I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[071] Paradise of the Pirates
“At this rate, we’ll spot the island soon! Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
As Boggles shouted, everyone on the deck rushed toward the railings.
True to his word, before long a massive silhouette emerged, piercing through the thick sea mist.
“That’s… the actual Balearic Archipelago that was only rumored to exist?”
Karen murmured in a voice tinged with astonishment.
Her reaction was hardly unreasonable.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of derelict sailing ships were grotesquely intertwined, forming a colossal island.
Tilted masts pierced the sky like towers, while decks were precariously connected by rusted chains and creaking wooden planks.
Skull flags raised by pirates fluttered from every hull opening, and sentries watched from watchtowers with the keen eyes of hawks.
Radi stared wide-eyed at the figurehead embedded atop the derelict ships and spoke.
“I imagined a peaceful island when I heard ‘paradise’… with crystal-clear waters and tropical fruits hanging abundantly from every tree….”
“Clear waters? Tropical fruits? We don’t deal with such weak things! If there were any fruit, we’d pickle it all in alcohol!”
‘This fool’s actually proud of that.’
Knowing the truth about the Balearic Archipelago, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
It truly deserved the name “pirate hideout”—a damp and grotesquely deformed lawless zone.
“The real paradise lies within. But… I should have asked sooner—what business brings you all the way to the Balearic Archipelago?”
“To find the remaining parts of the Sacred Spear.”
“T-The Sacred Spear?! You mean that sacred relic from Neptune’s Temple?!”
“Don’t worry about the details. More importantly, how do we get inside? Do we use a gate system like before?”
“A gate system…? First, we must pass through the Reef Zone! As you can see, the currents are far too violent—entry itself is a barrier. Countless naval forces have sunk trying to force their way in!”
True to Boggles’ words, the waters surrounding the island were filled with jagged reefs and shipwreck debris.
Any outsider attempting forced entry would be swept into the whirlpool and run aground immediately.
But Boggles expertly turned the wheel, navigating precariously around the reefs.
“Now then, let’s prepare ourselves. If you go in dressed like that, you’ll stand out far too much. Especially you, Mage.”
In a pirate hideout, one follows the pirate’s law. We each changed into disguise clothing we’d prepared in advance.
Radi donned an eye patch and tied her hair tight, disguising herself as a sharp-featured one-eyed swordmaster, while Malton attached a mustache to look like a seasoned sailor.
And Karen….
“Do I really have to wear something like this?”
A leather corset that revealed her body’s curves and torn stockings.
Karen grumbled but successfully disguised herself as a convincing female pirate.
“Perfect! No one will suspect a thing now!”
Boggles and his subordinates clapped their hands in satisfaction.
As the ship passed through the Reef Zone, a pirate on the sailing ship above shouted down.
“Don’t cause any trouble! Unless you want cannonballs lodged in your bodies!”
Once we’d quietly anchored inside the island, Boggles whispered.
“Now then, follow me. There are many watchful eyes scattered throughout the island, so don’t stray from the designated path. And whatever you do, don’t cause any commotion inside!”
We followed him down the creaking wooden planks and disembarked.
The interior of the island was dim despite the daylight, shadowed by the sailing ships overhead, and rusted pipes were bizarrely connected throughout the corridors.
Radi cautiously touched one of the pipes, then jerked her hand away in alarm.
“H-hot… what is this pipe?”
“You’ll find out soon enough!”
Boggles stopped before a weathered iron door and knocked. A slot opened, and eyes beyond scrutinized us from head to toe.
“When rum labels wash away upon the waves.”
“We shall advance, clutching jingling gold coins.”
“…Identity confirmed.”
The heavy iron door swung open, and we finally stepped into the Pirate Hideout.
“Welcome to the pirates’ paradise!”
My companions fell silent, their eyes sweeping across the surroundings.
If I had to describe my first impression of this place, I’d call it a crucible of desire.
The interior, converted from a decommissioned sailing ship, was pure chaos incarnate.
Raucous laughter, the mingled reek of sweat, alcohol, and tobacco smoke—it all crashed over us in a suffocating wave.
Every table hosted board games wagered on with treasures from every sea imaginable, while in one corner, intoxicated pirates lounged in the steam rising from the Steam Hot Spring, giggling like fools.
This was like….
‘A disreputable secret hideout for married men.’
“Here, information from every sea in this region converges—someone must know where the Sacred Relic is! Allow me to assist!”
Boggles naturally took a seat before the bartender and asked.
“Hey, Bob. How’s the mood been lately?”
“Same as always. By the way, those are new faces beside you?”
“Picked them up in Liberta. Pretty decent folk.”
Boggles introduced us smoothly, then inquired about the Sacred Relic’s whereabouts.
“The Sacred Relic? Hmm… I heard the Snake Gang was scheming about it recently. If you want details, go ask them directly.”
“T-the Snake Gang, you say?”
“Snake?”
At my confused question, Boggles pointed toward a muscular giant absorbed in poker.
“That bald man with the serpent tattoo on his forearm. A fearsome pirate who dominates these waters…! He holds considerable influence even here.”
“I see… so that’s how it is?”
Without hesitation, I approached the man called Snake and spoke.
“I hear you know where the Sacred Relic is.”
“…?”
Snake, poker hand in grip, looked up at me—disguised as Barbo—with sharp, piercing eyes.
His expression seemed to ask, ‘Where did this dog bone crawl out from?’ before he let out a low chuckle and clicked his tongue.
“The Sacred Relic, huh… I don’t know how you heard the rumors, but yeah. Half of the Sacred Relic is mine. I stole it from Neptune’s Temple.”
