Chapter 3 (Part 3)

“Miss! Hang in there!”

“Sister, win!”

“Damn it! If only I weren’t tied up, I would stand by that beautiful lady and sweep away the pirates together!”

The people, feeling certain of their victory, chattered away, making comments that irritated the pirates.

“Shut up! Be quiet! Before I kill you all!”

Although the hostages fell silent again at the pirates’ rough shout, they couldn’t stop staring at Meia with bright eyes.

The panting pirate pointed at Meia and stuttered.

“L-look, boss! The ice is increasing and growing bigger!”

“That’s impossible.”

“This won’t do!”

The fat man, who seemed to be the leader of the pirates, swiftly held a knife to the neck of a nearby woman, despite his large size, and took her into his arms.

“Kyahhh.”

The pirate sneered at Meia with a vile smile.

“If you don’t get rid of the ice right now, I’ll kill this woman!”

Seeing their leader take a hostage and threaten Meia, the pirates began to regain their lost smiles and started to move.

The hopeful faces of the hostages turned gloomy once again.

“Juan.”

“Yes.”

“I clearly told them not to move, so why are they moving?”

“I will kill everyone who ignored your orders.”

As soon as Juan finished speaking, he slashed at the moving pirates with his sword.

“Aaahhh.”

“P-please, spare me, cough.”

Meia glanced over the fallen pirates and then spoke to the pig-like man who seemed to be the leader of the pirate group.

“So, you’re the boss.”

“My name is Lupatz. If you get rid of the ice spears now, I’ll spare this hostage’s life.”

“Lupatz, are you threatening me with a hostage right now?”

Meia tilted her head.

“Yes! If you don’t get rid of the ice spears right now, I’ll kill this woman.”

Meia had anticipated such a situation.

The pirates felt disadvantaged and were trying to negotiate with Meia using the hostage’s life.

Even though a hostage was taken, she couldn’t afford to be easily swayed, cry, or show any effort to save the hostage.

Instead, Meia smiled and took a step closer to Lupatz, speaking.

“I’ll get rid of one ice spear at a time. Will you release one hostage at a time?”

Lupatz tried hard to understand what Meia was saying.

“What did you say?”

“How about one ice spear for one hostage? Oh right! There are more ice spears than hostages, aren’t there? I’ll get rid of three ice spears for each hostage. How about that?”

Finally understanding Meia’s words, Lupatz was dumbfounded.

Three ice spears for one hostage… She’s a pretty but crazy woman.

“Say something that makes sense!”

At Lupatz’s predictable response, Meia spoke with a regretful expression.

“Honestly, wouldn’t it be a good deal to let one hostage die to save the others and kill all you pirates? Think about it.”

The woman held hostage began to cry sorrowfully at Meia’s words.

“P-please spare me… sob.”

Lupatz was at a loss for words at Meia’s response.

Normally, people would drop their weapons and try to save the hostage, but the silver-haired beauty in front of him didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

“You wretched!”

“You’re the wretched one, threatening me with a woman as a hostage.”

“This woman’s life depends on you, silver hair. If she dies, it’s your fault!”

Meia responded calmly to Lupatz’s words.

“Do you think people here will believe that I killed the hostage? Even if they do, I won’t be punished. By the way, I’m a noble. In such a situation, even if I kill someone, it’s justified.”

Lupatz thought taking a hostage would turn the situation in his favor.

Whenever he took hostages while raiding many ships, it was always effective in negotiations.

“If I save all the hostages here by sacrificing one life, who do you think people will blame?”

“So, you’re saying you’d rather sacrifice one life.”

Even if Meia pierced the hostage and him with an ice spear, she would save the other hostages and be rewarded instead of punished.

Taking a hostage in this situation was a huge loss.

But he couldn’t just release the hostage either. That would hurt his pride in front of his subordinates.

“Grr.”

Unable to act on Meia’s words, Lupatz could only groan.

“Then let’s do this! I’ll spare your men, Lupatz, if you surrender quietly.”

“What did you say?”

Meia raised her right hand and then lowered it, causing a dozen ice spears to pierce the ground sharply in front of the pirates.

The pirates screamed and trembled in fear.

Meia looked at them with satisfaction and spoke to them kindly.

“Lupatz’s men.”

At her call, the pirates looked at Meia.

“If you tie up your boss and bring him to me, I might spare your lives. But I change my mind quickly. You’d better tie up Lupatz fast.”

As soon as Meia finished speaking, Lupatz, sensing danger, quickly looked around.

All his subordinates were looking at him.

“Boss…”

“We don’t want to die.”

