Pillar of Yita

”Look, as I said,” Bunigu spread his hands: ”I told you, even if I said it, you wouldn’t believe it. In fact, not only you, but even I am still confused about the situation.”

Bakins asked, ”Do you have any evidence then?”

”Of course I do,” Bunigu shook his head, ”but not right now. I originally had a letter from the other party, but that letter was taken by those damned Sky Pirates, and now I can’t retrieve it.”

Bakins replied, ”With what you just said, it’s no wonder others won’t believe you.”

Bunigu looked extremely helpless and said dejectedly, ”But there’s nothing I can do.”

”It’s alright,” Bakins thought for a moment and said, ”You can go ahead and talk about it, and I’ll listen casually. After all, this has nothing to do with what’s inside, let’s just treat it as idle chatter.”

Bunigu nodded, ”Alright, my sister’s husband, ever since he joined the Sky Pirate Gang, sent me a letter through someone, telling me to find him with this ring if there’s a chance.”

”So you came?” Bakins interrupted him.

”How would I dare?” Bunigu quickly shook his head, ”I’m just a merchant. Going to seek out these people would be a joke, wouldn’t it? The letter mentioned that they were operating around Idus, so I came to Ankuid Bay, intending to inquire about news nearby, but who would have thought I’d run right into the Blood Shark Sky Pirates.”

He sighed and said, ”My great-grandfather’s generation was active smugglers in Idus, you know, so-called merchants, actually almost like family with today’s Sky Pirates. As for my grandfather and father, they basically inherited this trade and had their hands stained with innocent blood—although they too got their retribution and went to confess in Lady Roman’s Divine Kingdom early.”

”It’s just my sister and I left, relying on each other. By my generation, thanks to my great-grandfather’s savings, I managed to establish connections and get the status of an official merchant, washing away the past and gaining a legitimate business.”

”I barely saw my father as a child, and my mother passed away early, leaving only a sister whom I raised on my own. Her current husband was also introduced by me, originally thinking a scholar was a decent identity, but who would have thought such a thing would happen.”

”I can’t bear to see my sister weeping every day, but how could I, a merchant, dare to deal with Sky Pirates? Just a momentary lapse, and I ended up in their hands. I was ready to resign to my fate, but upon seeing you, in a moment of desperation, I couldn’t help but come up with this crazy idea.”

”After all, you just saved my life, I really shouldn’t have done this.”

Bakins listened, observing the other carefully. After confirming he wasn’t lying, he asked, ”You could have thought about it earlier, why not just say it directly?”

”How could I say it directly?” Bunigu let out a long sigh, ”It’s a fact that my brother-in-law joined the Blood Shark Sky Pirates, and even I can’t trust him, let alone everyone else.”

He couldn’t help but shake his head: ”In the end, it’s my fault for being careless. Luckily you caught onto this, otherwise if Mr. Ade and your young lady had any mishap, I could never forgive myself.”

Bakins patted his shoulder: ”Don’t worry, that team has the Big Cat, and our lady, Miss Atira, is not simple. Mr. Ade himself is top-notch in strength, even if you hadn’t told the truth, they would have taken the situation into consideration.”

Bunigu raised his head with a worried expression, ”Really?”

”Of course,” Bakins smiled: ”After all, our future Lord Captain is a driven young man full of justice. If not, do you think I would let the young lady be with him?”

Bunigu finally breathed a sigh of relief, repeatedly saying Lady Roman bless us.

But Bakins wasn’t as relaxed internally. Why would a scholar inexplicably join Sky Pirates, when did the Sky Pirates on the Sky Sea start recruiting for scholar positions?

What the person said wasn’t wrong, Colin Ishurian’s scholars at least studied in the Dossier Society—Candle City for more than eleven years, usually starting from a young age working in the Great Library of the Silver Tower. Only after receiving the mentor’s approval and the blessing of Angina can they graduate.

Not everyone can be called a scholar—

It is indeed a very respectable profession, nobles often recruit professional scholars as consultants, advisors, and responsible for educating heirs. Of course, there’s an even higher profession, the Natural Historian.

In their team, there’s a young lady who is a Natural Historian.

But whether Natural Historian or Scholar, it’s unheard of for either to take a liking to Sky Pirates, as the two simply don’t belong in the same world.

He thought to himself that this might be a noteworthy clue, once the others finished scouting, it might be necessary to discuss this issue with them. Originally, Bunigu’s ring matter was neither here nor there, but with such facts, it became a potential point of focus.

Once Bunigu no longer dwelled on this issue, he felt much more relieved and privately asked when Ade and the others would return.

But this time, Bakins didn’t answer.

The sailor was originally looking towards the direction of the Valley—more accurately, towards Idus.