Chapter 27

Since departing from the Imperial Capital, the merchant ship had continued its voyage towards Apennia smoothly.

During that time, the sight of me being beaten up by Theo under the pretext of training became a daily scene.

“Young Master, you shouldn't move your feet like that!”

“Look to the side, the side!”

“I told you not to close your eyes! Ah!”

Onlookers from all sides offered their advice.

They were the crew of the merchant ship.

Since I couldn't interrupt the busy work hours for training, the training naturally took place during the crew's rest time.

As a result, I became like a monkey performing in a circus.

The crew, who had no entertainment during the voyage, gathered to watch every training session.

However, every time I heard their advice, I couldn't help but think, 'Then you try it.'

We are in the middle of the sea right now.

Waves are constantly crashing in from all directions, and maintaining balance on the swaying deck is not as easy as it sounds.

“It's because the Young Master's lower body is weak.”

“What? What did you just say?”

“You should look ahead.”

“Agh!”

“Focus!”

The stick Theo swung hit my head.

The moment stars flashed before my eyes, I fell on my butt on the deck.

Sighs erupted from all sides.

“Aww, it's the Young Master again this time. He can't land a single hit.”

“Still, for someone who just started, his movements are good.”

“In my opinion, no. He'd lose to a hare.”

What was frustrating was that it wasn't entirely untrue.

Because all the crew members were outlaws, survivors, and skilled warriors.

That's how harsh life at sea is.

“See, I won, didn't I? Hurry up and give me the money.”

“Aww. Here you go. Take 1 piccolo!”

Wait, did you guys make a bet on this serious situation?

Isn't that too much?

As I was glaring with resentful eyes at the crew whose joy and sorrow were crossing, a shadow fell over me.

Theo was looking down at me from above.

Instead of helping me up, Theo urged me to get up.

“Hurry up and get up. It's not over yet. Are you going to lie there like that in a real fight? You'll die.”

“I can't keep up……”

“You're the one who wanted this, Young Master.”

“You're taking out your pent-up frustration on me right now, aren't you?”

“I don't know what you're talking about. Still, you've gotten much better compared to before, Young Master.”

“Really?”

“You used to run away before even getting hit once. You even pretended to have amnesia several times.”

Sigh.

This is the karma I've built, but it's hard to bear.

“It was all faking.”

“I thought so. Now, hurry up and get up. We still have a long way to go before we're done.”

Theo was relentlessly pushing me as if he had been waiting for this moment, and I, having experienced the medieval real-life version head-on, was flailing around, unable to get a grip.

In this world, the strategy of carrot and stick did not yet exist.

There was only the stick and a stronger stick.

“Let me ask you, what kind of training method is this anyway?”

“The Royal Guard's way, of course. What else would it be?”

Damn it.

The Emperor's Royal Guard pushes people this hard?

Do they not have human rights there?

I must suggest it to Zeta later.

That is, if I survive this.

I looked for an escape route, but the crew members were already blocking the way.

Shedding tears of blood inwardly, I raised the training stick and staggered towards Theo.

A sea jellyfish probably had more dignity than me.

“Ughh!”

“Look ahead!”

“Agh!”

“One more time.”

“Really?”

“One more time.”

Thwack!

In the end, after being hit squarely by Theo's stick one more time, I sprawled out on the deck.

I'm tired.

I want to go home.

Ah, I don't have a home anymore.

Suddenly, everything felt futile.

It was the fifth day since I started training.

I still haven't landed a single hit on Theo.

Come to think of it, it's only natural.

I am a beginner who has just started learning martial arts with my body, while Theo, though a rookie, is an official knight of the Royal Guard.

And in , an official knight is equivalent to a human tank.

A simple calculation shows that Theo's martial power is more than five times mine.

Unless I come back after learning some Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it's natural for a beginner not to be able to win.

(And of course, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art does not exist in .)

But knowing it in your head and feeling it in reality are always different.

I looked up at the sky with a deep sense of futility, lacking any motivation.

The sky seen from lying on the ship was just clear and blue.

The cotton-like clouds floating like small boats, the seabirds flying by, everything was so peaceful, so why am I here doing this?

As I lay still, Theo made a fuss.

“Agh! Are you alright, Young Master? I didn't hit you too hard, did I? Do you remember who I am?”

“Who are you? I've never seen your face before. I've absolutely never seen it before.”

“Oh, I was worried for nothing. Get up, we're going to master this move completely before we go.”

“Oh, no.”

Theo had the qualities of a training instructor.

Meaning he made people want to curse.

It was the merchant ship's Captain Leandro who saved me from my despair.

“Hey, you bastards! Break time's over! Get back to work, now!”

“Yikes. The captain's here. Everyone scatter.”

At Captain Leandro's roar, the troublemakers who had been blocking my way and saying, ‘Hehe, you can't go,’ all scattered, so Captain Leandro was indeed a savior.

After chasing the crew off the deck, Captain Leandro came and helped me up himself.

The ship, hit by another wave, tilted, but this time I managed to stand on my own two feet.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes. I'm fine, thanks to you, Captain.”

“The sea is rough, so you must be careful.”

I offered a polite thank you.