Lupatz’s men no longer pointed their swords at the other hostages.

Their sword tips began to turn toward Lupatz.

“You traitors! If you come closer, this woman dies.”

“We don’t care.”

Lupatz started to back away, hugging the hostage tightly and waving his sword.

“Don’t come closer!”

Lupatz shouted loudly. But his subordinates only sneered at him.

Meia coaxed the pirates more firmly.

“If you save the hostage’s life, I’ll give you 10,000 rubels each.”

“I-s that true?”

“I’m Meia Hatzbellua of the Carpen Empire. I have more money than I can use.”

Meia dropped a massive amount of gold coins from her magical space.

“Don’t you want this money?”

Seeing the actual money, the pirates no longer hesitated.

Meia smiled brightly, lifting the corners of her lips as if enjoying herself.

“Catch him quickly before I change my mind.”

The pirates responded loyally to Meia’s words.

“Yes!”

All they wanted was to escape. And with the promise of money, betrayal was inevitable.

“Please surrender, Boss Lupatz.”

“Argh! You dare betray me!”

Swinging his sword at his approaching subordinates, Lupatz resisted with all his might.

The hostage in Lupatz’s grasp sobbed sorrowfully.

Seeing this, Meia spoke to Juan.

“Juan, save the hostage and kill that man.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Juan pulled out a poisoned dagger from his bosom.

He threw the dagger at Lupatz, who was resisting with his sword, hitting him squarely in the head.

“Argh!”

Lupatz collapsed with a final scream. He died instantly.

The pirates approaching to capture Lupatz took a moment to understand the sight of Lupatz suddenly bleeding from his head and collapsing.

“Eek.”

The hostage screamed and fainted.

Juan quickly approached Lupatz’s corpse, pulled out a handkerchief from his bosom, and covered Lupatz’s shattered head, shouting to Meia.

“Miss, don’t look! It’s gruesome.”

“Juan, I’ve already seen it.”

Meia spoke in a tone suggesting there was no helping it, tilting her head.

Juan gritted his teeth and pulled out a sharp dagger from his arm.

*   *   *

Theodore ran out of the cabin, cutting down pirates one by one as he encountered them.

“Damn it, pirates!”

“It seems to be an ambush.”

Theodore grew increasingly worried and anxious.

The pirates would definitely kill the men on deck, take anything valuable, and kidnap the women.

Beautiful women would face unspeakable horrors right there.

“Your Grace!”

“I must get to Lady Meia quickly. No matter how skilled she is in magic, it’s too much for a woman alone!”

Aethon thought about mentioning the ‘Shadow Clan’ that Meia always had with her but decided against it.

The look on Theodore’s face was too desperate.

‘Look at that. He does like her, after all. Arrhythmia, my foot.’

Aethon clicked his tongue inwardly and swung his sword at the approaching pirates.

The more certain Theodore became that the pirates had reached the top deck, the paler his face grew.

His heart pounded uncontrollably.

“Hah.”

Theodore slashed through the locked deck door with his sword and immediately looked for Meia.

He saw her confronting the pirates. Their blades were aimed at her.

A fury that he couldn’t fully express filled Theodore.

He had never been this angry or unable to control his emotions in his 17 years of life.

“How dare you.”

He gave up on thinking. The sword tightly gripped in his hand was the only thing that expressed Theodore’s feelings.

The murderous intent emanating from Theodore poured out onto the deck.

The pirates began to tremble in fear as they received Theodore’s murderous intent, unable to move due to Meia’s threats and the sudden death of their leader.

“Aethon, rescue the hostages first.”

“Understood.”

Aethon first freed the men who seemed capable of fighting. The former hostage men then rose up, wielding the swords of the fallen pirates to fight back. The pirates, realizing the situation was over, began to drop their weapons and surrender one by one.

The hostages started praising Meia.

“A hero has appeared before us!”

“She is Lady Meia Hatzbellua of the Carpen Empire.”

“Oh! I just felt love for this hero.”

Aethon shouted loudly at the freed people.

“Enough with the chatter, and free the other hostages as well!”

Theodore, who had been cutting down pirates one by one to reach Meia, pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Ah!”

Meia called out, surprised by Theodore’s sudden embrace.

“Grand Duke Theodore?”

Theodore remained silent and hugged Meia even tighter.

“Um, Grand Duke Theodore, we’re still in the middle of a battle…”

Theodore, his body trembling, buried his face in Meia’s shoulder.

Feeling the severity of his trembling, Meia decided to comfort him rather than push him away.

“I guess it can’t be helped.”