Chapter 248 - KAJSA OPHAND (2)

Cordelia was in a good mood.

For the past 2 days, she fully enjoyed the body temperature of Jude’s wide back, and liked the firm arms that supported her. But there was one more fact that pleased her.

‘The smell of Jude.’

Cordelia seemed to have acquired a heightened sense of smell like that of a girl from the wild.

Even with her eyes closed, she was able to distinguish the number of people around her by sniffing with her nose once.

Count Chase had a strong rose scent.

Her brother Edward slightly smelled of disinfectant that one would mostly smell in swimming pools, and her sister Adelia didn’t have any strange scent, but when she met Ga?l, she often smelled of peppermint.

‘As for Dahlia, she has a cool and refreshing smell?’

Now that I think of it, is Dahlia doing well?

She must have arrived home by now, right?

After recalling Dahlia’s face for a moment, Cordelia focused on the smell again.

The smell of Jude.

Jude’s body had a strangely sweet smell.

It obviously wasn’t a very strong scent, but the faint scent was like the smell when one sucked on a candy.

In the royal capital, the shampoo, conditioner, and perfume he used gave him a refreshing scent, but it was a little different today.

Since they wandered around outside, there was hardly any smell on him as if the perfume had worn off.

The original smell of Jude.

The smell of his flesh.

Her nose twitched as she was immersed in his sweet smell, but after some time, she began to smell something salty.

It seemed like they were nearing the sea.

‘Sweet and salty.’

Jude’s sweetness and the sea’s saltiness.

‘I’m feeling sleepy.’

I feel like I can fall asleep from the nice atmosphere.

Will I wake up in his arms if I fall asleep like this?

Cordelia briefly imagined it before she felt the urge to cover her face with both hands.

‘I must be seriously ill, really…’

How did this happen?

Cordelia criticized herself – no, she reflected on herself for a moment and soon opened her eyes slowly.

Because Jude’s movements had changed.

“Have we arrived?”

“Yes, I think we should walk from here. If we keep going like this, we’ll stand out too much.”

“Okay.”

Seeing the wide road past the bushes, Cordelia nodded her head and climbed down from Jude’s back.

“Is Kajsa here?”

“Yes, because she uses Daram as her base when she’s hunting pirates.”

In fact, they weren’t that sure of it yet.

The events now might gradually differ from the game’s storyline because of the butterfly effect from the various events that had occurred so far.

“But it’ll be fine since she’s Kajsa.”

“Well, you’re right.”

At this point, Kajsa was 19 years old.

She was two years older than Jude or Cordelia, and three years older than Lucas.

A difference of one or two years didn’t matter much when one exceeded 30 to 40 years of age, but it was different when one was a teenager in the midst of growing up.

Kajsa belonged to the top ranks among the playable characters in terms of their physical abilities at their starting point.

‘No, it’s more like she has no other competitors except for Maximilian and Leon.’

Because she had very strong natural physical abilities.

Moreover, Kajsa was a character who loved and enjoyed fighting.

She had been escorting merchant ships since her childhood, so she had a lot of hands-on experience, making her a full-fledged warrior.

“Hehe.”

But it was at that moment.

Cordelia suddenly laughed when she was thinking about Kajsa.

She couldn’t hold back her laughter because she was in a really good mood.

“Cordelia?”

What’s suddenly wrong with you?

I don’t think there’s anything funny in our conversation now for you to be laughing.

When Jude looked at her in confusion, Cordelia spoke after she rolled her eyes to avoid making eye contact.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes, nothing.”

Truthfully, there was a reason.

Because Jude was stronger than Kajsa.

Jude’s physical abilities were superior to Kajsa, who was a superhuman from the moment she inherited the blood of a divine creature.

My Jude is stronger than Kajsa.

He’s stronger, faster, and has better stamina.

‘I want to show him off.’

I want to tell everyone that my Jude is this amazing.

“Hehehe.”

Cordelia snickered again, and Jude furrowed his brows but soon smiled.

Good things are good, so if Cordelia is feeling good, it must be something good.

