Wolves of Hader

Chapter 29

Diamond.

Even here, it's the most valuable gem.

Its symbolism is so high that it's used only in the jewelry of royalty and the highest-ranking nobles.

I quickly stuffed the box into my backpack and opened another one.

It was filled with countless gold coins.

I grabbed some gold coins and shoved them into my backpack. The divine ore is more important than gold coins.

Next, I opened a long box and found a dagger inlaid with gems and some jewelry. I only took the dagger and hurried out.

I also crammed all the ores I hadn't picked up yet into my backpack.

Then I grabbed the hourglass and ran.

It was just before sunrise.

The sun might have already risen.

Once I reached the building, I checked the situation outside. It was quiet.

When I opened the door and went out, it was still dark. Wasn't it about 4 a.m. when I entered the cave?

But I saw a torch moving in the guards' building. Movements that marked the start of the morning were visible in other buildings, too.

If I took the passage, I'd end up heading toward the order, so I decided to go over the wall next to the passage. It was my pre-planned escape route.

First, I tied the opening of the leather sack with a string, then threw it and the backpack over the wall.

Then I climbed over as well.

I put the backpack back on and attached the sack to it. It was pretty heavy and dangled around, but it wasn't too inconvenient.

And so, I began my escape.

It was the middle of a fairly steep mountain, but there were so many trees that movement was actually easier.

After running for quite some time, I noticed the sun was coming up. What's more, I heard whistles blowing in the distance.

There was still a long way to the southern cliff, but they must have noticed the divine ore was stolen.

I was late for the appointed time—would Donnie be waiting?

I saw chaos breaking out in the direction of the order, so I ran even faster.

Fortunately, the patrol ahead hadn't gotten word yet.

The whistle-blowing got louder, and I saw guards on horseback racing by. From the mountain slope I'd passed, I even heard dogs barking.

I tried to go down to the lower cliff further south, but there was no time.

If I didn't jump into the sea now, I'd be caught!

I rushed toward the cliff on the right.

Just as I was about to hurl myself into the sea, a big figure suddenly appeared.

"Young master! Over here!"

"What are you doing up here?"

"Hurry down! Hurry!"

It was Donnie.

When I reached the edge of the cliff, there was a rope ladder hanging down.

Out on the sea, Urald was waiting in a small landing craft.

I quickly climbed down the rope ladder. In my frantic descent, I noticed Donnie wasn't coming down.

"Why aren't you coming?"

"I have to get rid of the rope ladder. I'll jump straight into the sea."

"Can you swim?"

At my question, Donnie looked on the verge of tears.

"Save me!"

"All right! Haha."

As I hurried down the rope ladder, the landing craft pulled right up to the cliff.

Urald shouted.

"Toss the backpack down first!"

"Yes!"

I threw the backpack down toward the landing craft below, then jumped off the ladder myself.

Just then, the rope ladder snapped and fell limply.

"Let's go, quick, let's go!"

Together with Urald, I grabbed an oar and started rowing. Soon, I saw Donnie falling from above, flailing in a silent scream.

Splash—

I dove toward where Donnie fell. Underwater, I saw Donnie wildly flailing his arms and legs.

I swam to Donnie, grabbed the scruff of his neck, and forcefully brought him to the surface.

"Puhah!"

"Ooerk!"

Donnie, pale as a sheet, vomited up water. It must have gone up his nose.

"Ah! I thought I was going to die."

"Can't you hold your breath for even ten seconds?"

"I was already holding my breath when I jumped from the cliff! Do you know how scary it is to jump from there?"

"Enough chit-chat, just get up here."

At Urald's words, I led Donnie as we swam to the landing craft. After climbing aboard, I put on a straw hat like a fisherman.

Looking back at the cliff, I saw some guards watching us. I wasn't sure when they'd spotted us, but for now, they were just watching.

"They don't seem to be sure we're the culprits."

"Whatever happened, it's not us who's the criminal, young master. It's you."

"You helped me, so you're an accomplice now."

"Does it really work like that?"

Urald and Donnie glanced at the cliff, too. They might have bows, but they wouldn't shoot recklessly. They'd probably chase after us, though.

We rowed busily.

We'd hidden the ship at a small island to the south, so our ship couldn't be seen from here.

"Did you wait the whole time?"

"If the young master didn't arrive in time, I was thinking I'd go fishing. I was curious about what would happen, too."

"And you, Donnie?"

"I came up because you weren't coming. Then suddenly I heard whistles, so I hid, too."

"What would you have done if you hadn't found me?"

"Well, when I came up, it turned out to be the same direction you'd pointed out. Since you'd never been to this island either, I figured you'd come that way."

To be fair, that was the only escape route Donnie could have taken. What if Donnie had spent his whole life as a servant like this?

The landing craft got farther and farther from the cliff. When I looked at the harbor on the left, more and more guards were gathering.

By now, inspections were underway, and several landing craft were heading toward moored ships.

"There's a ship following us."

Looking back, I saw a landing craft with six people rowing in our direction.

Urald said,

"They might catch up."

"They have more people, but our landing craft is much smaller. It'll be hard for them to follow us all the way to the southern island."

We rowed hard.

At first, the distance shrank a little, but before long the pursuing landing craft started to fall behind.

"What did our young master do at the order anyway?"

"I stole the divine ore."

Urald and Donnie stared at me in shock.

"But, wasn't that something that can't be stolen?"

"No one's tried for a long time, so they got careless. Honestly, it wasn't even that difficult."

