Wolves of Hader

Chapter 30

This was a fishing operation.

Every time a pirate climbed up onto the ship's rail, I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him onto the deck. Just like knocking out a frog.

Once we hauled up each pirate, the sailors stomped on them mercilessly.

Donnie was no exception.

The pirates had no idea that their comrades were getting destroyed. Sometimes there were screams, but they seemed firmly convinced they belonged to our crew.

"I think they're all up!"

"Tie up the pirates!"

The sailors tied up the unconscious pirates, and Donnie and I threw the hooks hanging on the rail back into the sea.

If the pirates had come on a sailboat, the situation would have been pretty tough.

They would have hooked the grapple onto our mast and crossed over like swinging on a swing.

"Bring them all together!"

"Aye, Captain."

The unconscious pirates were laid down.

A total of fourteen. They had been beaten so much they looked completely battered.

Among them, the one with a long sword appeared to be the leader.

The captain said,

"Donnie's a big guy, so that's understandable, but young master Roger's strength is equally astounding."

I just smiled in reply.

It was not just brute strength; it was the power of magic that I used to haul up the pirates.

The captain spoke again.

"What will you do with these men?"

"I plan to use them as hostages."

"Hostages?"

"Donnie, wake up the boss."

"Yes, sir."

Donnie kicked the pirate captain's butt. When he still didn't wake up, he slapped his cheek.

Slap—

Only then did the captain lazily open his eyes.

He looked confused about why he was lying down, but as soon as he saw us, he sat up with a start.

"What the—!"

"'What' nothing. You got caught by us."

"We got caught? But what's this? Ptooey!"

The pirate captain spat something out.

Tup-tup.

A tooth fell onto the deck.

"Huh? My tooth! Damn you!"

The pirate captain tried to jump up, but Donnie pushed him back down by the shoulder.

Only then did he seem to grasp the situation.

He'd been a pirate all his life, but this must have been the first time something this absurd happened.

"Please, spare my life."

"I won't kill you—as long as you don't do anything foolish."

"Y-yes, I'll do anything you want."

Urald stepped forward.

"Hand over everything you have."

"What! What kind of situation is this?"

"Everyone, strip these men's belongings completely."

"Yes, Mr. Urald!"

The sailors began searching the pirates' possessions. Some sailors chuckled quietly.

They must have wondered what kind of mess this was to wake up to—no matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed funny to them.

The pirates' belongings were piled up on the deck.

A fair amount of silver coins and three gold coins from the pirate captain's pouch.

Meanwhile, all the pirates regained consciousness and knelt on the deck.

They all had expressions as if they couldn't understand what was happening.

The pirate captain asked,

"Where are you all from, fellow tradesmen?"

"Fellow tradesmen?"

"Judging by the size, your ship isn't a merchant ship or a passenger vessel. With your fighting skills, you seem like knights, but not the navy of any country. There's only one answer left. Pirates trespassing in another's territory."

"Heheheh."

"What's so funny?!"

"Hahaha!"

When one sailor burst out laughing, the rest followed suit here and there.

The pirate captain with a missing front tooth just looked too funny.

The whole 'fellow tradesmen' comment was absurd too.

"Where is your base?"

"I can't say. We have families too."

"Then where should we drop you off? Overboard?"

The pirates just eyed each other, reading the situation.

I looked at Donnie and said,

"Throw them overboard."

"Yes, young master."

Donnie grabbed one pirate by the scruff and dragged him toward the rail. As he was about to toss him over—

Another pirate shouted,

"W-we're from Wuda!"

The pirate captain snapped,

"Hey, you idiot! Why'd you tell them that!"

"This sea is swarming with sea monsters and you want us to swim to Wuda? I can't do it!"

"And you call yourself a pirate?"

"What makes you so great! You lured us in promising a good life, but have we ever pulled off a proper job?"

"You bastard! You wanna die?"

"Go ahead and kill me! What are we supposed to eat without a ship!"

The pirate and the captain began to fight.

Everyone just looked on in disbelief, then belatedly intervened.

Should I call this tragically hilarious?

I asked the pirate in front of me,

"Where is Wuda?"

"Just follow that star straight and you'll get there."

"How long?"

"It takes about two days."

I studied the constellation.

Seems like it's towards Ta-iki.

"Is it near Fairy Island, by any chance?"

"Yes, that's right."

Now I realized where Wuda was.

It was an archipelago to the northwest of Ta-iki on the map. Not only were there many reefs, but tropical storms never stopped there.

"You must be used to braving storms."

"Of course. We're old hands by now. The spirit of the sea protects us, so pirates manage to come and go pretty easily."

"The spirit of the sea protects pirates?"

"It's a legend all the islanders in this sea know. Ships from elsewhere can't approach Fairy Island, but pirates can."

"Why?"

"Well, we don't really know either..."

Maybe it's because pirates block strange ships from heading into Ta-iki.

If the frequent storms there are caused by the sea spirit, that actually makes sense.

It's not like pirates commune with the spirit, but a symbiotic relationship naturally sprang up.

I'd never even heard of a sea spirit before.

"So about that..."

"You got something to say?"

The pirates all looked at the sea at once.

Our group and the sailors also turned to gaze over the water.

I couldn't spot anything different.

"Looks like a typhoon's coming."

"You can see that?"

"Yes. The south wind is picking up and the clouds down there in the southern sky are growing. Plus, this is a strange ship, so I doubt the sea spirit will just stand by."

I whispered quietly to the captain.

Soon the captain nodded in agreement.