‘Perhaps it’s because we’ve come to the sea.’

Jude also had heightened senses, though it was not as much as Cordelia.

He felt restless when he smelled the salty smell of the sea and heard the sounds of the waves breaking from afar.

‘Because I’ve strangely never been much to the sea.’

Jude had traveled everywhere from the desert to the jungle in his past life, but he had rarely been to the sea.

‘Twice. No, is it thrice?’

Moreover, he didn’t remember it much because he only went there for work.

“Anyway, let’s go. Give me the backpack.”

“Yes, Milord.”

Jude took the backpack from Cordelia who obediently replied. He then signaled to her with a glance, and Cordelia skillfully used a magic that hindered recognition.

Since the two always stood out, they needed that magic to not draw attention.

“Are we going to an inn first?”

“We usually do that, but we should go to the pier first.”

Because they came to the sea, they must check the sea first.

They had to find out if Kajsa’s ship was out at sea or if it was anchored to a dock.

Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude’s suggestion.

“Yes, I want to see the sea too. I like the sea.”

“Did you used to live by the sea?”

“When I was younger.”

It was a story from her previous life and not the present one. Cordelia then grabbed Jude’s hand instead of talking more about it.

“Let’s hurry up.”

“Okay.”

They were just plainly holding hands instead of the usual escorting etiquette, so Jude looked straight ahead instead of looking at Cordelia because he was lightly blushing due to her holding his hand first.

The two headed towards the port city of Daram.

***

The 7 southern families were quite diverse, but they could be largely divided into two categories.

Families with a fief on the mainland and families with islands as their fief.

Marquis Ophand belonged to the former, and they owned two port cities on the coast and a large territory inland.

“Daram is one of Marquis Ophand’s port cities, and is usually used as a trading port in the south.”

It was used as a route for selling the grains produced by the Ophand territory to the various islands in the south, and was strictly for domestic use.

“That’s why there are a lot of big boats despite it being a domestic port. Because they had to load and carry a lot at once. But the boats rarely go far since they’re not intended for long-distance sailing.”

“I see.”

Cordelia listened to Jude as she looked around.

As the port of the wealthy Marquis Ophand, Daram was well-equipped with the basics.

It had clean and wide roads with big and nice buildings built everywhere.

Guard posts were set up at regular intervals to maintain security.

‘It feels like I’m at a tourist attraction.’

Cordelia sniffed with her nose again and brightly smiled at some point.

Because she could see the sea far away.

“It’s the sea.”

“So are those sails… really for long-distance sailing?”

She saw the blue and open sea beyond the huge pier.

Cordelia let go of Jude’s hand and ran like a child, and Jude hurriedly caught up to her.

“It’s the sea.”

Cordelia took a deep breath.

Besides the plain salty smell, her heart pounded at the familiar smell of the sea.

‘Beautiful.’

It was a beautiful pier that was like the tourist destinations found in Europe.

The islands were like dots in the distant horizon, and the sound of the seagulls were heard in between the sound of the waves crashing against the breakwater.

It’s so beautiful and nice right now, so what more if it’s sunset?

Cordelia briefly closed her eyes and imagined the sunset, and she couldn’t hold back her smile.

Because the appearance of the sunset dyeing the sky and the sea red was truly beautiful.

‘And, with such a sunset as a background…’

Cordelia was still embarrassed to imagine Jude and herself, so she used Adelia and Ga?l in her imagination. She ended up covering her face with both hands.

‘Haa… haa… good. It’s perfect.’

It’s here.

I want it to be here.

This place is good enough.

‘I have to ask him to go watch the sunset together later. That’s right.’

Cordelia made a firm resolution before she opened her eyes and clenched her fist.

But it was at that moment.

“Something’s weird.”

“Eh?”

Weird?

No, what are you talking about?

We have to go see the sunset later, but why are you talking as if something is going to happen, huh?

Cordelia looked around in a hurry.

The alleys.

There was nothing strange about it. There were no ruffians threatening someone, saying that they would just play for a short time, nor was there a beautiful woman standing among those ruffians with a crying expression.

