoulders and gave a non-response.

“Ask Meiru if you’re curious.”

He looked down at Meiru, who was enjoying the banquet together with her new family, and at that moment he resembled a father proudly watching his daughter.

“Frankly speaking, Meiru’s got one shitty personality. She looks like an angel but she’s actually a sadist. And whenever things don’t go her way she tries to play them off with that poker face smile of hers, but she actually sucks at planning. I can’t believe I got saddled with such an airheaded tomboy.”

Chris grinned.

“When all’s said and done though, she’s a kind lass at heart. Her mum taught her to never abandon family, and she’s lived by that principle her whole life. That’s why we work so hard to protect her. It’s why even scum of the earth like us trust her.”

So she takes in all the people who can’t survive in the dog-eat-dog world of Andika, and even rehabilitates the pirates who aren’t too far gone... Though she’d only had 40 followers with her at the start, her hidden base now had close to 500 people living in it. At first, she’d only had 10 or so capable fighters, including Chris and Kyaty, but now her pirate armada was 200 men strong. Her floating island lay directly above an underwater volcanic range, meaning it was teeming with life. Dagons and anyone who could use magic could easily go diving for seafood and other resources. While it was difficult to procure things like spices, clothes, and other household goods, the island’s residents didn’t have to worry about starving at least. A few kilometers out, the ocean’s underwater geography caused violent changes in the ocean’s current, creating a zone of whirlpools and maelstroms. Those familiar with the area referred to that location as the graveyard of ships. Countless ships had been caught in the currents and dragged under, and the seafloor in that area was now littered with their remains. Incidentally, most of the island’s ships were wrecks Meiru had pulled up and restored. Whenever she needed to expand the island, she dredged up another one. Miledi listened to Chris’ explanation with rapt attention, smiling at how proud Chris sounded of Meiru.

“I see. So you all built up this place together. That’s amazing!”

“Hehe, I know, right?”

“It’s really awesome how Meru-nee protects everyone! No wonder they all like her. That’s why everyone respects her as the captain too, right?”

Chris beamed as if it was he Miledi was praising and not Meiru.

“Oh Chris, you shouldn’t reveal all my secrets like that.” Meiru said with a smile. No one had noticed her walk up to the crow’s nest.

“Uh oh, better get outta here before the she-demon starts breathing down my neck.” Chris shivered in an exaggerated manner and hopped off the platform.

“Sheesh, Chris never learns.”

“Fufufu. Chris acts just like a doting father, huh Meru-nee?”

“He really does. I don’t know who my real father is, and Chris looked after me ever since I was young, so I suppose in many ways he is my father.”

Miledi had said that in an attempt to tease Meiru, but she responded with surprising honesty. Meiru grinned and sidled behind Miledi. Without missing a beat, she reached her arms around Miledi and fondled her boobs.

“Hyaaaah!? Wh-What’re you doing!?”

“Exactly what it looks like. Fondling your breasts. They’re quite modest, I see.”

“Shut up! They’ll get bigger soon! Anyway, let me go! And stop staring, O-kun, Nacchan!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Roger!”

Miledi tried to squirm free, but Meiru’s grip was like iron. Too surprised by the sudden development to argue, Oscar and Naiz turned around as asked. But even though they weren’t looking, they could still hear.

“Aaaaagh.”

Neither of them had heard Miledi moan like that before. Oscar blushed.

“C-Cut it out!”

“My, be careful.”

The moment Miledi managed to push Meiru off, an updraft hit the crow’s nest, directly behind where she was standing. The sudden gust of wind lifted up her skirt, leaving her panties in full view.

“Oh my. I didn’t know you were the type to wear such risque underwear, Miledi-chan. Trying to look older than you are?”

Miledi hurriedly pushed her skirt back down, tears of embarrassment pooling in her eyes.

“Oscar-kun, in case you’re curious, today Miledi-chan’s wearing black--”

“Not another woooooord!”

Miledi freaked out when Meiru told Oscar the color of her panties. She held out her hand and a wave of gravity pushed down on the dagon. Meiru leaped out of the crow’s nest, and with a wave of her hand called forth a stream of seawater to carry her underwater. Gravity’s power was reduced in the water, so naturally, Miledi’s magic wasn’t as effective on submerged targets either.

“Grrrrrrr!”

“My, what a spirited girl you are Miledi-chan.”

Meiru poked her head out of the ocean and smiled. Miledi cast a water spell to try and expel Meiru from the sea, but unfortunately for her, Meiru was far more skilled when it came to water magic. Meiru hijacked Miledi’s spell and turned it into a water whip that lifted up Miledi’s skirt once more. Miledi was once again forced to push her skirt down, and she stamped her feet in irritation.

“I’ve never seen anyone toy with Miledi like this... Keep going Meiru!”

“Oscar... Actually, I agree. We’re counting on you, Meiru.”

“I can’t believe you two would betray me like this!”

Meiru smoothly slid across the water while Oscar and Naiz cheered her on.

“Gaaaaaaah! Meru-nee! Why do you have to be such a meanie!?”

“Why? Well, because you’re calling me your older sister.”

“That’s your reason!?”

“Isn’t it natural for older sisters to tease their younger sisters?”

“Who decided that!? Also, you’re starting to scare me now!”

“What belongs to the younger belongs to the elder. In fact, younger sisters are their older sisters’ property. Everyone knows that.”

“No, they’re not!”

For quite some time, Miledi was teased, toyed with, and occasionally tricked by Meiru. More than once Meiru looked like she was about to stop and held out the olive branch only to yank it back at the last second and torture Miledi some more.

“Oh my. Perhaps I overdid it.”

A good hour later Meiru looked down at Miledi with a smile. The poor leader of the Liberators was slumped on the floor and quivering in terror. Chris wasn’t lying when he said Meiru was a sadist.

“Meiru, stop bullying the kids you like. You’re not 5 anymore.”

Kyaty walked up to Meiru with a plate piled high with seafood. Her cat ears twitched and she sighed as she saw the state Miledi was in. She’d changed out of the short pants she’d been wearing during the attack on the Brayed pirates and was now wearing a light pareo.

“Are you jealous that I’m not bullying you anymore?”

“Like hell I am. And you never ‘bullied’ me!”

Seeing as her ears and tail were standing on end, Kyaty’s reply didn’t seem very convincing. It was obvious she’d been toyed around with by Meiru in the past as well. She’d been the only girl around Meiru’s age and her longtime friend, so Meiru had usually teased Kyaty the most. Kyaty harrumphed and brought the plate of food over to Oscar and Naiz. It appeared she’d wanted to make sure they were fed.

“Thank you, Kyaty-san.”

“Sorry for making you bring our food all the way out here. It looks delicious.”

Oscar thanked Kyaty with a smile, then took out his umbrella and began transmuting the handle. In seconds, he’d turned it into a makeshift table. He carefully put the plate of food onto his umbrella-table.

“That’s a pretty handy umbrella, four-eyes.”

“My name’s not four-eyes, it’s Oscar.”

“Mmm. F-Fine I’ll call you by your name, but only if you stop putting -san after mine! It feels weird!”

“Weird? I just thought it’d be rude to not use any honorifics with you.”

“Wh-Who cares about that! Look, just drop the -san alright!”

“If that’s what you want, Kyaty.”

Kyaty harrumphed again and looked away, but her tail was swishing back and forth in excitement.

“Oh my, Kyaty. I didn’t realize you had a crush on Oscar-kun. I suppose you always did have a thing for the intellectual types. Oh, you’re such a cute little kitten.”

“Wh-What!? Who would ever have a crush on that gloomy four-eyes!?”

“Can you please start using my name already?”

Oscar adjusted his glasses as he said that. Though Kyaty didn’t respond, her tail started swishing back and forth again. Handsome young men with an intellectual air about them were rare among pirate crews, and it was a fact that they were Kyaty’s type, so it was hardly surprising that she was showing an interest in Oscar.

“Oi, what’s going on here? Is that damn brat making a pass on Kyaty? This is why I fucking hate good-looking dudes. I wish they’d all die.”

“I don’t really care about him, but I’d love to see that Miledi girl wearing a maid outfit.”

Some of the other Melusine Pirates started to gather around Oscar’s group. The man who kept professing his everlasting hatred for good-looking guys was the same one Miledi had kicked off the ship when she was rescuing Kiara.

His name was Ned Peak. He had unkempt black hair and a scraggly beard. He also had a short, muscle-bound frame. However, his face was lined with wrinkles and though he was only 30, he looked like he was 50. Hence why he hated people with good looks. It was a constant habit of his to curse them out.

The man gazing longingly at Miledi was the demon Mania. Like all demons, he had dark skin and red eyes. No one knew his real name, so they called him Mania on account of his crazy maid uniform fetish. Despite being a pervert, he was also a highly skilled mage.

The two of them, along with Kyaty, were some of Meiru’s best fighters and served as her sub-captains. Oscar ignored Kyaty, who was mumbling something about how he wasn’t making a pass at her and walked over to Mania. He adjusted his glasses and said, “Are you a fellow maid connoisseur?”

“!”

Mania, who was known for his poker face, widened his eyes in surprise. He felt an inexplicable kinship with Oscar, and his soul began to quiver. Oscar, too, felt something stir within him. The two knew instinctively that they were comrades. Fellow explorers searching for the same grand truth. Oscar opened his Treasure Trove and withdrew his most prized possession.

“What do you think of this?”

“I-It’s beautiful...”

What Oscar had pulled out was a picture. A picture of Miledi. More specifically, a picture of Miledi posing in a maid outfit. Her expression was a little stiff, but that wasn’t important. She’d originally bought it to use in teasing Oscar, but she’d failed to anticipate that he was also a maid outfit aficionado. When Oscar had started praising her she’d been so terrified of his passion that she’d tried to change out of it right away, but he’d stopped her. They’d gone back and forth for a while until Miledi had finally convinced Oscar to let her change out of it on the condition that he could take some pictures of her. Everyone else watched on, bewildered, as Mania basked in the joy of finally meeting a fellow comrade.

“I have a collection of outfits in my room. Would you like to see them later?”

“Indeed I would.”

The two men exchanged a firm handshake. They’d already forged a deep friendship over their shared love of maid outfits.

“O-Oh no, he’s a pervert...”

Kyaty’s crush withered as quickly as it had blossomed. She gave Oscar a look of disgust and backed up a few steps. On the other hand, Ned seemed to have warmed up to Oscar a little more. Likely because he’d felt an affinity with the young Synergist. In truth, Ned was also a maid lover.

“Sorry I kept telling you to die, pretty boy.”

“Heh. I’m in a good mood right now, so I don’t mind forgiving you.”

“Oho. I thought you were a pretty uptight guy, but you’re alright, kid.”

“Hmph. I’m nothing more than another wanderer, searching for truth.”

“No, you’re a Synergist,” Naiz retorted in exasperation. Oscar ignored him and started chatting with the two pirates. Indeed, maid outfits were a wonderful thing that transcended racial boundaries and linked the world together.

“I’m sorry about him.”

Naiz turned to the girls and bowed his head in apology. Oscar didn’t mind though, because he knew that Naiz too had a picture of Susha and Yunfa posing in maid outfits. Though Naiz had been so terrified when he’d first received the letter that he’d nearly chucked the photo, Oscar knew that deep down, Naiz also had a deep appreciation for maid outfits. Naiz was just hiding his love, that was all.

“Hey, why are you guys all having fun without me?”

Miledi had recovered enough to start complaining about being left out. However, she was still slumped on the ground and looking toward the prow of the ship. She’d only recovered enough to scoot closer to everyone.

“Oh my, Miledi-chan. I never knew you were so starved for attention. I can play with you some more, if you’d like?”

“I’m not, so don’t!”

“Seriously Meiru, cut it out already.” Kyaty cut in with an exasperated sigh. It appeared Meiru was quite fond of Miledi. The young dagon woman snuck up behind Miledi, who was still pouting and pinched her cheeks.

“My, such soft cheeks. Shall we see how far they stretch?”

Meiru pulled Miledi’s cheeks outward with a smile. Miledi had long since given up and put up no resistance. Seeing Miledi’s lack of reaction, Meiru apologized.

“Sorry, Miledi-chan. I went too far. Won’t you please forgive your clingy older sister?”

“Ish not very convinshing when you apologishe while shtill pinching my cheeks.”

Miledi turned to glare at Meiru, tears pooling in her eyes. Meiru finally let go of Miledi’s cheeks, but the playful twinkle in her eyes was still there.

“Now now, Miledi-chan. There’s no need to look so scared. I promise I’m a nice older sister.”

“No one who calls themselves nice is ever nice.”

Kyaty nodded emphatically from the sidelines. As someone who’d also suffered under Meiru’s tyranny, she felt a lot of sympathy for Miledi. Meiru put a finger to her lips and thought about how to improve Miledi’s mood.

“Oh, I know. Miledi-chan, I’ll listen to any one thing you ask, so please cheer up.”

“Please join the Liberators.”

“Not happening.”

“You said you’d listen to anything I’d ask!”

Miledi got up and started stamping her feet again. She couldn’t believe Meiru would go back on her word that easily.

“There are limits to everything, you know. Just how greedy are you, Miledi-chan?”

“Screw you!”

“You’re hopeless, you know that? I suppose because I’m so nice I can at least give you a consolation prize.”

Meiru was just saying whatever she wanted at this point. But Miledi was too tired to care. However, Meiru’s next words grabbed her interest.

“I’ll tell you what the Melusine Pirate Crew’s ultimate goal is.”

“Wait, you will!? I thought it was supposed to be a secret!”

“It is, but I suppose it won’t matter too much if you know.”

“Can you really just decide that all by yourself!?”

“Of course. I’m the captain. And the captain’s word is absolute.”

Miledi shot Kyaty a sidelong glance. You hear your captain? Kyaty ruffled her hair and shook her head. It appeared she’d already given up on trying to deal with Meiru.

“You see. Our ultimate goal is...”

Meiru nodded to Ned and snapped her fingers. He hurriedly rolled over a barrel and started slapping his hands against it to make a drumroll noise. Though it was cliched, it still served to heighten the suspense. Meanwhile, Mania used dark magic to obstruct the sunlight, then used light magic to cast a spotlight on Meiru. The two of them were in perfect sync. That got the attention of not just Miledi, but Oscar and Naiz as well.

“To take over Andika~”

Meiru dropped a bombshell in her usual laid-back tone.

“T-Take over? What? Why? How?”

Meiru answered nonchalantly, as if she was just talking about what to cook for dinner.

“Because I want more power. I want a city all to myself.”

“How can you say that so calmly!?”

“But no matter how nicely I asked, the man ruling over Andika wouldn’t hand over his city. Quite stingy, wouldn’t you say?”

“I think that’s pretty normal! If someone gave up their city just because someone asked there’s something wrong with them!”

“Since he won’t hand it over quietly, I have no choice but to take it from him by force.”

Meiru boldly restated her Pirate Crew’s goal. So the reason she was capturing and converting all these pirates was to build a force large enough to invade Andika. Meiru went on to explain that the reason she’d been doing “saintlike” things was so that the people of Andika would accept her as their ruler when she took over. Based on her past deeds they’d be convinced that there was a good reason she’d done it. After all, everyone thought she was a kind, gentle soul.

After hearing the whole story, Miledi was at a loss for words. Seeing her shock, Meiru extended a hand and said, “I would like your assistance as well, Miledi-chan. What do you say? Would you be willing to join my family? I’ll reward you with riches beyond your wildest imagination.”

“No way.”

Miledi rejected Meiru’s proposal right away. Meiru shrugged her shoulders and tried a different tack.

“In that case, won’t you conquer Andika for us and gift it to me as a present? If you do, I might even think about joining the Liberators.”

“O-kun, Nacchan. I’m too tired for this. I can’t tell what we should even be doing anymore.”

Miledi turned to her two comrades, the tears from earlier streaming down her cheeks. She’d never dreamed Meiru would ask her to take over a city as her condition for joining the Liberators. Meanwhile, Oscar and Naiz were once again reminded of the fact that when all was said and done, Meiru was still a pirate. Meiru turned to the boys with a gentle smile.

“Well, Liberators? Will you give me Andika, or not?”

She was way more than any of them could handle.

That evening. Miledi and Meiru huddled together on the Melusine’s observation deck. They were gazing out at the moonlit sea. Miledi had let her hair down and was clad in a simple one-piece dress. That was what she used as her pajamas. She’d wanted to have a proper talk with Meiru before going to sleep, so she’d called her out right before bed. Both of them were sipping tankards filled to the brim with alcohol. Miledi wasn’t a fan of liquor so her tankard was more 9 parts juice and 1 part alcohol though. Meiru watched warmly as Miledi held her tankard in both hands and took tiny sips, much like a child would.

“It’s not what you think! I’m an adult too, you know. I just felt like drinking juice, that’s all!”

“Of course, of course. You’re a full-fledged adult, Miledi-chan. I know.”

Meiru patted Miledi with her left hand while she downed her tankard. The alcohol she was drinking was so strong it’d burn if you lit it. Embarrassed, Miledi turned away and took another few sips of her drink.

“So what is it you wished to discuss with me?”

“Well, I was thinking I should tell you about our journey until now.”

“I see...”

Meiru thought back to the wounds she’d recreated on Miledi’s body during their fight the other night. Despite her noble demeanor and soft features, Miledi had fought battles far fiercer than any Meiru had seen in her years as a pirate. What’s driving her that she’s willing to suffer such injuries and still keep fighting...

“Very well. In fact, I was curious as well, Miledi-chan. I want to know the path you’ve walked.”

“Then let me tell you!”

Miledi grinned and started recounting the tale of her past. She talked deep into the night, telling in full the chain of events that had led to her arriving in Andika. Once she was finished, Meiru heaved a long sigh. The feelings Miledi’s tale had stirred within her were too much to process at once.

“That sounds like a painful journey...”

That was all she could think of to say.

“Well, it was. But it’s thanks to that journey that I met O-kun and Nacchan. So personally I think it was a wonderful journey too.”

Miledi smiled and looked down at the deck. Oscar and Naiz were no doubt in the process of telling Chris and the others the very same story. She then turned to Meiru, her eyes reflecting the radiant brilliance of the moon.

“Won’t you join hands with me, so that we can change the world together?”

Miledi held out her hand, but Mieru ignored it.

“I’m afraid I must decline.”

“Ahaha, thought so.”

Miledi instantly retracted her hand.

“Hey, Meru-nee. Why don’t you tell me more about you now?”

“You heard my story from Chris already, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but I want to hear it from you.”

Seeing Miledi’s innocent smile, Meiru smiled ruefully and muttered some words.

“You really are a handful...”

In a way, Miledi was perfectly suited to being a conman.

“Alright. I suppose I can tell you a little more about myself. The truth is I’ve got the blood of a vampire flowing in me!”

“What!? No seriously, what!?”

Vampires were few in number and were known for their solitary nature. Most of them resided in the Dastia Kingdom that lay in the southwestern tip of the continent, within the deep wetlands known as the Azure Bogs. Miledi hadn’t heard of any vampires leaving their borders in living memory. Vampires were known for being even more proficient with magic than demons, so while their country was small, no one dared invade it.

