Chapter 79

A moment later, Ishmael, having disembarked from the ship, headed for the beach where the pirates were staying.

Although often romantically depicted in most media, a ship is a less habitable object than one might think.

The space is cramped, it smells, and it even shakes violently when the waves hit.

Few people wanted to stay in such an environment for long.

That was the same even for pirates who were accustomed to the sea.

Therefore, when resting, pirates usually chose to get off the ship and stay on the shore.

Even from a distance, bright lights could be seen along the coast.

The pirates were celebrating with a feast, overjoyed at their big haul.

The pirates' victim was Urdino.

Urdino was empty, as if they had gone to the battlefield leaving only a minimal defense force.

Thanks to this, the pirates successfully plundered Urdino without any interference.

Even for pirates who were seasoned in plunder, robbing a whole port was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Well, well, who do we have here! Isn't it my godson! Come here and sit! Let's drink together!”

As he stepped into the pirates' camp, a very drunk Yoken greeted Ishmael with a laugh.

But Ishmael looked at him disapprovingly.

It wasn't because the dualistic religion Ishmael believed in forbade excessive drinking, but because of the title Yoken used.

It was unknown how he found out, but ever since Yoken learned that Ishmael had worked under Tospol, he had started calling him godson.

Ishmael did not like that title and warned Yoken.

“Krrk, do not use that title.”

“Haha. Aren't you being too cold? It's not like we didn't know each other.”

“If I say don't, then don't.”

“……”

Yoken's face hardened.

The surrounding atmosphere grew quiet.

But Ishmael did not budge.

Godson is a cultural and customary title originating from the Western Church.

In other words, that orc head calling Ishmael godson was a scheme to assert that he was Ishmael's godfather and superior.

Ishmael was not so dull as to not notice that scheme.

‘When did we ever see each other to be so friendly. I remember he couldn't even meet Tospol's eyes back when Tospol was alive.’

Ishmael found Yoken's behavior just unpleasant.

In the first place, neither Yoken nor Ishmael liked Tospol.

They were far from being in a godfather-godson relationship.

But Ishmael could understand Yoken's psychology.

He probably wanted to heal the wound to his pride from being kidnapped by Selvi by acting like a superior.

There was no doubt.

However, if Yoken understood who held the knife right now, it was hard to see his power struggle as a wise move.

‘The one holding the knife is Leon Gryph. The captain of the Black Company.’

“Krrk, that's not what's important. I've come to deliver an order from headquarters.”

“Ah, why are you being so cold. If you were Tospol's subordinate, it's not like we're completely unrelated.”

“Order. Delivery.”

As Ishmael answered curtly, Yoken's subordinates around him made angry noises.

In response, the mercenary guards put their hands on their sword hilts.

It was a volatile situation where a sword fight could have broken out.

The one who defused the situation was Yoken.

Yoken controlled his subordinates in an orc-like way.

“Everyone shut up! I said shut up! The next bastard to open his mouth will be beaten to death!”

Then the surroundings became quiet.

Although he had lost a lot of face because of Tospol and Leon, Yoken was also a pirate.

One cannot rule over pirates simply by being smart.

In the world of pirates, where only customs exist without laws, violence and survival of the fittest are the iron rules of pirates.

A pirate must possess fear.

This was the reason why Yoken had survived without being stabbed in the back until now.

‘Finally showing his true colors.’

Ishmael was glad he had brought his guards.

He didn't know what would have happened if the guards weren't there.

As befitting his reputation as one of the five pirates of the Golden Sea, the presence of Yoken, faced directly, was no ordinary thing.

‘What kind of guts did Leon Gryph have to think of subjugating this guy?’

Well, if he didn't have that much guts, he wouldn't have thought of fighting Tospol and winning, let alone finishing him off.

Once the situation was settled, Yoken turned to Ishmael with a smirking face.

“Alright, I get it. We made a sacred contract, so we have to follow the orders from above. So, what's the order?”

“Krrk, the order is to burn Messina. After that, His Grace said you are free to take the plundered treasure and go wherever you wish.”

“Oh, freedom. I like that very much. And treasure too! Of course, we'll do it. But since we're already having a party, can we rest for just one day?”

“Krrk, I will give you time to rest until today. Now, if you'll excuse me.”

Yoken grabbed the turning Ishmael.

