novelraw Book 2: Chapter 5: Arajina
Book 2: Chapter 5: Arajina
The sight of that colossal ship waving arrogantly on the distant sea didn't just unsettle the passengers—the captain on the bridge, peering through his binoculars, was the most panicked of all.
As the captain of a passenger cruise ship, he was responsible both to the Nary Pioneer Company above him and for the safety of hundreds of passengers below. If the ship or its passengers suffered any damage, he'd be in deep trouble. And to make matters worse, the Four Great Pirates were the most unreasonable forces across the oceans—even governments couldn't do much about them, let alone an unarmed cruise ship like this.
"It's the Iceberg Queen! Those crazy women are supposed to be haunting Schwalli's northern waters—why the hell are they suddenly in the Southern Ocean?"
The first mate beside him, lacking binoculars, could only grimace and cup his hands over his eyes, watching the enormous vessel approach as if that would somehow sharpen his vision.
"Captain, they're signaling... They want to board us! What do we do?"
The captain's mouth opened and closed before he finally lowered the binoculars, gritted his teeth, and said,
"Tell the engine room to slow the engines. We’ll let them board."
"But... what if they rob us?"
"What else can we do? Either we refuse and get our ship blasted to pieces, sending us all to the bottom to feed the fish, or we gamble that they’re not here for money! I’ve heard they only target Schwalli’s ships. Even if we’re unlucky and they do take our valuables, at least we’ll make it back to Saint Nary alive. Now hurry up and relay the order—no delays!"
"Yes, sir!"The first mate scrambled off the bridge to notify the engine room. Before long, the entire ship slowed, and the deep-green vessel from afar gradually drew alongside. Chains clattered over the railings of the Lauren, binding the two ships together.
"Attention all passengers, the ship is now under emergency lockdown. All passengers must return to their cabins immediately. I repeat, return to your cabins and remain there! Follow the captain’s orders—return to your rooms at once!"
At the captain’s announcement, passengers on the deck and in the corridors swiftly retreated to their cabins, plunging the cruise ship into eerie silence—broken only by the groaning friction of the massive pirate ship scraping against theirs.
"Captain, they're boarding!"
Descending along the chains linking the ships, numerous tall, muscular women with long hair leaped onto the Lauren’s deck, their heavy boots thudding against the wood. Once aboard, they didn’t scatter but instead formed disciplined ranks on the deck.
Among them, an obese woman dressed as a first mate stepped forward, scanning the surroundings before bellowing toward the bridge:
"Captain, all clear!"
At her signal, a single woman at the edge of the Iceberg Queen’s deck vaulted down, landing soundlessly.
She was strikingly tall—around 190 cm—with snow-white hair spilling from beneath a pure-black captain’s hat. Unlike the other pirates, who ranged from burly to wiry, her build was lean and proportionate, clad in a sleek black leather trench coat. Her features were sharp and refined, more resembling a noble aristocrat than the brutish stereotype of a female pirate.
But her gaze was icy, her expression so cold it could freeze the air, instantly evoking the frigid northern wastelands.
In truth, these pirates did hail from the Northern Territories—a landmass so close to the Western Continent that, before the Age of Discovery, it was often mistaken as part of it. The nations there frequently interacted with the West, particularly Schwalli, the closest Western power.
Among the Northern nations, the most formidable and notorious was the all-female Sarding Matriarchy. Its society was unusual: every woman there was born taller and stronger than men, leading to a matriarchal culture where women naturally assumed dominance—and responsibility.
Interestingly, the men of Sarding were famed for their delicate elegance—soft-skinned, fair, and intensely conservative about chastity. Somehow, this reputation reached Schwalli’s nobility, igniting an insatiable demand among them.
Where there was demand, supply followed. Schwalli’s slave-hunting crews dared to raid Sarding’s shores for men, provoking nationwide fury. In Sarding’s culture, women were sworn to protect men, and any insult to their men was a national disgrace. Thus, at every level—political, military, academic—they turned against Schwalli, leaving its officials unable to defend themselves. After all, they knew exactly who was behind the demand...
The crew of the Iceberg Queen were all Sarding women—even if they were wanted criminals back home, they still exclusively targeted Schwalli’s ships. It was a bizarre standoff: "You hunt us, we rob you, and we all pretend the other doesn’t exist."
And at the helm of this ironclad warship was the so-called "Iceberg Queen" herself—Arajina, with a staggering bounty of 7.5 million Nary Euros, placing her among the legendary Four Great Pirates.
As Arajina’s frosty gaze swept over them, both the Lauren’s captain and first mate broke out in cold sweat, as if crushed under invisible pressure. After a tense pause, the captain forced himself to speak:
"Captain Arajina, may I ask why you’ve stopped us? We’re a passenger ship under the Nary Pioneer Company, merely ferrying travelers between the Southern and Western Continents. We carry no valuable cargo..."
"We’re not... here to rob you."
Arajina’s expression remained unchanged, her Nary words halting. The obese first mate beside her shot a smirk at a young male crewman, who paled and retreated into the bridge. Unfazed, she continued for her captain:
"Our ship was robbed. We’re hunting the thief."
"Robbed?"
The captain and first mate exchanged glances, then scanned the endless ocean around them, momentarily speechless.
Were they serious? This wasn’t some back alley in Saint Nary where thieves could be caught around the corner—this was the Southern Ocean, the world’s second-largest sea!
There wasn’t so much as a seagull in sight. If they’d been robbed, why weren’t they searching their own ship instead of accosting random vessels?
"Er... could you elaborate?"
Still, with guns pointed at them, the captain kept his tone polite.
The pirate first mate winked at the young crewman again, her greasy smirk making him recoil further. She chuckled and explained:
"The thief jumped overboard and swam toward your ship. We chased for hours—yours was the only vessel in this direction. What she stole was valuable, so we need to search your passengers. If it’s not here, we’ll leave immediately."
"Wait—you’re telling me your warship chased a swimming thief at full speed... and lost them?"
"..."
The Lauren’s first mate’s face twitched, as if struggling not to laugh at the absurdity. He pinched his cheeks to force a grimace—far uglier than a frown.
If he laughed now, he’d get a bullet through his skull. He was sure of it.
The moment the words left his mouth, an awkward silence fell. Sensing the pirates’ darkening moods, the first mate hastily added:
"Maybe it was a magical artifact! Or some mechanical device! I’ve heard the Saint Nary Royal Institute has all sorts of new inventions..."
The captain coughed and glanced at the armed pirates behind Arajina—rough women scrutinizing the ship’s layout, their weapons more than enough to turn every passenger’s head into a pincushion.
He nodded at the icy Arajina.
"I’ll order my crew to cooperate with your search. But you must guarantee no harm comes to the passengers or the ship."
Arajina nodded, her cold expression unchanging.
"We’ll search... and leave, regardless."
She seemed to have lost something terribly important.