Chapter 88

Ricardo stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Ricardo, upon hearing about the pirates, asked, "Pirates, do such people really exist?"

"You haven't heard of them? The Bigodi Pirate Gang, you know."

The Bigodi Pirate Gang is apparently the largest pirate group that ravages the coast of the Romanus Kingdom. Under the leadership of Bigodi, there are about 300 pirates who attack coastal towns and ships.

"Kilmon was supposed to be a fairly large port town. Weren't there soldiers guarding it?"

"The soldiers guarding that place are only about fifty. They have no chance against the Bigodi Pirate Gang."

Ricardo, upon hearing about the fifty soldiers, darkened his expression, thinking it was no wonder they couldn't stand up to them.

"What kind of damage did the town suffer?"

"Well, we've only received the first report from Kilmon, so we don't know the full extent of the situation."

"I see. But Patrick is well-informed."

"What are you talking about? If you just stay cooped up in the laboratory, you won't hear anything."

Ricardo smiled wryly. It wasn't that Patrick had superhuman hearing; it was just that Ricardo had been out of touch with information.

---

Status reports and rescue requests from Kilmon began to pour into Vizel Castle. The details of these reports spread throughout the city because the servants working inside the castle leaked the information.

Pirate attacks seemed to occur every few years, so people weren't particularly hushed about it. Additionally, merchants and residents who had fled from Kilmon arrived in the capital and began to describe the raid, drawing attention to how the king would respond.

On his way back from the Magicians' Guild, Ricardo stopped by Bernardo's shop. The shop owner, who was also Bernardo's son-in-law, Rotario, and Bernardo were having a conversation.

"Welcome."

"You seem busy."

"No, no, we were just talking about the pirate gang."

The capital was abuzz with talk of the Bigodi Pirate Gang wherever you went.

"Do the pirates affect us here as well?"

Bernardo made a troubled face but shook his head. "No, we haven't been affected yet. However, if pirate attacks continue to increase, it might become difficult to procure goods from other territories."

The Bermilan Trading Company buys catalysts from other territories and has them shipped. If pirates become rampant, there's a possibility that these shipments will be halted.

---

The day before, the Bigodi Pirate Gang had wreaked havoc in Kilmon.

"Take everything from the warehouses!"

"Kill the men! Bring the young women to the ship!"

Someone among the pirates set fire to part of the town. Residents hiding in their homes were found and most were killed while screaming. The streets were piled high with countless bodies, mostly adult men, but there were also the bodies of small children.

A man stood watching the scene with a faint smile. He was 190 cm tall, with broad shoulders and a thick chest, and carried a wide sword at his waist.

"You don't have much time. The king will definitely send soldiers from Aldo Fort."

Aldo Fort, located northeast of Kilmon at the border with the Boniperti territory, is a defensive facility that also serves as a checkpoint. The fort is permanently manned by 2,000 soldiers, who are supposed to respond to any incidents. Bigodi expected the king to dispatch 500 soldiers from Aldo Fort to Kilmon. Therefore, he intended to leave Kilmon before the soldiers arrived.

Soon, the pirates returned to their ships. The Bigodi Pirate Gang owned three sailing ships, and Bigodi, boarding the flagship Oval, glared at the departing town of Kilmon.

"Let's finish it off."

Bigodi took out a high-quality magic rod from his storage crystal and pointed it at the town. Releasing magic power, he began to cast a spell.

"Fana Borezeraia Ferbeska"

A huge ball of fire appeared in front of Bigodi, drawing a mountain-like curve as it flew toward the town. In the sky above the town, the ball of fire split into dozens of smaller fireballs, which rained down on the town like rain. The fireballs exploded upon impact, scattering flames and making loud noises. It was an advanced magic spell called "Scatter Burst Flame," a wide-area suppression spell often used in war rather than for hunting magical beasts.

The entire town of Kilmon was engulfed in flames.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Bigodi laughed joyfully as he watched the scene. His laughter echoed across the sea like the cackling of a demon.

