The Wizarding World's Forbidden Book Administrator

Chapter 14 Lumberjack Axe

The Soaring is a two-masted sailing ship with a seagull spreading its wings at the bow.

Even though it's only early summer, the evening breeze at sea still makes people shiver.

Henry, who was alone on guard duty at the crow's nest, felt this even more keenly, wrapping himself tightly in his long cotton coat.

Night shifts were the most difficult, but Henry always volunteered for the job.

When it comes to private spaces on a sailboat, the captain's cabin is undoubtedly the first place that comes to mind, but the newly arrived Henry was clearly not destined for this prestigious place.

But apart from that, all that's left is the crow's nest at the top of the mast.

Henry needs privacy.

The curator advised him to read more books, review, and practice whenever he had free time.

The curator also advised against easily revealing one's talents.

Therefore, Henry needed a private space to conduct this quietly.

The enchantments of stargazers rely on the power of the stars, and therefore can only be cast at night.

Henry placed the stolen axe in front of him and stretched out a hand, hovering it above the axe head.

Then, Henry conjured a pale blue light in his hand, a magical power stolen from the stars.

The curator said that magic is a complex and extraordinary power, and it is not easy to wield.

Generally, it is necessary to set up mediums such as magical prayers, spell arrays, or secret runes in order to draw in and utilize power.

The theories of stargazers are also outdated, and what they use is a magic circle.

Driven by Henry's will, a delicate, beautiful tentacle, as slender as a flower stamen, extended from the pale blue halo in his palm.

It twisted gracefully in the air, and after touching the axe, it left a trail of light on the axe.

The light trails gradually combined to form various geometric shapes and unknown symbols, which together formed a complete magic circle.

During the nine days Henry spent aboard the Soaring, he tried every night to enchant the crudely made logging axe, but all attempts ended in failure.

The curator said that practice makes perfect, and failure was only due to insufficient practice, so Henry was not discouraged.

Henry dispersed the light in his palm, held his breath, and stared at the magic circle on the axe.

The magic circle twinkled with starlight, beautiful and captivating.

It flashed faster and faster until it remained constantly lit, and finally it became so bright that it penetrated into the axe.

The magic circle did not break...

Become!

Enchantment successful!

Henry was so excited he wanted to scream, but then he realized that would be too childish.

"I'm a grown man now," Henry told himself, reminding himself that he had to get rid of all childishness!

In the end, Henry didn't make a sound, but just smiled and picked up the enchanted axe, swinging it a few times in the howling sea wind in the crow's nest.

The powers he bestowed upon the axe were "sharp" and "hard," which are the most common enchantment attributes.

Nevertheless, the value of this logging axe far exceeds that of any weapon meticulously crafted by the most famous blacksmith on the continent of Ancent.

Henry tucked the axe handle into his belt, stood up, and leaned on the railing to look out.

The moonlight was bright, and visibility was good.

At this moment, the Soaring is anchored with its sails down in the near sea, so the probability of encountering enemy ships is not high.

But piracy is a dangerous business, so it's best to be careful.

Henry squinted and saw a small boat approaching from the distant shore.

The ship departed from the Soaring, and Captain Matim sent two shrimps to a nearby port to gather intelligence.

They made the round trip in less than an hour, which was incredibly fast. Henry felt they must have gathered important intelligence.

After they climbed aboard the Soaring, Henry pressed his ear to the megaphone to eavesdrop on the conversation on deck.

"Boss! Something's up!"

"What's wrong?"

"Only a small team is defending the harbor!"

"Impossible! Hubert Peyton, the loyal dog, has always been cautious and disciplined, so his port has never been ravaged by any tsunami."

"It's true! We've found out. The loyal dog suddenly took the army away not long ago for some unknown reason."

Are you sure?

"I swear!"

"Haha! God of the sea bless us! Trough Harbor is the richest place in the Montero Hills. One raid and we'll be rolling in money! Men, take up your weapons, the time has come to embrace gold and women!"

Then, cheers erupted from the deck.

"Knock knock!"

It was two knocks on the megaphone that startled Henry.

"Boy," it was Mattim's voice, "come down here. It's time to prove you have Gijano blood in your veins..."

……

The battle was over before it even began.

Despite the well-equipped port garrison, the pirates were numerous and powerful, and the attack was a surprise.

They were quickly subdued before they could put up any effective resistance.

The pirates seized the soldiers' weapons, but did not remove their armor.

The heavy armor was actually a burden for the warriors on the deck.

Then Mattim ordered several fires to be set, a common tactic used by pirates during raids.

Fire brings fear, and fear extinguishes the oppressed's will to resist.

Henry watched helplessly as his fellow pirates plundered gold, silver, jewels, jade, ornaments, as well as valuable goods, luxury items, and women.

Six years ago, Henry was one of them, but now he has no interest in such stimulation.

Books bring peace, and he learned compassion and how to be a person by being around a seemingly frivolous but kind-hearted gentleman.

Although Henry did not have a clear ideal in his heart, he wanted to be an upright person.

Henry never imagined that he would one day become a pirate again.

But even as a pirate, he believed that he was now very different from the villain he used to be.

He couldn't stop the looting, but at least his axe was still in his belt, and there wasn't a drop of blood on the blade.

Henry walked along the road in the Trough Harbour.

The houses here are densely packed, the population is overcrowded, and there are many shops. It is clear that the lord here has governed well, which has made the port so prosperous.

The pirates' sudden attack caused shoving and trampling everywhere.

Henry didn't want to kill, set fires, or rob, but he also had to do something: gather intelligence.

Natalie may have lingered here, and Henry wants to know even the slightest clue.

The harbor is quite large, so there are naturally many children. Even if a strange child suddenly appears, probably no one would notice.

However, children tend to pay more attention to their peers than adults.

Therefore, Henry's first choice for gathering information should also be children.

Henry quickly spotted his target.

They were a boy and a girl, probably no older than fifteen, and they were taking advantage of the chaos to steal things from the fruit shop.

Henry grabbed one of them and dragged them to a corner.

They thought Henry was the shop owner, so they kowtowed and begged for mercy. But after Henry revealed that he was a pirate, the fear in their eyes intensified.

Hmph! That's exactly the effect Henry wanted.

In that case, the man and woman probably wouldn't dare to lie anymore.

"If you want to live, answer my question properly," Henry said. "Have you seen a short boy?"

The girl said, "There are boys everywhere here, and they're mostly not very tall, sir. Does he have any other distinguishing features?"

Henry thought for a moment and said, "The hair is orange-yellow."

Upon hearing this, the boy's eyes lit up, and he laughed as if he had been given a second chance at life:

"Oh! I know! Katma said a boy came to the port. He has beautiful hair, is rich, and can write. He confessed his feelings to Katma, and she said she's a little hesitant now and asked for my opinion."

Henry listened and thought that the boy described did fit Natalie's characteristics.

Who is Katarma?

"She lived in the southwest of the port. Her braids were dirty and smelly; you could tell it was her just by the smell."

Henry let them go: "Go on, but don't steal again."

They said "Thank you, sir" and then ran away.

Henry set off immediately for the southwest.