Chapter 7
In an instant, Franklin leaped in front of her.
She dashed forward like the wind, wielding a butcher’s knife toward the man who claimed to be a pirate hunter.
It was hard to believe this was the same Franklin, who usually displayed a slightly sluggish demeanour.
Watching this unfold, Ambasha found her heart racing unexpectedly.
‘She looks so cool…’
The butcher’s knife glimmered with an intense light, a sight that sent shivers down Ambasha’s spine.
Though she couldn’t pinpoint why, it felt strangely familiar—almost instinctively unsettling.
Ambasha firmly engraved this moment into her memory while cautiously fiddling with something hidden in her bosom.
‘Should I use it now? The thing Father gave me…’
It was an item given to her for emergencies, instructing her to use it when danger struck.
However, she pulled her hand back and chose instead to focus on the scene unfolding before her.
With each clash of Franklin’s knife against the man’s sword, a jolt coursed through her entire body.
It felt as if something within her was awakening.
***
-Screeeech!!!!
A sharp sound resonated in her ears.
The clash of magic against magic sent chills through everyone present.
This wasn’t just a simple clash of iron weapons.
Magical energy wrapped around the swords, spinning rapidly in mid-air.
This technique, known as “condensation,” was regarded as the beginning and end of all magical manipulation.
In the hands of a skilled warrior, it could fell a mighty tree with a rusty sword in one strike.
In such a display of overwhelming power, Magellan couldn’t help but frown.
‘This woman… she’s strong!’
In an instant, she was pressing forward, delivering powerful strikes.
Although her face was obscured by her hood and she was shorter in stature, Magellan—a seasoned warrior and notorious bounty hunter—could tell in an instant that she was no ordinary opponent.
His beloved sword, Calalbog, was being pushed back by the power infused in her butcher’s knife.
The magic coursing through her weapon glowed crimson, meeting the equally radiant energy flowing from Magellan’s sword, indicating she was at least at the level of an advanced 7th Rank warrior.
At this level, she could single-handedly take down hundreds of soldiers, comparable to the might of a national general or a commander of a knight order. Magellan found her to be a formidable opponent indeed.
Beyond mere strength, this pirate had something quite unique about her.
***
-Clang!
Once again, she swung her butcher’s knife with ferocious speed.
Having faced many foes before, Magellan found her fighting style distinctly peculiar.
It strayed far from the forms and elegance of conventional swordsmanship.
It was akin to butchering meat—rough yet surprisingly efficient.
The way she swung her knife aimed to strip flesh and bone, embodying a brutal yet effective approach to combat.
This rawness in her movements forced Magellan to struggle, but at the same time, he felt a fresh sense of intrigue.
‘Not bad, huh? No wonder the Duke was willing to part with so much money for this… But…’
He had to acknowledge that his opponent’s skill was far from ordinary.
At this level, they were at least equal in strength.
However…
-Bang!!!
A sudden bullet flew through the air.
Franklin swiftly swung her knife to deflect it.
Despite being in a position where she shouldn’t be hit, she moved her body deliberately to defend.
The reason was simple.
Behind her…
The girl in question stood there.
Having witnessed Franklin throw herself in front of the bullet just a moment ago, they understood.
For reasons unknown, she cared deeply for that girl.
In other words, if they launched an attack toward the girl, the pirate would undoubtedly try to block it.
Fair play? That kind of thing doesn’t apply in this line of work.
No matter how dirty the tricks used, winning was all that mattered.
With that in mind, Magellan seized the opportunity created by the absence of fair play and swung his Blade Calalbog with precision.
“Ha!”
-Clang!!!
The pirate woman narrowly defended against the falling black sword.
However, the moment the flow was disrupted, Magellan pulled the pendulum of balance toward himself and shifted into an offensive stance.
While his speed was slightly slower, he still had the advantage in raw power.
To prevent his opponent from swinging her sword, Magellan increased his magical output and pressed forward with his attack.
“Ha!”
-Smack!!!
Magellan swung his sword toward the now vulnerable opponent.
The blow landed, inflicting a wound on her shoulder.
Blood gushed forth.
Realizing that the tides of battle had fully turned, a broad smile began to spread across Magellan’s face.
***
‘This… this isn’t good…’
The intense pain radiating from her shoulder gripped Franklin with profound shock and regret.
When the battle began, she had felt a sense of confidence.
