Volume 3 Chapter 10 The Pirate Hunter and The Pirate Noble

The hangar.

When Rosettas airframe was brought in, Marie who was waiting on standby started giving out instructions to the surroundings.

The daughter of the Claudia house is going to be Lord Liams legal wife. Treat her with the utmost respect as to avoid staining his reputation.

The maids nodded and the knights lined up in formation.

The soldiers hurried to set up a red carpet.

Hey, wheres the doctor?!

Shes waiting in the back!

A change of clothes! Somebody bring her change of clothes!

The hangar was in a frenzy.

Marie roared,

Stop fooling around, idiots!

Rosetta exited out from the aircrafts cockpit.

She was quickly supported on both sides by female knights.

Rosetta looked faint, and her eyes were red and swollen.

The knights, soldiers, and maids lined up, the knights pulling out their swords in welcome.

The soldiers saluted, and the maids greeted her with curtseys.

As Liams legal wife, she was essentially the master of everyone here.

Marie kneeled in front of Rosetta.

(I never wouldve thought Id be involved with the Claudia house after such a long time.)

Lady Rosetta, were here to pick you up, but first lets get you some medical treatment.

Rosetta was confused.

Marie had learned about her familys situation in advance, so she wasnt panicking.

She stood up and smiled,

Theres no need to be frightened. All those here are Lord Liams servants. Hey you people, start escorting Lady Rosetta.

The female knights supported Rosetta as they led her to the back.

The maids followed afterwards, and when they disappeared, the knights sheathed their swords.

Lets see, now I have to

As Marie was thinking about what to do next, Kukuri appeared from the shadows,

Marie, we have a situation.

Ill deal with it later. Right now Im busy with Lord Liams orders.

She tried to ignore him, but Kukuri didnt yield,

That Lord Liam is currently being attacked by the Berkley family.

A blue vein appeared on Maries forehead and her pupils shook.

The surrounding knights broke out in cold sweat at her intimidating figure.

what did you say?

It looks like the people in charge of supervising the Claudia house have decided that Lord Liam was in their way.

The wilderness of the tournament venue.

Surrounding me were dozens of pirate aircrafts.

Among them, I could Derricks aircraft.

It looks like he prepared a new model for today.

LIAAAAAAAA~M! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIIIIIII~S!!!

Derrick tried to make himself sound intimidating, but he was the one whos been constantly running away from me in school.

I just wanted to have fun with him, and yet he always found some way to escape.

Seriously he wasnt able to alleviate my boredom in the slightest.

Dont run away this time.

You bastard, Ill compliment you for pretending to be tough despite the situation, but dont think Ill let you die that easily. No help is coming for you, Ive already made sure of that. And its not just me! The guys who are in charge of supervising the Claudia house have decided that youre in the way!

I didnt really know what he was talking about, but I could figure it out.

Ive heard that there were officials assigned to supervise the Claudia house, and if Rosetta and I got married, then theyd be out of the job.

Im sure this troubled them to the point where they were willing to make rash decisions like this.

I see. I think I understand now then, is this all right?

Huh?

The number of aircrafts surrounding me didnt even reach a hundred.

Im asking you if youve brought enough. I just recently had Avid renovated, but I couldnt really test it out in the previous match. Prepare a few more.

D-dont you look down on me! Get him!

The pirate aircrafts rushed towards me at Derricks command.

Their performance seemed to be pretty good.

They might look like pirate models, but they might actually be new ones.

Okay, at least with this much I can test Avids new specs a little.

When I grabbed the control stick and moved the aircraft, the surrounding machines were blown away.

Oh, isnt this actually pretty amazing?

I commended Avid because it was able to reproduce the One-Flash better than before.

Should I give Nias some praise later too?

As I considered what reward I should give her, the pirates continued to gather.

While I checked the condition of the aircraft, I couldnt help but be impressed with how smooth all of Avids movements were as I dealt with my opponents.

Youre doing great Avid! Now lets try this out!

I was glad to be able to test Avids performance against Derricks pirates.

They felt a little more crunchy than the pirates I usually dealt with.

But that was it.

Then, as I continued to decimate them, one of the aircrafts tried to escape.

Bastard, where the hell do you think youre going?!

After chasing down and impaling the fleeing aircraft, the rest of the machines stopped moving.

Even Derrick was quiet.

