Sneak Attack
*Whoosh!* The night sea winds had a fishy, chilly smell that made Jacob shrink back.
As a member of the Faulen Family, he might have long since gotten used to these winds and waves, but the deck that was creaking up and down, as well as the billowing sails above, made him as if he was in a dream. This feeling reached its peak when he saw Leylin, standing proudly at the head of the ship.
They were in a typical double mast sailboat. They weren’t squeezed together even with over 80 people there.
But it wasn’t difficult at all to acquire such a thing with the Faulen Family’s status. No, what shocked Jacob was Young Master Leylin’s behaviour!
‘No… Actually everyone is shocked…’ Jacob looked at the leaders beside him who were scared out of their wits, yet at the same time had a fire burning in their eyes, and chuckled wryly.
Just before they had left, Leylin had cast Nondetection in front of everyone. By Oghma! This was a rank 3 spell, and the young master had not used any items or scrolls at all!
That he could cast a rank 3 spell by himself meant Leylin was rank 7. Without any warning, their young master had become a rank 7 wizard!
‘Gods… Isn’t advancing as a wizard supposed to be the most challenging? Young master’s advancement to rank 5 just two years ago was already enough to have mouths fall agape… And now…’ Jacob sighed. His abundant experiences as an adventurer left him clear on what exactly a fifteen year old rank 7 wizard meant.
If nothing were to happen, he could possibly become a great rank 15 wizard in a few centuries of training! There were few great wizards in the Dambrath Kingdom, and a few of them hired by the royalty had great statuses. His majesty the King had generously given them positions as Earls and territory to rope them in.
However, no great wizard cared for such things that drove others crazy with envy. At their level, the only thing in their sights was the realm of Legends.
And now, a great wizard was about to appear in the Faulen Family? Jacob suddenly felt giddy.
“Cousin Leylin, you’ve worked hard in deceiving me…” Beside Leylin, Isabel didn’t have as many thoughts. While she seemed to be complaining, it was obvious that she was delighted by Leylin’s achievements.
“I never thought my cousin was a genius as a wizard!” Isabel’s eyes twinkled like there were countless stars in them.
“Hehe… everyone has their secrets, just as you do!” Leylin got closer, causing her to look panicked, “I anticipate the day where you will tell me…”
“What kind of joke is this?” Isabel turned her head and left, while Leylin sank deep into thought.
‘There’s no other choice but to do this…’ Leylin sighed. The reason he had shown his strength right before the battle was to strengthen his men’s confidence and will to resist.
Otherwise, the moment they knew that they could be against the personal guard of a Marquis of the Kingdom, even if moral did not immediately crumble, it would be greatly diminished.
Now, with such a young wizard, some would think it was worth it to risk their lives. Even if those regular soldiers did not know what being a 15 year old rank 7 wizard implied, others would gladly warn or tell them.
‘Furthermore, our target this time is only a notorious group of pirates. Even if someone intentionally leaks this out, many would not believe it…’ Leylin sighed once more. He had already done all that he could to the best of his abilities, and all that was left was their luck.
“My lord, we’re here!” A sailor with triangular eyes and a gaze as sharp as a poisonous snake came before Leylin, reporting quietly. There was a thirst in his eyes for blood, as well as a fervour for destruction.
If this was a gaze seen in the manor, Leylin would send down the order for this person to be hung, but now?
‘This is the right attitude if you want to kill someone!’ Leylin was confident that with his methods, even if this person was a poisonous snake, he’d be able to tame him.
“Your name is Robin Hood? You’re a great first mate and navigator! Are you in charge of this ship as well?” Leylin observed the man. He could sense a bloody aura that came from frequent killings, which made it obvious that this person had a very ‘exciting’ life in private.
“Yes, young master Faulen!” Evidently, Robin Hood was surprised that Leylin had been able to remember his name.
“Good!” Leylin had his hands behind his back as he watched the faint image of the islet from the fog. He quickly commanded, “Send down the order. Everyone is to remain hidden. Try not to make any sounds.”
