The pirate ships, having found their prey, sounded their horns with glee.
They had reinforced hull plating bolted onto their exteriors, but perhaps due to poor maintenance, rust had eaten away at them in patches. Seen at night, they could easily be mistaken for wrecks—or even ghost ships. Their filthy, ramshackle appearance was completely out of place in the clear, pristine northern seas.
‘Leaving port doesn’t mean you won’t run into trouble, I suppose.’
Originally, there were only a handful of pirates active in the northern seas, including around the Kingdom of Sevilla. But recently, with so many people flooding north over matters related to Hyperborea, the number of pirates had surged as well.
With science advancing and steel ships roaming the seas, one might think pirates would diminish—but reality was different. Naturally, pirates adapted with the times as well. Their ships changed, and their methods of capture only became more cunning and vicious.
‘Even on Earth, Somali pirates were active well into the 21st century. In a place like this, it’s hardly surprising.’
In fact, pirates from other regions had also heard the news and flocked here. These ones were no exception. Otherwise, even pirates wouldn’t dare drool at the sight of a ship bearing the emblem of the Selmore family.
“Hey, boys! That’s an expensive ship! Take it clean and strip it bare!”
“Whooo!”
Three ships spread out, widening their formation as they moved to encircle them.
Cannons mounted on the decks were turned in their direction.
The crew members who had been working on deck came out to see what was going on, gasped when they saw the pirate ships—and then, as if nothing were wrong, calmly headed back inside to resume their work.
Hans didn’t even come out to ask what was happening.
‘Well, of course. It’s a Selmore family ship, after all.’
On board this ship was Casey Selmore.
That Azure of Water mage.
Did those pirates even realize it?
That although she could only use a single element—water magic—she was a color mage who could therefore control all water that existed in nature.
‘And this is the middle of the sea, no less.’
As the pirates slowly tightened the encirclement, they appeared on deck, brandishing their weapons. Gun barrels were trained on them, as if to warn that any foolish move would earn a hole through the body.
Ludger merely watched the scene with indifference.
He didn’t even feel angry. If they were volunteering to leap into a fire pit, who was he to stop them?
If anything, he almost felt sorry for them. For some reason, Casey looked to be in a very bad mood right now.
‘No. Not just bad—she looks a little angry.’
Her tightly clenched fist, trembling faintly, was proof enough.
Casey glared at the pirate ships with blazing eyes.
“Of all things, pirates have to show up now to get in my way? And at sea, no less?”
Casey unleashed her mana. An oppressive aura, mixed with suffocating killing intent, spread out and swallowed the space around them.
Her mana slid smoothly over the ship’s railing and seeped into the sea.
Boom!
A massive vibration echoed from deep within the water. The pirate ships, sensing the shockwave, all came to a halt at once.
“Hey! What the hell is going on?!”
“S-Sir! The engine just died!”
“Didn’t you maintain it properly?! Why would the engine die now?!”
“Captain... something’s not right....”
Several pirates with long experience at sea sensed that something was terribly wrong.
But there was nothing they could do. On the ocean, they were faster than almost any ship—but that was only because they had yet to encounter a true natural enemy.
SPLAAASH!
Columns of water erupted around the pirate ships. Like mines detonating, massive pillars of water shot upward with explosive force, completely sealing off the pirates’ escape routes.
“Aaagh! The ship’s shaking!”
“Grab the railings!”
“What the hell is that?!”
Each water pillar was over ten meters thick, towering high enough to swallow ships whole before freezing in place. Spray flew in all directions.
Countless droplets refracted the sunlight, scattering it brilliantly. Rainbows formed and faded repeatedly around the pirate ships.
But despite the beautiful sight, the pirates’ faces were filled only with terror. Their complexions turned deathly pale.
They had realized, far too late, that what they had thought were water columns from explosions bore the shape of enormous dragon heads.
“M-Monsters!”
Numerous water dragons burst up through the sea surface, growling low and menacingly.
Towering horns, razor-sharp teeth, twisted faces—these water dragons were the embodiment of Casey’s rage.
KROOOAAAH!
The roar boomed like thunder, freezing the pirates’ bodies in place.
A few pirates, half-mad with fear, aimed their guns—but it was useless.
Water dragons, formed entirely of water, took no damage from bullets or cannon fire.
CRUNCH!
One of the water dragons bit down on a pirate ship.
The steel-reinforced hull, built for durability, was torn apart with absurd ease.
The dragon’s teeth themselves carried immense water pressure, and the torrents of water spinning between them acted like high-speed water jets.
Under an attack equivalent to pressure more than ten times that of the deepest abyss, the pirate ship couldn’t endure and shattered apart. One by one, pirates fell into the sea, clinging desperately to broken debris.
In an instant, one pirate ship was dismantled. It took less than ten seconds.
The cannons of another pirate ship hurriedly turned toward them.
‘Some of them are quick on the uptake.’
Thinking that all they needed to do was take down Casey—the source of this disaster—they opened fire.
Flames and cannon blasts erupted. Shells tore through the air, flying straight toward the Selmore family ship.
But—
SPLASH!
A colossal wall of water rose up and swallowed the cannonballs first.
The massive wave surged like a tidal wave, then reversed direction at Casey’s gesture and crashed back toward the pirate ship.
“This... this is impossible.”
One of the pirates muttered as he stared at the oncoming tsunami.
CRAAAASH!
