novelraw Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Ch.9 Hurry Up and Go!
As Cecilia began to cry, the baron panicked.
It was understandable—she was the sacred saint.
If even a rumor spread that he had pressured her, the baron would not survive the wrath of the enraged masses, the church, or the devout nobles.
“Yo-your Holiness?”
—Swish…
Cecilia wiped her tears with her sleeve and spoke in a voice choked with sobs.
“I apologize for showing you my pitiful state. I cannot stop crying upon hearing that my beloved has disappeared.”
The saint’s beloved.
The implications of these words were enormous.
Having a lover as a saint was tantamount to resigning from the position of saint.
The baron, quick with calculations, naturally thought of ways to profit from this information, but for now, comforting the saint was his priority.
‘I can’t let rumors spread that the Pisa Trading Company pressured the saint.’
If word got out that a mere trading company chairman had made a high-ranking figure like the saint cry, the church might immediately dispatch inquisitors for heresy.
“Ahem… please calm yourself, Your Holiness. If there is anything I can do to help, I will gladly step forward.”
Though he knew a merchant like himself had little to offer in terms of help, he spoke lightly…
But the saint nodded, her voice still trembling with tears.
“You have no idea how much your words mean to me.”
At this, the baron was puzzled.
‘Help?’
What help could a minor territorial lord like himself possibly offer? Though he owned a large trading company, it was far removed from political power.
‘Could it be… that?’
The baron, experienced in managing a small territory and running businesses, knew well what the word ‘help’ often implied when used by high-ranking individuals.
He himself had been on the receiving end of such requests many times.
Naturally, the baron began pondering the saint’s intentions.
‘Yes, it makes sense. Logically, why else would she come to me upon her lover’s disappearance?’
The baron, who possessed nothing but money, assumed the saint had come to extract money from him and even smiled.
A saint as a new powerful backer—this was an opportunity he absolutely had to seize.
The baron, who had never missed an opportunity before, quickly calculated how much cash he currently had on hand.
“Yes. But I apologize—I am not fully prepared at the moment. Please wait a little, and I will show you my sincerity.”
It was truly regrettable that most of his funds were still in the bank, as he had acquired the Pisa Trading Company only a week ago. Whether the saint understood his predicament or not, she gave him a puzzled look.
“What do you mean?”
At that, the baron asked in return.
“Ahem… shall I offer you… condolences?”
At this, Cecilia replied with cold eyes.
“Not necessary.”
‘Th-then why did you come?!’
Frustrated, the baron screamed internally. He couldn’t yell at a saint of higher status than himself.
“Hans… do you know Hans, who lived at 378 Maibi-ro?”
The baron thought carefully, but the only Hans he knew was the former chairman and baron of the Pisa Trading Company.
“No? I don’t know him.”
At this, Cecilia frowned and glared at the baron with a menacing gaze.
Was it just the baron’s imagination that she felt like a grim reaper, waiting to see when he would die, standing before a man facing death?
‘Why… why is she looking at me like that?’
“Then find out. Find out immediately!”
At the saint’s abrupt reaction, the baron was dumbfounded.
‘How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me?’
Though internally frustrated, he couldn’t confront the saint and could only suppress his anger.
But as a seasoned merchant, the baron was skilled at managing his expressions.
The holy knight standing behind the saint spoke in an awkward voice.
“Your Holiness… how is the baron supposed to understand if you speak like that? Let me explain.”
The baron felt relieved as the holy knight stepped in. Unlike the agitated saint, he seemed capable of rational conversation.
“The lover of Your Holiness, Mr. Hans, resided at 378 Maibi-ro, but his whereabouts are unknown.”
“That… why are you telling me this?”
“Because 378 Maibi-ro is registered under the ownership of the Pisa Trading Company.”
At those words, the baron’s face was filled with question marks.
“I acquired the Pisa Trading Company less than a week ago. The only Hans I know is Hans, the former chairman and baron of the Pisa Trading Company.”
It was understandable—wasn’t ‘Hans’ practically synonymous with commoners?
“Ah…”
At those words, Cecilia seemed to feel dizzy and clutched her forehead with her palm.
At that moment—
—Clank!
“Your Holiness! I have obtained the documents regarding Honorary Priest Hans!”
Seeing the holy knight burst into the reception room, waving papers, Cecilia urgently said,
“Give them to me.”
She immediately reached out, snatched the documents from the knight, and began reading.
As she read, her expression changed moment by moment.
Question marks began appearing one by one on her previously stiff face, until her face was completely covered with them.
“Your Holiness, what is wrong?”
The gazes of the surrounding holy knights focused on her face, and Cecilia spoke as if she could hardly believe what she was seeing.
“Hans… Priest Hans… is the owner of the Pisa Trading Company?”
***
It was the seventh day since we set sail.
I was lying in a hammock, enjoying the cool breeze and my holiday.
“Master, when will we arrive?”
But my disciple kept whining beside me.
“Three weeks from now.”
“No, seriously. Why do I have to be here?”
Leah, tired of asking the same question for what must have been the umpteenth time,
“You said you’d follow me, didn’t you?”
—Splash!
Cold water poured down on me from above.
“Pff— whoa! Ah, it’s cold!”
Did I raise such a disrespectful disciple?
