“How in the world are you going to do it?” was what Nuala asked Ansel as soon as they got back to the tavern. He even refused guest rooms which the countess offered. If he accepted, a place to stay and food wouldn’t have cost any of their money.

  “First of all, we need to scout the location and determine how many of them there are. We can certainly rent a boat or perhaps a small ship.”

  “It sounds like you are planning to take them alone?”

  “I am a spearman first and foremost. We will hire a few skilled mercenaries if needed. You will cast magic from the rear. It’s a pretty good group composition.”

  Sighing, she placed her hand on her forehead and shook her head.

  “Just what the hell are you thinking? I thought you were doing nice until you declared that you’d take the whole pirate force alone!”

  “The countess wouldn’t have been able to help us, either way. You’ve seen her. She’s exhausted from financial burdens.”

  His response was logical and concise. But the problem she had with him was that he always chose the hardest way. And it appeared as if he had a plan ahead. She felt like an idiot for getting her blood to get to her head.

  “Fine, fine,” she exhaled, venting her frustration. “What now?”

  “We need to discover the cove first before doing anything else.”

  Reaching the private cove meant that they needed a boat. He obviously didn’t have the money to purchase a ship. She did, however. She had three gold coins with her at the start of the journey. So far, she hardly spent her own money and instead used his money. That was because breaking down a gold coin required someone of high wealth and reputation. The value of gold coins was variable because of the material itself. In general, ten silver coins equaled a gold coin, but it could go as high as fifteen silver coins when the gold price was higher. They also needed someone trustworthy to exchange the gold coin. All in all, Countess Eoll was the perfect person for the job.

  He added, “The first order of business is to go to the docks and get some general info on the pirate cove and ship prices.”

  His plan sounded reasonable enough, thus she agreed. The distance between the tavern he was staying and the dock was several minutes at the best. In fact, they could see the dock from the room they were staying in, which was located on the second floor. In fact, he had been observing the dock whenever he could and he learned something. It was that the majority of ships were fishing boats. He saw barely any cargo ships. In other words, commerce was essentially nil. For some reason, a coastal city wasn’t utilizing one of its best tools available, a sea trade route. Was it due to the pirates? He needed to find that out.

  “... No ships for hire?”

  Dumbfounded, he mumbled. All, as in 100%, ships were fishing boats. Commercial, merchant, vessels weren’t simply there. While they could hire a fishing boat, there was yet another problem. None was available. Everyone was so busy fishing that not a single ship had time for anything other than fishing.

  “We don’t have time for any other activities!” A captain he was asking questions exclaimed while turning his back to him. He was busy barking orders out to his sailors to prepare.

  “Oy, get that sail checked! We gotta go!”

  It turned out that money was the least of their problems. Soldiers needed a vast amount of rations, and the folks at Carlonia worked tirelessly non-stop to accumulate enough rations for the inevitable invasion from the empire. It didn’t take a genius to understand what was going on. The whole city, or rather the whole nation, was meticulously geared toward being a war machine. They had no leeway for luxuries and such. Since it was one invasion after another with an average meantime of four years, they had to prepare every single year. This was how they were able to hang on against a nation that was more than ten times larger.

  “Do you know anything about pirates?” he inquired, hoping to get some information at least.

  “Pirates?” he blurted, taking his time thinking with his eyes rolling upwards. “Ah, those pirates! Haven’t seen them in a while.”

  “How long is a while?”

  “Haven’t seen them in a long time. We’ve got nothing for them to steal after all.”

  It made sense. No pirate was going to raid fishing boats. Then the obvious next question was how they were making a living to begin with, or do they even exist there? He earned more questions than answers unfortunately but he came to one solid conclusion from this encounter. It was that the very existence of the pirates was questionable. They shouldn’t have been here, yet they were. Thanking for his brief time, Ansel opted to ask around for a bit longer, at which point he sensed that someone was keeping eyes on him. He discreetly looked around and found a seaman by a small fishing boat. As soon as their eyes met, his head immediately turned away.

  Bingo, he thought. In his mind, that man must have been an informant for the pirates. Given the fact that nobody was questioning his presence, he must have been planted for a while. They went back to the tavern, and he immediately headed to the balcony to keep eyes on him.

  “What are you doing?” Nuala asked.