“D-Does that mean you suck people’s blood too, Meru-nee?”

“Fufufu.”

Meiru dropped her gaze down to Miledi’s neck and licked her lips. Miledi shrieked and backed away a few steps.

“At the very least, my mom told me that my father was a vampire. The only things I inherited from him were his magical affinity and these red eyes.”

In other words, she didn’t possess any of the vampires’ unique traits. But that did explain why a dagon like her not only was capable of using ancient magic, but was extremely proficient in all other elements as well.

“Umm, so who was your dad?”

“My mother never told me the details, but apparently he went back home long ago.”

“H-He sounds like a deadbeat...”

“From what I gathered, it was my mother who abandoned him, not the other way around.”

“What were you thinking, Meru-nee’s mom!? Did she really hate him that much!?”

Meiru smiled sadly. According to her, her father had been a respected noble among the vampires and had been prepared to take Meiru’s mother, Reej, who’d been pregnant with Meiru at the time, back with her to Dastia regardless of the consequences. However, after many twists and turns, Reej was forced to part with her husband, both for his sake and for the sake of her child. She left the continent and fled to the remote city of Andika.

“Your mom sounds like an amazing person.”

“Indeed... She was both strong, and kind.”

However, she passed away when Meiru was but eight years old.

“After that, I lived in the slums. Thanks to my skill with magic I was able to survive, and after meeting Chris and the others, I was able to make a decent living for myself.”

“But then you became a pirate.”

“That’s right. I despised the way Baharl ran the city. He encourages the residents to compete with each other, which is why the city has devolved into a lawless mess where only the strongest survive. Those who suffer, those who die, those who are tricked ‘deserve’ it because they are weak. That’s the kind of city Andika’s become.”

Andika’s creed was that everyone was responsible for themselves. Even Meiru didn’t think that was wrong. However, the family she’d encountered after being orphaned had all been people who’d been oppressed by those with more power, all in the name of that creed.

“If power is all that matters, then I will use my strength to make Andika a place where everyone can live in peace. A city where both the strong and the weak are protected. Anyone who cannot manage at least that doesn’t deserve to rule the city of freedom.”

Meiru’s lips curled into an arrogant smile, and Miledi shook her head in admiration. She’s going to be hard to convince, that’s for sure. But I won’t give up! Miledi instinctively felt that there was more to Meiru.

“Create a city where even the weak can live in peace, huh? But Meru-nee, that’s not the only reason you want Andika, is it?”

“Hm? Whatever do you mean? Oh, are you referring to my earlier statement about wanting power and money? I want those too, of course. I am still a pirate after--”

“No, not that. It just feels like there’s another wish you desperately want to grant.”

“...But of course? There are hundreds of things I still desire. As I said, I’m a pirate.”

Meiru realized she’d hesitated a bit too long before replying. She wasn’t sure if she’d fooled Miledi or not, so she awkwardly averted her gaze. It was rare, but Meiru occasionally met people like Miledi. People who could see further than most, despite normally being thickheaded.

I suppose she is someone with the guts and tenacity to pick a fight with the whole world. Cold sweat poured down Meiru’s forehead. It wasn’t that Meiru didn’t trust Miledi. She was simply keeping her other wish a secret because Miledi was a Liberator. On the off chance that the worst happened and Miledi was captured...

“I see.”

However, that was all Miledi said in reply. Meiru looked up and saw that the young girl was grinning like usual. Meiru knew. It wasn’t that Miledi hadn’t noticed, she was just willing to wait until Meiru opened up of her own accord.

What a girl... Meiru smiled ruefully, her expression matching the one Miledi had had just a few moments ago. Miledi then changed the subject and the pair continued talking late into the night. Despite the short length of their acquaintance, the two really looked like close siblings.

This was one of the rare times where Diene was allowed to spend the day in Baharl’s palace. It was Ace’s birthday, and only Baharl’s closest subordinates, such as Kelvin, were there to celebrate it. Because Kelvin and Ace’s birthday parties were always small affairs, Diene was usually allowed to attend. Diene was inside Baharl’s office, waiting for him to finish up his work. She was standing next to the window, craning her neck to try and get a better look at the world outside. She looked adorable as she braced her hands against the windowsill and tried to lift herself up a few more inches. Ace and the others in the room smiled as they watched her.

“That being said, it’s true that the abnormal weather patterns have begun to decrease recently. Moreover, the nearby monsters are acting like usual again. And that concludes my report, Boss.”

Baharl lit his cigar and nodded thoughtfully.

“So the ruins are related after all. We’ve left them completely destroyed for now. It’s a shame we can’t harness this island’s weapon, but it’s too dangerous to weaken the seal... I still want to gather more information in case an emergency arises, but we’ll go carefully from now on.”

Baharl shot a sidelong glance at Diene. Noticing his gaze, she turned to him, then meekly looked away. While Baharl had said it was to prepare for emergencies, Diene couldn’t help but worry. If there was no immediate danger, she’d rather just leave the ruins alone. Besides, she knew the real reason Baharl wanted to keep going was to find a way to weaponize the creature sealed beneath.

“Got a problem with that?”

“N-No, I didn’t...”

Diene twitched and hung her head despondently. Baharl clicked his tongue and returned to work. The awkward atmosphere continued for quite some time until finally, someone’s stomach rumbled and everyone looked up. They exchanged glances, thinking it was about time to start the feast. But before anyone could say anything, an unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

“Are you Baharl Devault?”

“!?”

No one had noticed the newcomer enter the room. He was just suddenly there, standing quietly in front of the door.

“Who the hell are you!?”

Baharl’s bodyguards snapped back to their senses upon hearing their boss’ voice and surrounded the intruder. Diene was too stunned to react and just stood there.

“I’m the commander of the Templar Knights, Laus Barn.”

“Did you just say Templar Knights?”

Baharl broke out in a cold sweat. A dozen questions popped up in his mind. He almost unconsciously looked toward Diene, but stopped himself in the nick of time. Laus ignored Baharl and the others’ surprise and said what he’d come here to say.

“I’ve come here to eliminate the pirates threatening the safety of Andika.”

“Those guys, huh? They’re a real piece of work. Sorry we’re so useless, Your Eminence.”

Baharl’s words were dripping with sarcasm; he guessed that the pope had sent Laus out because he’d determined Baharl couldn’t wipe his own ass. However, Laus didn’t rise to the taunt.

“Is that all you came here for?”

“I brought a full division. The matter should be settled in a few days. Once I’ve completed my business here, I’ll come meet with you again. Make sure you’ve remembered where your loyalties lie by then.”

“What are you talking about...”

“These words come directly from His Eminence the Pope. ‘Is there not something you need to report to me?’”

“Tch... Can’t say there is. But if that’s what the pope has decreed, I’ll try and remember by the time you’ve returned.”

“For your sake, I hope you do.”

Laus swept his eyes across the room. Nervous, everyone followed his gaze. A second later, Laus had vanished. No one had heard the sound of the door opening. It was as if he’d never even been there at all.

“F-Father...” Diene called out in a trembling voice. Her face was pale, and she was clearly flustered.

“By pirates, did that man mean the Ghost Ship?”

“Huh? Of course he did.”

Baharl narrowed his eyes. Diene shrunk back, remembering the Templar Knight’s words. She’d originally assumed that the thing Baharl had forgotten to report on was her existence, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind, telling her that wasn’t it. That being said, she had no time to dwell on it.

“Diene, return to your room.”

“Okay...”

Escorted by Baharl’s guards, Diene left the office. She paid no heed to the furious conversation that broke out after her departure and hurried down the hallway. Clutching her hands to her chest, she said in a small voice that no one picked up, “Please be safe, Nee-sama.”

A month had passed since Miledi and the others had started living on Meiru’s island. They’d integrated themselves so seamlessly with the Melusine Pirate Crew that it almost seemed as if they’d been a part of it from the start. Miledi especially had made herself at home. She spent most of her days being teased by Meiru, saved by Kyaty, and doted over by all the old ladies living on the island. Over time, she’d naturally risen to the position of the Melusine Pirate Crew’s idol.

Oscar and Naiz had become rather friendly with the pirates as well, just in different ways. Oscar had been spending a lot of time with Meiru alone in her room, so rumors had started to spread that he’d finally seduced her. Many of the island’s older women were secretly rejoicing that Meiru, who had such a nasty personality that she’d had no suitors before, had finally managed to snag a man. None of them actually knew what Oscar and Meiru were doing behind closed doors, but they thought it rude to ask, so they didn’t. Unfortunately, that just deepened the misunderstanding.

In truth, Oscar was simply getting Meiru to help him create artifacts imbued with restoration magic. Since Meiru wasn’t willing to go to the continent, this was his backup plan to heal Dylan and Katy. He also gave Meiru one of his tracking devices. That way, if his artifacts didn’t work he’d be able to bring Dylan and Katy to her without having to search the sea. Thanks to Naiz’s teleportation abilities, it wouldn’t be a difficult task at all.

Eventually, though, the misunderstanding got resolved when Miledi barged in and yelled, “O-kun, what are you doing with Meru-nee every night!?” When the rest of the island learned they were just making artifacts, the men breathed a sigh of relief and the women seemed crestfallen. They’d also raided a few other pirate crews in that month, and part of the reason Oscar and Naiz were so loved was because of how much they’d contributed to those fights. Oscar especially had completely lost it when they’d had a run-in with a pirate crew who’d treated their prisoners more cruelly than most. He’d blinded everyone with his glasses and started tossing his enchanted daggers everywhere. On top of that, he’d used his metal wires to slice through their ships’ masts and used his umbrella’s fire and lightning spells to blow through their hulls. During his rampage, he’d single-handedly sunk three galleon-sized ships, earning him the respect of Meiru’s crew.

Like all pirates, the Melusine Pirates revered strength. Many of the younger crewmembers had taken to calling Oscar Boss.

Naiz, too, had made a name for himself. He’d often flaunt his power by blasting enemy ships with spatial magic, or teleporting the Melusine into the enemy’s blind spot and ramming them from behind. But unlike Oscar, who was easily riled up, Naiz remained calm no matter the situation. Thanks to his cool demeanor and mature charm, he was a huge hit with the ladies. All the unmarried women on the island were after him, and Naiz was having trouble getting away from them all. Frankly, all the action had him terrified of what he might find in Susha’s next letter to him.

“It’s already been a month, huh...?” Naiz muttered to himself. He was sitting on the edge of one of the ships, a fishing rod resting in his hands.

“What’s on your mind?” Oscar, who was fishing next to Naiz, asked.

“I was just wondering if maybe we were taking it too easy.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. We achieved our original goal, and the situation hasn’t really changed at all in the time we’ve been here.”

Oscar felt a tug on his line and pulled the rod up sharply. After confirming he’d gotten a bite, he reeled in his line and unhooked the small fish he’d caught. Once he was done he shrugged and continued to talk.

“We know what Meiru’s after. And we also know what kind of person she is. Same goes for Chris and all the other pirates.”

“Yeah. They may be pirates, but they’re good guys.”

Over the course of the past month, Oscar and Naiz had learned what the Melusine Pirate Crew was like. Normally when one heard the word pirates, they thought of a group of bloodthirsty brigands. However, Meiru’s pirates had shattered that misconception for Miledi and the others.

“But we can’t call it quits just yet. Miledi won’t accept Meiru’s refusal until she learns everything about her.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

The two of them looked out into the ocean. Mileidi was frolicking around in the water with a group of kids. From the looks of it, they were playing tag. Except this was a variant where everyone but Miledi was “it.” However, even with all of them combined, the kids couldn’t catch Miledi. Likely because Miledi was immature enough to boost her swimming skills with magic whenever it looked like she was about to get caught. She’d taken a liking to Meiru’s current manipulation magic and had been working on reproducing it the past few weeks.

Oscar smiled warmly as he watched Miledi swim circles around the kids.

“And besides, it’s nice here. I don’t see anything wrong with taking it easy until our glorious leader is satisfied. You’ve had a pretty hard life until now Naiz, so why not think of this as a little vacation?”

“A vacation, huh? I guess that doesn’t sound too bad. As always, we can leave our next course of action to Miledi’s whims.”

The two men nodded to each other, then turned their attention back to their fishing. They were both hoping to beat their personal bests for the largest fish caught this month.

Unfortunately, a commotion from below interrupted their fishing contest. Looking down, they noticed there was something strange going on with Miledi. She’d been swimming with ease moments ago, but now it looked like she was floundering.

Did she get a cramp or something? Oscar thought absently. But upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn’t the case. The sea around Miledi had begun to swirl. And a second later—

“Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

“Wha!? Miledi!?”

A pillar of water shot Miledi out of the budding whirlpool, sending her spinning to where Oscar and Naiz sat. Oscar quickly tried to backpedal out of the way, but got distracted when he noticed there was no one sitting next to him anymore. Turning around, he saw that Naiz had teleported only himself to safety. Surprised, Oscar missed his chance to get out of the way.

“Bwaaah!?”

Miledi cannonballed directly into Oscar, sending him skidding across the deck. A wave of water followed, soaking him to the skin.

“Owwwwww... Damn you, Naiz, how could you abandon your friend like that?” Oscar grumbled as he lay face-up on wooden planks. However, his complaints were soon forgotten as he noticed something soft pressing against his shirt.

“Oof... Damn you, Meru-nee. Why do you keep doing this to me?”

“......”

Miledi rose to a sitting position atop Oscar’s stomach. As she’d been playing in the water, she was naturally in a swimsuit. Specifically, a red bikini that Meiru had made for her. Miledi had complained about how revealing it was at first, but now she’d grown rather fond of it. Apparently, the reason Meiru had groped Miledi so much their first day on the island was so she could take Miledi’s measurements. However, the top that she’d so lovingly crafted had been stripped from Miledi’s body.

“Miledi!”

“Hwaaah!? O-O-kun!? What’s gotten into you!? When did you get so bold!?” Miledi attempted to brush her hair back, but was stopped when Oscar hugged her tight. From afar, it looked like she’d pushed Oscar down and was now sticking to him, so it was rather embarrassing.

“It’s not what you think! Just don’t get up! Or I’ll be able to see everything!”

“Huh?”

Oscar’s panicked voice alerted Miledi to the situation she was in. She turned beet red as she realized why the area around her chest had been feeling so breezy.

“Hweh!? Hweeeeeeeeeeeeh!? I-It’s gone, O-kun! My chest’s gone! Wait no, I don’t mean that I don’t have any boobs, I just mean my bikini’s gone!”

“You don’t have to explain it to me! Naaaaaaiz! Find Miledi’s bikini please!”

“I already found it...” Naiz said as teleported next to Oscar and Miledi. Then, he held out Miledi’s bikini while firmly keeping his gaze pointed in the other direction.

“Waaah, thank you, Nacchan.”

“No problem. Just don’t tell Susha or Yunfa about this.”

He’d been saying that to Miledi a lot recently.

“Oh, what’s up missy? Giving the boys here a show? In that case, I hope you don’t mind if I join— Bweh!?” Chris walked over, grinning. But before he could get any closer, a black umbrella came flying out of nowhere and smacked him upside the head. Oscar watched Chris dive facefirst onto the deck as he called back his umbrella and spread it open to hide Miledi from view.

“Hurry up and change before someone else shows up, Miledi.”

“Thanks, O-kun.”

Teary-eyed, Miledi started putting on her bikini. Naturally, Oscar looked as far in the other direction as he could while she changed.

“O-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“I can hear your heart pounding.”

“...I guess you don’t need this umbrella anymore.”

Oscar folded his umbrella, and Miledi hurriedly finished changing. She’d recovered from her earlier embarrassment, however, and was now grinning at Oscar.

“Sorry, Miledi-chan. I just wanted to let you know it was time for lunch, but I guess I overdid it a little.”

“Why do you keep doing crazy things like this to tell me it’s time to eat!? I hate you, Meru-nee!”

Meiru was wearing the same gentle smile as always and didn’t look the least bit remorseful. Miledi folded her arms and turned her back to Meiru.

“Oh my. But I made the steamed clams you love so much, Miledi-chan. Don’t you want them?”

“I do!”

The mention of food instantly improved Miledi’s mood, and she ran over to Meiru’s side.

“I love that simpleminded side of you,” Meiru replied with a wicked giggle.

“Oho. Now that’s a sight for sore eyes. Wouldn’t you agree, Oscar, Naiz?”

Chris got to his feet and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He was, of course, referring to Meiru and Miledi, who were both in their swimsuits. Meiru’s swimsuit was an ocean-blue, and it struck a pleasant contrast with Miledi’s crimson one. Meiru’s bikini barely covered any skin, and it felt like her boobs were about to spill out of it at any moment. The revealing outfit accentuated her stunning figure.

Now then, while it may have seemed that he was talking about how sexy they looked, the truth was different. Oscar could tell from the look in his eyes that what he was so captivated by was how much like siblings Meiru and Miledi seemed, not how hot they looked. He really was a doting father. Seeing the warmth in Chris’ eyes, Oscar adjusted his glasses and presented his answer.

“Indeed it is.”

During his month with the pirates, Oscar had learned to be more honest with himself. So much so that he’d even tried to convince Miledi to wear a maid outfit.

“Hoho. I see you’re an honest kid, Oscar! I knew you were a real man! How about you Naiz, what d’you think?”

“No comment.”

“What a wimp.”

It wasn’t that Naiz didn’t want to tell Chris his real thoughts, he was just terrified that if he voiced them Susha and Yunfa would hear about it.

“O-kuuuuuun! Nacchaaaaaan! What’re you waiting for? It’s lunchtime!” Miledi waved with both hands at Oscar and Naiz.

“Chris~ What are you telling those innocent boys? Do I have to kill you?”

On the other hand, Meiru waved at Chris with her water whip. It appeared she’d overhead their conversation.

“Oh shit!” Chris exclaimed as he made a run for it. Oscar and Naiz exchanged glances, then nodded to each other.

“Those girls really do act like siblings.”

That evening, the sunset had dyed the sky a brilliant orange; the same color as Meiru’s mana. The ocean reflected the sun’s waning light, creating a streak of orange that stretched into the horizon. Though Miledi, Oscar, and Naiz had seen the same sunset for a month now, it never failed to amaze them. The three of them were sitting on the Melusine’s crow’s nest, their legs dangling in the air. Miledi was sitting in the center, with the two guys flanking her. For someone who was supposed to be enjoying the view, her expression was rather glum. While the sunset purportedly made people lonely and nostalgic, Miledi’s depression seemed too severe to be explained away by just that. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.

“Let’s head back to Andika for a while.”

Oscar and Naiz exchanged glances from above Miledi’s small head. The Synergist eventually adjusted his glasses and asked her the question on both their minds.

“Have you decided to accept Meiru’s refusal, then?”

“Nope. Not one bit.”

Apparently, Miledi’s desire for a temporary return was part of a bigger plan.

“We’ve gotten a lot closer, and I’ve learned so much about Meru-nee. But there’s one last thing she won’t tell me.”