Now then, continue to entertain me!

Hundreds of pirate ships were trembling as they watched the footage sent to them.

what the hell is he?

Somebody muttered,

H-hes the devil.

The appearance of Liam happily slaughtering pirates looked no different than a demonic being to them.

New models were being scrapped one after another.

The captain shouted,

W-were retreating! If we stay in a place like this, well become a part of his hunt!

The captain, who decided to abandon Derrick and escape, was stopped by an official.

What about our deal?! Werent you going to help us kill Liam?!

How the hell are we supposed to kill someone like that?! You guys can go and assassinate him yourselves!

The confused official blurted out,

Its because we failed to assassinate him that we asked for your assistance!

Then suddenly, multiple masked personages in black rose up from their shadows.

They came out squirming, and started killing the pirates.

What the hell?!

The head of the captain who cried out was crushed by Kukuris large hand.

Oh, how fragile. The pirates of old had stronger bones. Now then the official over there, theres something Id like to ask of you.

Stay away! I-Im an imperial official!

Kukuri and his subordinates gathered around him after killing the surrounding pirates.

Now then, you just said something I couldnt let pass. What did you mean when you said we failed to assassinate him? Whos we?

One of Kukuris subordinates laughed as he stabbed the officials thigh with a knife.

MY LEG!!!

Kukuri grabbed the head of the crying official,

Oops, please excuse my subordinate there. Even Im troubled with how bloodthirsty they can get. Now back to the question, who sent the kill order?

Even though the official screamed, help didnt come.

Looking at the monitor, he could see their ships being attacked by the Banfield houses fleet.

H-how?

To the trembling official, Kukuri began to explain,

Oh, when we told Lord Liam about your plans, we were ordered to allow you to drop the mobile knights because he thought itd be interesting. They seemed about perfect for the renovated Avids test run. I believe they were supposed to be new models?

From the already infiltrated pirate ship, they were permitted to send out the new machines down to the planet.

If they were to run away or cancel their plans, they were to be killed the only path left for them was to fight Liam.

Looking at the footage of the venue, the image of Liam toying with all the pirates that dropped in on him was being displayed.

The frames of the new aircrafts were being destroyed one after another and being piled up.

It was doubtful whether Avid could even be considered a mobile knight anymore. Its performance and appearance was completely different from the standard.

The new models didnt stand a chance.

P-please have mercy.

Pardon~?

Have mercy! Ill tell you everything! Just spare me, please!

Kukuri smiled at the officials words, but it didnt reach his eyes,

Too bad~ What I said earlier was a lie we cant forgive you. In truth, weve already investigated all the important information you could possibly know, so we never really needed you in the first place. Now then, I bid you farewell.

Kukuri crushed the officials head.

Inside the hangar.

The officials who were supervising Rosetta were panicking.

Hey, what the hell is going on?!

The pirates arent strong enough to kill Liam!

In anycase, we need to secure Rosetta! As long as we have her as a hostage, then they wont be able to touch us!

While they were in a heated discussion, they could suddenly hear the clicking of heels.

Click Click The faint sound strangely carried all the way to their ears.

Thats when they noticed that a woman had appeared near them.

W-who the hell are you?!

As one of them shouted that out, his head went flying.

The woman was holding a sword in each of her hands.

They looked like kitchen knives but expanded to the size of swords.

Im amazed that his foolish order is still going on after two millennia. I can still remember the face of the man who laughed as he had me petrified in stone.

The officials couldnt understand what the woman was talking about.

When they tried to draw their weapons, their arms were cut off.

Y-you bitch, if you think you can get away with

He tried to shout that they were imperial officials, but she said that she already knew that.

After stabbing a sword into one of the officers, she grabbed the jaw of the leader with her free hand and crushed it.

GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Dont bother talking. You die here. the subordinates of the man who caused my two millennia of suffering, I can sleep soundly knowing that Im the one who killed you.

The woman who didnt listen to their words seemed insane.

One of them shouted,

W-were just following the orders of the late Emperor!

I know! And thats why Ill kill you!

The official lost his life after being vertically sliced by the woman.

The cut was beautiful and clean.

In deference of the loyalty youve shown by following thats fools orders, Ill send you all to whatever hell hes in. Make sure to convey to him my message Marie has been revived.

The remaining officials started trembling.

They knew the truth about what happened two thousand years ago.

