Chapter 101
After Simon defeated the pirate captain Gael, the navy and the townspeople worked together to tightly bind the fallen pirates with ropes.
“The entirety of Blue Harbor is in your debt! I don’t know how we could possibly thank you…”
A navy officer repeatedly bowed his head, expressing his gratitude. Simon gave an embarrassed smile and waved his hand.
“You don’t need to go that far. More importantly, if it’s alright, may I interrogate the pirates myself?”
Some of the things Gael had mentioned were deeply unsettling.
He had reached the limit of his stamina, making it difficult to head to the next location immediately, so he wanted to rest for a few minutes while extracting information from the pirate subordinates.
“Of course. But will those bastards talk so easily?”
“Leave it to me.”
Moments later, the navy brought over three pirates who had been bound with ropes and forced them to kneel in front of Simon.
“I have some questions for you all.”
“……”
They clearly had no intention of cooperating.
One glared at Simon with a murderous look, as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes, and the other two were looking off elsewhere, feigning indifference.
“With your captain Gael captured, there’s no hope left for you. You know the punishment for piracy is heavy, right? If you cooperate, I may personally request a sentence reduction.”
He tried a conciliatory approach, but the pirates didn’t flinch even once.
Their reactions only made Simon more curious. Usually, when the leader is captured, the others break down and try to survive, but none of that was visible here.
Did they have something they were relying on?
“Question. We’ve confirmed that you’ve been colluding with someone connected to Blue Harbor. Reveal who that person is.”
“Screw you, bastard! Once I’m free, I’ll rip you to shreds!”
The first pirate shouted fiercely.
“Gaaah! Ptooey! You little punk who hasn’t even dried the blood off your head yet thinks he can interrogate someone? Huh? If I were married, I’d have a son your age!”
The second pirate burst out in anger.
“You’re making a mistake, you know. Do you have any idea who I am? Sure, I’m a pirate now, but there’s a story I can’t talk about…”
The third pirate rambled nonsense.
‘None of them have any intention of talking.’
There were other conciliatory methods he could try, but given the time, he decided to take a more direct route.
“Boys.”
At Simon’s call, three skeletons appeared behind each of the pirates. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the pirates’ expressions stiffened.
“Feed them.”
The skeletons immediately grabbed the pirates by the hair, forced their heads back, and shoved potion bottles into their mouths.
They made choking sounds, but with their noses pinched shut, the contents were forced down their throats.
All three were forced to down the potions in one go.
“Cough! Cough!!”
“Damn it! What the hell did you do to my body?!”
The pirates felt as if they were riding a runaway carriage, their vision spinning wildly.
“I’m a necromancer, remember? What you drank was a lethal poison. It’ll spread through your whole body within 15 seconds and kill you precisely in 5 minutes. More painful than anything you can imagine.”
Simon then pulled out another potion from his subspace. This one contained a blue liquid.
“Unless, of course, you drink this antidote before then. That would change things.”
“......!!”
Their faces went pale.
“So, shall we begin?”
All three hesitated, the same look of inner conflict on their faces. But none of them could bring themselves to speak.
“Well, if you’re unwilling, there’s no helping it.”
Simon didn’t wait even 30 seconds, let alone 5 minutes, before turning his head.
“Mister Navy, please bring the next group.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Just dump these guys wherever. They’ll writhe around and die on their own.”
Simon raised his leg, aiming to crush the antidote bottle on the ground.
“Finch Nikiman!”
The middle-aged pirate in the center shouted. The other two turned to him with horrified faces, while Simon smiled.
“The necromancer Finch Nikiman is working with the captain!”
“You’re telling the truth, right?”
“My life’s on the line, would I lie?! Please! Give me the antidote!”
Smash!
Simon crushed the potion bottle underfoot. The three pirates were left speechless.
“You piece of trash!”
The pirate on the left screamed.
“I told you the truth! Is it fun, messing with people like this? Huh?!”
“What do you mean?”
Simon turned his back with a bright smile.
“That wasn’t poison. Just a motion sickness potion. You’ll be back to normal in two hours.”
“......!!”
“Thanks for your cooperation.”
Waving a hand behind his back, Simon walked away. The three pirates screamed in frustration and were subdued by the navy as they collapsed.
‘Now it’s confirmed. I need to move fast.’
His stamina had recovered enough to move again. Simon immediately ran toward the mansion.
* * *
He crossed the downtown area and reached Shun’s mansion.
Simon was shocked. It looked as if the pirates had already attacked, parts of the mansion were ablaze.
Rumble rumble rumble!
One of the annexes of the mansion was entirely engulfed in flames and collapsed. The clashing of weapons could also be faintly heard.
It seemed the battle with the pirates had already begun.
‘Please, please, please…!’
Simon stepped onto Darkness and leapt over the wall into the mansion.
Clang!
Cling!
With the burning mansion in the background, butlers armed with weapons were fiercely fighting off the swarming pirates.
Meanwhile, Shun, the head butler, and several maids were crouched low and sneaking out of the mansion.
“There’s the Count!”
“Catch him!”
Two pirates charged through the butlers. Simon urgently extended his right arm.
‘Bone Armor!’
Bones flew as if they’d been waiting.
Two maids, who had bravely stepped forward with mop handles in hand, were suddenly clad in bone armor.
