Chapter 287 (1/2)

Chapter 287

Aegir POV–

I face Natia, Pipi and Brynhildr inside the s.h.i.+p while the smaller boats get prepared .

「So, let’s hear the reason why you chased after me . 」

「Stowing away on the s.h.i.+p…… what are you all thinking!?」

Celia and I both have a tinge of anger in our voices .

We were saved because of their help, however it isn’t something I’d like to become a habit .

Stowing away is not a big deal, but we’ll be jumping into a war between the Federation and Empire soon .

Even though I was called to be a commander, the battlefield can be unpredictable .

It may become a chaotic melee where allies and enemies are all over the place .

In a war between two giant nations, there’s little I can do on my own .

That’s why I wanted to bring the bare minimum, an amount of people within the range of my protection .

Natia and Pipi are both skilled archers, but they can’t do much if they’re surrounded . Even Brynhildr might also get injured .

「I caused trouble for the chief……」

「Well, I was interested to see what it was like in the Federation…… it should be fine if I’m not getting in the way . 」

「Hmph! I’m just doing as I please . I don’t have any obligations to explain . 」

Pipi meekly lowers her head while Natia mumbles something .

Brynhildr puffs her cheeks and turns away from me, seemingly becoming smaller than she already is .

At that moment, Schwartz neighs after being dried off, in which Natia who understands animals responds with a nod .

「What did he say?」

「”Die, stupid idiot”, he says . 」

「This guy, does he want to become horse meat before we get there!?」

Schwartz snorts and turns his head away with a soft grumbling neigh .

「…… “what a small man for complaining about being chased by women”, he says」

「……」

We can’t turn back after coming this far and I can’t just leave them alone in a situation where pirates can appear at anytime .

A real man would gladly take them along . It’s not because Schwartz said so .

「U-um……」

And then the lid of a barrel slowly lifts up, revealing another familiar face .

The one who apologetically and nervously bows her head is――

「L-Leah!?」

Celia unconsciously shouts out . It goes without saying that she wasn’t aware of Leah’s presence .

「I’m sorry . But I just haven’t had much time together with Master lately…… it’s been lonely…… even Celia-chan hasn’t really……」

She puts her hand on the rim of the barrel and looks up at me with puppy dog eyes .

It was an extremely cute gesture which really stirs my desire to protect her, how troubling .

「Leah as well, huh…… hmmm . 」

Unlike Natia and Pipi, Leah can’t fight at all and is even more clumsy than an average city girl .

She can’t protect herself either .

「U-um master…… it’s fine . Worst case scenario, you can abandon me……」

Schwartz neighs again .

「”If you can’t protect a single defenseless girl, give a few of them to me”, he says . 」

「Shut up, you perverted horse . I don’t need you to tell me that . As if I’m going to abandon Leah . 」

I kick Schwartz’s b.a.l.l.s before wrapping my arms tightly around Leah and kissing her .

The pervert horse runs around the neck wildly while neighing loudly . Don’t break the s.h.i.+p now, you hear?

There’s no other option now . It’s my responsibility for leaving the girl alone in the first place .

I just have to protect everyone . It’s not a matter of if I can do it, I just have to do it .

「……why is Leah the only one who gets a kiss?」

「Marta cannot accept that either . 」

Celia and Marta pout .

I certainly can’t stop here . I know they all love me but their sins need to be punished accordingly .

After separating from Leah’s lips, I declare to the girls .

「Now that you’re all here, I’ll protect you . However, you’ll have to be punished for acting on your own . . 」

I meant to say it with a serious expression, but Celia just sighs .

「If you sound so happy to punish them, you won’t have any persuasiveness……」

Natia seems shaken up, while Pipi and Celia are calm .

「Well, I’m going to stretch it out then . 」

「Pipi too! Pipi is small so she needs to prepare, or else it will turn into a fistula!」

「Fistula? W-what is that!? What are you going to do for punishment!?」

Brynhildr walks over while glaring at me .

「Hmph, I am just a pa.s.senger on this boat . There’s no reason for me to be punished by you . In the first place, the fault lies with you who keeps going out to far away places!」

Despite being mad, she holds out something .

「Even so, well…… I guess I could have let you know . For that, some scolding is deserved . 」

She hands me the whip from that day .

「……are you telling me it’s okay to hit you with this?」

Actually, why did she bring this whip in the first place?

