HEO 73

An unpleasant memory resurfaced. Red Eagle clutched the hem of Wolf’s robe tightly. White Deer’s gaze landed on the back of Red Eagle’s hand.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣ ⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠‘You’re not my son.’

It felt as if everything in the world had frozen. Wolf and Red Eagle clasped each other’s hands. “You’re not my son”. Fragments of the past clicked into place in the two boys’ minds upon hearing those words. Ah, so that’s why Mother… That’s why the nanny…

White Deer slowly lifted her tightly pursed lips. A smile as cold as a knife slicing through raw meat appeared on her face.

‘My son didn’t have a single mole on the back of his hand. His whole body was as white as freshly squeezed milk.’

White Deer threw her head back. Her laughter was sharp enough to cut through the winter wind.

‘How dare you swap my son for yours!’

‘Skin that imposter now! While he’s still alive! I’ll make a cloak out of him and wear it every day!’

Red Eagle let go of Wolf’s hand and collapsed. Warriors approached, axes in hand. Wolf quickly stepped in front of Red Eagle. His whole body seemed to be ablaze. He snatched the axe from the leader’s hand, swung it, and snarled.

‘Don’t come any closer! If you lay a single finger on the prince, I’ll kill every last one of you!’

I can’t lose the prince too. I’ve already lost him.

But who?

I don’t know…….

Wolf opened his eyes. His vision swayed like ocean waves. He’d had a dream while dozing off for a moment. What was that? It seemed like he’d been searching for someone in the darkness.

No matter how hard he tried to recall it, the memory wouldn’t come back. The dream was like a coat with misaligned seams. At first glance, it looked fine, but when you actually put it on, one sleeve was too short.

“Fuck.”

Just as Wolf cupped his face with both hands, there was a thud. The cabin shook. Red Eagle’s eyes widened as he leaped from the mast.

“A pirate ship! It’s a pirate ship!”

“It’s a killer whale.”

No sooner had Wolf retorted than another thud sounded. It wasn’t a killer whale. Something much heavier rammed into the side of the warship. The entire wooden hull twisted, and a loud creaking sound rang out.

Wolf jumped to his feet. Red Eagle circled the cabin triumphantly.

“See! It’s a pirate ship!”

Next came the sound of something digging in and scraping. The pirates were throwing grappling hooks onto this side of the deck. Those bastards rammed the ship without warning and were now crossing over to this side to engage in hand-to-hand combat. From food and valuables to the crew themselves, to pirates, everything was just merchandise to be traded for money.

Footsteps thundered across the deck. Shouts erupted. It seemed the pirates were climbing over using ropes attached to iron grappling hooks. Silver dust poured down from the trembling cabin ceiling. An oil lamp hanging from a ceiling chain spun round and round. It cast frenzied, swaying shadows everywhere. The clang of metal, screams, and laughter. Another thud.

The successive impacts finally caused the ship to list severely. The helmet he’d shoved under the bed rolled out. Wolf, who had been sliding across the floor, barely managed to brace himself against the wall with one hand.

〔Detected crisis situation……. Multiple threats of murder.〕

〔Combat interface active…….〕

〔Activation complete.〕

A translucent window appeared before Wolf’s eyes. It was a rectangular shape stretched out horizontally. At the top was a compass. 〚Northeast-East〛 Wind direction :: 〚Starboard→Port〛 Wind speed :: 〚Force 8 wind〛

Bottom left— Vital stability :: 〚Normal〛 ↕ Combat Output :: 〚98 Kalden〛↕ Hull Protection Rate :: 〚85 Kalden〛

Bottom right—Warning :: 〚Excessive Spray → Vision Correction and Contour Enhancement〛

Dozens of red dots marked the coordinates below. 〚Threat Entities: 38〛

“These aren’t ordinary pirates! Danger! Danger!”

“Agreed. They’re professionals.”

Wolf picked up the helmet that had been rolling on the floor and put it on his head. It was a helmet in name only; in reality, it was the hide of a wild horned ox from northern Stoll. It was so thick that it took several blows with an axe just to leave a scratch, and when worn, it hung down to his shoulders.

“Your Highness, I’m just going to clean the deck for a bit!”

Looking like a monster with an animal’s head, Wolf stormed out of the room. He slammed the door shut before Red Eagle could follow.

“Wolf! Woooooolf!”

“Go to sleep.”

He said and ran down the hallway. Flea spoke.

〔Under the provisions of the Right to Self-Defense, you are granted one opportunity to refuse this combat support…〕

“I won’t refuse!”

