“I don’t have even a single coin to spare on those guys.”

“…”

Was he mad because of the money, rather than faith? Eugene ignored the confused expressions of the nobles and asked Essandra’s messenger, “Who are the pirates keeping the high priest captive?”

“They are known as Dragonborn,” the messenger answered.

“Dragonborn?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. They are pirates mainly operating around the Cape of Pilo, but the currents on their home island are very fast and complicated, so it hasn’t been easy to track and wipe them out,” the messenger answered.

“How many of them are there?” Eugene asked.

“We don’t know for sure, but we know they usually use five or six medium-sized galley ships in their pirating activities. There has to be more than a hundred of them,” the messenger replied. Since the members of the pirates would take turns pirating, their actual number would be about two times greater—it was a considerable group of pirates. However, it seemed to Eugene that the southern lords of the peninsula could have eradicated them if they so desired.

As such, he asked, “Why did Lord Achivold leave them alone? And there are other cities and territories in the south as well, right?”

The messenger was also a noble, so he stuttered in response, “W-well, the pirates aren’t only humans.”

“Are you saying there are members of other races among the pirates?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. There are a number of lizardmen and merman as well,” the messenger responded. That explained why they hadn’t been annihilated yet. Both races were helpless on land, but they thrived in water.

“But a high priest should have been with many escorts, right? They should have been prepared to face pirates while traveling by sea,” Eugene said. He simply couldn’t understand how the high priest had been kidnapped. Even if they had to face lizardmen and merman, how did mere pirates defeat the holy knights of the Holy Empire and even kidnap the high priest?

“T-that’s the mystery. For all we know, we think there might be a hidden power involved in the matter as well…” the messenger said.

“Hmm.”

Eugene frowned. Indeed, they lived in a world where black wizards and high-ranking vampires made undead and evolved monsters to release them in the wild. It wouldn’t be weird if there were others involved in such a disturbing matter.

“So, did Her Excellency Archivold ask me to take care of the issue with the high priest?” Eugene asked.

“Well, it was a delegation sent to participate in Maren’s founding ceremony—” the messenger muttered.

“But the incident took place on the Carls Baggins Peninsula. And the peninsula is the territory of the Archivold family,” Eugene interrupted him.

“…” The noble was forced to immediately shut his mouth. Eugene had immediately seen through how the noble was attempting to shift the blame. Eugene was truly a tough individual, both in the past and even now.

“Hmm.” Eugene frowned once again. He wanted to steer clear of the whole issue, but the situation was rather complicated. He was indebted to Essandra, and he couldn’t simply ignore the religious position the Holy Empire held, even if they were just a toothless tiger.

“Well... Her Excellency apologized for not being able to provide troops to support you and sent this instead,” The messenger gestured, and two workers placed down a box.

Click!

“…!”

The box opened with a heavy thump and everyone’s eyes widened. The box was filled with gold bars that emitted a brilliant glow.

“Kieeeeeeeeeeh!” The spirit of desire had been sprawled about out of boredom, but she immediately jumped and charged into the box like a moth to a flame.

“Moreover, she has also sent orders to the lords of the coast to actively cooperate with Your Majesty. By the time Your Majesty arrives at the Cape of Pilo, the lords will spare nothing to assist you. And Her Excellency said that the territory and the mine she has kept for a while will be returned to Your Majesty,” the messenger concluded.

“Good. I will take it. They were guests to Maren, so it’s only natural that I take care of it,” Eugene answered. He had started to change his mind when he saw the gold bars, but he became completely convinced once he heard about the other conditions.

Oooohhh…

The nobles of the delegations let out a sigh of relief. Although he was slightly materialistic, the King of Maren was still an honorable knight.

‘Anyway, who are they really? I don’t think they are regular pirates…’

The pirates had been bold and strong enough to capture a high priest of the Holy Empire. Eugene was determined to not let his guard down.

***

“What in the world is this bread? Did you bring such a thing for the high priest to eat?”

“Well… As you know, this is an island, so it is very difficult to procure proper bread,” Ukre, the head of the pirate group, ‘Dragonborn,’ groveled with a forced smile unbefitting his ugly appearance. However, he was on the verge of exploding with anger.

‘These dog-like ###### ### I should just…’

Unfortunately, he did not dare to voice his thoughts to the hostages, let alone retort to their words.

“The high priest is different from lowly things like you. He is someone who receives the protection and grace of the three gods. And…”

The holy knight, an aide to the high priest, continued with a cold glimmer in his eyes, “If anything happens to the high priest, not only the holy knights of our empire, but the holy knights of all kingdoms will set out to find you. If you do not want to face the judgment of divine retribution and the servants who serve the gods, you better behave well.”

“O-of course. I will definitely pay more attention starting this evening,” Ukre answered.

“Hmph! You better, if you don’t want to face eternal damnation in hell. Now, get out,” the holy knight said

“Yes, yes.” Ukre and the pirates left while bowing repeatedly.

“Motherfucker! Fucking dogshit!” Ukre fumed while screaming angrily after getting a safe distance away from the building where the high priest was staying.

His subordinates spoke carefully while surreptitiously gazing at the building, “Why don’t we just let them go, boss? They aren’t hostages. They’re acting like the masters of this place, right?”

