Chapter 1336

A short while later, Lee Han and Ragesa returned. The admiral of this privateer fleet wore a rarely seen expression of reflection.

“Everyone, listen. This daughter of Torgerd sometimes pushes herself too hard chasing goals beyond the horizon. Because of that, I do make mistakes from time to time.”

“Admiral! Just hearing you say that makes us truly happy!”

One of the pirates shouted in a deeply moved voice.

When someone who normally never apologized finally apologized once, the effect was bound to be enormous.

As subordinates who usually only got nagged at, Ragesa's apology was worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

“What are you talking about? I’m not apologizing to you. I’m apologizing to this brat here.”

“Ah.”

“Do you perhaps think I usually make mistakes?”

The pirates quickly put some distance between themselves and their comrade.

The sea was a cruel place. Sometimes, even when a comrade was swept away by the waves and disappeared, one had to swallow one's tears and keep moving forward. Trying to search for them unnecessarily would only increase the losses.

“No! I think there’s been a misunderstanding!”

“How about taking this opportunity to tell me all the things you normally think I’ve done wrong? Hm?”

The cornered pirate began sweating profusely.

In truth, he wanted to say, 'I wish you’d fix things like what you’re doing right now,' but if he did, he might end up standing watch atop the mast for an entire week without being allowed to come down.

The Dark Giant remained crouched down and watched with interest. Among mortals, those who worked as pirates behaved in rather entertaining ways.

“Lady Ragesa. Please finish apologizing.”

“All right, all right. Brat. This daughter of Torgerd formally apologizes. From now on, before recommending a microcosm, I’ll make sure to find out exactly whose microcosm it is.”

“???”

The pirates listening to their conversation fell into confusion.

Just what kind of secret had been hidden in the microcosm for even the Admiral to apologize over it?

“What exactly happened?”

“It was a microcosm that was originally supposed to be inherited by the Frost Giant King.”

“Ah! ...Why is that...?”

If it was used by a king, wasn’t that even better?

But the pirates could not ask any further under Lee Han's fierce gaze.

“More importantly, we should get started.”

The moment Ragesa finished speaking, the Dark Giant immediately drew its weapon.

The wooden club, densely condensed with the darkness element, was so dark in color and so hard that it could no longer really be called wood.

-Come!

“Quick on the uptake for a giant. Brat! Beat it senseless and drive it back beyond the dimension!”

-I intended to challenge you properly, but this isn’t bad either. Challenger of the king. I’ll thoroughly investigate your abilities and record them!

As befitted a wise giant, the Dark Giant had naturally anticipated the possibility that Lee Han would not agree to fight one-on-one.

Unlike Frost Giants or Fire Giants, it had even mentally prepared itself for an ambush like this.

Whirl!

In an instant, ropes fitted with hooks flew toward the Dark Giant.

The ropes the pirates had brought out were woven from vines grown aboard a ghost ship and the muscle tendons of deep-sea monsters, giving them tremendous durability and magical resistance.

“Hup!”

The pirates explosively drew up their aura.

These pirates were completely ignorant when it came to magic, but in close-quarters physical combat, they boasted strength no worse than knights.

As they burned mana over their bodies and pulled all at once, the Dark Giant groaned and dropped to one knee.

-Ugh. I didn’t expect this. Challenger of the king. Take my attack. Just once is enough!

'I really don’t want to deal with this thing anymore.'

Lee Han thought inwardly before cheering on the pirates.

“I’m counting on all of you!”

“Haha! Don’t worry, Professor!”

With even Lee Han cheering them on, the pirates laughed heartily and pulled harder on the ropes.

At that moment, Ragesa warned them.

“Be careful. That bastard is more cunning than you think!”

-Hup!

“A giant using magic?!”

The pirates were startled when the Dark Giant used transformation magic.

They had never imagined a giant would try to escape using magic!

“I told you to be careful, didn’t I? Yi-ha!”

Suddenly, with a sound like a cannon firing, magic burst out from the wall of the ruins and wrapped around the Dark Giant.

The Dark Giant, which had tried to transform into a huge bird and escape, groaned as it was caught in a magical net.

-Hmm. There are too many opponents. This makes it extremely difficult to determine the challenger’s true abilities.

“There you go again, trying to use that as an excuse to run away. Next time, I should just summon a Frost Giant instead. You damned troublesome giant!”

No sooner had Ragesa finished speaking than the Dark Giant transformed again.

This ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) time, it turned into a snake and tried to slither between the gaps in the net.

The Death Knight gave it an utterly fed-up look and smashed its shield into it.

Negative energy exploded from the shield like aura, and the Dark Giant, still transformed into a snake, lost a great deal of strength and cried out.

-Ugh! This is...

-If you’re finished with the job, then go quietly back to your dimension, giant! The Successor already has more than enough to do!

'As expected, people from the same school are the only ones I can trust!'

Lee Han was deeply moved by the Death Knight’s words.

Cornered, the Dark Giant returned to its original massive form and swung its club.

A wave of darkness shot out, and Lee Han quickly stepped forward.

“Darkness, gather here!”

The darkness element was fundamentally incompatible with living beings, so even simple manipulation carried considerable power.

It was only right for Lee Han, who knew how to handle the darkness element, to step in before all the pirates collapsed from exhaustion.

The Dark Giant was impressed when it saw Lee Han control the darkness element more skillfully and pull it away.

-I see. Even something like this... Ack!

