### Chapter 33: Rashid Bachiri

The island located at the edge of the Emerald Sea Region, almost bordering the Ghost Sea, is called Eze Island. It is roughly the same size as one of the six outer islands of the East Sea Pearl, and is only about several hundred kilometers away from the Great Whirlpool to the west.

Occasionally, when the massive whirlpool spins violently, the pull from the sea can be felt here, along with a noticeable movement trend of energy molecules in the air, indicating that it’s already teetering on a precarious edge of danger.

Due to its proximity to the hazardous Ghost Sea and the nearness to the Great Whirlpool, the energy molecules in the air are particularly chaotic, making this place just an uninhabited desolate island.

However, a few years ago, when the deep-sea ghosts suddenly appeared and waged war against the indigenous people of the Emerald Sea Region, they were driven back to the Ghost Sea by the tribal coalition led by Queen Anies. To prevent those strange creatures from returning, the coalition built military outposts on some islands along the edge of the Ghost Sea, and Eze Island was one of them.

Being close to the East Sea Pearl archipelago, the island naturally has the Merman Tribe as the primary inhabitants, but compared to the actual merman stronghold, many warriors from other island tribes can also be seen, including fishmen, walrusmen, sea spirits, and even humans from different races.

However, most humans living on these remote islands in the Emerald Sea Region are of mixed blood, and pure-blooded types from the United Kingdom are quite rare here, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to completely adapt to the harsh environmental and climatic conditions.

As a military outpost, and considering Eze Island is just a border wasteland, the land is extremely barren and lacks noteworthy sights or resources.

Even though the tribal coalition established a military presence here, the areas where real biological activities occur are only in a small range facing the Ghost Sea in the northwest direction, which is less than one-fifth of the entire island’s area.

Due to prolonged warfare, the mental state of the warriors on the island isn’t great. Although the personal visit of the merman queen Anies invigorated the place a bit, the lifeless aura of those soldiers still can’t be hidden and is clearly affected by some form of pollution.

It seems the war situation isn’t optimistic, which explains why Nitira was urging for support earlier.

Upon returning to the outskirts of the outpost, Silisa was already waiting for Vilyric and the others. After all, although they were guests brought by the queen, they were ultimately outsiders and unfamiliar with the local residents, so unexpected incidents could easily occur.

At this crucial moment, Her Majesty the queen naturally did not want any unforeseen circumstances.

“Miss Vilyric, you’ve arrived.”

Seeing the three girls appear, the Sea Priest hurriedly came up, looking relieved.

“Please follow me; Her Majesty and the guests are already waiting.”

“Okay, please lead the way.”

Following the priestess deeper into the outpost, the black-haired girl suddenly struck up a conversation, sensing the atmosphere was a bit dreary.

“By the way, Silisa, have you recovered? After using so much energy yesterday, are you sure you can handle participating in such an important operation today?”

“?”

The beautiful merman with long hair flowing like ocean waves turned back in confusion, then quickly smiled and explained.

“It’s fine, Miss Vilyric. What I spent yesterday wasn’t physical or magical energy, just a bit of mental strain from communicating with the divine. A good sleep has fully restored me; don’t forget, I am a priestess.”

“Priestess, huh…”

Nodding slightly, the Priestess casually remarked.

“In that case, you should know a lot about the deity that manifested miracles yesterday, right? That’s the legendary Sea Goddess Vail, the object of your faith?”

“…?”

After giving the black-haired girl a deep glance, Silisa soon responded with a hint of helplessness.

“Miss Vilyric, discussing deities privately is a major taboo; such transgressions… please refrain from saying them in the future.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, sorry~ I’ve just never really interacted with deities, and I was just a bit curious.”

Nodding, the Priestess did not pursue the matter further but also did not continue the previous topic, instead silently quickening her pace to lead the way.

Soon, they passed through a gathering of guards and arrived at the queen’s meeting room.

Just as the Priestess had expected, aside from the queen and her personal guards, there was another striking figure present.

Judging by appearance, the other seemed close to a human man, probably in his thirties, tall and somewhat dark-skinned with rough features.

It was obvious this was a result of spending time at sea, looking like a rugged fellow.

Nevertheless, this person wasn’t actually ugly; beneath that golden short hair, his mature face exuded a calm and knowledgeable charm, resembling a refined yet rugged gentleman.

He wore a canvas hat commonly used by sailors, and his loose black-gray clothing had a peculiar symbol of crossed swords supporting a skull emblazoned on the shoulder. A necklace made of various animal teeth added a wild and fierce touch to his otherwise intellectual appearance.

As Vilyric and the others entered the meeting room, this man had already taken a seat at a lower position, engaging in conversation with the merman queen Anies. When they suddenly knocked and entered, his gaze naturally turned towards them, locking eyes with the leading Priestess.

Both raised their eyebrows in surprise at the same time.

This guy… seems a bit interesting?

Observing the individual, Vilyric secretly pondered.

A subtle yet clearly divine aura seemed to linger about him, cloaking his true presence, causing even Vilyric to find it difficult to gauge his exact strength at a first glance.

However, it was clear this man wasn’t a deity and didn’t seem like any descendant of divine blood… so he could be a blessed individual or someone lucky enough to possess a special artifact?

At that moment, Queen Anies’ voice resonated perfectly, interrupting their mutual gaze.

“You’ve arrived; please take a seat, ladies. Let me introduce you.”

“Hey~ Your Majesty, not so fast.”

Vilyric raised her hand and glanced again at the intelligent man who was already smiling and nodding at them, saying with interest.

“If you reveal the answer immediately, it won’t be as interesting. Since we aren’t in a rush, let me guess this mysterious guest’s identity, shall we?”

With that, the girl wasted no time, her silver-blue gaze fixating directly on the skull symbol on the man’s chest, half-smiling.

“A standard pirate emblem, male human, able to arrive at the edge of the Ghost Sea almost synchronously with us in such a short time, and personally invited by Her Majesty for this matter…”

“The legendary pirate who has long prowled the Emerald Sea Region and is said to be the only one able to freely traverse the Ghost Sea—the Pirate King, Rashid Bachiri. Other than that, I can’t think of any other possibilities. What do you think?”

“Hahaha~”

The golden-haired man, or rather, the Pirate King Rashid laughed heartily, nodding in agreement.

“I’ve long heard of a mysterious traveling priest who roams between various countries—claiming to be Vilyric, whose holy magic is spectacular and has reached a level beyond the legendary realm. When I first heard your name from Her Majesty, I couldn’t believe it; it seems I truly have the pleasure of meeting the real deal.”

He stood up, elegantly placing a hand on his chest in greeting.

“Indeed, I am Rashid Bachiri, captain of the ‘Sea Ruler’… um, I didn’t expect a big shot like you would come to the Emerald Sea Region. What an incredible coincidence that makes me so pleasantly surprised; I look forward to your guidance.”

“You actually know about me?”

Seeing Rashid directly reveal her origins, Vilyric couldn’t help but feel even more surprised.

She indeed accomplished quite a bit during her previous travels, but since she had been deliberately hiding, it should have been quite limited for anyone to know her true capabilities.

You see, even a tribal king like Anies had a rather superficial understanding of her due to the distance from the continent, as evidenced by her demeanor upon their first meeting.

Unexpectedly, it was this Pirate King Rashid…could it be because he can traverse the Ghost Sea to the outside world?

Additionally, there was one more thing.

If Vilyric wasn’t mistaken, the way this guy had greeted her earlier seemed to… emulate the style of the Holy Empire?

   

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