I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 806 - Side Story 79: Hyperborea (5)

The pirate ship that had spotted its prey cheerfully blared its horn.

The exterior was reinforced with sturdy armor plating, but due to lack of maintenance, it was rusted in places.

If seen at night, it would have been easy to mistake it for a shipwreck or a ghost ship, a messy visual that didn't suit the clear and pristine waters.

'Just because we left the port doesn't mean we won't face problems.'

Originally, pirates that operated in the Northern Sea, including those from the Seville Kingdom, existed but were few in number.

However, recently, due to the people who had flocked to the north in relation to Hyperborea, the number of pirates had also surged.

As science advanced and steel ships now sailed the seas, one might think pirates would decrease, but the reality was different.

Naturally, pirates also changed their ships to keep up with the times. Rather, their methods of capture had become more cunning and vicious.

'On Earth, Somali pirates were still active even in the 21st century, so how much more so in a place like this.'

In fact, even pirates from other regions had flocked here after hearing the news.

Those pirates must be the same. Otherwise, even though it was at sea, they wouldn't be drooling at the sight of a ship bearing the Selmore family's emblem.

"Boys! It's an expensive ship! Let's capture it cleanly and strip it bare!"

"Whoo-hoo!"

Three ships spread out in formation to surround this side.

The cannons mounted on the deck aimed this way.

The sailors who had been working on the ship came outside wondering what was happening, but upon seeing the pirate ships, they let out exclamations.

Then they headed back inside the ship to do their work as if nothing had happened.

Hans didn't even come out, as if wondering what the fuss was about.

'Well, that's only natural. This is a ship of the Selmore family, after all.'

Casey Selmore was aboard this ship right now.

The Emerald Mage herself.

Did those pirates even know?

That aboard this ship was a Colour Mage who could only use water attribute magic, a single element, but for that very reason could even control the water that exists in nature.

'And no less than in the middle of the sea.'

The pirates gradually tightened their encirclement and appeared on deck, brandishing their weapons.

Gun barrels pointed this way as if ready to put holes in them at the slightest wrong move.

Rudger merely watched the scene indifferently.

He didn't even feel angry. When someone was jumping into a fire pit of their own accord, who would stop them?

Rather, he felt sympathy. For some reason he didn't know, Casey seemed to be in a very low mood right now.

'No. Beyond low, she seems somewhat angry.'

Her tightly clenched, trembling fists were proof of that.

Casey glared at the pirate ships with blazing eyes.

"After everything else, now even pirates appear to obstruct me? On the sea, no less?"

Casey raised her mana. An energy mixed with suffocating killing intent spread out, encroaching upon the space.

The mana slipped over the ship's railing and seeped into the sea like a slide.

Thoom!

A massive vibration rumbled from inside the sea. Feeling that wave, the pirate ships stopped all at once.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

"Th-that is. The engine suddenly died!"

"Didn't you do maintenance properly? Why would the engine die!"

"Captain. Something's strange about this..."

Several pirates who had sailed ships for a long time sensed an ominous energy.

But there was nothing they could do. While they were the fastest movers on the sea among any ships, that was only because they hadn't met a natural predator yet.

Swoooosh!

Water pillars shot up around the pirate ships. Like mines exploding, the water pillars that rose with massive explosions blocked the pirate ships' escape routes.

"Aaaah! It's shaking!"

"Hold tight to the railing!"

"This is crazy! What the hell is that!"

The risen water pillars were enormous, over 10 meters thick. The water pillars rose to a dizzying height that could swallow the ships and fixed themselves in place.

Water spray scattered in all directions.

Countless water droplets diffusely reflected light in the sunlight. Rainbows bloomed and faded repeatedly near the pirate ships.

But contrary to the beautiful sight, the pirates' faces were filled only with terror. Their complexions were pale.

Because they belatedly realized that what they had initially thought were water pillars from explosives had the heads of giant dragons.

"M-monsters!"

Countless water dragons that had burst through the sea surface made growling sounds.

Towering horns, sharp teeth, and contorted faces. The water dragons expressed Casey's fury in her stead.

Kwaaaaaah!

That roar was like thunder and froze the pirates' bodies.

Several pirates aimed their guns in panic, but it was useless.

The water dragons made of water were not damaged even when shot with guns and cannons.

Kwajik!

One water dragon bit into a pirate ship.

The pirate ship, which had increased its durability with steel plating, was torn apart with ridiculous ease.

The water dragon's teeth themselves contained tremendous water pressure. And the water flow between the teeth rotated at incredible speed, even acting as a water jet.

Under an attack made of water pressure over ten times that of the deep sea, the pirate ship crumbled helplessly. The pirates who fell into the sea one by one had to cling to the broken debris.

In an instant, one pirate ship was dismantled. It took less than 10 seconds.

The cannons of the pirate ships hastily turned this way.

'There are some quick-witted ones.'

With the thought that they just needed to take down Casey, the one responsible for this situation, they fired.

Flames and gunfire erupted. The shells that flew through the air accurately aimed at the Selmore family's ship.

However,

-Splash!

A giant water wall that had risen at some point swallowed the shells first.

The massive wave that rose like a tsunami pushed back toward the pirate ships, following Casey's gesture.

"This, this can't be..."

One of the pirates who saw the approaching tsunami muttered so.

Kwajijik!

The wave swallowed the pirate ship. It was like a giant made of water taking a bite of a tiny cracker.

