The scene in the room was, of course, nothing like what everyone outside the door imagined.
Emma had sprained her ankle and had bruises on her back. After leaving the fishermen's circle, Kerry found her sitting alone in a corner. Only after asking what was wrong did he learn that although Emma's injuries were not serious, they still hurt quite a bit, so Kerry suggested giving her a massage.
Kerry had known a little about massage in his previous life. After assuring Emma that she would feel much better afterward, she readily agreed. However, he had not expected her to invite him to her room.
Kerry felt that it did not matter where they did it. Emma herself, on the other hand, was surprised that she had invited a boy to her room.
After that, Kerry seriously massaged Emma. As a result, she let out suppressed moans during the massage.
Neither of them knew that a group of shameless fellows outside the door had exchanged knowing smiles before leaving separately.
The birthday party lasted until the early hours of the morning. The island had far too few nighttime activities, so Emma's party gave everyone an excuse to indulge and have fun until dawn.
Kerry and Emma did not know that after they left early and returned to their rooms to rest, the atmosphere at the party suddenly changed. It was as if everyone were passing around some kind of secret.
"Did you know? Lord Kerry and Miss Emma were in the room just now... I consider you my best friend, so just listen to this. Don't spread it around."
"Stop drinking. I heard that Lord Kerry is doing some advanced moves with Miss Emma right now. You can hear the commotion even from the stairwell. Don't tell anyone else."
"Mom, they said Baron Kerry and Mage Emma are doing that thing where they shout 'no' with their mouths, but their bodies are being very honest. What kind of thing is that?"
"Eat more vegetables, child!"
The most ironic thing in the world was that everyone told others not to talk, yet everyone was talking.
At breakfast the next day, Kerry suddenly noticed that everyone was looking at him and Emma, who was sitting across the table, with ambiguous expressions.
Kerry was somewhat confused, but he did not pay much attention to it. Perhaps someone had learned that he had rescued Emma at the dock.
In Kerry's view, it was probably rare for a noble to personally jump into the water to save someone, so everyone might have misunderstood something.
Those were minor matters. Starting today, he had serious business to attend to and no time to bother with these servants.
After breakfast, Kerry hurried to the southern mine, where more than 160 pirates were being held. However, they would soon become Echo Bugs.
Emma had also noticed everyone's ambiguous looks. At that moment, she felt a little guilty, as if she had been caught doing something wrong. Could everyone tell that I have feelings for Kerry?
Without realizing it, Emma's cheeks began to redden.
Gandalf, who was sitting at the same table, knew that girls were easily embarrassed. Seeing Emma's face flushed under everyone's gazes, he had no choice but to speak up and divert her attention.
"Emma, although a fourteen-year-old girl is already a young lady, it's still best to exercise some restraint in certain matters. Kerry is a fine young man, but you're both still a little young. Have children later." Gandalf voiced his own assumptions without a second thought.
"Restraint? Children? Teacher, what are you talking about?" Emma failed to understand for a moment.
"Hahaha, your teacher didn't say anything. In any case, I approve of the two of you. You're just a little young." Gandalf thought Emma was too embarrassed to admit it and was pretending not to understand.
"You know about Kerry and me? Teacher, you already know?" Emma was greatly surprised. She had only realized yesterday that Kerry was a decent person and developed some feelings for him. How had her teacher already decided that they were dating?
"Hmm, I only found out yesterday that you two had progressed this far." Remembering how he had eavesdropped outside the room the day before, Gandalf's old face grew hot. He hurriedly finished breakfast and left on an excuse.
Was I really that obvious yesterday? Emma wondered. I absolutely can't let Kerry know, or he'll think I'm some lovesick girl.
Kerry, of course, knew nothing about this conversation between Emma and Gandalf after he left. By then, he had already ridden a four-wheel-drive beach buggy to the southern mine.
Because more than 160 pirates were being held there, all the ore produced during this period had been piled up near the mine entrance. The place looked a little like the scene of a gangland deal.
The first thing Kerry did after arriving was take all the robots out of the Dimensional Exchange's storage space.
All traded items could be stored free of charge in the Dimensional Exchange warehouse for thirty days. After that, a storage fee would be charged according to the item's volume.
This rule applied to items being traded through the Dimensional Exchange. If someone wanted to temporarily store non-traded items or display goods in the temporary warehouse, they only received ten free hours.
Fourteen Miner Robots and Mine Guardian Robots surrounded Kerry. For a moment, he felt like a gang leader being protected in the middle of his underlings.
Kerry had the robots connect to one another through the local network built into them. Using unencrypted radio signals, he contacted Mine Guardian No. 1, who was still mining copper ore on the seabed, and ordered it to return and join the Mine Guardian unit. He then gave Miner No. 1 and Mine Guardian No. 2 one hand-cranked Big Brother each.
Mine Guardian No. 1 was not there. It had once been Unit 001, so Kerry could only give the Big Brother to Mine Guardian No. 2. From then on, Kerry could contact all the robots under his command at any time.
"When Mine Guardian No. 1 arrives, I'll assign tasks to all of you. For now, remain on standby. Mine Guardians, keep watch where you are." After giving the robots their orders, Kerry entered the southern mine.
"Good morning, Lord!" The City Guards at the mine entrance greeted him one after another. These people were responsible for guarding the captured pirates.
Although they had not been on duty at the castle, they still looked at Kerry rather ambiguously. Clearly, they knew some of the secrets that came with a warning to tell only them and not spread them outside.
Kerry found it strange. These City Guards had not attended the party, yet they seemed to have remarkably well-informed sources.
However, none of the City Guards had noticed Emma leaving the castle in Frank's carriage the day before. This showed that they were rather neglectful of their duties: they failed to know what they should know, yet somehow knew everything they should not.
Kerry assumed that the story about a noble personally diving into the water to save someone had spread among everyone.
I'll properly straighten out military discipline when I have the time. With that thought in mind, Kerry passed Edward's cell and arrived at the area where the healthy pirates were being held together. There were more than 160 of them—not too many, but not few either. Packed into the mine, they formed a dense, gloomy mass.
They had all been tied up with ropes, while the few with the strength of Level 1 Warriors had also been shackled with iron chains.
Kerry took out a Nanobot injector and walked over to the nearest pirate. It was his first time observing a pirate from such close range, and his first impression was that the fellow looked rather crooked.
However, after spending the next half hour injecting Nanobots into the pirates one by one, Kerry realized that it was not only the first one who looked crooked. Every single pirate was ugly and misshapen. Was there really no one among them who looked as decent as Edward?
Edward could not exactly be called handsome, but at least his features were regular. How had all of you turned out like this? Was the standard for becoming a pirate based on who could be the ugliest?
I'm on the recommendations today. Please support me.
Before you continue