“12 pirates… or one ship… How is that equivalent?” Aurelius mumbled to himself, staring blankly at the translucent screen that showed the endless depths of the oceans in front of him.

  In his hand was the wind charm made by Pultris, giving him information on the navigational capabilities of the ship.

  Capturing 12 pirates was by no means an easy feat, but the sinking of a ship necessitated finding one, engaging in a gruelling fight, and actually sinking them with a single mid-sized submarine with a single person…

  “I believe that the man wants you to capture 12 named pirates.” Pultris commented.

  “...” Aurelius’s jaws dropped, then opened widely. “12 NAMED PIRATES?!” Aurelius exclaimed.

  From the pirate kings to the admirals at the top of the criminal pyramid, to the basic crew members at the bottom, pirates were ranked based on the bounties on their heads.

  And named pirates were pirates above a bounty of 150 Central Gold Coins, at the level of a Mate/Vanguard on ships.

  For a submarine like the Wind- Blessed, there would be, at a maximum, 2 named pirates on the ship out of its presumably 10 men crew, the officer and the first mate.

  That meant that Mr. Tona expected Aurelius to chase down either 6 mid-sized ships and submarines, or two full fledged brigs! Of course, the alternative was courting death by infiltrating a pirate base or hideout…

  “It is likely easier to go with the capture of 12 men than to sink an entire ship with this tiny submarine. Not only is this submarine on the smaller end of mid-sized submarines, you lack a crew to pull off an effective fight.” Pultris pointed out.

  It will probably be possible to sink a ship or two within a few loops after I get used to the submarine and have gathered the relevant information though, but the difficulty of his mission on the first round is rather tragic… Aurelius thought to himself.

  “The better question is your method of capture. Will you be killing them, and taking their thumb like most bounty hunters, or will you be filling up our humble storage with a bunch of pirates?” Pultris asked.

  Aurelius paused. He had not considered that when he first decided that he wanted to bounty hunt.

  While these pirates were criminals who undoubtedly did unspeakable things, they were still human beings…

  Aurelius would have no problem with trying to kill Dr. Varian or a Fae (he would simply die first), just simply out of spite, but killing a human felt… rather different.

  After all, they were in the Balanced Era! A time of civility and culture, rather than the barbaric and violent eras of the past!

  “...I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Aurelius finally said, considering the ways that he could capture 12 grown men at the same time…

  Mates or vanguards, as the lowest tier of named pirates were identified by the Adventurer's guild as those who were specialists in a specific magic charm, 1st tier magic user at the level of an initiate or martial artist equivalent.

  They tended to be the ones that manned the main gunnery, and were given higher positions within their crew for their abilities. It was hilarious to think, but pirates tended to be quite meritocratic!

  Aurelius was confident that his skill was on par, or slightly above the average Vanguard, at least in a one-on-one fight with the help of Pultris.

  However, the more people that got involved in any sort of tussle, as would be expected on an infiltration, there would certainly be a lower chance of even surviving. After all, relying on Pultris to block every bullet would be silly…

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Haa… It’s not like Mr. Tona will do much even if I can’t finish his ridiculous errand.” Aurelius muttered to himself, imagining the possible punishment for his poor performance.

  At worst, he would likely be tortured with extra training for the last few weeks of his time in the loop, which would technically not be too much worse than his usual training…

  Aurelius resolved that he would not kill, or risk his life on a mission like this. It would simply be bad for his mental health in the long term! He didn’t need to make his 2000 gold coins in such a ridiculous manner!

  ???

  The ocean was endless and vast, and it took Aurelius nearly 7 hours at full speed of 50 knots to make it to the edges of the Western Continent.

  The engines were impressively quiet and stealthy, blasting water behind it without barely a disturbance in the surface of the water as it coasted the length of the ocean with ease and careless grace.

  Aurelius was well aware that the first part of bounty hunting started with the collection of information, and he would dock at the Western Continent to find an information broker or two.

  Aurelius had nearly fallen into a panic several hours earlier, believing that he had misplaced his bounty hunter’s license.

  Bounty hunters were given a lot of leeway given the danger and the ‘greyness’ of their profession.

  While it was relatively easy for Aurelius to get a Bounty Hunter’s license, it was only due to the special license that Mr. Tona had. Without his recommendations, Aurelius would have had to go through extensive interviews and assessments to be given the same sort of license.

  A hunter’s license did not have Aurelius’s name, nor face, but was linked to the private archives of the Adventurer’s guild.

  To avoid attracting attention from pirates on a bounty hunter, the Commission also had a ‘no questions asked’ policy, allowing for the handover of pirates and the immediate issuance of a check to anonymous accounts of the hunter’s choice after a simple notarisation process.

  There was a clear relationship of anonymity and privacy between bounty hunters and the organisations that managed them.

  Bounty hunters were allowed to own firearms, given the authority to commandeer illegal ships, and allowed to take on bounties.

  Killing was frowned upon, but not illegal as long as a valid reason existed in investigations and interrogation.

  However, illegal activities were still illegal. The license explicitly forbade the action, and the holder’s rights to bounties would be stripped and the hunter sent to prison if it were confirmed during the notarisation processes.

  “It’s so annoying that you can’t teleport me.” Aurelius complained off-handedly.

  “As you should undoubtedly know, I can teleport you.” Pultris replied greasily.

  “Breaking your damn seals does not count.” Aurelius muttered dismissively to Pultris, staring interestedly at the screen..

  Checking the radar, he found that the submarine was getting close to the reefs of the Western oceans.

  And sure enough, as he looked into the magic display for the head of the submarine, Aurelius noted the rather impressive continental shelf that stretched across it.

  The colourful array of fishes were also appearing more frequently through the translucent and ghostly screen, creating the rare feeling of… wonder for the often cynical Aurelius.

  “Where should I leave the submarine when I enter the city?” Aurelius asked.

  Parking this blatantly pirate sub in the actual port of the city would be a ridiculous act that beckoned death at the highest level of audacity.

  Pirates that were roaming the ports out of the sight of authorities would undoubtedly report his submarine and his face to their superiors.

  He would basically be asking for stalkers out in the ocean when he departed!

  Not even anti-divination could save him if the pirates actually placed a tagging charm or two on his ship after all.

  “You should park the submarine a slight distance away from the actual port. You can anchor it down on the ocean floor too. I am able to help you surface… relatively dry with my magic.” Pultris said helpfully.

  “Won’t the coast guard detect me?” Aurelius asked doubtfully.

  “Do you doubt pirate engineering? The anti-divination charms work incredibly well, and there’s also the mid-range cloaking charms for you to take advantage of.” Pultris scoffed.

  “And what are you afraid of anyway? You are licensed.” Pultris continued.

  “It’s not like I can answer the coast guard if they come when I’m away! They might just sink the ship!” Aurelius retorted.

  “I wonder how you’ve managed to live until now with that thick head of yours. The Coast Guard would not do such a ridiculous thing. They would wait until the owners came back for an ambush after tagging the ship.” Pultris answered irritably.

  Rolling his eyes, Aurelius finally relented, shutting up for the rest of the journey as Pultris continued to make unhelpful quips and jabs to weasel his way into more freedom or so…

  And after barely a few more hours, Aurelius had finally arrived within walking distance to the city.

  The city of Michinteo.