“Why don't you have a drink before you go? Wouldn't it be better to relax a bit than being cooped up on the stuffy ship?”

“Krrk, not necessary.”

“Alright. Alright. The godson is truly blunt.”

Ishmael left the camp, and the remaining pirates started their drinking party again.

Amidst the noise, complaints about the cheeky Kobold fellow could be heard intermittently, but Ishmael didn't care.

He was used to being bad-mouthed behind his back, and he knew his situation well.

People don't like traitors.

A traitor gets cursed at even when he does nothing.

Besides, he had gone from being a pirate to being in the navy, so it was natural for the pirates to hate him.

However, Ishmael's thought was that he had to be careful with his conduct at times like this.

If he got involved with the pirates for no good reason, he might end up liquidating his life.

‘Leon entrusted this job to me to test my abilities. To see how I act.’

A misunderstanding.

He hadn't thought much about it.

He had just entrusted it to Ishmael because he thought Ishmael was skilled in naval matters.

Leon would have waved his hands in denial if he knew, but unfortunately, Ishmael had completely misunderstood.

‘But Leon has ambition. He's not a man who will end as a mere mercenary captain. If I just follow him, a poor Kobold could rise to a position he's never dreamed of.’

Before meeting Leon, a pirate captain who was just a lackey for a man-eating ogre had now risen to the position of acting commander of a city-state's mercenary fleet.

His hometown people would be shocked if they found out.

But there was one fact that everyone overlooked.

And that was that the mercenary company was still growing.

Now that they had conquered the south, to what position would Leon rise?

And how far would he pull them up?

Ishmael couldn't even imagine.

Burning with ambition, Ishmael clenched his fists with renewed resolve.

***

Meanwhile, in another place, there was someone who had similar thoughts to Ishmael.

It was Selvi, who was in charge of intelligence for the mercenary company.

“I didn't believe it when you said I would regret it, ma'am, but I really do regret it……”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“There's just too much work.”

Selvi looks like a blond delinquent vampire on the outside, but on the inside, he's a diligent person.

(He claims so himself.)

That's why he had willingly come running when he received a request for help from Eleonor.

But he had never dreamed that he would be doing paperwork even on the battlefield.

Still, isn't this a bit much.

“What on earth is this?”

“What do you think it is. It's Mage Guild mail. It's not like you're seeing it for the first time.”

“That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about why we're still doing this here.”

“You're asking because you don't know?”

“……”

Selvi looked at the Mage Guild mail that had just been delivered to him with a fed-up expression.

The Mage Guild's mail was famous for being as expensive as it was secure.

But Leon, who believed in the importance of information gathering and communication, used the Mage Guild generously.

Just a while ago, that mage kid named Esil or something just threw the mail and left.

Perhaps this was the reason why the mercenary company had a hole in its financial books even after earning so much money.

Thanks to that, it was possible to know about problems in advance and deal with them.

‘But where on earth is the Mage Guild in Apennia?’

Eleonor scolded the pensive Selvi.

“Honestly, you brought this on yourself. I definitely warned you.”

“That's right. You're right. I got too ahead of myself. Oh, really.”

The reason why so much work was piling up on Selvi was simple.

The scale of the intelligence organization under the mercenary company had become too large for one person to manage.

The day they defeated Tospol and returned to Fasa.

Selvi was overcome with a strange sentiment and had vowed to devote his loyalty to Leon.

─Krrk, if you've injured your head, go see a doctor.

─You will definitely regret it.

─No! I will not be swayed by such words! Everything I have, for Leon Gryph!

The wise Ishmael and Eleonor, who had been dragged into the mercenary company before him, had tried to stop him, but Selvi, caught up in the impulse, would not listen to others' advice.

In the end, Selvi single-handedly succeeded in the great feat of creating an information network in the south of Apennia.

But the backlash was very severe.

Selvi was now paying the price and regretting it bitterly.

“I wondered why you drank that thing called coffee so much, ma'am. There was a reason for it. Ha, can't they really give us more personnel? We're short on people, not money.”

“You know full well we're short on people.”

“Of course, I know. I was just saying. If I had my way, I'd bring our clan's old geezers and put them to work.”

“Are you going to keep talking instead of working? Is it okay for you to just be like that? I think Lord Gryph told you to compile the information and report by lunch.”

“I'm doing it. I am. I'm going to do it. Haa.”