  “The pirates have a man planted at the docks.”

  “What?!” she exclaimed. “Is that true?”

  “Almost certain, yes.”

  She joined him on the balcony. “Where is he?”

  “The smallest fishing boat,” he replied while moving a bit away from her to keep a certain distance. Even an accidental touch was going to be deadly for her.

  “Damn, I can barely spot it.”

  “Nothing to worry about. I expected as much. I do wonder whether he is going to leave to tell his boss though.”

  “How are we going to follow him though?”

  “I think he’s likely to leave in the dark, so I was thinking of casting the shadow and getting on his boat.”

  “It’s going to take days, and why does it sound like you are going alone?”

  “Because I am. It’s too dangerous for you to go. You are a young woman, you know.”

  She couldn’t argue the point he was trying to make.

  “Fine,” she conceded but added, “But it’s going to take days for a boat to reach there. The shadow spell won’t work under the sun.”

  “I am going to seize him once he falls asleep and then question him and perhaps work with him.”

  Narrowing eyes, she gave his idea some thoughts.

  “What is your end goal? Do you want to eradicate pirates or do you want to make them submit to you?”

  “I don’t want to recruit them if that’s what you are asking. Actually, my aim is their ship.”

  “Their ship?”

  “A combat capable vessel is a very expensive thing, right?”

  Nuala was from Fladal that had a sizable fleet and naval combat know-how. Therefore, she had some knowledge in ships.

  “Yes, combat vessels are expensive and they cost a good amount of manpower as well as money for upkeep. Even the smallest combat ship I know requires at least ten crews. You are going to need a stable income source to even be able to keep a ship running for any reasonable amount of time.”

  He blinked his eyes a few times. “You sound pretty knowledgeable about this.”

  Puffing her chest forward a bit, she had a proud look on her face. “I am from Fladal after all. If it wasn’t for our naval fleet, we would have been conquered by the empire eons ago.”

  Not many would say out loud due to possible repercussions, but nations that bordered the empire by sea and had faced invasions from them repeatedly were aware of one crucial fact that not many knew. It was that the empire lacked patience. The lack of patience led to their inability to assemble and train veteran naval fleets. Case in point, the empire was completely contained to a single continent. They never emerged victorious from naval battles and had no overseas territory at all. Nevertheless, it didn’t change the fact that he had to go there and see for himself before deciding on the next step. Thus, they waited until the sun started to dive into the horizon.

  “I will see you in a week or so, I guess?” he said while doing a final check on his equipment and items, which weren’t much. He had a spear on his back along with a few pouches on his belt.

  “Good thing you hired Clara,” she replied. “I will expect a good result.”

  Nodding, he departed. She would be lying if she wasn’t worried but she was more amused by the fact that he didn’t seem to care less about his own safety.

  “Well, whatever floats your boat…,” she mumbled as she watched Ansel dash out of the tavern below her. He soon vanished into the thin air, having cast the shadow spell.

  The fisherman in disguise heaved a long sigh as he prepared to sail out.

  “What the fuck is the point?” he muttered as he prepared. He was pretty distracted with his loud grumbles and whatnot that he never noticed Ansel stepping onto his ship. In spite of being invisible, keen eyes may have noticed the ship taking on some weight with a slight tilt. The fishing boat was small but large enough to feature a small cabin to escape territorial rain while out on the sea. The door to it was already open, so Ansel made himself home there. Inside, there was a small table with numerous pieces of paper, all of which were blank. A few scrolled papers were found. Picking it up and unfolding one, he realized that the man was making monthly reports to pirates. Alas, since he had nothing to report at all, his desire to return to their base was clear. He was apparently “very bored”. As he was reading the paper, the boat seemed to be moving with a jolt. There was a small makeshift bed as well. As expected, there was no sign whatsoever about fishing itself.

  “I ain’t gonna return again!” he barged in, slamming the door loudly. He fell onto the makeshift bed and was going to get some shuteye.

  “Hello,” Ansel said, cancelling his concealment spell.

  “What the -” He jumped out of his bed or tried. Ansel’s dagger was right at Adam's apple.

  “This is the second time we meet, yes?”

  Blinking his eyes, the man exclaimed, “The fuck?! The kid from the docks earlier?! Where the hell did you come from?!”

