Chapter 191: Pirates
Alkan of the Black Eyepatch Pirate Crew.
Miriel of the Waterfall Beard Pirate Crew.
And Rui of the Night Sea Pirate Crew.
They were pirates who had road the archipelago and the open seas, living by plunder, and originally there had been no point of contact between them.
That was until a Demon King nad Vivian set foot in the archipelago, and the three pirate crews beca intoxicated by her beauty and turned into her vassals.
Pirates had no prejudices. For those who lived a harsh life where their lives constantly hung in the balance, demons were divided simply into those who were necessary and those who were not.
They had been purely drawn to and captivated by the beauty of the Succubus Queen. By becoming her vassals, they were now bound to a fate they could never escape unless she died.
But that alone was not what drove them out into the distant seas.
The kidnapping of the Dwarven princess committed by the Lust Demon King (now revealed to be the Demon King of Dark Fla).
The dwarves beca bloodshot in their efforts to retrieve their princess and craftsn, but when the Tower of Lust suddenly vanished, their target shifted to the pirates.
And the pirates, unable to withstand their fierce onslaught, chose a last resort.
Throwing the three pirate crews connected to the Succubus Queen out as arrow fodder.
To survive, they had to flee. And if they were going to flee anyway, they resolved to head toward the place where their lord was.
That was why they were being chased across this vast sea.
Boom! Boom! Boom-!
As mana shells fell, plus of water erupted. Reeling ships raced precariously across the sea.
“Damn it, those Dwarf-made mana cannons have a shit range.”
“Aren’t those Arkan bastards? Why the hell did they co all the way out here?”
"That’s not all, you know? Hessen’s Southern Fleet was there too!"
"What the hell, are they crazy?"
“Looks like they’re trying to start a war among themselves! Bastards!”
"For that, they looked way too friendly with each other!"
The long pursuit only ca to an end after a single ship sank.
“...They’re not still chasing us, right? Tell they’re not.”
“They’re gone.”
“First Dormunt, now Hessen and even Arkan. Are they really trying to start a war or what?”
“How would I know? Maybe they’re carrying out so kind of subjugation.”
“They weren’t chasing us specifically, were they?”
“They chased us like hell, but did they really need to chase us? Maybe they were gathering to invade the archipelago again and we were just unlucky enough to head that way.”
“That does sound the most realistic.”
“Or maybe they already told everyone we’re the culprits.”
“Either way, we shook them off! Even if three ships went under. Damn it!”
The pirates grumbled.
“Damn it all, monsters, storms, and now even navies—where the hell is the Demon King now?!”
Alkan, the captain of the Black Eyepatch Pirate Crew, ground his teeth.
Their journey had been nothing but hardship.
They had been forced to spill blood with comrades who had been allies until yesterday in order to escape, endured attacks from sea monsters, and faced raging storms.
After struggling desperately for so long on the boundary between life and death, they had been pushed into a corner.
After Dormunt, even Arkan. With the navies of kingdoms venturing out into the distant seas, they could no longer search for Vivian and instead had to struggle simply to survive.
“What if Lady Vivian is already dead? Maybe we’re just chasing an empty dream.”
“At least dreaming would be better. It would an Lady Vivian is showing us a dream.”
“That doesn’t sound bad. Then this whole dying of thirst and hunger in the middle of the open sea with no supplies would all be a dream.”
Because they were constantly being chased, they had not been able to resupply properly. They had even lost what little they had when they ran into the storm.
Everyone was dying of hunger, and it would not have been strange for a riot to break out demanding they turn the ships around imdiately.
What barely held it together was the single shared boundary that they were all Vivian’s vassals. Even if the treatnt differed, Vivian had made all of their pirate crews into her vassals.
It was ironic that they had been driven into this situation because of Vivian, yet thanks to being her vassals, even when pushed to the extre, no major problems had arisen.
But even that had its limits. Exhausted by hunger, the pirates were on the verge of tearing each other apart.
“Maybe we could at least catch and eat a monster.”
“Are you insane?”
“Well, do you think we’re not going insane right now?”
That was when it happened.
Kwarrrrr-
The sea heaved. The ships rocked violently.
“Hold steady!”
“Helmsman!”
“What is it?!”
Weak screams crossed amid their hunger.
“Don’t tell it’s another monster?”
“Damn it, I don’t even have the strength to fight.”
“Let’s catch it and eat it.”
