Wolves of Hader

Chapter 102

On the west side of the island, there was a small fishing village.

The slum village I had visited before was more like a market. The other small villages were relatively peaceful places.

I entered the coastal forest where small huts stood.

This was a place even pirates and drunkards didn't come to.

I could see children running around and there were some elders as well.

But when we entered, the women who were cleaning fish got scared.

It wasn't because of us, but because of the drunken pirates following after us.

"Donnie. Could you take care of it?"

"Yes."

Donnie turned around and went toward the pirates.

I walked up to the women.

The women didn't even try to run but kept glancing at me in fear that they might be harmed.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you."

"Wh-who are you?"

"I'm a merchant from the Empire."

"An imperial merchant?"

"Yes. I want to ask you something."

The women all looked worn from hardship.

I doubted there would be any young ladies in this village.

They'd probably been taken by pirates before they even became adults.

"I heard there's a fisherman here who used to be a mercenary."

The women's faces hardened.

So, it wasn't just one mercenary.

"I have important business to discuss with him."

"Why do you ask?"

"You're all people who've been kidnapped, aren't you?"

"Yes."

A faint light of hope appeared in the women's faces.

If I were a pirate, I wouldn't have used the word 'kidnapped'. It seemed they also understood my intent in wanting to meet the mercenary.

"I plan to change this island. You can settle on other lands, come back here to live again, or return to your homelands."

"Ah!"

"We will wipe out the pirates. But since pirates will likely come again, I want to put that mercenary in charge of this island."

The women couldn't immediately respond.

They were kidnapped and brought here, but now, in any case, they had settled down.

Change could be frightening.

A woman with a scar spoke up.

"My husband will be in danger."

"I'll make sure he won't be. Trust me. The same goes for your husbands."

At that, another woman stepped forward.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Do you want to see your sons become pirates?"

"No."

"I'll follow this man's words. My husband feels the same. We've always been waiting for a chance to run away."

"Big sister."

"I'll do it."

"I'll do it too."

The eldest woman ran to the village first.

Then, one by one, the others ran to their homes.

Even the scarred woman eventually ran to her husband.

A short time later.

The women returned with their husbands. Surprisingly, all the husbands were robust men.

One of them was a mercenary who used to be a knight.

"They call me Riola."

"I am Roger Hader."

His build and frame were clearly more knight than fisherman.

The other husbands were the same.

"So it was all of you, not just one."

"That's right. We were mercenaries on the same trade ship. We each met our wives here."

There were six of them in total.

All six of them were missing one arm.

"Did any of you become pirates?"

"Three of us did. One of them even became a vice-captain."

"What happened to your arms?"

"We got caught escaping from the island and lost them. The guy who became vice-captain cut our arms off."

"Can you still wield a sword?"

"Of course. If you lose your right arm, you become left-handed. But, can you really defeat Red Beard?"

"I can."

"Don't take it lightly. They say even a hundred knights couldn't defeat Red Beard."

"Does he have some incredible sword technique?"

"He owns a relic of the Pirate King. I've never seen him fight, but he's said to be so fast that you can't see him."

"What is that relic?"

"We don't know either."

There are three major relics of the Pirate King.

One is with the Great Pirate in the northern sea of Beltern, one with Red Beard, and I heard the last one is with a pirate near the continent of Yan.

I spoke to the man called Riola.

"We will wipe out the pirates. After that, please take over."

"You can really get rid of all the pirates?"

"It'll be done before tonight is over."

"Did you bring a fleet, merchant?"

"Well, a ship did come."

The fishermen who used to be mercenaries exchanged glances.

Their faces seemed to say, "Can we trust him?"

"We're going to develop this island, and build a supply warehouse on the big island at the edges of the archipelago. And..."

I looked at each fisherman in turn.

One secret I'd never told anyone.

"The islands in this archipelago are full of raw gems underground. That's why we can't just give up the archipelago."

