~ Chapter 92: Cap'n's dwelling ~

[Illsyore's point of view]

Several days later, we finally had the infamous Pirate Sea in our scope. It was the name of the region but also that of the island. The other name it carried was Pirate Island. Not very inspiring, but the authorities agreed with it, the pirates did as well, and no historian has come forth to offer an alternative name to this place.

Compared to the Boss Island we were stuck on for the past six years, this place was a bit smaller and not as active when it came to monsters. According to the words of these pirates, the place was wiped clean of any beast or critter that posed a danger to the people living there. They even made a small town of sorts and were building and repairing their ships here.

Technically speaking, Pirate Sea was an island country in all of its rights. They had a Pirate King, a Council of Pirates that answered only to him and if needed be, they could function perfectly without any help from the outside world.

What I and my wives found to be most surprising was the fact that these sea wolves had an official contract with the Great Paramanium Empire, north of which this island was located of. The agreement was simple: the pirates were allowed to loot and plunder anyone they desired as long as they didn't attack any of the Paramanium's navy boats or noble vessels. They would also pay 30% of their profits to the empire as 'tax' for using 'their' island. In return, none of the employed Supremes of the Empire would attack them. In case other Supremes attacked them, the Empire would do everything it could to defend them.

It sounded like a real dirty business I did not want to be a part off. At one point in our journey, these bastards actually proposed we take the helm of this ship and sail it under the pirate flag. With us on board, they declared they wouldn't even need to fear Paramanium itself.

While it was a fact that we were a force to be reckoned with, the idea wasn't to start a pirate life, but an Academy. As such, we ignored their 'suggestions' and when they kept insisting, Nanya had them swimming for a couple of hours.

“Cap'n, what be your plan?” one of the mates asked when he saw all of us gathered on top of the deck and looking in the direction of the island.

The one asked was my sweet demoness.

“Do you bottom feeders want to live?” she asked them coldly.

They all gulped at the same time and trembled in their spot.

“Aye aye!” they replied.

“Then listen up. We'll set ashore and these four will come out as your prisoners. Tell the other pirates that your former captain and those idiots we killed so far managed in a last-ditch effort to overwhelm and defeat them. You tied them up and then locked them in the galley. Got it?” she glared at the pirates.

By 'them', she was referring to me, Tamara, Ayuseya, and Zoreya.

“Aye, cap'n... But... why?” the one with a missing tooth and fake eye patch asked.

“Does it matter?” I asked.

“Huh?” he blinked surprised.

“Your lives are basically in our hands, you realize this, right?” I pointed out.

“Aye...” he nodded.

“We're basically offering you a chance to get away with your lives.” I smiled.

“Huh? But how?” he asked furrowing his brow.

“After you tell them how they got tied up and tossed in the galley, you will tell those who will come to get them that they were muttering something about a Dungeon Continent and the outside world, got it?” Nanya said.

“Huh?” the man didn't get it.

“Sigh... It's simple. Just do as we say. Once we're taken away do a quick resupply and flee from the island. Just sail around it for a few days. If nothing happens, you can return and resume your petty lives. BUT if you stay on the island, we will treat you as enemies and kill you on sight. Got it?” I explained.

“I think... Can ya say it one mo' time?” he asked scratching the back of his head.

The dandruff was shaking off like snowflakes on a cold winter day.

“By the gods, I'm going to kill them...” grumbled the impatient demoness.

Well, she was the one who was supposed to have me tonight, but since we were going to arrive on Pirate Island today, she had to abstain, thus, her not-so-happy mood.

“By the way, Illsy, are you sure that item is located on this island?” Shanteya asked as she leaned onto my arm and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Yes... According to what we saw in the Primordial Dungeon, it should be there...” I said as I gently brushed her hair with my other hand.

The item we were talking about was an ancient map of the world that also showed the location of the Dungeon Continent and many others as well.

When we first discovered the Primordial's Dungeon, I was excited and at the same time worried about the various traps and monsters we would find inside, but it turned out to be rather boring. The maze wasn't all that complicated to figure out. The monsters were weak when compared to those on the surface, and they weren't the type spawned from magic circles either. They were all born and bred inside the maze, which led to many of the traps in there end up broken or useless. Those that still worked were enchanted, rechargeable, and... harmless against our Magic Armors.

This was rather surprising considering the fact that it had over 200 floors.

Once we reached the last one, we discovered the Core Room, which was half buried and destroyed. Whoever came here last didn't want any Dungeon to be reborn here, so they removed it. Fortunately, they didn't bother to destroy the ancient documents lying around in the adjacent room.

