Volume 4 Chapter 27 Francis Teach
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
A man calling himself Francis of Barbadia came on board, saying he was our harbor pilot.
He wore a dirty bandana on his head, clothes so filthy you could almost smell them from far away, and a thick red beard. His deeply carved face was heavily tanned, making the whites of his eyes stand out in an unsettling way. He was the very picture of shady.
”Bring him up to the bridge,” Fredys ordered.
Our female Deck crew foreman’s command sent the man climbing the stairs. The moment he stepped onto the bridge, a sour, sharp smell filled the air.
”Are you the Ship Captain? My name is Francis of Barbadia. A pleasure to meet you.”
The man spoke fluent Schweilitz language, approaching the captain with a flashy smile and reaching out his hand for a handshake. His overly familiar attitude only made him seem more suspicious.
”I am Birger Dons, Captain of the Izumo. Francis…”
”Francis Teach, sir.”
”I see. Well, Mr. Francis Teach, you speak the Schweilitz language very well.”
In answer to the captain’s probing words, the man flashed a row of white teeth and laughed out loud, claiming he was originally from Schweilitz.
That was a clear lie, and naturally, the captain refused to shake the shady bastard’s hand.
”Now, shall we get down to business, Francis…”
”Teach, sir.”
The man corrected him smoothly, laughing out loud again. Taken off guard by his sheer persistence, the captain and Roland, the Division Chief, let out forced, dry chuckles.
”Well then, Ship Captain Birger—or rather, Captain Birger. Let us talk about the task at hand.”
The very first thing the man asked for was the ship’s draft — the depth of the hull below the waterline.
”Four and a half meters.”
Foreman Fredys answered without a moment’s hesitation, her voice carrying a clear air of high-society elegance. Between the craft nozzles and the unusually thick steel hull plates, our draft was quite deep.
”Splendid! A quick answer. You must be a deeply dedicated professional who always keeps the ship’s details in mind. And your name would be…?”
”Fredys. Fredys Ullman is my name, if you must know. I serve as the foreman for the Deck crew, as it happens.”
Wait, what?
Fredys, our resident shotacon foreman, was actually putting on the airs of a refined aristocratic lady.
”Mr. Francis.”
The captain’s stern voice finally broke the silence. Until that moment, Francis had been staring hard at the foreman. The guy was beyond shady.
”Ah, my apologies.”
Francis then laid out his terms: the guiding fees for a one-way trip to Suez, a round-trip package, and the fee just to clear the strait itself. He explained that the town of Suez sat on the east shore of a large brackish lake — a lake with mixed salt and fresh water — located roughly halfway through the strait.
Without any hesitation, the captain chose a one-way ticket to Suez. When Francis pointed out that the round-trip option was much cheaper, the captain simply replied that they could always hire him again on the way back.
”Of course you can, absolutely,” Francis replied, but the small, lingering pause before his answer screamed dishonesty.
Following that, he pulled a Parchment Contract from a leather cylinder hanging at his hip and began going over the terms. The agreement said that he would provide piloting services from their current location to Lake Khufu — the brackish lake where the town of Suez was. The ship’s navigation had to strictly follow the harbor pilot’s orders. The ship had to anchor during the night. And the ship had to provide full meals and a place to sleep for the pilot on board.
”That will be eight gold coins of Schweilitz, if you please.”
It sounded very expensive to me, but the captain did not even try to bargain. Instead, he looked over at Chief Gida of the Maintenance Department. Chief Gida placed a small box onto the chart table and flipped the lid open. Then, as if purposely blocking Francis’s prying eyes, she snapped the lid shut with a sharp glare.
”Ha ha, my bad, my bad! Don’t mind me.”
The captain took the money, checked the coin count, and held them tight in his fist just as Francis held out both open palms.
”There is one thing I must make very clear.”
Francis put on a playfully puzzled look, as if asking what could possibly be the matter.
”This ship is a warship. If you say or do anything that puts military secrets at risk, I will kill you without a moment’s hesitation.”
