~ Chapter 129: Thoughts scattered in the wind ~

[Nanya’s point of view]

“Let there be booty!” an old disgusting pirate shouted in the Shorayan language while waving his sword in the air.

“Everyone! Stand behind me!” shouted the brave ship captain.

“Them little girls be to me likin’!” said a disgusting man with just one tooth in his mouth and stench that made could make a beggar’s nose rot.

“Nah! I be takin’ the first grab!” said another who looked just as ugly as the previous one.

“Take the kids if ya want, but I want the mommas! Them titties are mine!” said another.

Each and every one of them was a disgusting mistake of a human being. But while these dolts with no brain between their ears argued about whose perverted desires had priority, their comrades were killing off the rest of the crew. Some of them already started looting, going down to the hold, where everything of value was stored.

From all over the ship, you could hear the screams and shouts of pirates and sailors as they clashed swords and spewed curses at one another. A couple of smoke trails could be seen rising up to the sky here and there, but the fires had yet to spread to the point where the ship would be thought as lost. There was nothing a couple of water spells could not fix.

What I was looking at was the boarding of a merchant ship by a pirate ship.

Half an hour ago, I happened to see smoke rising to the sky from this direction. It was but a small trail which if not for my sharp senses, I would have missed it. I took out the telescope to see what was happening here and saw the beginning of the attack. The pirates jumped on the deck of this galleon and engaged in sword fight. A couple of spells were tossed here and there, but there didn’t appear to be any outstanding force on either side. At most, they were all around Master Rank.

Normally, I would have blamed the incident on the merchant’s luck, but I so happened to see the young children who were being moved out of the way by their worried mothers. On board of the merchant ship were also innocent passengers.

Looking at the children, I began to wonder what if instead of them were Natrasku and Kormian or Bachus and Anette. There was strange feeling like a tight knot in the middle of my chest that made it hard for me to breath.

If my precious babies were there instead of these unknown children, I wouldn’t just sit around and watch as an unspeakable evil unraveled itself in front of me. I couldn’t bear to let this crime take place, so I turned the ship’s wheel and moved the yacht in their direction.

I was sailing with a speed of 72 knots, which was insanely fast for a ship this size, especially when considering the fact that normal ocean-crossing vessels were far slower. However, this wasn’t the top speed of this luxury yacht made by Illsy. Before I left, he told me that if I activated certain enchants on the keel and spread out the ship’s wings, I could even achieve speeds of up to 200 knots. Apparently, there were a lot of magic enchants and spells involved in this process, and it was still experimental. He urged me not to use this feature unless I needed to escape from something, and I was sailing in a straight line on a calm sea.

Without activating this feature, the top speed was around 120 knots under optimal conditions.

Thus, I was able to reach the troubled merchant ship quite fast. I stopped the engines at a safe distance and then ran on water all the way over there.

I jumped on the deck at the right time to hear the despicable desires of those poor excuses for a living being.

“Those are some interesting suggestions.” I said with a smile as I looked at them.

“W-Who are you?” the captain of this merchant ship asked when he saw me.

“For now, I’m a friend.” I replied and then looked at the children hiding behind their mothers.

“That woman... She be mad?” asked one of the pirates.

“Well, shiver me timbers, but this one is a fine lass!” said another.

“I care not for that tail, you can just cut it off, but give me a bottle o’ rum and I’ll happily plunder those caverns she has hidden under that fancy dress of hers!” so said another dead man.

“At this point I’m not even mad at all of you, I’m simply surprised by how stupid all of you can be.” I said with clear disgust in the tone of my voice.

“This wench kno’ not when to shut up!” one of the pirates said and then attempted to grab hold of me.

Before his filthy hands touched me, I punched him in the face. His head exploded and splashed his friends with the bloody contents.

“Hmph! Such weaklings. No wonder we were able to take over Pirate Island so quickly.” I said and then looked at the remaining fools.

“Wha... Pirate Island? T-That be your doin’?” asked the one who was aiming for the little girls.

“Oh yes, there’s nothing left there now, is it?” I showed him a smile.

The man soiled himself in fear of me.

“R-RUN! R-Retrea...” I did not let him finish his cry as I grabbed him by the neck and tossed him into the pirate ship.

The man crushed into the deck and went through it, stopping a level below. This caught the attention of the other pirates.

With a smirk on my face, I proceeded to hunt down these disgusting vermin who plagued the oceans. There was no way for them to stop me or even see me as I rushed up to them and using my claws, I slashed them into pieces. All of my attacks were aimed at their vitals. Heads went flying and necks were sliced. Their hearts were pierced, their spines were pulled out, their blood soaked the deck, and their pulse was extinguished. In but a couple of minutes all these criminals on the merchant ship as well as those on the pirate ship had been, as they say, sent to the bottom of the sea to sleep with the fishes.

When it was over, those left alive were only the sailors and passengers of the merchant ship.

