Chapter 11:
Treasure
THE PIRATES on the flagship ran around in consternation. Some of
their knights were still putting up a fight, but most of them were outnumbered
and taken down by the enemy. Even knights had their limits when surrounded
by trained soldiers.
In the first place, the most skilled pirate knights had already deployed,
and the only ones left were those who hadn't wanted to go out and fight.
They didn't have any real strength, so they were taken out all too quickly
when they were overrun by Liam's soldiers.
With its training and the quality of its equipment, House Banfield's
private army operated as if it were the Empire's regular army.
Goaz's adjutant cursed as he fled through the ship. "Damn you, Goaz!
How dare he run on his own!"
He'd ordered his lackeys to deal with the boarding force and then up
and vanished. The adjutant had now abandoned the bridge himself and was
frantically trying to come up with some way to get out of this situation.
He stopped and hid around a corner to check a terminal and find out
what was going on in the ship. "Shit! We're sealed tight; there's no way off
the ship! Dammit! I don't want to die here."
As he fell to his knees, an enemy squad led by a sword-wielding knight
spotted him. He bolted upright and tried to sprint away, but no matter which
way he turned, enemies were all around him. Finally, the adjutant held up
both hands in surrender.
"W-wait! Please, just hear me out!"
The small knight, sword resting on his shoulder, stopped and
commanded his subordinates not to shoot. From his voice, he seemed to be
quite a young knight.
This is my chance. I don't care if I have to cry and beg him—I'm going
to find a way to stay alive.
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"I-I was just being used by Goaz. Please, let me go."
This knight wore a full-face helmet, so the adjutant couldn't see his
expression.
"I know! I can tell you where the treasure is. I can't open the lock for
you, but I can at least take you to it, so let me live... Please!"
The adjutant got down on hands and knees, but the knight said nothing.
One of his subordinates, however, tapped away at a tablet and reported,
"Lord Liam, it appears this man is the Goaz Pirate Gang's second-in-
command. I highly doubt someone in such a high position was just being
used."
Hearing the name Liam, the adjutant raised his head. "Liam? You're—I
mean, of course you are, your lordship. When I first saw you, I thought you
had the air of a ruler about you. What would you say to hiring me, my lord?
Think about it. As a commander of the Goaz Pirate Gang, I could surely
provide you with...with..."
Suddenly, the view in front of him changed. His body hadn't moved at
all, but his field of vision was spinning terribly. In zero gravity, he saw his
own body... without its head.
"Huh?" was the last thing the adjutant thought.
***
As he watched the battle, the Guide was speechless. He stood in space
atop a destroyed pirate ship.
"This is impossible. What is that? What is that power?!" He was
bewildered by Liam's strength. No swordsmanship school named the Way of
the Flash existed in this world; it was just a lie Yasushi had made up. And
yet, Liam had unknowingly created it himself.
"Even if he did develop some talent, what the heck is that power he's
using? What did that man teach him?" During the time the Guide hadn't been
monitoring him, Liam had grown stronger than he could have ever imagined.
This was a battle that Liam should never have been able to win.
The Guide held his head with both hands, completely baffled by the
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power Liam had obtained. "It hurts... My chest burns... Dammit!"
Horrible feelings of gratitude and trust continued to flow into him from
Liam. He could hardly stomach them.
"I can't be picky about how I do this anymore. Goaz, congratulations
on your new special power." He waved his arm, producing a small cloud of
black smoke. "This goes against the way I do things, but I have no choice
now. This is all your fault, Liam. Honestly, you've caused me nothing but
grief."
Considering the Guide's hand in all this, it was a rather ironic
comment.
***
Goaz hid inside his ship, clutching the alchemy box to his chest. All he
could hear were the screams of his crew, each one jolting him to the core.
"No! I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die! Not in a
place like this!"
This man, captain of a pirate gang, had inflicted incredible suffering on
others, yet now he was sobbing in fright. His huge body was curled up, knees
at his chest, as he quivered and chewed away at a thumbnail.
