Chapter 252 - SEBASTIAN LEGUIN (2)

Red-Handed Gabb was a pirate.

He had more than 10 years of experience.

The fact that he had been in the pirate industry for 10 years, which was a place a sloppy man wouldn’t be able to survive in, suggested that he had considerable skills, luck, and even perceptiveness.

Of particular importance was his perceptiveness.

Most pirates were vicious criminals, and so was Gabb.

He committed rape, murder, and arson more than 10 times each, so if he got caught, he would definitely be sentenced to the gallows.

Therefore, Gabb was good at knowing when to leave.

Knowing when to take the lead in a winnable fight or when to retreat in a losing battle were the most important factors that helped him survive in this industry for 10 years.

‘I have to leave.’

Gabb had a hunch.

But he was unable to escape from the island.

So instead of running away, Gabb chose to hide.

It was normally a good choice.

Gabb’s quick judgment as a veteran was admirable.

But that only applied if the situation was ‘normal.’

“Sniff, sniff, that’s weird. There’s definitely a smell here.”

“There’s definitely one here. Someone’s here. My senses can feel it.”

Gabb hid in a storage cellar made by digging the floor, and tried not to make any noise by closing his mouth with his hand.

Smell, senses. Is that something a real human should be saying?

“Ah, fu-. I can’t smell it because of the smell of urine and sweat.”

“That’s your smell.”

“I feel so icky. I want to take it off.”

“C-crazy b*tch. F*ck. Why are you suddenly taking it off?”

“Then what should I do? It smells. And you’re good at cursing, huh? How cute.”

What in the world is the connection between being good at cursing and being cute?

But Gabb just shut his mouth and prayed again and again.

He remembered how he found a woman hiding in a storage place not long ago, and laughing at her for being stupid as he asked if she thought that she could hide in a place like this before he dragged her out and raped her. But Gabb shook his head now.

This place was different from where the woman hid.

It was a storage cellar made to hide alcohol, so it was hard to find.

“Ah, f*ck! Quickly put on something! Before Jude sees it!”

“Why? Why can’t Jude see it?”

“Y-you can’t! No!”

Their topic went from catching pirates to something else different.

Therefore, Gabb waited as he suppressed his breathing which was becoming rough.

Please leave.

Just leave already.

“Okay, okay. I’ll wear something, I’ll wear something.”

“But what are you going to wear?”

“I can take what the pirates are wearing and wear it. If they don’t have anything new, I’ll just take it off from someone we knocked out and wear it.”

“Uh… you’ll wear what the pirates are wearing? Wouldn’t it be dirtier than your peed on clothes?”

“Well… maybe. But this isn’t my pee. I’m not someone who would wet their pants.”

“What are you saying? Does that mean the pirates peed on you?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“Anyway, it’s not my pee. I didn’t wet my pants.”

“Bullshit.”

Leave. Please leave.

Just leave.

“Anyway, just put on something.”

“Okay, okay. The pants of the guy whom I hit earlier seemed to be a bit clean. I’ll go put it on.”

“All right, as long as you wear something.”

“Look at this gal talking.”

“Anyway, just hurry up.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Oh, you’re finally leaving?

Are you really leaving now?

Thank you, dear lord Rhesus, for protecting us pirates and robbers. Thank you very much.

Gabb prayed first before completely focusing on his hearing. He then heard footsteps.

Tak-tak-tak.

They’re going. They’re really leaving.

Gabb breathed in relief but remained alert. It was dangerous to continue staying in this cellar. There was a secret passage in the room next door, so he had to quickly go.

Tak-tak-tak.

The footsteps went away.

Gabb patiently waited and counted to ten before slowly opening the door of the cellar.

And two people greeted Gabb.

Having created the illusion of footsteps going away by controlling the pace of her steps, Cordelia said with a dark smile.

“See? I told you that I sensed something, right?”

“I said that I smelled it too, okay?”

Kajsa snorted as her nose twitched once, and then clenched her fist.

She swung her fist towards Gabb who pounced on her in his desperation.

***

It didn’t take that much time for Cordelia and Kajsa to turn the entire pirate island upside down.

In the first place, it wasn’t a big island, and half of the pirates had already been defeated by Jude and Cordelia.

So after an hour or so.

Cordelia and Kajsa piled up on the beach the pirates who seemed to be unconscious but still alive, and shouted together in front of Jude.

“I’m hungry!”

“That’s right! I’m hungry! Give me food!”

“Give me food! Give me food!”