"Gems?"

The fishermen's mouths fell open.

That was natural.

Most people believe gems and minerals only exist in places like mountain ranges.

Precious gems are normally found near volcanoes.

For gems formed deep underground to surface, lava needs to spew up.

In my previous life, a giant Indian guild had taken over this archipelago.

And it's not just gems.

he archipelago also contains natural gas, which is rare on other continents.

I didn't know if this world's tools or technology were up to the task of extracting it.

"There are many other resources. So, please work with us. We'll hire you as members of our merchant guild, and as the managers of the island, and share the profits with you."

"But there are only six of us—"

"What if you had the Pirate King's relic?"

Everyone fell silent.

Once Red Beard obtained one of the relics, he seized control of these waters.

I didn't need such a thing myself though.

Mr. Riola spoke.

"If we had a relic, it might be doable."

"That's good then. If I get my hands on that relic, it'll be my personal property. But as long as you're managing the island, you can lease it for as long as you'd like."

"I don't care about such things. We just want our families to live here in peace."

They all seemed to agree.

Whether they couldn't become pirates because of their lost arms, or never intended to become pirates in the first place, now we were all on the same boat.

"Can we start right away?"

"Right now?"

"Yes. Send your families to the east shore. Evacuate your families to our territory, and you'll have to spend some time in the archipelago."

"Can we call for our families later?"

"Of course. Our merchant guild will invest heavily in this archipelago, and you'll essentially become lords of these islands."

The fishermen with mercenary backgrounds became resolute.

A mixture of resolve to risk everything and a glimmer of hope shone in their eyes.

They probably still found it hard to trust us.

"Well then, let's get started right away."

I left at once.

Donnie was waiting and stepped forward.

"Heading to the castle?"

"Yes. Donnie, call in the landing craft."

"Understood."

Donnie sprinted quickly east.

I headed toward the castle.

It wasn't far to the castle.

But there was a big commotion inside the castle.

I didn't even need to see to know whose fault it was.

"Bring out Red Beard! Where is he?"

"Catch that dwarf!"

"He's not an ordinary dwarf!"

"I'm sick of riding your ships!"

The fortress walls weren't tall, so I leapt, kicked the wall, and immediately made it to the top of the fortress wall.

As soon as I looked inside the castle, I couldn't help but laugh.

Allen was tearing the place apart.

It was his first time in the world and he was utterly excited. The pirates were fair game to beat up as well.

Red Beard's castle was a little bigger than our fortress.

There was a three-story mansion in the north, and all the other houses were single-story.

There were some proper shops too.

"Open the castle gates!"

"No! They said there are more of them out there!"

"The dwarf is going to kill all of us!"

The people inside the castle were trying to evacuate, but the gatekeeper wouldn't open up.

These were either pirates' families or collaborators.

"I said, bring out Red Beard!"

Bam-bam-bam!

Allen was plowing through charging pirates with his shoulder.

It was like he was using the Charging skill—the force was immense.

He was knocking out five or six at a time.

The pirates Allen had taken down were already over fifty.

He didn't know where the mansion was, so he was just rampaging through the residential area.

Thanks to that, all the pirates were gathering around Allen.

"Shoot arrows!"

"You think I'll get hit by mere arrows?!"

Some fired arrows, but Allen dodged quickly, digging into the pirates.

Just one swing sent three or four flying.

I jumped down from the fortress wall and ran straight to the mansion.

But Allen spotted me and came charging over.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

"Another intruder!"

"Get him!"

"Allen! Don't follow me!"

"Where are you going?"

"The plaza! You just gather as many pirates as possible in the plaza!"

"Are you giving me orders now?!"

"If you keep doing whatever you please, I'll leave you on this island! If you keep this up, you can't travel with us anymore!"

"We're just gonna beat up the pirates anyway!"

"There's an order to things, even if the jobs are obvious!"

I dashed into the plaza.