〔Entering combat mode.〕

The moment he finished speaking, a crosshair appeared in the center of the screen. A notification popped up in the upper-left corner below it.

Initial Response :: 〚Intruder Interception〛↕〚Recommended Target: Sever two starboard grappling hooks〛

〚Threat Level :: ■■■■■ (5/5)〛

〔Enhancing individual combat capability…….〕

〔Complete. Initiating specimen formation…….〕

This time, his right hand split open. Something emerged from the palm. It instantly stretched out to form a greatsword. Wolf gripped the greatsword. The hatch was right in front of him.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, a welcoming greeting flew his way. Two crossbow bolts plunged deep into his helmet. Wolf pulled out the bolts and looked around. It was chaos. Pirates and warriors were engaged in a brawl. Most had beast heads, and all were dressed in rags, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

〚Threat Identified :: Starboard close range〛

Someone was charging from the right. The combat interface was particularly useful in this kind of melee. It simply highlighted the enemy in blue.

The opponent’s weapon was an axe. The range alone gave him the advantage. Wolf charged ahead and thrust his arm out. A white line traced through the air ahead of the greatsword, imbued with devastating brute strength. Immediately afterward, the heavy resistance of muscle, blood, and organs traveled up the blade to his shoulder. After the penetration came the sound. Boom!

Blood gushed explosively from the back of the torso pierced by the greatsword. Fragments of entrails burst out along with it, scattering in all directions. The blood, which had been gushing, split into several streams and trickled down.

The opponent dropped to one knee.

Another one.

〚Threat Detected :: Port Side, Mid-Range〛

〚Warning :: Slippery Surface〛

“Get rid of the text. It’s just getting in the way.”

〔It’s the rule.〕

Thud, thud, thud, the sound of footsteps pounding the deck as he charged. The opponent wielded a greatsword too.

“Die!”

By a hair’s breadth, Wolf’s greatsword struck first. The opponent collapsed, he spilled his ashen-gray entrails from his split belly. A sickening stench of guts filled the air. The corpse slid down the floor, caked in a mixture of alcohol and blood.

There was no time to catch his breath. The crosshair spun to the left.

Two grappling hooks were embedded in the deck on one side of the ship. Another man was crossing over toward him. He climbed the rope stretched taut all the way to the pirate ship.

The ship rocked. As it did, the crosshair on the combat interface swayed up and down, left and right. Wolf picked up an axe lying on the deck and hurled it. He aimed about a hand’s breadth above the crosshair. A notification popped up. 〚Correction :: +12〛

The axe tore through the ropes one after another as it slammed into the distant deck. The pirate who had been climbing the rope screamed as he fell.

〚Priority Action :: Stop Intruder→Complete〛

〚Recommended Objective :: Cut two starboard grappling hooks→Complete〛

〚Threat Level :: ■□□□□ (1/5)〛

From now on, all he had to do was keep killing the pirates. Wolf took down seven of them in quick succession. By the time he dealt with the eighth pirate, his blade was so coated in blood, fat, and bits of entrails that it felt slippery. The red dots swarming across the coordinates had noticeably decreased. 〚Threat Count: 6〛

Alright. Almost done… No.

Two burly figures charged toward him from both sides. One wielded a double-headed axe. The other, a spear.

〚Port Side→Combat Output 41 Kalden〛

〚Stern Side→Combat Output 42 Kalden〛

Anyone with a combat output of 40 Kalden or higher was a first-class warrior. Were those guys the pirate captain and his second-in-command? But why are they charging at me all at once?

“Ugh. What a pain.”

The one who charged first was the one with the axes. He knew how to use his height to his advantage. Standing tall, he raised his axes high and let out a battle cry.

“Yaaaaaah!”

A black shadow engulfed him. It was a force that would make even a tough guy wet himself, but the moment it collided with his greatsword, the axes flew off like wooden spoons. His opponent flailed his arms and landed flat on his butt.

〚Starboard parry successful → Immediate critical hit possible〛

“Don’t block my view!”

〔Regulation.〕

A whoosh of wind blew past Wolf’s side. In that moment, the other man had closed in and thrust his spear. Wolf dodged by twisting his body slightly, but his balance was thrown off. The attacker’s upper body lurched forward, causing him to stumble a step.

Alert. 〚Threat Identified :: Stern, Long Range〛

Too late again, bastard.

Wolf had already kicked his opponent’s rear with all his might.