---

The next day, 500 soldiers dispatched from Aldo Fort arrived at the charred remains of Kilmon.

"Did the pirates do this?"

Ponzi, the commander, groaned.

Pirates usually take what they want and quickly flee. There was no reason to destroy the town to this extent. If they didn't destroy it, ships would continue to come to Kilmon's port, giving pirates more opportunities to attack.

"Search for and protect any survivors."

Ponzi ordered the soldiers.

The state of the town was reported to the capital. Upon hearing the report, the royal finance minister, pale and trembling, muttered something and collapsed. The loss of an entire town meant no taxes would be collected for years to come, causing him to faint from shock.

The king summoned Minister Gordini of the Interior and General Udolpho to discuss countermeasures.

"We should immediately eliminate the pirates."

"But the pirates are at sea. How do we eliminate them?"

The king's question was valid. The Romanus Kingdom had no navy and no means to pursue pirates.

Minister Gordini frowned. "When the crown prince proposed building a navy, it was rejected in the council due to poor financial conditions."

"Hmph, what good does it do to regret the past? Think of a solution."

Minister Gordini shrank back and bowed under the king's rebuke.

"General, what do you think we should do?"

"I think we should send soldiers from the forts to guard coastal towns."

"Hmm, that might be the only option. But I've heard some of the pirates are skilled in magic. What about that?"

"We should send court magicians and members of the Magicians' Guild."

The king approved the plan to send soldiers for protection and magicians for support.

"That alone won't be enough to protect the ships. We need another plan."

General Udolpho closed his eyes and thought.

"How about letting Prince Aurelio's unit search for the pirates' hideout? They have the weapons to combat pirates."

Minister Gordini objected. "But they only have about fifty men. It's dangerous for Prince Aurelio."

"No, Prince Aurelio will stay in the castle. We'll only borrow his subordinates."

"But won't a unit without a commander be weak?"

"We can appoint a temporary commander."

Minister Gordini reluctantly agreed, and the king asked, "What if they find the hideout? Can Prince Aurelio's subordinates handle it?"

"Then we'll gather more soldiers and attack."

The king nodded.

---

General Samuele, who was not invited to the pirate countermeasure meeting, visited the Langi Trading Company, a shipping company near the port.

"I heard your ship encountered pirates and managed to escape. Is that true?"

"Yes, it's true. Our ship is one of the fastest in the industry."

The tanned owner of the shipping company boasted.

General Samuele asked the owner if he could borrow a ship. Prince Gaius, who had heard about the pirate issue, had asked the general to arrange for a ship.

The owner refused when he heard the purpose was to combat pirates.

"It's impossible. Even if I agree, the sailors will refuse. Fishermen's boats are faster than ours. Why don't you borrow one of theirs?"

The general was puzzled. Most fishermen's boats were rowed and not suitable for combat with pirate ships.

He asked for more details. Apparently, the owner had seen small boats that were neither rowed nor sailing ships, and he wanted to get one himself, though he didn't seem serious about it.

"What I need is not a small boat."

General Samuele approached other shipping companies, but no one agreed to help.

Disappointed and unable to fulfill the prince's order, the general stopped by the breeding facility on his way back. The breeding facility, which he hadn't visited in a while, had grown significantly.

Guided by an employee named Dario, he went to an empty lot in front of the employee dormitories, where Ricardo was staring blankly at children playing.

When the owner of the shipping company mentioned seeing unusual small boats, Ricardo wondered if he was involved. However, seeing Ricardo's vacant expression, he doubted it.

"Ah, General."

"What are you doing?"

"Taking care of these children."

Ricardo handed the children over to Dario and led the general to a utility shed to talk.

"Is the Magicians' Guild idle?"

"Not really, but we're short-staffed. Why do you ask?"

General Samuele discussed the need for a ship.

"A ship? The breeding facility only has small boats."

