Brad was not a brave man. He rushed to the wall in a few steps and hid beside the hole Leo had made, protecting himself with his round shield and exposing only half his head. Then, taking advantage of the confusion and darkness, he controlled his rope and made it slither across the wooden floor like a snake. He did not recklessly charge inside. Instead, he stayed at a distance and used the hemp rope to interfere with the fighting in the room.
Spotting an opening, Brad suddenly wrapped the rope around a pirate's ankle and yanked him down. Gaden Hank immediately felt the pressure in front of him ease. Lydia also noticed Brad, and she looked somewhat surprised when she realized he was helping her.
Leo had no intention of leaving Brad to hold out on his own for long. Using his shield as cover, he reached into his clothes and pulled out his "little toy to liven things up," the wheellock pistol that had originally been covered in gold-wire ornamentation. The gold had been far too conspicuous, so Leo had already pried every strand of gold wire off it.
That was simply how low-key he was. He would never admit that he had actually removed the gold wire because he was poor.
Those gold-wire decorations had given Leo quite a pleasant surprise. The goldsmith said there was not much actual gold in them, but the workmanship was excellent. With a little alteration, they could be turned into very fine pieces of gold jewelry. As a result, they sold for more than their weight in gold, bringing him a full one gold pound and twelve silver pennies.
After becoming a Warrant Officer Class I, Leo's monthly salary was four hundred copper pennies, equivalent to two silver pennies. Leo gave that salary to his mother and younger sister for their living expenses. His remaining private wealth, thirteen gold pounds and twelve silver pennies, was all still in his hands.
Once you had enough money, it became nothing more than a number. And once that number grew large enough, it let Leo straighten his back.
Without the gold wire, the wheellock pistol now looked completely ordinary, its surface pitted and uneven. Leo did not care. A gun only needed to fire lead balls. Fancy decoration was useless.
With a Wave Mage present, Leo could not make use of his advantage in close combat. His Haste Magic was only E-Grade and would not be much help either.
So now, he would use this little toy to liven things up and give that bald pirate some excitement!
It took Leo more than ten seconds to ready the wheellock pistol. Then he tucked his mace into his belt, raised his round shield, concealed the wheellock pistol behind it, fixed his eyes on Kidd, and walked toward the wooden house.
Field the poet was still locked in combat with Kidd. Field had the advantage in terms of school matchup, but the pirates had the advantage in numbers, so neither side could gain the upper hand for the moment. This time, Leo was exceptionally cautious as he slowly approached Kidd again.
The alluring female pirate Jeanne Belleville had never joined the fighting. Her attention had remained fixed on Leo the entire time. Her intuition told her that Leo was the most dangerous person there.
Jeanne drew a throwing knife from the belt at her waist and lightly balanced it flat across one finger. As though teasing Leo, she extended that finger toward him and crooked it. The throwing knife resting on her finger moved steadily up and down with her fingertip, its point never wavering from the spot between Leo's brows.
Leo was also a Haste Mage. With Projectile Intuition, he could clearly sense the throwing knife's target. A sharp whistle tore through the night as the knife suddenly shot toward the center of his brow.
Leo reflexively raised his round shield. Metal rang sharply against metal as the throwing knife struck the shield and ricocheted away somewhere out of sight.
Hidden in the shadows where no one expected it, Leo's killing move came without warning.
As the round shield rose, the muzzle of the wheellock pistol appeared beneath it. Projectile Intuition warned the alluring female pirate as well, but she did not even know where the danger was coming from.
Too late!
Leo pulled the trigger. The barrel roared.
Jeanne only had time to shove Kidd aside. Blood burst from Kidd's left shoulder as the lead ball buried itself deep in his body. Kidd did not die, but he toppled toward his right. His narrow triangular eyes opened slightly wider as he cast Leo a venomous glare.
"Retreat!" Jeanne roared.
At the same time, the throwing knives in her hands flew out one after another in every direction. The leather cords around Field's ankles lashed through the air as he tried to knock down as many of the knives as possible. Brad was well hidden, but Gaden Hank was immediately struck by two knives.
Leo blocked the flying knives as he moved away from the opening. This woman had gone mad. A Haste Mage could accelerate arrows and darts by hand, but the resulting power was limited. If Jeanne Belleville had a crossbow right now, however, the threat she posed would increase enormously. Haste Magic provided a tremendous boost to crossbows.
Leo carefully put away his precious wheellock pistol and picked up his mace again. With the Wave Mage gone, and with Kidd out of the fight, there was no question that Leo was once again the toughest man here.
Under the effect of his Cipher spell, Leo smashed through the wall again, opening another large hole from a different position. One pirate was caught completely off guard and took the head of Leo's mace directly to the shoulder. A sickening crack of a breaking shoulder blade sounded through the air.
By now, the door of the wooden house had been opened, and Jeanne Belleville was covering Kidd's retreat. Leo said nothing and simply moved faster.
The situation had completely reversed. The pirate leader had been wounded by Leo, and Brad now jumped into the fight as well. Apart from the pirate Leo had just knocked down, three pirates remained inside to cover the retreat.
Brad used his rope to restrain the pirates. Leo handled smashing their shoulder blades.
A little more than ten seconds later, pirates were sprawled all over the floor.
Gaden Hank had taken one knife in the leg and another in the lower abdomen. Field and Lydia immediately began treating him and showed no intention of pursuing Kidd.
Field's side now appeared to pose relatively little threat, so Leo decisively rushed out the door to chase Kidd and Jeanne Belleville. The moment he stepped outside, he saw three small boats rowing toward shore in the distance, each packed with men. These were the reinforcements Jeanne had summoned with her whistle earlier. From time to time, the cold gleam of weapons flashed in their hands.
Leo immediately retreated into the wooden house. He hid behind a window and cautiously watched the pirates in the distance. Their pirate ship was probably somewhere farther out at sea.
Brad knew nothing about what was happening outside. Panting, he said, "Leo! You listened to my advice. You really didn't smash the pirates' heads!"
Of course, Leo had not suddenly become merciful. Still watching the situation outside, he replied, "These pirates are tools we need to complete our mission. We need to send them to the gallows."
Brad finally remembered that they still had a mission. "You're right. I almost forgot about it. We still need three criminals to meet our mission quota."
Comments