Chapter 22

"Fire!"

I order the archer on the ship to fire their arrow at the pirate ship not too far away from us. I quickly point my finger at the incoming ship and cast a cantrip.

"Ray of Frost!"

A beam of ice hit the sea underneath the ship and held the ship momentarily. I cast a Firebolt cantrip at the boat that was stuck and watched it burn. I really want to cast more firebolt and end this fight fast, but sadly, we need their ship.

"Ray of Frost!"

As another ship gets stuck, I order the archer to shoot them down.

"Arrow incoming!"

I look at my back and see a hail of arrows coming. I focus on the incoming arrow, and suddenly, they stop moving. This is my new spell, Control Gravity. I can control gravity in a small area.

This area is shaped like a pipe. Twenty meters up and two-meter in diameter. I can switch the area from vertical to horizontal or vice versa.

I snap my finger and the arrow pointing at the pirate coming from the other side and let it fly at high speed. I manage to hit most of them with that arrow. My current spell is not too powerful. I cannot raise a ship or a massive boulder just yet.

There is a weight limit, and an arrow is the highest limit I can stop midair. Item heavier than that? I can only slow it down, but it will manage to slip out of my zone.

"Here they come!"

I can see the pirate start to climb our ship from the front. I take out my sword and cast mage hand to grab the first pirate reaching me. My men stab him with their spear and get back to formation as he falls down.

It was a standard shield wall formation. It did not give us mobility, but it made a perfect formation for a pirate that just came at us like a barbarian.

We use the wall behind us as a cover and focus on the enemy in the front. With the spear in hand, my men stab the incoming enemy through the gap between the shield, and the rest of my men finish them off by stabbing their swords into them.

Other than making the enemy fall using mage hand, I also make the floor slippery by casting a weak Ray of Frost on the floor. Not only that, but I also continuously heal my men from the injury they got.

We continue to fight a defensive battle for fifteen minutes before the enemy starts to thin and start retreating. Seeing them retreating, I shout.

"Move!"

With a mighty push, the shield on the front pushes the pirate that is left behind, and the second line stabs the pirate that falls to the ground. I can see my men pick up their bows from the ground and start firing against the fleeing pirate.

"Kill them all! Don't let them leave! Let this sea become their grave!"

~Sometimes later~

I release a sigh and put down my sword before looking at the ship's captain.

"Report! What are the casualties?"

"Yes, my lord! We lost forty men, my lord."

"I see. Take care of the body. We will give them the funeral they deserve."

"Yes, my lord!"

"How many pirate ships did we have? And are there any slaves inside?"

"We successfully managed to take four of them, my lord. Three longboats and one Carrack, to be exact."

"And the slave is in the Carrack, I assume?"

"Aye. The other group managed to liberate the ship and currently to take care of the slave, my lord."

"Good. Could you place them in one room? I will heal them after healing our men."

"Yes, my lord!"

I release a tired breath before taking out my gloves and walking toward the injured men that they have gathered for me.

I really hope there is not too much of the slave this time around.

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|3rd POV|

It has been three months since the people of Lunaria have acknowledged Viserys as their king, and it has been two months since he joined the Naval army in their patrol around the island.

For some reason that he did not know, the pirate around them tripled. He did not know why, but Viserys heard from the rumor around the town that the Ironborn were preparing something massive and sent their raider to steal, plunder, and sell slaves to other countries to gather enough funds for their project.

Just about to finish healing the injured soldier, Viserys looks at the man next to him and says.

"Can you prepare a small boat for me?"

"Of course, my lord. I will prepare the boat at once."

He nodded his head and walked toward a couple of men that were injured on their back. Viserys gets down and gets on the small boat where they arrive under the massive ship. After climbing it, he can see at least a hundred slaves bounded and already been branded.

They have a water ripple brand on their body.

However, the brand on their bodies is something he did not recognize. Seeing his confused face, the man standing next to Viserys decided to explain it to him.

"They are coming from Qarth, my lord. It was the brand they used. If the pirate manages to take them, that means they are the people who they cannot sell in their market, and the protection is lacking."

"I see."

Viserys frowned for a moment before releasing a sigh.

"Please gather them here. I will start healing and cleaning them one by one."

"Yes, my lord!"

~A week later~

The news of many pirates going missing in certain parts of the Summer Sea. The pirates begin to avoid this part of the sea as no one is able to survive to tell the tale behind the disappearance of that many pirates.

Even the most fearless pirate in the Iron Islands thinks twice about sailing through this part of the sea. Because how the people of Lunaria hate the pirate, they hunt every pirate they see with extreme zealotry.

Not too far away from Lunaria, Lys' situation gets even more intense, even though the higher up didn't really notice it.

With the help of the Thousand Hands Guild, the smallfolk, the slave, and even some mid-level citizens of Lys start to believe the rumor about how the higher up of Lys sent many people to Lunaria or sold them to other slave city-states.

The slave had already heard a rumor saying that the slave would no longer be given food because of the famine caused by the Lyseni wanting to take the disputed land.

It did not help the people of a higher power in Lys that they did not give any food to their slaves as they saw the slave as less than even a bread.

"....A-and that bastard only paid a quarter of the money for the food I sold!"

It was a drunk man shouting in the middle of the bar on the edge of Lys city. The other people can hear him and agree with him. While they were not as unlucky as him, they also noticed that the food they sell in the city is worth less than what they usually get.

Seeing the result of his outburst, the drunken man did not drink any longer. He looked at the barkeeper and nodded his head. He walked away from the bar unnoticed by the others. His mission is successful, and soon the people of Lys will be free from their shackles.