Cloud was a Sword Master. Although the two Masters he serves didn't seem to really care about that part.
Lloyd was so overwhelmingly strong to wonder if there was any rival, so Cloud thought the same. But Aria was a very unusual and strange owner.
She was seemingly weak and physically weak, but she strangely shows strength in her actions, eyes, and tone of voice. Even though she was someone who he needed to devote himself to protect her, for some reason he felt like a knight that was being protected when he was by her side.
'That's nonsense, so I just ignored it and let it slide....'
But his hunch was right. Somehow, he felt uncomfortable.
'I don't think that the Young Madam will be that strong.'
Aria was a Siren.
She was hiding her power.
She was a master of hiding.
'Awesome....'
Cloud didn't show it, but he continued to admire it in his heart. Doesn't she look like the main character in a novel?
In admiration again, he got on the small ship. And the moment he got on the deck, he paused for a moment at the thought that ran through his head.
'... It's good, though.'
Does this mean that he exists? As expected, neither the Grand Prince nor the Grand Princess needs anything like an escort knight?
If he was an escort knight and useless as an escort, what's the difference from worn decoration?
'I'm a decoration.'
Cloud was shocked. He thought that only his head was a decoration, but could it be that his existence itself was a decoration?
'I can't be a decoration like this.'
There was a sense of crisis that he had to do something.
"Who are you!"
Then a sailor standing on the watchtower and watching shouted loudly. He aimed his arrow at Cloud.
Cloud looked up at the sailor with no reaction.
Swish-!
The arrows rushed in swiftly.
Cloud wrapped energy around his hand and lightly grabbed the arrow that was flying towards his head.
"What…"
The sailor was terrified.
It was an incredible feat to see with his own eyes. He clenched his teeth, loaded several arrows at the same time, and pulled the bow string taut to the limit. And he shot straight away.
Cloud drew his sword and swung it without saying a word. The flying arrows were all broken in half and tossed on the floor.
The sailor, who was so startled that he couldn't even make a sound, was trembling and his mouth was open, exclaimed.
"Its, it's the test subject! The test subject!"
Test subject? Cloud threw the arrow that had come into his hand and tilted his head.
"No, that's ridiculous. They said that the test subject would never be released into the small ship! If the material on this ship dies, we will be executed…!"
The sailor, who was muttering in panic, reached out towards the bell hanging from the pole.
But.
Before he could even ring the bell, Cloud's hand moved first. He grabbed his shoulder, turned his arm a few times, and threw an arrow straight away. The sailor hit by the arrow could not even scream and his body collapsed on the watchtower.
"Material?"
He doesn't know what it was, but it seemed like something important was on it. Seeing the word 'dead' was used, it must have been a living creature.
After rolling his head, Cloud rummaged through every cabin he felt a presence in.
"It's the test subject!"
Every sailor he met said 'test subject'. Cloud stunned all of the crew and then climbed the ladder that descended under the deck.
"Die!"
But suddenly, a hand with a hook flew in.
Cloud grabbed the hand with a puzzled expression and then swung his opponent up and down.
It's obvious that this face....
"Pirate?"
"Not now!"
"Is that so? Excuse me."
Even while the man was having a conversation, he tried to pull out the hand that had been grabbed with all his might.
But it did not move.
"What are you standing still for?"
"Because my feet are on the ground?"
He was then beaten by the rest of his colleagues. They pointed the sword at Cloud with a face full of murderous nergy.
'No, we're caught....'
The man with the hooked hands felt a cold sweat running down his back. He had a gut feeling that Cloud was no ordinary opponent. Even if they fight, they have no chance of winning.
"Oraahh!"
At that moment, one-eyed rushed in with a terrible shout.
Cloud turned around lightly to dodge the sword, then swung the hooked hand like a weapon in the recoil.
"Uugh!"
"Kegh!"
Cloud blew up the two men at once and then trampled them on the back to prevent them from getting up. He asked, turning to the man with the bushy beard.
"Are you going to jump too?"
"No."
Bushy beard immediately threw away the sword and raised both hands to express his intention to surrender.
"What is the material that is on this ship?"
"Material? I don't know what that means…"
At that moment, a handsome-looking man entered Cloud's field of vision.
'Well?'
Being among the three people, he had no choice but to stand out.
'He resembles someone?'
Cloud looked at the man carefully.
