Abandoned Pirate

Edward was a Level 2 Warrior, with strength and physical constitution far beyond those of ordinary people, but right now, he could not even bring out half his strength.

In other words, a Level 2 Warrior normally had the strength to lift 500 kilograms, but now Edward could not even use 250 kilograms of force. The City Guards were all seasoned brawlers, and each of them still had the strength to wield fifty or a hundred kilograms. This was not a case of ants biting an elephant to death—it was a pack of wolves killing a tiger.

"Captain, are you done yet? I'm about to collapse." Edward had no weapon and was using the lid of a bucket as a shield. He looked like a street vendor battling City Guards who had come to shut down his stall.

Edward had already been struck on the back and calf. Fortunately, his enemies were unskilled with their swords and knives, so he had blocked their weapons. But even two fists could not fight four hands. When their fists and feet landed, he could only endure those nonlethal attacks.

"Just one more moment. Edward, you're the best fighter in our crew. I believe you can hold out." Hook encouraged Edward as he threw aside the mooring rope.

In just two or three minutes, the small fishing boat had gradually left the shore and begun sailing away.

"Hook, what's going on?" When Edward saw that the boat had started leaving without even calling out to him, he suddenly had a bad feeling and shouted angrily at his captain.

"Edward, I think you can hold out a little longer. If you board now, neither of us may escape. Don't worry. I'll come back to save you once I recover my strength." Hook held onto the sail as the boat sailed farther and farther away, still lying to Edward to make him keep buying time.

"Damn you, you son of a bitch! I'll be waiting for you in hell!" Hook could not possibly have come to this island guarded by an Archmage out of kindness to rescue a subordinate. The bastard had betrayed him and escaped alone.

Edward became so agitated that he forgot to defend himself. He took a knife wound to each shoulder and back, cried out in pain, and was quickly pinned to the ground by several City Guards piled on top of him. He nearly suffocated.

Kerry still had no idea that something had gone wrong at the docks. After returning to the castle, he summoned Butler Carson. "Mr. Carson, prepare the best guest rooms for Gandalf and Miss Emma as quickly as possible. Then take them the best food and supplies. They can't keep suffering in the servants' quarters." Carson had no idea what was supposedly so terrible about the servants' quarters, but he suppressed his confusion and hurried off to prepare the rooms.

The castle was neither particularly large nor particularly small. In his previous life's countryside, only the richest families could afford to build something like it.

Besides, with so few servants and masters combined, there were still plenty of empty rooms.

Carson quickly prepared the two finest guest rooms. Only then did he hear the servants spreading word that the pirates at the port had all been taken down by a single fireball from Gandalf, the mage who had concealed his identity.

Who would have thought Gandalf was actually a mage? That made sense of why the young master had ordered him to prepare these rooms.

After learning the truth, Carson began thinking about something else.

Miss Emma was the granddaughter of a great mage. He wondered whether the young master still had a chance. After all, the young master was only a Third-Class Baron, and the next generation would become commoners. Would a mage's granddaughter take a liking to a noble like that?

To be honest, the young master was only popular among commoner women.

No, this wouldn't do. The young master had never been in love and had no idea how to win a girl's affection. I have to do something, Carson secretly decided.

The young master happened to want the best food and goods sent over. There was room for him to make some arrangements there.

Kerry, of course, had no idea that his old butler was racking his brains over how to help him court a girl.

He was furious right now. It had clearly been a perfect essay, but one punctuation mark had been used incorrectly, leaving it flawed.

One of the pirates had actually escaped. They had all been paralyzed, so how had one still gotten away? These City Guards were too useless. He would have to train them harshly later.

Kerry had also overestimated his own forces. How could a few City Guards be used like a proper army? None of them had any experience dealing with a ranked warrior. Who would have thought that even a paralyzed warrior could not be tied up? If there had been a single ranked warrior here, this elementary mistake would never have happened.

Kerry himself was just a rookie with a level but no experience. If he had not thought of it, there was even less chance his subordinates would have.

He hurriedly brought people to the southern mine. It was called a mine, but it was merely a cave used to store ore; it did not produce any itself.

The first person Kerry saw was Edward Teach, shackled in iron chains. The man had two knife wounds, and no one had bandaged them. Blood was still flowing. His Level 2 Warrior constitution had kept him from dying, but at this rate, he might as well save himself one more dinner.

"Someone come and bandage him first. Listen, since we've captured him, we have to treat our prisoner well. What's the point of capturing someone only to let him bleed to death?"

Kerry was getting rather annoyed with the City Guard unit he had personally built. Why had they started abusing prisoners? This attitude of treating prisoners as worthless had to change.

Soon, someone brought bandages and some medicinal powder to dress Edward's wounds. But judging from his condition, interrogation was impossible. It seemed they could only question the other pirates.

Three full days passed. Kerry spent nearly all of them at the southern mine. The Dimensional Exchange would open for the second time tomorrow, yet Kerry could only gnash his teeth as he watched the feeble Edward.

The one who had escaped was Captain Hook. That alone was bad enough—they had lost a big fish.

Worse still, only the pirate captain knew where they had hidden their treasure. Pirates in this era all had the habit of hiding the loot they plundered somewhere.

No one else even knew whether the newly promoted Archmage Edward knew where the treasure was. So Kerry could only helplessly watch Edward, whose wounds had become infected from the delayed treatment and whose high fever would not break.

Bandaging his wounds had merely helped Kerry feel better about himself morally. If Edward could not hold on and died, then so be it; it would not be a big deal. But who could have known that this man was an Archmage? He might also know where the pirate treasure was hidden.

Should he take him to a doctor? South Australia Island did not have any doctors yet. Minor illnesses had to be endured, while serious ones required going to a physician in Little Nose Bay Port City. But if the doctors in the coastal city found out that the patient was a pirate, they probably would not look kindly on Kerry. Was it worth enduring their attitude for a pirate's life?

Kerry was caught in a dilemma. Just then, Gandalf, whom Kerry had been avoiding somewhat these past few days, found him.

Ever since revealing his identity, Gandalf had waited for Kerry to respond. Three days had passed, yet Kerry had neither sought him out nor gone to see Emma. He had only sent Butler Carson to keep delivering new clothes and delicious food to Emma, while he himself stayed holed up in the southern mine. What was that supposed to mean?

Thanks to reader 20180119215452553 (Shan Erding) for the reward.