Even though age destroyed most of the writing, the stone tablets and wall carvings remained. There wasn't a lot of useful information, a bunch of cooking recipes, plans for various mazes, a list of existing sapient species at that time, and a map that pointed at the location of ANOTHER map.

Regarding the list of sapient species, the following ones were named in Dungeon Language: Slime, Demon, Avian, Dwarf, Nekatar, Dragon, Draconian, Elf, El'doraw, Ornak, Reiss, Forglore, Human.

The first three had question marks after their names, which I guessed meant that the information wasn't 100% accurate. However, Dragons had an arrow pointing at Draconians, which meant the latter were their descendants. The Dragons were also the only ones underlined and struck through with a thick line, meaning that they were either extinct or... the Dungeon was unaware of their current situation.

As for the map, it pointed at the Pirate Island. There was a big X on it and had the words 'world map' written next to it. Overall, this was the most important piece of information I had discovered so far, which was incredible. After all, it meant that this planet had more than the five continents I knew off so far: Dungeon Continent, Demon Continent, Allasn, Thorya, and Sorone.

I simply couldn't wait to get my hands on it!

Basically, this was the ONLY reason we were headed for a pirate infested island in the middle of nowhere. As for why the charade with pretending to be caught. We talked it over, and it sounded like a fun idea. These guys were no match for any of us, and if we attacked from the get-go, there was the chance that they would try to destroy the map or hide it as revenge. We did not want that.

As an extra precaution, we were going to have the pirates on our ship tell the pirates on the island that we were coming from somewhere outside of the known three continents. This would make whoever had the map curious about us and try to have us spill the beans. Once we located that guy, we were going to reveal ourselves.

Of course, only Zoreya, Tamara, and Ayuseya were going to be with me. Nanya and Shanteya were going to use the shadows and see if they can find out anything else that was of interest. Basically, they were going to be my two cute little spies.

Then again, if Shanteya was with me, and I saw them mistreat her, I was going to snap. If they mistreated Nanya, she was going to snap. And by 'mistreat' I meant glare or attempt to hit them. When it came to the other three, they didn't have this problem as long as the pirates didn't try to do anything foolish like take off Zoreya's armor, touch them in a perverted way, or pet Tamara's fluffy ears and tail.

That being said... the pirates on our boat were certainly idiots! We had to explain it another five times before they understood what they had to do.

Thus, our ship slowly approached the Pirate Island, flying the Jolly Roger up on the mast and greeting the scout ships that came close to check up on our identity. The pirates did their jobs and fooled the guards, then we approached the docks and lowered the anchor next to one of the free piers.

“You all remember what to do?” Nanya asked one more time as she showed them her sharp claws.

“Aye, cap'n!” they all replied.

“Good! Now don't forget, I'll be watching you!” she told them as she slipped into the shadows behind her and vanished.

They all gulped in fear of the demoness.

None of them was stupid enough to betray us now that they understood just how insanely powerful we were. After all, we did fish several sea monsters like it was nothing and occasionally Nanya went out to run on top of the water. I think we shattered their common sense to smithereens more than once.

With the plank lowered, one of them pulled the chain connected to my handcuffs, and I followed him calmly. Behind me was Tamara, then came Zoreya, and lastly Ayuseya. We all had our hands and feet chained up and walking like a bunch of slaves that were sent to the market.

It was all a play, of course, because these pieces of metal were nothing more than play clay for us. We were worried we might accidentally snap them, so the main reason for our slow walk was to avoid this.

As soon as we stepped ashore, a couple of whistles came our way, or to be more specific, they were aimed at my wives. They were all outstanding beauties, so it was natural for them to receive this sort of reaction. Luckily for them, none of them dared to make a move.

The one who held our chains, a thirty something years old pirate with a few teeth in his mouth and an old tricorn hat on top of his head, spoke with some of the pirates here until they came to an agreement of sorts.

It appeared as though since the captain was dead, an official of the Pirate Island had to come over to assess the situation with his own eyes. He was also in charge of appointing a new captain, so basically, our pirates could not do much except wait.

Not long afterwards, a well-dressed man in his forties approached us while riding on his brown horse.

“What be their crime?” he asked using the same accent as all these other pirates did.

There was no greeting or anything, but everyone here looked like they would at a superior.

“They attacked our boat, and our dearly departed cap'n and Lil' John managed to beat them. As ye see... we chained them up good.” the pirate who held our chains replied immediately.

“Departed? He be dead?” the man on the horse asked.

“Aye!”

“Good! Jolly good!” he laughed.

“Pardon?” the pirate blinked surprised.

“Ye there! Ye be the cap'n now! Got it?” he glared at him.

“Aye aye, sir!” he replied quickly, with a big broad smile on his face.