The wharf.

It was normal.

No one was wounded, and there wasn’t anyone being chased with the sea as a background.

The sea and the pier were left.

There were large ships lined up at the pier.

‘Good, there’s nothing strange. There’s no problem here.’

But it was too early to judge. Jude said as he pointed to one of the ships.

“Look at that.”

It was definitely a voice that signaled the start of an incident.

Therefore, Cordelia didn’t want to see it, but she forced herself to turn to the direction where Jude was pointing.

A black ship was docked among the ships in the pier.

Now that she saw it, it was a ship that she knew well.

“The Black Shark?”

“Yes, Kajsa’s flagship.”

The ship that Kajsa boarded when she went out to hunt for pirates.

But it didn’t look normal.

The ship was so damaged that it could be seen from a distance.

It was almost half-destroyed. It seemed like it wouldn’t be strange if it sank now.

“Something’s not right.”

It was as Jude said.

That was why Cordelia did her best to suppress her desire to cry.

“Hurry up. We have to find Kajsa… or at least Kajsa’s crew.”

“Okay, I understand.”

She didn’t expect that she would hate the moment when an event appears.

‘No, stay alert, Cordelia. Perhaps something big happened to Kajsa.’

Cordelia shook off her selfish thoughts and asked as she looked back at Jude.

“Shall we split up and ask around?”

“Yes, contact me right away if you find anything. Okay?”

“Yes!”

Jude and Cordelia held the two ancient dwarf communicators they acquired in Black Town, and split up in different directions.

And after 10 minutes or so.

Jude and Cordelia found out on what happened to Kajsa and her ship.

***

“Kajsa was detained.”

It wasn’t because a man from her family caught her running wild and detained her.

She was now in the hands of pirates.

The story was simple.

Yesternight.

Having grasped the base of the pirates, Kajsa went out to sea on the Black Shark like always.

To raid the pirate island in the middle of the night.

There was nothing strange about it so far.

There was an event in the game where she similarly destroyed a pirate island.

But the problem was from then on.

“Kajsa lost.”

Kajsa was defeated.

The pirates won, Kajsa was captured by the pirates, and only Kajsa’s men came back alive.

That had happened in the morning, and it was now afternoon.

Obviously, Daram was turned upside down.

Kajsa was the pride of the Marquis Ophand family, and at the same time, she was like a guardian deity who protected Daram and the nearby waters.

Kajsa was caught, and her ship that was said to be invincible came back destroyed, but it was strange that there was no commotion.

“No wonder there’s a lot of ships.”

There was a reason why there were so many ships anchored at the pier despite the clear weather.

Because Kajsa was defeated.

Because there was a high possibility that the pirates would use this chance to attack.

“What happened? How did Kajsa lose?”

Jude frowned at Cordelia’s question.

Because it was actually a strange story.

Kajsa was strong.

She was definitely not invincible, but at this point in time, it was difficult to find anyone around here who could defeat Kajsa.

‘There aren’t any strong people even among the pirates.’

He remembered the stats of the pirates he faced when he played as Kajsa in the game.

There was at least no one in the nearby waters who had the ability to beat Kajsa.

It was obviously not a one-on-one confrontation but a battle involving dozens to hundreds of people, so variables might have occurred, but it was still not that convincing.

“Did the pirates of the deep sea appear?”

He was talking about pirates from distant foreign countries.

There were certainly pirates who were much stronger than the current Kajsa among them.

But he couldn’t think of a reason why they would be near Daram.

“It may be related to Malekith.”

Because Gamorr Khan had disappeared.

Malekith’s side might have done something to fill the gap of Gamorr Khan’s absence, so it was possible that this incident occurred because of that.

But it was only a guess.

So Jude stopped his inconclusive thoughts and focused on the victory conditions like always.

“Anyway, it’s important that Kajsa’s alive.”

According to the rumors going around the port, Kajsa was not killed by the pirates and was just captured.

“Then it means that they wouldn’t be killing Kajsa at least for today.”

If their intention was to kill her, they wouldn’t have caught her and would have just killed her right then.