With those cold words, the captain let the gold coins drop into Francis’s palm with a heavy, metallic clink.
”But of course.”
I expected the guy’s face to twitch in fear, but Francis replied with total calm, even adding a casual afterthought.
”Just the other day, the crew of an Amazoness warship told me the very same thing.”
This bastard — does he actually know why we’re out here?
The captain froze, staring daggers at Francis as he slowly lowered his hand.
”Now then, if you would sign right here.”
Completely ignoring our shock, Francis pushed the Contract forward. Once the captain signed it, the pilot handed over a flag he had brought with him.
”Please put this on the very tip of the bow mast — the pole at the front of the ship — so it is clearly visible.”
Francis handed the quartermaster a yellow flag with a symbol that looked like the kanji ‘上’.
”I mean, even if we call it the Suez canal, it’s a long journey. There are always bad crowds looking to cause trouble. But as long as you fly this flag, you’ll be perfectly fine. No one will dare come near you. Yes, you’ll be quite safe.”
It felt less like a pilot flag and more like proof that we had paid protection money.
”Now then, please keep this heading and go straight ahead for the next two hours. In the meantime, do you mind if I have some lunch? It’s a bit early, but still.”
After saying his piece, Francis looked around the bridge. His eyes locked onto Katarina, who was standing at the very back with a Coilgun — a weapon that uses magnetic force to launch projectiles — slung over her shoulder, and he marched straight toward her.
”What an absolutely captivating woman. Talk about a real swan among geese.”1 Francis declared.
Sure, Katarina probably had the most seductive, curvy body on this whole ship. But the idiot had just completely pushed away Foreman Fredys, whom he had won over only moments ago. For a guy this calculating, he could be remarkably stupid.
”And yet, what a tragedy.”
Still sour over whatever had happened last night, Katarina met his flattery with a thoroughly unhappy look. Seeing her displeasure, the man’s mouth ran wilder still.
”For a woman of your wonderful charm to wear such a discontented look… It simply won’t do. You possess the kind of beauty that could bring down empires, yet you look as though you’ve been sharing your bed with a completely worthless man.”
I’m going to kill you, Francis. To make matters worse, Katarina actually let out a shy, playful little smile at the man’s smooth words. Hmph — a beauty that could bring down empires? Give me a break. Sure, she had an incredibly sexy body, but on the inside, she was a total pervert of a divorced thirty-something woman.
There was no way she could have heard my thoughts, but Katarina suddenly snapped her head around and glared daggers straight at me. We did share a long, complicated history, and I didn’t exactly hate her — which was exactly why I didn’t want her smiling at a creep like Francis. As if mocking my sudden cowardice, she let out a sharp scoff through her nose.
Naturally, a shady character like Francis didn’t miss that subtle exchange for a second, and he immediately turned his gaze to me.
”A young boy… but an officer? And that cylinder — is that some kind of terrifying magic tool?”
He asked while pointing at the Coilgun slung over my shoulder, clearly having already noticed my officer’s epaulets.
”I was told that if anyone tries to pry into military secrets, I can kill ’em without any hesitation, y’know?” I answered, purposely dropping the Schweilitz language to speak in a sharp, grounded Northern working-class voice.
”Hold your horses now! Don’t tell me you’re from our side of the hills? Well, I’ll be damned, so am I!” Francis shot back, instantly matching my tone with a blunt, hearty Northern working-class delivery. The sketchy bastard easily switched his way of speaking, claiming he was from my homeland when he had literally just claimed to be from Schweilitz a few minutes ago.
”Stop right there!”
Convinced that we had no choice but to interrogate him, I stepped forward to knock him out and hold him, but the captain’s voice cut me off. “What seems to be the trouble?” Francis asked, putting on a purposely dramatic show of innocence. No matter how you looked at it, the guy needed to be thrown into an interrogation room — yet the captain had to go and drop a huge chore right into my lap.
”Chief Larry, you will take charge of looking after Mr. Francis.”
”Haaaah?!”