The whole source of Goaz's strength was the vast wealth granted to
him by the alchemy box. As a fighter, he might have been a little stronger
than average, but he was no knight. If armed soldiers discovered him, he'd be
killed in the blink of an eye.
"Sh-should I beg for my life? N-no, they'll just turn me in for my
bounty. I-I know—if I offer them treasure that I make with this..."
If Goaz had put the alchemy box to better use, he could have made a
vast fortune and wouldn't even have needed to become a pirate. He'd only
ended up in this situation because he'd spent his life pillaging. It was his own
fault. Of course, no one could have predicted that he'd lose to Liam.
As Goaz sat there, black smoke began to envelop him.
"Wh-what the—?"
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He heard a voice in his ear—the voice of the Guide. "Don't waste this
chance I'm giving you, Goaz..."
"Wh-wh-who's there?" he stammered, and the smoke poured into his
mouth.
At that moment, the Guide revealed himself, and Goaz gripped his own
throat as he writhed in pain. He dropped the alchemy box, but he had no time
to worry about that.
"Whomever you'd like. Just know I'm giving you a chance to kill
Liam. Or do you want to lose?"
Goaz shook his head, and the Guide flashed his crescent-moon smile.
"Good."
Finally freed from the pain of inhaling the black smoke, Goaz released
his throat and looked down at his hand. It was the same hand he was used to
seeing, but the color was wrong.
"What's this? I'm feeling stronger and stronger... I'm not afraid
anymore! I have nothing to fear! I'm strong... I'm strooong!"
His initial shock at seeing his bluish-black flesh was gone. In its place
were surges of confidence and power. All fear forgotten, Goaz twisted his
face into an ugly grin.
The Guide looked pleased as well. "Your skin is as hard as adamantite
now. You've surpassed humanity, and nothing can stop you. Now, go!"
"You braaat! It's really gonna hurt when I kill youuu!"
The Guide watched Goaz run off and put a hand to his forehead. "I
pushed myself a little hard there. Maybe that was a bit too mischievous." He
felt fatigued from all the times he'd used the door between worlds and
manipulated things lately.
"No matter how strong Liam is, he'll no longer be able to cut Goaz. I
hope he regrets boarding this ship in his arrogance."
When the Guide had departed, a small light floated over to the
forgotten alchemy box. It was the same one that had snuck into the Avid,
keeping watch over the Guide all this time. The light transformed into a dog
with black-and-brown fur, then ran down the hall toward Liam.
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***
As I walked through the ship's halls, I felt a familiar presence. I
glanced in the direction I'd sensed it and found that the presence wasn't
human. I only caught a glimpse of something rushing by, but I could make
out a brown tail—the tail of a dog.
"Huh?"
"Is something the matter, Lord Liam?" one of my men asked me.
"Ah... Was there a dog over there just now?"
"A dog? No, there are no life signs around us, and there couldn't be a
dog here anyway. I can't imagine they'd have a zero-gravity suit for a dog
too."
Had I been mistaken? After some thought, it dawned on me why the
sight had seemed so familiar. It had to be my dog from my previous life.
Even though he hadn't come to meet me on my deathbed, he had still been
incredibly important to me. And yet, I'd somehow forgotten about him after
reincarnating into this world.
"I can't believe I forgot about you." I guess I can't blame him for not
showing up. It's fine, though—I don't want him to see how I am now. He was
one of my few true friends in my past life who had never betrayed me.
While I was musing, a soldier got my attention. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. Anyway, let's take a look over there."
I went in the direction where I thought I'd seen the tail. This
passageway wasn't clean like the others, being full of junk. It looked like it
was probably used as a storage space. There were plenty of places to hide, so
my men moved through it carefully, but I didn't sense anyone inside. I was a
little disappointed, in fact, since there was no dog either. I had planned on
rescuing it if I really did find one.
I sighed and looked down, then spotted something at my feet. "What's
this?"
