Lancel dove straight into the sea, chasing after Marigold, who had been captured by pirates.
“Sir Lancel!”
“Look at this landlubber overreacting!”
“Can you even swim?!”
The frigid seawater enveloped him as he plunged through the rough waves, pleasantly cooling his overheated body.
“Hoo!”
The underwater world unfolded before him in a single glance: vibrant coral reefs swarming with schools of fish, sunlight shimmering on the surface, floating wreckage of ships, and the corpses of pirates.
Then there was Marigold, being dragged away with a noose around her neck.
She came right into Lancel’s view.
“Ugh! Gasp! S-save me! H-help…!”
Lancel swam underwater toward Marigold, who was being pulled away at high speed.
‘Who knew that mastering swimming to its limits while living in the archipelago would come in handy like this?’
Lancel swam through the water with fluid movements. After a few powerful kicks beneath the surface, he quickly reached Marigold.
“Hey.”
He approached and lightly slapped her cheek. The light returned to Marigold’s eyes, which had been fading.
“S-Sir Lancel?”
“You still look alive. Just hang in there for a bit.”
“Huh?”
Lancel brushed past her.
He grabbed the rope connected to Marigold and surged upward, climbing onto the ship in a single motion.
“Damn Marine bastards! They won’t be able to follow us now, will they?”
“Hurry! Let’s get back to base!”
“We caught a female Marine. What should we do with her?”
“Haul her up immediately! At least we can take her back and torment her to vent our frustrations.”
“Aye! Huh? Why is this so heavy?”
The man gripping the noose leaned over the railing, peering down.
“…?”
“Hello.”
Lancel was climbing the rope when his eyes met those of a pirate, separated by only a sheet of paper.
The pirate’s eyes widened in terror.
“Aaaah! An officer ! A naval officer!”
“The Marines?!”
The pirates, who had been catching their breath, leaped to their feet in unison.
“W-where?! Where is the Navy?!”
“What’s going on?!”
“The Navy!”
“What?!”
“Over there!”
All eyes turned to Lancel, who had just crawled onto the deck.
Lancel counted the pirates one by one. ‘One, two, three… roughly thirty.’
“A marine officer?”
“He’s alone?”
The pirates were dumbfounded.
“Y-you’re the only one?”
“There’s one more below.”
‘Though she’s caught in a noose.’
“A marine… a naval officer… alone?”
“This crazy bastard! How dare he crawl onto the Ankel Pirates’ flagship without fear?!”
“Do you wish to be fish food?!”
Realizing the situation, the pirates simultaneously drew their blades.
“Kill him!”
Swords, spears, harpoons, pitchforks, and even hooks rained down in a flurry of diverse weapons.
‘Oh.’
Lancel reached for the hilt at his waist.
The moment his blade cleared its sheath, a fountain of blood erupted.
“Aaaagh!”
He surged through the gap left by three fallen pirates.
With two swift slashes across the throats of two more, five pirates lay sprawled on the deck.
“What are you doing?! Can’t you even catch one man?!”
“Grab him! Pin him down and knock him over!”
The pirates, who had never faced a knight trained on land, couldn’t even keep up with Lancel’s shadow.
The instant his blade flashed, some part of their bodies would be severed, tumbling onto the deck.
“Monster…!”
It wasn’t until nearly twenty men had fallen that terror finally spread among the pirates.
Swish!
Watching this ghostlike figure slip through their defenses, slicing throats with uncanny precision, it was hard not to lose heart.
“S-save me! Save me…!”
Lancel finally confronted the man who had thrown the noose at Marigold.
Before the pirate could drop his weapon and surrender, Lancel severed both his arms in a single swift motion.
“Huh?”
“Fish food.”
“……!”
He hoisted the man up and hurled him into the sea.
“Aaaah!”
The piercing scream was swallowed by the ocean.
Silence descended upon the deck.
“Now I finally feel like I’m in the Navy,” Lancel said, pushing his seawater-soaked hair back as he slowly turned around.
The remaining dozen or so pirates were surrendering, dropping their weapons.
“We surrender! We surrender!”
“P-please, just spare our lives…”
The will to fight had long vanished from the eyes of the men with their arms raised. Only a primal fear, as if facing a monster, remained.
“You.”
“Y-yes, Sir!”
“Get the kid out of the water down there. Now.”
“D-down there, Sir?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Yes, Sir!”
A moment later…
“Gaahh!”
Marigold was hauled out, burping repeatedly after having swallowed seawater.
“S-Sir Lancel, ugh, what happened… burp!”
“Come with me. Since we’ve captured the pirate ship anyway, let’s go check out the spoils, Mary.”
“What about the pirates… burp, what’s going to happen to them, ugh!”
“……”
.
.
.
“Wow!”
============
—July 24, 816 of the Imperial Calendar 816. Weather: Perfectly clear.
