Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 190

190

“Hey, that way leads to hell.”

The navy, led by Prince Erader and Count Bremen, began to leave the port of Sardena later than originally planned, in the afternoon.

They had originally intended to set sail in the morning, but a sudden strong wind made it impossible to leave.

As he watched the ships finally begin to depart long after lunch, Count Bremen cautiously voiced his concerns.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have simply postponed the departure until tomorrow morning. At this rate, we won’t get far before sunset.”

“Well, Count. Wouldn’t it cause even more problems if the ships, having completed all preparations for departure, were to remain in port for another day?”

Count Bremen slightly raised his eyebrows at Prince Erader’s sharp remark.

If the ships, fully prepared for a voyage of at least a week, were to remain in port and an accident were to occur, it would be a major disaster.

The loss of ships, personnel, and supplies would all be a significant blow.

“I am aware that night departure is dangerous, but night sailing itself is not a major problem. I trust the Hispana navy.”

“…I am grateful for your words.”

Count Bremen did not miss the extremely cautious demeanor that Prince Erader was adopting.

It seemed to be due to the somewhat unintentional argument with Zion Clausen two days prior.

‘No, to be precise, it couldn’t even be called an argument. The prince was unilaterally pushed back. Young Lord Zion Clausen really hit the nail on the head,’ Bremen thought.

Normally, Count Bremen himself would have stepped in to stop the two.

The sight of a prince pressuring Hispana’s loyal shield, the Clausen March [a region or territory governed by a Count], was not a good one, and it was not right for the heir of that family to mention ‘other intentions’ to the prince.

However, when the question arose, “Is Prince Erader challenging the king’s authority?” Count Bremen had no choice but to close his mouth and step back.

Edgar IV’s health hasn’t been very good lately, but if you were to ask if he is a puppet king, the nobles would definitely say no.

He was a monarch who stably ruled Hispana, moving those powerful nobles as he wished.

Count Bremen knew very well that although he appeared to be a very serious and calm man, there was a fire burning fiercely inside him.

What reaction would Edgar IV have if his son, already acting as if he were king because his father’s health was not good, began issuing orders and pressuring the nobles?

Even though the royal family’s power is strong, they do not openly pressure the nobles.

Causing unnecessary strife and harming the kingdom is not something the king would find pleasant.

But if he were to pressure the Clausen March, of all places, and appear to be instigating division, no one would say he was doing a good job.

‘If it were any other ordinary noble, it might be different, but the biggest problem was that it happened to be Zion Clausen, who has been enjoying the best reputation these days. Prince Erader was too excited.’

Perhaps Prince Erader had never been so openly rejected in his life.

Most nobles would yield on their own, and even the heads of great noble families would be careful not to clash with the royal family.

However, Zion Clausen cleverly provoked Prince Erader, making the prince draw his sword first, and even go so far as to point it at his own neck.

‘I can’t figure out what kind of man he is. I thought he was just a capable and loyal young noble, but the things he says and the atmosphere he creates are too seasoned. Did Princess Vanessa know about this side of Zion Clausen and actively try to bring him under her wing?’

Count Bremen came to the conclusion that he should start making a firm decision once this pirate suppression was over.

Until now, he had been supporting Prince Erader uncertainly, somewhat ambiguously, but that approach no longer seemed to work.

The king was in the mood to designate an heir before his condition worsened, and accordingly, Hispana’s political landscape could be turned upside down at once.

Whether he would be swept away by the overturning political situation and disappear without a trace, or ride that wave and move even further than he is now, Count Bremen, as well as all the southern nobles, were probably worrying and anxious.

‘Prince. Perhaps this is the last chance and a stepping stone for a comeback. Using the Griffin unit [elite military force] to achieve victory would only further elevate Zion Clausen, but if you win without them, it will be entirely your ability and merit.’

‘So please, just this once, show the 모습 [Korean: appearance, figure] you usually show to himself and other nobles,’ Count Bremen sincerely prayed.

If, by any chance, he fell short of expectations this time as well, he would eventually have to abandon the prince.

“Count!”

At that moment, the captain, who was overseeing the entire ship, approached with a hurried look.

“We just received news that the ships that departed together from the surrounding ports have each encountered pirate ships.”

“Pirates? No, did these guys try to attack the port instead of fleeing to the distant sea where it’s hard to chase them?”

“That seems to be the case.”

At those words, Count Bremen let out a sigh of relief.

If they had postponed the departure by a day in this state, the port at night would have been filled with ships, causing only more confusion, and conversely, it would have been full of tempting targets for the pirates.

Count Bremen gave an order to wait for a while and then headed to Prince Erader.