"I know. I thought you might know someone who could lend me one."

"What kind of ship do you need?"

"A ship that can carry about fifty soldiers and match or exceed the speed of pirate ships."

Fifty soldiers were the minimum needed to fight a pirate ship. However, the probability of winning a direct fight against pirates, who were sea experts, was low, so the strategy was to buy time and allow the ships they were protecting to escape.

"Fifty? I only know fishermen, and their small boats can only carry about seven or eight people."

"I see. That's disappointing."

"In three months, a fish transport ship will be completed, but that's too late."

The general frowned and nodded.

"By the way, didn't you receive a shipbuilding permit from the crown prince? What kind of ships are you building?"

The general showed interest.

"Two twelve-person small fishing boats and one fish transport ship. The transport ship can carry about fifty people, but it won't be ready for three months."

Ricardo, introduced to fisherman Stefano, had commissioned shipbuilder Capron to build the ships. When deciding the specifications with Capron and Stefano, Ricardo had wondered if twelve people for a small fishing boat was too many.

However, all the work, including pulling in nets and hauling fish, was done by hand, so more labor was needed.

"How long will it take to complete the small fishing boats?"

"Ten days, but they're small boats. They can't carry fifty people."

The general nodded, understanding.

"Can these small boats capture pirate ships?"

Ricardo thought about the history of warfare on Earth. To capture a large ship with a small one, you needed torpedo boats.

He considered creating torpedo-like magical devices. It was possible but would require a long development period.

The simplest method to capture pirate ships was to get a ship with skilled magicians close and destroy the pirate ship with powerful magic. However, pirates would attack any approaching ship with arrows and magic, likely sinking it.

He had heard that many pirate magicians were skilled in long-range magic.

Among the magic spells Ricardo knew, the ones with long range were "Steel Shot Scatter," "Scatter Burst Flame," "Thunder Vortex Steel Shot," "True Thunder Vortex Steel Shot," and "Sun Flame Shot." Except for "Sun Flame Shot," which had a range of about 500 meters, the others had a range of about 200 meters. Moreover, the accuracy of long-range spells was poor.

"I think the only option is to approach with a well-defended high-speed small boat and attack with magicians' spells or magic cannons."

"However, there's a limit to how well a small boat can be defended. In a magic battle with pirates, the small boat is more likely to sink first."

"If we had armor with high defense, it might protect against enemy magic."

"The idea of covering a ship with steel has been tried before."

"Was it successful?"

"No, it capsized and sank on a rough day."

The heavy steel made the ship top-heavy, and it capsized when hit by a wave. It was an expected result.

"To make this plan work, we need lightweight armor."

Ricardo thought of the steel scorpion's exoskeleton, which he used for his chest plate. However, considering how many steel scorpions would be needed to armor a ship, it wasn't practical.

When he shared this idea with General Samuele:

"To make this work, we need to capture a magic beast with even better armor than the steel scorpion."

The steel scorpion, while not as strong as the Flame Turtle, had high defense. It was impervious to arrows and spears and had a high resistance to magic.

The method to defeat such a magic beast was to have multiple magicians use powerful spells to overwhelm it. However, this would destroy the materials they were trying to obtain.

"It will be a difficult hunt, but it's possible."

"If the armor is destroyed, it will be useless."

The general seemed skeptical, knowing from past battles that even if humans won, the magic beasts were often destroyed.

"I can handle that. Shall we prepare the materials from the magic beast?"

Ricardo was confident. The steel scorpion wasn't fast, so with the right terrain and powerful magic, it could be captured.

"Wait, we need to consult the crown prince. We can't just change the fifty-person high-speed ship to a small armored high-speed ship. There might be other reasons for requesting a fifty-person ship."

"You're right."

As General Samuele left, Ricardo, alone, considered whether a small armored high-speed ship was really necessary. He hadn't been seriously thinking about the pirate problem, assuming the important people in the capital would handle it.