IBMV – 15.2

Indeed there was a ship floating in the direction the sailor had announced.

The ship was hoisting the flag of an Imperial Trade Ship. But when the Duke’s warship approached, the boat suddenly changed course and tried to escape.

Thankfully, it was not easy to escape because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.

After, when they failed to shake off our warship, they showed their true colors.

The flag was lowered, a pirate flag was raised, and they fired a cannon.

We didn’t know if Kian was on that ship, so we couldn’t fire cannons back haphazardly.

The Captain shouted while evading the shelling.

“Fire! Aim at the enemy’s artillery!”

Bullets bounced like crazy from a machine gun.

Every time a fire erupted from the muzzle, the pirates on the deck screamed and fell. While there was a lull during the bombardment, the Captain shouted:

“Prepare to overtake them!”

The sailors moved industriously.

Hooking on the pirate ship and anchoring so it would be unable to escape.

The pirate ship, whose body was smaller than that of the warship, was pulled in helplessly. The navy troops quickly crossed over to the pirate ship with overwhelming momentum.

I followed them with escorts.

On the deck there was a messy battle. It was chaos.

The smell of blood was vibrated in the air as blows and bodies fell.

I entered the deck under cover of guards.

They knocked down bandits and checked the cabin rapidly.

Perhaps because of my exceeding perturbation, horrible scenarios plagued my mind.

What if Kian’s already been sold somewhere? If this ship doesn’t have him······.

I prayed that he would be safe, shaking off my sinister thoughts.

“Please step back!” was when Lord Hans, my guard, blew up the door of the locked cabin with a shout and an incredible energy.

An athletic pirate rushed out with a blade.

I looked inside when the knights met him with their swords.

There was a silver-haired man with his hands and feet tied, bound and gagged.

Needless to say, it was the man I was looking for.

“Kian!”

Kian’s eyes grew with surprise when our eyes met.

I sat down by Kian’s side in a hurry.

As soon as his gag was released, Kian said in a deeply hoarse voice:

“Master, how did you get here……?”

He said he himself had no idea where he was or how he came to be here. I couldn’t explain the story briefly, so I summarized:

“I’ve been chasing pirates.”

I took the dagger out of my waist and carefully cut off the rope that had restrained him up.

His wrists were stripped and swollen by a rope.

When I saw the sight, reminded of his suffering, my eyes naturally heated up.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

Kian shook his head with a face that looked like he was about to cry at any moment.

He buried his face in my arms as if words were too overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.

After a long moment, he finally spoke:

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

He cried.

I gently stroked his trembling back.

I asked, looking closely to see if there were any injuries:

“Can you stand?”

“Yes.”

He answered confidently, but his knees bent and staggered.

It seemed like his limbs had fallen asleep due to the rope restraints.

I called a guard to support him and I promptly climbed the stairs leading to the deck.

As I climbed up to the deck, the smell of fishy blood got stronger.

Bandits screamed and fell. I saw a plank bridge connecting our ship to the enemy ship.

I was about to cross through there, but Kian suddenly stopped.

His gaze was fixed on a pirate wearing a large hat.

I inquired of Kian:

“What’s going on?”

“it’s nothing.”

He seemed to be hiding something—his eyes avoided me and his answer came too rapidly.

“Nothing? Tell me.”

At my urging, Kian revealed his thoughts. The point was simple. That pirate took away the ring I had gifted Kian. I ordered my escorts guarding me and appointed Lord Hans as the leader.

“Go and get him.”

“Yes?”

He asked back with a look of surprise.

I said, staring at him fiercely.

“Why do you look so apprehensive? If you had done your job properly the first time, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Sir Hans shut his mouth.

Because he was excited about the festive atmosphere, he had gotten distracted and lost Kian after a brief glance.

“Honestly, you should choose one: salary reduction or dismissal? What would be better? Why don’t you pick one?”

As I fiercely asked, his face turned pale.

Fortunately, he wasn’t slow.

He popped out like a bullet saying he would come right away.

Not long after returning to the Duke’s ship, Sir Hans returned.

He was breathing hard and pulled something out of the pocket of his coat.

“Haa haa [panting]….. Lady, here you are.”

I frowned at what he had put out.

Are you out of your mind to show such a hideous thing?

Sir Hans, who belatedly realized what he was handing over and turned pale.

He said in a sweat.

“Sorry! Sorry! I was in a hurry, so I brought the whole thing.”

It was the pirate’s severed wrist.

I pulled off the blue diamond ring that was stuck in the pirate’s index finger, (OMG LOL) and threw the hideous thing into the sea and said,

“I know your heart well, so go away.”

After dismissing Sir Hans who was whining for forgiveness, I called the Captain. And gave instructions.

Now the time has come to wrap this up.

It’s time to take revenge on the pirates who kidnapped Kian without fear.

The Captain yelled the loudest he could and gave an order to fire.

“Fire!”

When the signal went up, the other ships began firing in unison.

With the pirate ship in the middle, shells were fired relentlessly from both sides. The pirate ship’s mast snapped with a loud groan, and the railing was ripped away.

A roaring rumbling sound hit my ears repeatedly, and a thick smoke arose.

The pirate ship, unable to withstand the heavy bombardment, soon became tattered and sank to the bottom of the sea.

It was a perfect end for those who touched our protagonist.