As Oscar had suspected, Miledi thought there was more to Meiru’s goal than she’d stated.

“I don’t think she was lying when she said she wanted to conquer Andika and make it a city where people can live in peace.”

“I agree. She was definitely telling us the truth, but I think there’s more to it than just that.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t really have any basis for thinking that, but...”

Even after they’d come to learn more about each other, Meiru had continued to refuse Miledi’s invitations. At this point, Oscar was thinking it was best if they gave up. Meiru wasn’t a loner like Naiz had been. She had a family she needed to protect. She wasn’t in need of saving, and even if she was hiding something from Miledi, she was free to divulge or not divulge whatever information she wished.

Meiru wasn’t the only one disinterested in joining either. None of the other pirates had shown any desire to join the Liberators. Oscar had gotten to know most of them at this point, and they were all deeply attached to their family. If they tried to be any more pushy about their solicitation, they’d start encroaching on the free will of these pirates. That was why, even though Oscar knew this was an insensitive question, he had to ask it.

“You’ve gotten pretty close Meiru this past month. Are you sure you just don’t want to part because you’ve started seeing a bit of someone else in her?”

“Ah—” Miledi turned to Oscar in surprise. And then, she replied to him in a shaky voice.

“Close? She’s just messing with me all the time. And who would she—”

“Miledi. You don’t have to act tough in front of me or Naiz. I may not understand you completely, but I’d like to think I know you at least a little. After all, you won both of us over by opening your heart to us.”

“O-kun...” Miledi’s expression grew troubled. Though the glare from the sun hid Oscar’s face, she had the feeling he was smiling kindly at her. She turned to Naiz, only to find that he, too, was smiling at her. No matter what Miledi said, the two of them would never be disappointed in her or think her worries and fears were pathetic.

I really must be an open book... Miledi thought wryly to herself. But she was a little glad her comrades understood her so well. She curled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. Her expression grew distant as if her mind was somewhere far away.

“The first time we talked, I did think Meru-nee was a lot like her— Like Belle, I mean.”

Belle, also known as Belta Lievre, was the girl who’d been responsible for restoring Miledi’s humanity. Miledi had loved her like her own sister and had cared more for her than for her own flesh and blood family.

Sure, Belle had looked nothing like Meiru, but Meiru’s constant smiles, her penchant for yanking people around her little finger, and her kindness were all so similar. It was because of that that Miledi had so easily let herself be spoiled around Meiru. Oscar had rarely seen Miledi sulk or pout, yet she did all the time now. It was little wonder that Miledi had started seeing something of Belle in Meiru. Had Belle survived, this might have been how they’d spent their time together.

“I’m pathetic, aren’t I? Even though I’m the leader of the Liberators, even though I swore to fight against this world, I’m wasting time here chasing after an illusion of the past that I know isn’t real.”

“If you’re pathetic, then I’m an abject failure. I spent ten years lamenting my past, remember?”

“Nacchan...”

“So don’t worry about it,” Naiz added with a self-deprecating smile. Miledi smiled back in turn, and let the tension drain from her body.

“Miledi. You’re human too. Hell, you’re still in your teens. Neither of us is going to blame you for feeling a little lonely. Whether you want to leave or stay, we’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“Thanks...” Miledi said as she buried her face into her thighs. Then, she stayed like that for a while. Oscar and Naiz saw no reason to rush her, and they quietly watched the sunset while they waited for her to sort her feelings out. Time slowed to a crawl. Finally, when the sun had sunk below the horizon, Miledi quietly looked up at her two comrades.

“Thank you, O-kun, Nacchan. You’ve helped me realize. Meru-nee isn’t Belle. I kept on pretending like she was, and started dragging my feet, but that’s over now. However, there’s one last thing I want to do. I want to find out what Meru-nee’s real—sorry not real, other—wish is. And I have a feeling we’ll find that answer somewhere in Andika.”

“What if it turns out Meiru really did tell us everything? Or if her decision doesn’t change even if we help grant that other wish of hers?”

“Then I’ll give up for real! I’ll support Meru-nee’s choice to live as she pleases. I’d never take away the Melusine Pirates’ free will.”

Miledi slapped her cheeks and rose to her feet. Then, she looked down at her comrades with renewed determination.

“So there you have it! O-kun, Nacchan, we’re leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow!”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

“Roger.”

With Miledi’s decision made, the Liberators once again began to move.

The next morning, as expected, Meiru didn’t object when Miledi told her they were departing. Oscar had thought some of the pirates might have been worried they’d leak the island’s location to those in Andika, but it seemed the Melusine Pirates trusted them completely. Just as Miledi and the others had learned about the Melusine Pirates in their month here, the pirates had, in turn, learned much about Miledi, Oscar, and Naiz. Both sides trusted each other. In fact, since Oscar possessed his Treasure Trove, many of the pirates had asked him to buy things for them while he was in Andika.

“I should have known pirates have no manners...” Oscar looked wearily down at the notebook in his hands as he walked down the Arrogan District.

“Ahaha, don’t be too mad, O-kun. Aside from the stuff they steal from pirates, they don’t get many chances to get their hands on spices or clothes or other daily necessities.”

Normally, when they needed to do some shopping, the Melusine Pirates snuck into Andika or another port city under the cover of night, bought everything from the most inconspicuous store they could find, then crept back to their ship. Naturally, that limited the number of things they could carry with them. Fortunately, the sea was teeming with all the fish they could eat, and they’d packed a few of the island’s boats with soil to create makeshift farms. Still, everything aside from food was hard to procure on an artificial island.

“Anyway, we can do our shopping later... First, let’s go to Wanda’s Inn!” Miledi proclaimed as she trotted on ahead of the group.

The party’s destination was, as Miledi had stated, Wanda’s Inn. Since they’d been traveling with Meiru ever since rescuing Kiara and her mother, they hadn’t seen them since the attack. Miledi, of course, wanted to check up on her friend, but there was also the fact that Wanda’s was the inn everyone wanted to stay at.

“Oh, there it is. Looks like business is booming.”

Relieved, Miledi led the group through the inn’s doors.

“Welcome! Pick any seat you—”

“Yo, Kia-chan! It’s good to see you’re doing well.”

Kiara stiffened when she saw it was Miledi who’d walked through the doorway. Heedless of her shock, Miledi casually greeted Kiara. Marcus, Vera, and all the inn’s regulars seemed just as stunned as Kiara. After a few seconds, Kiara’s brain rebooted and she rushed toward Miledi.

“M-M-Milediiiiiiiiiiii!”

“Gwah!?”

Kiara barreled into Miledi at full speed and bowled her over. The two rolled across the ground and came to a stop with Kiara on top of Miledi. Kiara grabbed Miledi, who was half-unconscious already, by the collar and started shaking her.

“You stupid, stupid, fool! You’re so stupid! Where have you been!? When you never came back after dad said you ran off to save us I thought you’d— Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Thank goodness you’re alive! Stupid Miledi!”

Every time Kiara shook Miledi the back of her head slammed against the floor. At this point, Miledi had already lost consciousness. Even though she was the leader of the Liberators, a genius mage who’d fought off even an Apostle of God, she stood no chance against an enraged bunny girl.

After a while, Kiara finally started to calm down. But that just gave the rest of the inn’s patrons an opportunity to get their own two cents in. Everyone remembered Naiz, who’d helped put out all the fires and heal the wounded, and Oscar, who’d helped Miledi rescue Marcus and then went off to chase the pirates with her. As thanks, Marcus and Vera cooked the group a feast, and though it was still midday, everyone started drinking in celebration.

Later, Miledi asked Kiara about what had happened after she was kidnapped, but like everyone else who’d been saved by the Saint, Kiara barely remembered the incident. However, Kiara must have subconsciously picked up on some details since she asked Miledi a rather startling question.

“Hey, Miledi. Do you have a special attack called Miledi Kick?”

If word got out that Miledi and the others had been involved in Kiara’s rescue, people would start bugging them about the saint, so Miledi made up some story about what had happened to them. However, that didn’t seem to convince Kiara, who continued to speak.

“Then how come the words Miledi Kick keep popping up in my head?”

At any rate, Miledi and the others had successfully secured a base of operations, and could now renew their investigation.

“If Meru-nee’s after something else, then it’s probably got something to do with Andika’s central district.”

A few days had passed since they’d began their search. They’d once again gone around the city’s outer districts hunting for rumors, but they’d turned up nothing. Meaning if there were any clues to be found, they were in the central district. Still, returning there would take preparation. Even though it had been a month since the incident at the casino, there were still men in black suits looking for them. In fact, the “fake gentleman with evil glasses” had become an urban legend within the city. There were also wanted posters that said “If you see a bespectacled youth, please report it to the authorities. Do not engage him, he will strip you.”

“Unbelievable...” Oscar had muttered the first time he’d seen one of them.

In order to hash out a plan, the three of them were holding a meeting in a dilapidated bar a short distance from the central district’s entrance.

“Entering the central district’s going to be risky...”

Naiz looked down thoughtfully and for a while before responding.

“However, it’s possible that we might stand out less if we make it inside the casino. There are so many people there I doubt anyone will recognize us.”

“We’ll still have to deal with those bodyguards standing at the entrance, though. Should we wear disguises?”

Miledi, who’d been deep in thought thus far, looked up and joined in on the conversation.

“Most people try to bury their secrets underground. Everyone says the tunnels running underneath the city are like a maze. If there’s anything hidden here, I bet it’s down there.”

“You’ve got a point there. So, does that mean you want to—”

“Yep. Why don’t we try investigating the underground tunnels?”

At the very least, exploring the underground would be more productive than trying to sneak into the central district. The problem was how they’d get into the tunnels.

“We’ve never been there before, and because it’s an enclosed area it’s too dangerous for me to teleport when I don’t know the tunnels’ precise locations.”

It’d be pretty bad if Naiz accidentally teleported them into the wall or something.

“About that. Remember how everyone said this island’s enchanted so that water doesn’t enter the holes that open out to the sea? Apparently, those holes are only sealed with a few flimsy iron bars.”

In other words, Miledi wanted to swim underneath the island, find one of those openings, and either have Oscar transmute the bars, or Naiz teleport everyone through them.

“Hmm... At present, that does seem our only option. I’m for this plan.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. Let’s do it.”

The three nodded to each other, sealing the deal.

That night, Miledi and the others dived into the cold, moonlit sea. The three huddled close together, and Oscar opened his umbrella above them. By using his black umbrella’s Hallowed Ground, he was able to push out the nearby water and create a mini-submarine. Miledi then used the current-manipulation magic she’d learned from Meiru to propel the submarine.

“Ugh, it’s hard to control this as well as Meru-nee.”

“I wouldn’t compare myself to her godlike skills if I were you. Besides, you’ve gotten pretty good already, Miledi.”

“Yeah, but there’s no point if I can’t beat her! I don’t want to lose to Meru-nee.”

Despite her grumblings, Miledi was doing a pretty good job of accurately steering the Hallowed Ground bubble. Meanwhile, Naiz created a sphere of light to illuminate their surroundings.

“Hm? You two, take a look at that.”

Naiz focused his sphere, lighting up a section of the island’s cliff face. The part he was pointing to had a small hole in it, which was gated with a latticework grille. As they drew closer, the group saw that the water was indeed blocked from entering the grille through some invisible barrier. The dim passage leading into the island’s depths was completely dry. Naiz grabbed his two companions’ shoulders and teleported them all inside.

“Whoa, this is weird.”

Spurred by her curiosity, Miledi walked back to the grille and poked the water that was being held at bay. Oscar grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her to his side.

“Hey, O-kun! Not so rough—”

“Shut up! There are people here!”

Miledi looked up and saw that the lenses of Oscar’s glasses were glowing faintly. She guessed that he was using his glasses’ heat sensors to look past the corner.

“Hmm, what should we do? There’s nowhere to hide.”

“Leave that to me. Naiz, come closer.”

Oscar dropped to one knee and unfurled his umbrella. Naiz and Miledi hid behind it as instructed.

“Umbrella arts ability number 12, Prismatic Haze!”

Oscar’s umbrella grew translucent. Or rather, it looked translucent to the people kneeling behind it. From the outside, it looked like part of the wall.

“Thanks to Naiz’s help, I was able to put a bunch more abilities into my umbrella this past month. This skill lets me warp the space around the umbrella and project a field—”

“O-kun, please use words normal people can understand!”

“It’s a camouflage spell that makes us invisible to anyone outside the umbrella.”

“Wow! That’s amazing, O-kun!”

Oscar was a little miffed at having to abridge his explanation, but before he could voice his complaints the person he’d spotted rounded the corner.

“Hm? I could have sworn I heard someone’s voice from over here.”

A stoic man in a black suit poked his head down the hallway. Though he was a scant five meters away from Oscar, he didn’t see a thing. The man shrugged his shoulders and continued walking down the hallway. Guess he went back on patrol.

“Looks like they’re keeping a close eye on the tunnels too.”

The group nodded to each other, then carefully started exploring the sprawling underground maze. They occasionally ran into other patrols, but they avoided them each time by using Oscar’s camouflage, or by using Miledi’s gravity magic to cling to the ceiling. The network of tunnels turned out to be more complex than any of them had expected. To make matters worse, there were multiple floors of tunnels. The sheer size of the place stymied their investigation. While they did find a few suspicious-looking rooms, none held any clues.

“We’re getting nowhere. And these tunnels are huge. We won’t be able to cover them all in a day.”

“If only we had an idea of where to look...”

“Logically, the most important things will probably be on the deepest level, but...”

They’d gone pretty far down already and hadn’t found anything. Miledi groaned to herself, wondering if maybe this plan had been too reckless. Just then, they sensed someone approaching from the opposite hallway, and the group flattened themselves against the wall. Thinking it was another black suit on patrol, Miledi peeked around the corner.

“O-kun, Nacchan... I think I found something.”

Miledi turned to her two companions with a grin. They both shot her questioning glances and she explained that the there was a door at the end of the hallway, guarded by two men in black suits.

“They’re guarding something instead of walking on patrol...? Sounds suspicious.”

“Right? Hey, Nacchan. I’m pretty sure there’s a corridor directly behind that room. Even if you haven’t seen what’s behind the door, you can teleport us into the room now that you know where it is, right?”

“Of course.”

The three of them nodded to each other and then circled around to the passage behind the room. From there, Naiz teleported them inside.

“Ah.”

“Huh?”

Inside the room was a little girl. Miledi and the girl’s eyes met, and they both gasped in surprise. The girl’s jaw dropped, and she stood there, her back to the door. After a few seconds though, she recovered. Her throat began to tremble; she was obviously about to scream.

“Not on my watch!” Naiz teleported behind the girl and wrapped one arm around her mouth. With the other, he pinned her in place. After that, he brought his face to her ear and whispered into it.

“Quiet. Don’t you dare scream.”

“Huh!?”

While he had saved their asses, Naiz actions were borderline criminal. Oscar’s lips twitched, and he hurriedly tried to calm the girl down.

“Sorry about that. Uh, look, we’re not anyone suspicious... Well, actually, I guess we are considering we just broke into your room without reason, but... we don’t want to hurt you. Promise. Won’t you please listen to what we have to say? Without screaming?”

There were tears in her eyes, but the girl carefully studied Oscar and weighed her options.

“Sorry we scared you. We didn’t mean to, promise!” Miledi added with a gentle smile. The girl looked from Miledi to Oscar, then finally nodded.

Slowly, Naiz let go of her. She didn’t scream. Instead, she simply hugged herself and spoke in a rather hesitant manner.

“Please don’t strip me, Mr. Fake Gentleman with Evil Glasses.”

Oscar dropped to all fours, devastated. Being told that by a girl barely ten years old on their first meeting had crushed his spirit.

“U-Umm, O-kun won’t strip anyone, so you don’t have to worry.”

Even Miledi couldn’t help but feel sorry for Oscar.

“But Mr. Fake Gentleman with Evil Glasses stripped... Father’s men... I saw it all... Plus, I even saw...”

The girl blushed and shot a quick glance at Oscar.

“It’s not what you think. That wasn’t part of the plan. It just happened. Please, believe me. Also, please stop calling me Mr. Fake Gentleman with Evil Glasses.”

“Ah, okay.”

Oscar genuflected to the girl. Overwhelmed by his seeming desperation, the girl nodded meekly. Meanwhile, Miledi started as she realized what the girl had just said. The guards, the underground room, “father’s men,” it all makes sense now!

“Excuse me. But is your father Baharl?”

“Ah... yes. My name is Diene.”

Diene looked at this unknown group of people with renewed wariness and fear. Upon getting a closer look at Diene, Miledi felt a strong sense of deja vu. Diene had long, luxurious emerald-green hair and a gentle demeanor that reminded her of a certain someone. More than anything though, Diene also looked to have gill-shaped ears.

Squirmed in the face of Miledi’s probing gaze, Diene began questioning the group.

“U-Umm, who are you guys? It’s dangerous. If Father finds out you’re here, you’ll be in trouble...”

Despite the fact that these people might mean her harm, Diene was still more worried for them than for herself. That alone taught Miledi that this young girl was far too kind to survive in this dog-eat-dog city that was ruled with an iron fist.

“Ah, sorry. We’re... Well, how do I put this?”

Obviously, Miledi couldn’t give Diene their real names. As she was wondering how best to respond, Oscar stepped in and answered in her place. It appeared he’d recovered from the blow Diene had dealt him earlier.

“We’re pirates.”

When in doubt, pin all the blame on pirates. Despite disliking the nickname he’d been given, Oscar was living up to it rather well. That being said, naming themselves pirates was the rational choice. They were searching for Meiru’s secret, and pirates were about the only people who’d skulk around looking for hidden treasure or secrets. In order to not terrify Diene, Miledi quickly opened her mouth to add, “But don’t worry, we’re good pirates, I promise.” Before she could though— “Pirates!? Then, then does that mean you know about the Ghost Ship!? Do you know how to reach the people on it!?”

Diene ran up to Miledi and clung to her skirt. Everyone was too surprised by her sudden reaction to do anything. No one had expected such a quiet girl to have such vehemence within her.

“Oi, what’s going on in there!? What’re you yelling for!?” One of the guards yelled. Since the door was locked from the inside he couldn’t get in right away. But judging by the fact that he then yelled “Someone bring me the key!” it was only a matter of time.

“Ah...”

Diene paled. She’d obviously not intended to call the guards. Miledi exchanged glances with Oscar and Naiz. They’d subdue the guards and get back to their conversation with Diene. However, Diene didn’t know that Miledi and the others were much stronger than her father’s guards, and feared she had no time left. Panicking, she hurriedly explained why she wanted to contact the Ghost Ship.

“Please, you have to tell them to run! The Ghost Ship’s in danger!”

“Wait, calm down. What do you mean, in danger?”

“The templar knights are after them! They’ll find them any day now!”

“Ah!”

Everyone knew who the templar knights were. They were one of the pillars of the church. One of the Theocracy’s most powerful military forces.

“I’ll do anything you ask. But please, let them know! They need to run! They have to survive!”

