"Alice Zieghart?"
Alice Zieghart looked at Raon fiercely, jutting her chin.
"What did you hear about me to call me that Alice Zieghart?"
She twisted her lips with a frown. It was an expression one might make when a street thug robs a kid.
"Hmm..."
Raon narrowed his eyes at Alice's face.
'She does look like my mother's sister.'
Her features are similar.
Alice's features were larger and more striking than Sylvia's, but their overall facial atmosphere was similar.
She looked around thirty, and if not for her tanned skin, she would resemble Sylvia even more.
"Hey, answer me."
Alice waved a finger in Raon's face, her tone threatening.
"What did you hear about me from that damned family?"
"I was just curious if you really existed, as I had never seen you since I was born."
"Really? You didn't hear anything else from anyone?"
"Truly. I only heard that you were an amazing person sometimes."
Raon nodded with calm eyes.
"Well, of course. If those bastards wanted to stay alive, they wouldn't speak about me."
Alice Zieghart laughed lightly and clapped her hands.
'She's free-spirited.'
Her personality seemed as lively as her appearance, making it hard to believe she was part of Zieghart.
-What?
Wrath scratched his chin, looking at Alice.
-That's our mother's sister?
'Not your mother.'
-They definitely have similar traits.
Ignoring Raon's retort, Wrath examined Alice's face.
-But why is she here?
'I don't know.'
Raon shook his head slightly and looked at Alice again.
"Alice."
"What?"
"Why am I here?"
"I told you. I kidnapped you."
Alice waved her hand with a bored expression as if wondering why he was asking again.
"Was that serious?"
"Yeah. You were dying in the back alley. So I kidnapped you."
"Ah..."
Raon let out a low groan.
'So it wasn't a kidnapping, but a rescue.'
He finally understood what was going on. Because of Wrath, he had collapsed in the back alley and it seemed Alice had treated him.
Raon bowed his head, thanking Alice.
However, he still had a few questions left.
"May I ask why you were in the back alley at that time?"
"That's because of me."
This time, it was Kubarred who stepped forward.
"I was late because I was gathering equipment from my old workshop, but she dragged me there saying she felt something strange."
Kubarred laughed, saying he didn't expect to find Raon there.
"I see."
Hearing that, Raon understood how they met. Wrath had disappeared, causing a large mana fluctuation, which Alice must have sensed.
'Not surprising.'
Alice had reached transcendence as a Martial Artist. She would have sensed such a large mana fluctuation from a distance.
"But why am I here?"
"That's the third time you're asking. I kidnapped you!"
"No, I mean why..."
Though it was the third time, Raon had to ask. If it was just an injury, they could have left him at the kingdom's treatment center. Why take him on a ship?
"Because I was bored."
Alice answered nonchalantly, picking her ear with her pinky.
"Ah..."
Raon let out a breath of disbelief.
"Bored?"
"Yeah, bored."
Alice smiled, a deep dimple forming on her cheek. She seemed to be enjoying this situation.
"No way..."
"You're the first person I've seen grow more immature with age."
Kubarred sighed, throwing two swords at Raon.
"Ah!"
Raon caught the swords and smiled faintly. They were the Heavenly Drive and Requiem Sword. They gleamed, as if they had been meticulously maintained.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Kubarred waved his hand, as if it was no big deal, and leaned against the door of the cabin.
"That girl brought you here because you had a head injury and needed urgent treatment."
Hearing this, Raon remembered the hole in his mental world. The blue mana that had stopped the hole from spreading was similar to Alice's energy.
-That's right.
Wrath nodded, looking at Alice.
-That woman prevented the hole in your mental world from getting bigger.
'Yeah, I felt it too.'
Raon exhaled lightly and bowed to Alice.
"Thank you, Alice."
"Do you enjoy repeating yourself?"
Alice frowned, asking if he felt better after saying thank you multiple times.
"And I already got my payment."
"Pardon?"
"I ate the food you had when you collapsed. It was all delicious."
She laughed, saying Raon had good taste.
-You!
Wrath jumped at Alice.
-How dare you eat all of my food! I will never forgive you!
Wrath's blue eyes turned wildly. His entire eye was filled with madness.
-I will never forget this, even after a thousand years!
Wrath ground his teeth, swearing eternal vengeance.
"It's a relief that you ate it rather than it being wasted."
Raon smiled lightly, ignoring the red-faced Wrath.
-Relief? Releeeeef? I don't think it's fine, so why are you okay with it!
Wrath glared deeply, telling Raon to stop talking nonsense.
"Ah, there was one thing I didn't like. That weird ice cream with chocolate chips in a green background. It was terrible."
Alice shook her head, saying mint chocolate was awful.