But what surged up amid the spray was not what they had expected. It was the very person they had so desperately hoped to et.
“...Demon King?”
“Demon King!”
“It’s the Demon King!”
An irresistibly alluring and bewitching woman. A dangerous yet intimately familiar presence to them, possessing both surging sensuality and ominous demonic energy.
It was Vivian, the Lust Demon King whom everyone had thought dead.
It was strange that one of her horns was missing, but perhaps because of her presence, no one pointed it out.
“You all.”
Vivian fluttered her wings as she looked down at them.
“Did you co all this way looking for ?”
A total of eleven pirate ships, filled with nearly seven hundred lives.
“Of course!”
“We knew you were alive!”
“Demon King! We love you!”
The pirates cheered. They squeezed out every last bit of strength and shouted hoarsely.
Especially the three captains who led the pirate crews were even more extre. Having received Vivian’s favor, they were utterly infatuated with her.
And because of that, they burned with anger.
“I can’t watch this without shedding tears. Pirates crossing the sea in search of a Demon King.”
At the sight of so good-for-nothing brazenly placing a hand on Vivian’s shoulder as if nothing were wrong.
His handso face only made it worse.
“Who the hell is that bastard?!”
“How dare that son of a bitch put his hand on her shoulder?!”
“I’ll cut off every one of those fingers!”
“Load the mana cannons!”
At their furious shouting, Berje chuckled softly. It wasn’t even laughable.
“...They’re good kids.”
“I think your definition of ‘good’ and mine are a bit different.”
“They ca all this way looking for , didn’t they?”
“And they’re cursing at and about to fire mana cannons.”
“Still, they’ll be useful.”
“Well, I won’t deny that.”
Berje was not foolish enough to kick away vassals who had already rolled in, especially ones who had dragged along more than ten ships.
“Looks like they might really fire. You’re not going to use that as an excuse to kill them all, are you?”
“They’re your vassals.”
“And now they’re yours too.”
It was just that Berje had completely hidden his aura, so they hadn’t realized it.
“You all, stop it.”
Unable to watch any longer, Vivian stepped forward. The movents of the pirates loading shells into the mana cannons ca to a halt.
“But Lady Vivian, who in the world is that bastard?!”
“Are you abandoning us, who ca all this way to find you?!”
“Milky-white Vivian!”
“We love you!”
It was utter chaos. Vivian let out a deep sigh and released her demonic energy.
“Quiet.”
The pirates shut their mouths.
“Berje is not soone you can treat lightly. No, it’s not even a matter of that....”
“It ans all of you must give absolute obedience.”
Berje moved Vivian behind him and stepped forward.
“What did you say?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Lady Vivian?”
“And who are you to say such a—no, such an undeserved thing?”
Alkan, who had been shouting, abruptly slamd himself down prostrate. Terrifying demonic energy was crushing down on all of the pirates.
Their eyes t. Goosebumps rose. But more astonishing than anything was the resonance of their souls.
They felt a connection—flowing from Alkan and the pirates to Vivian, and from Vivian to the demon before their eyes.
That bastard—no, that man—no, that lord was their sovereign.
Their souls realized it instinctively.
The pirates buried their heads into the ground.
“...These lowly ones ask for your honored na.”
“My na is Berje Deias.”
The world called him the Demon King of Dark Fla.
“And the Demon King to whom you must give eternal obedience from now on.”
Seven hundred pirates rolled in together with their fleet.
---
Berje first brought all the beggar-like pirates into the tower and fed them until they were full.
“Guhh, I’m saved.”
“Yeah, this is the stuff.”
Since he always stored vast amounts of food in subspace for the princesses and the dwarves, there was no shortage of supplies.
“This ti it’s humans, and pirates at that.”
“We were lucky. We’d just moved the tower to the sea, and pirates of all things ca looking for us.”
“Don’t forget this is all thanks to .”
“Are you going to accept all of them?”
“There’s no reason not to. You don’t look pleased?”
“...No, it’s not that.”
Reina shook her head. The proud Frost demon race likely didn’t like the idea of taking humans in as vassals in the first place.
But she knew how to judge properly. She was no longer a Demon King but Berje’s vassal. She did not object to his decisions.
After already accepting dwarves and elves, what difference would adding humans make?
“So then, how should we use those guys so it’ll be said we used them well?”
“Is there any need for it to be said?”
