CH 280

Chapter 280 – Oz’s Request

“…What a heroic story.” (Bouchi)

After Oz told me the story of Duarte’s life, I was shocked by just how turbulent his past was. The life of the legendary pirate—Duarte Taylor.

I’ve had worse luck than most, but his life was so much worse than mine that it was absurd to even compare the two. He lost his biological family, his second father, and then the family he built around him was killed again. It was truly a tragedy beyond words.

And she… had seen his entire career with her own eyes.

I looked at Oz, whose face was stricken with grief and sadness. She must have witnessed so many great adventures by Duarte’s side, sharing pain and suffering, joy and pleasure. But that was why it was so painful for her when Duarte, her master, met his end.

“…Huh? I definitely heard a different story though. A different version saying that Duarte fell ill and quit sailing alone. That…” (Bouchi)

“…That was probably the story getting slowly warped as it was passed on from generation to generation.” (Yofel)

Yofel spoke, having finally returned to her senses.

“But the facts are completely different. I never would have thought that the Empire took their families hostage and poisoned the pirates…” (Bouchi)

Well, it certainly wouldn’t look good for the Empire if word spread about that. What they did wasn’t very different from what bandits would do, so I was thinking maybe it was the Empire that twisted the truth to hide what they did.

“But I’m curious what you meant about wanting to save Duarte, Oz. I thought Duarte died?” (Bouchi)

At least, that was what it sounded like from the story. What in the world did she want our help with in the end?

“…Captain… Duarte is dead, but… he still lives on.” (Oz)

“…? What do you mean?” (Bouchi)

“W-What was that?!” (Yofel)

“Milord, please stand back! …There is something over there.” (Shiki)

Shiki glared warily at the bow of the ship.

Ior also seemed to sense something over there and hid behind me, clinging to my legs. Yofel also went on full alert, her facing turning grim.

“…Captain… It seems that he’s still suffering…” (Oz)

Oz turned towards the bow of the ship. When she spoke, her voice was filled with sadness.

“What do you mean? Is there someone at the front of the ship?” (Bouchi)

“…Yes. If you want, I’ll show you. Please follow me.” (Oz)

With that, she led us to the bow of the ship. We climbed up the stairs, but we were stunned by what we saw before us.

Standing there, we saw a figure with its back turned to us, emitting crackling lightning across its entire body.

The figure slowly turned around, giving us a full glimpse of its appearance.

Standing there, dressed in a blood-colored bandana with a skull and crossbones on it, and a large, heroic pitch-black longcoat was—a skeleton.

There was a machete-like sword in his right hand, and a double-barreled gun in his left.

“GWAAAAAAAAH!”

The skeleton opened its mouth and let loose a roar at the skies. The tremendous aura that it emitted pushed down on me, but I could hear the melancholy in its cry.

It looked like the skeleton was gazing longingly up at the summit that it could never reach, but despite everything, it was still struggling, reaching for it.

“…Captain.” (Oz)

‘…Don’t tell me… this is Duarte…?!” (Bouchi)

“That’s right. That person over there… is none other than the captain of the Duarte Pirates—Duarte Taylor.” (Oz)

I didn’t think it was possible, but what Oz said earlier finally clicked. This is what she meant by him being dead, but still living on.

“What happened here? How did he become like this?” (Bouchi)

“…Let’s step away from here for a bit, in case he sees us.” (Oz)

Oz led us into the ship. If it weren’t for the situation we were in now, I would have loved to explore the pirate ship.

I wanted to learn more about the various instruments and contraptions on the ship, but for now, hearing about Duarte’s unfortunate transformation was the first priority.

We were led to a large room where the crew used to chill and chat, and we took a seat at the table.

“If Duarte, who was supposed to be dead, is actually that skeleton, then what exactly happened?” (Bouchi)

“Duarte is dead, that is for certain. At the time… that much was beyond doubt. I had used the last bit of my strength to bring Duarte to the island where our base was.” (Oz)

Thus, Oz thought that the island would be a fitting place for Duarte’s final resting place and carried him there, in spite of her own body being on the verge of crumbling to pieces.

But as soon as they arrived at the island, Oz also reached her limits and crumbled… Or so she thought.

She wasn’t even sure how long it had been since then. Oz, who thought herself to be dead, suddenly regained consciousness and found herself in the form of a young girl, just as she was now.

When she came to, she was on the Oz Freedom, a ship that was supposed to be in shambles. Moreover, the ship was wandering the unknown seas.

The confused Oz was faced with a reality that left her even more shocked.

She sensed a presence at the bow of the ship. And there, she found the skeletonized Duarte standing there. Just as he was now, out of control and roaring at the sky.

“…I see. Perhaps Duarte has turned into a spirit demon.” (Shiki)

“A spirit… demon? Shiki, what do you mean?” (Bouchi)

“It is a phenomenon in which a being died, still harboring powerful emotions and a strong will. The body is destroyed, and only the spirit remains. A so-called spirit body.” (Shiki)

“So, a ghost then?” (Bouchi)

“Indeed. But a ghost… is more similar to an existence like Oz-dono. A spirit demon describes a spirit body that has been engulfed by its memories from its previous life, loses all sense of self, and turns into a demon. As a demon, it only moves to satisfy its own desires.” (Shiki)

“In other words, it’s out of control.” (Bouchi)

Shiki nodded in response.

“Of course, it is very rare for someone to turn into a spirit demon. They must have a strong lingering attachment to this world.” (Shiki)

“About that request… Oz, you want me to put an end to Duarte, to stop him from being like this, right?” (Bouchi)

“Yes… I don’t want to see Captain suffering forever. I… just want him to rest.” (Oz)

Quiet sobs came from within her pumpkin headdress.

“…Master, can you let me something about this?” (Yofel)

“Yofel? You… aren’t you afraid of ghosts? Are you going to be alright?” (Bouchi)

“I-I’m a bit scared, but… ahem! No, I just… it’s hard for me to see him like that. There’s just so much… anger, sadness, and suffering in his voice.” (Yofel)

“Me too… That person… is in so much pain.” (Ior)

Even now, that skeleton was still continuing to roar at the sky. Its heart-rending cries moved Yofel and Ior. The elves were a sensitive race after all.

“I will accept this task. It’s against my principles to abandon people halfway.” (Bouchi)

“…! Master, then…” (Yofel)

“Yeah, I will properly complete this task. But Oz, you better be ready to pay me back, alright?” (Bouchi)

“Are you really… really, able to help Captain?” (Oz)

“Despite how I may seem, I have a 100% completion rate for my requests so far. You can leave it to me.” (Bouchi)

“…! Alright! If you save Captain, I’ll do anything!” (Oz)

Alright. Now, all I had to do was finish the request.