I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 75

“...The mainland!”

At the shout of Rollo, the pirate standing on the deck, the exhausted pirates who had collapsed forced themselves to their feet. All the pirates, except for Rollo and Ronak, had been worn out from sailing through the storm for the past few days, and they were all barely breathing.

—...The mainland?

—D-did we finally make it?

—To think we really came all the way to the mainland through that storm...

—And not a single one of us died!

As hope—the most perfect nutrient for a human—was infused into them, life returned to the pirates' faces.

—Hey! Admiral! Ronak! Thank you!!

—We made it this far thanks to you!!

A few pirates gestured and shouted at Ronak, who was holding the helm. However, instead of answering them, Ronak was gazing at the mainland with a serious expression.

The Ronak who had been filled with madness while breaking through the storm was gone, and now he had become his usual, cautious self.

‘We’ve come to the mainland. Now then... what should we do.’

The first priority was, of course, to find food. Most of their provisions had become inedible or had fallen into the sea while they were navigating the storm, leaving them with nothing to eat.

‘Assuming I navigated correctly, the coast we see over there should be the central coast of Misty Port. It's not far from the central coast to Misty Port, so we could go to the city to get food, but...’

As he thought, Ronak glanced at his cheering pirate comrades on the deck and changed his mind.

‘With our appearance and attire, we probably won't be able to enter the city. We'll look like marauders to anyone.’

Even if they were lucky enough to get into the city somehow, Ronak and the pirates had no money to buy food. They had brought a considerable amount of money when they left the island for the mainland, but that too had fallen somewhere in the sea due to the storm.

‘The more I think about it, the more it seems like a miracle that no one died in that storm. I guess we were lucky.’

As Ronak was deep in these cautious thoughts, a group of people came into his view. They were people standing on the coast, facing them.

It looked as if they were waiting for them.

Ronak strained his eyes and carefully observed the people on the coast.

‘...Those look like knights and soldiers, don't they?’

It was then.

“Ronak—no, ‘Admiral’! There are knights and soldiers waiting on the coast!”

At the tense shout of the ‘Vice Admiral’ Rollo, who was surveying the surroundings from the deck, Ronak nodded.

The pirate ship fell silent in an instant at the news that knights and soldiers were waiting. Some even gripped their weapons.

The reason the pirates were so tense was obvious. No matter that they were pirates who only attacked corrupt nobles and vicious merchant guilds, in the end, they were still ‘pirates.’

Not knowing the reason for their presence, the pirates had to prepare for the possibility that the knights and soldiers would attack them.

Swoooosh—!

As the ship cut through the sea and gradually approached the coast, the pirates were able to see the knights and soldiers clearly.

It was the same for Ronak.

‘About ten knights and a hundred soldiers. If we fight, the damage won't be small, but I think we can win.’

However, Ronak wanted to avoid fighting them if at all possible. The reason he had left Ingrid Island and come to the mainland was to ascertain the truth of the rumors about the ‘Crown Prince who cares for his people,’ and to live as ordinary citizens on the mainland.

But what would happen if they fought with knights and soldiers as soon as they arrived on the mainland? They would be at odds with the kingdom from the very beginning.

Thump...!

Ronak's ship touched the sandy beach and stopped, and the other pirate ships that followed skillfully docked in a line along the coast. However, no pirates disembarked from the ships.

They watched the knights and soldiers cautiously.

Vice Admiral Rollo also subtly placed his hand on the twin swords on his back. In a touch-and-go situation, it was to use his swords if he had to. With his skills, he could easily defeat an average knight, and perhaps even a mid-level or higher knight.

‘I'll have to be the one to speak first.’

Ronak stepped out to the edge of the deck to fulfill his responsibility as the Admiral.

“I am—!”

Ronak was about to shout out in a loud and dignified voice, but the knight's words were faster than Ronak's.

“His Highness, Crown Prince Leonardo, has invited you all as his guests!”

“...?”

Ronak couldn't respond properly to the knight's incomprehensible words.

‘The Crown Prince invited us? How did he know we were coming here? No, more importantly, does he know who we are to be inviting us?’

As questions arose, so did suspicion in Ronak's mind.

‘This is the southernmost tip of the kingdom. The royal capital is in the center of the kingdom. So, there's no way the Crown Prince would be here.’