Selvi picked up the documents unenthusiastically, like a child who didn't want to do his homework.

Eleonor glared at Selvi.

It was good that Selvi had joined the ranks of those working overtime as he had wished, but being so listless would only spoil the working atmosphere.

Eleonor had the soul of an intellectual.

She believed that with proper discipline, even a person could be fixed.

At the same time, Eleonor was also a knight.

This meant she believed that to find out if a person could be fixed, you had to beat them up first.

‘One more word and I'll smash his head with a hammer.’

At that moment, Selvi put down the document he was holding in his hand.

Eleonor brought her hand to the handle of her hammer to put her resolve into action.

But she couldn't immediately put it into action.

Because Selvi had spoken out with rare seriousness.

“Ma'am. Let's talk honestly.”

“What? That I tricked you into coming here?”

“……Was that it?”

“No. That was a slip of the tongue just now.”

“Damn it. I knew it.”

Eleonor caressed the handle of her hammer.

There was no method as effective as a blow to the head for erasing memories.

If it was too effective, one might lie in bed for a long time, but…….

But this time too, Eleonor could not put her thought into action.

“Anyway, that's not what's important.”

“What do you want to say?”

“In your opinion, ma'am, what level of position do you think the captain is aiming for?”

“Is that important?”

“It is important. It determines how far we will go.”

Eleonor put down her hammer and indulged Selvi's concern.

It was certainly a reason to be concerned.

“Lord Gryph is no ordinary man.”

“That's what I'm saying. There are countless mercenaries in Apennia, but who has grown this much in the shortest period of time?”

“Not a single one.”

Many people jump into mercenary work dreaming of success.

But few achieve that dream.

Most of them become wandering spirits of the battlefield or return to their hometowns as cripples.

If you manage to get a small piece of land or receive a knighthood from a country lord, you become a legend in the industry.

“But the captain has already surpassed that level. With his, unique, shall we say. Um, stratagems.”

“It's just us, so you can speak honestly.”

“Hmph, I don't believe you.”

Even if it was Selvi, he couldn't bring himself to voice the assessment that Leon was as insidious as a snake in front of others.

Moreover, Eleonor was Leon's closest aide.

If the assessment were to leak to Leon, he might be severely reprimanded.

As Selvi was thoroughly on his guard, Eleonor, who had been thinking of catching him on something, licked her lips in disappointment.

“Anyway, the key now is how high the captain will climb. With the captain's abilities, wouldn't it be possible for him to secure the position of a count or a duke?”

At Selvi's naive prediction, Eleonor let out a small laugh.

“Merely?”

“Pardon? Then what are you thinking, ma'am?”

“I guarantee you, Lord Gryph is a man who can even aim for the throne.”

“Gasp.”

At the prediction that surpassed his expectations, Selvi was amazed.

He thought about it carefully.

There's a possibility…!

“If we defeat Messina and Pescara, there will be no force left in this south to oppose our mercenary company. If we unite the remaining small and medium-sized cities and territories, it will be quite possible to claim the throne. Perhaps we will even be endorsed by them.”

“There is certainly that possibility.”

“And that's exactly why we're working like this right now.”

Selvi was lost in a delusion for a moment.

If he became a direct subordinate of the king, what would he become?

Since he was a founding contributor, wouldn't he become at least a count?

Whatever it was, it was a final farewell to Caledonia.

What interrupted his thoughts was Eleonor.

Eleonor playfully hit Selvi's head with a document instead of a hammer.

“Alright, is your worry resolved now? So hurry up and work. We have more than one or two things to deal with right now. When will the information warfare on Messina and Pescara be over? Is the information blockade on Fasa in place?”

“Ugh. I'll do it. I'm doing it.”

In the end, it all came back to work.

Selvi sighed and reached for the documents.

But their predictions were completely wrong.

Because Leon Gryph was actually a royal in disguise, and he was aiming not for the throne, but for the Siberia Empire.

If they had known that fact, they would have screamed like people who had witnessed an unspeakable horror and run away.

It was true that Leon was on the road to success, but on the other side of that, a hell of work existed as his destiny.

Even now, without a title, he was suffering like this; it was hard to imagine how much the work would increase if he rose higher than that.

For a sensible person, choosing to run away is natural.

That is why Leon had hidden the truth they could not handle.

Some things are better not known than known.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.