“That’s right. Let’s just give them plenty of water and food and send them away.”

“You little bastards! What do you want me to do when they say they won’t go?” Ukre shouted.

“…”

The hostages didn’t want to be released. It was a ridiculous situation, but this was the stark reality.

Ukre continued, “They’re saying that they need to cleanse our island. That haughty high priest is saying that god’s will is here, so what the hell am I supposed to say? He says he’s not going anywhere until he converts all the lizardmen!”

“…” The pirates shut their mouths. It had only been a few days since the arrogant high priest had spoken of ‘converting’ their lizardmen and merman comrades, which had almost ended up in a battle breaking out. Since ancient times, the two races had faith in the god of the sea, Posma. Asking them to convert was akin to telling them to commit suicide.

“Then if we just kill the lot of them…” One of the pirates glanced at the high priest’s residence and murmured. He appeared to be a little dim.

“Hey, you dickhead,” Ukre called out while glaring at him. He then continued, “Do you not know who those guys are? Six holy knights of the Holy Empire! Even if a hundred guys like us rushed at them, we won’t be able to even scratch them. Do you want to die? How about I just kill you instead?”

“N-no, boss!”

Ukre gritted his teeth as he watched his subordinate hurriedly retreat.

“Even if we get lucky and manage to take care of them, everyone who believes in the three gods, starting with the Holy Empire, will come after us if they found out what we have done. Even the great Posma won’t be able to stop them, you damned idiot.”

“…”

“Ha! I can’t believe I have such idiots as underlings… I should have never listened to you guys in the first place. Fuck,” Ukre muttered. In the first place, Ukre never had any intention of attacking the ship carrying the high priest. Even if Dragonborn was a notorious group of pirates in the Cape of Pilo, they couldn’t openly attack two large galley ships flying the flag of the Holy Empire. Doing that was literally rushing to get themselves killed. As such, Ukre simply waited and wished for the ships of the Holy Empire to disappear from the cape, so that he could finally resume his business. But for some reason, the galleys of the Holy Empire continued to hover around the cape for more than ten days. It was almost as if they were sightseeing, traveling from here to there, from island to island. Naturally, the pirates became discontent after having their operations disrupted, and even their supply of food started to dwindle.

The pirates were enraged.

Even if they were from the Holy Empire, they were blatantly disregarding and disrespecting the ruler of the Cape of Pilo, Dragonborn. So, the pirates strongly advised Ukre to attack the Holy Empire’s galleys with anger and resignation. They had no other choice, as they may starve to death if the ships of the bloody holy empire didn’t leave.

Ukre had no choice but to accept their request, knowing that rejecting their demands could lead to a revolt. So, they bet their lives to attack the ships of the Holy Empire. However, the result was simply mind-boggling.

The ships of the Holy Empire immediately raised white flags and surrendered to the pirates. Ukre and his subordinates were dumbfounded, but they were also relieved and overjoyed. In the first place, their main objective had been to drive away the ships of the Holy Empire. However, Ukre came to realize something was wrong the moment he heard the words of the holy knights and priests after they crossed over to his ship.

“A high priest of our empire, who is protected by the divine grace of the three holy gods, is on board this ship. He was on his way to the Dukedom of Maren as a representative of His Holiness the Pope.”

Ukre instinctively realized at that moment.

Was he fucked?

He knew he should have immediately jumped into the sea and escaped to the island, but he ended up returning to the island with the delegation of the Holy Empire with fear under the intimidation of the holy knights. In fact, the large galleys of the Holy Empire had been escorted back to the island with five pirate ships.

The current predicament was the result.

“Is there no news from the Archivold Marquisate yet?”

“I haven’t heard of the death of our messenger yet, but there’s nothing else as well.”

“Fuck. To think we have to worry about our lives instead of receiving ransom…”

There was no helping it. As with all pirates operating in the waters of the Carls Baggins Peninsula, Dragonborn had no choice but to be wary of the female marquis. They knew well that the blade of the marquis would turn toward them if they ever overstepped their boundaries.

"I hope she accepts… No, she has to accept…”

For the first time, the hostages had set their own ransom to be received, and Ukre desperately prayed again and again that the marquis would accept it. That was the only way he could get rid of the bloody hostages—or rather—their masters.

***

“What do you think about returning home?” one of the holy knights asked. He was the same knight who had reprimanded Ukre.

A woman wearing a white priest’s uniform with a pure silver rosary necklace around her neck answered calmly, “How many days has it been? Since we arrived here.”

“Almost twenty days. I think it would be best for us to return before we face any trouble. We have almost achieved our goal as well,” the holy knight responded.

“Hmm. Shall we?” the woman asked.

“Yes. The pirates have sent their messengers to Marquis Archivold fifteen days ago, so news must have reached the king’s ears by now. Although it won’t happen, if the King of Maren brings his troops, it will cause a problem,” the holy knight explained.

“Hoho! You’re speaking as if he is going to succeed…” The woman pointed out.

“I’m only saying that there is no need to bolster the reputation of Maren’s King any further. Isn’t that the will of His Holiness as well?”

“That’s right. I’m only performing in this dishonorable play because of the Holy Father’s will,” the young, beautiful high priest responded with calm eyes.

Ukre had guessed right, they had purposely let themselves be captured by Dragonborn.