Wizard: I Add Points and Hunt Monsters

The other woman, the one with long, dark green hair, was clearly far more delicate. Her features were exquisite, her figure well-proportioned, and she exuded a unique noble air. She had to be a young lady from one of the great noble families.

"Don’t worry, Vian. I’ve been on the Cordo Sea for twenty years. I’ve been traveling back and forth between the Northern and Eastern Continents with my father practically since I can remember. It’ll be fine."

The blonde Extraordinary comforted her in a low voice. She held a weapon that looked like a fish spear; its three prongs glinted under the red moonlight, clearly no ordinary item. "Give me that piece of equipment."

The noble lady with dark green hair hesitated for a moment before taking a necklace from her neck and handing it over. "Haisa, you have to be careful. There are too many monsters in the Deep Sea..."

"Mm, I will!"

The blonde Extraordinary took the necklace and put it on. A layer of black light flashed over her body, enveloping the necklace as if she were activating it...

’Hm, Extraordinary Power, a Rune Array?’

Wei’en watched her actions with great interest. ’A runic necklace that can be used in the Deep Sea at night?’

’I wonder what it does?’

"ROAR—"

[You have been locked onto by the killing intent of a Deep Sea Aberrant. Evaluation: An aberrant with poor eyesight but is extremely sensitive to Extraordinary Power. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

"Ah... Mmph!" Hearing the terrifying sound from the sea, the noble lady had just let out a scream when she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes looking at the blonde woman with a trace of terror.

"Wait for me. I’ll be quick." The blonde woman gave her an encouraging look, took a deep breath, and leaped from the ship’s rail, sending up a circle of spray.

In the red moonlight, countless aberrants could be faintly seen swimming toward the splash—

Hm?

Wei’en’s Spirit Perception had been observing the blonde woman. He only detected a flash of red light from the sea’s surface, which cast a scarlet reflection on the side of the hull and enveloped the surrounding aberrants.

At the same time, he was surprised to find that the aberrants had instantly stopped in their tracks.

Even though the blonde woman was right before their eyes, with their twisted tentacles about to wrap around her body and tear her to shreds, they acted as if they hadn’t noticed anything and slowly dispersed.

’It can evade the pursuit of aberrants?’

’Is that the power of the Rune Array?’

His interest was piqued. A Rune Array like that would be incredibly useful in the Deep Sea.

’If I’d had a necklace like this when I went deep into the sea to investigate the place that collected killing intent, I probably wouldn’t have been discovered by those aberrants, right?’

"Be careful..." The noble lady clasped her hands together, her worried gaze fixed on the pitch-black surface of the sea.

Wei’en deeply agreed and casually remarked, "She certainly should be careful."

Even with that special Rune Array, he couldn’t help but admire the blonde woman’s courage for daring to jump into the sea in the dead of night.

"Mm... Huh?!" Hearing the voice, the noble lady froze. She turned around stiffly and stared at the deck in terror.

’There’s no one here?’

The noble lady looked left and right. Seeing no one, she couldn’t help but wonder aloud, "Was that a hallucination? Or am I just too nervous?"

Wei’en: "..."

’She doesn’t seem very bright, does she?’

"Haisa, hurry and find a suitable Deep Sea species, I’m getting a little..." The noble lady’s eyes lit up when she saw the statue at the ship’s bow. She tiptoed over to it. "Praise be to Lady Storm, please protect your devout follower."

’She’s a follower of the Storm Church, too?’

As Wei’en kept his perception on the blonde Extraordinary’s movements in the sea, he watched the noble lady before him and said, "I imagine that Lady wouldn’t protect an ungrateful follower, would she?"

"Huh? Who’s there?"

This time, the noble lady heard it clearly. She hid behind the statue and peered around. Once again, she saw no one. Her body trembling, she asked in a quavering voice, "P-Please, who are you? Are you a p-pirate from the ship?"

’It seems she’s not just unobservant, but genuinely a bit dense.’

Wei’en shook his head, then appeared behind the noble lady in a flash, holding his lantern. The orange-yellow candlelight of Dawn brought a trace of warmth, illuminating the side of her face.

