Pirates

Kloze was a battle-hardened warrior who had hovered between life and death many times. He had never underestimated any opponent. But he had never imagined that he would be defeated so easily by a Barkley man—and with the two-handed sword he was most proud of.

Attacking an opponent with a sword hilt was hardly an uncommon move. The difficult part was doing it so casually and naturally, as if the sword had become one with its wielder.

But that had clearly been a shoddy sword his opponent had picked up at random.

Clearly, this man from the continent was a true master of the sword. His understanding of strength, technique, distance, and positioning far surpassed Kloze's own.

As a Great Swordsman, he knew that after being driven back by that sword hilt, his opponent had had ample time to rush forward and cut him down.

But his opponent had merely stood there and waited, waiting for him to rest a moment before continuing the fight.

His opponent's confidence in victory also surpassed his own.

Kloze had seen people with both such swordsmanship and such absolute confidence only among the Meitengheim Death Squad—those were all aging Great Sword Masters, veterans who had spent most of their lives immersed in the sword.

But the young man before him looked no older than twenty. Even if he had started practicing swordsmanship in the womb, he should not have possessed such skill.

Besides, a man from the continent with such swordsmanship should have become famous long ago...

Kloze lowered his head and looked at the bulging muscles on his arms, then at Li Ang, whose build was nearly half his size.

Technique was not necessarily what decided victory. Strength mattered too.

And when it came to strength... Kloze felt that the difference in their builds spoke for itself.

Although challenging him again under such circumstances would damage his honor, for the freedom of his people, Kloze decided to try once more.

He raised his sword, lowered his head, and offered another bow of apology. Then the greatsword in his hands began to whirl like a windmill.

It was a reckless fighting style in which the man moved with the sword. For a moment, sword shadows overlapped and the wind howled. With Kloze's formidable strength swinging the massive blade, it truly created an unstoppable force.

On a battlefield, he probably really could have cut through everything in front of him with that greatsword—men, horses, or anything else.

But that menacing flash of steel vanished after a loud Bang!

Kloze stared blankly at his empty hand, the web between his thumb and forefinger split open, then stared in disbelief at Li Ang, who still held his sword in both hands.

Li Ang had merely used a turning diagonal slash to send the sword in Kloze's hand flying aside.

It looked like a victory of absolute strength.

The other Meitengheim people watching were equally incredulous. No one had expected this young man to suppress Kloze in a head-on clash.

How could such terrifying strength be hidden beneath that "slender" body?

This made no sense!

"Iron God above!"

Kloze dropped to one knee with a thud.

He knew that the young man before him had not surpassed him in raw strength. At most, they were evenly matched.

Yet that diagonal slash, following the momentum of his own sword—the technique of borrowing force and the grasp of timing—was unlike anything he had seen in his life. His opponent's ingenious use of force even surpassed the Great Sword Masters he had encountered.

All the Meitengheim people dropped to one knee in unison and began chanting to their unique god.

Then Kloze picked up the greatsword, now visibly bent into an arc, held it above his head with both hands, and offered it to Li Ang.

"We swear our loyalty to you before the God of Steel. Wherever your blade points shall be our battlefield, Lord Li Ang."

Li Ang accepted the sword and led more than a dozen hulking men out of the arena, with the golden-maned horse in tow.

Behind him were the complicated looks of Fat Boss Andrew and several attendants.

Very complicated—because Li Ang had taken those greatswords with him... Though they were only crudely made iron-core swords, the dozens of pounds of iron alone were worth several dozen denars!

But Andrew clearly had no intention of demanding them back. He knew Li Ang was broke, and he would most likely never get them back anyway.

Besides, those Meitengheim people were not particularly friendly toward him...

And the sight of Li Ang being followed by more than a dozen muscular, bare-chested men—no matter how he looked at it, it felt strange. It was as though they had been summoned by some noblewoman to deliver "goods"...

Well, a certain unspeakable sort of business commonly found among nobles...

Li Ang naturally found the scene somewhat strange too, but he had no time to worry about appearances. He had to leave immediately.

Of course he was taking those greatswords. After all, these bare-chested subordinates had no equipment at all right now. This was only because they were on the warm western coast—if they were in the Northern Territory, they would probably freeze to death.

So he had to seize every chance to get some "spoils." After all, if these musclebound men had no weapons, they would not be able to protect him.

He had recruited these men in the first place for his own safety.

In Pendor, nowhere but the duel arena valued one-on-one fights... No matter how skilled he was, he could not withstand being mobbed. The Crimson Brotherhood, the bandits scattered everywhere, and the heretics would not challenge him to single combat.

Besides, he still had to register as a Pioneer Lord in Lion City before he could ensure that certain nobles would not have him killed in the street.

But developing a territory was no simple pastime. It required enormous investments—equipment, food, housing, construction.

That required a vast amount of denars.

But Li Ang's pockets were cleaner than his face.

And he did not dare stay in Mistveil City any longer. If he lingered, who knew what kind of "accident" might happen.

Li Ang led his newly recruited men swiftly eastward out of Mistveil City, but he was deeply troubled along the way. I need money! Without money, I can't take a single step. I don't even have travel expenses to Lion City yet.

But the road was all wilderness. He did not even see a single village...

There were only barren hills and forests.

Just as he was wondering whether these fierce men would eat Alice when they got hungry, Kloze suddenly seemed to spot something and said softly, "People... It's them!"

Before Li Ang could react, the Meitengheim people entered a state of alert as if facing a great enemy. Some even began searching for cover.

"What is it?"

Li Ang was somewhat confused.

"It seems to be those pirates..." Kloze quietly explained.

Mistveil City was a natural harbor, and there were many places along the coast outside the city where ships could dock.

In fact, throughout the Fieltzway Alliance—now a kingdom—aside from some local nobles of the western coast, the other upper-class figures had originally been pirates, slave traders, and smugglers from Vanskery. They had merely cleaned up their image. The former warlords, underworld bosses, and illegal merchants had all become lords now.

So seeing pirates near the western coast was perfectly normal.

But the problem was that they had already traveled more than ten kilometers east. Kloze had spotted the pirates in a valley—this place was a full twenty kilometers from the sea, with no towns or villages nearby!

That was rather abnormal.

Why would pirates gather in such a godforsaken place?

A month ago, these pirates had robbed Kloze's employer in the nearby waters. His employer abandoned them and fled. Kloze and the others, unwilling to surrender, had their ship rammed apart by the pirates. They fell into the sea unconscious, then were sold to Mistveil City nearby.

As everyone knew, if someone had pulled off a job and the victim escaped, pirates would generally need to lie low.

But lying low meant staying in a city or town. After all—only places with more people could hide people.

Unless this was the pirates' secret hideout?

The Meitengheim brutes around him clenched their teeth as they confirmed it among themselves. These were the pirates who had turned them into captive slaves.

Because one of the pirates had a weapon they took great pride in strapped to his back—a Meitengheim two-handed sword.

But Li Ang suddenly became excited...

At sea, Vanskery pirates truly had few rivals.

But this was land!

And mountainous land!

The fierce men beside him came from Meitengheim, where the entire land was mountainous!

Heh heh...

"Men, do you want to take your equipment back?"