The wave engulfed the pirate ship. It was like a giant made of water chewing up a tiny cracker in a single bite.
The ship was tossed about within the wave, torn apart piece by piece. When the wave finally subsided and the sea grew calm again, pirates and wreckage bobbed helplessly on the surface.
The last remaining ship was surrounded by water dragons, unable to move.
Casey extended her hand toward it, then lightly clenched her fist.
CRUNCH!
The water dragons twisted together like braided ropes, tightening around the pirate ship.
Unable to withstand the pressure, the ship crumbled as easily as a biscuit.
Casey looked down coldly at the pirates drifting on the sea.
She seemed to consider doing something more, then suddenly let out a sigh.
Whooooo.
A small whirlpool formed on the surface, gathering the wreckage and pirates into one place.
The debris slowly merged together, forming a small island.
Casey placed all the fallen pirates on top of it °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° and drew the water clinging to their bodies away.
“You’re not finishing them off?”
“That’s enough. If we leave them like that, the coastal patrols roaming nearby will capture them soon enough. Without ships or weapons, what can pirates like that even do?”
The northern sea was cold. But since she had dried them completely, they wouldn’t die immediately.
In fact, they were wearing fairly warm-looking clothes.
“My role isn’t to pass judgment. Making them pay the proper price for their crimes—that’s the job of a trial.”
Casey could have killed all those pirates if she wanted to.
She had that much power.
They were pirates—people who seized ships, captured others, and robbed them of their money. The more vicious among them even killed people. Judging by their appearance, they were certainly not innocent of murder.
By any standard, they were scum. And yet, Casey did not kill them.
It wasn’t because she was merciful. She wanted them to pay for their crimes.
Not by her own hand, but by the law—by the justice that existed in the world.
“If that’s your choice, then I respect it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t you think I’m being naive?”
“Everyone thinks differently. If it were me, I would have chosen to subdue them too. Though if I had stepped in, I probably would have killed a few as an example.”
That was the difference between Casey and Ludger.
If necessary, Ludger did not hesitate to kill. That was simply the path he had walked until now.
Casey, on the other hand, refused to kill—even if her opponent was a heinous criminal.
She always tried to capture them alive.
‘Capturing someone alive is harder than killing them. And the greater the crime, the more the one facing them is tested—by moral outrage and by conscience.’
When capturing a criminal who had committed horrific murders, the urge to kill them on the spot would be overwhelming.
They were people who would only harm others if they lived. No one would object if they were killed here and now.
People might even praise it—applaud the disposal of trash—and feel a sense of vicarious satisfaction.
But Casey didn’t do that.
She had a conviction: that all criminals must be judged equally before the law.
At times, that conviction wavered. At times, it was tested.
But Casey had upheld it to the very end.
“Keeping your heart unwavering is no easy thing. The fact that you followed through to the end alone makes your choice more than worthy of respect.”
“...Really?”
Casey knew it herself. She knew her actions could be seen as stubbornness.
There were evils that should be eliminated on the spot, without being dragged to court.
Casey had encountered such evils far more often than most.
Even so, she did not kill criminals.
She had been criticized by victims’ families, asked why she hadn’t killed them. She understood. They must have wanted to inflict the same suffering they endured upon those monsters.
Casey understood their anger and resentment.
Yet facing such accusations directly still carved small wounds into her heart.
Like clothes slowly soaked by a fine drizzle, those wounds, which had seemed insignificant at first, had eaten away at her heart more than she realized.
Wounds she had always kept tightly hidden, believing no one would understand.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
But Ludger was different.
He understood why Casey acted this way.
He knew she hadn’t made these choices lightly.
He knew what kind of wounds she might have suffered because of them.
Because he knew all that, he could speak sincerely.
“Moving forward without compromise until the very end—that’s proof of how strong you are. I really like that about you.”
“......”
Casey bit her lip.
It was almost laughable. Once, he had been the man she most wanted to capture—her lifelong nemesis.
Not her family, not her friend, not her colleague.
The criminal she most wanted to arrest was the one who understood her now.
Casey knew it too.
She knew that the justice she pursued wasn’t perfect. That there were people who escaped punishment even under the law.
Ludger punished such people with his own hands.
That was Ludger’s way. The way he had lived. The way he judged criminals.
A personal justice pursued not in the world of light, but in dark, filthy back alleys.
A man standing at the extreme end of that path had acknowledged her.
How could that not make her happy?
And yet, strangely, she felt sad.
Casey quickly realized why.
“Who do you think you are, saying that?”
She forced a smile and lightly punched Ludger’s arm.
“You’re far more incredible than I am. You never compromised either—you walked your own path all the way to the end.”
Casey knew that compared to Ludger’s path, her own was like walking on a soft red carpet.
The hardships she occasionally faced couldn’t even be compared to what Ludger had endured.
But how could she possibly pity or condescend to this man?
What he deserved, after standing tall on his own strength and achieving his goals in such a harsh environment, was pure admiration—and applause.
“I like that about you too. Really.”
Ludger widened his eyes in surprise at her words, then curved his eyes and smiled.
The ship once more cut across the open sea.
As they moved forward through a sea of nothing but blue, it became hard to tell whether they were crossing the ocean or the sky.
Perhaps long ago, the great mage Lexuror had enjoyed this same feeling.
With a refreshing breeze, the ship sailed on endlessly.
And at last, they found their destination.
A massive island rising beyond the horizon.
The New Continent—Hyperborea.