‘Pirates?’

From Luna’s back, Eldrian watched the small, abandoned harbour in the distance. Several figures moved quietly among the shadows there. A thought sluggishly surfaced in his mind. Recently, he had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Lesta that he was slow to react to everything around him.

‘Pirates?’

When the realization finally hit him, he frowned. The men worked in pairs, each carrying a large crate towards several waiting wagons.

Some of the wagons were piled high with straw, while others were loaded with vegetables and other goods. After placing four or five crates on each wagon, the men carefully covered them with straw or produce.

‘A decoy.’

They wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to conceal it if it were just contraband.

‘Slaves, then?’

Although the Lunaris Empire had abolished slavery, the law was far from absolute. Only twenty years had passed since its enactment, and the vastness of the empire’s territory meant that much of the enforcement was left to local lords’ discretion.

Most nobles, unwilling to relinquish their access to cheap, disposable labour, turned a blind eye to the slave markets scattered across their lands.

But not Sunray.

Since ascending the throne, the former Duke of Sunray had enforced the abolition law with iron resolve. Slave trading was severely punished, and though there had been much resistance at first, these voices had gradually fallen silent.

However, this did not mean that the practice had vanished entirely. Even with all its discipline and strength, Sunray was too vast for one duke to oversee every noble under his rule. And so, the trade persisted — in secret, in places like this.

‘Fourteen men.’

There were fourteen of them, clearly pirates, and the ship moored at the dock was small—not large enough to be their main vessel.

‘That one’s for transport. The main ship must be anchored farther out at sea.’

There were more than thirty crates that likely held human cargo.

Eldrian’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.

‘I’ll capture one and ask where their main ship is.’

Eldrian thought. If he hadn’t seen them, he might have let them pass, but now he had seen them, he couldn’t just ignore it. There were many risks, but the immediate problem had to be solved and dealing with fourteen pirates was not impossible.

Just as Eldrian reached to tap Luna’s flank, someone came running over the long line of wagons blocking the side path. Before he could fully register the figure, a massive blade moved first.

Ssss—

The air split, and blood sprayed.

A scream followed.

The pirates near the wagons didn’t even know what had happened to their bodies; they were cleaved in two and died. The others realized what had befallen their comrades and tried to run, but Lesta was faster.

Vrrrr— The black greatsword swung again—
Sshhk—! Eldrian’s blade flashed up to meet it.

Clang—!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the air. Lesta sheathed the greatsword in one fl*id movement, glanced at Eldrian and raised the blade again. The blade stopped beside Eldrian’s waist with a whisper. If she had hesitated for even a moment, his midsection would have been cut like the others’.

Eldrian broke out in a cold sweat, filled with awe and terror; he had never imagined that anyone could stop such a huge weapon so quickly.

“Why are you doing this, Young Lord?”

Lesta asked in a calm voice, despite having just taken several lives in an instant.

Eldrian saw the remaining pirates try to flee from behind him. He shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Freeze where you are, or you die.”

Luna growled.

The pirates halted on instinct, their faces turning ashen as they exchanged glances before laying down their weapons. They understood without being told; if they moved now, they would die at the hands of not the Young Lord, but Lesta and her great sword.

Lesta tilted her head slightly.

“Step aside, Young Lord.”

“Lesta. Do you always kill criminals like this?”

Even pirates were entitled to a trial. While it was permissible to kill them during capture, once they were taken alive, they were to be questioned and sentenced according to law, whether to death or imprisonment.

Lesta’s eyes narrowed, her expression balanced between a faint smile and quiet scrutiny, as though she could read his thoughts.

It was irrational, but Eldrian felt it, an uncanny certainty that she could truly read him. His unease. His silent judgement. A chill crawled down his spine.

“If someone tried to kill me, I could forgive them. Thieves, drunkards who make a scene—I give them chances. If the assassin who kept coming after me had given up instead of trying again and again, I would have spared him.”