The door rattled as one of the guards fit the key into the lock. Miledi had a mountain of questions for Diene. However, if the templar knights were on the move, there wasn’t a moment to waste. So for now, she said only what needed to be said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll let the Melusine Pirate Crew, and Meru-nee, know!”

“Ah... You’re...”

Miledi shot Diene a fearless grin, then turned to her companions.

“We’re going back, O-kun, Nacchan!”

“You got it! Hold on tight, you two!”

Miledi and Oscar grabbed onto Naiz’s cloak, and a second later, the three of them were gone. Not a moment too soon, as the black suit bodyguards piled into the room right after. They yelled something at Diene, but she wasn’t listening. All she could think about was the faint ray of hope she’d finally found.

“Nee-sama...” she whispered, in a voice too soft to hear. It almost sounded like a prayer.

Naiz teleported the group to the harbor, and they piled into the small boat Oscar had transmuted. Once everyone was in, he teleported the whole boat further out to sea. They reappeared far out at sea, and Naiz started guzzling down mana potions. The moment he’d recovered enough, he teleported them again. During one of their brief stops, Oscar turned to Miledi and questioned her.

“Miledi, you said you investigated the church’s grand cathedral before, right? That time you got found out by one of God’s Apostles and had to run away? Did you see any Holy Templar Knights when you snuck in?”

“Not only did I see them, I fought them too. Though I was only up against a single squad at the time. Still... they’re strong.”

Elbard had two primary military forces. The first was their crusader army. That wasn’t too different from the armies of other countries. The other, however, was the templar knights. They reported directly to the church and were comprised of elites, each at least as strong as five normal men. Their captains and commanders were as strong as entire army divisions. Above even them stood the three special orders of templar knights, known collectively as the Three Pillars of Radiance, who answered only to the pope, and were ostensibly the strongest humans alive.

The first of those orders was the Paladins; they were responsible for guarding the pope and other important religious figures. Each Paladin could hold their own against an army. Though they were the smallest of the orders, each member of the Paladins possessed powerful special magic that could rival even ancient magic.

The second of the three orders were the Paragons of Light. They were in charge of capturing, taming, and raising the powerful beasts the other orders used as mounts. They were the weakest of the three pillars, but also the most versatile.

Last, but not least, was the order of the Holy Templar Knights. Their commander could supposedly use ancient magic, and each of his men possessed unbelievably powerful special magic abilities. Furthermore, they were highly skilled in using their atavistic powers. Altogether, the Holy Templar Knights were around 300 men strong. The fact that they’d begun to move meant that god himself had decreed this purge. After all, the Holy Templar Knights were the incarnation of god’s will, his merciless hammer of retribution.

“I have no idea how many of the Holy Templar Knights the church sent, but they almost never mobilize the full force. If they only sent a single squad, Meru-nee should be able to handle them. If it’s a brigade, then with our help she should still be fine. But if they sent a force larger than that... I’m not sure we’ll be able to protect all of Meru-nee’s family.”

The Holy Templar Knights had a unique organization system separate from other armies. Because of how powerful each individual knight was, their groups were all smaller denominations. A platoon was around 4-6 people, a troop around 12 people, a squad about 25, a brigade around 50, and a division 100. Above that was the full force of 300. A shiver of fear ran down Oscar’s spine as he saw how worried Miledi looked. Burning with impatience, he tapped his feet as he waited for Naiz’s mana to recover. Finally, Naiz finished his mana potion and prepared to teleport them the final stretch to Meiru’s island.

“Nacchan. To be safe, teleport us into the air.”

That way, they’d be able to see if the fight had already started before joining the fray. Naiz nodded.

“Understood. Are you two ready?”

Oscar and Miledi nodded back, and Naiz initiated the warp. The three of them reappeared high in the air. Looking down, they saw the island of ships engulfed in a sea of flame. Most of the Melusine Pirates were lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. The remaining pirates had been cornered by a contingent of knights. Off to the side stood a stern man clad in pure white armor. He held aloft a mace, ready to slam down onto Meiru, who was kneeling on the deck in front of him, covered in blood.

“Ah!”

Images of another blood-soaked girl flashed through Miledi’s mind. Even now, she remembered every detail of Belle’s death.

“Damn you bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards!”

Miledi snapped.

A few days had passed since Miledi and the others had left the ship island. Though the Melusine Pirates were as boisterous as ever, there was an undercurrent of melancholy running through the island. The children especially looked down. Not only had they lost their favorite playmate, but the kind older brother in glasses was also no longer around to give them all these strange toys. Plus, the nice guy who’d always teleport them wherever they wanted to go had left too. Little wonder they were feeling depressed. That evening, the kids were swimming forlornly in the ocean. Clouds rumbled in the distance, heralding the coming of a storm. The turbulent sky was a perfect reflection of the children’s mood.

“Those kids really are a handful. They’ve only been here a month and it already feels like they’re part of the family.”

Chris rested his chin on the ship’s railing and smiled sadly as he looked down at the children playing in the water. Meiru walked up next to him and replied, “It sure does,” with the same gentle smile as always. Though she tried to sound disinterested, Chris had known her for long enough to know what she was really thinking.

“You’re pretty fond of that missy yourself, aren’t you?”

“I suppose so. Miledi-chan certainly is cute.”

“Almost like a younger sister.”

“......”

It was a bad habit of Meiru’s to try and brush things off with a silent smile. Chris knew that, and a sardonic tinge entered his smile.

“From the looks of it, that missy’s been mistaking you for someone else too. Her name was Belta, right? Anyway, I can’t believe that missy was the scion of the Reisen family.”

“You used to live in the empire long ago, right Chris? I’ve never been there so the word Reisen doesn’t really mean much to me. But they must have been quite the family if you were that scared of Miledi-chan when you learned where she was from.”

“C-Cut me some slack, alright? I’m trying to pretend those few days never happened.”

Chris had originally been an imperial soldier. Though that had been almost 30 years ago. He’d been unable to accept the church’s forceful ways and had deserted. After wandering the continent for a while, he’d ended up in Andika. That had been 20 years ago. However, even now the mention of the empire’s famed executioners sent a shiver of fear down his spine. He still found it hard to believe that the Reisen family had been destroyed by one of their own and that she was now leading an organization of heretics. At first, he’d been so scared of Miledi that he wouldn’t even face her, but after hearing her story and seeing how cheerful she always acted, he’d slowly begun to warm up to her. Naturally, Meiru and his mates had teased him relentlessly about his timidity. Chris awkwardly cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“That missy still hasn’t given up on you though, you know? She only went back to Andika to find a way to convince you.”

“I understand, but my answer will not change.”

“Her question might, though.”

“Do you think she’ll find it?”

“Course she will. She’s too smart not to discover the real treasure yer after, Cap’n.”

Meiru considered the implications of that. If Miledi and the others did find that girl, what would she tell them? Meiru was surprised at how little the thought of the meeting bothered her. Not only had Meiru let Miledi into her heart, but Miledi had also let Meiru into hers as well. Miledi was certainly spontaneous, and more expressive than was normal, but she was also serious about the things that mattered and straightforward to a fault.

While her mom may have passed when she was still young, Meiru remembered her well. And though she never knew her real father, Chris had taken his place. On top of that, all the other people living in the slums had been like her family. She’d even had childhood friends.

On the other hand, Miledi had spent a childhood as an executioner. In order to keep herself from going insane, she’d killed her own emotions. But thanks to her miraculous encounter with Belta, she’d been able to recover her humanity. However, even that hadn’t lasted, as her own family had mercilessly slaughtered Miledi’s only friend. It was then that Miledi had decided on her own path, and resolved to tear down this unjust world.

“Won’t you join hands with me, so that we can change the world together?” Meiru recalled the conversation they’d had that night. Back then, she’d casually rejected Miledi’s invitation. Despite that, Miledi had just laughed and said, “Ahahaha, thought so.” She’d acted tough, but Meiru had seen the loneliness reflected in Miledi’s eyes. But that loneliness had quickly vanished behind an even firmer resolve. Meiru would never forget that forlorn but determined look. To use one of Oscar’s phrases, she’d been captivated by Miledi.

“Why not be honest with yourself and ask for their help? Having three ancient magic users would make taking Andika a lot easier.”

Chris’ voice broke Meiru out of the vortex of her own thoughts. She looked up at Chris and shook her head.

“I couldn’t do that. Those children are Liberators, not conquerors.”

Meiru had no intention of getting them mixed up into her own personal struggle. She’d joked to Miledi that she’d consider joining if they gifted her Andika, but if those three actually did that, she’d still need to make it look like she retook the city by force. Because that way she’d be hailed by the populace as the hero who saved the free city of Andika from a group of renegade heretics. More importantly, that would be how it looked to the church as well. For the safety of her own comrades, and for the safety of the girl she treasured most in this world, she could not be seen joining hands with the Liberators.

“Our paths are destined to drift apart.”

“So that’s how it’s gonna be? Well, I guess the world’s a tough place.”

Meiru kept her mouth shut, signaling an end to the conversation. Chris heaved a troubled sigh and took his chin off the railing. Just then, one of the pirates on watch yelled down from the crow’s nest, “Cap’n! There’s something approaching from the sky! It’s comin’ in from the east! I dunno what it is, but it’s huge!”

From the sky? I could understand if a ship or something were approaching from sea, but... Meiru looked up quizzically. If it were an aerial monster, the pirate on watch would have recognized it, so it couldn’t be that.

Meanwhile, Chris sprang into action. He cast body strengthening on himself, then ran vertically up the mast. Normally that wouldn’t have been possible even with body strengthening, but he had incredible balance to boot. He hopped into the crow’s nest and looked out in the direction his subordinate was pointing in.

“Oh shit...”

The pirate gave Chris a worried look. He’d never seen the Melusine Pirate Crew’s first mate look this pale. Before he could ask what was wrong, Chris screamed, “Meiru, it’s the church!”

Meiru could guess what that meant. The church’s crazed followers had finally come to deliver their “divine retribution.” Meiru raised a giant ball of seawater into the air and made it burst directly above the center of the ship island. Droplets rained down with a thunderous roar, grabbing the attention of all members of the Melusine Pirates.

“All hands, prepare for battle! The enemy has found us!”

Her voice was lacking its usual calmness. That alone told everyone just how dire the situation was. The pirates burst into action at once.

“Meiru! No one but the Holy Templar Knights uses an airship! You have to evacuate all the civilians; we’re gonna be in for a rough fight!”

“I know! Chris, get everyone who can fight together and buy me some time!”

“Yer one hell of a slave driver, you know that!? We’re up against the church’s elite here!”

Despite his words, Chris grinned fearlessly and started barking orders to the other pirates. A second later, a huge wave hit the Melusine Pirates. It wasn’t a wave of water, though. It was a wave of pure darkness, and it passed through the island of ships in less than a second. The pirates were shaken to their very souls.

“Ah—” Meiru staggered, the wave taking her by surprise. A second later though, she recovered her wits.

What was that? Meiru looked up and her eyes widened as she saw a huge number of her pirates, most of them non-combatants, lying unconscious on the ground.

“Tetragrammaton!”

A ripple of sunset-orange light spread out from Meiru. Using restoration magic over a wide area like this, without transporting it using water as a medium, took a considerable amount of mana. However, the effects were instantaneous. All of the unconscious pirates woke up.

“Get moving!”

The dazed pirates reflexively reacted to their captain’s command.

“Meiru!”

“Chris, do you have any idea what that was just now?”

“Not a clue. But it was enough to knock out our weaker guys. Even for a Holy Templar Knight, that’s—”

—Heretics, listen well. I am Laus Barn, commander of the Holy Templar Knights.—

A voice echoed in the Melusine Pirates’ minds, as though someone was speaking directly to their soul. Meiru narrowed her eyes as she listened to the words of the grim reaper who’d come to snuff out their lives. Next to her, Chris cursed to himself. “Fuck, it just had to be him...”

This was the worst possible situation. The Holy Templar Knights’ commander himself had come to eliminate them.

—For disavowing your faith and abandoning your god, Ehit has decreed your demise.—

Meiru could see the knights’ airship even from her position on the ship’s deck now. It was a magnificent vessel, a man-made testament to god’s might. And at its prow stood the man feared as the mortal incarnation of Ehit’s wrath.

—Regret your actions and repent, foolish heretics. Your lives end tonight.—

A volley of fireballs shot out from the airship, marking the start of the battle.

“Torrential Bulwark!”

Meiru cast at lightning speed, creating a dome of water to protect her island. No normal mage could cast such a large-scale spell that quickly. However, the knights Meiru was up against were no normal knights either. Their fireball barrage was more deadly than it appeared. After the first few fireballs fizzled out against Meiru’s dome, the remaining ones clumped together and transformed into a hail of massive javelins.

While Meiru’s barrier was able to stop most of them, these spears excelled in penetrative force. A few dozen slipped through the cracks. Most of them hit the edges of the outermost ships, where Meiru’s barrier had been weakest. Pirates screamed in terror as the ships caught fire. To make matters worse, the fire spread at an unnatural rate, as though it were a living beast.

“Not bad, for a bunch of religious freaks.”

Mania, who was the best mage in the crew after Meiru, extinguished the fires with a series of water spells. At the same time, the Holy Templar Knights started jumping out of the airship.

“Here they come! All non-combatants, hurry up and evacuate! Ned, Mania, your squads are in charge of protecting them! Everyone else, get ready for a fight!”

Meiru shouted orders one after another. Seeing that she was the pirates’ commander, the knights targeted her with a barrage of lightning bolts, which she deflected with a water barrier. She then turned her barrier into a spear and shot it up at the knights. Despite the considerable amount of force she’d put into her offensive, the knights appeared unfazed.

“I suppose it won’t be that easy.” Meiru muttered as she watched them stop in mid-air, then disperse to either side, easily avoiding her spear. All members of the Three Pillars of Radiance had the same base equipment. Iron boots that were enchanted to let them freely maneuver in the air were part of that set.

“This is Ehit’s will!”

“Who gives a shit about your god!” Chris yelled back as one of the knights fell into the crow’s nest he was standing in. He drew his longsword and parried the knight’s greatsword. Then, in the same motion, he swung up at the knight. Scoffing, the knight brought his sword back in a guard position. But to his surprise—

“What!?”

Chris’ sword cut through the knight’s like a hot knife through butter. It didn’t stop there and sliced through his armor as well. The knight grunted in shock as Chris’ sword bit deep into his flank, and he reeled backward. As there was nothing to break his momentum, he careened right off the crow’s nest.

Chris possessed the special magic Vorpal Slash. No matter how a dull a blade was, his magic turned it into a razor-sharp weapon that could cut through space itself. Since his slashes rent dimensions, they were unblockable.

“A filthy pirate like you doesn’t deserve such powerful special magic!”

Another knight landed on the crow’s nest and charged Chris. This one wasn’t wearing a helmet. His cheeks were sunken, and he was unbelievably thin. But despite his wimpy frame, he didn’t seem the least bit afraid of Chris. In fact, there was a fanatic fervor in his eyes that scared the old pirate. It appeared the fact that Chris possessed something as holy as special magic while being a heretic galled this knight to no end. Chris readied himself to cut down this knight as well, but just then his battle-honed instincts warned him to retreat.

“Not good!”

He kicked his subordinate out of the crow’s nest and leaped out right after him. A second later, some invisible force struck the platform, gouging deep furrows into the wood.

“Guess he’s got magic like mine.”

Chris’ guess was spot on. That particular knight possessed special magic known as Sacred Beast Fangs. Incidentally, his name was Saleos Holt, and he was a squad captain.

“How dare you disgrace Ehit’s gift like this, you heretic!”

Space twisted around Saleos. He swung his sword downward, sending the jaws of an invisible beast after Chris. Chris drew his sword in midair and swung upward. The sword that could cut through anything and the jaws that could tear through anything clashed.

“Gaaaaah!”

A spray of blood danced through the night sky as Chris howled in pain. Though Chris’ Vorpal Slash had cut through Saleos’ Sacred Beast Fangs, it hadn’t destroyed all of the magic jaw’s teeth. Those that remained tore through Chris arms, legs, and shoulders. Chris lost his balance and was about to crash onto the deck when a torrent of water buoyed him up. It then passed through him and turned into a whip that assaulted Saleos. Looking down, Chris saw Meiru fending off multiple knights at once with her shrapnel whips. Despite facing so many opponents, she’d still had the leeway to send assistance his way.

“Cheeky little bitch!”

Saleos unleashed his Sacred Beast Fangs again, swallowing up one of Meiru’s whips. His attack wasn’t even slowed by the water-metal whip, and the beast’s jaws bore down on Chris once more.

“Full strength Vorpal Slash!”

“Nnngh!”

Chris’ full-power invisible slash shot through the air, and this time it cut right through Saleos’ fangs and struck him directly. However, he wasn’t one of the Holy Templar Knights’ twelve captains for show. Saleos shot out another, smaller Sacred Beast Fangs and let the impact of it crashing into Chris’ Vorpal Slash push him backward. The Vorpal Slash grazed his shoulder and hair, but his maneuver succeeded, and he avoided taking damage.

“You damned pirates!” Saleos screamed as he landed on the ship’s deck. His eyes widened in shock as he saw that Chris was completely unhurt. Not only that, even his clothes had been repaired.

“What kind of trick did you pull, heretic!?”

“Who knows? Why don’t you try asking your all-knowing god if you’re so curious?”

Chris smiled fearlessly and tapped his shoulder with his longsword. Despite his bravado, he was breaking out in a cold sweat. He’d expected to kill Saleos with that attack. These damn knights are even stronger than I thought! Chris had thought the knights were only feared because they all possessed special magic, but that last exchange had made it clear to him that they didn’t just rely on the overwhelming power of their magic. They were all physically fit, outstanding swordsmen, adjusted to the situation as necessary, and were well-coordinated. One after another, the Melusine Pirates began to fall.

“You dare insult our great lord...? I will make sure to give you a painful death, heretic.”

Saleos’ tone was deathly quiet. His pupils had contracted, and his body trembled with a silent rage. He was well and truly in the grip of insanity.

“Is this really where we die? Damn it all...”

Cursing to himself Chris readied his blade. This time, he charged forward first. He needed to end this battle quickly so he could go to his comrades’ aid. A short distance away, Kyaty was having her own fierce duel with a group of knights.

“Umm, would you please be so kind as to accept your fate and die?”

“You’re really starting to piss me off, you know that!?”

The first knight was a weak-looking girl with chestnut-brown hair. She was wearing glasses and seemed more like a librarian than a knight. On top of that, she couldn’t have been older than 18. She kept timidly asking Kyaty to please die, which only served to irritate the catgirl. Strapped to her back wasn’t a standard issue greatsword, but rather a massive claymore. However, she looked weak enough that Kyaty was confident her Acceleration could win her this fight. Unfortunately for Kyaty, appearances could be deceiving. This girl’s name was Pell Allby, and she too was a squad captain. Kyaty instantly dashed behind Pell, but she used another knight as a shield and put some distance between them. Pell was surrounded by a knot of four other knights, making it difficult for Kyaty to approach. Even if the knights couldn’t keep up with her speed, they could still serve as meat shields. And because they didn’t fear death, there were no gaps in their wall. To make matters worse, unless Kyaty could kill them instantly, they’d just keep getting healed back up.

