Reincarnation of a Hunter Chapter 38.1 - The Pirate King’s Sophistry

 

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I commanded the Wood Golem, “Golem, throw.”

—Grug, grug

The Wood Golem is the best at throwing. Its arms are long and elastic, which is why I had them crafted and loaded at the port of Marseille.

 

The Wood Golem standing on the deck stretched its arm out fully.

—Whooosh

With a loud swinging sound, the golem hurled something, and at the same time, the ship lurched violently.

“Waaaah!”

The one who went flying was Martin.

Raul, watching the scene, gasped in admiration, “Ooh, he landed right on the pirate ship’s deck!”

Since golems come equipped with AI upon creation, they can calculate and execute throws like this with precision.

“Is Martin alive?”

“Yes. He’s drawn his sword and is emitting an aura.”

“You’re next, Raul.”

“…If I fall into the water, please save me.”

The Wood Golem picked Raul up and threw him with all its might.

—Whoooosh

“Yeehaw!”

 

Raul seemed exhilarated. Spinning through the air, he landed neatly on the pirate ship’s deck.

I turned to look behind me. On the deck, the maritime knights of the Iberian Kingdom, including the Baron of Gibraltar, were waiting their turn with gleaming eyes.

“Turn the ship.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Captain Adrienne responded energetically and steered the Benedicta toward the pirate fleet.

Now, it was time to hunt them down one by one.

 

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The ship Martin and Raul flew onto was the flagship of Pirate King Luca.

Martin, flaring his aura, shouted loudly, “You scum! Surrender, or I’ll cut you all down!”

Luca laughed incredulously and yelled back, “Bwahaha! You brat! Do you even know where you are, coming here with just two of you?”

Luca also flared his aura and drew his sword in response. 

 

Seeing this, Raul panicked and called out to Martin, “That guy looks pretty strong. He’s above your level. Can we take him together?”

“Hmph! Even if a dragon comes, I’ll cut its head off!”

 

Raul presses his palm to his forehead at the absurdity.

 

“This won’t do. Let’s jump into the water. The lord will save us.”

 

“I’m staying here to cut that bastard’s head off!”

 

“Suit yourself. I’m going first.”

 

Just as Raul ties his hammer and prepares to leap into the sea—The Benedicta, having completed its turn, passes alongside the pirate ship.

 

“Ah! Martin, we’re saved!”

 

Seizing the moment, Raul waves his arms and shouts toward the Benedicta.

 

“My lord! The boss is on this ship! We need backup!”

 

Whether Eric heard him or simply assessed the situation, the Wood Golem hurled another person onto the deck.

—Whoosh

 

THUD!

 

The one who landed was the Baron of Gibraltar—a high-tier Sword Expert and naval knight.

 

With reliable reinforcements arriving, Raul howled, “Ooooh—now we’re talking. You’re all dead!”

 

Meanwhile, Luca quickly realized the Baron of Gibraltar was no pushover.

 

“Dammit. I had a bad feeling about today. Should’ve run sooner.”

 

He grips his longsword tightly with both hands. If caught, he’ll be executed anyway. His only choice is to fight the knights with his life on the line.

 

He turns his head and shouts behind him.

 

“If any of you make it back to Cagliari, take care of my son, Marco!”

 

He knows none will make it. It’s just a desperate plea. But then, a group of his more skilled underlings swarms behind Luca.

 

“Boss! We’re dead either way—let’s fight together!”

 

“You crazy bastards…”

 

Surrendering would at least spare their lives, even as slaves. Yet, seeing his men armed and ready, Luca can’t help but laugh.

 

“Keheheh. Alright, boys! Let’s go—straight to hell!”

 

“Yes, Boss!”

 

Pirates and knights collide.

 

The deck begins to stain with blood.

 

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The Benedicta, having turned around, retraced its path through the line of pirate ships, hurling knights onto each vessel as it passed.

Even just three or four knights per ship were enough.

 

The first reason was that the pirates had suffered heavy losses of knight-level combatants during their raid on Catalonia. 

 

At the time, they had the misfortune of encountering Catalonia’s knight order.

The second reason was that the Gibraltar maritime knights were exceptionally skilled. They had ample combat experience from countless skirmishes with the pirates of the southern continent.

 

“Two ships are trying to escape over there.”

Captain Adrián pointed at the fleeing vessels, which were moving at considerable speed—likely by overloading their magical tools to the limit.

 

“Adrienne! Pursue them.”

The blessed ship, Benedicta, was the fastest sailing vessel in the world.

No matter how skillfully the pirates maneuvered their ships, none could escape the Benedicta. It quickly closed the distance, knights were thrown aboard, and the pirates were swiftly subdued.

 

I turned to survey the battlefield, checking if any ships were still resisting.

“Adrienne! Turn 180 degrees!”

“Yes, my lord!”

The Benedicta swiftly reversed course, retracing its path.

 

“Golem, throw two more onto that ship.”

—Grug, grug

The golem hurled additional maritime knights onto the ship where the knights were struggling.

 

“Is it all over now?”

Most of the ships appeared to be fully suppressed.

“Yes, my lord. All the ships have been stopped.”

 

There was no need to slaughter every pirate.

As long as the captains, navigators, and helmsmen of each ship were neutralized, the vessels couldn’t move.

Some ships even surrendered the moment the knights landed.

Since it was winter, the water was freezing—not a single pirate dared to jump into the sea.

 

“Let’s head to the pirate boss’s ship.”

“Shall we board it?”

“Just get close.”

I decided to cross over to the ship where Pirate King Luca was. I wanted to at least see the face of this so-called Luca.

 

The Benedicta drew near the pirate flagship.

 

After taking a running start on the deck, I leaped onto the pirate ship.

Judging by the bodies strewn across the deck, the suppression must have already been completed.

Martin and Raul were also standing there, drenched in blood.

“What’s up? Why do you two look like that?”

The two of them, panting and exhausted, pointed toward the helm.

There, the Baron of Gibraltar stood, holding the severed head of a middle-aged man, soaked in blood.

He greeted me with a cheerful smile. While extending the head toward me.

“Count Marseille, the head of the Pirate King Luca.”

“Ah… Seems they fought to the death. That’s your trophy, Baron, so you should keep it.”

“Haha! Much obliged.”

I had no desire to take the dripping head, so I let the Baron of Gibraltar have it.

‘I would’ve liked to talk to Luca at least once. What a pointless way to die.’