Donnie spoke nervously.

"Aren't you worried about divine punishment? That's what I'm afraid of."

Urald shook his head.

"It's the order who deserves God's punishment. People just don't talk about it, but the priests are utterly corrupt."

"When we were out west, I asked them to heal the lady's illness and they demanded ten thousand gold coins."

"That was because of pressure from the Syren family. But even without that, the priests are insufferable and arrogant. I find this rather satisfying."

Looking back, I saw the pursuing landing craft falling further behind. They must have run out of stamina and couldn't keep up.

***

The sailing ship was moving further and further from the order's island.

The landing craft that had been following gave up and headed back to the harbor.

Urald said,

"The order will try to chase us."

"We're heading for Ta-iki. They'll give up in a few days—they must know about the stormy seas, too."

The guards on the landing craft probably saw our boat hidden on the island, but it would be hard for them to explain precisely.

All sailing ships look much the same.

Our ship had no figurehead, no design or flag on the sails, and it was painted black in a very common structure for a sailing ship.

We chose this ship on purpose. No one should know who we are. As for the crew, I can trust them—they've all signed secrecy agreements.

I headed to my room.

Urald was curious about what the divine ore was.

"So, it doesn't contain divinity?"

"That's right. The ore itself has no divinity."

"So, this is a material that greatly amplifies divinity, not something that uses holy power by itself?"

"Yes. If you use it as material for weapons or jewelry, it'll have an amplification effect. If you use it in a musical instrument, you can create techniques that utilize sound waves."

That's what Buffer's weapon did.

It was a small string instrument, but with this instrument, you could create sound wave skills.

I used three types: harp, pipa, and zither. Each can be used differently depending on how you apply them.

The harp is good for buff skills, the zither is good for attack skills because the sound wave from a single string is strong, and the pipa has the advantages of both, plus it's easy to carry.

"Please make some string weapons later. They don't have to sound good—just for combat."

"A musical instrument can be a weapon?"

"Yes. I'm going to develop techniques."

"I can't even imagine it."

Urald examined the divine ore again. It looked like seeing a fine material was giving him all kinds of new crafting ideas.

I'd obtained the most important ingredient.

Now, I just had to secure the skill materials. Once I got the main materials in Ta-iki, the rest would be easy to find.

It was about five days to Ta-iki.

The ship was different from when it was in the game Rac, but it would probably take about the same time.

***

Thud.

I woke with a start when I rolled over in my sleep.

I heard a faint thud, as if something had struck the port side of the ship, where my room was located.

I went out to the cabin and saw all the crew asleep.

I went up to the deck to check.

All I saw was the ship sailing through the pitch-dark sea. I approached the crew member on duty at the helm.

"Can't sleep?"

"I think something hit the port side."

"A collision?"

The sailor secured the rope to the helm and looked down over the port side.

I couldn't see a thing in the darkness, but the sailor must have noticed something and quickly pulled his head back.

"Pirates."

"Pirates?"

"There was a sickle with a rope stuck in the side of the ship. It was bound to happen eventually."

"Is this their usual method?"

"They're pirates without a sailing ship. Since they don't have many people, they stage surprise attacks. Young master, please go wake the captain."

"All right."

I headed for the captain's cabin.

I woke the captain first, then roused our companions and the crew, too. Everyone hurriedly armed themselves and went up to the deck.

The captain spoke.

"Don't look down under the ship. If the pirates realize we know, they'll give up for now and wait for their next chance."

"So, we wait for them to climb aboard?"

"If you strike the first pirate down as he comes up, they'll give up immediately. The problem is after that—they'll come after us for revenge."

"What's the plan?"

"They come up one or two at a time. Since we're armed and waiting, they won't dare rush us. All we need is for the ones who climbed up first to just jump back down."

It seemed this was from the captain's experience.

It made sense.

"Will they really give up then?"

"Those guys turned pirate because they had nothing to eat. They've probably never even sailed before, so all they're after is food or money. They won't be obsessed with our ship."

"So not all pirates are the same."

"Pirates without sailing ships are born and raised in island villages. In these harsh seas, you become either a fisherman or a pirate."

"Captain, a grappling hook is attached."

One grappling hook had caught on the port side. Then a second flew through the air—thwip!—and hooked onto the deck railing.

The captain spoke quickly.

"Everyone wait at the port side. Hold your attack until the first pirates jump off again. Young master and company, hide inside the cabin."

Shing—

The sailors all drew their swords at once.

The first pirates to climb up would likely jump back off again. But I doubted they'd just give up on our ship so easily—there was probably no easier prey in these waters.

"Captain, let us handle this. Donnie and I are enough."

"Just you two?"

"Yes. Trust us."

I said to Donnie,

"I'll take the hook on the right, you take the one on the left. When they climb up, cover their mouths and haul them up."

"Haul them up?"

"Yeah. Every single one who comes up."

"Oh!"

The captain and sailors, ready to fight, all looked as if they didn't know what on earth to make of this.

Donnie and I stood in front of the two hooks caught on the deck railing.

It was dark, so the pirates couldn't see what was going on up on deck.

We waited a moment.

That's when—

A pirate's head popped up.

At the same time, I grabbed the pirate by the collar.

"Hmm?"

"Hello?"

At the same time as I clamped my hand over his mouth, I hauled him up and slammed him onto the deck.

Thud—

Same with the pirate on Donnie's side!

"Ugh!"

"C-captain! Over he—mmph!"

The pirates climbed up at intervals of about five meters, all clueless about what was happening above.