Chapter 37

Far out in the open ocean, far away from the port town of Angus.

The high seas leading to the coastal nations were dominated not by the navies of various countries, but by raiders who spanned across borders—a faction of pirates.

They were never a massive organization.

However, they stood out far above the rest for their sheer cunning.

They held strong influence over the port towns that served as the gateways for nations, as well as the naval headquarters of each country.

The upper echelons, having been greased by bribes, grew corrupt, while the men at the bottom were plundered by the pirates.

The pirates, growing fat and bloated through such means, used their money to ensure their own survival; a kind of political bargaining was taking place.

The one who shattered that system was the Fieran Kingdom’s naval admiral, Sir Curtis McBride.

In her previous life, ignoring the words of the upper echelons who had been tempted by bribes, Curtis had launched an attack on the pirates’ stronghold on his own authority.

Thus, the rotten old system was swept away, and the open ocean welcomed a new era where trade flourished.

“Which ship has a longer cannon range, this vessel or the pirate ship?”

Standing on the deck, Diana looked up at Sir Curtis McBride, who stood with his arms crossed and glared at the cluster of pirate vessels.

“Our ship’s range is vastly superior, of course.”

The reply was just as she had expected.

There was simply no comparison between pirate vessels largely mixed with outdated ships and the cutting-edge warship poured with the technological prowess of the Fieran Kingdom.

“If that is the case, then we should be fine.”

At Diana’s words, Curtis raised a single eyebrow.

When Curtis had subjugated the pirate stronghold in her previous life, the Fieran side had suffered a considerable number of casualties.

In any battle, casualties were inevitable.

In itself, that was nothing out of the ordinary.

However—if unnecessary sacrifices could be avoided, there was nothing better than that, Diana believed.

“The fact that they are not firing means they are still out of their range, I take it?”

“Aye. Though they are well within ours.”

At Curtis’s words, Diana nodded in satisfaction.

“In that case, please proceed as you see fit.”

“…What do you mean?”

Curtis’s narrowly squinted eyes pierced straight through Diana.

“Because their ships will not be able to draw any closer to us than this.”

It was not only Curtis who was surprised by those words.

The sailors present on the deck, as well as Alan, all widened their eyes and looked at Diana.

Next, the gazes of the people turned back toward the pirate vessels.

Around the pirate ships alone, the white froth of the waves turned into a rigid light, and the gentle lapping of the water morphed into a harsh “creaking” sound.

“That is—”

“Ice is forming around the pirate ships?!”

At the sailors’ astonished cries, Diana wore an enchanting smile.

The power to freeze the vast ocean water solid—realizing whose doing this was, the crew cast fearful gazes toward the woman standing on the deck.

“A terrifying thought… but truly rational.”

“After all, one feels no pangs of conscience when dealing with pirates.”

Diana laughed at Curtis’s remark.

A bombardment commenced immediately, raining cannonballs down upon a target that could no longer move.

The pirate ships fired back with their own cannons and ballistae, but they stood no chance of bridging the difference in range.

The pirates’ usual tactic was to close in and launch violent boarding and raiding actions.

Even if their older-model ships had a shorter range, it posed no problem once they slipped inside the opponent’s guard.

However, what was happening now could no longer be called combat; it was a one-sided slaughter.

At a distance where outdated cannons and ballistae could not reach, the screams of the pirates could not be heard.

Even so, the decks continuously battered by relentless cannonballs must have surely been transformed into a howling abyss of hell.

Diana deliberately averted her eyes from the pirate ships.

She had no intention of dragging this out any longer than necessary.

Not just to “win,” but to “end it”; that was the answer Diana had reached.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah…”

Alan pulled Diana close, steadying her as she tended to sway slightly on the unfamiliar ship.

Held in his strong arms, Diana’s cheeks flushed faintly.

“You must have exhausted a considerable amount of magic. You should lean on me for a while.”

“Yes.”

In stark contrast to the fearful gazes of the crew, the look her husband directed at her was endlessly sweet.

No matter how vast her reserves of magic power might be, or what terrifying spells she could unleash, Diana was, after all, simply a woman suffering from severe seasickness.

And Alan was the only one who truly knew that.

“The old saying has always warned us never to meddle with the Kingdom of Rutledge, and now I see why.”

No, besides Alan, there was one other person who understood.

Twisting his lips into a cynical smirk, Curtis watched the two of them closely.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. It’s an old adage passed down among the coastal nations: ‘Do not approach the shores of Rutledge, lest the fiend bare its fangs before the sea itself.’ That is what they say.”

Curtis replied bluntly to Alan’s inquiry.

Aside from the Fieran Kingdom, the coastal nations had virtually no diplomatic ties or deep relations with the Kingdom of Rutledge.

What kind of tales were handed down in a distant country across the sea… Alan’s eyes narrowed with a flicker of wariness as he stared down Curtis.

“Was it called the Five Great Noble Families? I hear they have some troublesome guardians.”

“It can hardly be called the Five Great Noble Families any longer.”

Diana let out a small laugh.

The Five Great Noble Families that had once supposedly propped up the Kingdom of Rutledge… half of them had already fallen.

The only ones remaining in their original standing were the House of Gazard and the House of Eldred.

“Hmph… At the very least, the name Gazard rings a bell.”

“It is an ancient house indeed, but if one could achieve things on lineage alone, nobody would ever struggle.”

Diana smoothly deflected Curtis’s probing, though inwardly she was far from amused.

Because she belonged to the Five Great Noble Families, because she was born to a prestigious lineage—every time Diana achieved outstanding results, those were the only things people attributed it to.

(Perhaps bloodline does play a part, to be sure; even though I became this proficient in magecraft solely through the sheer accumulation of diligent training.)

Whether he sensed Diana’s inner thoughts or not, Alan’s arm tightened its hold around her slender shoulders.

“…Wait, something is wrong.”

Suddenly, one of the sailors cried out.

Observing the state of the pirate ships, he stumbled back a few paces and widened his eyes.

“The pirate ships are being attacked by something!”

The lookout’s voice echoed across the deck.