“Hand it over.”
“…What audacious punk.”
Snake, whose expression had been menacing, suddenly curled his lips into a smile and spoke.
“Beat me at this game, and I’ll tell you. …Though someone like you has no chance.”
He spread betting chips across the table, issuing a challenge.
As I moved to take the seat opposite him, Boggles desperately held me back.
“W-wait! Please, think this through more carefully! Snake is the greatest gambler in this business! And there are even rumors he possesses the ‘Lucky Gremlin Rune’… You have no chance of winning!”
‘The Rune of the Lucky Gremlin, then….’
[The Rune of the Lucky Gremlin] is a rare-grade rune that grants minor bonuses to all actions.
When used for nefarious purposes, it proves quite effective in petty theft and gambling.
But….
｢[Antagon’s Rune] breaks into a sly smile upon encountering a gambling table after so long!｣
｢[Antagon’s Rune] is contemplating how to toy with this greenhorn. Should I strip him bare until he’s on the verge of bankruptcy? Or perhaps seize his ship outright?｣
This one, after all, is a mythic-grade rune.
“Very well. Should I lose, I shall serve aboard your vessel as an unpaid slave for life.”
As I accepted the wager with confidence, Boggles let out a sharp cry and clutched his face, while Snake laughed as though he’d found an easy mark and began shuffling the poker cards.
I detected a subtle irregularity in his hand movements.
｢[Antagon’s Rune] eagerly points out the opponent’s deception! Oh my, he’s palming the second card from the bottom of the deck.｣
｢[Antagon’s Rune] offers sympathetic encouragement for such an amateur’s technique.｣
‘So he possessed not only [The Rune of the Lucky Gremlin], but also [The Sticky Spider Rune].’
A technique of drawing fine threads from his fingertips to siphon away specific cards.
Yet I chose not to call him out and simply accepted the hand dealt to me.
“I’ll give you one last chance to fold. If you concede now, I’ll reduce your servitude to merely ten years or so….”
“All in.”
“…What? That’s absurd.”
I held my cards for a moment, then laid them down.
Same suit, consecutive numbers. A straight flush.
Snake’s eyes went wide as he examined my hand, and his words faltered.
“Y-you lucky bastard! B-but we never agreed this was sudden death!”
｢You have achieved victory in the poker match!｣
｢???: That’s strange… I’m certain I dealt him a worthless hand….｣
“Next, we play Naval Clash! You know the rules, don’t you?”
A board game played on a shallow water-filled board, similar in nature to chess.
Its defining feature is the movement of large ship-shaped pieces in combat.
“Galley to E6, Caravel to G2, Galleon fires cannons, Felucca advances to A3.”
“Wh-what…?”
｢You have achieved victory in Naval Clash!｣
As the third and fourth rounds continued, betting chips piled up like mountains before me.
Spectators gathered in growing numbers, murmuring amongst themselves, while beads of cold sweat formed on Snake’s brow.
Unable to bear it any longer, Snake cried out.
“Th-this can’t be…! This is impossible!!”
“What’s impossible?”
“How can the dice land on six nine times in a row?! Everyone, look at this!! This is insane, it’s another six!!”
When Snake flipped over the cup before me, every single die showed a six.
“Luck is on my side.”
“Ugh…!”
Snake’s veins bulged across his forehead as he trembled, but all of this was precisely as fated.
‘With Antagon’s Rune in hand, there’s no way I could lose at the gambling table.’
The [Chaos] ability that sensitively detects shifts in my opponent’s emotions, and the [Swindler] skill that sometimes manipulates reality itself to draw favorable outcomes in games and wagers.
From the start, Antagon’s Rune was never specialized for combat—it was a rune dumped entirely into utility.
I was simply twisting it by force to use it for combat in order to survive here in Belheim.
“This is cheating!! You bastard! How dare you cheat right in front of me?!”
“Wasn’t it you who was cheating? I counted at least five instances of dealing from the bottom of the deck….”
“Silence! I’ll flay the flesh from your bones!”
Snake shot to his feet and drew his blade, and his subordinates immediately followed suit, drawing their weapons in unison and surrounding me.
“Is it really acceptable to draw weapons here?”
Snake sneered as he answered.
“In the Balearic Archipelago, only the pirates of these waters receive protection. A complete outsider like you? We have no obligation to care.”
“Is that so? Then I can fight without holding back.”
Crash!
I kicked the table away, pushing Snake back, and faced off against the pirates.
I had anticipated the situation would escalate like this.
After all, even if I truly possessed the Sacred Spear, there was no way I would hand over such an invaluable sacred relic as mere gambling stakes.
But with this dull-witted pirate Barbo’s body, I couldn’t fight to my full potential.
“…This is the first time I’m transforming so openly.”
As I suddenly grinned wickedly, the pirates exchanged uneasy glances with one another.
“Is this madman insane!”
Snake thrust his blade without mercy—at that very moment─.
“O one who walks in death, rise again and walk forth.”
Pitch-black mist billowed upward.
And from within it, a being that seemed to embody the nightmare of seafarers slowly emerged.
A terror deeply rooted in the minds of pirates.
A legend of ghost ships and the undead that any sailor who has traversed the Great Ocean has surely heard of at least once.
｢You have transformed into a Sailor’s Skeleton!｣
｢Your Insight decreases and your Agility increases! You become vulnerable to blunt attacks, but your resistance to bladed weapons rises!｣
｢The pirates are seized with overwhelming terror! All stats increase explosively!!｣
─Kahahaha!!! Exquisite!! This salty air, what a familiar atmosphere!!
The pirates’ complexions turned as pale as the undead themselves.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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