“Well, that’s been taken care of. You have no need to worry about them. I suppose their ship is now yours to do as you please with it.” I told the captain as I walked back to him while took care of where I stepped among the human remains.

I treated them like some disgusting puddles of mud I wanted to avoid.

My tail swayed in the air and flicked once when I stopped in front of him.

“Pull your sword away, captain. It’s over.” I told him.

The man was confused and looked at me then at the dead pirates. He finally noticed he was still holding his guard up. With a gulp, he lowered his sword and looked at me.

“W-Who are you?” he asked.

“Nanya Deus. I’m from Illsyorea. I was passing by when I happened to see that you and your crew were in a predicament.” I answered.

“How can we ever repay you?” asked one of the mothers.

I looked at her and then at the little girl looking with big curious eyes at me.

“Do you want to become strong?” I asked her.

The child blinked surprised but then she nodded.

“Good, then have your parents enroll you in the Illsyorea Magic Academy.” I said and then looked at the mother “I don’t need any payments or favors for an act of kindness, but if you feel the need to do so, enroll your children at my husband’s academy.” I said.

“We will.” she nodded.

“Illsyorea... Isn’t that the new island that formed at the center of the ocean?” asked the captain.

“Yes.” I nodded and then walked up to the rail “Have a safe voyage.” I told them and then jumped off.

I heard them thanking me one last time as I ran back to my yacht.

Once I was on board, I turned my ship towards the Demon Continent and sailed at a cruise speed of 45 knots.

I activated the autopilot and then went below the deck to take a shower.

There was not even a single drop of blood on me. My Magic Armor was something that far surpassed what I had back at Fellyore Academy. It was smooth and thin, like another layer of clothes on my body, but not even a Supreme’s punch could crack it. I could extend my Magic Armor and make it thicker or go so far as make it impossible even for air to pass through.

The look in those pirates’ eyes... It was as though they were looking at a monster. I thought, but I wasn’t hurt by something like this.

When facing an enemy, they would often see me as a monster, but when showing this strength and power to my students, they didn’t look at me with fear but with awe. The difference was incredible, and maybe several years ago, I would have been slightly afraid about going out in my demon form, but now I felt nothing. This body, with tail, wings, and all was what Illsy liked. If he was pleased with it, then it didn’t matter what the others believed. Because of that, I learned to grow bold and unafraid of how others saw me.

It was certainly a big change from how the once weak demoness Nanya was.

I turned on the hot water and stepped inside naked.

In the middle of the ocean, this shower was a blessing. Normally, those who sailed across the endless seas had to either depend on water spells or wait until they reached the shore if they wanted to take a bath. The stench of those pirates proved just how bad someone’s personal hygiene could get when trapped on a ship with no shower.

I listened to the water droplets as they splashed on my skin and washed down on my body. The sound was calming and relaxing, helping me get rid of the tension from the earlier battle.

In this moment, my mind went to my family on the Demon Continent, where my mother was waiting for my return. Waiting might be stretching it a bit; she was maybe just surprised that I survived for so many years. Among demons, strength was what all of them cared about, and in my family, the royal family, I was the weakest among all of my siblings.

Coming over to the inner continents wasn’t only because I wanted to get away from my family but it was also because of my protection. Illsy noticed this back on the Pirate Island when he saw that old map. The average level shown on the Demon Continent was of 2000, and when I fought against Dankyun to try to save Illsyore, I remember as clear as day what that status window showed me. I was level 369.

The average humanoid demon would reach this level in the first ten years of their life. Only the low beast-like demons could not reach this level so fast. For someone who carried royal blood in their veins to grow in strength so slow was a shame.

In way though, this could not be helped. I lived on my father’s Dungeon Territory for most of my childhood, and the monsters he created for me to fight against didn’t boost my strength while all of my other siblings rejoiced with each level up.

My father once told me: “Only fools look at levels, you should be focused on your skill.”

“Skill... Is an Over Supreme’s skill good enough now, I wonder?” I said as I listened to the water flow over my naked form, the water gathered in the drain, forming a mesmerizing whirlpool.

I closed my eyes and began to hum a little lullaby my mother once song to me.

Once I went past the barrier, I would be sailing into the most dangerous waters on this world. Then, when I would reach the Demon Continent, I would need to find a way to reach mother without drawing too much attention to me.

For the demons, I was nothing more than a weak Impure... An Impure with royal blood flowing through her veins, thus, a good target.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

The journey to Thorya on this Galleon was a rather slow one. Unlike the luxury yacht Nanya used to sail towards the Demon Continent, this vessel needed the help of the generous wind to move forward.

So as to not make this journey needlessly longer, I requested the assistance of the three Supremes who were tasked with kidnapping me in the first place. They were to cast the proper wind spells in order for us to move forward at a steady speed. Their lack of enthusiasm regarding this activity was anticipated, so I simply told them to see it as training. I cast a simple wind spell with around 3000 Magic Energy Points in it and then told them that this was the least they could do by themselves if they wanted to be recognized as proper Supremes. Out of all of them, Ashavar was the only one who was able to cast something remotely close to my spell.