Marie? As in, Marie of the Three Knights?!

The head of the surprised official was cut off, the blood spray dyeing the womans cheek red.

Im so glad to serve Lord Liam. I feel like those two thousand years of suffering was all for this. This has to be fate.

While immersed in euphoria, the woman continued her slaughter.

There werent anymore enemies descending from the sky.

The surroundings were filled with their destroyed debris, Derricks aircraft being the only survivor despite its legs having been cut off.

H-have mercy! Ill do anything! Anything!

Despite all the threats he made earlier, he bored me.

I threw the pirate machine I was holding away and stepped on Derricks aircraft.

Seeing Derrick try to desperately escape with just his arms was really funny.

Now what should I do with you?

I-Ill never go against you again! So please spare me! I dont want to die!

You dont want to die? Then tell me, why should I let you live?

Against my expectations, Derrick actually started speaking quite fluently,

Ill give you anything! Whether its money or women, Ill get you anything you want! T-thats right, what about elixirs? Do you want those too?

He had elixirs?

I want them.

I have a special device. With that, any amount is possible. If you spare me, I can prepare as many of them as you want!

It felt great to see Derrick beg for his life.

But I wasnt interested in his offer.

The guide will prepare for me whatever I want.

Just like the alchemy box or the mysterious sword, anything I wanted naturally fell into my hands like fate.

There was no need for me to rely on him.

Besides, elixirs could always be purchased with money.

Hmm I have enough of them already, so Im taking your life.

W-wait, this is different from our promise!

I dont remember making one though?

In my previous life, I was deceived by debt collectors and made miserable.

They didnt keep their promises either.

So why should I?

Are you really going to kill me?! Just a little while ago, werent you the one that offered to spare me?!

That was a lie. I dont have a reason to keep you alive. Itd also be troublesome if you were revitalised by an elixir, so Ill make sure to kill you carefully.

S-STAY AWAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!

Its your fault for making me your enemy.

When my sword had pierced into the cockpit of the new model, Derricks voice disappeared.

As I lifted up the aircraft impaled on my sword, communications were restored.

The timing was perfect, it felt like it got cut off right before my rampage.

If this battle was broadcasted live, then I definitely wouldve been stopped.

Thinking so, I couldnt help but feel really lucky.

One of the elementary school teachers started yelling with a pale face,

Somebody, call for a rescue team!

They seemed to be confused by the situation, but it couldnt be helped.

Professor, its too late. Theyre already dead.

Its a well known rule that you have to be prepared for death when you enter the tournament.

It wasnt my responsibility if Derrick died, and I wasnt afraid of some provincial Baron houses retaliation.

Swinging my blade, I threw Derricks aircraft to the ground.

Then crushed it under my foot.

Thats all they amounted to. Even if small fish gather together, theyre still only small fish.

While I laughed, the teacher looked stunned.

My surroundings were filled with wreckage it couldnt be helped since I had to destroy hundreds of aircrafts.

With that, I couldnt help but be pleased with Avids improved performance.

It was a good test run.

For that alone, Ill give thanks to Derrick.

The audience seats.

Somebody asked,

Who could fight against that?

These were the true feelings of the nobility.

The Berkley family were known as the Pirate Nobles.

While the Banfield house gained their power through pirate hunting.

If the two fought one another, the result was obvious.

In such a quiet venue, the weapon factory representatives were desperately trying to hold back their laughter.

But Nias already was.

Its disappointing that I couldnt see the new model of the First Weapons Factory getting destroyed by Avid, but this should make the difference between us clear.

This applied to all the weapon factories, not just the first. All the representatives were hurriedly trying to escape the audience seats.

Wallace turned to Nias,

All the engineers and scientists will see you as a threat. Do you know what this bodes for the future? You essentially declared war on them just like how Liam did to the Berkley family.

To Wallace, who was foreboding the dangers to come, Kurt said,

But if I know Liam, then hell force his way to victory.

You sure?

More importantly, what about the tournament?

Kurt was more worried about the event being cancelled.

The school seemed to have judged that it was impossible to continue in their current state.

Nias shoulders dropped,

No way~! I wanted to see more of Avids majestic figure!

Wallace was amazed at seeing Nias genuinely disappointed by this development,

For you to say that in this atmosphere As I thought, the people involved with Liam truly are strange.

Wallace shook his head in relent.