“May your loyalty be rewarded.”

Every time Pell offered up a prayer, all the knights were instantly healed. Not only that, Kyaty was weakened as well.

“Nngh, not again!”

Kyaty staggered as a large chunk of her mana was drained. Pell’s special magic was Devotion. By offering up a prayer, she could drain mana from any one target. And in Pell’s case, she then used the mana she drained to heal the knights Kyaty was fighting.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kyaty watched as one of her comrades was cut down, and another group blown away by a blast of lightning. She longed to help them, but she knew if she took her eyes off Pell for even a moment, she’d be killed. All she could do was grit her teeth and focus on the enemy in front of her.

“Umm, as you can see, your comrades won’t last long. Please just give up and accept Ehit’s judgment! Resistance is pointless!”

“You looking down on us, huh!?”

Pell shrunk back in response to Kyaty’s retort, but her timid attitude only angered Kyaty further.

“Like hell we’re giving up here! Who gives a shit about your god’s stupid judgment!? Pah!”

Kyaty secretly hoped her provocations would get the knights angry enough to break formation. However, her taunts produced a rather unexpected result.

“What the fuck did you just fucking say about Ehit you little bitch?”

Pell’s attitude did a complete 180. Her pupils contracted, and her mouth quivered in rage. She grabbed the claymore strapped to her back.

“Wh-What the hell’s gotten into you all of a—”

Pell interrupted Kyaty with a crazed yell.

“How dare sub-human scum like you take my lord’s name in vain!”

A second later, there was an earthquake. In her rage, Pell had struck the boat with her claymore. It was hard to imagine such strength could come from such tiny arms, but the shockwaves rocking Kyaty’s ship were real. While Kyaty was still off-balance, Pell rushed forward while simultaneously draining Kyaty of more of her mana. Kyaty tried to dodge to the side, but Pell’s sword was already bearing down on her.

“Die, you half-breed!”

“Ah!”

Pell’s side slash had more than enough force to cut Kyaty in half. Kyaty barely managed to cross her daggers in time to block the blow. They cracked ominously under the force of the swing, but gave Kyaty enough time to dodge backward. Though she’d tried to redirect as much of the blow’s force as possible, Pell’s swing still managed to shatter both of Kyaty’s knives and the bones in her arms. Before she could scream, Kyaty flew backward and barreled into a stack of barrels. There was a loud crash and chunks of splintered wood flew into the air. This time, Pell had used the mana she’d stolen to cast body strengthening on herself. In truth, Pell was much more skilled at using strengthening magic than recovery magic, which was why she could strike with such force despite her slender frame.

“Repent, you godless heretic,” Pell spat, her voice dripping with venom. She was acting like a completely different person, but the knights around her didn’t seem surprised in the slightest. In fact, they were praising her for her loyalty to Ehit. However, that arrogance would lead to their downfall.

“Acceleration!”

“Huh?”

The young knight who’d been extolling Pell the most turned around in confusion. That was the last word he ever spoke. Kyaty stuck a knife into the back of his head, killing him before Pell had a chance to heal him.

“You cretin! How did you heal so fast!?”

Pell’s eyes widened in surprise. Not only was Kyaty completely unhurt, but her shattered knives had also been restored to their original forms. It was as if she’d never been hurt at all.

“I thought I was a goner there.”

Kyaty wiped a bead of sweat off her chin as she kicked aside the young knight’s corpse. All of the other pirates the knights had defeated rose to their feet once more as well and resumed their assault.

“Impossible...”

Despite her confusion, Pell once more raised her claymore. With a fierce battle cry, she threw herself at Kyaty.

“Meiru. Hurry up and beat these guys’ boss already...”

Of course, Kyaty knew just how hard that was. She braced herself and fought against Pell’s massive claymore using only her two knives and her Acceleration ability. Meanwhile, Ned and Mania, who were in charge of getting the civilians onto the escape lifeboats were having a hard time too.

“Tch. These guys sure have some fancy gear!”

“Just think, it’ll all be ours once we beat them.”

Though they were bantering back and forth, both Ned and Mania were covered in wounds. Most of the other pirates were either wounded or unconscious as well, and that number was only growing.

“Repent your sins!” A bald knight, Troop Sergeant Baltos Goldy, charged Ned, his greatsword held overhead. Ned grimaced. Baltos possessed the special magic, The Weight of Responsibility, which allowed him to freely manipulate the weight of anything he touched. The amount at which he could alter something’s weight was dependent on how much mana he poured into it so he could only gradually adjust objects’ weight during battle. However, he was a tricky opponent to deal with for Ned, who was a close-combat fighter. Ned had already had to drop his gauntlets because Baltos had made them too heavy. Mania shot off a flaming javelin toward Baltos in an attempt to back Ned up. It traveled faster than Baltos could react, and the spear struck him squarely in the chest. However, Baltos rolled with the impact and quickly regained his footing. The impact had winded him, but nothing more.

“No matter how much stronger I make its piercing power, it’s not enough.”

Mania frowned. The reason his magic was so ineffective was because of the breastplate of nullification all knights that belonged to the three orders wore. It was a powerful Artifact that came equipped with a magic barrier. Each knight was also issued a gauntlet of nullification and a shield of nullification. Their weapons were also strengthened and granted their wielders automatic affinity with light magic. Most knights chose between claymores, greatswords, spears, and bows, though some had custom weapons as well.

“You don’t have time to be worrying about your friends, heretic.”

A huge knight hurtled toward Mania. He was nearly three meters tall, far taller than any human had a right to be. To Mania, he looked like a hulking wall of armor and muscle. His tower shield was the size of a normal human, and his claymore looked like a greatsword in his hands. Mania shot off a barrage of lightning blasts, instantly casting the advanced level lightning spell Thunderstorm. Despite how it seemed, he’d been keeping an eye on the giant the whole time. And his own special magic allowed him to cast incantations in his mind, so he didn’t need to say them aloud. While it seemed he’d cast that spell on a dime, he’d completed the full incantation so it had enough power to vaporize a normal person. However, Holy Templar Knights were made of sterner stuff.

“Hmph!”

“Wha—!?”

A second before the lightning spheres hit him, the knight wrapped himself in an aura of mana. The aura extended to his equipment, including his shield. This man was Boutice Vaan, a brigade commander. His particular special magic was Rampart. The combination of his sturdy build, special magic that raised his defenses, and high-level equipment made him nigh-invincible and he was known among his men as the indomitable fortress. True to his name, Boutice took Mania’s barrage without flinching. Though the spell forced him to stop his charge, it didn’t push him back at all. And the moment Mania’s barrage ended, he resumed his rush. With his tower shield held out in front of him, he looked like a moving wall. Mania was so surprised by the ease with which his spell had been repelled that he was a moment late to react. The fact that he was still able to erect a barrier in time was proof that he was a master mage, even for a demon. But even that wasn’t enough to stop Boutice.

“Guwaaah!”

He hit Mania with the force of a battering ram, sending the demon flying along with his barrier. Mania screamed in pain as he slammed into the mast behind him. Boutice didn’t stop his assault and rammed Mania again with his tower shield. Cracks formed in Mania’s barrier as it struggled to absorb the impact. Trapped between the mast and Boutice’s shield, it was only a matter of time before he was crushed.

Mania’s men charged Boutice in an attempt to save their leader.

“Witness the strength bestowed upon those who follow the faith!”

Boutice expanded the aura of mana surrounding him, making it look as though he’d just exploded. In effect, he’d basically unleashed a shield bash in all directions. Mania’s subordinates were blown away, and either fell into the ocean or slumped unconscious against the ship’s railing. Boutice’s mana explosion completely destroyed the ship’s mast as well and sent Mania flying.

“Gaaaah! Cough”

He slumped to his knees and coughed up a lungful of blood. Though he’d barely managed to escape with his life, he was in no condition to fight.

“Maniaaaaaaaa!”

Ned ran over to Mania, pale-faced.

“How pointless.”

He stopped as he heard a girl’s emotionless voice right next to him. A second later, a thin longsword shot out toward his side. Ned desperately tried to dodge, but the girl read his movements and changed the trajectory of her thrust, stabbing through his flank.

“Gaaaaah! Don’t think you’ve won, you bitch!”

“How pointless.”

She repeated her earlier words, and Ned turned to see a sharp-looking girl wearing glasses looking down at him. Ned tightened his muscles, trapping her sword in place, and swung his fist at her. While he didn’t possess any special magic, Ned had trained his body strengthening magic until his bare fists were strong enough to punch through armor. Ned had hoped that by taking some damage he’d be able to trap his foe and land a clean hit on her, but things didn’t go as planned. The knight easily read the trajectory of his punch and dodged out of the way while easily pulling her sword out of Ned’s body. Before he could correct his stance, she stabbed him from the other side. Ned flinched from the pain, and this time the knight aimed her thrust directly at his face.

“Fuuuuck!”

Ned swung his head to the side while simultaneously raising his leg for a kick.

“I told you, it’s pointless.”

The knight sidestepped Ned’s kick and angled her thrust downward to stab into his leg instead. She then stepped into his guard and readied the finishing blow. Ned gritted his teeth and sucked in a huge breath.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Ah!”

All he’d done was yell in a loud voice. But at this distance, his scream was loud enough to rattle the knight’s eardrums. She reflexively covered her ears, and her movements dulled for a moment.

“Hehehe. You’re a weird girl, that’s fer sure. It’s such a waste, you’ve got the looks but ya never even smile.”

Ned smiled through his pain. Unfortunately, both wounds on his side were serious. His legs were trembling from the effort of standing, and despite the short reprieve he’d earned himself, he could see no way of winning this fight. The knight glared down at Ned through the lenses of her glasses.

“It’s pointless to try and act tough. I can tell you’re on the verge of death.”

This knight’s special magic was Revelation. It gave her the power to instinctively sense the best move to make in any given situation. It wasn’t as clear as seeing the future, but rather more of a vague feeling of what to do.

“So long as I make the optimal moves, you will not survive. Hence, your death is inevitable.”

The young knight, Squad Captain Apri Erobos, leveled her thin blade at Ned while she drew the short sword at her waist. Out of the corner of his eye, Ned spotted Mania leaning against the ship’s railing, struggling to remain conscious. Boutice was bearing down on the battered demon with his massive claymore. They were in a tight spot, no doubt about it. Just then, water started welling up from underneath the ship’s deck. It pooled around Ned, Mania, and all the other fallen pirates in small enough puddles that Apri and Boutice didn’t notice.

“Sorry missy, but the Melusine Pirates are a lot tougher than you think!”

“Meaningless drivel.”

Tired of Ned’s posturing, Apri stepped forward to attack once more. She believed it would be easy to dispatch Ned, who could barely even stand.

“Hmph!”

“Wha!?”

Ned trapped Apri’s sword with his fists, then wrenched his arms to snap her thin weapon in half. Then, with a vigor that seemed impossible considering the injuries he should have, he launched a kick at Apri. She let her instincts guide her and ducked under the blow.

“I figured you’d be a tough nut to crack.”

“What is going on...”

Apri couldn’t believe her eyes. Ned’s injuries had disappeared as if they’d never existed. Not only that, all of Ned’s subordinates had recovered as well, and were now pressing the knights back.

Their revival was accompanied by a thunderous roar, and a second later a blazing ball of fire appeared in the sky. Mania had taken advantage of Boutice’s momentary surprise to cast another powerful spell. Boutice looked up in confusion, wondering why Mania hadn’t tried to hit him directly, but a second later he clutched his throat and started gasping. Sensing danger, he used his AoE shield bash to push Mania away and gain some distance. He then dropped to one knee and sucked in lungfuls of air.

What Mania had done was simple. He’d created a fireball large enough to suck up all the oxygen around Boutice. Had he stayed in that spot any longer he would have fainted, but he wasn’t one of the Holy Templar Knights’ six brigade commanders for nothing.

Ned backstepped until he was back to back with Mania. Apri was worried about the strange spell Mania had cast, and so didn’t pursue him.

“Yo Mania, you think we can win this?”

“Hell no.”

“Seriously!?”

“That right there was my best spell, and all it did was stagger the guy. I’m weeping right now.”

These knights were far stronger than Mania had anticipated.

“Haha. Can’t blame ya, I guess. But hey, we gotta at least hold out long enough for the kids to get out.”

“Naturally. I’ll guarantee their escape, even if it costs me my life.”

The two bumped their fists together, cementing their resolve to fight to the death. It was a rare sight, a human and demon fighting side by side like this. Both Boutice and Apri were disgusted by the blasphemy in front of them.

“How far will you filthy heretics fall!?”

“I can’t stand breathing the same air as you mongrels!”

Ned, Mania, and all the other pirates scoffed at the knights’ insults. They knew this would be where they died, yet they charged forward without hesitation.

While all the pirates were struggling with their respective opponents, Meiru was in the middle of her own grand battle. However, Meiru was taking on far more knights than any of her men. In fact, she was fighting a third of Laus’ division all on her own.

“So this was all your doing. But to think...” Division Commander Araym Orcman muttered bitterly to himself as he watched all of the fatally injured pirates rise to fight again, their wounds healed. No normal recovery magic was that powerful. That would inevitably mean that Meiru had to be using some kind of special magic, but from what Araym could tell, this recovery magic was too strong to be even that. When he realized what that must mean, Araym’s face twisted into a frown. Unable to accept the reality before him, he glared at Meiru with a mixture of hatred, rage, and madness.

“Impossible! This can’t be! No filthy pirate, no worthless heretic could possibly be using Ehit’s gifts!”

Lying around Meiru were the corpses of three of Araym’s knights. Despite that, she still had a gentle smile on her face.

“Tch. I’ll purge you myself! Divine Blaze!”

Araym created a whirlwind of white flames. The whirlwind then split into a hundred lances of fire, all of which hurtled toward Meiru, scorching the air as they passed.

This was Araym’s special magic, Divine Blaze. It was this magic that had elevated him to the position of division commander. Not only was it a peerless spell, but it also granted Araym unparalleled affinity for fire magic.

A torrent of fire rained down on Meiru. It was hard to believe a single person had been responsible for the barrage. Though Araym had cast it with the ease one might cast a beginner-level spell, each flaming spear had the force of an advanced-level Crimson Javelin.

“That wasn’t a very good idea.”

Meiru nonchalantly raised a barrier of water. The flaming javelins created a thick curtain of steam as they crashed into the wall of seawater. A few managed to pierce through the water, but Meiru was already somewhere else, riding the current of her own barrier. By the time the knights realized she wasn’t there, it was too late. One of the knights tried to block the wave of water heading toward him with his tower shield, but the moment he shifted his focus Meiru’s saber stabbed him in the neck from behind. Another knight dispersed the fog using wind magic, but as he did so a current of water swept his feet out from under him. The current then rose around him, attempting to drown him. He activated his boots’ ability to escape, but the irregular flow of the current followed him wherever he went. Worse, water kept on forcing its way through his nostrils and into his lungs.

“Bluaaagh!?”

No matter how rigorously one trained themselves, no matter how calmly they could deal with any situation, no one, not even a Holy Templar Knight, could handle a torrent of water going up their nose. When all of the fog had cleared, another two corpses littered the ship’s deck.

“You made a mistake, attacking me on sea. This is my domain. Your fire has no power here.”

“You bitch!”

“Two of your men died because of your mistake, and all you can think of is insulting me? My, what an irresponsible knight.”

Still smiling, Meiru taunted Araym. She looked like she was handling the knights with ease, but her composure was a facade. Araym’s Divine Blaze was more of a threat than Meiru was willing to admit. He could fire it off any time, and her barriers weren’t powerful enough to block all of the spears. If any of them hit her ships the wood would catch fire, and water alone wouldn’t be enough to put out those magicked blazes. Unless she countered his Divine Blaze with a massive wave of water each time, her island would be reduced to cinders. It was for that reason that she was trying to provoke him into making a careless blunder. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that simple-minded.

“You’re right, it’s pathetic that I allowed a heretic to ever best me. However, those noble men died martyrs. They could have wished for no better end.”

“I suppose I should have expected that. You clergy love taking things to extremes.”

Araym didn’t feel even an iota of sorrow for his lost comrades.

“Indeed, our faith is nothing if not extreme!”

Araym once again created a legion of spears. The moment Meiru turned her attention to them, she heard wind whistle past her ear. She bent backward on instinct, and a glowing arrow shot through the space her head had been a second ago. To her surprise, the arrow curved in midair and shot back toward her again.

“My arrows are the incarnation of Ehit’s divine wrath. Prepare to be judged!”

The one who’d shot that arrow was the other brigade commander who’d come on this expedition, Lelaie Argeson. Her special magic, Arrows of Atonement, allowed her to shoot arrows that chased their target to the ends of the earth. Lelaie fired off two more homing arrows, then joined the remaining knights in charging Meiru. In response, she wrapped herself in a veil of water. The knights didn’t hesitate in the slightest and stabbed at the veil. At the same time, Meiru wrapped another knight a short distance away in an identical veil.

“Bweeeh!?”

“Sorry, but that’s the old me.”

Shocked, the knights whirled around. The knight Meiru had trapped in the second veil had a saber sticking out of his neck. Meiru mercilessly yanked her saber out of the poor knight’s neck and used a tiny current to wipe the blood off it. At the same time, the saber shattered into a dozen pieces and merged with the current. After transforming her sword into her shrapnel whip, she lashed out at yet another knight. Lelaie and Araym once again bombarded her with arrows and fire. This time, Meiru didn’t even attempt to dodge. She focused on maintaining her offensive, allowing the barrage to hit.

“Nngh.”

An arrow pierced her chest while a flaming spear incinerated her left arm. At the same time though, her shrapnel whip gouged out her target’s eyes. He staggered backward, and Meiru followed up with a water lance. It shot toward him at blinding speed and pierced through the tiny gap in his armor, creating a fist-sized hole in his heart. Meiru didn’t bother to stick around and watch his demise. Instead, she rode the current to safety, avoiding Araym and Lelaie’s next barrage. Grimacing in pain, she launched a torrent of water at Araym and the other knights. While he was dealing with the flood, Meiru healed herself and changed targets to Lelaie. She’d returned her saber back to its original form, and she slashed at the brigade commander with it.

“Why!? Why is it that you turned from god despite having received his blessings!? You could have been one of his beloved children!”

Despite being an archer, Lelaie skillfully blocked Meiru’s slashes with her bow and arrow. Meiru smiled kindly and replied, “Because I didn’t want to end up like you.”

“Curse youuuu!”

Lelaie parried Meiru’s stroke with an arrow, then nocked it and fired at point-blank range. Meiru tilted her head to dodge, but the arrow instantly turned in midair and bore down on her again. Meiru had expected that, however, and used one of her currents to put a knight in between her and the arrow.

“I wonder if your supposedly invincible arrows can pierce through your fellow knight’s armor?”