"Right, it's not good."
Raon agreed, saying she had good taste.
-Eating for free and criticizing my taste? You've gone mad! You're insane! Let me descend immediately! I will teach this taste-ignorant woman the true taste of mint chocolate...
Wrath fumed, radiating intense anger.
'Hmm...'
Raon swallowed a sigh, his fingertips trembling.
'This has changed too.'
Due to receiving a large amount of Wrath's anger, his heart ached whenever Wrath got agitated.
It felt like he was back to the days when he was competing with Wrath as a child.
Goooon!
Only after activating the Ring of Fire did the tremor in his chest subside.
'Stay quiet for a moment.'
Pushing away the raging Wrath, Raon looked at Alice.
"May I ask one last question?"
"Speak."
"Perhaps..."
Raon looked at Alice, the sailors busy with their work, and the fluttering sails before continuing.
"Were you the Pirate King?"
Considering her transcendent power, the slightly cute skull pattern on the sails, and the sailors' appearance, only one person came to mind.
The Pirate King of the Five Divine Orders. It had to be her. Though he asked as if unsure, he was confident.
"No."
But Alice shook her head firmly. She raised her finger and pointed to the right.
"The Pirate King is over there."
Following her long, slender finger, similar to Sylvia's, Raon turned his gaze.
A bald man with an eyepatch over his left eye, a beard growing down to his neck, and a large sword. He looked like a pirate through and through and flinched his shoulders.
"Pardon?"
Raon's mouth hung open.
'That man is the Pirate King?'
His appearance was certainly that of a pirate, and his power seemed at the initial level of Grandmaster.
While it was an impressive level, it wasn't enough to be one of the Five Divine Orders.
"He is the Pirate King. Speak to him."
Alice threw a candy from her pouch, climbed into a hammock strung between the masts.
"Um, hello..."
Raon fiddled with the candy and turned his gaze.
"I am indeed the Pirate King. Though it's a title forced upon me..."
The man who became the self-proclaimed Pirate King introduced himself cautiously.
"My name is Lawaine."
"Were you part of Zieghart?"
His manner of speaking didn't seem like a stranger's. Raon wondered if he, like Alice, was from Zieghart.
"Yes. I was the Division Leader of the Blue Division in the Holy War."
The Holy War was a now-defunct division that Alice used to lead.
"Then you can speak comfortably. I'm your junior, after all..."
"Alice's nephew, right? I prefer it this way."
Lawaine smiled gently, speaking formally out of respect for Alice. He seemed like a kind person, ill-suited to the title of Pirate King.
"But why did you become the Pirate King?"
"To protect the surrounding areas."
"The surrounding areas..."
"We sail the seas dealing with real pirates and the South-North Union, but small-time troublemakers kept harassing coastal towns and villages. I use the Pirate King title to protect those areas."
"Ah..."
Raon alternated his gaze between Lawaine and Alice, understanding.
'Now I get it.'
The first time he heard about the Pirate King was from Judiel's information.
There was a man calling himself the Pirate King, which he found odd. That man turned out to be Lawaine, using the title to protect coastal towns.
'And the Thespian Emperor never referred to the Pirate King as a man.'
The Thespian Emperor never used he or she when talking about the Pirate King, just that person or the Pirate King.
She must have known that the real Pirate King was Alice.
'So that's how it was.'
Raon realized the situation after talking to Lawaine.
Alice didn't just drive out pirates and the South-North Union; she decided to protect the surrounding areas as well.
"Now I understand. But why didn't Alice take the Pirate King title herself..."
"She found it bothersome."
"I see."
Raon laughed lightly, looking at the slightly swaying hammock. He felt he understood Alice a bit better now.
"It must have been difficult."
"Thank you for understanding. Actually..."
Lawaine sighed, lifting his eyepatch. His left eye was perfectly fine.
"This is also part of the persona. She insisted a Pirate King must have one eye."
"Hah..."
Raon let out a breath, looking at the slightly swaying hammock.
He felt he had to take back his previous thought. He still didn't fully understand Alice.
"Is your hair also..."
"Ah, that..."
Lawaine didn't answer.
Sylvia swallowed dryly and raised her gaze. The iron doors of the audience chamber loomed high, making her neck ache. Each time she saw them, they instilled fear.
Though she didn't want to knock, now wasn't the time to hesitate.
Knock, knock!
After knocking loudly, the door opened with a heavy sound and Roenn stepped out.
"Sylvia."
He smiled lightly and bowed.
"I wish to see the head of house."
Sylvia bowed in return and requested an audience.
"Understood."
Roenn immediately opened the door, as if he already had Glenn's permission.