The claim sounded impossible, she would have spared the man who tried to take her life? Most people would have finished him without a second thought.

“But those who traffic in humans—never. People who buy and sell others, I kill.”

“Why…?”

“Because to be human is to be free. Taking someone’s freedom is no different from taking their life.”

Eldrian suddenly remembered her words from a few days ago.

“I was the only one who survived.”
“They prepared dozens… no, over a hundred children. And I was the only one who survived. Would you believe that?”

Just then, one of the pirates began to move, inching slowly toward the ship.

The others shot him warning looks, but he kept going, step by step.

Eldrian didn’t even see Lesta’s arm move.

Swish—!

The massive black blade shot forward like an arrow and buried itself deep in the man’s back.

“Urk—”

The sound that left the pirate’s throat wasn’t even a scream, just a short, broken noise before he collapsed.

Only then did Eldrian realize that the great sword had left Lesta’s hand.

“Lesta…”

Her cold, emotionless gaze met his, and Eldrian found himself speechless, unsure what words could possibly reach her.

There was only one thing he could be certain of.

‘It’s true.’

For some reason, that thought rose in him with a slow, terrible certainty. She really is a creation of Blackwood. She really did survive that hell on her own.

Baron Rubellen had said Lesta had rescued Jack, the man who’d clashed with her most from the labyrinth. Lesta had even tried to spare the assassin who’d come for her.

“The Mercenary King is very kind, Young Lord.”.

That same kindness could not countenance the buying and selling of human beings.

“Taking away someone’s freedom is worse than taking their life, Young Lord. A human is human because they are free. They should be able to live as they wish—and, when they choose, to die.”

She spoke as if confessing something she had experienced. She said that she had not been allowed to live life as she wished and that she had wanted to die but had been unable to.

Only then did Eldrian understand what Lesta wanted from him and from Sunray. He realized that neither he nor Sunray could give her what she truly desired.

Nevertheless, he did not back down. He met her gaze.

“Lesta, I promise I will stand by you until you reach your goal.”

Not Sunray, he meant—I. Eldrian himself.

Lesta tilted her head slowly, as if she already knew why he’d offered.

“We can give each other what we need, but sometimes I will stand in your way.”

She was kind, yet also ruthless and dangerous. She would stop at nothing to achieve her goals, and her gentle cruelty was enough to beguile people and make them follow her unquestioningly. This is precisely why she needed to be kept under observation; no one could be sure what she might do or how far she would go. She had to be kept close and watched.

Lesta smiled — a soft, lonely curve.

“Do so.”

There was a challenge in her words: ‘Try to stop me if you can.’ Looking at her, Eldrian felt a cold certainty settle in his bones — even if he wanted to, he could not stop her.

He knew that if she decided the pirates deserved to die, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

However, letting her act without restraint was not an option either.

“We can solve things through dialogue, Lesta, If something like this happens again, convince me. I’ll try to convince you too.”

Lesta’s eyes narrowed, a faint smile curving her lips—warmer than before.

“I like conversation.”

She extended a hand. Thinking she wanted to shake it, Eldrian began to reach out—when a low hum rose behind him.

Whsssh—Thunk!

The black great sword, which had been lodged in a pirate’s body, flew through the air and came to rest neatly in Lesta’s hand. Eldrian’s shoulders stiffened. He hadn’t known that she could use magic. She hadn’t even uttered a spell.

“I want them to receive a punishment that fits their crime, Young Lord.”

The message was clear: she would only tolerate his presence if justice was served her way.

When Eldrian nodded slightly, Lesta swung her greatsword, its blade slicing through the air and dislodging the blood. Then, without a backward glance, she turned away.

The sea breeze swept through her crimson hair, scattering it like flames. Brushing the strands from her face, she gazed out across the endless water. Her expression was calm and almost distant, as if the ocean itself might wash away everything she had just done.

‘Again…’

Every time she looked at the sea, she seemed achingly alone.