Meiru didn’t have to wait long to get her answer. While the knight’s armor did manage to reduce the arrow’s force, it still punched right through and pierced his heart. It kept going, and exited the knight’s back, still heading for Meiru. Meiru stopped her flurry of attacks and dodged to the side. It grazed her harmlessly as it passed, and continued onward toward its owner.

“Ah!”

Lelaie gasped, but managed to just barely catch the arrow before it hit her. She then nocked it once more and drew her bow back. Before she could loose it though, Meiru grabbed onto her wrist.

“Revival Reversal.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Blood spurted from every part of Lelaie’s body. Meiru had used one of her trump cards and revived Lelaie’s past wounds. She’d wondered how effective it would be against the church’s elite knights, but from the looks of it even if they didn’t participate in combat often, their training was far harsher than any battle. Lelaie dropped to one knee. Meiru didn’t miss a beat and quickly sliced down at the knight’s neck. Before her attack landed, though—

“Soul Shock.”

Meiru was hit by an impact that bypassed all defenses and struck directly at her soul.

“Argh!?”

Meiru gritted her teeth, the pain helping her just barely hang on to her consciousness. She quickly cast restoration magic on herself and backed away to safety. That reflexive reaction of hers had saved her life. A second later there was a huge boom, and the ship she’d been on was rocked by a massive shockwave. Looking over, Meiru saw a stern-looking man hefting a mace larger than him. The shockwave had been caused by him slamming it down as he’d landed. The dark grey mace was almost a full meter wide and even its handle was the thickness of a child’s bicep. It was hard to imagine anyone could even hold such a thing. The impact had, of course, shattered the ship down the center, and it was slowly beginning to sink. A single mace was able to do that!?

“Commander!”

“Laus-sama!”

Lelaie and Araym looked up at the man with reverence.

“I do not wish to lose any more of my precious knights. I will handle this woman.”

Laus lightly swung his mace, causing a shockwave of wind to shoot outward. Originally he’d just been watching from aboard the ship, as his men had pleaded with him that there was no need for someone of his stature to personally deal with a band of pirates. However, now he’d decided to take to the battlefield. Araym opened his mouth to protest, but Laus silenced him with a single glare. He then turned to Meiru, who even now was wearing her usual smile.

“Not only can you use ancient magic, but your skills with normal magic are also exceptional as well. You were able to take on two of my captains while both healing your comrades and protecting the non-combatants...”

There was a hint of admiration in Laus’ voice. He was the only one who’d noticed that she’d been doing all of that while also fighting Laus’ best men. Unfortunately, a few of the pirates had died before she could restore them, but none of the civilians had been harmed yet. While the pirates were in no shape to launch the escape boats, it was thanks to Meiru’s constant restoration that they were able to keep them safe from the knights. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Meiru was single-handedly carrying the pirates.

“Oh my. It’s quite an honor to be praised by the esteemed commander of the Holy Templar Knights.”

“Hmph, as if you actually mean that.”

“Fufu. Say, Commander. If you really think I’m so impressive, why not just leave? If you enter the fray, I’ll have to get serious, and no one wants that.”

If Meiru focused only on attacking, casualties among the knights would grow. The number of dead knights had already reached the double digits. The Holy Templar Knights hadn’t lost this many men in decades. They had expected to be up against an unruly mob of heretics, but they’d found themselves facing a score of special magic users, along with a wielder of ancient magic. This was definitely beyond their calculations. In truth, a temporary retreat should have been an appealing option for the knights. However, Laus didn’t respond to Meiru’s expectations.

“That’s not an option.”

“Whyever not?”

Meiru’s expression darkened. Laus replied in a deadpan voice, “Because we have yet to be put at a disadvantage. But even if we were, that would be no reason to retreat. So long as there is a chance of our mission succeeding, we will fight. You say you’ll have to get serious? So be it. Show me what you’re made of. Resist with all your might!”

Laus’ final shout shook the air. Meiru narrowed her eyes as Laus looked coldly down at her.

“Ancient magic is not something you can use endlessly. Captain of the Melusine Pirates, Meiru. How long will you be able to resist?”

With that, Laus leaped forward. The two halves of the ship he’d destroyed had already tilted to the point of being vertical. Their orientation meant Laus was basically leaping off a wall, which gave added thrust to his charge. The other knights went to find easier prey, while Meiru once again jumped atop her current and faced Laus.

“Forever, I imagine.”

She smiled fearlessly in an attempt to hide her growing panic.

About an hour after the battle began, the clouds grew thicker, and a powerful storm buffeted the battlefield. The flames roaring through the ships were the only illumination in the dark sea.

“Haaah, Haaah...” Meiru’s labored panting mixed with the sounds of fire crackling around her. She held her saber in one hand as blood dripped from the numerous cuts on her body.

“You seem to be nearing your limit,” Laus stated, his voice flat and emotionless. Though he was sporting his fair share of wounds, he was still in much better shape than Meiru. Normally, Meiru would have retorted with a light quip, but she no longer had the energy to. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to remain standing on pure will. Laus had spoken the truth; Meiru was at her limits. At the edges of her hazy vision, she could see her defeated family members. Kyaty had been forced to her knees, while Ned hung limply from the gunwale. Mania lay on the floor, unmoving. Lastly—

“Gaaah!?”

Chris, too, fell. An invisible mouth ripped off his arm, then a point-blank blast of white fire sent him flying. He hit the deck some distance away, and lay there, unmoving.

“Will you not surrender to us?”

“...What are you planning?”

That hadn’t been a command, but a request. Confused, Meiru glared suspiciously at Laus.

“It would be a waste for you to die here. Not only because of your ancient magic, either. If you repent and swear fealty to Ehit, I shall plead your case to the pope.”

The knights around Laus didn’t seem too thrilled by that.

“How could you show such mercy to heretics!?” Araym yelled. But after thinking about it for a few seconds, he realized Laus was right. It would be a waste to lose such powerful ancient magic. Meiru’s abilities had impressed the knights so much that they momentarily forgot about their fanatic desire to slaughter heretics.

In response, Meiru sized up Laus, then questioned him.

“What will become of my comrades?”

“They will receive divine punishment, of course. Understand that you are the only one deserving of special treatment.”

There was no room for negotiation. But of course, that wasn’t acceptable to Meiru. She spat at Laus’ feet, enraging the knights around him.

“How dare you disrespect Laus-sama’s mercy, you bitch! Laus-sama, these heretics are vile beasts. They deserve nothing less than death!”

Laus raised his hand to silence Araym.

“I see your eyes are still brimming with hope... but did you really believe I didn’t notice?”

For the first time since the battle started, Meiru’s gentle smile faltered. Laus waved a hand, signaling to some of his knights.

“Ah!”

“Only a fool would embark on a naval campaign without bringing along someone skilled in water magic.”

They hauled up the children of the Melusine Pirates, who they’d trapped in a prison of water. It didn’t stop there either. On the next ship over, another group of knights hauled up the other non-combatants, who they’d trapped in a similar prison.

“To think you even prepared underwater crafts for their escape. You can never underestimate the seafaring races.”

The people who’d been trying to escape by ship had all been fakes. Though Meiru had erected a barrier around them, and Ned and Mania had risked their lives to protect them, the truth was all of the noncombatants had secretly attempted to escape using submarines Meiru had prepared for them. Once they’d reached a safe distance, Meiru had planned on dispersing a thick fog and escaping with her men. However, the knights had proved too strong to escape from. Worse, it turned out that not even the noncombatants had been able to escape.

“How...” Meiru couldn’t fathom how they’d managed to see through her decoys.

“No matter what tricks you use, you cannot hide a person’s soul. Nothing escapes my sight.”

Since Laus could detect the locations of people’s souls, no amount of camouflage worked against him.

“There is no hope left for your friends. Now decide, will you live, or die?”

Chills ran down Meiru’s spine. She knew that Laus had no intention of bargaining their lives for her servitude. There was a single, simple reason he’d brought them alive before her, instead of finishing them off. He wanted to crush her spirit, to drive home the point that Meiru, captain of the Melusine pirates, was powerless. And, at the same time, to show that there was no resisting the church.

Right now, there stood on the airship a knight who possessed special magic that allowed them to recreate everything they saw as a projection. There was no way the church was going to let such a huge heretic purge remain an unknown battle in the middle of the open sea. This execution would serve as a deterrent to other potential heretics. And the spectacle would have even more persuasiveness if the heretics’ leader, a powerful wielder of ancient magic, submitted to Ehit’s rule. It was for that reason that the knights were willing to defy Ehit’s judgment in this matter. Moreover, the knight who was recording everything could edit the projection, so they could easily cut out anything that painted them in a bad light.

“Now choose. Will you submit, or perish with your foolish friends?”

“You fiends are rotten to the core.”

Laus silently hit her with a Soul Shock. Weakened as she was, Meiru couldn’t withstand the attack. Screaming, she dropped to her knees, her saber slipping from her fingers. Two knights grabbed her by the arms and lifted her up. Vision hazy, Meiru watched as the prison holding the children melted away. The kids trembled in terror as knights surrounded them, their swords drawn.

“Stop, please! They’re just children!” Meiru pleaded desperately, all traces of composure gone.

Araym and his men sneered. Nothing was more enjoyable to them than watching heretics break.

“I believe I told you. This is divine punishment.”

Laus stepped forward and shouldered his mace. His eyes were cold, devoid of emotion. The knights holding her pushed down on her shoulders, forcing her head forward.

I can’t afford to die here! Not like this, not with my family still in danger! However, the calm part of Meiru knew she no longer had any cards to play. No matter how she struggled, there was nothing she could do.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I’m sorry... Diene...” Meiru whispered in a voice too small to hear. All she could do for her precious sister was apologize. Just then, thoughts of another girl, one who’d been just like a sister to her, flashed through her mind. The blonde-haired tomboy who’d sworn to fight against the world. Her lips twitched, and her usual gentle smile returned. The knights holding her reflexively took a step back, while Laus narrowed his eyes.

“One day.”

Despite the fact that Meiru had no strength left, the knights didn’t silence her. Though she already had one foot in the grave, the dazzling force of her will kept them rooted to the spot.

“You will bear witness to the true radiance of freedom.”

Meiru thought back to that girl who shone brighter than the sun and the comrades who supported her.

“Prepare yourselves. That radiance is more than you can handle.”

Meiru chuckled, and the knights looked at her in disbelief. Laus, however, just observed her silently. After a few minutes, he said,

“Even so... the church and Ehit are absolute.”

He lifted his massive mace. And as he brought it down—

“Damn you bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards!”

By the time the knights looked up, it was already too late. Every Holy Templar Knight on the deck, even Laus, was crushed under immense pressure. They didn’t even have time to scream. The ship’s deck, weakened from battle, shattered in an instant. All of the knights were hurled straight down and slammed into the hull. None remained on what was left of the deck. Since the attack had pinpointed only the knights, the deck was riddled with holes like some Frankenstein whack-a-mole machine.

Meiru’s eyes widened in shock as a girl alighted on the deck in front of her.

“Miledi-chan?”

“Meru-nee! Thank goodness. I made in time. This time, I wasn’t too late.”

With tears in her eyes, Miledi hugged Meiru. After a few seconds, Meiru overcame her shock and hugged Miledi back. She clung to Miledi as tightly as a child would to their mother.

“Meru-nee, are you okay!? Meru-nee!”

“I’m fine, Miledi-chan. Just fine.”

The two girls released each other looked each other over. Despite being the one who’d done the saving, Miledi was crying as though she were the one who’d been saved. Meiru gave her a smile filled with boundless affection, this one genuine, and hugged Miledi again.

While the two were rejoicing in their reunion, an explosion rocked the airship overhead. Smoke rose from the stern and it slowly fell to the ground a short distance away. Oscar and Naiz had brought down the ship. Miledi turned her head up and hollered at them.

“Nacchan, we need a portal!”

“Understood. Here you go!” Naiz alighted a short distance from the ship island and opened a massive portal.

“Meru-nee, leave things here to us! You focus on healing everyone!”

“Miledi-chan, the three of you alone can’t—”

Miledi’s tearful face transformed into a confident smile, and she puffed her chest out proudly.

“We’ll be fine!”

A second later, Meiru’s body started to float. The other Melusine Pirates joined her. It was as if all the pirates had suddenly been freed from the planet’s gravity. Not just them either, the whole ship the Melusine was floating as well. Surprised, Meiru looked over to see Miledi grinning at her. As she was floated onto the Melusine, Meiru gritted her teeth. It pained her to watch Miledi stay behind and fight while she was whisked off somewhere safe, but she didn’t know how to express her frustration in words. Still, she tried her best to convey the elusive feelings welling up within her.

“You can’t die, Miledi-chan!”

That was as cliched a line as they came, but Miledi nodded with a smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m immortal!” Miledi shot Meiru a thumbs-up, and Meiru’s expression relaxed somewhat. A second later, a shockwave that tore at her soul swept Miledi off her feet. Scowling, Miledi regained her balance in the air. It appeared she’d failed to finish off the knights with her surprise attack. Though she’d pushed them all the way down to the ocean, the water had mitigated the pressure. Unfortunately for Miledi, the sea wasn’t the best place for her to fight. After freeing himself from Miledi’s attack, Araym unleashed a tsunami of fire that charred half the ships on its path toward the Melusine. His assault was followed by a barrage of arrows, a legion of thunderbolts, blasts of wind, and a series of shockwaves.

“Don’t get in my way.”

Naiz swung his arm down, creating a spatial earthquake. The flood of attacks was silenced by a single spell.

“You won’t escape us!”

The Devotion user, Pell, shot out from the side of a ship and leaped toward the Melusine. However, a figure descended in front of her, blocking her path.

“Actually, I’m afraid they will.”

“Outta my way!”

Pell swung her massive claymore to the side, intent on cutting Oscar in half.

“Ability number two, Wall Blast!”

The umbrella’s reactive armor, combined with Oscar’s spell and all the body strengthening he could put into it, was more than enough to block Pell’s claymore. Oscar then pulled ten exploding knives out of his treasure trove and threw them at Pell.

“What!? Where did you—” Pell backed up and tried swat the daggers down, but they possessed far more force than she’d expected, and their explosions sent her hurtling into the sea.

“My glasses won’t lose to anyone else’s!” Oscar said as he adjusted his glasses.

Naiz joined him, and together the two guarded the Melusine as they glared at the island below. At the same time, Oscar pulled out a bag filled with recovery items and threw it to Meiru. As Meiru caught the bag, she rushed to the ship’s stern and yelled at them.

“Oscar-kun, Naiz-kun! You better not die either! I’ll come back once I’m healed!”

Both men kept their eyes fixed below, but they brought their hands back and gave her a thumbs-up. Just then, knights started climbing out onto the decks of the burning ships. They glared angrily up at Meiru, but they were too late. The Melusine floated through Naiz’s portal and was teleported out of sight. A brief silence followed. There were 80 knights, up against just three Liberators. However, each of the three was a master of their respective abilities.

“Three new wielders of ancient magic? Who are you people?”

From what Laus could tell, they weren’t pirates, yet they’d clearly come to the pirates’ aid. He scowled in confusion. Miledi walked over to where Oscar and Nai were, then flashed Laus a grin.

“Just now you said Ehit was absolute, right? Well, guess what, we’re heretics who hate your absolute bullshit god!” Miledi declared proudly, making her intentions clear. In response, Laus narrowed his eyes and questioned her angrily.

“So you mean to defy the church?”

“That’s right. You better prepare yourselves, dogs of Ehit. Because you’re gonna pay for hurting my friend. And just so you know, I’m pretty tough!” Miledi smiled fearlessly and stuck her middle finger into the air. When he saw that, Laus closed his eyes. A second later, he opened them again and glared at Miledi.

“In that case, you too shall receive divine punishment, heretic.”

“Hah! I’d like to see you try!”

Miledi jumped down the same moment Laus leaped up. Oscar and Naiz smiled ruefully at Miledi’s unusual aggressiveness. However, they were just as pissed as she was. The Melusine Pirates were their friends too.

“So those are the church’s strongest knights. Who do you think’ll be harder to beat, them or apostles?”

“We were bound to cross paths with them eventually. We may as well see how tough they really are.”

Oscar and Naiz’s smiles matched Miledi as they leaped down after her. The first to strike was Naiz. He teleported out of sight, causing the knights to blink in surprise. A second later, he reappeared behind the rearguard, which was made up of knights specializing in long-range attacks.

“Void Fissure.”

Four knights were sent flying, their bodies bent at impossible angles. They hadn’t even had time to scream.

“You little—”

Saleos unleashed his Sacred Beast Fangs. At the same time, Boutice unslung his sword and swung diagonally downward. Both the invisible jaws and the massive blade stopped inches from Naiz’s face.

“Huh. That’s an interesting spell. I think it goes something like this?”

“Wha!?”

Saleos’ jaw dropped as he saw the jaws of a massive beast bore down on him. Compared to this overwhelming spell, his Sacred Beast Fangs looked like a puppy’s play-bite.

“Saleos, keep it together!” Boutice fired a shockwave from his tower shield to knock Saleos away to safety. A second later, Naiz’s spell gouged out the deck where he’d been standing.

“Watch each other’s backs! Surround him and finish him off!”

The knights under the two captains spread out around Naiz, following Boutice’s command. But when they made to close in, Naiz narrowed his eyes dangerously, and Boutice sensed danger.

“Wait, don’t get any closer!” Boutice shouted. Unfortunately, the knights had been too hasty to attack, and their eagerness led to their downfall. By the time the knights tried to retreat as their commander had ordered them, they’d already been trapped inside Naiz’s spatial barrier.

“Void Shatter.”

The four knights were cut in half. Blood spurted from their torsos as their bisected corpses hit the ground. Void Shatter was a spatial spell that could slice through anything by sliding the space around a target. Naiz had developed this spell to deal with the God’s Apostle the next time they faced her.

After mercilessly slaughtering four knights, Naiz’s gaze shifted to Boutice and Saleos. The two of them instinctively sensed that they were about to die.

“Hmph!”

Just before Naiz could unleash his spell though, a wave of fire rushed toward him. In order to avoid it, Naiz teleported away.

“Division Commander Araym!”

“Laus-sama is dealing with that weight-manipulating woman! He’s ordered the rest of us to take care of that teleporting guy!”

Looking up, Saleos and Boutice realized that a fierce battle was taking place above them. Ominous black spheres circled around the sky, clashing with shockwaves of midnight blue. Any normal person would be destroyed by the pulses of mana that spread outward with each clash. A shiver of fear ran down Boutice’s spine. Laus was the strongest fighter among the Holy Templar Knights. He stood at the pinnacle of one of the top three pillars of the church. The fact that there existed someone who could go toe to toe with him terrified the knights to no end. Araym admonished his men for their fear, then summoned a barrier of flame to protect them. While he searched for Naiz, he prepared to give out his next set of orders.

“They may be wielders of ancient magic, but they’re— Gaaah!?”

“Hmm. I guess the Holy Templar Knights at least have good equipment.”