Red Beard had more than just pirates—there was something like a personal guard. People in different uniforms poured out of the mansion.

"Catch as many as you can here! Make sure they're completely unable to recover! You like playing with fire, right?"

"My nickname is the hair arsonist!"

"Change your nickname! To serial arsonist!"

"I like that!"

There was a reason why he was bald.

At age seven, he set his own head on fire while playing with matches.

He even set his friends' hair on fire, the madman.

Ignoring the ones rushing out, I ran straight to the mansion.

Then the ones who'd burst out skidded to a halt and turned toward me.

"He's after the captain!"

"Stop him from getting inside!"

Thud—crash!

I shoved aside the men blocking the mansion door and went in.

What a group of bodyguards—twenty or so came at me all at once. I immediately cut through them.

And then I unleashed Whirlwind. Fist Whirlwind!

Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!

I smashed my way through them with overwhelming force.

Eight collapsed in an instant, so I dashed straight for the stairs.

Red Beard could escape, so I had to catch him here.

But he was coming down from the third floor.

"Stop right there!"

The ones chasing me stopped in place.

Red Beard was walking down the stairs with two guards at his side.

He was massive.

Over two meters tall, with a belly that looked like a mountain.

But despite his size, he seemed extremely solid.

He had a thickly braided red beard.

His golden necklace and the golden sword at his belt sparkled especially bright.

His overcoat and hat were stylish as well.

I couldn't tell which was the Pirate King's relic.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Are you Red Beard?"

"Are you—Red Beard?"

Red Beard looked at me incredulously.

He then continued.

"Where did a brat like you come from, causing a ruckus in someone else's house? Who sent you?"

"So you have enemies after you?"

"If you tell me who sent you, I'll let you live."

"Take a guess. Who do you think?"

Red Beard stroked his beard.

"Krapos sent you?"

"You're pretty smart."

"Ha! That old man's gotten greedy and senile. He really thinks he can become the second Pirate King? No matter how strong he is, it doesn't work if you don't hit."

Krapos is the pirate in the northern Beltern sea.

He just said he was strong.

If that's the case...

I looked at Red Beard's boots.

Their shape was unusual, as if they were custom-made.

The toe was incredibly long, and the heel was high.

That's right.

Two out of the Pirate King's relics were gloves and boots.

Krapos had the Gloves of Strength.

Red Beard had the Boots of Speed.

There was nothing more to see.

Shink—shnk—

I drew the assassin's twin swords I had hidden on my back.

"Oh! You're here to kill me?"

"No. I'm just going to cut off your arms and legs."

"Really? Hahahaha."

Red Beard laughed at me as if I was ridiculous.

He truly thought nothing of me.

"Just don't beg for your life, okay?"

I had something similar to say.

"Just don't beg me to kill you."

"What?"

"I'm going to cut off the hands and feet of every pirate here. So the kids understand becoming a pirate means losing your hands and feet."

I kicked off the ground and charged.

In an instant, Red Beard's massive body disappeared.

He was faster than Xenon, who wielded the Sword of Light!

Somehow, he'd already circled around to my right, grinning wickedly.

That's when he threw a punch.

But it wasn't a punch worth getting hit by.

He was only quick on his feet—his punch was slow as molasses.

That was his mistake.

Slash—

I dodged his punch, lowered my stance, and spun. Both blades swept across his two legs.

Even then, he twisted his body and tried to punch again, but he tumbled forward.

Both of his legs were left standing, severed at the knee.

He finally saw that his legs were gone.

"Aaagh! My legs!"

Splurt—

Blood spouted from his severed legs. Then he began crawling using his stump legs.

His subordinates didn't even try to help, just stood there, mouths open.

No one had ever dodged Red Beard's attack before.

He never met a real challenger before, so he never realized that if an opponent dodged, he'd be wide open.

Today spelled the end for Red Beard.

And for all the pirates of these islands.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

That was anti-climactic..

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