"Is there anyone on this ship who isn’t a pirate?"

The noble lady’s body stiffened. Noticing the light beside her, she spun around abruptly.

What met her eyes was a handsome man with black hair and red eyes. He wore a black formal suit in a style unique to the Eastern Continent, with a red shirt underneath and a gold watch chain visible at his neck.

His red eyes were especially calm and profound, and paired with the slight smile on his lips... it made him appear to be a perfect gentleman.

"You, you’re... a pirate?"

"Of course. Hm, is it gone?"

Wei’en looked down at himself and finally noticed that the Illusion Technique’s time was up. He was no longer wearing Marco’s flashy and handsome face.

’No wonder she was questioning it. Anyone who saw a man in a formal suit wouldn’t associate him with a cruel pirate.’

"Wh-What?"

Wei’en shook his head and chuckled. "I’m saying, of course I’m a pirate. There’s no rule that says pirates can’t dress nicely, is there?"

"N-No, that’s not it, I just... mm," the noble lady leaned against the statue of Lady Storm, lowering her head slightly, not daring to look directly at the pirate before her. "Are, are you going to capture me and take me back to the bottom of the ship?"

"The bottom of the ship? Oh, you mean back to Clelia? That’s right. I can’t let you two get away, or else..."

’Or else the two of you are one hundred percent dead!’

Wei’en’s Spirit Perception already sensed that Clelia had just left her bedroom and was heading toward the depths of the ship’s hold. She would probably discover soon that some of her Queen’s Guard were missing...

’Tsk, I wonder how she’ll react?’

’She might just turn them both into puppets straight away...’

Meanwhile, the noble lady beside him heard his words, and her face turned deathly pale. She stammered, "M-Mr. Pirate, it’s all my fault. C-Can you please let her go?"

"Oh?"

Wei’en was a little surprised she would say something like that. ’There’s a noble lady this kind and naive?’

He thought about the other nobles he had met before: the short-tempered Lisi, the spoiled and headstrong Lydia, and the mischievous Marco. Although they didn’t act high and mighty like other nobles, they were definitely not so naive and kind that they would sacrifice themselves for others.

"I-It was all my order," the noble lady said, trembling. "P-Please, if you have to capture someone, just take me..."

"That’s not for me to decide."

Wei’en smiled. He was actually starting to form a good impression of this kind-hearted lady.

"I, I know. I’ll go and beg that... Lady Clelia..."

"Mm, perhaps begging will have some effect. You never know."

Wei’en thought of Clelia’s personality and grimaced. ’It’ll be a miracle if she doesn’t just turn them into puppets on the spot. Let them go?’

’That might be a bit difficult.’

"Let’s not talk about that for now. I have a question for you."

"Y-You can ask," the noble lady said, biting her lip, her eyes filled with panic and fear, clearly worried about what was going to happen next.

"I want to know, what was that necklace you just gave the blonde woman?"

"The, the necklace?"

"Yes, that’s the one. I want to know what the Rune Array on it is," Wei’en said with a nod. In his perception, the blonde woman seemed to have brought a large fish-like creature under control and was swimming back this way.

"The, the Rune Array on the Mist Necklace... I don’t know either. I only know that it’s an Era Relic. My family found it in some ruins a long time ago."

"The Mist Necklace? An Era Relic?"

Wei’en was a little disappointed, but on second thought, it made sense. If it were something made in the current era, it would have long since become standard equipment for every fleet.

A relic...

Wei’en thought for a few seconds and made a decision.

’Since they don’t exist in this era, I’ll try to study and replicate it. If I can reproduce it, it will be a huge help for my voyage over the next year.’

"Y-You..."

Before she could finish, Wei’en interrupted her. "We’ll talk later. Your companion is about to return."

"Ret—" The noble lady turned to look out at the sea, her heart filled with even greater terror. "Haisa, don’t come back!!"

"Oh?"

’So brave?’

Wei’en gave her a surprised glance. It took considerable courage to shout a warning for someone else to escape at a time like this.

And...

"I thought I must have miscounted~ So two Guards really did sneak out~"