There's no way we could just throw the pirates into the sea anyway.

"Pirates, listen carefully."

The pirates looked at me.

They seemed ignorant, but not fundamentally evil. Even the captain said they probably turned to piracy just to survive.

"I'll need your help."

"Because of the typhoon?"

"That's right. Serve as crew on our ship until we reach Fairy Island. Once we arrive safely, we'll let you off at Wuda."

"Really?"

"You can jump off near Wuda if you want. But for those who stay, I'll offer you steady jobs. You seem like excellent seamen."

The pirates looked at each other.

The captain nodded.

Even if they were pirates, they surely were skilled sailors.

"All right! How about you, Captain?"

"I don't mind either way."

The captain stepped forward.

"Any of you sailed a vessel like this before?"

"This is our first time!"

"You should say you've sailed plenty, idiot!"

"A lie would get caught anyway!"

"Silence! You can gain experience from now! Pirates, teach the sailors about unusual situations in this area! Each sailor, take one pirate and train him! Just think of it as getting an assistant!"

"Understood!"

"Throw the pirates' weapons into the sea and go to your assigned posts!"

"Yes, Captain!"

I exchanged a glance with the captain and our group headed below deck.

Thus ended the commotion that had erupted in the middle of the night.

There was no crew who knew these waters like the pirates did.

As the pirates said, could it really be that the sea spirit refuses entry to humans?

/ / /

20 hours since pirates boarded.

It had been 20 hours of storms as well.

For the first few hours, the waves' height was manageable, but now things were different.

"A huge swell is coming!"

"Everybody hold on tight! If a wave hits, you'll fly off the ship!"

"Will the mast break?"

"Forget about the mast—focus on holding your own sail! If even one unfurls, the ship will capsize!"

"It's coming!"

"Damn! That's massive!"

The ship reared up at nearly 60 degrees. Gritting my teeth, I clung to the rope ladder on the mast.

As the ship rocketed upward, it came crashing down. It didn't just drop, it smashed hard against the water.

Craaaack—

Screeeeech—

The sounds of something about to break!

There was no time to catch a breath before the ship was climbing another giant wave, ready to flip over again.

It swayed wildly right and left, just like riding a viking ship at an amusement park.

And this kept up nonstop for 20 hours.

It wasn't that we sailed into a storm zone. The storm swallowed our ship in an instant.

When raising and lowering sails during a voyage, you operate the ropes connected to the boom pulleys, much like lowering or raising a window blind.

Since tying the sails every time is a hassle, you normally just furl them and fasten the ropes.

But when the wind is too strong, even a furled sail can start to unfurl slightly and catch the wind.

So we should have tied all the sails securely to the boom before entering the storm zone, but in the middle of doing that, we got swept into the tempest.

After that, everyone fought hard. They tied sails extra tight with cord and each endured in their own way.

Some tied themselves to the rope ladder like me, others to the rigging or to fixed fastenings on the mast.

Once all the sails were tied, the ship was tossing so violently we couldn't escape to the cabins.

You couldn't make it even a few steps without being hurled off the deck.

"Young master, are you all right?"

"I'm fine!"

"Come inside the cabin when it calms down! We barely secured the cargo!"

"Got it!"

"Another big one's coming!"

"Hold tight!"

"Uwaaaah!"

This time the ship stood up vertically.

The sailors clinging here and there ended up hanging like monkeys on a bar. If they fell, they'd hit the deck!

"We're gonna fall!"

"Uwaaaah!"

Spending all day on a rollercoaster was hellish. Even inside the cabin, it wouldn't have been better—we'd have just rolled all around clinging to the bunks.

Still, everyone was amazing.

It's to be expected from the crew; but even the pirates were gutsy. Not a single one got swept overboard.

"Why won't this storm let up!"

"If we keep hanging on, it'll stop! In our experience, the ship probably won't capsize!"

"How do you know that!"

"The sea spirit is testing us!"

"Are we close to Fairy Island now?"

"We'll know when the storm stops!"

It was almost miraculous the ship survived the storm. They'd said it was vulnerable to tempests, yet nothing major had broken.

Was the spirit truly testing us?

Anyone could see this storm was not natural. That nothing catastrophic had happened yet, despite the peril, seemed to prove it.

That never happened in the game.

Would another ship have sunk? Or maybe the spirit would simply have chased us away without causing deaths.

We'd find out soon enough.

If we ended up somewhere random, that was exile; if it was near Ta-iki, that meant we'd been accepted.

If we were cast out, it would be hard to get back to Ta-iki. The spirit would likely sink the ship or drive it into the open sea.

I looked up at the black sky.

If this really was a test, the sea spirit might be watching.

So I sent out my thoughts.

Why I'd come to Ta-iki, and how I planned to live from here on. I earnestly begged to be accepted.

It was the longest day of my life. Soon, the longest night would follow.

And so, everyone continued fighting the storm.

/ / /

"Come over here!"

Someone shouted, and I opened my eyes.

Sunlight stabbed at me.

A cloudless sky.

I didn't even know when I'd fallen asleep. My whole body ached, my eyes stung from seawater, and my mouth was parched with thirst.

Thunk—

I untied the rope binding me and dropped onto the deck. The sailors, already awake, were gathered at the bow.

"Young master, are you all right?"

"Yeah. Everyone made it, right?"

"Yes. No one's missing."

I went to the bow with Donnie.

Blazing sun and blue sky.

And below it, a huge island.

Fairy Island, covered with mysterious colors and arched by a brilliant rainbow.

Ta-iki.