”Second Lieutenant Larry. You are hereby ordered to act as the handler for our harbor pilot, Mr. Francis… (Teach).”
Hold on just a minute. You want me to look after this sour-smelling, incredibly sketchy bastard?
”It is a direct command from your superior officer. Your response?”
Left with no choice, I snapped a salute. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Katarina turning up the corners of her mouth, smirking at my misery. Damn it all — next time, I’ll knock her out and shut her mouth by force.
”Mr. Francis, if you need anything at all while on this ship, please direct your requests to this young officer.”
”To this baby face?” Francis replied, his voice full of dissatisfaction. The feeling was entirely mutual, but then the bastard had the nerve to look back over at Katarina.
”By the way, Mr. Francis, do you happen to wield Mana?”
At the captain’s sudden question, the man paused for a fraction of a second before offering a casual, “A little bit, I suppose.”
Is this guy a Mage? He claimed it was only a little, but if he could read minds, things were going to get very dangerous. If a guy like me got too close to him, it would only increase the chances of him peering into my head.
”Sir, I really think I should—”
Before I could finish my protest, the captain gave me a look that made it clear I had no choice but to follow through. On top of that, he added that he wouldn’t let the Dining Hall smell like garbage. Before taking the pilot anywhere near the food, I was ordered to throw him in the Shower.
* * *
I dragged the grimy man down to the shower stalls. To completely remove the risk of Mind-reading, I asked several Deck crewmen who had almost no Mana to help. Together, we forced the resisting Francis under the water, scrubbed him down well, shaved his scraggly beard, and — since we didn’t have any spare civilian clothes — forced him into a standard sailor suit.
And would you believe it — once he was cleaned up, the guy actually looked very good.
To my extreme annoyance, he was a total heartthrob.
The moment I brought him into the Dining Hall, the female crew members’ eyes locked onto him. Noticing the sudden attention, the shady bastard casually waved back at them — fully aware of how good-looking he was. God, I hated him. I’ve never liked overly cheerful, popular types, and true to form, he kept rambling on and on while stuffing his face.
He claimed his real birthplace was actually the island of Cyprus, born as the fifth son of a family working in alum mining. He boasted that he first went to sea at age eight, and discovered the company of women by age ten, launching into one unprompted story after another. Then, without warning, he’d turn and throw a sharp question right back at me, asking when I had lost my virginity or how many children I had fathered.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to share, but since he was an annoying pretty boy, I shut him down by saying it was a military secret — and naturally, he didn’t let it slide.
”What’s the matter? Did it take you forever to lose your virginity? Is that why you’re hiding behind ‘military secrets’ like a coward?” he teased, leaning in with that heavy regional grin. He threw the challenge right in my face, and what’s worse, he said it so loudly that his voice echoed through the whole room, making it heard by everyone around us.
By the time I finally dragged him back to the bridge, Katarina looked somewhat amused — or maybe that was just my imagination. Francis immediately tried to smooth-talk his way over to her the moment he noticed, so I quickly cut him off with a business question about our current direction. Giving up on Katarina for the moment, he turned toward the bow and narrowed his eyes at the horizon.
”If you can keep this exact speed, turn your rudder to the eleven o’clock direction.”
Huh — so the guy actually knew how to do his job.
Roland, the Dwarf Division Chief, immediately shouted instructions down the speaking tube — a pipe for sending voice commands to other parts of the ship — to the Engine Department and ordered the helm turned.
For a while after that, Francis kept giving precise, frequent navigation orders.
”Just one more month… If we were only a month later, this crossing would have been a hell of a lot easier,” Francis muttered quietly to Roland, who was busy passing along steering and engine room commands.
According to his explanation, by May, the regions nearly a thousand kilometers upstream would enter their rainy season, making the water levels rise sharply. From June to September, the water volume reached its absolute peak, making travel easy even for deep-draft ships.
However, when Roland pointed out that tomorrow was literally the first of June, Francis merely brushed it off, muttering that strange things always happen.