Naiz had appeared behind Araym and hit him with the powered up version of Saleos’ spell that he’d used earlier. The only reason Araym had survived was because his armor had protected him from being ripped apart. Still, Naiz’s attack had shredded Araym’s armor and left him badly wounded. However, it hadn’t been so much damage that it couldn’t be healed.

“Gaaah, damn you, heretic!”

“What an irksome foe.”

Araym wrapped himself in a curtain of fire, then sent that fire shooting out in all directions. Naiz once again teleported to safety. Naiz raised an eyebrow as he watched another knight run to Araym, their hands glowing with healing light.

It seems this new spell, Void Fangs, isn’t as fast as my Void Shatter. If one were to compare it to sword strokes, it was the difference between a clumsy slash and a practiced stroke. The former was just slow enough that an opponent had the time needed to pour mana into their armor and strengthen their defenses.

“I need more practice with this spell... Though, I suppose that will have to wait until later.”

Naiz blocked the storm of spells headed toward him with a space-severing barrier, then cast another new spell.

“Void Flash!” Naiz swung his hand like it was a sword, creating an invisible blade that shot forth. It passed through a knight who was about to launch a lightning spell, cutting him in half.

“It seems like sharpness is what matters most against that armor.”

The remaining knights dashed through the sky in pairs of two, heading for Naiz. Naiz unleashed another Void Flash, but this one they dodged. Naiz changed tactics and prepared to cast another Void Shatter, only to be interrupted by another wave of fire. He once again teleported to dodge, then attempted to finish off another group of small fry. However, now that they were working in pairs, it was harder to catch them unawares. They’d already adapted to Naiz’s fighting style. He evaded the Celestial Flashes the knights fired at him and unleashed another Void Fissure. The knights swiftly fell into defensive stances, but they were unable to withstand the impact and were sent flying. Though they’d been hurt bad, none of them had died.

“Tch... I suppose I should have known the church’s strongest knights would know how to adapt!”

At this rate, it’ll be some time before I’m finished here. Worried, Naiz shot a quick glance at Oscar to see how he was doing. But he needn’t have worried.

Just how many of those did he make? Oscar was firing off enchanted daggers one after another, filling the sky with a veritable meteor storm of them. Pell, Apri, and Baltos were all doing their best to try and dodge in midair, but seeing that they were faring better than the others, Oscar concentrated his barrage on them. Expressionless, he pulled out a countless number of daggers from his Treasure Trove and let them loose. Not only was he using artifact-level items as though they were disposable potions, he was firing off consecutive blasts of powerful magic from his umbrella while also using its sniping feature to shoot through the foreheads of hapless knights. Those that survived tried to seek shelter in the safety of what remained of the ship island, but his daggers continued to find their mark. Knights screamed as they blew up, had their armor melted, were frozen, electrocuted, or petrified. It was only thanks to their equipment that they survived at all, but Oscar showed no openings as he continued to mercilessly wear them down. All while using his free hand to adjust his glasses. While none of the captains or lieutenants had been downed, a number of grunt knights were no longer moving. They were likely dead.

When did he have the time to make so many... Naiz thought to himself. Just then, Pell managed to use her Devotion to steal Oscar’s mana and heal herself. After recovering, she charged Oscar.

“Don’t get cocky, you heretiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!” Screaming loud enough for the whole battlefield to hear, Pell slashed at Oscar, her eyes bloodshot. Oscar responded by pressing a switch on his glasses, firing off a beam of light.

“Aaah!? My eyeeeeees!”

Blinded, Pell staggered and covered her eyes with both hands. Oscar then gripped his umbrella in both hands and swung it back like a baseball bat. Naturally, the ball he was aiming to hit was Pell’s head. He lifted a leg, twisted his body, then used his Onyx Boots to give him a boost as he swung at Pell. Thwack!

Fifteen kilograms of reinforced metal slammed into Pell’s face. Though she was a girl, Oscar had shown no mercy. Her nose and glasses broken, Pell flew through the air, trailing blood as she went. Oscar then shouldered his umbrella and adjusted his glasses, as if to emphasize that his glasses were superior to hers.

“Looks like I don’t need to worry about him...” Naiz shook his head in disbelief, then focused his attention on the enemy before him. While Oscar and Naiz were keeping the grunts busy, Miledi dueled with Laus.

“How dare you hurt Meru-nee like that, baldy.”

“......”

Miledi fired off an Onyx Blast, sending a ball of super-compressed gravity hurtling toward Laus. With how much power her Onyx Blasts had, an average Holy Templar Knight would faint upon eating one head-on, even with their armor to protect them. And this one packed even more of a punch. It could easily obliterate a person, leaving nothing left. However, Laus managed to knock it aside with a single swing of his mace. The mace he wielded was known as the Divine Arbiter and was quite possibly the church’s strongest artifact. Not only had it been strengthened to the utmost limit, but it also had magic reflecting properties, its weight could be manipulated freely, and it even unleashed shockwaves of mana when it struck.

“I don’t care if you’re the commander or not, you’re going down baldy!”

“......”

Miledi pressed down on him with a wave of gravity. Laus fell as the pressure assailed him, but as he did so he swung his mace, unleashing a shockwave of spirit magic. The hit stunned Miledi, canceling her spell.

“Nnngh! Annoying baldy!”

“I’m not bald.”

Oh? Miledi hadn’t been particularly trying to provoke Laus. If anything, she’d just been venting her anger at seeing her friends beat down. She knew she needed to stay calm, since blind anger led to fatal mistakes. She’d expected him to ignore her childish insults, but it appeared she’d hit a nerve, since he was arguing back. Miledi grinned.

“Yes, you are! I can see your receding hairline clear as day! Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject for you! I’m a good girl, so I won’t do it again. Don’t worry though, most people over 50 go bald!” Miledi knew full well that Laus was in his late thirties at most. Annoyed, Laus unleashed a lightning-fast magical assault. He fired off spells from all different elements, each at least an advanced-class spell. The barrage was powerful enough to bring down five galleon-sized ships. However, Miledi blocked it with a Spatial Severance. The swirling black sphere absorbed all of Laus’ spells, compressed them, and was about to shoot them back, but—

“Nnnnnngh.”

The amount of mana Laus had packed into each of his attacks was abnormal. Miledi’s favorite reversal spell pulsed, struggling to contain the force of all the spells.

“Oh shit.”

Miledi fell sideways, putting as much distance between her and her Spatial Severance as possible. A second later, it exploded. It sent out ripples of mana, similar to Naiz’s spatial bombs as it dispersed. Though the explosion happened twenty meters in the air, it was powerful enough to create a crater in the water for a short while. As the water rushed back in, it caused a huge wave that rocked the nearby boats.

“I’m still 32.”

“Wah!?”

Laus had managed to get above Miledi without her realizing. He swung his mace down, intent on cracking her head open. She fell backward, dodging his blow by a hair’s breadth. Shockwaves spread out from the mace, chasing after Miledi. She blocked them all with an Onyx Blast. Ripples spread out from where their attacks clashed.

“Don’t think you’ve won yet! Asura!”

“Soul Shock.”

Laus once again attempted to nullify the threat bearing down on him by using spirit magic.

“The great genius Miledi never falls for the same trick twice!”

Miledi gritted her teeth and withstood the shock without losing track of her spell.

“Impossible. How did you learn to endure it so fast!?”

What Miledi had done was simple. She’d started circulating mana inside her body, raising her resistance to magic. But what was impressive about that was that it was about the only way to resist spirit magic, which ignored barriers and armor. The fact that she’d been able to instinctively understand the properties of Laus’ magic, and then come up with a countermeasure in such a short time was proof that she really was a genius. Unable to escape the gravity field Miledi had trapped him in, Laus was pushed all the way down to the sea.

“Haaah, haaah, you’re pretty tough. But I’m tougher!”

Miledi smiled fearlessly. A second later though, she heard a voice in her mind.

—Spirit magic, limiter one, release.—

A pulse of midnight blue mana blew the sea away, and Laus shot up from the water. His speed had clearly increased.

“Onyx—”

—Behind you.—

The moment she heard that voice, Miledi sensed someone behind her. Chills ran down her spine, and she whirled around, but there was no one there. This was the spirit magic Phantom. It created a fake soul that fooled people’s senses.

“You’re looking in the wrong place.”

“Shit—”

Laus’ upward swing connected squarely with Miledi’s body. She erected multiple barriers at the last minute, but they were all blown away. Still, she had enough time to leave Laus a parting gift before she was smacked aside. This was one of her newest spells, one that combined gravity magic with regular magic.

“Whirling Sapphire!”

A powerful sphere of gravity-compressed fire magic shot out toward Laus as he came in for a follow-up attack. It exploded with the force of a small sun, A huge shockwave hit the ocean, rocking Meiru’s ship island. It even blew away some of the knights Oscar and Naiz were fighting. Miledi’s spell was so powerful it broke through Laus’ defenses and the protection of his armor. He felt a few of his ribs crack, and his lungs burned from the heat.

“To think you were this powerful. It seems I have no choice... Spirit magic limiter two, release!” Laus’ speed increased even further. His attack had done about as much done to Miledi’s ribs as hers had done to him, but despite the fact that she was still injured, she fired off a barrage of composite gravity spells. The air shook and the seas parted as bursts of sky blue and midnight blue mana clashed over and over. Their battle was so fierce it looked like a natural disaster in action.

“Why? Why do you resist?”

This fight was proving to be the most exhausting one Laus had fought in decades. Panting, Laus continued swinging his mace as he pressed Miledi for answers.

“You should know you’ll never be able to win, so why don’t you just submit and live quietly!? Why is it you rush foolishly to your death!?”

There seemed to be a hint of pleading in Laus’ voice. Miledi was just as exhausted as Laus, and she panted heavily as she evaded his mace and fired a counterattack of Onyx Blasts. But the moment she was able to catch her breath for a moment, she realized how strange Laus’ question was. Normally, this far into the fight someone from the church should have gone crazy with fanatic fervor. Thinking back, Miledi realized this whole fight had been a little strange. Laus had been missing the crazed devotion to Ehit she’d seen in other clergy members. It was for that reason that Miledi decided to answer Laus seriously.

“Because we’re human.”

“What!?”

In response, Miledi howled.

“A life of servitude is no life at all! Slaving away for the gods isn’t a real life!”

Overwhelmed, Laus fell silent.

“You can only truly say you’re living if you can choose your own future! If you’re free to choose your own beliefs! Unless you can decide for yourself, you can’t say that you’re truly living your life! That’s what it means to be human!”

Though she was exhausted and bleeding, Miledi’s mana shone as bright as ever. She gathered her strength and fired off another Onyx Blast with a yell.

“If we can’t be free, what meaning is there in living!?”

“If you can’t... be free?” Laus suddenly stopped moving. There was a look of disbelief on his face.

I pray that humanity will be one day be free... That girl’s words flashed through his mind. The sentence itself was something anyone might say, so it was entirely possible this was just a coincidence. In fact, that was the more plausible explanation. But that didn’t stop help Laus from thinking that the girl in front of him had the same bright eyes as the girl he’d seen back at the church. By the time he’d returned to his senses, Miledi’s Onyx Blast had slammed into his stomach.

“Gaaah!”

Despite his first-rate equipment, Miledi’s magic was powerful enough to pierce his skin. The blow shook him to the core as if he’d been hit by a pure expression of Miledi’s will. Laus flew through the air and crashed into the sea. He skipped across the surface of the water and slammed into the side of one of Meiru’s ships.

“Laus-sama, are you alright!?” Araym worriedly ran over to his commander. His armor was in tatters, and he’d lost an arm.

“I’m fine. You’re hurt worse than I am.”

“A single arm is nothing. My faith won’t falter from such paltry wounds. More importantly, sir...” Araym didn’t even need to finish his sentence. Above the two of them stood Miledi, Oscar, and Naiz. Though the three had taken some damage and were quite exhausted, they were still in fighting shape. Despite being up against 80 knights, they were holding their own. They were real monsters.

Araym reined in his overflowing anger and spoke in a low voice.

“We’ve lost thirty percent of our men. Pell, Saleos, and Baltos have all joined the saints in martyrdom. My humblest apologies for failing you.”

“You were up against ancient magic users, such losses were inevitable.”

Laus jumped up onto the ship’s gunwale. His knights crowded around him. After confirming the extent of the casualties, Laus looked up at Miledi. His ice-cold calmness had vanished, and he looked... lost.

“Laus-sama?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Araym stepped forward, ready to die for the sake of his god’s cause. No matter how disadvantageous the situation, retreating from heretics was inexcusable. The knights were ready to fight until they were all annihilated. Death was preferable to defying Ehit’s orders. Laus closed his eyes, preparing to order his men to their deaths.

“Hm? What in...”

The wind and rain grew stronger, the tempest growing even more violent.

“Wait, you’ve gotta be kidding me? It shows up now?”

“If anything, we should have expected this, Miledi. Just think about how much mana we’ve been emitting.”

Miledi looked down in shock while Oscar’s lips twitched. A huge wave approached all the combatants. There was only one creature that could create waves that large... the Hell Eater. Miledi cast her senses downward and noticed that the sea was filled to the brim with monsters. There were more than she could count. Everyone had been so focused on their fight that they hadn’t even noticed. But naturally, an all-out fight between ancient magic users was bound to attract sea monsters.

“Araym, can our airship fly?”

“Sir? I, uh... Well, repairs are complete, so it should be able to fly, but... Laus-sama, surely you aren’t about to suggest what I think you are!? This is a mission granted to us by Lord Ehit, we cannot retreat! Those heretics are exhausted! It won’t be long before we can finish them off!”

As if to deny Araym’s words, the situation grew even worse for them.

“Oh? I don’t think you’ll be able to manage that, though?”

“Meru-nee!”

A section of the violent sea turned into an arch of water. Meiru rose from it like a surfacing mermaid.

“Sheesh. You didn’t have to teleport us a whole ten kilometers away. It made getting back here difficult.”

Though she acted nonchalant, Meiru’s breathing was ragged. It appeared she’d rushed back as soon as she’d finished recovering her mana.

Laus turned to his overeager knights and commanded them.

“Retreat. All hands, return to the airship.”

“Laus-sama!?”

“Listen well. We are in the middle of a storm and must face a horde of monsters along with four ancient magic users. If there was any chance that we might succeed in our mission and execute Ehit’s will, I would continue the fight. However, if we are eliminated here without succeeding in our task, we will have failed Lord Ehit. My fellow knights, which is more important? Surviving now so we may carry out Ehit’s orders another day, or dying here as martyrs?”

Naturally, that was carrying out Ehit’s orders.

“We must retreat for now. So that we can eliminate them another time.”

“Yes, sir! Understood!”

After a moment’s hesitation, Araym shot Miledi a crazed glare, then saluted Laus. Laus trained his sharp gaze on Miledi.

“Unless you would rather fight us to the death here and now.”

Miledi flashed Laus a fearless smile. Just as she opened her mouth to say, “Hey, how does it feel knowing you got your ass handed to you by a bunch of heretics? Well, Holy Templar Knights? Not feeling so holy anymore, huh?” Oscar grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth.

“Get out of our sights,” he said coldly. Laus gave Miledi one last look, then took his knights back to the airship. With its engine repaired, it rose into the sky once more.

After the knights were out of sight, Naiz opened a portal. The party fled to the Melusine, escaping the wrath of the sea monsters closing in on them.

The Melusine was a galleon-class ship and spanned over 50 meters from stern to bow. It was large enough to accommodate the 500-odd people living on Meiru’s ship-island, though just barely. Of course, conditions were cramped. Were it not for the wind magic Meiru periodically sent through the lower decks, the air would stagnate. Furthermore, there wasn’t nearly enough food to feed all 500 people.

“Meru-nee... how many people did you lose?”

A few hours had elapsed since they’d escaped to the Melusine, and the storm had passed. Miledi and the others had congregated around the ship’s wheel. Chris and the other high-ranking members of Meiru’s crew were there as well.

“Fifty-seven.”

Of those 57 casualties, all were fighters. Meiru had had around 200 pirates under her command, and she’d lost close to thirty percent of them in one battle. Even with her restoration magic, she hadn’t been able to save them all.

“I’m sorry, Meru-nee. If we’d come back sooner—”

Meiru pressed a finger to Miledi’s quivering lips, cutting her off. Smiling, she shook her head.

“You had no reason to come back to save us, Miledi-chan, but you did anyway. You risked your lives for us. There’s nothing you need to apologize for.”

“Meru-nee...” Miledi sniffled, and Meiru gently patted her head.

“We owe you our lives. That debt must be repaid.”

“You don’t have to... No, wait. In that case, tell me Meru-nee. What is it you’re really after?”

“That could hardly be considered repaying my debt.”

Miledi shook her head and gave Meiru a determined look.

“Right now, that’s the one thing I want to know the most. That’s how badly I wanted you in our group. That’s how much I wanted you, and your pirates to join hands with us. I came here searching for the jewel of the sea, and I finally found it. It was you, Meru-nee. You and the Melusine Pirates.”

Knowing Meiru’s secret was the most important thing to Miledi. Meiru, Chris, and the other pirates present all blushed and looked away awkwardly at Miledi’s embarrassing speech. Only Kyaty looked excited and seemed ready to hug Miledi at any moment.

“I’ve never heard such a passionate speech before. Is this how she got you to follow her as well, Oscar-kun, Naiz-kun?”

“Well, I won’t deny that was part of it.”

“It was. She’s quite a handful, wouldn’t you say?”

Oscar and Naiz smiled awkwardly and nodded. Their leader was one hell of a seductress. Chuckling Meiru nodded back to them.

“Why do I get the feeling you three are going to get along so well you all start ignoring me again...”

Miledi glared reproachfully at Oscar as he, Naiz, and Meiru shared a moment of mutual understanding. Her expression grew nostalgic, and she leaned against the ship’s railing. Gazing up at the moon, she answered Miledi’s original question.

“I have a sister...” Meiru went on to explain that they were really half-sisters with different fathers and that she hadn’t seen her in over ten years.

“Remember how I told you my mother died when I was young?”

“Yep. You said it happened when you were eight, right? And you started living in the slums after that.”

“That is indeed what I said. However, I didn’t tell you the full truth. My mother is dead, but she didn’t die when I was eight. She died much later than that. Truth is, she was kidnapped when I was eight, gave my birth to my sister afterward, then died a few years after that.”

“Kidnapped?”

“Indeed. The man who rules Andika, Baharl Devault fell in love with her at first sight.”

Meiru’s normally gentle expression twisted into one of anger, and she gritted her teeth. The memory was obviously an unpleasant one. According to someone who’d witnessed the whole thing, while Meiru had been out playing, her mother Reej had happened to run into Baharl. She’d caught his attention, and Baharl was a man used to getting what he wanted. He was pitiless and greedy beyond measure, which was why he was the most feared man in Andika. There had been no way for Reej to escape his clutches. Though Reej had begged him not to take her, he hadn’t listened.

Reej had been a strong-willed woman. Under normal circumstances, she would never have obeyed someone like Baharl. But she’d needed to protect Meiru.

