Chapter 66: Plunderers

The fat-faced captain was convinced he was being targeted.

How else could every bird he sent to carry messages end up in her mouth?

Yet, no matter how cunningly he released his messenger birds, they inexplicably ended up in Aurina’s hands.

He didn’t want to believe it.

If she were human, he might accept it.

But she was Aurina, a two-month-old red dragon.

Her youth wasn’t the issue—it was her… intelligence.

Releasing his final messenger bird, the fat-faced captain stepped out of his cabin, heading to the helm’s railing.

On the deck below, Richard’s little classroom was in session under the setting sun.

It was a foggy day.

As the sun dipped, the coastal mist thickened.

Sunlight refracted through the fog, casting a red glow over the ship.

Having finished their work and nearing the capital, the sailors lounged on barrels or leaned against walls, watching Richard’s lesson.

“Ten plus two equals what?”

“Twelve!”

“And eleven plus ten?”

Some idle sailors were already preparing to laugh.

Aurina pondered, head lowered.

Richard watched her.

Behind him, a blackboard displayed twenty-one gold coins to represent the number twenty-one, while twenty was shown as a roast lamb Aurina loved.

A flicker of hope passed through Richard’s weary eyes.

“Two!”

Aurina declared firmly.

“The ultimate answer is two!”

“Hahaha!”

The shirtless sailors erupted in laughter.

After ten days of direct sailing, realizing laughter wouldn’t bring calamity, they grew bolder, laughing freely.

“What was I expecting?”

Richard sighed, flipping the blackboard.

“The answer is twenty-one. Look, twenty-one gold coins.”

“Two is two,” Aurina insisted.

“Even if you clench your fists, the universe’s ultimate answer is two.”

Another wave of laughter.

Aurina stood, hands on hips, defiant.

“See, they’re laughing at you.”

“Count carefully,” Richard said, numbed, pointing at the drawn coins.

“Twenty-one.”

“No way! Those aren’t real coins. Think I’m an idiot, big dummy Richard?”

“Hahaha!”

The sailors stomped the deck, slapped their thighs, roaring with glee.

Richard said, “You can’t go far in life without learning math.”

“This king can fly.”

Aurina leapt two meters high, arms flapping, circling Richard before landing.

“Who’d crawl on the ground like a little bug?”

“Hahahaha!”

The sailors’ laughter died down, their vocal cords exhausted.

In short, they couldn’t laugh anymore.

Sophia approached, draped in a loose robe that couldn’t fully conceal her figure.

The sailors’ gazes lingered but didn’t dare cross the line.

No one wanted to anger a healer.

“Dear,” Sophia said, “I understand your concern. You can’t protect her forever.”

“No, I was thinking if our future kids will be this hard to teach.”

“I doubt it,” Sophia said.

“Once this is over, we’ll decide Aurina’s path. It’s her mind that worries me.”

Seeing Richard stop teaching, Aurina shouted, “Class dismissed!”

Richard reached for her.

“Hey, Aurina.”

Aurina dashed to the ship’s edge, sailors parting swiftly.

Ever since she’d knocked over a dawdling sailor—accidentally or not, even bumping into Sophia—the crew cleared her path quickly.

She dove headfirst into the sea.

“Salty snack time!”

Sophia said, “How will Aurina grow up? We can’t raise her forever. I heard walnuts help the brain.”

Richard shook his head.

“She’s not stupid, just… unique in her thinking.”

Sophia’s green eyes studied him oddly.

“Trust me, Richard. Teaching kids is frustrating, but not to Aurina’s level.”

“Aurina’s charismatic,” Richard said.

“At the banquet in Nabumei City, she hit it off with the noblewomen instantly. She has combat experience beyond her age and a knack for martial arts. Never touched a sword, yet she wields it correctly, aligning her force with the blade. Same with a spear—she figures it out after a few swings.”

“So, you’ll give her a weapon?”

“It’d need to be a flame-proof magic weapon,” Richard said.

“Fire-resistant won’t do—she’d burn her own weapon with her breath.”

Sophia said, “You won’t teach her forever, will you?”

“I’ll teach her until she can care for herself.”

Sophia said, “There’s a saying: you can’t help a wall of mud stand.”

Richard replied, “And I know a North Island proverb: those who scorn dragons are in for trouble.”

From the helm, the fat-faced captain watched Aurina dive.

She seemed so dim, unable to calculate beyond twenty.

