He staggered as if he were drunk, then quickly shoved his subordinates aside and stood in front of the longbow.

“Move, move! You’re so weak, you can’t even hit a single target!”

The one they called the captain seized the longbow that two men had been struggling to manage. As soon as they swiftly set a flaming arrow, the captain drew the string with tremendous force.

He didn’t take long to aim.

With a resounding bang, the arrow shot out and struck the pursuing ship with precision.

“Wow! Just as expected from our captain!”

“Wow! Your skills haven’t rusted a bit, have they?”

Livia watched the men cheering and celebrating with curious eyes. Were they pirates? If so, was her trial to eliminate these pirates? Yet, it seemed strange for Triton to be interested in such trivial matters.

Of course, Triton hated pirates. She knew he occasionally wiped them out for amusement. She had witnessed it herself.

However, she also knew that the pirate ships he usually targeted were larger and more vicious than this one. Why would he target a mediocre galley carrying only a few dozen people and speeding away?

“Lower the sails and tell the rowers to speed up! If they catch up, we’ll throw the captured kids into the sea one by one!”

At the captain’s command, a short subordinate with an eye patch quickly clung to the captain’s feet to stop him.

“No, you can’t do that! Do you know how much money we can make by selling them? There’s a slave trader who takes kids, and these kids look like they’ve been well-fed and raised, so they’ll fetch a good price!”

“Y-yes, and didn’t the island witch say not to get rid of the kids? She said the sea god won’t touch the ship with kids on board!”

“What witch? That old hag isn’t a witch! Damn it. If it weren’t for that cursed Kraken…”

The captain, who had been spouting foul words, finished off the bottle he was holding. Just as he was about to grab the longbow again, a sorrowful wail came from somewhere, causing the arrow to miss its mark.

“Those brats…!”

As the captain turned around with a menacing look, the pirate with the eye patch, who had tried to stop him from selling the children, ran toward the kids. Livia, who had been secretly watching from behind, quickly ducked down in surprise.

“If you don’t keep quiet, I’ll throw you to the sharks one by one!”

At the man’s harsh threat, the children immediately fell silent.

With a stern face, Livia stared at the children trapped inside the iron cage. The massive cage, seemingly meant for holding beasts, was stained with foul filth and blood. Around the cage, sharp harpoons and broken nets were scattered messily.

‘Kidnapping…’

Having roughly grasped the situation, Livia cautiously surveyed her surroundings. In any case, she had encountered her third trial on this ship and had to overcome the challenges she faced.

Dealing with the pirates was one issue, but the bigger problem was whether she could safely rescue the children trapped in the cage.

Whether it was due to the power of the sea god or the witch’s magic, Livia had some freedom at sea, but the children did not. Besides, it wasn’t possible for her to swim to the island with all the children in tow…

What should she do? What would be the right thing to do?

As she pondered, a small scream came from below the railing.

“Row properly! Don’t you know if one person gets tangled, everyone does?”

“Something’s caught!”

The voices of the rowers, raised in argument, reached her ears. As Livia glanced in that direction, her eyes narrowed. Wondering if she had seen something wrong, she moved closer to the railing, but then someone grabbed her wrist.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before!”

…She’d been caught.

“Hey, there’s a suspicious woman here… Ugh!”

Taking advantage of the moment when the man turned his head, Livia swiftly kicked him in the groin. The kick, delivered with all her might, was effective, as the man collapsed forward, unable to breathe properly. However, the voices of other pirates who had heard him quickly turned their attention to her. The pirates, having noticed her presence, began to converge on her.

“Intruder!”

Though momentarily flustered by the sudden rush of pirates, Livia soon regained her composure. She was standing in a narrow alley beside the central deck. Even if they rushed at her all at once, they would have to line up. Livia swiftly drew a golden dagger from her wrist. Striking the wrist of the first man who lunged at her, she decisively slashed him with the dagger.

“Argh!”

Another pirate came flying at her from behind the fallen man. She quickly dodged to the side and stabbed him in the flank with her dagger.

“That damn woman!”

However, her luck was hindered by another pirate who attacked her from behind. Though restrained by the arms that grabbed her, she kicked at the approaching man once more.

She had managed to deal with only about five or six pirates. As she was pushed back, still restrained, about a dozen more pirates surrounded her.

“Look at this audacious woman! Where did you come from? Did you stow away on the ship from the beginning?”

When Livia didn’t respond and simply glared at them, the pirates erupted into laughter. Some of them smacked their lips and brazenly grabbed their crotches, shaking them.

“Wow, she’s quite a tasty-looking one. Is this what they call a sweet potato that fell right into our laps?”

“You idiot! Sweet potatoes don’t have vines! It’s yams!”

“Oh, right, yams! A yam that fell right in with the vines! Oh, so sweet!”

The pirates exchanged clumsy jokes, baring their yellowed teeth. The pirate holding Livia pressed his body against her back, squeezing her chest with his hand.

“Wow, her chest is so firm…”

“What are you doing? Get out of the way! Are you trying to feast without the captain?”

Pushing through the gathered pirates, the captain from the stern came running. He had seemed quite large even from a distance, but up close, his bulk was extraordinary. He was almost as massive as Triton, the largest man she had ever seen.

“What’s this? An island girl? When did she get on board?”

Livia quietly watched the man approaching her. Perhaps due to his experience, the captain sensed something strange in her unafraid expression.

“…This girl seems odd.”

As he stopped abruptly and furrowed his brows, another pirate hovering nearby chimed in.

“Odd? If she’s odd, should I taste her first?”

“Hey, you bastard. What are you saying? Odd is odd, and tasting is tasting! Get lost!”

“Shouldn’t the captain just stick to shooting arrows? Why are you here?”

“I came because it was worth coming, you bastards! Why are you showing your desperation?”

If the captain hadn’t been drunk, he might have been more perceptive. Unfortunately, his brain was already soaked in alcohol, making it slow to function. Ignoring his instincts, the captain fumbled to open his pants. His half-er*ect manhood sprang out.

The pirates all cheered and whistled, eagerly anticipating the brutal and merciless act that was about to follow.

“How about it? Isn’t my little one quite fierce? You’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Livia stared unblinkingly at the man’s exposed crotch. It was disgusting to look at, but she didn’t feel the need to express her revulsion.

With an expressionless face, she continued to watch him, then looked the captain straight in the eye. A clear sneer played on her twisted lips.

“Pathetic little thing.”

A brief silence passed. The captain’s jovial grin twitched and froze.

“You b*tch…!”

The captain, his eyes reddened, lunged at Livia. At that moment, Livia’s lips moved slightly.

“Mumu.”

She merely called the name, but the hellhound appeared as if it had been waiting, emerging with ashen smoke. Mumu, now twice the size since she last saw it, stood protectively in front of Livia.

Grrrr!

The three-headed dog lunged at the captain without hesitation. The captain screamed as Mumu bit into his neck, but the startled crew quickly backed away.

“A m-monster!”

“Ahhh!”

“Run away!”