Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

The merfolk’s lungs had not fully regressed, so even spending a bit more time on land posed no real problem, and Scarlett’s Life Thief space even had a bathtub. Loren had previously shoved an entire house in there.

The fish tank was filled with seawater so the mermaid could rest here temporarily. Although her physical wounds had already healed, the emotional trauma had not.

Being skewered through the chest by a harpoon was not pain an ordinary person could endure.

Loren took very good care of Korali, even preparing new clothes for her, since her original garments were essentially unusable.

There was no cotton or fur on the seafloor; merfolk clothing was mostly woven from shells or scales and could not compare to shore garments.

On top of that, Loren had bought high-end clothes for the children, and Korali’s eyes lit up the first time she saw such clothing.

Loren thoughtfully prepared clothes suitable for underwater wear, at least ones that would not become transparent when wet.

At night, Naclis sat on Loren’s bed and refused to leave; Loren understood her intent—Naclis wanted to sleep with him, but didn’t know how to ask.

”By the way, you don’t need to worry about nightmares tonight. I do have a method to prevent them, but I don’t want to use it on Mara.”

The Code of Justice also carried a cost. Using a decree to ban dreams cost Loren one hundred mana points, which meant he could only use it about fifty more times before running out of mana, ignoring natural mana regeneration.”Good night, children.”

Loren extinguished the light in the cabin, pulled Naclis close, and Naclis pressed against him, feeling reassured.

There was now an extra mermaid in the cabin, but the others did not find it too strange—after all, they had seen far stranger things than a mermaid, and this ship’s captain was half-merfolk anyway.

The night passed without incident. Thanks to the Code of Justice, there were no nightmares. Loren was just curious about what the God of Dreams had been turned into by Cassian.

Loren had not forgotten that, when he manipulated the God of Dreams, he had actually heard Cassian speak. Cassian was undeniably an Outer God, the God of Pleasure. His being was on a level that might dwarf the Orthodox Gods; even the Orthodox Gods would probably go half-mad at hearing a single word from him.

The Orthodox Gods relied on the remaining world laws to oppose the Outer Gods, but compared to the Outer Gods, they were like a stray dog by the roadside.

”Good morning...”

When Loren woke up, he found Naclis already awake, still lying beside him because she simply wanted to spend more time with him.

Loren chose to have breakfast directly in the cabin; unless necessary, he preferred not to leave it.

The atmosphere during the meal was peaceful. Korali ate cooked food for the first time; living underwater meant no way to start fires, so merfolk had long subsisted on raw food.

Eating proper food opened a new world to Korali, and Loren couldn’t help but marvel at nature’s wonders—merfolk could live underwater so long and still handle human food.

Until a cannonball struck the hull, and the already steady ghost ship began to rock. Water from the bathtub splashed everywhere.

”What’s happening? Master Mentor?”

”Probably a pirate attack. Stay put, I’ll go check it out.”

After calming the others, Loren went up onto the deck. Pirate attacks at sea were not unusual.

There were many islands at sea, some showing traces of human habitation. These islands were regular stops for pirates to resupply.

Most of these pirates were not followers of the Orthodox Gods; their faiths were all manner of strange gods. The most famous among them was a sea god, though he scarcely qualified as a true god.

Because of these differing beliefs, these pirates rarely went ashore—the mainland belonged to Orthodox devotees, and the sea remained their last refuge.

”Master Mentor...”

When Loren appeared, Mara’s voice seemed considerably more relaxed—Loren couldn’t quite read her expression anyway.

Not far off, a pirate ship was continuously firing cannonballs, and each shot sent a wave slamming against the ship.

Pirates made their living pillaging, so attacking Mara’s lone ghost ship was unsurprising—provided they didn’t realize it was a ghost ship.

Mara held a harpoon gun; one had been ruined by Loren yesterday, but she still had a spare.

”Master Mentor, can you join the fight?”

Mara wasn’t sure how strong Loren was, but she assumed that since he knew so much magic, he likely had some combat ability and could help ease the pressure.

Pirates who could navigate the Endless Ocean were no joke. Mara was alone and felt the strain.

”Of course, I can use magic.”

Loren tapped his magic wand on Mara’s back. A green glow immediately spread across her body; she felt vitality pouring into her, and even the old pains of her wounds dulled.

”This is a Third-tier Abundance Sequence spell, Revival Aura. It increases your vitality and regenerative ability. You’re buffed—go finish them.”

After giving Mara a simple buff, Loren retreated to the rear.

As they spoke, the ghost ship drew closer to the pirate vessel. The pirates readied for boarding, brandishing weapons eagerly.

The first shot came from Mara. She fired and pierced a pirate through the chest. They had clearly not expected her harpoon gun to be so fast.

Mara grabbed the rope attached to the victim and hauled the pirate’s corpse over, then, in front of the others, stomped on the body, violently pulled out the harpoon, reloaded, and even tore a chunk of flesh from the corpse to chew. Combined with her terrifying visage, the scene was utterly intimidating.

Mara did often eat human flesh, but she was not gluttonous; this act was meant solely as a deterrent.

Her intimidation worked. Several pirates faltered, and if not for their captain pushing them on, they would not have wanted to fight such a monster.

”You go on, I’m just support. I don’t have much combat ability.”

Seeing the pirates draw their guns, Loren wisely returned to the cabin.

Not everyone could get their hands on firearms produced by the God of Night and Thunder. These pirates held flintlock guns with average power—hardly a threat even to the current Loren; if they shot at him standing still, they might at most wound him.

At the sight of flintlocks, Mara sized up their strength. She drove the harpoon into the pirate ship’s hull, clung to the rope, and ran forward despite the bullets.

Bullets lodged in her body but could not penetrate further. Mara drew a dagger from her waist and slashed to dispatch one of the gunners.