「……I’ll let you think of the answer . 」

Brynhildr silently turns away and looks in the distance .

However her face seems to be flushed and her breathing seems a little strained .

「The small boats have been prepared!」

We’ve finished talking too so I guess it’s time to go to the pirate s.h.i.+p .

Mirumi and the others are probably getting tired of rocking the boat .

Actually, she may be in an unexpectedly good mood and doing it enthusiastically because of her destination .

Now the disarmed pirate leader and executives are lined up before me .

The other small fries are packed in the cabin .

Of course the female pirate I captured is also sat in front of me .

「This woman is apparently the leader’s lover . She probably slept her way to the top . 」

After the s.h.i.+p’s captain makes his statement, the female spits at him .

Her att.i.tude is quite different from when I caught her .

She must have resolved herself after some time pa.s.sed .

「Can you tell me your name?」

「Who’s going to say anything to a seedy guy…… no, to a n.o.ble like you!」

Spit also comes flying at me, but I choose not to avoid it .

If she’s going to send me spit, I’d rather her just kiss me and send it directly into my mouth .

Well, there are some people here who won’t let that fly .

「Woman, you better be prepared . 」

Celia’s expression disappears and she pulls out her sword in a smooth continuous motion .

Sensing true intention behind Celia’s words and actions, the female pirate turns her head and starts mumbling .

It looks like she surprisingly doesn’t have any guts . I grab Celia’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s to subdue her sword .

「Annette…… my name is Annette . 」

I give Annette another once over .

She’s somewhere in her twenties, her height is a little over 160 cm and she has fairly dark skin probably from being out in the sun .

She’s making a scary face right now, but her facial features are nice, so I can see why the boss would want to make her his lover .

Her semi long millet-colored hair is sticking together right now because of sweat, though it’ll likely become fluffy when she washes it .

Judging just from when I touched her during the time I captured her, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are neither small nor large .

She’s a fine woman . It’s a waste to leave her as the lover of some pirate leader .

I unconsciously reach out to touch her b.o.o.bs again . It was a gentle touch so she doesn’t feel any pain .

「Hey, wha-…… stop that, you perv! h.o.r.n.y n.o.ble!」

「They’re soft and shapely b.r.e.a.s.t.s…… wonderful . 」

As I proceed to expose her chest, I see a b.u.t.terfly tattooed on her right breast .

「I’m not a fan of girls injuring their body like this, but it does look a little erotic . 」

My hand cups her b.o.o.b as if to envelope the b.u.t.terfly tattoo and I gently caress her .

Annette’s face becomes flushed and her nipple starts to get hard .

「Ah, you’re good…… not! Didn’t you hear me telling you stop!?」

The male boss shouts something angrily but I can’t hear him so whatever .

「Ahem! Shall we leave it at that for now?」

The captain and Celia are glaring at me . Arbakin is…… laughing again .

「Err, she had such nice b.o.o.bs I was engrossed with them for a bit there . Anyways, regarding their treatment――」

「We will of course be following customary practice . It will be a little troublesome though . 」

The customary practice the captain is talking about is almost certainly execution .

The treatment of pirates is similar to that of bandits . Ma.s.sacring the entire faction of insurgents is standard .

However that would mean Annette would get executed too . That’s not good .

「About their treatment…… can I ask you to leave them to me?」

「Haah!? T-that’s to be expected I guess……」

「Aegir-sama, again……?」「A woman, you’re going to add another?」

The captain looks at Arbakin, the one with the highest authority .

It’s unthinkable for him to leave the decision for the treatment of the insurgents to the n.o.ble of another nation .

「Unfortunately, I can’t do that . I can’t bend the rules for a n.o.ble of another nation when we’re in Federation territory . 」

I thought as much . Still, if I can somehow……

Arbakin coughs once to add something else, turning his head in a different direction .

「But I’m an amba.s.sador for Goldonia, and my mission right now is to send Lord Hardlett to headquarters . All matters besides that are trivial, besides this s.h.i.+p isn’t even a wars.h.i.+p . 」

So what is he trying to say?

「Neither I nor the crew has seen anything, meaning none of us would mind . 」

It’s decided then . I’ll announce the sentence .

「The woman will be pardoned . The men will get killed . 」

「That simple!?」

Celia immediately retorts .

