How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

The heavy silence that had settled over the deck shattered in an instant, and the sailors began to murmur among themselves. As the confused sailors floundered in panic, another urgent shout rang out over their heads.

“We have confirmed five vessels so far!”

Five?

It was still too early to conclude that they were enemy ships, but their movements were clearly unusual, which was why the lookout was reacting like that. And five ships at that. Even though the Hezekia fleet consisted of large vessels, it only numbered three at most.

“Additional ships appearing on the port side. A total of six confirmed. No, seven. Eight ships in total!”

“ …”

Hearing such an unreal number left me momentarily dazed. Was there really a pirate fleet that large? And right off the coast of Hezekia?

That made no sense. Surely they were small galley ships like the pirates I had seen before.

But my attempt to stay calm was rendered meaningless as the lookout’s trembling voice followed again.

“We have confirmed the flagship. At least an eight hundred ton mid sized warship. The other vessels are estimated to be at least six hundred tons each…”

The sailor could not even finish his sentence properly.

The ships of the Hezekia fleet were carefully constructed large vessels exceeding fourteen hundred tons. By simple calculation, three Hezekia ships might seem capable of putting up some resistance, but if the other side pressed with numbers, it would clearly be overwhelming. Worse still, the Hezekia fleet consisted not of pure warships but of vessels intended for merchant use, which made the situation far more serious.

The only sliver of hope was that a fleet of that size made up of mid-sized ships was unlikely to be pirates. In fact, such pirate fleets were virtually nonexistent. This was not an open sea famous for piracy, and Hezekia was right nearby.

Then could it simply be a passing fleet that had lost its flags, making identification impossible? Was that hope too unrealistic?

“Ruellin, go down to the cabin and stay with Constantine.”

“Tristan.”

The moment I looked up at Tristan, who had placed a hand on my left shoulder without my noticing, I had no choice but to abandon that futile hope. His expression as he stared at the approaching fleet in the distance had completely hardened.

“Tristan? What is this… what is going on? Why is an unidentified fleet appearing near Hezekia?”

I asked while forcing myself to ignore the rapidly pounding of my heart that had begun the moment I faced him. Tristan pressed his lips together, then slowly shifted his gaze and looked straight at me.

“Yes. By common sense, pirates would not appear in a sea where only the Hezekia fleet normally sails.”

“That is what I think as well. And with that scale, pirates make no sense at all.”

“Even so, an ordinary merchant fleet would not be sailing without flags. Which means there is only one answer.”

“One answer…?”

“A privateer fleet.”

“ …”

Seeing me standing there with my mouth half open, Tristan added his explanation.

“Since they are not flying national flags, it seems they want us to treat them as pirates in disguise.”

I still struggled to grasp what he was saying, my mind reeling. What did I just hear? A privateer fleet? Disguise?

They clearly were not ordinary pirates, yet they were pretending to be ones, as if covering their eyes and ears?

But that was not the most important part. I grabbed Tristan’s arm and asked urgently.

“Do you mean an enemy nation’s privateer fleet? Then are they planning to attack us? Did some rumor spread that we are carrying gold and treasure from the Sarr Empire?”

I had heard that rumors about the Hezekia fleet were spreading widely, so it was not impossible.

Still, doubts remained. Above all, it was extremely rare for an enemy nation’s privateer fleet to come all the way to the waters near Hezekia, the northernmost region of the Rubyere Empire. Even if they flew their national flags, there would be no issue attacking us, so there was no need for such a clumsy disguise as unidentified pirates.

A bitter smile flickered across Tristan’s lips. The moment I saw that complicated expression, I could roughly guess who they were. Lowering my voice, tense, I asked.

“So they are not from an enemy nation. Are they a privateer fleet of the Rubyere Empire?”