Moreover, Kajsa was the pride of Marquis Ophand.

Killing her would anger Marquis Ophand, so even the pirates would hesitate to kill her.

“Something’s strange.”

Kajsa tried to kill the pirates, but the pirates were cautious on not to kill her.

“Anyway, it’s a good thing for us. In addition, pirates are bad guys, so we can defeat them.”

“You’re right.”

“It’s better for our side if they demand for a ransom. But we can’t be relieved yet.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s Kajsa.”

“Oh.”

Kajsa had a truly fiery personality.

The two wondered if Kajsa would have been pissed off now. But if the pirates knew Kajsa well, they would have given up on negotiating for a ransom in the first place.

They were people who were afraid of Marquis Ophand’s anger, but they also feared Kajsa who would chase them to their deaths once she was released.

“Of course, it would be different if there was someone really strong enough to defeat Kajsa.”

But that was only an assumption. So Jude removed all the uncertainties and focused his mind on the things they needed to do right now.

“Our goal now is to save her. It may be too late if we wait for the people of Marquis Ophand to come to Daram.”

“Yes. I understand what you mean.”

Cordelia nodded her head as she instinctively figured out on what they were going to do next.

“Are we going to find Wolf?”

One of Kajsa’s subordinates.

He was a knight who was also called a bear because of his large size, but he was also known to be in love with Kajsa since their childhood.

While fleeing with Kajsa to escape Malekith’s attack, he sacrificed his life to save Kajsa and died for her sake. He was the supporting role in the first half of Kajsa’s scenario.

“It’s fine even if it’s not Wolf. We first need to know about the location of the island and who defeated Kajsa, or how Kajsa was captured.”

“Okay, leave it to me. I have an idea.”

Cordelia immediately spoke, and Jude furrowed his brows before saying.

“I’m saying this just in case, but you do know that it’s not okay to threaten people by blowing up a mansion, right?”

“Hey, I also have common sense, okay? Of course, most problems can be solved by explosions.”

Jude narrowed his brows again at her rather disturbing answer, but Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and said as if telling him not to worry.

“Believe in me. Besides, I’ve been doing well lately, right? I managed to win in the negotiations with the spring fairies, right?”

“Pink Bomb has been blackened, huh?”

“That’s right, and because of you, I’ve become completely black. So you have to take responsibility, okay?”

“I understand.”

No further words were needed.

Jude stretched out his hand to her, and Cordelia took his hand before they headed to the mansion of Marquis Ophand.

If this was a game, they would have asked the NPCs in the port to find the whereabouts of the sailors or clear quests to find a way to meet Wolf. But this was reality and not a game.

And that was why Cordelia used a very realistic method.

“I’m Countess August Chase, a close friend of Lady Kajsa Ophand. Please open the door this minute. Because I have to meet Sir Wolf who couldn’t protect Kajsa!”

It was not the home of Marquis Ophand.

It was just a mansion of Kajsa who resided in Daram.

Therefore, there were no people in the mansion who were higher in position than Kajsa. But even if Kajsa was nothing but a plain noble, it didn’t change the fact that she was the pride of the Ophand family.

In other words, there was no one who had a status advantage over Cordelia, who was a well-known countess from the royal capital.

“Ah, are you a friend of the young miss?”

When the butler was surprised at the words of Cordelia, a countess, he cautiously asked her, and Cordelia nodded without batting an eye.

“That’s right. I’m her close friend.”

They weren’t friends yet, but they would soon be.

If they saved her, they would definitely become friends.

Cordelia held back those thoughts and urged the butler once again instead of stuttering or speaking in monotone.

“Guide them to Sir Wolf! Hurry!”

“T-this way please.”

Hurray for hierarchical societies.

Cordelia did a fist pump and looked at Jude as she winked instead of following the butler who had gone ahead.

‘What do you think? I did well, right?’

I’m good at scamming now, right? (Cordelia)

Should I be happy or sad about this? (Jude)

‘Cordelia has been corrupted.’

The black-hearted Black Cloak nodded as if he didn’t know whether to smile or cry.