  “That’s not important.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Then what is?!”

  “Tell me more about the pirates.”

  He looked flabbergasted. “Do you think I will?!”

  “That’s fine,” Ansel replied nonchalantly. “Die.”

  He pressed the dagger into his throat without hesitation, cutting his skin and digging into his flesh.

  “W, waiiiit! WAIT! I WILL TALK!”

  The dagger was one fourth way into his neck at this point. He was really going to kill him.

  “I ask. Are you one of the pirates?”

  “H, hold! Stop the bleeding first!”

  “No,” he refused flatly. “It’s a minor wound. You won’t die from it. Any further in, though, you may actually die. Therefore, talk.”

  The man was sweating. The way Ansel was talking and how he was behaving was polar opposite. It felt severely off, giving him creeps.

  “F, FINE! ASK!”

  “Are you one of the pirates?”

  “Yes, I am! Next!”

  In spite of Ansel claiming that it was just a minor wound, blood was gushing out of his neck wound. The dagger was still buried into his flesh as well. He wanted to get it over with ASAP.

  “How many are there?”

  “How many what?”

  “How many pirates.”

  “I… I don’t know? I never counted!”

  “Give me a rough estimate.”

  “I really have no idea! Maybe a hundred? Two?”

  That wasn’t much, he thought.

  “How many ships?”

  “W, we’ve got three! One carrack and two cogs!”

  Ansel had no idea what those were but nodded along regardless. He made an educational assumption that the carrack was their main offense vessel. Now, there was one final question left.

  “Who are your backers?”

  This was a pure guess. Ansel believed that the pirates must have had backers because pirating near Carlonia seemed foolish simply because there was no target to pirate upon. Then, he assumed that someone must have backed the pirates. The presence of a watcher like him reinforced his brief. Pirates were like bandits, a very disorganized group. But having a watcher like him planted long enough to be accepted as a local? That meant organized crime, which was unlikely for bandits and pirates.

  “I don’t fucking know!” he barked, sounding frustrated. “Look, I will take you to the captain. He will have answers for sure.”

  Ansel scoffed. “As if I’d make it to him. Thank you for your answers, but you die here.”

  Then he started to press his dagger into his flesh, at which point the man panickedly screamed.

  “I am the captain’s son! Killing me will make them turn against you!”

  This time, he hesitated. If he was indeed the boss’ son, killing him wouldn’t do him any good. But what if he was lying? In the end, Ansel believed that he was telling the truth because people tended to blurt out truth amid absolute danger and chaos. As soon as he pulled his dagger out of his flesh, the man pressed his wound immediately and grabbed some fabric nearby. He swiftly and rather skillfully bandaged his wound in a short amount of time. He was clearly experienced in treating wounds. When he was done treating his wound, he sagged his shoulders and muttered.

  “What a fucking day. How old are you even?”

  “Twelve.”

  “That’s fucked up.”

  “Perhaps, but I don’t want to hear that from you.”

  He chuckled, still pressing hard on his neck wound. Blood was still spreading through the fabric. In spite of this, he looked very calm.

  “Why do you want to talk to the captain anyway?”

  “Before that, how long will it take to reach there?”

  “Well, it’s a bit complicated.”

  Apparently, his fishing ship had a triangle sail which was decent against both downwind and upwind at a cost of reduced maximum speed.

  “The wind always blows southwards here, so three days to reach the cove and only one day to reach from the cove to the docks.”

  “Interesting. Thank you.”

  I have a lot to learn about sea stuff, he felt.

  Because of the three days required for the journey, they were more or less forced to talk to each other, and he was pretty talkative because apparently Ansel was the only one he met in years who was around his age. This was in spite of the fact that he was seven years older. The man’s name was Brecc, who was in late teens. He was nineteen years old to be exact. His age puzzled Ansel a bit because something didn’t add up.

  “How long have the pirates been there?” he asked.

  “Fifteen years, I believe? I am not sure.”

  “So, you were just four years old back then? I didn’t know pirates were a hereditary occupation.”

  Brecc chuckled. “Well, I have a story about that… Either way, the bottom line is that everyone around me is decades older. I am the youngest in the cove.”

  This was apparently why he was sent out for the job he had at the docks so that he could perhaps talk to people of his age. Spying on the local populace in Carlonia was the goal on the paper however. Since it seemed barely anyone cared about the pirates in the city, he had nothing to do.

