Chapter 110

It wasn’t Rodella who caused the explosion.

The man on the deck was thrown high into the air by the force of the blast and fell into the sea.

“Pull him out, and then…”

Aivert’s gaze shifted to another direction.

In the distance, a coast guard ship was approaching.

Or rather, it must have been a coast guard ship. In his eyes, he could see traces of a bloody battle and men with swords running around on the deck. The fact that this ship, in such a state, had deviated from its normal course and was heading toward them couldn’t be a good sign.

“Stop them first and seal off the area as much as possible. I’ll enter the ship first, and if there are no additional explosions, you can enter.”

“Understood.” The knights replied in unison.

It would be tricky to stop the enemy’s movement on the water, but once they boarded the ship or made a hole in it, the conditions would be the same for both sides, so they could stop them.

Then, one of the knights asked, “Do we only subdue them?”

The Azure Knights’ primary objective was to subdue criminals. Their ultimate goal was to make them pay for their crimes. But for the Azure Knights, who had difficulty controlling their strength, that was not an easy task. The reason he was asking was because of the seriousness of the situation. The knights had clearly assessed the state of the coast guard ship.

Aivert, looking at the ship where Rodella was, said, “It’s fine to kill them. I’ll take responsibility.”

They were already people who had killed the coast guard. So…

“It’s okay to destroy the coast guard ship. Stop them by any means necessary.” He motioned with his hand.

“Don’t let those guys get on the kidnappers’ ship.”

“Yes!”

The knights scattered in an orderly fashion, and Aivert dived into the water.

***

“Rodella!”

As soon as he got close to the ship, he grabbed onto a wall and jumped up in an instant.

Aivert, who had leaped onto the deck, saw things that were not good. For one, it seemed like there had been a lot of explosives on the deck, as there was nothing left of it after the consecutive explosions. It was clear that flammable materials and things that would cause a strong magical reaction to impact had been placed throughout the ship.

“…”

The deck wouldn’t be the only place. There would be more explosions. There wasn’t much time.

—Thump!

He entered through a crack in the tilting ship. It was easy to find the fourth floor below the deck without even having to look for stairs. As expected, unstable magic was shaking everywhere. If fire or smoke touched it, a series of explosions would occur again.

This was not a ship, but a giant bomb.

But he had no intention of getting off the ship, so he pushed through the wreckage. From the way it exploded, it seemed the enemy had torn the ship in two to eliminate any possibility of survivors drifting away. They probably planned to enter here before the next explosion…

—Whoosh!

At that moment, Aivert caught a dagger flying toward his head. The assassin was already rushing toward him.

—Slash!

The dagger he caught killed its owner instantly. There wasn’t just one; he kicked and sent the next one flying.

—!

The waves were getting stronger, and the sound of them swallowed the gruesome sound coming from the man’s body. But from the sound he did hear, it was clear the man could no longer be alive.

Aivert moved quickly as soon as he dealt with the assassins. There must be more than one or two of them trying to get in.

“…”

“Over here…!”

He heard shouts from a distance. It was clear that the Azure Knights had jumped onto the coast guard ship. This would significantly reduce the possibility of them entering. After confirming that fact, Aivert immediately turned around.

“…”

His heightened senses searched for Rodella’s presence. He only chased after her, not caring about the dozens of other presences with her. And soon…

“Rodella!”

He tore open the twisted metal door that couldn’t be opened and entered the cabin. Rodella was there.

“Aivert!”

Rodella turned to him. To keep from falling on the tilted ship, she was leaning against some stacked objects.

On her wrapped arm… blood was seeping through. It seemed she had hastily tied a cloth to stop the bleeding, and the red blood had spread across it.

As Aivert’s breath caught in his throat and he couldn’t say anything, the nobles who had been desperately clinging to the wall looked at him with relief.

“Oh, ohh…!”

“Lord Royden!”

It seemed her persuasion had worked.

“Lord Royden has come!”

“Aaaah!”

As if he were a lifeline, the nobles’ eyes widened, and they tried to rush at him.

“Stay still!”

But even that stopped them all at once when Rodella shouted.

“Moving around will only interfere with the rescue!”

He was curious about the secret to making nobles, who were used to wielding authority, behave like first-year academy students.

Rodella, balancing herself even on the tilted cabin, came toward him.

“Can we save those people, too?”

The low voice was probably because she had noticed he had come alone.

“I know you don’t want to save them, but they’ll be witnesses. They know that Benerix is the one who would harm them and that we are the only ones who can save them.”

She had managed to persuade them in that short amount of time.

As Aivert let out a short breath, Rodella quickly continued. “According to imperial law, nobles are vassals who serve His Majesty, so the crime of trying to kill those vassals is great. If Benerix is proven to be the mastermind—”

She didn’t seem to care about her injured arm. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere else. Aivert only answered after he had confirmed that.

“Let’s get out first. I’ll take you.”

Why would I refuse your command? The problem was how to get them out.

“…”

The nobles, who were nervously swallowing and looking at him, didn’t look like they could swim properly in the strong current. Moreover, the knights were told to enter only if there were no additional explosions.

—Rumble…!

Small explosions were still happening throughout the ship.

But if Rodella wanted to save them…

Aivert strode over, regardless of the tilted cabin, and picked up a rope. It was old from being used on the ship, but it still looked sturdy enough.

“From now on, tie the ropes around each other’s bodies. Make sure no one gets loose because you didn’t tie it properly.”

The nobles’ faces turned white at Aivert’s words as he held up the rope.

“W-what are you going to do to us?”

Aivert pointed up in response.

“I’ll tie you up and drag you out with the rope. Through the sea, onto the Azure Knights’ ship.”

“But…!”

They knew that Aivert Royden was strong, but could he pull all of them with just one rope?

Seeing their unease, Rodella said, “If Aivert didn’t intend to save you, he wouldn’t be tying you with a rope. He’d just take me and escape.”

It sounded quite plausible, didn’t it?

When the nobles stared blankly at Aivert, he just twitched an eyebrow as if to confirm her words, but said nothing.

Rodella calmly continued her persuasion. “But the fact that he’s tying you with a rope means he has the will to save you, even if the method is harsh. We don’t have time. Hurry!”

At her words, the nobles began to move a little faster.

Rodella turned to Aivert.

“Tie me up too.”

She pointed to her body. But Aivert had no intention of daring to tie Rodella to a rope and drag her.

“No, you…”

He pulled something out of his uniform pocket.

—Click.

He put it on one of Rodella’s uninjured wrists.

“Huh?”

Rodella blinked.

It was a pair of handcuffs.