Looking at Harker sprawled on the ground, then at Levi quietly watching her from the side, Sarah broke into a radiant smile.
“Didn’t we agree I could handle this by myself?”
“I know, but I couldn’t exactly stop worrying about you.” Levi shook his head, spread his hands helplessly, and spoke in a low voice.
Levi handed Sarah her twin pistols.
They were the only things her mother had left her, so their importance to Sarah went without saying.
Naturally, getting them back for her had been one of Levi’s first priorities.
Sarah’s eyes lit up when she saw the pistols in his hands.
The corners of her lips curved upward as she tucked several strands of fiery red hair behind her ear and walked over to him.
Then, without warning, her soft lips lightly touched Levi’s cheek.
Levi froze.
Before he could react, Sarah turned her head away as though nothing had happened.
“Uh, just now…”
“Nothing happened just now,” Sarah interrupted before he could finish.
Her cheeks were flushed.
She normally wore a cold, composed expression, yet right now she looked almost like an ordinary bashful young woman.
If her subordinates ever saw her like this, their eyes would probably pop out of their heads.
Levi instinctively touched his cheek.
Looking at Sarah’s blossoming smile, he felt an indescribable emotion stir inside him.
Harker’s face, meanwhile, alternated between red and livid as he lay on the ground.
He was a grown man lying right there, forced to watch the two of them flirt in front of him.
He was so furious he felt like his lungs might explode.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Harker slowly began inching forward.
His entire body was tightly bound in spider silk, and even after straining with every ounce of strength he had, he only managed to crawl about half a meter.
In this other world, the abilities Levi obtained seemed to differ considerably from their versions in the game.
Elise’s Cocoon, for example, would have worn off long ago in the game.
Here, however, it had become a long-lasting ability and was still keeping Count Harker firmly restrained.
Sarah’s expression abruptly changed.
She strode forward and drove her foot hard into Harker’s stomach.
The pain twisted his face into a grimace.
“Where do you think you’re going? We still have unfinished business.”
Miss Fortune’s smile was breathtaking.
Under normal circumstances, Harker would have gladly admired her beauty, but right now that smile sent chills down his spine.
“Funny how things work out, isn’t it, Count Harker? Just this evening, we were sitting down to dinner together.”
Sarah paused, then continued, “Back then, you pointed my own gun at me and pulled the trigger. Now it’s my turn.”
As she spoke, she pressed the barrel of her pistol against Count Harker’s head.
“Sarah, you can’t kill me. Bilgewater without anyone keeping order will only become even worse.”
Feeling the cold metal against his head, Harker’s voice trembled badly.
“Keeping him alive means someone will be able to tell everyone that you took down these so-called pirate bosses by yourself. That won’t hurt you.”
Levi spoke softly enough that only Sarah could hear him.
Sarah considered his words for a moment, glanced at Levi, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.
He was right.
Leaving one survivor would ensure that more people heard what she was capable of, and that would be extremely useful when it came to establishing control over Bilgewater’s harbor.
“Hm. You actually have a point. Then go tell everyone that Bilgewater belongs to me now.”
As Sarah spoke, she fired into the ground directly in front of Count Harker.
The blast tore apart the spider silk wrapped around him, along with several of his fingers.
Harker screamed and clutched his mangled right hand.
The hand he had once taken such pride in, the same right hand that had killed the Crimson Blade, had now been permanently ruined.
Sarah had no interest in listening to Harker’s howling.
The unpleasant sound grated on her ears, so she quickly walked away.
Levi glanced down at Harker, sighed helplessly, then hurried after her.
“You know, I think you’re a lot like someone.”
“Who?”
“Gangplank,” Levi answered without hesitation.
At the mention of that painfully familiar name, Sarah’s expression darkened.
Destroying every last one of his enemies had certainly been Gangplank’s way of doing things.
Six months ago, she had personally ended Gangplank’s brutal rule and avenged the people dearest to her.
At that moment, she had felt a brief emptiness inside, but there had also been something strangely satisfying about it.
Perhaps that feeling hadn’t been so bad.
But cleaning up the mess Gangplank left behind had nearly driven her crazy.
Bilgewater had already been a lawless place, and after his fall it descended into even greater chaos.
That was precisely why she had gone through so much trouble trying to negotiate a truce with Harker and the others.
“Do you think I’m cruel?” Sarah asked quietly.
Her expression shifted uncertainly.
“I tried doing things more gently, but it didn’t work.”
“No. They simply didn’t leave you any other choice. All you did was rid the world of a few venomous snakes waiting for the chance to sink their fangs into someone.”
Levi gently patted Sarah on the shoulder.
Then he looked at her and smiled.
“Starting today, Bilgewater isn’t ruled by some lunatic or bloodthirsty killer. It’s ruled by a beautiful woman who actually cares about the people close to her. Whatever anyone else thinks, I like the sound of that.”
Levi knew Miss Fortune’s past quite well.
She had been a young girl who lost the people she loved most and was left completely alone.
Through her own intelligence and courage, she had defeated the enemy responsible for her suffering, and reaching this point had cost her more than most people could imagine.
She showed her enemies no mercy, but remained fiercely loyal to her friends.
Despite everything she had endured, she had never become a monster who slaughtered innocent people without reason.
Levi had always admired Sarah for that.
Levi’s smile seemed to sweep away the clouds hanging over Sarah’s heart.
She smiled back at him, and tiny glimmers of tears appeared in her beautiful blue eyes.
“Th, thank you.”
Sarah was deeply moved.
She had experienced far too much coldness since childhood, and Levi’s gentleness left her completely unsure of how to respond.
For a moment, she genuinely had no idea what she should say.
Levi gently wiped the tears from the corner of Sarah’s eye.
At that moment, Miss Fortune looked nothing like a pirate captain.
She simply looked like an ordinary young woman.
“On a night like this, why don’t we go have a few drinks and celebrate our future Empress of Bilgewater?” Levi said with a smile.
“Yeah. Tonight, we’re drinking until neither of us can stand.”
Sarah nodded firmly, gathered herself, and wiped away the remaining traces of tears from her face.
In moments, there was no sign that anything unusual had happened.
Levi started walking.
Although it was already deep into the night, this was Bilgewater.
The taverns were always the liveliest places in the city, and they were never truly empty.
Sarah watched Levi walk ahead and quickly caught up with him.
Then she reached out and took his large hand in hers.
After that, however, she didn’t dare look up at him again.
Feeling the softness of her hand against his palm, Levi glanced at Miss Fortune walking beside him with her head lowered and slowly exhaled.
Moonlight spilled across the street, its reflection shimmering in the puddles beneath their feet.
Side by side, Levi and Sarah walked toward a distant tavern whose lights still burned brightly.
Inside, a handful of people who had yet to go home were still drinking freely.
None of them knew that something enormous had happened in Bilgewater that very night.