Abner's Unusual "Reputation"

On the Sunia Sea, a large, silver-white three-masted ship cut through the waves toward a route marked on no chart. At its bow stood a figurehead of a young woman gripping a sword with both hands.

Beside the figurehead stood a beautiful woman in her twenties. She had long black hair, brown eyes, and features that combined feminine delicacy with bold, masculine lines. She wore old-fashioned Intis knight's armor, with an unremarkable longsword at her waist.

She rested one hand on the figurehead's shoulder and gazed into the distance.

A young man with slightly curly brown hair approached. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Captain, are we really going to that so-called Pirate Gathering?"

The imposing woman was Maria, the newly appointed Pale Admiral who had replaced Hell Admiral Ludwell. She was sailing aboard her flagship, the Pale Saintess, toward the extinct volcanic island where the gathering would be held.

"Of course we are... You and Nicole need to trade for your advancement materials. And there's... Never mind. You don't need to know about that." Maria turned halfway toward him and gave a stiff smile. Her expression was so unnatural that she looked like a puppet on strings.

"Captain, if you can't smile, don't force yourself..." The young man seemed close enough to Maria to tease her about it.

"But Kent... the crew always says I'm too serious. They say I make them nervous..." Maria fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

"But that smile is even scarier..." Kent rubbed his forehead helplessly. Rather than pursue the subject, he returned to the matter at hand. "We have a lot of enemies. Plenty of pirate crews have suffered at your hands, Captain... I'm afraid they might join forces against us."

"They wouldn't dare during the gathering. The King of the