“Fight!”
Simon shouted. The startled maids didn’t know what to do, so the skeletons directly moved their bodies and took down the pirates.
Crack!
Thwack!
Watching the pirates go down from their own punches and kicks, the maids’ eyes widened in disbelief.
“Look over there!”
“It’s Sir Simon!”
One of the maids shook Shun’s shoulder.
“My lord! Look! Sir Simon is here!”
“Huh? Simon?”
Shun peeked his head out. He saw Simon simultaneously supporting five battles at once using Bone Armor.
“Simon!!”
Simon turned to Shun and shouted urgently.
“Shun! Are you hurt?”
“I’m fi—! Ah! Watch out!”
Crash!
Two pirates crashed through the mansion’s window and charged at Simon from behind.
Simon effortlessly tilted his body back to dodge the thrust of a sword, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and slammed his left elbow into the pirate’s nose.
Crunch!
The pirate collapsed backward. In a connected motion, Simon bent at the waist to dodge a swinging spear from behind, planted a hand on the ground, and spun, kicking his right leg upward.
Smack!
The second pirate, struck on the head by Simon’s toe, flew back through the window and collapsed. Simon caught his breath and stood up.
“Kyahhh!”
“Sir Simoooon!”
The maids, feeling they were finally safe, bounced up and down in place.
‘Ugh, that aside, I’m so exhausted.’
The fatigue from fighting Gael still weighed heavily on him.
As Simon exhaled deeply, bam!—the third floor wall of the mansion crumbled, and people came falling down.
‘Bone Armor! Hurry!’
The legion skeletons broke down into fragments of bone and flew to the falling people, attaching themselves one by one. The Bone Armor absorbed the impact, allowing everyone to land safely.
“Phew.”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Simon looked up to see a large man standing at the ruined third-floor wall. He wore tight-fitting armor over a bulging, overweight body and carried a massive mace on his shoulder.
The man, who had been looking down, suddenly leapt. The direction of his fall was toward where Shun was.
“Shun! Get back!”
Shun and the maids noticed the falling man and quickly retreated.
Boooom!
A large crater formed in the ground. As if the impact meant nothing to him, the man calmly lifted his head. His mace pulsed with magical energy in the form of ripples.
‘Aura!’
“I am vice-captain Valdez.”
The man grinned as he looked at Shun lying on the ground.
“You’ll have to come with me, Count.”
As the man reached out toward Shun, a flash of Bone Armor flew in and clamped onto his arm.
Clack! Chunk!
At the same time, Bone Armor attached to his right leg and left foot. As Simon dashed toward Shun, he issued an Absolute Order.
‘Interfere!’
Eeeeeek!
The Bone Armors began moving on their own.
“What the hell is this?!”
Valdez looked like he was wearing restraints. He stumbled, thrashing his body, and finally began grunting as he tried to tear off the Bone Armor with his hands.
Meanwhile, Shun, who had been crawling, suddenly sprang to his feet and began running toward Simon.
“Simon!”
“Shun!”
The two ran toward each other. Valdez, having torn off the Bone Armor with brute strength, stumbled after them, a step too late.
‘Just a bit more!’
Just as Simon and Shun’s hands were about to meet—
Whooom!
Their hands missed, slicing through the air, and Shun’s body shot up into the sky upside down.
“Uwaaah!”
“Shun!”
Simon and Valdez both stopped in their tracks. Then—
<Fierce Dragon Formation>
Shaaaaaaaaak!
The trailing vice-captain Valdez was struck by a green dragon made of liquid.
“G-gyahhhhhh!”
Valdez’s upper body melted and flowed down in streams. All that remained were bones that dropped to the floor. The maids screamed at the horrifying sight.
“I told you before, didn’t I?”
Simon turned his head.
“That a bodyguard can’t afford to look away.”
“......!”
Finch Nikiman was approaching. His arm, now turned into liquid, was holding Shun by the leg.
“Uncle Finch!”
Shun raised both hands in excitement.
“It’s Sir Finch!”
“We’re saved!”
The attendants sighed in relief, hugging one another with joy.
But in the midst of it all, one person—Simon—had a face twisted with cold anger.
“Everyone, rest easy now that I’m here.”
“Sir Finch!”
The head butler came running.
“Why did the family necromancer arrive so late?! The mansion was attacked, and the Count was nearly in danger!”
“I am ashamed, Head Butler. I was sinking two pirate ships myself.”
Finch said, then looked at Simon.
“Hmm? Why the tense expression?”
“……”
Grit.
Simon clenched his teeth.
“Please put the Count down.”
Finch smiled strangely.
Though Shun was now upright, Finch still hadn’t let go of his leg.
“I’m afraid I can’t. I no longer trust you. Leaving the Count unguarded, as a supposed bodyguard, I will be filing a formal complaint to Keyzen.”
“Don’t scold him, Uncle! I ordered Simon to go!”
Finch stared sternly at Simon.
“When it comes to the Count’s protection, I make no compromises. From this moment on, I will personally protect the Count. You should head north and mop up the pirate remnants—”
“Finch Nikiman.”
Simon drew in a deep breath.
People were dying. There was no point in stalling or playing mind games any longer.
“Why did you betray the Count?”
Superb.