60. A Group of Parasites
After quickly suppressing the Lupelcia militia, Sirius returned to his ship.
Then, as soon as the business in Cheonrangpyo concluded, he set sail.
“Sirius, we’ll be in the Shahit bandits’ territory in two hours.”
Eustia said while checking the map.
“Do you have any special strategy? If we need to form a battle formation, we should share it with the entire fleet.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“Pardon?”
“The enemy is more familiar with naval warfare. There’s no point in devising a strategy.”
Even Baek Murang, the unrivaled warrior of Cheonrang, didn’t have much experience in naval warfare.
He had fought against bandits a few times, but it was always in the form of raiding their hideouts on the water.
With insufficient intel, finding the Shahit bandits’ base would not be easy.
“We have no choice but to confront them head-on.”
“Then we’ll need a strategy for a head-on confrontation.”
Eustia said in a calm voice.
“Is it ready?”
“Just throw them some bait.”
Sirius looked up.
And… he turned his gaze to the platinum-haired woman who had been standing by in the corner.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Berdian.”
Sirius said, looking at Berdian.
“Come with me to the front.”
“……?”
Berdian blinked, not understanding what he meant.
* * *
As the intel suggested, the section surrounded by steep cliffs began.
Certainly, the scenery was breathtaking.
“It would be difficult to survive if you fell into the water here. No matter how well you swim, it would be hard to get back to land.”
“Even if you’re lucky enough to find something to hold on to, it wouldn’t be easy to climb up those cliffs.”
Sirius calmly replied to Velid, who was chattering beside him.
Sirius was currently standing at the bow, watching ahead.
“But Sirius, the scenery is so beautiful… Shouldn’t you be setting the mood with your wife? I heard this is your honeymoon… Ow!”
“Go practice swinging your sword.”
“I was trying to be thoughtful, and this is how you respond…”
Velid grumbled and took up his wooden sword.
At first, he struggled with the weight difference compared to his real sword, but he had gotten used to it by now.
“One thousand six hundred twenty-two… one thousand six hundred twenty-three…”
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish…
As Velid swung his Samjaegeom technique, Sirius continued to look at the scenery ahead, using the sound as background music.
“One million, six hundred twenty-four… one million, six hundred twenty…”
“Velid, stop.”
“No, I just started…”
From Noble mtl dot com
Velid hadn’t noticed yet, but Sirius had already figured it out.
Far away… through the mist, several ships were approaching.
There were more ships than in this fleet. It was a considerable scale.
“Ack…!”
Velid, who belatedly grasped the situation, gasped.
“What, what is it? Why are there so many?”
“It seems they’ve brought out all their ships. They must think we’re big prey.”
Sirius sent a signal to the rear.
Then the other ships began to slow down, and only the ship Sirius was on began to move forward.
“Captain.”
Alegion, standing with Verdian, asked Sirius cautiously.
“Will this operation work?”
“It will work.”
Sirius said, recalling his memories up to now.
“That is, if Shahit is so anxious to be recognized by the Federation.”
As was the case with Kaltstein, who had been Alelegion’s teacher, and Ulten Schwein… they all struggled because they wanted to be recognized by the Federation.
If Shahit, as he had heard in Rupelcia, also wanted to join the Federation, he would definitely take the bait.
“Hey, stop right there!”
A voice came from the front.
On the other side, the vanguard general, or rather the vanguard ship, was moving ahead.
“We are under the command of Lord Shahit, who governs this area…”
“I want to meet Shahit.”
Sirius cut him off.
“Guide me to your leader, right now.”
“Wha…!”
The man standing at the forefront of the vanguard ship opened his eyes wide.
“Who the hell are you…”
“You don’t need to know my identity.”
“What did you say?”
“If you tell Shahit this, he’ll call us in right away.”
Sirius said with an indifferent expression.
“Tell him I’ve brought a traitor that the Federation has been desperately searching for.”
Behind him, Verdian could be heard sighing.
* * *
A short while later, Sirius was led to the center of their fleet.
He was able to board the largest ship, which could be called the flagship of the enemy’s fleet.
“So we’ve reached the heart of their forces… quite easily.”
Velid looked around in admiration.
The armed men glared at them, but no one made a move to attack.
“Follow me.”
Sirius led Aleion, Velid, and Berdian inside.
There, the leaders of the Shashat were gathered.
“……”
The atmosphere was rather heavy.
Everyone was neatly dressed, so it seemed as if the retainers of a noble family had gathered, rather than the executives of the Shashat.
And at the head of the table sat a woman.
She was a woman, but her physique was larger than anyone present.
Sirius focused his attention and felt a considerable amount of magical power.
It was Shahit, the leader of the Shashat.
“I’ve heard the story,” Shahit’s low voice flowed out.
“You’ve brought the traitor of the Alliance.”
Shahit scanned the four visitors.
And fixed her gaze on Berdian.