“It’s just a figure of speech. Do you stiff ice demons not understand jokes?”
“The mouth of a succubus truly never rests. I’d like to personally make it rest.”
Ignoring the two Demon Kings growling at each other, Berje turned his gaze to Gordon.
“Pirates are valuable when used as pirates, roaming the sea.”
“Then we should fix up those ragged ships.”
“Fortunately, we have dwarves. The problem is their base.”
“Their base, huh.”
“We’re in the deep sea, and we can’t bring ships into the tower. We need a port where they can dock and resupply.”
“Is there an island nearby?”
“If you go about 200 kiloters northwest from here, there’s a fairly large island.”
“And how did you find that?”
“Lavinia has subdued several sea monsters and is using them for reconnaissance.”
“....”
“Well done?”
“Yes, well done.”
He tossed a piece of chocolate to Lavinia.
The island was far from the continent and barren, with very few living creatures. Everything was lacking for it to serve as a pirate base.
“Hmm.”
After a brief mont of thought, Berje summoned Charlotte.
“Can barren land be made fertile?”
“May I know the degree of its barrenness?”
“What’s it like?”
“It’s not quite a desert, but there are few trees and almost no living creatures. It’s utterly insufficient for farming.”
“What you want, Demon King, is to make those humans live there, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Then there is a way. No matter how barren a place is, we elves can grow flowers and trees. By planting fruit saplings to supplent food and revive the ecosystem, it can be done.”
“Where will you get the saplings?”
“They’re already planted throughout our floor.”
“Weren’t those just fake ones made of spirits?”
“When we went out together, Lady Ernan acquired many saplings.”
He had thought nothing of it when Ernan bought a bunch of things, but there had been saplings among them.
“That’s not bad.”
“The problem is that until the trees properly take root, we’ll need to stay there and manage them.”
“Then do so.”
“Is that acceptable?”
“The heroes won’t be coming up to the tower anyway.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Then go down and prepare with the elves.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte disappeared. Berje shrugged.
“That settles it.”
“While we’re at it, it would be good to send dwarves as well to build a port there.”
“Agreed.”
Fortunately, the materials he had gathered to create golems and fake towers were still overflowing in subspace.
Thus, the treatnt of the pirates was decided.
---
“Those are definitely elves, right?”
“Those are dwarves.”
“That person is a princess?”
“I heard that one is an imperial princess.”
“I heard they’re one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Am I dreaming?”
“Probably.”
With their bellies full, the pirates finally had the leisure to look around. And they were stunned by the tower’s scenery, which was completely different from what they had imagined.
Dwarves crafting mana cannons, elves wielding spirits.
Princesses and imperial princesses calling themselves the Four Heavenly Kings.
“...This isn’t the Demon King’s tower I imagined.”
“ neither.”
“I’ve been to another tower before. It was nothing like this.”
Alkan, who had once participated in an assault force as a hero, let out a hollow laugh.
“And the tower is in the deep sea? Does that even make sense?”
An unseen force slamd them forcibly into the sea. At first, they thought they were all going to die. But they felt neither the cold of the water nor the pressure, and at the end of the fading light stood a gigantic tower.
“...I think it was a good thing I beca Lady Vivian’s vassal. There’s no way this could ever be subjugated. How would anyone even find it in the deep sea?”
“ too.”
“Milky-white Vivian.”
“Shut up, Rui. It’s not like Lady Vivian isn’t milky-white, but read the room before you spout nonsense.”
After seeing part of the tower, the pirates quietly awaited their treatnt.
Faced with the overwhelming power of the Demon King of Dark Fla and the majesty of the tower, they did not even dare to attempt anything foolish.
And then.
“...Uh, so you’re saying you’ll use dwarves to repair our ships and even reinforce them?”
“And you’ll mount Dwarf-made mana cannons on them?”
“And you’ll even use elves to create an island where we can be self-sufficient?”
“And dwarves will build a port too?”
“We’re already loyal vassals of the Demon King, yet you’re going this far....”
The three captains looked at each other. Then they nodded.
“Loyalty! Alkan of the Black Eyepatch Pirate Crew offers his soul to Lord Berje!”
“I swear my loyalty!”
“Milky-white Berje!”
“If you attach such a filthy modifier to one more ti, I’ll rip your mouth apart. Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes! I’ve committed a cri worthy of death!”
Rui, captain of the Night Sea Pirate Crew, shut his mouth.
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