The two standing side by side and shouting were like 7-year-olds who had just returned after playing in the alley.

So Jude shared his honest thoughts.

“You’re completely like kids.”

Cordelia would have normally been embarrassed and blush at Jude’s words, but not now.

Because Kajsa was right next to her.

“I’m a kid? Well, I’m not an adult yet. I only have one month left though. Still, I’m 19 years old, okay?”

“That’s right, that’s right. I only have more than two years left before I become an adult!”

As Cordelia excitedly replied in agreement, Kajsa was surprised.

“Uh, wait. What the… You’re younger than me?”

“Eh? Uh… yes, unnie.”

When Cordelia respectfully spoke to her without realizing it, Kajsa grinned and patted Cordelia’s back.

“Hey! There’s no older and younger sisters between friends! We’re friends!”

“Yes! Friend!”

“Oh my, how cute.”

Cordelia shouted excitedly again, and Kajsa giggled before ruffling Cordelia’s hair and kissing her forehead and cheek.

“Hey, you’re like an old man.”

Cordelia didn’t like it and pushed away Kajsa who kept sticking to her. She then ran away and hid behind Jude’s back.

But that wasn’t a very good choice either.

Because Jude grabbed Cordelia’s wrist and did the same thing as Kajsa.

“Ah, uh.”

However, Cordelia’s response was different.

Because unlike earlier which she hated, she was now smiling as her cheeks reddened in joy and embarrassment.

“Wow, the rumors were true. The always kissing part.”

Kajsa giggled again, and Cordelia was embarrassed while Jude lightly pinched Cordelia’s cheek.

And in the midst of all this, a man coughed.

“Ahem.”

A cough loud enough that anyone who had ears could hear.

But no one looked back, so the man cleared his throat again.

“Ahem, ahem.”

“Ehem, ehem, ehem.”

“Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!”

But Kajsa was still busy laughing, and Cordelia was still embarrassed while Jude continued to look at Cordelia and admiring her cuteness.

“Kajsa, you f*cking b*tch! I’m asking you to introduce me too! Is this neglect play?!”

The man, Bentham, who was a dwarf, shouted loudly, and Kajsa finally stopped laughing.

“Ah, I forgot.”

“What?”

“Anyway, I can introduce you now, right? I’ll introduce you. This is Bentham. As you can see, he’s a dwarf. That’s enough, right?”

“You b*tch! Not like that!”

Bentham sighed once and took a step before introducing himself.

“I am Bentham. I’m an artisan from the Iron Pledge Guild.”

“It’s not much different from when I introduced you.”

“What do you mean it’s not different! There is a difference!”

Being an artisan from the Iron Pledge Guild and not just anyone else is important! I’m not your ordinary dwarf!

“Ah, okay. Okay. I got it. Anyway, you do know that I’m your benefactor, right? I’m the one who saved you, right?”

Bentham jumped back at Kajsa’s threatening look, and as cold sweat ran down his back, he said after coughing again.

“Ahem, ahem. Thank you very much for saving me. I’ll definitely return the favor when I return to the guild. When I return to the guild.”

So don’t harm me if you want to be rewarded, please?

At Bentham’s desperate voice, Kajsa giggled and nodded her head.

“Okay. Bentham, I’m sure you know best how much your life will cost since you’re a skilled artisan of the Iron Pledge Guild and not just anyone else, right?”

Kajsa was usually like an animal, but she wasn’t stupid.

Rather, she had a clever side.

“Ugh… I-I understand. Please look forward to it.”

“Yes, I’ll look forward to it.”

Bentham groaned and replied, feeling like he got caught in his own trap. Kajsa then turned to Jude and Cordelia, smiling brightly.

“Anyway, I’m hungry. Give me food.”

“…I think I need a little more explanation.”

What had happened was that Cordelia and Kajsa saved Bentham who had been captured by the pirates.

“That’s how it happened.”

Cordelia told Jude about this and that, as if she was a kid who had been playing all day and was now reporting what she did outside, and Jude nodded as he grilled skewers over the bonfire.

‘It’s what I had expected.’

Cordelia and Kajsa rescued Bentham who was held in a prison.

Given that the pirates captured him, it seemed like he was quite an important figure in the guild, which was something Bentham was proud of.

‘I definitely don’t know much about the south.’

After all, Kajsa often wandered in the sea, and there were a lot of forced events in the southern region, so it was a place where one was practically limited in freely moving and searching around.

‘The first half was all about escaping.’

Malekith’s attack seriously devastated the south, making it impossible to obtain additional information.