Despite her youth, Meiru’s talent with restoration magic was already apparent. Had Baharl discovered Reej’s daughter could use ancient magic, he would have captured her as well. Meiru would have been trapped, forced to do his bidding for the rest of her life. Worse, it was possible Baharl’s exploitation of her abilities would be noticed by the church, and they’d force her to serve them for life instead. That was something Reej had wanted to avoid at all costs, so she’d decided to give in to Baharl’s demands before Meiru returned home. Fortunately, Baharl hadn’t known Reej had a daughter.

When Meiru had returned home to an empty house, she’d asked the neighbors what had happened, and they’d told her the story she now told Miledi and the others. Because of Baharl, Meiru had lost the only family member she had. With nowhere else to go, she wandered the slums. But the entire time, her heart yearned for her mother. After six years, with a good deal of help from Chris and her other close friends, she finally found out what had happened to her mother. Both that she’d already passed away, and that she’d given birth to Meiru’s sister.

“Her name is Diene. At first, I resented her. Giving birth to Diene had weakened my mother so much that she eventually passed away. On top of that, she was the daughter of the man who’d kidnapped my mother.”

However—

“Just once, I snuck into the central district to see what my half-sister looked like.”

That had been the beginning of everything. When Meiru had arrived in Diene’s underground chamber, the first thing Diene had said to her was “Are you my older sister?”

“You see, my mother had told Diene about me. Not only that, she’d told her that one day I would come to see her. Fufu, do you know what she’d said to Diene? ‘Your older sister’s a real tomboy, so she’ll probably break into your room when she comes.’”

Upon seeing Diene trapped inside an underground room, shouting “I finally get to meet you, Nee-sama!” Meiru had understood everything. While Diene had been born into a powerful household, her father had clearly never loved her. Why else would he trap her in this lonely underground room? After losing her mother, the only thing that had given Diene strength was the thought of one day being able to meet her sister. Even now, Meiru wasn’t sure how to describe what she’d felt when she’d seen her younger sister reaching out to her through the bars of her window. All she knew was she could never hate Diene. In fact, Meiru had felt a strong desire to protect Diene well up within her, which was why—

“I made a promise. I promised her that we’d live together one day.”

Unfortunately, reality was a harsh mistress. Had Diene been an ordinary girl, Baharl would likely have abandoned her without a second thought.

“But Diene could use special magic. Though her uses were limited, she could restore things like me.”

Because of that, Baharl would never let Diene go.

“Since Andika is a lawless city, there are plenty of people who wish to see Baharl dead. Most of them wish to take his wealth and power for themselves. But as long as he has Diene’s powers, Baharl has no need to fear his enemies.”

With Diene’s miraculous healing magic, Baharl could easily thwart any assassination attempts. In fact, she had already healed many of his men from otherwise fatal injuries plenty of times. Because of that, she’d been come to be called a saint among Baharl’s subordinates.

“Wait? Does that mean the rumors about the Saint of the Western Seas were actually referring to Diene-chan?”

Smiling bitterly, Meiru shook her head.

“The rumors of a saint originated with Diene, yes, but the Saint of the Western Seas specifically refers to me. I needed to make sure my fame was greater than hers, so that if the church ever caught wind of the rumors, they would come to me, not her.”

When she’d first met Diene, Meiru hadn’t had the strength to protect her either from Baharl, or the church. In fact, it was only thanks to Baharl’s influence that the church hadn’t taken her away already.

Whenever Meiru had crossed paths with members of the Devault family at sea, she’d stealthily used her magic to view their memories of the past to see how Diene was doing and make sure the church hadn’t discovered her. It was through them that Meiru had first learned that people had started calling Diene a saint and that rumors of her powers had begun to spread. That was also when Meiru had created her own legend to overwrite Diene’s.

“I see... So what you really want is to take Diene-chan back from Baharl? Wait, but then why do you want to take over Andika too?”

“The reason for that is quite simple. And it is also why I cannot join hands with you, Miledi-chan.”

Miledi cocked her head to the side, and Meiru explained.

“You see, Baharl has connections to the church.”

“So it’s not just that the church is overlooking Andika’s existence, he’s actually made a deal with them?”

“Precisely. Much of the profits made by the casinos go to the church. Andika is not only a containment island for heretics and miscreants, but also a valuable source of funds for the church.”

In other words, if Meiru became ruler of Andika, even if the church learned about her and Diene’s abilities, they’d be forced to afford her some measure of freedom.

“In this world, only Andika stands in a position to negotiate with the church. If I can steal Baharl’s position and make Andika mine, me, Chris, Diene, and everyone else will be able to live freely. Furthermore, I will be able to save those like my mother who were abandoned by the city because they were too weak to survive within it. I will make Andika into a city where everyone can live in peace.”

It was for that reason that Meiru couldn’t join the Liberators. She couldn’t jeopardize her position by opposing the church. The path she’d chosen was one of showing her worth to the church, then negotiating her freedom that way.

“I intend to use my ancient magic as leverage when I negotiate with the church.”

Meiru’s determined gaze bore into Miledi. She could see that Meiru wouldn’t be swayed from her path. Miledi looked up at the sky, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, processing everything Meiru had told her. After a few seconds, she opened her eyelids and gave Meiru a look that was just as determined.

“I understand, Meru-nee.”

That was all she said. But that was more than enough to convey her intentions. The two continued to gaze into each other’s eyes, a gentle breeze passing between them.

That night, Meiru put her plan into action. She went off alone into the moonlit sea, using her currents to carry her to her destination. Upon arriving, she lay down on her back and closed her eyes. If she went through with this, there would be no turning back.

I’m sure it will turn out alright... Meiru told herself. Even Miledi had told her as much.

“I’m sorry, Miledi-chan...” Meiru whispered. A few seconds later, she sensed someone approach. Meiru created an arch out of seawater and sat on it while she waited for him to arrive.

“Good evening. I appreciate you taking the time to come here.”

Laus had come. Off in the distance, Meiru could see his airship.

“How did you find this place?”

“My magic allows me to peer into the past. I simply had to follow the trail you left behind.”

“I see. So your magic has more to do with restoration than recovery...” Laus nodded to himself.

“Did you come here to surrender? To plead for the lives of your comrades in exchange for your own? If so, don’t bother.”

“My, what a curt man you are. Fortunately, I came to do neither. I’m here to negotiate.”

“There will be no negotiating!” Laus flatly refused Meiru. He’d come down because he’d sensed a faint pulse of mana that he knew none of his other knights would have been able to detect. But he’d suspected a trap, not some ridiculous attempt at parley. Laus readied himself to fight.

“What do you think of letting me become the new leader of Andika?”

“Excuse me?”

Surprised, Laus stopped focusing his mana. Meiru explained the benefits of having her as Andika’s boss instead of Baharl. Namely that the church would have a wielder of ancient magic working with them. She even went so far as to explain the specifics of her restoration magic. On top of that, she talked about how the Melusine Pirate Crew would be able to handle situations Baharl couldn’t. Of course, her condition for helping the church was that she and her comrades would be allowed to go free. After she finished laying out her plan, she flashed Laus a confident smile.

“What do you think? Your original reason for eliminating us was that we were a threat to Andika, was it not? In that case, there should be no problem if we become the new rulers of the city. If anything, wouldn’t it be more appealing for you to be doing business with an ancient magic user than Baharl, who is nothing more than an ordinary man?”

“Ehit’s decree is absolute.”

“My, weren’t you the one who gave me the chance to surrender earlier? I believe you said I possessed that much value. In that case, do you not believe it worth at least discussing with your superiors? I’m sure they’ll find my proposal quite appealing. I will be able to save the lives of my family, and the church will have the power of restoration magic on their side. It will be a mutually beneficial deal.”

“......”

“Oh, and if you do find my proposal worth bringing to the pope, do tell him this. If you refuse my offer, I will oppose you to the bitter end. I’m sure you don’t want to see what I am capable of when I’m not protecting my crew, right?” Meiru delivered that last line with her usual gentle smile.

Laus thought back to his fight with Meiru. The entire battle she’d been using most of her power to protect her comrades. Despite that, she’d been powerful enough to oppose even him for a time. No matter how many times he’d fatally wounded her or her men, she’d brought them back. They’d been like an immortal army. And if that crew were to fight without any regard for their own lives because they knew they were doomed anyway... Well, Laus didn’t want to think about what defeating them would cost his knights. After a brief moment of hesitation, Laus asked about the one thing that had been bothering him throughout Meiru’s explanation.

“From the way you’ve been talking, you make it sound like you’re the only ancient magic user in your group. But what about those other three?”

“Those three aren’t pirates.”

“What? Then why did they come to your aid?”

“They wanted me to join their group, but I’ve already cut my ties with them. I don’t know all of the details, but they’re part of some organization. I imagine the church is more familiar with them than I am.”

“There exists an organization that possessed three wielders of ancient magic?” Laus’ expression grew grim. Meiru narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Miledi had told her that she could tell Laus about them if she wanted as long as she didn’t specifically mention the name Liberators. Miledi had assumed that since they’d fought one apostle, the church likely knew about them. That was part of why she’d let Meiru tell the knights about them. She’d wanted to see how far information on the Liberators had spread within the church.

Surprisingly, it appeared Laus at least had no idea about the existence of Miledi’s organization. Despite the fact that his high position meant he should have been one of the first to know.

“So, what do you say, Commander?”

“......” Laus grunted to himself and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Very well. I had intended to give my report to the pope tomorrow morning regardless.”

“Splendid. I await a favorable reply.”

Though she maintained her smile, inwardly Meiru breathed a sigh of relief. She’d feared Laus would order his airship to attack. With this, she’d cleared the first hurdle. All that was left now was to wait. However, Meiru had a feeling that the church would accept her demands. Ancient magic users were that valuable.

“Well then, I shall return here tomorrow at dawn...” Meiru dissolved her arch and prepared to leave, but before she could have her current whisk her away, Laus called out to her.

“Wait, I have one last thing to ask you.”

“Oh, and whatever could that be?”

Laus looked hesitant, which struck Meiru as odd.

“Do you know anything more about that girl who called herself Miledi?”

Meiru grew even more confused. It made sense for Laus to want to know more about the ancient magic users, but in that case, he should have asked about Oscar and Naiz too.

Why is he specifically interested in Miledi?

“Does she have any other comrades? Specifically, female comrades?”

“Female comrades? No, I don’t think so. As far as I know, only those two other guys are part of her group.”

“I see. In that case, forget I ever asked anything. Return here tomorrow morning.”

Laus turned on his heel and flew up to his airship.

What a strange man... Meiru thought as she watched his receding figure. He was the only one who didn’t possess the madness that seemed to grip other devoted servants of Ehit. She was certain half of the reason negotiations had succeeded was that she’d been negotiating with him.

“Well, that’s that. I suppose I should return now.”

By manipulating the current underneath her, Meiru returned to her ship.

The next morning, Meiru left shortly before the dawn and returned long after the sun had risen above the horizon. Miledi and the pirates had both been certain that negotiations would succeed, so they were shocked when Meiru returned not with a smile, but a pale-faced grimace.

“Have you calmed down now, Meiru?”

“Yes, thank you, Chris...” Meiru’s complexion had improved a little after Chris brought her a hot drink and she had a few minutes to calm down.

“Meru-nee, what happened? Did negotiations break down?”

Meiru looked up and Miledi’s worried face and heaved a weary sigh.

“The negotiations themselves were successful. The church won’t help us with the coup d’etat since they don’t want their affiliation with Andika to become public. However, if the Melusine Pirates can overthrow Baharl on their own, they will accept the Melusine Pirates, or rather the Melusine Family as the official rulers of Andika.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

“The church knows about Diene and her powers.”

“So then...”

Miledi, Oscar, Naiz, and Chris all gulped. On the verge of tears, Meiru nodded. She forced a smile and spoke up.

“They want to take Diene for themselves. The church said that there’s no need for two people with similar powers to be in the same place.”

As they didn’t want Diene to get caught up in the coup d’etat and possibly killed, Laus was planning on heading to Andika soon and taking Diene away. Part of the church’s conditions had been that the coup d’etat be postponed until they’d successfully recovered Diene. The church hadn’t levied these conditions because they’d learned about the relationship between Meiru and Diene. In fact, Meiru was someone the church wanted at all costs. Rather than risk her wrath and waste the lives of dozens of knights to capture her and attempt to brainwash her into a loyal follower of Ehit, it was much more efficient to negotiate. There was no guarantee that they’d even be able to successfully brainwash her. In other words, they hadn’t added that condition as a way to test Meiru. They really just wanted to take Diene for themselves. However, that meant Meiru’s ultimate goal was no longer a possibility. Obtaining Andika was meaningless if Diene was no longer there.

“You couldn’t tell them Diene-chan wasn’t on the table if they wanted to negotiate with you...? No, wait, I guess that’d be a bad idea...” Oscar’s expression grew stern as he realized the problem with that.

“Correct. If the church discovers the relationship between us, my position will be compromised. They’ll be able to shackle me by holding her hostage. I’ll no longer be able to negotiate for our freedom. It would be no different than putting the cart before the horse.”

Meiru couldn’t ask to keep Diene without revealing her relationship to her either, since Laus would inevitably ask why. Once he started asking questions, it would just be a matter of time before the truth got out. At this point, Meiru only had two options. The first was to reveal her relationship with Diene to the church, and accept the restrictions that would come with it. The second was to grab Diene before the church could, and run for the rest of their lives. They would be free, but also in constant danger.

In reality though, only one of those options was viable, but that was precisely what was causing Meiru so much anguish. Choosing the latter would mean abandoning the dream of her fellow pirates.

“Guess there’s only one thing to do. How’re we getting Diene outta Andika?” Chris asked casually. Meiru looked up at him, her eyes wide.

“How strong’s the Devault Family again?”

“How many times have we told you, Ned? They’ve got 100 elites, and 300 soldiers in total.”

“They’ve got a few guys who can use special magic too, don’t they? I coulda swore they had some guy who could transform into a beast or something.”

Ned and the others started discussing how to escape with Diene as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The rest of the pirates got pumped up as well.

“Kidnapping a princess and running away with her sounds like one hell of an adventure, boys!”

Still surprised, Meiru questioned her crew.

“You guys... Do you realize what you’re saying? You’ll lose any chance of living in peace if you do this. You’ll have to be on the run for the rest of your lives. All for the sake of one person.”

“That’s right. All for one’s the Melusine Pirates’ motto, remember?” Chris smiled at Meiru. She’d protected everyone for so long, now it was everyone’s turn to do something for her.

Of course, the Melusine Pirates did want a safe place to live. No one wanted to live in constant fear that the church would come down on them at any minute. Still, if doing so meant they’d condemn their boss, and the person their boss treasured most in the world to a life of servitude, then they didn’t need such trifling things as safety.

“There’s no way the church won’t use Diene to force you to do what they want. I don’t know how, but they’ve probably got a few dirty tricks up their sleeves. No matter how it turns out, it won’t go well for you two.”

“Exactly. So there you have it, Meiru. We won’t accept any objections. We’re taking Diene and running to the ends of the earth!”

“Who knows, we might even find a new continent! Hell, we can even go from being pirates to being adventurers!”

“Sounds good to me.”

Moved by Chris and the others’ immediate reply, Meiru looked up at the sky. She had to, or tears would start flowing down her cheeks. As captain of a pirate crew, she couldn’t cry in front of her men. Loud laughter interrupted the pirates’ touching moment.

“Ahahahahahaha. I knew it, the Melusine Pirates are great! Ahahaha!”

“Miledi-chan...”

Miledi looked warmly down at Meiru and the others, a playful smile on her face. Then, she tapped her chest and shouted.

“I hope you don’t mind us joining in on the fun! Rejoice, pirates! The beautiful genius mage Miledi will lend you a hand!”

Upon hearing that Miledi and the others were helping, the pirates grew even more excited. The three of them had repelled an entire knight division all on their own. Since they’d resolved to fight against the church anyway, so there was no reason to hide the fact that they were friends with the Liberators. In truth, it would have been difficult for the pirates, weakened as they were, to beat Baharl’s forces on their own, so having three ancient magic users on their side was reassuring.

“I guess we’re doing this,” Oscar said with a shrug. He and Naiz hadn’t been consulted about Miledi’s decision, but it was obvious from their expressions they’d intended to help from the start.

“Miledi-chan... why? I already refused your offer.”

“So what? I already told you, Meru-nee.”

“Huh?”

“We’re Liberators. There’s no way we’d ignore someone who’s in need of liberating!”

“B-But... even if we rescue Diene, I won’t be able to...”

Meiru and the Melusine Pirates wouldn’t be able to join the Liberators. No matter how much Miledi aided them, they wouldn’t be able to sign their lives away to fight the gods. Meiru looked apologetic, but Miledi didn’t mind at all.

“Who cares about that!” Miledi was a little disappointed she wouldn’t be able to walk the same path as Meiru, but that was nowhere near enough of a reason for Miledi to stray from her ideals. She puffed her chest out and smiled proudly.

“I want you to find happiness on the path you’ve chosen to walk of your own free will, Meru-nee! May the Melusine Pirates be successful in all they do!”

The pirates let out a wild cheer. Miledi raised her hands and basked in the attention.

“Miledi-chan...”

She looked like the very incarnation of freedom to Meiru. Bound by no one, with no desire to bind others, she was beholden only to her own heart. Meiru watched blankly as Miledi galvanized her pirates. She felt a warm feeling well up within her. It was different from the love she felt for her family, but it was just as powerful. Though she couldn’t describe it, she had no doubt the two men standing next to Miledi followed her because they’d felt the same thing. And that was why she forcibly put a lid on those feelings. She then called forth an arch of water which she rode until she was sitting high above her ship. Smiling gently, she addressed her pirates.

“Listen up, my lovable pirates. I want to rescue Diene, a precious member of my family. This will likely end up being the last act of piracy we ever do. If we pull it off, we’ll lose any hope of ever living a peaceful life. We’ll be forced to wander the seas forever.”

Meiru used wind magic to amplify her voice until it echoed through the entirety of the ship. The pirates fell silent, hanging on to her every word.

“Those who do not wish to participate in this operation, speak now. As a reward for your services until this point, I shall grant you enough funds to live comfortably and take you to Andika.”

She would give them a chance to once again claw their way to the top of a city that ran on the rule of survival of the fittest. However, not a single one of the Melusine Pirates stepped forward. They kept their eyes trained on their captain, resolve burning in their eyes. These weren’t the words they were waiting to hear. After making sure that no one was stepping forward, Meiru smiled awkwardly, and nodded to her crew. Then, she pulled out her saber and held it high. The polished blade glinted in the morning light. The sunlight reflecting off it illuminated Meiru’s face, and her troubled smile transformed into a fearless one.

“Very well, my beloved fools! I hope you’re ready to follow your captain to the bitter end!”

All of the pirates let out a massive cheer, rocking the Melusine to its foundations. Even Miledi joined in the cheering. Oscar and Naiz gave her a wry smile, then joined in the cheering themselves.

The Melusine’s flag fluttered from the mainmast, glowing in the morning sun. It felt like, for a moment, the world itself was smiling down on its strong-willed children, praying for their success.