In order to take precautions against the detection and divination spells, Leylin had especially boosted himself with Nondetection before leaving, and had been exceptionally cautious and nimble along the way. It could be said that the chances of being discovered were very low.
Besides, even if they were discovered, nothing much changed except for the scale of the losses that would be incurred.
When the first wave sneakily swam up to the shore and began to mount a secret attack on the opponents’ anchored ships, Leylin knew that the general conclusion had been decided.
Watching the bloody battles, Leylin suddenly laughed. “Seems like the pirates aren’t as strong as I imagined them to be…”
Initially, he had thought that they had the support of the nobles and might have superb equipment and even maybe a magic weapon, but from the looks of it… These pirates wore shabby clothing, and there were even some people of other races and mixed blood in their midst. There weren’t really powerful people in there, and it felt like they were just cannon fodder and not the real deal.
‘Even if we manage to subdue these pirates, they would just be treated as replaceable?’ Leylin stroked his chin as he thought of something.
In such a situation, where his side had been prepared and launched a secret attack with equipment of superior quality to theirs, there was no possibility of failure if their numbers were about equal.
‘Of course, this is a world of exemplaries. The situation might change if a few powerful people show up,’ Leylin stared at a corner of the camp on the barren island. He could sense powerful energy undulations from there.
“Is that leader of the Black Tiger pirates a rank 10 Professional?” Leylin sneered, “Jacob, take over the command. Pay attention to their ships and don’t let anyone get away!”
“Understood, young master!” Jacob answered loudly. He already wanted to prostrate himself when he looked at Leylin’s skills as a commander. Leadership came naturally to the young master, and such a thing was something he had never been able to learn himself.
‘This potential... Does that mean there really is a darling child of the gods in this world?’ Jacob had no time to be bothered by the shock to his worldview, and did all he could to constrain the formation of the troops and surround the camp.
“Isabel, come with me. Let us see to that leader, Steve!” Leylin rapidly moved towards the frontlines of the battle, with Isabel following closely behind.
……
As the infamous leader of the Black Tigers, Steve had the boorish and villainous face unique to pirates. He had long since lost an eye and an ear, the price he paid when his first mate mutinied against him.
Of course, this fellow who dared betrayed him had soon gotten his limbs cut off, and was tossed into the sea. The man could only repent with the sea god.
After being recruited by Marquis Louis, it had been made clear that if he were to be successful in this operation, he would become a knight with land of his own, and he might even become a real lord!
‘I’ll become a lord in the future!’ Every time he thought of this, Steve could not help but gaze at his right hand. He had lost it, among many other things, in ten years of bloody fights and struggles. Still, he felt like the sacrifice was worth it. As he was right now, he was a rank 10 fighter, and the Black Tigers that he led had made a name for themselves in these waters.
‘The target this time is only the manor of a baron that has lost most of its elites. How powerful can they be?’ Steve thought indifferently. If not for him restraining them with all his might, all his underlings would have gone out to have fun long ago.
Up to this point, everything was going well without a hitch. But all of a sudden, yells and shouts could be heard that immediately woke Steve up from his reverie.
“What’s going on?” Steve tossed the bottle of rum in his hand away, and his right hand opened up a huge tear in the tent. He arrived at the camp.
“It’s an enemy invasion! There are too many of them, and they have excellent equipment!” His second mate, a tiger-headed merman, came before him, expression unable to hide his panic.
After noticing the situation, Steve’s face twitched. This crafty captain immediately felt that this was not going well, “Where did they come from? Why did the detection spells and alarm points not react? More importantly, who are they?”
Even now Steve didn’t think these people were sent by his target. With Leylin’s Nondetection spell, the detection magic artifacts he had bought at exorbitant prices lost their effects. The alarm points had all been discovered and removed by Leylin.
Steve grabbed the collar of the second mate and shouted, “Get the men and charge to the ship!”