It was a golden box, small enough to hold in one hand. I picked it up to
take a closer look. It bore all sorts of patterns and ornamentation, so I felt like
I might have stumbled across a good find.
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"Hey, this looks nice. I think I'll keep it."
One of my men gave me a rather uncharitable look. "So it's true that
you're fond of gold, Lord Liam."
"What's wrong with gold? I love it."
"What about mithril and adamantite?"
"Hm? Sure, I like those too, but for me, gold is best."
I don't like those exasperated looks my men are giving me, but mithril
is silver, right? I think adamantite is just something you make weapons out
Sure, they're valuable, but the value in those things is in how you use
them.
While I was examining the box, I once again saw the tail out of the
corner of my eye.
"Again..."
"Lord Liam, please don't get ahead of us!"
I left my men behind and chased after the dog, but I arrived at a dead
end. There was something about this wall that bothered me, though. When I
touched it, I discovered a hidden door.
"I didn't find the dog, but I smell treasure! There's a secret door here,
boys!"
I had my men destroy the hidden door, and when I stepped through it, I
was indeed greeted by a mountain of treasure. However, it wasn't the gold
and silver I'd been expecting. Instead, the room was filled with curios and
antiques.
"No luck, eh?" I was disappointed, but my men were surprised and
delighted.
"N-no, this is great luck, my lord! These all look expensive!"
"I'm sure they're all fakes. Like this box thing. It's just a fake, right?"
"Th-there's no way to tell without appraising them."
"Whatever. Okay, let's take it home at least. Man, this is so
disappointing."
All the curios that House Banfield had previously owned had proved to
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be fakes, so I simply assumed the majority of these would be the same. Still, I
rummaged through the items to see what I could find, and I stumbled upon a
sword.
"Oh, here's something interesting at least."
It looked very old, and like something you'd find in a fantasy game—
especially the design of its hilt and scabbard. It wasn't too flashy, but the
blade had a nice look to it when I unsheathed it. Appreciating how the light
shined off of it, I felt sort of strange. I'd thought everything in the room was a
forgery, but this seemed perfectly usable, which put me in a good mood.
"All right, I like it. I think I'll use this."
"Maybe you shouldn't," said one soldier. Clearly, he thought it would
be a waste to put this antique into action. "It seems like it might be worth a
lot."
"Sheesh," I muttered. "Weapons only have meaning if you use them.
It's not like I bought it—I stole it from pirates, who stole it first."
I slipped the gold box into a large pocket in the back of my suit, handed
my rifle and blade over to one of my men, and took up the old sword. Now
that the battle is all but over, I don't need other weapons. This sword's
enough for me.
"Now, where should we head ne—"
"Lord Liam, emergency transmission!" one of my men shouted.
Looks like my treasure hunt is over.
***
One of the teams from the boarding force had found Goaz, but he was
sending soldiers in powered suits flying with just one arm. His skin was
glossy and black.
"Dammit! Our bullets just bounce off him!"
"Beam weapons don't work either!"
"Fall back!"
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One of the soldiers raised a rocket launcher and fired it at Goaz, but he
emerged from the explosion and the smoke like nothing had happened. The
soldiers paled.
Goaz rolled his neck, and his eyes shone red. "How dare you make a
mess of my ship. Don't any of you think you're going home safe."
He was drunk with the power he'd obtained—the intoxicating feeling
that he could do anything. In his mind, not even the strongest knight could
defeat him now. He clenched his fist and it made a sound like no human hand
should: metal scraping against metal.
"I'll make you all my toys!"
Goaz blew away the soldiers with the strength gifted to him by the
Guide. Bullets, lasers, and explosives were all meaningless against him. One
of the more quick-witted soldiers manipulated the air pressure in the corridor,
but even that had no effect.
"What did this guy do to himself?!"
"Is he a cyborg?"
They tried to run, but he caught up in a flash. He grabbed them and
hurled them through the air, making a show of his might. These highly
trained soldiers were no match for him.
