Chapter 4
Ambasha decided to become a pirate.
She wasn’t exactly sure what being a pirate entailed, but—
She figured it was far better than being a slave.
The ‘father’ who gently patted her head instead of punching it when she cried.
The vice-captain who smiled kindly and guided her instead of kicking her away at their first meeting.
Just the fact that she didn’t have to suppress her pain like when she was a slave made her genuinely feel relieved.
However, at this very moment—
Ambasha found herself slightly bewildered upon entering the cabin as instructed by the vice-captain.
Standing before her was a woman.
She wore several butcher’s knives around her waist, and her long brown bangs hung down, covering half of her face.
The dark circles under her black eyes only added to her menacing look.
Exuding an eerie aura, reminiscent of a serial killer ready to tear someone apart, she stood holding a blood-dripping knife, silently staring down at Ambasha.
With a presence like a vengeful spirit that had crawled out from the depths of the ocean, she looked as if she could shred a person to pieces at any moment.
She kept quiet, glancing down at the knife in her hand, while Ambasha, staring up at her blankly, was frozen in place.
A finely sharpened butcher’s knife.
Even a mere swing of that blood-soaked blade could easily turn someone like Ambasha into minced meat.
Caressing the sharp, gleaming knife with her fingers—
The woman—
Whose name was Franklin Cook Shadiko—
Thought the following:
‘Somebody, Please Help Me…’
***
A member of the Golden Beard Pirate Group—
Franklin Cook Shadiko.
Her role on the ship was head cook.
If the ship were a military unit, she’d be equivalent to a master sergeant in charge of the kitchen… no, more like a chief warrant officer.
She had been preparing dinner until just moments ago, but after being summoned by the vice-captain, she now found herself in an overwhelmingly uncomfortable situation.
The girl staring blankly up at her—
The new ‘recruit’ who just joined—
Seeing her made Franklin feel like she was about to cry.
She had been assigned to cabin duty today, which meant she was responsible for handling interior work on the ship.
According to regulations, she was also in charge of managing new recruits and teaching them the basics.
But the fact that a child—not even an adult—had been brought onboard threw her into a panic.
And now, as that child continued to stare at her, she could do nothing but fidget with the knife she held out of nervousness.
She knew it all too well—
That she had a terrifying face.
Eighty percent of the people who locked eyes with her in back alleys fainted or collapsed on the spot, crying.
Back in her hometown, she had been treated as a witch or a ghost.
Even after joining the pirate group, thanks to the captain’s generosity, people still referred to her as the ‘Sea Witch Shadiko.’
But despite her terrifying appearance and the rumours surrounding her, outside of battle, she had a fragile mentality comparable to glass… no, more like thin sugar candy.
If others cried from seeing her face, she’d feel hurt and cry along with them.
Especially when it came to cute children crying—those instances hit her with 200% more damage.
In situations like this, she had no idea how to react.
‘W-why did a child have to join on my shift…? She’s on the verge of tears just from looking at me. What am I supposed to do about this…? No, I don’t want this… Please help me, Captain, I can’t handle this…!’
Staring at the girl who seemed on the verge of tears, Franklin felt completely helpless.
Just then—
“You’re beautiful…”
“Huh?”
A voice unexpected came from the girl’s lips.
It wasn’t a teary voice—
Nor words squeezed out under duress—
But a genuine statement of admiration.
Momentarily, the panicking Franklin’s face went blank.
Wondering if she had misheard—
“B-beautiful…? M-me…?”
“Yes, you’re really beautiful, Big sister!”
“Ah…”
Hearing a compliment like that for only the second time in her life, Franklin momentarily lost her composure.
The turmoil inside her heart began to settle, and her cheeks flushed slightly.
The mental state that had been on the brink of collapse slowly steadied itself.
And—
Watching Franklin’s reaction—
Ambasha thought to herself:
‘So beautiful… If it’s this big sister, she could surely send many people kindly to heaven, right?’
Her beauty seemed to radiate an aura of delivering eternal peace to many souls.
With a pure sense of awe, Ambasha’s eyes twinkled brightly.