‘Now then, what matters at this moment is Sebastian.’

There were a lot of things they needed to find out, such as if Sicilia was really involved in this, what was she planning when she dragged Sebastian into this, why she joined hands with the pirates, and so on.

‘But we accomplished our first goal.’

Jude raised his head and saw Cordelia and Kajsa squabbling as they ate the grilled skewers.

They had met for the first time today, but seeing at how they were acting, it seemed like they had been friends for more than 10 years.

‘We got Kajsa now.’

Not only did they save her life, but they even became close to her, so he was sure that they would receive a lot of help from her for their future activities in the south.

‘I think Bentham is a pretty good extra income.’

Because they had to unite the entire south in order to fight Malekith.

Bentham would be helpful in getting the help of the dwarves and gnomes.

‘Everything’s going well.’

Jude smiled and cooked new skewers for Cordelia and Kajsa who were asking for more.

And around 30 minutes later.

Cordelia asked as she pulled Jude’s sleeve.

“Jude, Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“Are we really taking them?”

One of the pirate ships anchored on the island.

Kajsa tied up the pirates who she had knocked unconscious again, and piled them in the cabin one by one.

“Because she needs to set an example.”

Pirates had become quite beautified in modern times through movies, cartoons, and novels, but in reality, pirates were vicious criminals who were far from their romanticized versions.

‘Because they’re all involved in murder, rape, and arson.’

Therefore, pirates were practically destined to be hanged the moment they were captured.

“And… because Kajsa needs it too.”

“What? The pirates?”

“Yes, because Kajsa was captured by the pirates. If it was just a story of her being rescued by us and returning, her reputation as a pirate hunter that she had built up so far would be greatly reduced, right?”

“Ah… So that’s why it’s necessary. She has to let them know that she’s alive and well.”

“That’s right. I was caught, but I kicked their asses and escaped. This is what happens to those who mess with me. Something like that?”

“Indeed, that’s a good example.”

Cordelia nodded her head in understanding, and then looked back at Kajsa.

Kajsa was tall, had a big chest, and huge hands and feet.

As a playable character and beautiful woman, she reminded Cordelia of a black panther in many ways, but she certainly felt wilder and more feral when compared to Scarlet or Princess Daphne.

‘Because she also served as a sailor in a private fleet.’

Kajsa had taken part in several naval battles against ships from the Argon Empire and the Far East.

She wasn’t even 20 years old, but she was a veteran among veterans in terms of the number of life-and-death situations she had experienced so far.

“What about Sebastian?”

“I applied a splint to the injured area and tied him up tightly. It would be hard for him to run wild now.”

“It’s a big problem if Sicilia is the one who really did that. We don’t know if she has the necessary resources to continue doing that or not, but anyway, it means that even someone on the level of a Ten Great Swordmaster can be charmed.”

“Well… She won’t be able to do it easily. It was like that in the game.”

“Eh… I really hope so.”

It wasn’t only Jude who naturally realized it. Cordelia did too.

The fact that many things had already changed because of their actions.

‘Furthermore…’

There were many things that Jude himself and Cordelia did not know.

‘Because in the end, it was a game.’

The Legend of Heroes series had a huge amount of information, but in the end, it was still just a game.

It didn’t contain everything about Pleiades, their world now.

The flow of history began to change due to the inevitable absence of information and the butterfly effect.

The frequency of encountering unexpected events would increase more and more in the future, though there would be not so many extreme cases like the appearance of traitors among the Ten Great Swordmasters.

“But we’ll do well. We’ve done a great job today, right?”

Jude smiled when Cordelia tightly held his hand and spoke as if encouraging him. He nodded after kissing Cordelia’s forehead.

“That’s right. We’ll do well.”

“Yes!”

Cordelia happily laughed before she looked around and then stood on her tiptoes. She then lightly kissed Jude’s cheek.

She had felt like doing it because they were facing each other.

Numerous stars filled the sky as the waves gently rolled.

Two people stood together on a pirate ship.

It was a romantic enough scene, but nothing happened afterwards. Because Kajsa shouted in anger.

“Seriously, you two are doing it again! Hey! Help me! Don’t just rub salt into my wounds!”

“Okay! We’ll go! We’re going!”

Cordelia immediately replied and shyly smiled before pulling Jude’s hand, and Jude happily smiled as they walked together.

He and Cordelia headed to Kajsa.

***

It was deep at night.

Perhaps around midnight.

Normally, it was time for them to be sleeping, but they couldn’t today.