Sylvia closed her eyes briefly, then stepped forward.
Sunlight, like that marking noon, streamed through the windows, casting a golden glow throughout the audience chamber. The space, embodying grandeur itself, filled her heart with awe as she knelt.
"Greetings, head of house."
"Rise."
Glenn ordered Sylvia to stand even before she could kneel properly.
"Yes."
Sylvia straightened her back and raised her gaze. Despite her trembling, she met Glenn's eyes confidently.
His eyes, usually the same, were different today. They were filled with emptiness and subtly shaking.
'What's wrong?'
As Sylvia pondered this, Glenn's lips moved.
"What is it?"
"Ah..."
Sylvia clenched her fists and leaned forward.
"It's about Raon. I want to know where he is and why he hasn't returned."
"I told you. He's being treated in Owen Kingdom with the other Light Wind members."
"I am not a fool. I know Raon isn't there."
Though Sylvia's voice wasn't loud, it carried a strange power.
"Hmm..."
Glenn frowned, tapping the armrest of his throne heavily.
"I am his mother. Please tell me how he is and where he is!"
"He was injured, but he's fine now. He will return soon."
"You said that before! I need specifics..."
"Alice."
At the name Alice, Sylvia froze.
"She took Raon."
"What? What do you..."
"They met by chance, but she treated his injuries. He woke up today, so he will return soon."
"Ah..."
Sylvia fiddled with her fingers.
'My sister Alice?'
There was a significant age gap between Sylvia and Alice, and they hadn't met often due to their respective missions. They weren't close but weren't estranged either.
Whenever they met, Alice would sometimes pat her head and give her sweet treats like cookies or candy. It felt strange to hear that Alice had saved Raon.
"She said she'd send him back after treatment, so don't worry. He'll be fine."
Glenn's words seemed more like he was trying to convince himself than reassure Sylvia. It seemed he was also worried about Raon.
"Hmm..."
Watching Glenn, Sylvia exhaled softly.
'Is he really okay?'
Raon followed Kubarred into his workshop.
Unlike the back alley blacksmith shop in Cameloon, the place was filled with well-worn equipment.
"Thank you for maintaining my swords."
Raon patted the sheaths of the Heavenly Drive and Requiem Sword, bowing to Kubarred.
"You're too polite. It's nothing."
Kubarred waved his hand, saying he just cleaned them. But Raon could tell from looking at the swords. He had not only cleaned but also maintained them meticulously. Such thanks were not excessive.
"Why are you on this ship, Kubarred?"
It wasn't an ordinary ship, after all. It was a pirate ship. Raon couldn't understand why a retired continent-renowned craftsman was here.
"I'm helping that girl temporarily."
"By that girl, you mean Alice?"
"Yes. She kept pestering, so I had no choice."
Kubarred sighed, slumping into a worn-out chair.
Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at the various iron weapons in the workshop.
'No choice...'
Contrary to his words, the weapons in Kubarred's workshop were all masterpieces.
However, they were not sized for humans. They were large enough to be used against huge monsters.
'Is he hunting monsters?'
There had to be a special reason for a craftsman like Kubarred to be here.
"How are you feeling?"
Just as Raon was about to ask about the situation, Kubarred spoke first.
"Thanks to your care, I'm fine."
"It wasn't me."
Kubarred waved his hand.
"Alice kept touching your head. For someone as wild as her, she took good care of you."
He squinted, saying it was strange even if they were blood relatives.
"I know."
Raon nodded.
"I need to properly thank her too."
Thanks to Alice, the hole in his mental world had been prevented from spreading. It was a lifelong favor he intended to repay.
"Really?"
Just as Raon was thinking about how to repay her, a rough voice came from outside the workshop.
Boom!
The workshop door burst open, and Alice walked in with her hands on her hips.
"Is that true?"
"Pardon?"
Raon blinked at Alice.
"You said you'd properly thank me, right? Then help me with something."
Alice beckoned with her finger, saying there was no refusal.
"I have no interest in pirate life, and I have things I need to do..."
Raon tried to decline politely.
'I want to help, but I have things to handle first.'
He needed to find out what happened to the Light Wind members, how Glenn's battle ended, and destroy Derus' factory where they used corpses to train assassins.
"The Light Wind members are all safe. I've reported to the family that you woke up."
Alice smiled, speaking as if she knew everything Raon was thinking.
"And this task might help you too."
Alice tapped her temple lightly.
"It might speed up the treatment of your misaligned energy center."
"May I ask what the task is?"
Alice smiled faintly and nodded.
"We're going to catch a dragon. A mad Dragon."
Her eyes gleamed with a terrifying light. At the same time, Wrath jumped up.
-A dragon barbecue?