「The woman will get suitable punishment…… I’ll have her surrender her body, but I won’t do anything to hurt her . Rest a.s.sured . 」

The pirates bellow angrily at me .

「Don’t be stupid! Annette or the other girls won’t fall after a lecherous man like you saves them!」

「T-that’s right! I’m a member of this pirate crew! I won’t do something like abandoning my companions . 」

It looks like there are a few other girls on this pirate s.h.i.+p other than Annette .

「Is that so?」

I see a look of relief wash over Annette’s face briefly after that statement .

She’s probably trying to be considerate of her lover or she joined in on the cursing because she wanted to remain a part of the crew, but I don’t overlook that expression .

Now that I look, the other few girls also have sparkling eyes .

「I won’t force anybody . If you want to protect your chast.i.ty, and share the same fate with your lovers and companions, that’s fine too . 」

The men nod as a matter of course .

「Heh, in other words you just want a woman’s a.s.s!」

「n.o.body’s going to follow a h.o.r.n.y n.o.ble like you!」

The men throw their verbal abuse at me, while Annette remains silent .

Then, Annette’s lover…… that is to say the boss of the pirate crew, yells .

「Annette! That lord pervert is infatuated with you . Give him a reality check, tell him you don’t want his phimosis d.i.c.k even if you have to die!」

That’s rude, mine is peeled back .

Annette stands up without saying anything and walks until she’s in front of me .

I don’t want her to say that . It would be a loss to this world if she ends up rotting away .

「Ahー……」

Annette has trouble saying something, then spins away from me and faces the pirates .

「I’ve been in everyone’s care for a considerable amount of time . Especially Gulin, who made lots of love to me as his woman . 」

So Gulin is the name of that boss? Not that I really care .

「I don’t hate any of you, plus I had a ton of fun . And so……」

The pirates also realized what would follow such an unsettling atmosphere .

Annette claps her hands together in front of her face .

「I’m sorry! I still have things I want to do and I don’t want to die yet…… what I’m trying to say is that I’m moving over to that side!」

I could almost hear the sound of jaws dropping .

「Gulin, everyone…… thanks for everything you’ve done for me up till now . And sorry . I won’t forget about all of you!」

With that said, Annette lines up beside me .

An angry bellow roars out like an explosion .

「Y-you traitor! Wh.o.r.e! ――――――!!」

Annette is not moved by the unbearable abuse .

The other girls stand up one by one and run to my side as well .

「I don’t want to die either! I’ll do anything so please spare me!」

「It’s fine if you use my hole, so please, I beg you!」

「Alright alright, I’ll release you after the punishment . 」

I hug all the girls who gathered around me and leave with them .

「Kill the rest . If there are any girls left over, persuade them no matter what . 」

「R-right……」

「I never thought I would feel pity for pirates……」

My allies finish off the pirates with arrows or swords .

There might be a lot of them, but being unarmed and bound up, they couldn’t put up any form of resistance .

Furthermore, the male underlings are all crammed inside the s.h.i.+p so they shouldn’t know what’s going on .

「There aren’t any girls in the s.h.i.+p, right?」

「No, all the girls were brought outside as you instructed . 」

「Then seal the door and set it on fire . 」

They have surrendered already, however I didn’t make a promise to spare them and I don’t need to show mercy to pirates .

As long as the women are saved, I don’t care what happens to the remaining filth .

「Dammit――!!」

One large man with his hands bound pushes aside an ally of mine and jumps into the icy water of the river .

I don’t think he can swim to the sh.o.r.e, but he probably thinks it’s better than being killed .

「Don’t let him escape! Aim your arrows at him!」

And then something mysterious happened .

The water around the man begins to foam up, then I could hear the sound of splas.h.i.+ng as plenty of fish jump in and out of the water .

Next thing I know, the water was dyed red with blood…… and what looks like the man’s skeleton floating .

My dumbfounded allies give me a sidelong glance, which in response I look to the water and ask a question .

「What happened?」

With a splosh, the kids of the cute Mirumi stick their heads out of the water .

「Gebh . Nothing~」

「Fuui~ it was tasty, that’s all~」

Fumu, some things will always be a mystery .

「Alright, shall we hurry on ahead?」

All the pirates on deck have been taken out now, so I leave behind the pirate s.h.i.+p while ignoring the screams coming from the inside of room slowly being surrounded by flames .