Because the pirate ship that Kajsa was steering was now sailing in the sea.

“The wind is nice!”

It was a big ship that could carry dozens of people, but if it was to make it simply move forward through the wind and currents, it didn’t require that many people to maneuver it.

So instead of staying overnight on the pirate island, Kajsa suggested that they should leave immediately.

‘We’ll arrive in a few hours at most.’

Kajsa argued that there was no reason to stay overnight on the pirate island because they could reach the port by dawn, and Jude and Cordelia also agreed.

‘In fact, it’s a little uncomfortable to stay there for one more night.’

The relationship between Sebastian and Sicilia had yet to be proven, but conversely, there was no evidence that the two were not related.

If Sicilia was really involved in this matter, then staying on the island could be dangerous.

‘Considering Sicilia’s personality, she would have laid some measures.’

She wouldn’t have just left alone someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters whom she had captured.

Perhaps she had noticed by now that Sebastian had been subdued.

‘We need to go back to the mainland instead of staying on the island.’

The island had very limited space.

It was a perfect place to surround and attack, so it would be best for them to leave when they had the chance to do so.

“The stars are beautiful.”

Jude turned his head to the side upon hearing the voice. Cordelia was leaning against the railing and looking up at the night sky.

“I agree.”

They were in Pleiades that didn’t have much light pollution.

Anyone who looked up at the night sky would always be able to appreciate the sea of countless stars.

“Would you like to lie down as you watch it?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, it’ll hurt your neck if you look up like that for a long time.”

At Jude’s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she lied down. Jude then lied down next to her and stretched his arm to the side.

“Here, arm pillow.”

“Huh?”

“So that your head won’t hurt.”

Cordelia blinked again at Jude’s words, and she soon giggled and drew her body close to Jude.

She obliged and rested her head on his arm pillow.

“It’s hard.”

“My arm?”

“Yes, and that’s why it’s perfect.”

Cordelia casually spoke, and leaned a little more towards Jude as she looked up at the night sky.

It felt like the stars in the night sky would come raining down when one lied down.

“My goodness, the two are at it again.”

Kajsa’s murmurs could be heard in the distance, but Cordelia chose to ignore it and slowly closed her eyes.

For a moment, with only her senses of smell and touch, she felt the night sea, or rather, she felt Jude.

Strangely enough, she felt very cozy.

Despite the fact that they were lying down on a ship without any blanket covering them from the night breeze.

‘The smell of Jude.’

Cordelia’s nose twitched once before she opened her eyes to look at Jude. She looked at the face of Jude whose eyes were closed as he quietly breathed.

Jude’s fair face.

Kajsa who kept grumbling from afar.

The sea of stars that looked like it would come falling down.

Cordelia thought that it would be nice if time would stop at that moment, but she widely opened her eyes at some point.

Because she heard an unusual sound coming from far away.

“Did you hear that too?”

Jude opened his eyes at Cordelia’s question, and nodded his head before the two immediately stood up.

They turned their eyes to the sound that came from far away.

“Serpent?!”

A giant sea snake.

As Jude had said, it was indeed a Serpent with blue scales that was swimming along the waves.

It moved quite fast, and if they left it as is, it would soon collide with the pirate ship.

“Kajsa!”

“Crazy!”

At first glance, the Serpent looked to be twenty meters long. Kajsa hastily turned the steering wheel to change the ship’s course, and Jude concentrated the energy of the black dragon in his right hand to attack the Serpent.

But it was at that moment.

Cordelia who had been focusing her consciousness on the Serpent instead of chanting a spell then noticed one thing. She unknowingly opened her mouth and said.

“It’s not charging at us.”

“Eh?”

“It’s running away.”

The Serpent wasn’t rushing towards them.

It was running away right now.

“It’s coming.”

Cordelia said again. Jude reflexively hugged Cordelia’s waist, and turned to the front again before activating his ability to see through things. The moment he saw through the dark sea, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

What Cordelia sensed.

What made the Serpent run away.

“Kiaaaak!”

The surface of the sea split along with the Serpent’s scream. At the same time, huge tentacles soared up and bound the Serpent.

Tentacles.

No, legs.

“Kraken.”

The demon of the sea.

A giant monster.

The moment Kajsa said that, the surface of the sea was split again. Huge legs that seemed to be dozens of meters long soared up and headed towards the pirate ship.

If you’re wondering why the episode used legs instead of tentacles: Krakens are based off giant squids, and squids mostly have eight legs/arms and two tentacles, so the word ‘legs’ was used here in this episode.