Despite her timid nature, her combat prowess was on par with that of one of the Pirate King’s top officers.
With a bounty of 2530 Talar, she was a formidable warrior on the verge of reaching the level of a 10th Rank warrior.
She could sweep away most enemies in an instant, and it seemed only natural to assume that this time would be no different.
Above all, she was finally in a position to protect someone else… Ambasha.
Her desire to show a brilliant side as an older sister spurred Franklin to choose immediate combat over a clumsy escape.
However, there were two variables she hadn’t anticipated in this situation.
One was that her opponent was among the strongest she had ever faced.
Magellan was a powerful figure known even on the sea.
While he may not have been known in other waters, almost no one among the pirates of the Mediterranean was unaware of his name.
The problem was that Franklin was one of the few who had never heard of him.
Had she not been the reclusive girl who had spent all her time in the kitchen, she surely would have recognized Magellan’s name.
It wasn’t just surprise; she was genuinely bewildered when she expressed that she had never heard of him.
‘Well… if he’s strong enough to mess with one of the Pirate King’s officers, then he must be quite formidable…’
There was no way he would attack her without knowing about the notorious Golden Beard Ezra Drake.
She must have been this confident because she believed she could defeat her opponent and escape cleanly.
And another variable in her opponent’s strength was that Magellan and his crew were even more ruthless than she had anticipated.
Their attitude was dismissive of a one-on-one battle; they were openly firing bullets at the young girl to gain an advantage in the fight.
From their earlier conversation, it seemed their target wasn’t Franklin but Ambasha, yet they had no qualms about such actions.
Caught off guard by these unexpected variables, Franklin felt the tide of battle turning against her.
Regret washed over her.
Because of her recklessness, not only was she in danger, but Ambasha was as well. If she had just escaped, things wouldn’t have escalated to this extent.
Her needless greed and complacency had led her into a perilous situation.
However…
Instead of succumbing to despair and confusion in this situation, Franklin clenched her hand around the knife, forcing herself to maintain her composure.
“I have to take responsibility… at this point… at least for Ambasha…”
She couldn’t just sit back and give up. Her legs trembled, and dizziness washed over her, but she endured.
If she fell apart here, it would mean danger for both herself and Ambasha.
She steeled her mind and collected her thoughts.
There was a way.
If she could buy time using ‘that method’…
There was a chance Ambasha could escape.
With her resolve solidified…
She felt gratitude toward Ambasha, who allowed her to think even in such a dire situation.
And… for the first time in her life, she felt thankful for possessing this strength.
Slowly, Franklin pushed back the hood that covered her face.
At that moment…
-Boom!
“…?!”
A sound came from behind her, followed by something shooting up into the sky.
As memories associated with it came rushing back, Franklin’s expression changed in an instant.
***
Clearly cornered, her opponent found himself in a precarious situation.
In other words, the success of the mission and the ensuing piles of money were right in front of him, and Magellan shouted with excitement.
“It seems like it’s about time to settle this, huh? If you surrender quietly, I might spare your life.”
Of course, if the pirate had a hefty bounty on their head, he would turn them over to the navy, but at least it wouldn’t be him who killed them; it wasn’t a lie.
Just then…
“…”
A pirate slowly looked in his direction, placing a hand on the deeply pulled-down hood.
Curiosity surged within Magellan, who had been wondering what her face looked like throughout the battle. With victory almost certain, he felt a slight thrill.
Being a woman, he wondered what kind of beautiful face might lie beneath that hood.
However…
“…Huh!”
“Hiiik!”
The moment he saw the eyes within the hood, which was slightly pushed back, Magellan felt a chill.
It was simply… frightening.
Regardless of beauty or ugliness, if he happened to see that face in the middle of the night, he would faint at worst or be at least startled.
The shadow cast by the hood, which had not been fully pushed back, made it feel even more terrifying.
However, before this emotion could fully settle, they began to feel a different ominous sensation.
“…W-wait a minute… That… that woman can’t be…”
“…Huh? What do you mean?”
“N-no, it’s just…”
As he thought it looked frightening, he also felt an oddly familiar sensation from that face.
It was at that moment, when one of Magellan’s subordinates was uncertain about the origin of that familiarity.
-Boom!
“!?”
Suddenly, a firecracker-like sound rang out.
As golden smoke shot up into the sky, they all clearly recalled one individual in their minds.
“…P-pirate… King…?”
“What?”
It was already too late.
—
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