59. For Redemption
The ship Dundwood had come on was also outside, but Aleion had taken the Cheonrang Knights to subdue them in an instant.
However, there were other ships around, so news would eventually reach the Lupelchea Vigilantes.
“Eustia, when we get to Lupelchea, I’ll get off first with the Cheonrang Knights.”
“I understand. Then we will wait on the ship.”
Sirius discussed with Eustia what to do next.
By the way, Leticia… was still lying in the cabin because of seasickness.
* * *
Lupelchea is a commercial city that developed along a river.
There is nowhere else to dock a ship in this area except for Lupelchea, so it has a monopoly on the location.
The power that ruled Lupelchea has changed many times over the years, but currently, a man named Schleien is acting as the Vigilante Chief and showing off his power.
“So the Cheonrangbyeong-guk has appeared.”
Schlein stroked his beard as he heard the news.
Schleien was currently drinking with his men in a tavern in the back alleys of Lupelchea.
“What should we do? It seems Dundwood’s been captured.”
“Just leave him be.”
“What?”
Schlain’s curt response caused his subordinates’ eyes to widen.
“Dundwood may have extorted a lot of money from here and there, but there are plenty of people who can take his place.”
“Ah…”
“The Shahit Pirates will give Tianlang a hard time even without our involvement.”
After saying that, Schlain drained his cup in one go.
“We’ll just leisurely show up on the scene, fish the Tianlang guys out of the water, and extort a reward from them.”
“I, I see.”
“Then Tianlang will gradually come to realize that bribing the Lupelchia Vigilantes is the best way to get by.”
Schlain smiled as he had the hostess sitting next to him fill his cup.
“Tianlang gets to pass safely, we get to earn money from Tianlang, and the Shahit Pirates get to split the profits without lifting a finger… This is what you call a win-win situation.”
Schlain had been connected to the Shahit Pirates for a long time.
He had originally been able to seize control of Lupelchia thanks to the Shahit Pirates’ cooperation.
The Shahit Pirates did not attack ships escorted by the Lupelchia Vigilantes.
Instead, they split the money the Lupelchia Vigilantes received.
If the Lupelchia Vigilantes ever ran into trouble, the Shahit Pirates would come to their aid, and vice versa.
“Boss,” one of the subordinates carefully began. “I’ve heard that Tianlang is run by the Rigel family.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Apparently, the Rigel family has recently subjugated the other factions and become the overlord of the east… Will that be okay?”
“Heh, that’s meaningless.”
Schlain spoke as he tilted his cup. “I heard recently that the Agathas and Albraim families are still kicking. The Rigel family is still just a minor presence in the remote countryside of the northeast.”
“What? Then how can they act as the overlord of the east…”
“The easterners are just using the Rigel family as a figurehead. Even though they’ve fallen from grace, they still have the reputation of being one of the Five Great Houses of the continent.”
Schlain chuckled. “The eastern region is so weak that they must have thought they needed to band together somehow. But even if they do, they won’t be able to stand up to the Strauss family in the south. They might even be weaker than the Retiudo family.”
“Ah…”
“There’s no way they’ll bring their forces here to retaliate. The Southern Union wouldn’t just stand by and watch, so how could they possibly lead their forces out of the east?”
With that, Schlain drained his cup again.
“Of course… If that Sirius guy invades the south, then we’ll have to be careful.”
“Ah, Sirius…”
“He’s a madman who’s been slaughtering the major dark guilds of the east. If that guy were to land in Lupelchia, we’d have to pack up and run for our lives.”
Laughter erupted here and there at Schlain’s joke.
“In any case, that’s not something we need to worry about right now. What we should be worried about now is the fact that the Shahit Pirates are demanding more and more money.”
“Ah… That’s true.”
“There’s a limit to how much money we can extort from the Lupelchia merchants. In the end, we’ll have to extort protection fees from the ships that pass through.”
This time, the reason Dundee approached Cheonrangpyoguk earlier than usual was also because of that.
If they started escorting early, they could charge more protection fees.
“Why is the Shahit Order so persistent about the fortress?”
“They must be trying to gain recognition from the Federation.”
“Huh? Could it be that Shahit has connections to the Federation?”
“That seems to be the case. Well, if Shahit joins the Federation, we might get something out of it too. Let’s help them as long as we don’t overdo it.”
As he said that, Schleien raised his refilled glass.
“To mutual growth.”
“To revival.”
Right then.
An out-of-place voice was heard nearby.
“Who dares to interrupt?”
Schleien looked up with a frown.
And he confirmed that a man was sitting in a nearby seat.
“Was it you? The one who just interrupted with that weird remark?”
“The alcohol tastes terrible. I didn’t order cheap alcohol.”
The one who responded to Schleien without looking up from his glass was… Sirius, who had entered the tavern alone.
“The bottle is fine… Did you switch the alcohol? You shouldn’t do business like this.”
“Hey!”
Schleien’s men got up and rushed at Sirius.
The moment they grabbed his shoulders and tried to lift him up.
“Ugh…!”
Thud, thud!
The men fell to the floor one after another.
Seeing this, the remaining men hurriedly got up.
But they too were soon forced to cover their foreheads and hunch over.
This was because Sirius had flicked the beans that came with the side dish at them like bullets.
“What the hell are you…!”
Finally, Schleien stood up abruptly.
He hadn’t brought any weapons since it was a drinking party.