A dragon like that couldn’t possibly catch his messenger birds every time—it had to be luck.

His last bird was released ten minutes ago, under cover of fog and Aurina’s lesson.

They were close to the capital, the window for sending messages.

No way Aurina could catch a bird that flew ten minutes early.

The fat-faced captain smiled, finally getting his message out.

This foolish dragon girl caught my birds because of her sharp nose or dumb luck, not her brain.

If Thousand Crows learned he’d ferried Richard and the dragon girl to the capital without timely reports, the consequences would be dire.

The fat-faced captain exhaled, his tense jowls relaxing.

But then he realized they were only a day from the capital.

If Thousand Crows knew he’d reported just a day early, he’d hold a grudge.

He might think the captain sympathized with Richard, delaying on purpose.

Thousand Crows, the empire’s legendary spymaster, wielded vast power and resources.

His methods were varied, precise, and cruel, punishing those who defied him.

He was merciless and vengeful.

The captain had heard of Thousand Crows framing Judge Ilian Mores with false evidence, executing him publicly in Lisbon Square with a thousand ravens.

A noble who insulted Thousand Crows saw his daughter go mad at a banquet, urinating on the table.

They say a feather was found in her bowl.

The plague that razed Winter River Town reappeared the next year in the enemy’s war camp, on a day thick with ravens.

Thinking of this, the captain’s worry returned.

But his hometown had an optimistic saying: furrowed brows soon smooth out.

His brows were furrowed tight enough now.

Surely they’d smooth soon.

A familiar horn blast sounded.

The fat-faced captain nearly leapt out of his skin, heart and liver trembling, shouting, “Quick! Quick! Evrik, you bastard, climb the mast and keep watch! Where are those damn North Islanders? Hurry!”

His roar wiped the smiles off the sailors’ faces.

They scrambled like mad—climbing masts, rushing to ropes and sails, taking positions, some losing shoes in the chaos.

“Three o’clock! Two ship shadows spotted!”

The fat-faced captain exhaled slightly.

Richard approached. “What’s happening?”

“Damn North Islanders,” the captain said.

“Servants of dark gods, plundering along seas and rivers. Just two longships—not a threat with you here, sir. But please, don your armor.”

The North Islanders’ ferocity matched their brutal reputation.

No one wanted to encounter them at sea.

“Call Aurina’s name, get her back,” Richard said, descending the stairs.

“Sophia! Sophia! Armor up, quick!”

Sophia thought of her heavy chainmail.

“I’ll help you with yours instead.”

The sailors shouted while working.

“Aurina!”

“Aurina! Come back!”

“I’m here!”

A wet hand reached over the ship’s edge, clutching a soggy roasted pigeon.

Aurina leapt onto the deck, spinning a dozen times to shake off the water.

“Gold!”

She thrust her hand toward the captain.

Seeing the pigeon, the captain nearly collapsed.

He practically rolled down from the helm, finally snapping, “Where’d you get that?”

Aurina extended her hand.

“Gold.”

The captain handed over a coin.

“Picked it up,” Aurina said.

“Picked it up where?”

The captain offered eight silver coins, his gold running low.

“On a long ship, from a bald, tattooed guy’s mouth—some bug chieftain or something.”

As if to prove her words, two longships burst from the fog.

Muscular North Islanders rowed fiercely, their dragon-headed prows carved in red, like twin dragons charging through the mist.

At the prow of one sat a towering man, nearly two meters tall, muscles rippling.

Red tattoos covered him, a massive red dragon tattoo stretching across his left arm, poised to pounce.

He wore heavy scale armor over chainmail, holding a gold-rimmed skull goblet.

His expression was grim, perhaps tied to his hair—or lack thereof.

His scalp looked gnawed, still smoking faintly.

The North Islander glanced over, waved, and a warrior beside him blew a sharp horn blast.

“More ships! Three, four…”

No need for the lookout’s warning—everyone saw longships emerging from the fog.

Ten in total, each carrying at least fifty armored, battle-hardened warriors.

The fat-faced captain nearly toppled into the sea.

Richard, freshly armored, stepped onto the deck.

“What’s going on? Why so many?”

The captain snapped out of it, turning to Aurina.

“You didn’t rob him, did you?”

Aurina puffed out her chest.

“Of course! Only a strong foe’s loot is worthy, gah!”

“Splash!”

The fat-faced captain collapsed onto the deck.