Which means—

‘It might be a ploy. They know we're pirates, and they're trying to make us let our guard down before they subjugate us.’

As that suspicion arose, Ronak's hand also went to the axe at his waist.

If they intended to attack them as he suspected, Ronak would have no choice but to fight for his comrades.

But at the same time, Ronak had another thought.

‘...No, if they were trying to make us let our guard down, would they have deliberately mentioned the Crown Prince? Wouldn't it make more sense to say the lord invited us?’

Indeed, it was so. If they were trying to lower their guard, saying ‘the lord invites you’ or ‘let's talk first’ would have been more plausible than ‘the Crown Prince invites you.’

There was no need to mention the Crown Prince.

‘Does that mean... the Crown Prince really did invite us?’

Ronak mulled it over again and came to a conclusion.

‘If they were planning to attack us, they would have attacked before the ship got close. Whether by shooting arrows or fire arrows. But they just stood there and waited for us.’

For now... should I trust them?

‘I can't put my other comrades in danger, so I'll have to go alone.’

“Very well! Then I will disembark alone, so guide me to His Highness the Crown Prince!”

At Ronak's words that he would disembark alone, the pirates looked at him with surprised eyes. It was a very dangerous decision to go alone in a situation where they didn't know if the ‘Crown Prince's invitation’ was real or not.

“Ronak! You're going alone, what if it's a trap!”

When Rollo expressed the concerns on behalf of the other pirates, Ronak smiled lightly. It was a light smile, so the scar he got from the Kraken didn't stretch, making it a pleasant smile.

“If they were planning to attack us, they would have attacked before the ship landed. Wouldn't they?”

“...That's true, but.”

“And if I was destined to die in vain in a trap, I would have died in the storm while crossing the sea. No. The Kraken would have killed me years ago in the first place. But there must be a good reason why I'm alive and stepping on the mainland like this.”

“...”

“So, don't worry. And if it's really an invitation from the ‘Crown Prince,’ shouldn't I respond like a man, as the Admiral of the Ingrid Island Pirates?”

He was truly a man worthy of being acclaimed as the Admiral by the pirates. He was their comrade, but he was clearly different from them.

—As Rollo thought highly of Ronak, he did not let down his guard and added one more thing.

“If you're going to put it that way, I'll let you go. But... if anything happens to you, then we will take revenge in the pirate's way. On the mainlanders.”

***

—Knock knock.

—Your Highness. The representative of the unidentified fleet you wished to see is on his way. He will arrive in about five minutes.

While I was reading the <Future Diary> in the carriage, I heard Jereuth's voice from outside.

“Yes, Commander. I'll be out after I think about something for a moment.”

—Yes, I understand.

After giving a short reply to Jereuth outside the carriage, I looked at the <Future Diary> again.

...

The representative of the pirate ships that appeared on the coast of Misty Port, ‘Ronak.’

He accepted my invitation without any resistance.

Honestly, I was worried whether the pirates would comply so readily. Even though I had told them to ‘invite’ the pirates, Jereuth and Walter had sent no less than ten knights and a hundred soldiers to them.

In such a situation, if I had been a pirate, I would have misunderstood, thinking, 「”Sending so many troops, are they planning to attack me?”」

But as I said before, fortunately, the pirates' representative, Ronak, accepted my invitation.

Confidently, and alone.

He was truly the representative of the pirates.

This was the first part of the new entry in the <Future Diary>.

‘This part isn't particularly important. The important part is on the next page.’

Though it wasn't exactly pleasant news.

Flip—.

I turned to the next page.

…

A tent set up under the shade of a tree.

Ronak was waiting for me in that tent.

I honestly told Ronak my plan. That I would eradicate the bandits who were a menace to the kingdom, and I asked for Ronak and his pirate crew to lend their strength.

What I asked of Ronak was not simply to eradicate the bandits. It was a request to find and recruit ‘righteous bandits,’ like Ronak's pirate crew, who had no choice but to become bandits because of their hard lives, and who only attacked nobles and vicious merchant guilds.

Hearing this, Ronak was both flustered and surprised, saying, 「”...You're not only forgiving us, who are ‘pirates,’ but you're going to take us in as your subordinates?”」. But not long after, he nodded his head happily.