  “How long have you been out there?” Ansel wondered.

  “Over a year.”

  The more he listened about the pirates, the more he was convinced that the pirates had a backer. They were sent here to create havoc but they didn’t or rather could not due to the lack of targets.

  “Who was that pretty blond lady? Are you her servant?”

  Ansel wasn’t Nuala’s servant but he couldn’t really repudiate him because he did serve her before Clara joined. Thus, he decided to just go with the flow.

  “I sort of am.”

  “She must be a noble then. Damn, why are all noble women so pretty? I swear, it feels like they are of a different breed.”

  In Ansel’s mind, there were two kinds of women. The first kind were dignified ones, like Isabel and Nuala. Then there were flattery ones, like Emily Waines and Clara. But he knew that his knowledge of women was very limited at the moment. Moving on, they continued to converse with each telling their tales of adventure. Brecc didn’t have much to tell, but Ansel had a lot.

  “Shit, you fought on a real battlefield at just eleven years old?!”

  “Have to earn my keep somehow.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “Not all parents are caring.”

  “Dude…”

  The more Ansel went on, while omitting some sensitive details, the more Brecc became fascinated.

  He blurted at one point, “Bruh, I’d kill for such an adventure."

  It was never fun for Ansel but it was probably better to let him dream. Then, it turned out for the worse.

  “Let me join you.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Ansel was flabbergasted. He almost slit his throat not long ago.

  “Look at me,” pointing at himself, Brecc explained. “Nineteen years old and no fucking achievements under my belt.” Then he pointed at Ansel. “Look at you.”

  “I don’t mean to brag, but my case isn’t normal.”

  “Most likely. Look, I am not a fool. Your case is certainly not normal but you’ve done it, haven’t you? And you are looking to do more. The reason you want to visit the cove, you want to take over. You are working with the count. Am I right?”

  Denying would make him only agitated, thus he nodded without giving him a verbal answer.

  “I do not want to rot and turn into a middle-aged man while doing absolutely nothing. I was already planning to sneak out and leave them anyway.”

  “Aren’t they like your family to you? And you are planning to turn your back on them?”

  Brecc took a deep breath. “Yeah, and that is why I plan to help you. I want a good outcome for both sides.”

  The best outcome would be where the pirates left without a trace. But, if they had a backer, that wouldn’t be easy. It meant that the pirates had a contract to uphold. Although it took some time for Ansel to reach this conclusion, he believed that the empire may be behind the pirates. They were pretty much the only ones who may benefit from this. Novar had no enemies otherwise.

  “It’s easier said than done.”

  “Then I will make it my first achievement to my name.”

  Brecc sounded determined. He has to be since this was the first time ever in his mind where he made his mind up to do something significant. He was not lying when he said he was going to leave them behind. He was really going to. Nodding, Ansel raised his index and middle fingers.

  “I’ve got two scenarios in my mind,” he said.

  “Oy, kid, who’s that with ya?” A half naked muscular man with a red bandana and a pair of gray ragged trousers asked Brecc as he reached out a long pole with a hook at its end to secure and drag the boat closer.

  “He wants to see the captain.”

  The man shot a suspicious glare at Ansel after having noticed the bandaged neck on Brecc.

  “Kid, he may be your dad but he is also the leader. No stranger may see him just cuz he wants to. Who are you?”

  “My name is Ansel. I wish to speak to your leader on an important matter.”

  His suspicious expression didn’t vanish. In fact, it intensified. Instead of asking further, he thrust his long hook toward Ansel, aiming for his neck. It looked as if he was trying to grab his neck with the hook and drag him around by force. Fortunately, Ansel was too alert to let him have his way. Stepping sideways to evade the attack by a hair, he pulled out his own spear and thrust it forward to his chest, to his heart specifically. With no armor whatsoever, it would be fatal if pierced. Meanwhile, Brecc pulled out his saber but stood still.

  “You little…!” The man jumped backwards to avoid being hit, and Ansel dashed forward to close in. Abandoning the hook, the man pulled out a saber and swung haphazardly at Ansel who was closing in fast. Evading the saber swing with ease, he swung his spear like a staff and it landed a critical hit on the side of the man’s neck, sending him crushing down to the ground with substantial speed. He was knocked out pretty much instantly with a loud crack. He may have broken his neck.