”Speaking of which, you mentioned earlier that the Amazoness ship gave you a similar warning.”
”Did I say that?”
He dodged my question completely.
”How many days ago was this?”
”I don’t give answers to guys who won’t even tell me what age they lost their virginity,” he shot back with a sharp smirk — the bastard was incredibly petty.
”Fourteen. In my village, we have a Coming-of-age ceremony — a Rite of Passage marking a boy’s growth into a man. That was when I first held a woman.”
”Fourteen? That’s very late. And who was the lucky lady?”
Excuse me for being a late bloomer. But seriously, who asks for the specific name of the person? As I stayed silent, Francis let a nasty smirk creep onto his face.
”You’re dying to know when that Amazoness ship passed through here, aren’t you? Let me guess… your target is that little Dwarf girl who was on their ship?”
What a bastard — did he actually see my student, the prodigy Rosa? I had no choice. I had to keep the conversation going.
”The partner was my widowed sister-in-law.”
The moment I told the truth, he let out a low whistle and lowered his posture, peering closely into my face.
”There. I answered your question honestly.”
”And?”
”Tell me when the Amazoness ship passed through.”
”Do you honestly think a small detail like that is worth trading information that’s clearly important to your mission?”
Tch. What a real piece of work.
”So, what happened to that sister-in-law afterward?”
I was completely done entertaining his pointless curiosity. The moment we reached Suez, I was going to throw him straight into a forced interrogation.
”Come on, tell me,” Francis pressed.
He kept pestering me.
”Since she was willing to take a kid’s virginity, I bet she was a real hag, wasn’t she?”
”Don’t talk nonsense. She’s an absolute beauty.”
”More beautiful than the lady over there?”
The man pointed a finger straight at Katarina. He really was a completely awful human being.
In my mind, the answer was without question my sister-in-law, Teressa. But with Katarina standing right in front of us, and considering our future working relationship…
”Well… let’s just say they’re both in a league of their own.”
”Heh, is that so? Interesting, very interesting.”
It was blindingly obvious that he was enjoying messing with me and treating Katarina’s eavesdropping as entertainment. I was done — I refused to play his stupid games any longer and wouldn’t answer another word. Just wait until the interrogation.
”The Amazoness ship is going to pass completely through the Suez canal.”
Sensing that I had completely soured, he casually changed the topic.
”For a while, they were banned from passing through because of some conflict with the higher-ups in Turku. But starting about last year, they managed to get permits again. Nowadays, their transport sailing ships pass through at least three times a month.”
”Then… what about the ship carrying the Dwarf girl? Was that a transport ship too?”
”Who knows?”
Once again, he dodged the question, and I was left wondering whether he was trying to fish for information about our ship instead. But there was no way a small detail like the timing of an Amazoness ship was valuable enough to trade for the secrets of our warship.
”Say, what exactly are you people here to do? Riding around in a massive ship made entirely of iron that moves perfectly fine without a hint of wind.”
He changed the subject again.
”If you’re so curious, why don’t you go ask the captain?”
”Did you come here to kill that Dwarf girl the Amazoness took with them?”
What on earth made him think that?
Sure, the brass upstairs — the high-ranking officers — had ordered her execution. But what did that have to do with him? Was he planning to play the hero and save a girl he had absolutely no connection to?
Behind the man’s back, Division Chief Roland quietly moved his hand toward his dagger.
Besides, Rosa wasn’t even a pure Dwarf. She was a half-elf born from a human family.
”What are you talking about? That girl is my student.”
It wasn’t a lie. From the very bottom of my heart, I didn’t want her to die. What’s more, the specific order I had received was merely to confirm her dead body. I was never ordered to kill her myself.
For some unknown reason, Francis simply looked at me and laughed.
—
Summary:
Francis Teach boards the military ironclad Izumo under the guise of an eccentric, fluidly shifting harbor pilot to guide the crew toward Suez. Larry tests him using regional language tactics, exposing Francis’s deeply suspicious background, adaptive linguistic intelligence, and high-level mana masking. The pilot intentionally pushes Larry’s psychological buttons regarding his personal past and his relationship to the targeted child genius Rosa, leaving his true alignment and ultimate intelligence-gathering motives entirely unresolved.