He was staring blankly into the air with a bewildered expression on his face. His eyes were completely open.
"Who is that person?"
"Ah...."
Bushy beard rolled his head back and forth along with his pupils.
He somehow had a hunch. A hunch that he shouldn't even reveal the fact that he was a slave before the fact that he was a valuable material to be used in the lab.
Bushy beard said quickly.
"Actually, that guy is our colleague, and he secretly stole and ate the medicine we were carrying, and that's what happened."
"A colleague? He alone has a different style."
"Aside from that, you shouldn't judge people by their looks!"
Colleague? As Cloud narrowed his eyes, Bushy beard gulped.
Was it also a crude lie?
But once he started, he had to keep pushing until the end.
"If the boss who hired us finds out, we'll be kicked out, so we've been waiting in secret here until he's out of energy."
"By the way, why did you tie him up with a rope?"
"If he walks around drunk with the medicine, wouldn't it be a big deal?"
The beard began to muffle his words. But speaking of it, it was quite plausible.
"I see."
Isn't that so? Could you please pass this on?
"I don't know what the material is… but it would probably have been transferred to the largest ship."
"Why?"
"We'll get to our destination soon, so if they want to manage the goods all at once, they'll have to keep the slaves in one place."
"Hmm, I see."
That was the end of the doubts. No, he had no doubts in the first place.
Bushy beard was puzzled as he watched Cloud climb up the ladder. Anyway, he thought a few words would cast doubt on him.
"Did you fall for that?"
Aren't you an idiot? Bushy beard murmured for a moment, as if it was ridiculous.
"Hey, hey. Wake up."
And he shook his groaning fellow as they rolled around the floor.
"Hey, he's gone, so get the material right. We're running out of time…"
At that time, bushy beard had no choice but to drop the medicine bottle he was carrying. It was because Cloud, whom he thought had left, jumped from the top without stepping on the ladder.
"It's hard to be fooled twice."
"..."
"Viscount O'Neill and you say the same thing when lying."
As Cloud said so, he struck bushy beard with his sword. He passed the three pirate brothers scattered without even a move and carried Winter on his back.
"Didn't I do one thing?"
He wanted to avoid being a decoration with this.
'It will be morning soon.'
The attendant of the Underhill Slaves took a deep breath.
In the morning he had to lead the crew and dispose of the ships and the bodies. It would be very difficult if the test subjects crawled to the shore.
"Hey, who's going to kill it? It may or may not die."
The Guild Master Maxim shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be innocent. But Maxim knew that the slaves were dead, and so did the attendant.
'Because those subjects must be human weapons made for killing.'
Maxim had noticed this from the beginning. He only thought of killing the slaves.
After all, the slaves were already bought by the lab at a higher price than the market price. There was nothing to lose.
'Tone down your temper a bit....'
The attendant groaned and let out a sigh and wiped his face.
'Roughly, it would be enough to deceive a few sailors and keep them away from the land as much as possible.'
The solution was simple. They just need a few innocent victims.
He moved his steps, praying for deep consolation and peace to the sailors who would soon be sacrificed.
Then he opened the window and stared at the pier.
"...Huh?"
The attendant rubbed his eyes.
Because he thought he must have been watching something wrong. However, no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the scenery outside the window did not change.
Surprisingly, this was actually happening.
"Gu… Guild Master!"
The attendant rushed and knocked on the door of the next room.
Then he went into the room at will and woke Maxim, who was lying on the bed, shaking him.
"Are you crazy? The sun hasn't come up yet…"
"Now is not the time to be like this! Look out the window!"
Maxim patted his hangover-throbbing head and turned his head in the direction the attendant was desperately pointing.
"What the hell is that…?"
And he hardened in its place, as if he had been broken.
"…why is the ship moving randomly?"
"That's what I wanted to say!"
Maxim, forgetting to scold the attendant, rushed out of the building. And he ran with all his might until his breath caught on the tip of his chin.
They arrived at the pier, but the huge boat carrying slaves was already in an ambiguous position to follow.
"Gasp, gasp…"
Confused, he murmured, gasping for his breath.
"So actually, the subjects were thieves, not dangerous?"
"Is that possible!"
The attendant was shocked and chastised his nonsense gibberish.
As they were so confused, they heard a faint singing voice in their ears.
"...a song?"
Maxim murmured as he stared at the vanishing ship over the horizon.