He explained the current situation to the prince in great detail and waited for a decision.

“…The pirates were not intimidated and retreated, but instead tried to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the port.”

“That’s right.”

“It seems that someone with a brain is leading the pirates. This is not good.”

Prince Erader bit his lip with an anxious look.

Count Bremen, well aware that he makes more mistakes when he is nervous, earnestly hoped that he would not make a strange decision that would cause himself or the captain to object to his opinion.

“They wouldn’t leave Sardena alone while attacking other ports, would they, Count? It’s the most tempting prey.”

“That’s right, Prince. There will definitely be pirates approaching Sardena.”

“Where are we currently located?”

“We have left the coastal area, but we are not far from Sardena.”

“Surely, pirates aiming for Sardena should appear around this time…”

At that very moment, a desperate cry was heard from the deck.

“Pirate ship spotted on the left!”

“They’ve spotted our ship! They seem to be quickly turning the bow to escape!”

“Prince, what should we do? It seems the enemies were also aiming for Sardena.”

At Count Bremen’s question, Erader quickly racked his brains.

He knows very well that this is his last chance.

So no matter how urgent, no matter how nervous, he must not make mistakes or show any weaknesses.

“Let’s pursue them for now. However, it’s getting late and we don’t know what tricks they might use, so there’s no need to pursue them too recklessly, Count.”

“Understood.”

In short, he is wary of a possible rear infiltration.

Count Bremen nodded at that desirable decision and immediately informed the captain of this fact.

The captain also confirmed that it was an order that could be followed without any problems and quickly ordered the flagship to pursue the pirates.

As the signal flag went up, the surrounding naval ships each increased their speed and began chasing the pirate ships that were diligently riding the wind and fleeing into the distant sea in front of them.

At the end of the late afternoon, just as the sunset was almost setting on the horizon, Prince Erader finally succeeded in catching up with the pirate ships.

Was it because the navy’s morale was high due to the victory led by Zion Clausen, that they were more enthusiastic about battle than ever before?

“Prince! Prince! On the right!”

At the captain’s cry, Prince Erader immediately looked to the right.

It seemed that when the kingdom’s navy was fighting the pirate ships, they intended to surround the ships and push them with numbers, as several more pirate ships appeared from the right.

‘Could it be that these guys were trying to lure the navy by pretending to attack the port?’

Prince Erader clicked his tongue and thought that he was getting a little annoyed.

The reason why he didn’t get nervous like last time even while looking at the pirate ships rushing in from the right was that there was another naval ship of the kingdom rushing fiercely behind them, chasing them in reverse.

It seemed that the pirates who were trying to surprise other ports saw their allies while fleeing and intended to subdue the naval ships with numbers first.

At that, Prince Erader and Count Bremen shouted not to give up the ship to the pirates again and encouraged the soldiers.

The naval personnel, who had been quite passive lately and had accumulated dissatisfaction, were even more fiercely driving the pirates, as Zion Clausen’s great victory had been reported and they were itching to get into action.

Perhaps they judged that it was impossible to fight now that the sun had set more than halfway.

Eventually, the pirates began to show signs of leaving their positions.

While many pirates were still fighting on the kingdom’s ships, they were cutting the ropes and unfurling the sails to escape.

“They’re trying to escape!”

“Stop them! Stop them! If we let them go here, we’ll have to go through the trouble of finding them again!”

So many ships were intertwined and entangled that it became a complete mess, as if the wide sea was not enough.

In addition, as it got darker, the judgment of the situation through sight became relatively uncertain, and the pirates had their own circumstances, and the navy was completely entangled, determined to show the bandits who had been plundering them so far and had dared to come to their front yard without fear.

‘This is not good!’

The man who was the captain of the ship Prince Erader was on thought while diligently commanding.

Originally, it would have been right to quickly subdue the pirate ships and return to the port since it was not far away, or to sail at night.

The picture of all kinds of ships being intertwined and not being well controlled, and the command system being completely messed up, was by no means a welcome matter as a commander.

The pirates were pirates, but the fact that naval ships were continuing to flock in was also a problem.

It was dark, but the enemies were swarming everywhere, and decisively, with Prince Erader and Count Bremen Isik present, the naval personnel were so reckless in securing the safety of the two superiors that they were sticking to them to an excessive degree.

And that anxiety was quickly approaching reality.

“Prince! Over there!”

Just before the sea was dyed with darkness, Count Bremen and Prince Erader were able to see dozens of pirate ships running towards the port in the distance.

The enemies were speeding like crazy as if they had been waiting for this very moment.

“Where did all these pirates come from!”