—
Trivia:
Francis claims multiple mutually exclusive birthplaces including Schweilitz, Kiridal, and Cyprus within a short timeframe to misdirect the crew.
The Izumo is unusually heavy and possesses a 4.5-meter draft due to its thick structural steel protective plating and integrated craft nozzles.
Amazoness logistics vessels have resumed regular transport canal operations three times a month after an official trade ban with Turku high officials was resolved.
Rosa is structurally designated as a mixed-race half-elf within human lineage parameters rather than a biologically pure dwarf.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Francis – A dangerous prisoner with immense mana, this heavily tanned, red-bearded Suez Canal harbor pilot from the Barbadia Pirates wears filthy attire and speaks many dialects. Appearing calculating and familiar to others, he secretly plots to hijack the Izumo.
• Fredys – Izumo’s female Engine chief, deck foreman, squad leader, and Turku interpreter is a protective supervisor with a decade of Inland Sea expertise. Forceful yet pragmatic, she manages logistics, defends subordinates, and runs betting pools. Though a professional anchor for her crew, she is rumored to be a shotacon and uniquely adopts refined, upper-class manners around Francis.
• Schweilitz – The kingdom to which the protagonist is forced to return boasts towering academy spires and a full military arsenal—Royal Army troops and elite officers. Its ruler holds a captive the protagonist fears will be executed.
• Birger – A rugged, middle-aged Royal Capital native with red hair and a wrestler’s physique, this Celt Royal Army Major and Admiral is the stern, disciplined Captain of the Izumo. A trusted advisor and Norden Sea navigation expert, he demands strict security compliance to protect his crew. While maintaining absolute authority, he often reacts with strained expressions to the protagonist’s behavior.
• Izumo – The iron-hulled ship serving as the primary vessel for the protagonist and his crew.
• Dons – Birger’s family name.
• Teach – Francis’s family name.
• Roland – Heir to the Canaria throne and Queen Cecile’s younger brother, this quiet dwarf is an Izumo bridge supervisor and former Tsukushi captain. Wearing boy’s formal wear, his golden-blonde hair and beautiful face are easily mistaken for a girl. He carries a dagger, shares quarters with Fredys, and directs helm operations and combat rescues, retrieving injured comrades like Bebel and Katarina.
• Ullman – The family name carried by Torge, Ursula, and Fredys. The lineage is identified by its prominent associations with the amber trade and processing in the northern coastal regions.
• Abe – Childhood name of the Crown Prince.
• Mac – A component of the royal lineage, Mac-Morrow.
• Pia – A Nurnhügel mage in a hooded robe with a bust rivaling the late Henrietta, this heavily pregnant level-3 healer’s assistant pilots golems and drones. Under military protection while seeking legal emancipation from slavery, she is rumored to have a child with the protagonist. Submissive yet cynical, she speaks with archaic authority but fears arrest for her past Haritz escape.
• Tim – Jarek Dvorak, 14, the village’s eldest son and recent graduate, has short dark hair, a lean build and thoughtful eyes. He arrived in Obernbach with his father, watches the Golem’s arrival with trepidation, and, as a sugar‑beet cultivator from a family that refines sugar, boasts of pleasures in the district. A carefree, slightly reckless friend of Larry’s.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Ed – A lanky refugee youth in simple farmer’s garb, Larry’s close friend and fierce protector is now a Military Academy student making claims about the Poll Tax and mortality. Formerly an associate of Captain Bours, he witnessed the Mauer Village skirmish, fled to Strock Village, and joined the militia to train spear-walls and ambush mercenaries, remembered for his quiet resolve to survive.