"Bring the boy! I'll take him down myself!"
One of the soldiers ordered the men around him, "Get Lord Liam off
the ship! Do not let this thing find him!"
The soldiers kept attacking Goaz even though they knew it wouldn't
have any effect, and Goaz continued tearing through them.
"What's wrong? That all you got?" Goaz punched a man so hard, he
crushed the soldier's head, helmet and all, and then threw him aside. The
man's body was bent in an unnatural way. He used one man as a shield and
the gunfire stopped.
"This time, I'm gonna—" He threw aside the soldier he'd been using as
a shield and took a step forward, but a wound suddenly appeared inside his
body. "Wh-what?"
Goaz looked down at himself and found that he had several wounds.
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While he was trying to figure out what had happened to him, a person
dropped down from above.
The man landed and slowly stood, gazing down at the badly chipped
blade in his hand. "You're way too hard." He sounded amused.
Goaz couldn't see a face inside the figure's helmet, but he could
picture a boy smiling. He reached out to try to grab his assailant, but
something dropped to the ground. After a beat, he realized it was his own
arm. Everything from the elbow down was gone.
"Huh?" While he stood there in shock, the boy in front of him tossed
aside the damaged sword he'd been using. He had another sword in his hand
now, which Goaz recalled seeing somewhere before. It was a very valuable
weapon that he'd stored away in a secret room with the rest of his booty. It
was the second most valuable thing among Goaz's treasures, after the
alchemy box.
"H-hey, that's mine!"
The boy just smiled. "Oh, this? It's mine now. More importantly, you
seem to have been quite busy." He rested the sword on his shoulder.
Goaz reached out to him once more. This time, his other arm dropped.
"Ngh!" Goaz couldn't even tell what was happening. All he knew was
the boy had drawn the antique sword from its scabbard at some point.
This time, the knight looked down at the sword, impressed. "That's
pretty amazing—not a single nick in the blade. I like it."
Goaz was armless now. While he stood frozen in confusion, black
smoke spewed from the stumps of his arms and solidified into tentacles of
flesh. In seconds, he had something like whips for arms. Before he knew it,
he was charging forward to attack.
"H-how dare youuu!"
But the boy just ignored him. "This is nice. I think this'll be my main
weapon from now on."
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The fleshy whips that Goaz rained down on the boy were shredded, and
this time, one of his legs was cut off as well. He fell to one knee and more
black smoke billowed out of his body.
"Aaargh..." Goaz trembled, all his confidence from earlier gone
without a trace. As black blood spilled from him, his enemies banded
together to protect the small knight.
"Lord Liam!"
When he heard that name, Goaz raised his head. He looked up at the
boy before him, face twisting into a demonic expression.
"You! You're Liam!"
Liam was still so absorbed in his new sword that he wasn't even
looking at Goaz. "That's right, I'm Liam. But that's 'Lord Liam' to you,
scum. Who is this jet-black guy, anyway? Is he some kinda cyborg or
something?"
One of his men offered a hesitant answer. "The color of his skin has
changed, but I believe this is Goaz."
"This guy?"
Just then, a sharp horn began growing out of Goaz's severed left arm.
"Don't ignore meee!" He thrust it forth, trying to pierce Liam's heart, and
this time, everything below his shoulder was lopped off.
Liam looked down at Goaz, who was now kneeling one ground. He
rested his sword on his shoulder again and stared at Goaz's face. "So you're
Goaz?"
Goaz trembled more violently now, absolutely terrified of the boy
before him. What is he? What the hell is he? How can he cut me when bullets
bounce right off of me? I don't get it! It makes no sense!
The stupefied Goaz begged Liam for his life. "Please... Let me go."
"Hm? What was that?"
"I'll never defy you again. I-if you let me go, I'll give you an amazing
treasure. So please... Just let me live!"
Liam laughed at Goaz's proposal. "I don't think so."
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