***
“…”
“Hm…”
“Y-you understand, right? Keep the latch locked like this. If someone forgets and leaves it open, secure it immediately and inform the vice-captain or the navigator.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
The scene unfolding in front of the cabin window—
Though it was the natural outcome, neither the vice-captain nor I could have imagined seeing it play out this way.
We were momentarily at a loss for words.
And then—
“Hand it over. One Talar.”
“… Damn it…”
After receiving what I was owed—
I watched Ambasha casually conversing with Franklin, feeling genuinely intrigued.
It wasn’t just because a young girl was getting along so well with someone whose appearance could even startle me—
‘I never imagined I’d see the day those two could smile and chat like this…’
Franklin Cook Shadiko.
A minor character and field boss-level antagonist who was killed by the protagonist in the original story.
Initially, she was merely a woman mistreated due to her appearance, but over time, as the harassment intensified, she eventually lost her sanity and became a psychopathic killer.
After massacring the villagers who tormented her, she wandered as a monster that craved human flesh until she was finally slain by the protagonist. That was the extent of her role in the original story.
A character with no quests or appearances beyond her tragic death—
In other words, she was a pitiful existence with no chance of redemption in the original work.
When I encountered her at a port town during one of my trips, I extended a hand to her after some deliberation.
At the time, Franklin had yet to descend into madness and was simply a pitiable woman being bullied for her looks.
Even when facing her directly, the status window didn’t react, and given her negligible significance in the original plot, I believed taking her in wouldn’t cause any problems.
Now—
She has become an integral member of our pirate crew.
Despite some lingering awkwardness, she was earnestly teaching Ambasha various things.
Seeing Franklin, who once needed to be put down by the original protagonist, now smiling shyly—
I watched from outside the window, and once again—
I felt a serene smile form on my lips, convinced that my decision was the right one.
***
Ezra Drake—whose fame as the Pirate King was matched only by his immense strength and infamy.
The number of enemies who fell by his hands could populate an entire city, and his merciless actions against the nobility were enough to make even those who knew him shiver.
Yet, despite his abilities and fearsome reputation, he had a surprisingly lenient side.
He’d free slaves at no cost, carry out requests from honest merchants fairly, or even show mercy to worthy opponents.
This strength, tempered with leniency, garnered him the support of many and greatly aided him in ascending to the title of Pirate King.
However…
Such behaviour also caused quite a bit of trouble—
Like right now…
“What… what did you say? The ships transporting the slaves were completely annihilated?”
“Y-yes, Your Grace, that filthy Pirate King and his crew were responsible…”
The messenger, who had narrowly escaped by disguising himself as a slave, relayed his report.
Listening to this, the person in charge of this slave transaction—
A middle-aged man with a rotund frame and thick jowls—
Duke Oaklean scowled, his face twisted with rage as he posed the question about the thing he most valued.
“What… what about Philipp? What happened to that woman slave with the cross-shaped scar that he always kept by his side?”
“M-Marquis Philipp is dead. And… although I didn’t get a good look, it appears that the woman slave has joined the pirate crew…”
“What nonsense are you spouting! I specifically planted you on that ship with orders to retrieve her, no matter what!”
“T-there was nothing I could do…! What could I have possibly done in that situation? Our opponent was the Pirate King! Had I made a move, I’d have lost my life as well… Kuuuurgh!!!”
Suddenly, a dagger thrown by Duke Oaklean embedded itself in the subordinate’s shoulder.
Watching him collapse and bleed out on the ground, the Duke seethed with rage as he spoke.
“Worthless fool. How dare you offer excuses, you wretch. You should have succeeded in your mission, even at the cost of your life!”
With that command, he gestured for the injured man to be dragged away.
As the man, bleeding and writhing in pain, disappeared from sight—
The Duke, gripped by anxiety, began biting his nails.
“I can’t just let it end like this… I’ve waited so long for the chance to defile that woman… There’s no way I’ll let some lowly pirates rob me of my pleasure!”
Whether Pirate King or not, he was of noble Franz Royal Blood.
Someone of his stature could not suffer such humiliation at the hands of those with lowly blood.
Feeling a burning rage, the Duke rose and began walking somewhere.
“I’ll reclaim her, no matter what… Ambasha, you belong to me! I won’t let anyone else take you!”
—
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