“Get lost while I’m still asking nicely. My patience is starting to run out too! If you think I’ll automatically show respect just because you’re a being summoned through a contract, you’re badly mistaken!”

Ragesa warned it while beating the Dark Giant with chains.

Beings from beyond the dimension were not invincible.

If they suffered major damage in the material realm and were forcibly unsummoned, it took a great deal of time and resources for them to recover.

Since this was a weakness for them as well, it could be used as leverage in negotiations.

However, the Dark Giant snorted.

-We giants don’t leave our territories anyway, so it doesn’t matter if we get badly injured!

“......”

'Maybe I really should have summoned a Frost Giant.'

Lee Han suddenly regretted it.

Why had he summoned some unknown giant and created all this trouble instead of just calling one he already knew...

-Since it’s come to this, I have no choice but to observe the challenger’s abilities until I’m forcibly unsummoned. Go!

The Dark Giant seemed to have decided to keep attacking until the very end, even if it meant simply getting beaten the whole time.

Even while under total assault from Ragesa, the Death Knight, and the pirates, it persistently cast magic at Lee Han.

-What about this spell?

-And this spell...

-You really are good at handling the darkness element. Then how about trying this spell too... Ack! Ugh! Wait! Just one more time...

As a result of abandoning defense and choosing only attack, the Dark Giant was forcibly unsummoned rather quickly.

The pirates stared in disbelief as it struggled until the very last moment, begging to test him just one more time.

What kind of bastard was that?

“Anyway, we sent it back, Professor!”

“Good work, everyone.”

After praising her subordinates, Ragesa glanced over at Lee Han.

The new professor of Valdrogard seemed to be lost in thought about something.

Ragesa watched him for a moment, then asked with a suspicious expression.

“You weren’t analyzing the Dark Giant’s magic because you liked it, were you?”

“N-No.”

“...There’s nothing to be ashamed of, brat. If anything, it’s a good habit.”

“Is it?”

“But don’t tell anyone about it. More Dark Giants might come looking for you.”

From Ragesa’s point of view, the Dark Giants were far more persistent than she had expected.

If Lee Han started reverse-engineering and using the magic that Dark Giant had cast, they might come rushing over in excitement.

“......”

* * *

“The Admiral is coming out!”

The pirates who had been waiting on the island let out cheers of joy when they saw Ragesa and the crew of her flagship approaching from afar.

The captured expedition members watched the mood and then shouted along with them.

It felt a little awkward, but it still seemed better to join in.

“Did you find it?”

“Of course! We got everything we wanted.”

Ragesa did not even need to shout loudly.

The expressions on the faces of the subordinates following behind her said everything.

Their broad smiles clearly announced the success of the expedition.

And the mage following behind them, newly appointed as a Valdrogard professor, was also smiling brightly...?

'No. Why does he look like that?'

'Did something happen?'

The crew members were confused when they saw that only Lee Han looked deeply troubled.

There was no reason for just one person to look like that when the expedition had been a success for everyone.

“Lady Ragesa. Why does the mage look like that?”

“It’s because of the magic he learned inside. He’s mulling it over.”

Ragesa dragged a chair onto the deck and sat down, then took a handful of snuff.

The crew members gathered around the admiral, whom they had not seen in some time.

“You all worked hard waiting so long. We’ll set sail again immediately... Wait. Who are these bastards?”

“They’re Valdrogard students!”

“No. Not these ones.”

The old pirate waved her hand irritably.

The Valdrogard students protested.

“Lady Ragesa. As honorable students of Valdrogard, we deserve respect...”

Before they could finish speaking, a rope on the deck wrapped tightly around one of the Valdrogard students and hoisted them upside down.

“I asked who those bastards are.”

“Ah. They’re the expedition party. You know, the ones making noise outside Lady Ragesa’s waters.”

“Ahhh! Those bastards. So that’s who they were.”

Only then did Ragesa remember.

There had been some idiots who kept causing a commotion outside, demanding that the door be opened even after being told not to enter.

Ragesa snapped her fingers and poured rum into a cup in a heavy stream as she swept her gaze over the expedition party.

The expedition members had clearly been beaten by someone, and all the spirit had gone out of them.

“Who hit them?”

“Not us?”

The crew members denied it while glancing slightly toward the new Valdrogard professor.

Even without anyone saying it, Ragesa seemed to understand.

She nodded.

“If nobody hit them, then I suppose nobody got beaten either. You lot don’t have any complaints, do you?”

“No! None at all! It’s an honor to meet the admiral who commands such a renowned privateer fleet!”

Now that they had fully grasped the situation, the members of the <Broken Bone Expedition> shouted quickly.

If they tried to be stubborn or said something stupid here, there might not even be bones left to recover.

The expedition was over, she had drunk some rum, and Ragesa was in a good mood, so she decided to show mercy.

“Looks like you idiots who had no sense before have finally developed a little. In that case, this daughter of Torgerd will show mercy too. Keep quiet, don’t say anything useless, and I’ll drop you off at the harbor. How does that sound?”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Nothing else you want to ask?”

“Um...”

An elf mage from the expedition glanced around nervously and raised a hand.

Ragesa shook the bottle as if telling them to speak.

“Admiral. I heard that person is from House Wardanaz, but I also heard he’s a Valdrogard professor. What exactly is going on?”

Ragesa sighed as though truly saddened by the question.

“I told you not to say anything useless, and you immediately went and said something useless! If we get attacked before reaching the harbor, that’ll be your own fault, so don’t blame me!”

“!??!”