“Good! As for these landlubers... Ye got anything to say for yourselves?” he asked looking at me.

“You stink.” I smirked.

The man laughed.

“Where they be coming from? Did ye find out?” he ignored me and asked the newly appointed captain.

“That be the strange part, sir...” he rubbed the back of his head.

“Strange? How?” the man was intrigued and raised an eyebrow.

“They say they not be of Allasn, Thorya, or Sorone, but...” he stopped and gulped “Somewhere outside... The man talked about a Dungeon Continent too... But, sir, maybe they be drinking the wrong ale and turned their brains into mush?” he asked as he tapped his head.

“Hm. Outside, ye say?” he squinted his eyes at me, ignoring the rest of his words.

For a moment, there was silence, then he pulled the reins of his horse and turned around.

“Have them be brought to his Majesty, the King of Pirates! Iffy De Mon!” he declared.

“Aye aye, sir!” the 'new' captain replied and saluted.

After he left, he turned around and asked “Now what?”

I sighed. We didn't teach him this...

“Well, you are the new captain now. Nanya won't mind if you take over the helm. Besides, your ship will need a new one. Take us to that Pirate King or whatever and then do as planned. Got it?” I replied in a whisper.

He thought about it for a few seconds and then nodded.

The processing capabilities of these humans was beyond any belief... in a bad way.

I had to be honest though, this was the first time in this or my other life when I stepped into a port of any kind. Although I have been to Constanța on vacation a few times, I've never went close to the docks. All ships I saw were far away from the shore or behind the monitor. As such, this was also my very first time ever sailing on the ocean... and it was with pirates at that!

It was awesome! It was a dream come true!

Well, it was more of a child's fantasy than an actual dream, but I had fun. Now it was time for serious business.

We were pulled by the chains and made to walk down the pier until we reached shore. There, we were climbed into a nearby carriage and headed deeper into the island. While this happened, I took a good look around this settlement and expanded my Dungeon Territory to see if there were any other Dungeons hiding among these pirates.

To my relief, there were none, so I expanded it further until it covered the whole island. Normally, I wouldn't have done this, but after a bit of interrogation, Nanya found out that Dungeon Detection Stones were almost non-existent here because the pirates had no use of them. They were men of the sea not landlubbing dungeon crawlers, as they called Adventurers.

In terms of technological advancement and architectural design, these pirates were at the same level of a 17th century England. The Elizabethan architecture was nearly identical from MANY points of view. Large, square, and tall houses were cramped side by side on both sides of the roads. Small backyards took the place of exquisite gardens. The scent of unwashed men and women that made our noses beg for mercy struck us the moment we reached the street. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought we docked in Port of London.

To my surprise, the one big difference between 17th century England and this place was the outfits of the people. All of them, women and children included, wore similar pirate outfits made from linen or cotton. Depending on their jobs, they wore a leather jacket or leather pants as well. The rich wore expensive looking mantles and rode on horses, while all of them covered their heads with either a pirate scarf, bicorn, tricorn, scallywag, or buccaneer hat.

What I found more surprising was the lack of draconians, elves, and el'doraws. This place was brimming with mixed humans, but not so much with other species. When I whispered this question to the pirate who was holding our chains, he answered me this:

“Cap'n Iffy De Mon be a follower of human supremacy ideology.” he nodded and smiled.

Now, what surprised me the most was the fact that this guy managed to perfectly pronounce words like 'supremacy' and 'ideology'. The fact that their leader was xenophobic bastard was garnered a so-so reaction from me.

From the port, we traveled for about two more hours through the forest until we reached a cave complex at the base of the mountain. Up till there, we passed through four different checkpoints. Once inside the cave, we got off the carriage and walked escorted by four human guards.

The only reason things went so smoothly was because this captain Iffy had a peculiar interest in the outside world and ordered all those with information about it to be brought before him.

I honestly couldn't wait to see what sort of information he had. Until then, I was going to play the fool.

About an hour or so after we entered the cave, we finally reached the underground dwelling of this infamous individual who ruled the entirety of Pirate Island.

“That's a hut...” I said blinking surprised.

“Yup, a hut.” said Ayuseya.

“Definitely a hut.” Zoreya nodded.

“I'm hungry...” complained Tamara as she flattened her ears and rubbed her tummy.

“That just be cap'n preference. For special guest, we have a palace too.” said one of the guards.

“Now stay here and be quiet, you landlubbers!” the other guard warned us and then walked over to the hut that was built inside this big underground cavern.

As we stood there, the pirate who brought us here was escorted back by another guard.

“Now all we have to do... is wait.” I said.

Ayuseya let out a sigh.