  “... Shit, you are good! So, you weren’t really lying about the battle expertise…,” Brecc whispered.

  Ansel’s movements showed no hesitation whatsoever and he looked very used to this kind of hostile situation. Brecc believed firmly that he may have indeed been to real battlefields. He was somewhat skeptical of Ansel’s stories but he no longer doubted it after seeing him in action.

  The commotion began to draw attention, and Ansel knew there was little time to waste. He fanatically looked around, surveying the environment as well as memorizing the cove. He saw one large ship along with two smaller ships. He recognized the smaller ships which he saw when the Fladal reinforcements disembarked. They were the cogs. The large ship must have been the carrack. As for the cove, there was a large log cabin in the middle along with several smaller huts. The rest of the flat area was full of trees, some of which were chopped down to construct the houses. He was a bit disappointed that the flat area didn’t seem as vast as he was hoping for.

  “Mr Brecc, we go with the plan B,” he told him. “Good luck to you.”

  Even though he failed to see the captain, this was fully within his expectations. In fact, he got what he came here for. He saw the cove and surveyed the surroundings. His battle plan was set the moment he laid his eyes upon the area. Plan A was to meet with the captain and negotiate a peaceful withdrawal for them and this was Brecc’s preferred method. But, with Ansel being attacked and him taking down the man, it was very unlikely… because other pirates were running toward the scene with weapons withdrawn. While Ansel could try talking to them, he did not want to miss his chance for an easy escape. He did have enough mana to cast one teleportation spell but did not wish to waste it if possible. Hopping on the fishing boat he arrived with Brecc, he kicked the dock to push it away while lowering its sail. He learned the basics during the journey. This boat was his secondary objective because he needed a boat to be able to reach the cove. If he used the teleportation spell, he wouldn’t be able to get it.

  “Kid! Stop him!” They barked at Brecc who was standing idly with a saber in his hand.

  Growling, he replied in a whisper, “I. Am. Not. A. Kid!” He fired a stern glare at Ansel who replied with a nod. This was the moment where his mind was fully made up. He chose to spread his wings elsewhere. Confirming plan B, Ansel pulled out his dagger and threw it at his thigh where it was struck perfectly. His gray trousers started to be soaked with blood immediately, and Brecc went down to his knee with a painful moan. Part of this was an act. He needed an excuse for letting Ansel escape. With winds blowing southwards, it was very easy to create a safe distance from the cove even before the pirates arrived at the docks.

  “The carrack is anchored so far away from the docks, I wonder why?” he mused as the fishing boat flew fast by the large vessel.

  “I see.”

  The sea was crystal clear, and he was able to see why. The reason was that the sea was too shallow near the docks. Cogs were fine, but a carrack had a deeper hull. Its keel would get stuck in the seabed if they tried to approach the docks. His attention was fixed at one of the cogs eventually.

  “... I want it.”

  He was going to need a ship anyway, and a cog looked good enough to act as a mobile base. He recalled Nuala telling him that even the smallest combat capable ship would need ten people to operate. The cog looked to be one of those. Inhaling and exhaling, he massaged his shoulders while walking into the cabin of the boat. The hardest part was over, he felt, but there was an issue with Brecc. He could not trust him fully. He considered him as a mere variable to the plan. While he did feel that his desire to break free was genuine, whether he could pull the plan they discussed was a big question mark. In the end, he decided to go ahead without him in the picture. It was just safer and better this way. If he did his job, that was good. If he couldn’t, then it was going to be fine either way.

  “... I need to learn how to swim also. She should know how.”

  The letdown was that the flat land wasn’t large enough. He couldn’t be completely certain, but it felt less than half of Ateria. In other words, unless a creative solution was made, there wasn’t going to be enough space for a city. A town perhaps but not a city.

  “Or … a naval base,” he said to himself.

  His stomach growled loudly suddenly. Looking down at his belly, he said nonchalantly.

  “I have barely eaten anything for days now.”

  All he had was some emergency rations on his belt, all of which had been completely consumed already. He had only a day worth at the most. Brecc did have some salted dried fish but he didn’t have much, either.

  “Well, whatever. I am gonna take a short nap.”