As I thought this and opened my mouth to say something to Leah…
“Master, do you want to die?”
Seeing her hair brimming with magic, I quietly turned my head away.
“Sigh… seriously. I don’t even know why I came all the way here.”
Watching Leah sigh, I thought to myself,
How did I end up here with her…
If only I had been a day earlier.
As I thought this, I gazed at the blue sky, savoring the salty scent of the sea tickling my nose.
Just as I put on a nearby blindfold, enjoying the warm sunlight and cool sea breeze, slowly drifting into sleep—
—Screech…
A faint sound, like wood scraping, tickled my ears.
What is that? Are they cleaning?
—Screech…
Thinking it rude to tell the crew to be quiet while they cleaned, I silently enjoyed the comfort of the net hammock.
“Master, I keep hearing strange sounds.”
“They’re probably cleaning.”
“That can’t be. There’s no one else on deck but us.”
At that, I remembered something and hastily removed my blindfold, jumping up from the hammock.
“Master?”
Ignoring Leah calling out to me, I grabbed the ship’s railing and looked out at the sea.
Climbing up the ship’s outer wall was something horrifying—a grotesque creature resembling a mix of human and deep-sea fish.
“Master? What are these things?”
“Merfolk.”
I had completely forgotten.
When the Demon King died, the large monsters in the sea were supposed to disappear, allowing traffic between the New and Old Continents again, but I had forgotten that minor monsters like these would occasionally appear to cause trouble.
I took ‘Equality’ from my bosom and said,
“Leah, you know not to destroy the ship, right?”
Seeing Leah nod at my words, I aimed ‘Equality’ at the merfolk and pulled the trigger.
—Bang!
Though the gunshot assaulted my eardrums, there was no recoil.
It was understandable—’Equality’ was a concept item modeled after a cowboy.
It was a weapon made without any consideration for balance.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
I knocked the merfolk climbing up from the sea back into the water, but there were more of them than I expected.
If this side was like this… then the other side must be…
“Whoa! What are these things?!”
“Spears! Bring spears!”
Seeing the panicked crew, I called out to Leah.
“Leah, go help them too!”
Unlike my frantic self, Leah looked completely relaxed.
“Do I really have to go out for such insignificant creatures?”
Such a rude…
“Then what are you, a grand mage, for? To be eaten in soup? Huh? Hurry up and cast some magic!”
Scolded by me, Leah reluctantly headed to the other side. Seeing this, I sighed in relief and began hunting in earnest.
—Bang!
—Bang!
Watching the endless waves of merfolk, I sighed.
When did my peacefully planned journey go so wrong?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
As I absentmindedly shot the climbing merfolk…
“Gah! The ship… the ship is shaking!”
“A tsu… tsunami!”
The ship began to shake, and chaos erupted.
A massive tsunami struck the ship’s side…and a giant monster surged up from the sea.
Milky-white skin and multiple tentacle-like legs.
Kraken.
“What? Why is that still here?!”
The large monsters were supposed to disappear when the Demon King died!
Contrary to my expectations, the large monsters had not vanished. I quickly regained my senses.
This was no time to hesitate—I had to kill it quickly.
If that kraken swung even one of its legs, the ship would be split in half. I aimed ‘Equality’ and fired.
—Bang!
As I hit the kraken’s torso squarely…
—Kieeeek!
Screaming loudly, it wildly thrashed its legs and sank into the sea. Damn it, the central deck, struck by one of its massive legs, split in half.
—Crash!
The very thing I had dreaded had happened.
“Whoa!”
“Sh… shit, we’re all dead!”
Hearing the crew’s screams, I cursed as well.
“Da… damn it!”
At that moment—
“Sigh… seriously, how annoying.”
Leah took out a long staff glowing red from midair.
That was Kirke’s Staff.
A must-have item for mages, packed with bonuses for magic amplification, magic efficiency, and magic penetration.
“Fly!”
As her magic activated, the shaking of the sinking ship stopped.
“Master, I can’t sustain this magic for long. Hurry and prepare to escape.”
“Es… escape to where?”
All the wealth I had accumulated and every concept artifact obtainable in the Old Continent were on this ship.
But setting that aside, where could we possibly escape to while stranded in the middle of the ocean on a sinking ship?
At that moment, Leah pointed her finger somewhere and said,
“There’s an island not far from here.”
In the direction she pointed, I saw nothing.
“There’s nothing there.”
At my words, veins popped on Leah’s forehead.
“No, seriously, it’s there! If everyone swims in that direction, it’ll appear soon!”
At that, the crew nodded.
“Now that you mention it, there was an island with a large totem pole there.”
“Right! Since we’re at the entrance of the Caribbean, that island must definitely be over there.”
A large totem pole?
At those words, a dungeon flashed through my mind.
The dungeon where the Phoenix Egg was located.
Famous in the game as the best pet, offering excellent effects and being both cute and cool.
Might as well take it with me while I’m here.
“Master! Hurry up and go!”
Seeing Leah, struggling to hold up the massive ship with multiple veins bulging on her forehead, I hastily threw myself into the sea.
Review at
NovelUpdate
One for All200[Get access to 20 premium chapters each for over 30 series.
Check out List at Membership page]Unlock next 20 premium chaptersValid for 30 daysPurchase