CH 174

Chapter 174 – Rounds of Unpleasant Rumors

The lord’s ship, which had passed us by, came around the back of ours to come alongside and, after asking our permission, hung a hook line connecting the two vessels. After confirming that it was secure, the man claiming to be the lord jumped over in a surprisingly familiar motion. Meanwhile, the guards remained at the side of the ship with their swords sheathed in their right hands and their hands out in full view.

I guess it’s a statement that they have no intention of attacking. I don’t mind if they don’t.

“Oh, oh. I finally found you. I’ve been longing to meet you, Demon King! Ah, I mean, Tekifuyoshuan-dono, right?”

No, my name sounds like an accent again. He tapped me on the shoulder in a friendly manner, but I wasn’t the least bit happy to be told by a fat old man that said he longed to meet me.

“Please don’t call me the Demon King. In the Republic, I call myself Takifu. Um?”

“It’s Morphos McKin-sama, Lord of the Southern Territories.”

O’Connor, a merchant who was acquainted with the lord, introduced me on his behalf.

“Oh, O’Connor, I see you’re alright. I had given up on you when I heard you had been attacked by pirates.”

“But thanks to the help of Takifu-san and his friends here, we were saved.”

“And how about the pirates?”

“The survivors are just lying there. We got our cargo back safely.”

“I see. As expected of the Demon King.”

“McKin-sama. Who’s the Demon King?”

The lord turned to O’Connor, who looked doubtful. I tried to stop him, but it was too late.

“Don’t you know? This man is the famed “Thirty Thousand Killers.” The Demon King of Casemaian.”

“”””Eeeehhh…‼︎””””

Hey! If you expose that, our winter vacation will be over!

“That story is a secret. We are on a secret vacation right now.”

“You don’t usually destroy a bandit guild or exterminate pirates during a vacation, do you? Or is that it? If you were the Demon King, would you do that much?”

No, I don’t know. Louis, shut up for a while.

I turned to McKin and confirmed something that had been bothering me.

“Oh, by the way, McKin-dono. Where did you hear about us?”

“That’s right. Depending on the situation… I may have to keep your mouths shut.”

Everyone turned pale and shook their heads furiously at Myrril-san’s words, which were spoken from the heart.

“Oh, it wasn’t me.”

“It can’t be me.”

“O-of course, it wasn’t you. You see, you have been trapped for a long time.”

The lord looked at me, tilting his head in confusion.

“No, no, I’ve had information about you for some time. It’s from the south.”

South? What’s south of the southern territories? There’s nothing but the sea, right?

“Marquis Kylie Erkel of the Kingdom. A distant relative on my mother’s side.”

From that, huh? I never thought about that. I thought it was that rugged Duke Lemore.

It must have been showing on my face. McKin smiled broadly.

“You wouldn’t expect it, do you? Only Kylie has elven blood in her. Anyway, Demon King, I’m not lying when I say I’ve wanted to see you, but I do have one favor to ask of you. Or rather, a job. You are registered adventurers, are you not?”

“Yes, indeed. As a way to have some fun while on vacation.”

“I see. I heard that you destroyed the bandit guild while you were on escort duty. The Witch of Sarz complained, but we covered it up. Now that you’ve taken care of the pirates in no time, you won’t be satisfied with anything half-bad next time.”

“What do you want?”

“Would you like to experience a sea battle?”

Oh, yeah. It’s as easy as asking me to go fishing, this fat lord.

When I made eye contact with Myrril, she nodded her head as if to say, “That sounds interesting.” Tig, Louis, Calmon, and his father were also on board.

“It depends on the conditions and rewards. After all, we are merchants, to begin with.”

“It’s a deal—five hundred gold pieces to sink one ship. The enemy fleet is said to be up to twenty ships. That would be about four hundred men.”

…You see. It’s all well and good to be generous, but you’re talking too fast. Or rather, is this a very urgent matter?

“Is the enemy an army from the eastern territory? Or the northern territory?”

“Both. Among them, the northern territory’s warships have already departed. They will probably meet up with each other in the eastern territorial waters and head for our territorial waters. They will arrive here early tomorrow at the earliest.”

“How strong is our force?”

“We have three ships, including this one. We have about 200 men, but we don’t have enough sailors. The last pirate attack scared them off. This is the only one that can be operated solely by regulars.”

It seems like we’re stuck before we even set sail, let alone in a naval battle. Well, that’s fine. Our firepower isn’t enough to sink them with the firearms we have, but we’ll make it somehow. If we destroy them all, we’ll get 10,000 gold coins.

“Takifu.”

“What’s the matter, Mir?”

“I’m afraid McKin-dono’s not reading things very well.”

“Hmm?”

Myrril waved her finger and pointed backward. The island where the pirate fortress was located was further away. On the horizon, far away from here, a white object could be seen amongst the clouds. Everyone with better eyesight than mine seemed to immediately notice what it was. The faces of McKin and his men froze in astonishment.

“I saw seven ships. Could that be the “warship” described earlier?”