They were all men and couldn’t easily accept that a woman bested them. Even after they saw what I was capable of and how easily I could destroy them, a part of them still refused to believe that they weren’t as skilled as me.

I didn’t need to order them to do something, I just had to show off a little and they would then try to prove me wrong. A few words here, a few words there, a smile to show that it wasn’t much, and that was it.

At first, they abstained from doing anything, but then the mages on board of the ship tried it on their own. I only cast my spell once a day, so that left plenty of time for the others to try it out.

Soon enough, this turned into a contest that pulled the Supremes in as well. All of them were trying to cast spells just as powerful as mine and as many as they could. Meanwhile, I spent my time in my room reading books and writing courses for my students back on Illsyorea.

I often thought back at how my family was doing back there. My beloved husband probably had his hands full with the little ones, but there was also Tamara and Zoreya there to help him out. The academy now had plenty of students to support the classes. What it didn’t have were defenders.

While monsters were good, they weren’t the best of choices when it came to military strategy. Having Supremes and Over Supremes on the island boosted its military potential considerably. Armies feared these individuals not the monsters who roamed the land. They feared those smart enough to lay down traps and poison their food supply. They feared the shouts of enemies who lowered their morale.

Monsters could be avoided or hunted down one by one. The Leviathan wasn’t necessary a threat as much as a big thing they needed to avoid or trick. Once they got on land, they would see themselves as safe.

Because of this sort of thoughts that certainly existed among military men of all ranks all over the three continents, there was always a chance for them to gather their forces and sail towards Illsyorea. The end result was clear. If Snuggles didn’t sink their ships, the monsters with levels over 1000 would make minced meat of their troops once they landed.

Still, as a result of such a decision, lives would be needlessly lost and hate against Illsyorea would be brewed, which would cause many to either hate on the students who graduated from our academy or on any of those who showed us support. In other words, it would split the world in factions that would end up fighting against each other rather than us.

All of this could cause terrible damage to our Economy and external Political Relationships. Not everything could be solved by force. We had to gain the trust of people and have them work with us on Illsyorea if we wanted to prosper. We had to convince the foreign nations that we were trying to make a better world for all of us and that we weren’t interested in conquering them or anything the like.

A smart general once said: When you have turned your most powerful enemy into your ally, then there will be no need for war.

Illsy, while he agreed to this saying, he had another opinion on the matter: If you fight to stop a war, you will just postpone the next one. If you don’t want war anymore, then make it so that every member of every nation is smart and wise enough to realize that they don’t need to fight each other, that there is always a better solution. War comes with a need and a desire to acquire something. Remove the need or satisfy it in another way, and there will be no more war.

I often thought about these words. They sounded like something an idealist or dreamer would say, but wasn’t it a fact that all nations were built upon ideals and dreams? If those were the foundations of each nation, then why was there a need to vanquish those who dreamed and sought ideals?

Unfortunately, on this long voyage of mine, there was no one I could share these thoughts of mine, and the three Supremes that were to escort me back to Teslov kept their distance. The same was with the captain of this vessel. He would smile and bow before me, but he wouldn’t dare to say a single word to contradict me out of fear of what I could do to him.

It was as though I was a monster walking among innocent sheep. All were frightened and shivered in their boots the moment I cast my gaze upon them. If they were my enemies, I wouldn’t have minded this odd behavior, but I wasn’t, at least not now.

When thinking about Teslov and my former family, the Pleyades, there was but one name that came to mind: Vellezya Pleyades. She was my little sister by four years. My older sisters were most likely dead by now. Last I heard of her, she had yet to be given as the wife to some noble or powerful adventurer. She was the only one I worried about.

Was she forced to attend the Ball or was she forced to marry some fool? I often wondered.

It was true that I had a lot of cousins and nephews from my younger brother, but I didn’t feel that attached to them. Actually, returning to the Teslov Kingdom was more about settling the score with the King and making it clear that I desired to have nothing to do with them. I had forsaken the name of the Pleyades and took upon the name of Deus, so why was it needed for me to keep my duties with my old family?

This was the one thing I could not understand and why the draconians in Teslov insisted upon it.

I hoped that by showing myself in front of my little brother, I would come to convince him of this decision of mine, but at the same time... I anticipated the possibility of this reunion of ours ending up with pushing my sword through his chest.

After all, for this side of the family, I was only important because I had my mother’s royal blood flowing through my veins. That was it. That was why the nobility of Teslov saw me as valuable, as precious.

Knowing the Council of Elders, those twelve dukes of endless egoism and arrogance, it wouldn’t have been strange if they attempted to lock me up behind bars and then demand that I become some sort of baby making machine for them.

If they dared to make such disgusting demands, I feared that was the last time I would get to visit under peaceful conditions the palace I was born in. The next time would be with me hurling fireballs at it.

Yet, there was still a long time before I would get to reach Teslov. And all of these situations were what I considered extremist at best. In a few words, they were my fears.