Ronak was quite amicable towards me.

Thus, I succeeded in recruiting Ronak and the pirates with relative ease.

However, for some reason, the atmosphere among the other knights and soldiers was not good.

The knights and soldiers did not express their dissatisfaction openly, but I could almost hear their silent complaints.

The last part, about the knights and soldiers being dissatisfied, was bothering me.

But what came next was even more bothersome.

...

The night I recruited Ronak and the pirates.

I held a welcome party for Ronak and the pirates at the lord's castle. It wasn't a very grand party, but it was enough to enjoy some light food and drinks.

Shortly after the party began, I left the banquet hall. I personally wasn't the type to enjoy parties, and I also had things to discuss with Jereuth about eradicating the bandits of the kingdom in the future.

As I was in the middle of a serious meeting with Jereuth.

I heard an urgent voice from outside the room. It was the voice of a soldier I had spoken with a few times on the way to Misty Port.

—My apologies for the late hour! B-but this is an urgent matter!

At the urgent voice from outside, I opened the door and let the soldier in.

And there he was... blood was spattered on the soldier's body and face.

“...What happened?”

Jereuth, who had been discussing various things with me, looked at the soldier and asked with a frown. The soldier barely managed to calm his trembling voice and replied.

“A-a fight broke out between the knights and the pirates in the banquet hall!”

A ‘fight.’ So, they were fighting.

But for blood to have spattered even on the soldier who came to report the situation... it must not have been an ordinary fight.

‘...The atmosphere was bad when I recruited the pirates, and it ended up like this after all.’

It was a mistake to have let my guard down just because I had achieved my goal of recruiting the pirates.

‘In the future, to search out and eliminate the bandits hiding all over the kingdom, the harmony between the knights, the pirates, and the newly recruited righteous bandits is crucial. If they fight like this from the very beginning... really.’

It seems the very first button of my grand plan is about to be misplaced.

Jereuth let out a deep sigh and bowed his head to me.

“...Your Highness, I apologize for the disturbance caused by the knights under my command. I will go and sort out the situation.”

This was the last part of the new entry in the <Future Diary>.

‘So, to summarize, the pirates readily came under my command, but the knights and soldiers did not approve of it. And eventually, a fight broke out at the welcome party tonight.’

The old me would have approached this problem simply.

Since a fight broke out at the ‘welcome party’ tonight, I would have solved it by not having the welcome party in the first place.

But.

‘I've already experienced that it doesn't work that way.’

When I fainted a few months ago.

Back then, I had tried to avoid the future in a simple way, thinking, ‘I fainted at the Recruit Completion Ceremony, so if I don't go to the Recruit Completion Ceremony, I won't faint.’

Easily, on the cheap.

As a result of trying to change the future so easily, I received the judgment of the future... well, not quite judgment, but a punishment.

I'm talking about fainting immediately. Dıscover more novels at novel★fire.net

‘It will probably be the same this time. If I try to solve future problems simply, it will have bigger side effects. I need to solve the fundamental problem. The problem that the knights and soldiers do not welcome the pirates.’

This time, it might end with a simple fight. But if the animosity between them piles up, it could later lead to an irreversible situation.

At worst, it could go beyond fighting among allies to killing each other.

So, in the end, a practical solution was needed.

A solution to improve the relationship between the existing army and the new forces I have recruited and will recruit.

‘It would have been nice if the <Future Diary> had mentioned what they fought about... but it didn't tell me that much. I guess I have to figure it out myself this time.’

As I was deep in thought, I heard Jereuth's voice from outside again.

—Your Highness, the representative of the pirate crew has arrived.

“Ah, yes. I'm coming out.”

I put the <Future Diary> in my bag and took out the liquor I had packed from the royal capital. It was a welcome drink I had prepared.

‘First, let's go and check the atmosphere. According to the diary, the atmosphere was not good from the tent, so if I go to the scene, I might be able to find out why the knights and soldiers are dissatisfied.’

Thud—.

I got out of the carriage.

To find out why the knights and soldiers did not welcome the pirates.

I thought many things would be solved just by meeting and recruiting the pirates... but there were so many things to worry about.

Reigning from above is truly not easy.

Is this the melancholy of a ruler?