“Thank you for allowing the training, Captain. I hope we weren't a bother.”

“Not at all. That's nothing. I'd rather those sailors learn from the guest and focus on self-improvement, but those guys are always just lazing around.”

“Haha.”

Captain Leandro was very polite to me, though not to his crew.

There were several reasons for that, first of which was that he had received a lot of money from Zeta in exchange for taking me to Fasa, and he only knew my identity as a wealthy man from the north.

That was also why he had readily agreed instead of telling me to get lost with my talk of training when he was so busy.

It seemed he thought of my training as a pastime of a rich man with nothing to do.

“By the way, I would like to invite you to lunch. What do you say?”

“Excellent. I'm looking forward to what kind of meal will be served today.”

“You can look forward to it. The crew caught some good fish.”

***

A fact I learned after a few days of life at sea.

That was that the captain's invitation to a meal was a formal courtesy.

As the master of the ship, the captain has an obligation to entertain his guests, and from the guest's perspective, there is no other way to have a meal on this small ship even if they refuse the invitation.

Filling your stomach with just hardtack or jerky is not something you can do.

It's also impossible to offer to cook for yourself.

Who would be responsible if you mishandled the stove in the ship and it catches fire?

Besides, I was a special guest, so Captain Leandro took care of me himself instead of sending an errand boy.

It was the effect of the gold Zeta had given him.

After the meal.

Captain Leandro, with whom I had become quite close over the past few days, brought up the topic of the voyage.

It felt like listening to a daily briefing.

“Dear guests. The voyage has been smooth so far, but we don't know what the future holds. We are now entering a dangerous area.”

“Danger?”

“I don't know if you're aware, but this area is a terrible place infested with the pirates of the Kresven Archipelago. We don't know what will happen from now on.”

Ah, have we come that far already?

I recalled what I knew about the Kresven Archipelago.

The Golden Sea is a place teeming with pirates, but among them, the Kresven Archipelago is where the pirates' den is located.

At the same time, it is also a place that generously treats the low blood pressure of beginners who started just by hearing that Apennia is a tutorial area.

“The Kresven Archipelago. It's very famous for its pirates.”

“That's right.”

In the Kresven Archipelago, there are five famous pirates.

I'll skip the detailed explanation for later.

Anyway, because of these bad guys, I don't know how many beginners were shocked and quit the game.

I myself had seen the ending of being sold to the slave market, being buried at sea, or watching the sea while hanging on a mast several times.

Come to think of it, why did they make so many bad endings?

is really a trash game.

“The pirates who roam around here are mostly Kobolds, but they shouldn't be taken lightly. They are very cunning and agile fellows.”

I nodded in agreement.

Although Kobolds are not a seafaring race, their small stature and agile movements were effective in a chaotic battle.

Especially, the Kobold pirates may not have great combat power, but they are second to none in terms of tenacity.

If you mess with them, you'll have a hard time.

“The probability of encountering them is low because it's when the market of Halifa is open, but there's always a 'what if'. Please don't be too surprised if pirates appear.”

“If you're alright with it, Captain, we will also help when a battle breaks out.”

“Ah, I couldn't possibly trouble a guest with such a task. If the guests were to get hurt, I would have no face to see the ship owner. Such matters are sufficient with our crew.”

Captain Leandro said he was just telling me not to be too surprised if pirates appeared, and he rattled on like an insurance ad quickly reciting the terms and conditions at the end.

But having watched Captain Leandro for a few days, I knew that he wasn't being sincere.

“If an attack occurs, the pirates will attack everyone, guest or owner. So it's natural for us to help rather than just stand by.”

“Hmm, it's not something that should normally happen, but I feel relieved to hear you say that. I would be grateful if you would help.”

Judging by the relief that appeared in Captain Leandro's eyes as he looked at Theo, he must have been planning to bring this up for a few days.

I could also tell from his eyes that he didn't expect any help from me at all.

A perfectly correct judgment.

If he's seen me train so far, there's no way he wouldn't realize that I'm worth 0.1 of a person and Theo is worth 1.9.

If his judgment was that poor, he should quit his captaincy right now.

Of course, Theo didn't think so.

After the meal, in front of the figurehead, Theo was nagging me.

“Young Master, I'm just saying this just in case, but you're not planning to fight with the pirates if they appear, are you?”

“Why? Are you worried that pirates might appear?”

“No. That's not it.”

Well, that's true.

If he gets a good position, Theo could probably beat up all the pirates by himself.

“Then what's the worry.”

“Because the Young Master's skills are so la……ckluster that you won't be able to handle a single Kobold.”

“Didn't you just try to say 'lousy'?”

“You must have misheard.”

I glared at Theo, but Theo pretended not to know.

This kid really acts slyly annoying at times.

But he was also worried about me, so I couldn't get angry.

It wasn't wrong either.

“Don't worry. I know my skills. I promise I'll stay quiet.”

“Yes, please stick right next to me.”

“But do you really think we'll run into pirates?”

“I know, right. The sea is so wide, we probably won't really run into them.”

We laughed, saying it was ridiculous.

But there's a saying that words become seeds.

That saying was never a lie.

Around noon the next day, we really did run into the Kobold pirates of the Kresven Archipelago.

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