—Event triggered! “Pirate Ship Plunder: Grand Success!”
※After enduring a grueling ordeal, we successfully plundered a pirate ship brimming with silver coins, weapons, liquor, and food through a joint operation with Lancel Dante! This is a monumental achievement! Charm and Stamina have gone up!!
============
Below the pirate ship’s deck lay a treasure trove of looted goods.
“Jackpot! This is a jackpot, Sir Lancel!”
‘…Joint operation?’
Come to think of it, Marigold had climbed up the snare rope that had caught her. If that counted as a joint operation, then so be it.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’
Lancel had managed to prevent her from becoming fish food or a pirate’s plaything. He was perfectly willing to consider it a joint operation.
“Sir Lancel! Look at this! It’s a chicken! A chicken!”
Marigold grinned widely as she lifted the chicken cage above her head. Her expression was so bright and cheerful, it was hard to believe she had been bloated with seawater just moments before.
“A pig! Sir Lancel! There’s even a pig here! And sheep too! Does this mean we’re having a meat feast today?”
Chickens, pigs, sheep—they had everything.
Silver coins, spices, books, animals—the ship was crammed with a chaotic assortment of goods. It looked like a vessel that had been meticulously plundered but caught by bad luck.
“What are you doing?”
“Hehe.”
Marigold seemed too busy slipping a few silver coins and a glittering gem into her shoe to answer properly.
“Sir Lancel, you should pocket some too. You won’t get another chance to earn pocket money like this. This is the best part of being in the Navy.”
“……”
“Here, take this. That one’s the most expensive-looking one. A ring.”
Marigold offered Lancel a pair of gold rings, acting generous even though they weren’t hers. She arbitrarily slipped one ring onto each of his ring fingers, a sly grin spreading across her face.
“Hehehe.”
‘Your intentions are as clear as day, Marigold.’
“Hmm?”
Just then, Marigold, who had been rummaging through the interior for anything useful, reappeared, struggling to carry a wooden box from a corner.
“This one’s locked! Ugh, it’s so heavy!”
“Step back.”
“Huh?”
Marigold flinched and recoiled as Lancel drew his sword.
Clang!
He brought the blade down cleanly on the lock.
“Hmm?”
Yet, inexplicably, the lock remained perfectly intact, without a scratch.
“It seems… quite sturdy,” Marigold said, forcing a bright smile, perhaps to spare Lancel’s embarrassment. Her forced cheer only irritated him further.
“Hmph.”
Lancel closed his eyes.
He gripped the sword hilt and focused his breathing.
Magical power surged from his heart, coursing through his entire body. A faint blue haze began to emanate from the blade.
“Sir Lancel! Smoke is coming from your sword…!”
“Quiet.”
When the surging magic fully enveloped the blade, Lancel’s eyes widened.
‘Now.’
The blade traced a graceful arc through the air. Boom! A deafening roar shattered the air, assaulting their ears.
Kuuuuuung—!
“Aaaah!”
Marigold clapped her hands over her ears.
A long, clean cut followed the blade’s trajectory. The ship’s ceiling, walls, and floor were sliced through cleanly, causing the hull to shudder violently.
Even the sturdy lock couldn’t withstand the force, splitting neatly in half.
Creak!
The chest’s lid slowly swung open.
Lancel and Marigold leaned in, peering into the chest simultaneously.
“Huh? Sir Lancel, this is…”
“…?”
Inside was something completely unexpected.
“A flower.”
“It’s a flower.”
A single, small flower floated in a bottle filled with clear water, radiating a shimmering light.
“Do flowers even bloom underwater?” Marigold asked, leaning in closer to examine it intently.
Lancel pushed her head away and snatched the bottle.
‘What is this?’
Whoosh!
A hallucination flashed before his eyes: pale purple pollen seemed to drift out of the bottle, scattering into the air. For a moment, a hazy sensation swirled through his mind.
‘I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.’
Lancel wondered why it felt so familiar. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling—more like an ominous premonition.
He stroked the bottle’s surface with a dazed expression.
“Huh?”
A sudden sense of unease washed over him.
The hand stroking the bottle felt different from usual.
Instead of the calloused, rough palm hardened by years of gripping sword hilts, he felt delicate, and slender snow-white fingers.
Lancel abruptly lifted his head, a strange sensation prickling at the back of his neck.
“Sir Lancel? Huh? Your voice… Ahem, ahem!”
There stood Lancel—it was himself.
“Eh?”
A dazed, bewildered voice escaped his lips—a sound he would never normally make.
It was Lancel himself, uttering such a ridiculous sound.
“Ah.”
Only then did he realize the true nature of the flower.
.
.
.
“I’m back.”
The altered state had swiftly returned to normal.
The problem now was the repercussions this would have on the archipelago.
Lancel sensed it instinctively.
