"Lord Todd, our losses are too great!" A Papal knight looked at the dozens of corpses covered with white sheets and said to the monk with great concern.

The latter nodded, looking at the frozen ground stained with blood beneath his feet, still shaken.

The knight moved closer and lowered his voice: "If we go back like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to handle Father Paul."

Understanding that the other party meant well, she sincerely expressed her gratitude in German: "Thank you for reminding me, I will try to find a way..."

The knight patted him on the shoulder and walked away.

Todd winked at Huggins, his face darkening, and headed towards the place where prisoners were being held.

Of the ten captured pirates, nine were tied to trees, except for the unconscious Saruku who was bound like a mummy. Blood had congealed their hair, and the cold wind had rendered their wounds pale.

According to the guards, these pirates were well-coordinated and fearless in battle. If it weren't for the prolonged hunger and exhaustion that gradually weakened them in the later stages of the battle, the church's forces might have suffered even greater losses, and naturally, there wouldn't have been so many prisoners.

Todd stood in front of a young pirate and asked, "What's your name?"

The other party seemed to have no intention of cooperating at all. With a gulp, a flick of the tongue, and a snap of the mouth, he spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the monk's face, all in one smooth motion.

A stench reminiscent of Swedish fermented herring hit me.

Todd nearly threw up his dinner from the night before. He quickly wiped his face clean with his sleeve and moved his body back a little.

Upon seeing this, the guard shouted curses and raised a wooden stick, inserting it into the prisoner's wound and stirring it violently, causing the pirate to scream in agony.

Reaching out to stop the violence, Todd looked at the wispy stubble on the other man's chin and asked again, "Can you understand Common Tongue?"

The young pirate remained silent, but the movement of his eyes made the monk realize that there should be no problem with communication between the two.

“I know you are not afraid of death.” The monk’s praise made the captive raise his chin proudly, but the monk’s next words plunged the pirate’s heart into an icy abyss: “But there are many things in this world more frightening than death. For example, I could kill all your companions and send their bodies back to the Gray Skull Tribe, claiming that you were ambushed because someone tipped you off. Just imagine what they would think and do when they see that you are the only one missing from the corpses.”

The threat, which clearly has logical flaws, is merely a thin veil that can be easily pierced by a shrewd and worldly person, but for a naive young person who is only interested in competing and showing off, it is an intractable problem.

Todd dusted off his sleeves, looked at the dejected young man, and slowly said, "Let's start over. What's your name?"

"...Gantt."

...

When Todd finished asking his questions and left the captives, the militia guards watched the monk's departing figure and whispered among themselves.

Have you heard this rumor?

"What?"

"Someone in the tavern is saying that the ancient Tyro Empire left behind a vast treasure on an island to the north."

"Treasure? I think you're just desperate to get rich."

"No, no, no, I didn't believe it at first either, but when Lord Todd was interrogating the prisoners just now, he kept asking about the terrain of the northern islands, and that's when I remembered this."

The militiamen looked at each other, and for a moment, no one spoke.

——————————————

The church's guard escorted the prisoners, collected the bodies, and began their journey back to the camp.

Todd declined the escort offer. When a knight asked about his plans, he simply replied with two words: "To go to sea."

As Alfonso de Cavo was leaving, he approached the monk, but it seemed that the monk's purpose was not with Todd. After searching unsuccessfully, he simply greeted him and then, with his squire, followed the group.

Only then did Todd understand why Huggins had looked so hurried when he left.

Just as the knight in full armor turned to leave, the monk noticed that a piece of armor on his back had been damaged and torn off during the battle. He was about to approach and point it out when he suddenly saw a wriggling figure slowly crawling beneath the knight's grey shirt, inside the damaged area of ​​the armor.

Startled and uncertain, Todd used his X-ray vision to look at the knight Alfonso's body, and was instantly speechless with shock at the sight before him.

A giant parasite, almost as tall as a person, was attached to the knight's limbs like a skeleton, protecting his chest cavity and firmly embedded in his body.

What on earth is this thing?!

Todd stood there dumbfounded. By the time he came to his senses, the group had vanished without a trace. While pondering the giant parasite he had just seen, he set off alone in the opposite direction from the church guard.

After some thought, the monk came up empty-handed; in his previous life's medical field, there was simply no way to find a parasite of such enormous size. Remembering his promise to Huggins, Todd could only temporarily put the matter aside and used his 'Speed' ability to head west. Less than forty minutes later, he could already hear the waves crashing on the shore, and faintly smell the sea salt. A thought popped into his head: the sea was almost there.

Walking a little further ahead, a white coastline stretching for several kilometers appeared at his feet.

The wide beach was covered with glistening, fine sand; stepping on it felt like walking on a soft, comfortable carpet. The seawater in early spring washed over my feet, cool yet invigorating.

“This is… the West Coast.” Todd took a deep breath of the humid air and muttered to himself with a sense of exhilaration.

Huggins walked towards him from one end of the beach, greeting him with a smile: "You're here much earlier than I expected."

Todd asked impatiently, "So, did you find it?"

The man gave a gesture indicating that everything was alright. Leading the monks, he walked to a secluded spot beneath a large rock on the beach. Directing several waiting helpers, he lifted the tarpaulin covering the ship, revealing a large warship about 20 meters long. The bow was marked by a dragon head sculpture. The hull was very long, with a massive mast erected in the middle, adorned with square sails. It had a displacement of approximately 50 tons.

The pirates' transoceanic warships were the most important part of Todd's plan.

Seeing the warship standing perfectly intact before him, the monk was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

With a relaxed tone, Todd asked again, "What about the goods? Have they arrived?"

Huggins pointed to the carriage slowly approaching in the distance on the beach, and said with some hesitation, "The antique glass you requested has all arrived, but there's a slight discrepancy from the plan."

Just as the monk was wondering what was going on, the carriage stopped in front of him, and a petite figure in a monk's robe jumped down from the driver's seat.

Todd stared wide-eyed as the other person lifted the hood: "Karin, how could it be you?!"