They had been careful and careful, but once they started to get entangled, they could not get out easily due to the nature of naval battles.

If it had been daytime, they could have discovered them in advance and given orders to other ships, but as the battle progressed at night, their vision narrowed and they focused only on the battle in front of them, so they ended up missing them.

‘This is not good! It’s dangerous!’

Prince Erader had to watch the situation helplessly, biting his lip until it bled.

No matter how many ships and soldiers are left in Sardena, and even with the powerful Griffin unit, it is very difficult to subdue all the enemies approaching secretly from the night sea.

Once they enter the port and start causing trouble, all the victories they have accumulated so far will disappear like smoke along with the flames, and only the worst shame of Sardena being attacked by pirates will remain.

‘What I can trust in the current situation is…’ Zion Clausen, the person who is currently staying in Sardena and in charge of defense.

At the same time, the very man who gave him a terrible experience a few days ago.

Prince Erader had to trust that Zion Clausen.

‘Kueeehk! Zion Clausen! You must stop those damn guys! If they occupy the port of Sardena and start arson and looting, even if you have achieved a great victory, your name will be mentioned in the mouths of the kingdom’s people as the one who failed to defend! So do whatever it takes to stop them! Kuaaaaak!’

Meanwhile, the captain and his pirates, who had thrown a very tempting bait to the navy, had completed all preparations to not miss the one and only opportunity.

No matter what they do after occupying the port of Sardena, they are just a gang of thieves anyway.

Rather than moving with a military objective, it was simply to buy time.

And in order to give a blow to the navy, which was full of momentum, and force them to take a passive stance like before, they were doing something that was close to suicide.

They had to inflict as much damage as possible and get out before the night cleared and the kingdom’s army pushed in.

That was the captain’s solution for the current situation.

“When you enter the port, seize the empty ships first and prevent them from moving. Pile up obstacles and hold out before the kingdom’s soldiers come and cause a ruckus!

Block and block as much as possible, burn everything, destroy everything, and get out quickly. It’s the time that our comrades on the sea have earned with their blood and lives!

You bastards! Keep in mind! This is the last chance. If you cower here, you’ll end up being caught and becoming fish food or being hanged! Do you understand!”

At the captain’s roar, the pirate crew members each screamed and shouted as well.

They had plundered merchant ships and attacked ports before, but this was the first time they had attacked on such a large scale.

They couldn’t completely erase the feeling that they were going to die, but it was much better than having a fireball fall on their heads while sailing and dying helplessly in the middle of the sea.

That’s how more than ten pirate ships were running towards the port.

“…Captain? In front of us…”

Due to the lights coming from the port, and due to the moonlight, the outline of something was faintly revealed.

At first glance, it looked like a military ship, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly a large merchant ship for trade.

The position of the sails and the structure for carrying more goods rather than speed clearly showed it.

That large ship was blocking the entrance to the port and standing still.

‘They have some brains. So they’re going to block the road like that? But it’s better for us! We can just land through small ships without bringing our ships into that narrow port!’

Rather, that big ship will become a prison that confines the kingdom’s ships docked inside the port.

They should have moved all the ships docked inside and let them escape to the sea, so why are they making such a foolish decision?

The captain was about to give an order, laughing at the kingdom’s decision-maker who had made such a decision.

…Swoosh.

“…Huh?”

Whoosh!

Whoooooooooosh!

Suddenly, the surroundings began to brighten like daytime.

What appeared in front of the pirate ships running towards the port were flames that sparkled and fluttered here and there like shooting stars.

The scene of the flames embroidering the night sky and blazing as if they were dancing alive was, without exaggeration, a spectacle.

Due to the light coming from the flames, the ship blocking the port began to be seen very clearly.

Unlike ordinary ships, the deck was too flat.

The bow was changed to an incomprehensible position, and the sails were completely furled.

And, a woman standing alone on that ship.

“Zion. As you wish. I’ll burn everything, everything for you.”

With a rather twisted smile, she lightly flicked her fingers.

The flames that had been beautifully embroidering the night sky instantly became a hellish firestorm and fiercely flew towards the pirate ships.

Zion, who was watching that scene very clearly from a high place, pondered what the most suitable line would be at this point, and then exclaimed as if he was great and chuckled as he opened his mouth.

“Ah! I have everything, but it’s a pity I don’t have a southeast wind!” [referencing a historical battle where a southeast wind aided in a fire attack]

…For reference, if a southeast wind had blown here, everyone would have dived into hell together.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

I explained in the previous episode why Prince Erader can’t stay still and is anxious!

I hope you don’t suffer from typhoon damage!

Be careful of Corona too!

Oh, and Trisha’s illustration production has started!