So he picked up a bottle of alcohol, but it shattered immediately.
“…!”
Sirius, who had thrown a dagger and broken the bottle, slowly got up from his seat.
And from there, he coldly glared at Schleien, who was bewildered.
“What are you going to do after finding out who I am?”
“Ugh…!”
Schleien did not back down and picked up another bottle of alcohol.
And he stepped on the table and jumped up, trying to hit Sirius on the head.
But Sirius was faster in hitting Schleien’s cheek.
“Keuheuk…!”
Schleien spun twice in the air before crashing down onto the tavern floor.
The people around gasped at the sight.
“H-hey, you bastards, what are you doing! Kill that bastard!”
Schleien shouted urgently.
However, none of his subordinates followed Schleien’s orders.
Schleien was the most powerful person in Luprecia, but how could they possibly attack someone who had defeated him so easily.
“Don’t even think about running away.”
The subordinates who had been stealthily taking a step back flinched.
“This tavern is already surrounded by the Thousand Sword Sect. Not even an ant can escape.”
“……!”
Before entering the tavern, Sirius had given instructions to Aleion.
The Thousand Sword Sect was now surrounding the tavern without leaving any room to escape.
“E-excuse me.”
At that moment, the attendant who had been serving Schleien’s drinks raised his hand while trembling.
“Can we… can we leave?”
The other employees also looked at Sirius with desperate eyes.
They were at the mercy of Schleien and the Luprecia Vigilantes, so they wanted to be let go.
“What have you done to deserve it, you guys who sold fake alcohol? You have to stay too.”
“……!”
The faces of the tavern employees turned pale at Sirius’s cold reply.
“H-hey!”
Schleien raised his voice again.
“What do you plan to do now! Are you going to kill us all!?”
Schleien shouted, panting.
“You’re not from the South, are you? You seem to be from the Thousand Blades, but you’re making a mistake. If the Easterners come to the South and commit a massacre, the Southern Union won’t just stand by. If there’s bloodshed in the middle of a city like Luprecia….”
“You seem to be worried about a lot of things.”
“Ugh!”
Sirius clicked his tongue.
“I’ve already finished investigating. The Southern Union doesn’t care if one or two people die in Luprecia. In fact, your Luprecia Vigilantes also killed some of the former influential figures in the process of taking control of Luprecia.”
“T-that’s….”
“And, Schleien… the number of people you killed by colluding with the Sujeokdan and throwing them into the river is probably much higher than that.”
“What the hell, what’s wrong with that…!”
Schleien tried to raise his head and argue.
However, he couldn’t say anything more.
Because Sirius had infused Schleien with Baekrang’s Force.
In the end, Schleien became a frozen corpse on the spot.
“No matter how much you cry for redemption, if you can’t reform, this is what happens.”
“……!”
The people watching around trembled at Sirius’s muttered words.
“You there, employees.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Later, you can just throw it in the river. It has made many people into fish food, so it should be the same for it.”
Freezing Shlein to death was Sirius’s consideration.
Otherwise, the broken bottles and scattered glass would be more difficult to clean up if it became a sea of blood.
In the martial arts world, it was common for fights to break out in restaurants and the shops to be destroyed… but the White Tiger of the Plains, Cheonrangmuje Baek Murang, did not like such things to happen.
Even if his hot-blooded subordinates caused trouble in a restaurant, he would tell them to go outside and fight if possible.
If such a thing happened inevitably, he would leave enough money as an apology.
Of course, since this place was trying to swindle Sirius by selling fake alcohol, there was no need to give them extra money.
“And listen, all of you.”
Sirius spoke to Shlein’s subordinates who were standing around.
“From now on, the Lupelcia Self-Defense Force will act as its name suggests.”
“……?”
They all looked confused.
Sirius spoke in a clear voice so that even those guys could understand.
“It’s nothing much. Just protect the passing ships from being attacked by the Soojik guys.”
“Ah…….”
“If there’s a fight in the back alley, step in and stop it, and if a bar is selling fake alcohol, give them a good scolding to stop… well, do things like that.”
It was similar to what they had been doing until now.
But it would never be the same.
“All of this is voluntary service. I will not tolerate you receiving any compensation beyond the cost of food and alcohol.”
“……!”
“I am busy and must leave soon, but I will send someone to inspect Lupelcia soon. If the city of Lupelcia has changed from before, then all is well, but if you are still swindling people, then all of you will become fish food like Shlein.”
After saying that, Sirius added.
“There may be some of you who are thinking of leaving Lupelcia to swindle people elsewhere. But it’s no use. You will be pursued to the ends of hell and pay the price.”
“…….”
He meant what he said.
Such a system was already in place in the eastern region.
The south would soon be the same.
“The south is a place with abundant resources and lively people. The weather is warm and it’s a good place to live, so why do you live such dark lives by swindling people?”
“Ah…….”
“The same goes for those working in this bar. You may think of yourselves as victims being extorted by the self-defense force, but you are also victimizers who swindle your customers with fake alcohol.”
“…….”
They all kept their mouths shut and said nothing.
“If you can’t make a living without swindling others, then get on a passing Cheonrangbyeok ship at any time. I will find you a job.”
“…….”
“Come to your senses and live a new life.”
Sirius raised the cup of alcohol he had left from before.
“To rehabilitation.”
“To, to rehabilitation…….”
The self-defense force members and employees repeated Sirius’s words in trembling voices.