• Ho – Ho is the family name of Oliver, a 17-year-old deck crew member and comrade of the protagonist. As a member of the military unit that defended Garao Village, the young man was ultimately murdered during a night watch, slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Gida – A female human and former kingdom finance bureaucrat serving as Maintenance Department chief. Driven by an obsession with inventory management, she oversees ship funds, stores gold reserves on the bridge, and manages her team with meticulous precision. She leverages her background to maintain strict control over the department’s operations and relations with others.
• Iri – A thirteen-year-old Yoghess girl with soft, innocent features and high Mana potential, she was once a captive turned golem operator, now fiercely attached to the protagonist. Formerly a fisherman’s daughter and steward’s helper, she pilots Type 20 and 98 Golems with manic ecstasy, masking a detached cruelty beneath her childlike exterior—reluctantly joining mapping expeditions alongside Larry, and previously encountered by Earnest, her loyalty now fixed solely on the one who freed her.
• Kai – A 20-year-old, diminutive Dwarf girl and Engine Department laborer with unstable mana who knows Mana Pentamers. She looks like an ash-covered, square-jawed young man with superhuman strength, yet has white, translucent hands. Joining Earnest’s party, she carries or teases the protagonist, makes dramatic apologies, loves tuna cheek, and is the subject of a ship-wide romantic betting pool.
• Max – Uncle Klaus’s second son and Larry’s cousin is a skilled Golem User and former magic school assistant professor who orchestrated a prison break. Having returned to his home country, he now serves as a body double for the protagonist—his other cousin, Grand Duke Earnest—and has taken custody of certain women previously under Thomas’s care.
• Rus – A neighboring power deeply involved in regional politics and mediation, best known for annexing the Kingdom of Larland.
• Sig – A student and friend of Marie characterized by a casual and uninhibited personality, often seen yawning during academic discussions. Has short brown hair from the Holstein territory. She is blunt, realistic about the nature of war, and failed the entrance exam at the Sabaski Magic School.
• Efa – An assistant professor in Lizabel’s lab.
• Fee – Larry Fee Getys is a 15-year-old reincarnated youth and titular Duke. Pragmatic and telepathic, this sharp-eyed young man leads the Getys household and rules Strock Village alongside Hans, Iffens, Teressa, and their maid Nico. While building a new nation, he enjoys prime whale meat and maintains crucial connections to Adolf and various underground networks.
• Katarina – Larry’s 30-year-old subordinate, a tall, voluptuous mana-user in a sailor uniform, is a Flight Section leader and Chief Researcher. This volatile, lecherous comrade wields telepathy, a coilgun, and drones. The protagonist’s protective mistress, she shares a strained bond and punched them near death. Recovering from combat lung and bolt wounds, Kenze labels her a professor’s sex toy.
• Larry – Sammy I (Larry-sama), a 16-year-old bald, dark-haired reincarnated professor, Grand Duke, and technical officer, is the narrator and ‘owner of the right-hand blade.’ Serving as the Fee Getys Torpedo Department Chief, he designs ships using tech and mana. A serious family man with four wives, he faces romantic confusion, bad luck, conflicting orders, and his subordinates’ schemes.
• Mana – A non-commissioned officer and liaison who previously had their mana drained by Larry.
• Mage – Elf mage and shut-in engineer who stands watch and manages the ship’s boilers.
• Rosa – A square-built, 14-year-old half-Dwarf noble and cynical genius with immense mana and an unpredictable, psychopathic nature. This wealthy Kure associate and shipyard professor profited from the protagonist’s blueprints to design ship piping and Bohemian glass propulsion. Deemed a state danger, she was kidnapped by the Amazoness and is now the target of an assassination mission.
• Teressa – Blonde, short-haired, and elegant, this sharp-witted regent of Strock Village is the protagonist’s third wife, former Kumite partner, and a mentioned potential romantic partner. As Iffens’ widow and Larry’s pregnant sister-in-law, she shares a complex, Mana-manipulating bond with Larry. While fiercely protecting her unborn child, her quiet grace masks deep resentment toward the protagonist.
• Kiridal – A female soldier mentioned as a point of reference for the demographics of the warlord’s army.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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