“You’re free to go after this, Arata. I believe the contract between you and Captain Israel is done. She’s already gone to the afterlife, so you are no longer bound by the contract. However, we vow to help you find the herb… But it is best if we could leave some of these innocent families behind… on a secure island. And then we will help you out.” Azure looked behind the people and nodded to herself. “I believe the treasure is still yours, and I know you are not the type of man who will run with it. There is a place far away where the Kingdom and Captain Blackbeard shouldn’t know about. I think it is better if we could sell those gems, purchase some grubs for the entire people, and rebuild what they have lost. Now that Captain Blackbeard took Captain Israel’s life, she won’t chase us down and harm the pirates. She is coming for you. Knowing the pirate community and you, she might target the herb you wanted to get.” “Again, it’s your choice to order us around and accompany you to get t

Within a few moments, Margarette embraced my sister. The two rested, but their eyes were still weeping salty tears. I remained vigilant of my surroundings, not because I didn’t trust this place, but because my mind was too occupied with… everything. A lot had happened, and it wasn’t easy for me to take in.And I knew Azure shared the same sentiments with me, as she looked at the wall and thought of nothing but Captain Israel and the future of this place. The only sound filling the room came from the splashing of rain drops against the roof. A thunderstorm had hit the village, so the rest of the pirates and the villagers were quick to move and went back to their places. Night had enveloped across the place, and this was the perfect time for us to rejuvenate the energy we had lost. But no matter how hard we tried, Azure and I couldn’t get any sleep. As the rest of the time flew by, the two of us stayed up, thinking of various things.It didn’t take long before Azure crippled the silenc

“Had enough?” I muttered, and stood in front of the four mercenaries struggling to pick themselves back up from the ground. “I’m assuming that should be enough to crush your pride. Or do you want me to trample it more than you could ever imagine?”I was… caught in a bad mood from these people. And when I finally lashed out my worries, I fought and overwhelmed them. Thankfully, I pulled my punches. But the next time they wronged me, these mercenaries could kiss their limbs goodbye. When the dust settled, I became the victor and the last person standing out of it all. I didn’t even have to use my sabre from the fight. I overwhelmed these imbeciles alone using only one spell from my [Corsair] ability, which blasted them with ten times the damage against the wizard.The man, who I assumed was the leader of their pack, shook his head and crawled towards me. “No… Please… We had enough,,, Please don’t… kill us.”These mercenaries and the merchant understood that I was already an enemy of th

Amidst all of this, Kirameki went to me with a worried face. My little sister followed me to the forecastle. She heard everything. Azure was baffled and had her eyes widened in surprise, unsure if this was part of the plan. But I let it be and told Azure everything was alright. “Don’t worry. I plan on telling Kirameki about this in the near future… The moment just became fast forward, since Kirameki is already here to listen to it. Now, return to the deck and tell everyone everything’s alright. I just have to talk for a short while with my sister. I’ll come up right after. And tell them to avoid visiting this place unless it's urgent.” “Okay, Ca… Arata. We also have a surprise for you upstairs. We’ll be waiting for you.” Azure then came back to the deck and attended to the pirates and prepared the ship to an immediate sail. Kirameki and I were left alone inside the forecastle. My sister wanted to say something, so she went behind me and wrapped her arms around my body. She then

Prologue Owari Ryutarou___________________________“You know the difference between watching a documentary of a lion eating a zebra and a zebra running away from a lion?” the man in front asked me a question, while casually walking on the aisle of corpses and bones piled like a carpet. This place was called Skull Island. Even an elementary student would guess the name of the island unlike some buffoons I knew. “It’s the fact where you choose which side you are on. If you first watched the zebra getting eaten by the lion, you’d feel tragic for the zebra. But if you watched the lion eating the zebra, you’d say it’s the circle of life."The sound of heavy wind and rain rang in my ears, a testament to the power and strength of the forces of nature. But really though, it was better than listening to whatever nonsense this nutjob standing over me was spewingAs I came to, I found myself on the ground, having been beaten by the fellow in the pirate hat. I tried to stand up, only to feel m