The pirate ship was mixed up this way and that in the wave and disintegrated. When the wave disappeared and the sea surface calmed, pirates and debris floated up.

The last remaining ship was surrounded by water dragons and didn't know what to do.

Casey reached out toward that ship and lightly clenched her fist.

Kwajik!

The water dragons gathered like twisted dough and squeezed the pirate ship.

The pirate ship couldn't withstand the water pressure and crumbled easily like a biscuit.

Casey looked at the pirates drifting on the sea with a cold gaze.

She, who seemed like she might do something more, suddenly let out a sigh.

Whoooooo.

A small whirlpool formed on the sea surface, gathering the pirate ship debris and pirates in one place.

As the debris gradually clumped together, a small island was formed.

Casey placed all the pirates who had fallen into the sea on top of it and removed all the water from their bodies.

"You're not disposing of them?"

"This much is enough. If we leave them like this, the coast guard patrolling nearby will capture them on their own. What can pirates without ships or weapons do?"

The Northern Sea is cold. But since she had dried all their wet bodies, they wouldn't die immediately.

In fact, they were wearing clothes that looked quite warm.

"My role isn't to pass judgment. Having them pay for their crimes properly will be the trial's job."

If Casey had wanted to, she could have killed all those pirates.

She had that much power.

The opponents were pirates. They captured ships and kidnapped people to rob them of money.

The more vicious ones even killed people. Looking at their appearance, they were likely not innocent of murder.

Strictly speaking, they were quite vicious. But Casey didn't kill them.

It wasn't because she was merciful. Casey intended to have them pay for their crimes.

Not by her own hands, but by the law of justice that exists in the world.

"If that is your choice, I respect it."

"What's that supposed to mean? Don't you think I'm being naive?"

"Everyone has different thoughts. I would have chosen to subdue them too. Of course, if I had stepped in, a few would have died as an example."

That was the difference between Casey and Rudger.

Rudger doesn't hesitate to kill if necessary. That was partly because he had walked such a path until now.

Conversely, Casey doesn't kill even if the opponent is a heinous criminal.

She tried to capture the opponent somehow.

'Capturing alive is harder than killing. And the greater the opponent's crimes, the more the one dealing with them is tested by moral outrage and conscience.'

From the position of capturing a criminal who committed a terrible murder, they would strongly feel the desire to kill them right away.

They're people who will only harm others if left alive anyway. Even if killed here, no one would say anything.

Rather, people would send praise for killing the trash well. They might even feel vicarious satisfaction from it.

But Casey didn't do that.

She had a conviction that all criminals should be judged fairly before the law.

Sometimes it wavered, and there were times when such conviction was tested.

But Casey had protected her conviction to the end.

"Keeping one's heart consistent is a difficult thing. Just the fact that you've practiced it to the end makes your choice worthy of respect."

"...Really?"

Casey knows too that her actions are a kind of stubbornness.

Sometimes there existed evil that shouldn't be taken to court but should be eliminated on the spot.

Casey had faced such evil far more often than others.

Even so, she didn't kill the criminals.

She had received criticism from victims' families asking why she didn't kill them. She understands. They wanted to inflict the same pain they suffered on those monsters.

Casey understands their anger and criticism.

Nevertheless, such criticism when faced directly carved scars, little by little, on one side of her heart.

Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, those wounds that seemed fine at the moment had greatly eroded her heart when she looked back.

Wounds she had always hidden tightly alone, thinking no one would understand.

"Because I wouldn't have been able to do that."

But Rudger was different.

He knew why Casey acted this way.

That she didn't make such choices with a simple heart.

What kind of wounds she might have received from it.

Because he knew it all, he could speak sincerely.

"Not compromising and moving forward to the end is proof that you're that strong. I really like that aspect of you."

"..."

Casey bit her lip.

What a funny thing. He was once the man she most wanted to capture, her lifelong nemesis.

Not her family, friend, or colleague.

The person who was the criminal she most wanted to arrest had come to understand her.

Casey knows too that the justice she pursues isn't perfect. That sometimes there are people who aren't punished even by the system called law.

Rudger had punished such people with his own hands.

That was Rudger's way. The way he lived in the world. The way he judged criminals.

His own justice pursued not in the world of light, but in the dark and dirty back alleys.

The man standing at that extreme had acknowledged her.

How could she not be happy about that fact?

But strangely, she felt sad.

Casey could quickly realize the reason.

"Look who's talking."

She forced a smile and lightly hit Rudger's arm with her fist.

"You're far more amazing than me. When you yourself haven't compromised and walked your path to the end."

Casey knows that the path she has walked is like stepping on a soft red carpet compared to Rudger's.

The hardships she occasionally experiences can't even be compared to what Rudger has experienced.

But how could she pity and feel compassion for this man?

What should be sent to a person who stood tall through their own strength and achieved their goals in such unfortunate circumstances is only applause and praise filled with pure respect.

"I really like that aspect of you too."

Rudger's eyes widened as if those words were unexpected, then he soon smiled, curving the corners of his eyes.

The ship once again advanced across the great sea.

Sailing through a sea where only blue could be seen, it was impossible to distinguish whether they were crossing the sea or crossing the sky.

Perhaps in the distant past, the Great Mage Lexer had also savored this feeling.

With the refreshing wind, the ship endlessly advanced and finally, they could find their destination: a massive island visible beyond the horizon, the New Continent, Hyperborea.