“She certainly looks exactly as the Alliance official described.”
As she spoke, Shahit looked around at the executives.
“I heard there was a traitor in the eastern branch. The fact that the eastern branch was completely annihilated was also because of that traitor.”
“……”
“When I heard the story, I thought that if I could capture the traitor and hand her over, it would be a great achievement. I thought that with that achievement, our Shashat could gain recognition from the Alliance.”
Shahit chuckled.
“However, we who float on the river cannot run around on land to catch that traitor… so we had given up.”
“……”
“But then, that traitor came rolling in front of us on her own. Could there be anything more delightful?”
As Shahit finished speaking, the executives, who had been silent until then, began to speak one after another.
“I think this must be fate.”
“The time has finally come for the leader.”
“Since you’ve captured the culprit behind the destruction of the eastern branch, even the Alliance won’t be able to help but acknowledge you.”
Aleion made a dumbfounded expression as he watched them.
He was reminded of how the executioners at the Kaltstein Knights had been excessively loyal to Kaltstein.
“Your representative… seems to be you.”
Shahit looked at Sirius.
“I’ve already heard about the trouble with the Lupelcia Vigilantes. That’s why I thought there would inevitably be bloodshed this time, but if you’ve prepared such a gift, that’s a different story.”
“……”
“I’ll take that woman as a toll. Let us pass.”
At Shahit’s words, Velid’s eyes widened.
“W-what? You’ll let us pass? Just like that?”
“Hmm? There seems to be some misunderstanding.”
Shahiht said with a smile.
“We’re not some outlaws who indiscriminately rob passing ships. We operate with clear rules.”
“Clear rules…….”
“We let ships that voluntarily pay enough tolls pass without incident. We don’t harm people, nor do we seize cargo.”
“…….”
“We only target those who don’t.”
After saying this, Shahiht looked at Sirius again.
“I’ll accept your proposal. I promise not to touch your fleet. The problem with the Lufecia Vigilantes as well……”
“Shahiht, just a moment.”
Sirius cut Shahiht off mid-sentence.
“This guy dares to interrupt the Captain’s words……!”
“Do you wish to die!”
The executives were enraged, but Shahiht raised his hand to stop them.
“Do you have something else to say?”
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding after all.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“I never said I’d pay the toll. I also never said I’d hand that guy over.”
“…….”
Shahiht was silent for a moment.
“Did you lie?”
“I only said that I was carrying a traitor to the Alliance. I didn’t exactly lie.”
Berdian let out a sigh after hearing those words.
In truth, since Berdian hadn’t actually betrayed the Alliance, strictly speaking, he hadn’t technically lied at all.
“You…….”
“Are you playing us for fools?”
The atmosphere became hostile.
This time, even Shahiht didn’t stop his executives.
Rather, it was Shahiht himself who glared at Sirius with the most terrifying eyes.
However, Sirius didn’t even blink.
“Shahiht, in truth, I don’t deny the collection of tolls in itself.”
“What?”
“There are bandits who take the initiative to clear the roads when landslides block them. Some bandits even build shortcuts on the mountains and gather people. If that’s the case, then they deserve to be paid tolls.”
Roads in the mountains are often poorly maintained.
If a road is blocked and they have to go around, it’s a big loss for merchants and the nation.
If bandits in the forest regularly check and maintain them, then paying tolls is acceptable.
“However, you haven’t contributed anything to the fleets passing through here.”
“…….”
“What have you done? You haven’t even built a single landing spot where sailors can rest in this section surrounded by sheer cliffs.”
I looked around the whole time, but I didn’t see any such place.
Somewhere out of sight, a landing stage exclusive to bandits must be hidden.
“All you did was block the river and extort money. Even the fortress found you such a nuisance that they set up a cooperative system with the Lupicia vigilante corps.”
“…….”
“In the end, the Shahit pirates are nothing more than a group of parasites who are of no use to this world.”
Sirius’s tirade made the executives explode with anger.
“This bastard…!”
“Do you want to die!”
One from the left, one from the right.
They drew their swords and charged at him from both sides simultaneously.
Sirius threw a dagger with his left hand while extending his right hand to the side.
The one who had charged from the left was stabbed in the neck and died, while the one who had charged from the right had his neck twisted and died.
“……!”
The other executives froze in their tracks, stunned.
They had been saved because their movements had been slow.
“As of today, the Shahit pirates are out of business.”
Sirius said in a merciless voice.
“Remove the spikes from the ship. Throw all the weapons into the river. Don’t leave anything behind that can be used to harm or intimidate anyone.”
“……!”
“Dismantle your ship and connect it to the others to make a landing stage that anyone can rest at. If you run a restaurant so that passing sailors can rest and replenish their supplies, you won’t starve to death.”
Live by running a rest stop.
That’s what Sirius was saying.
“Anyone who can’t accept this, step forward. I’ll throw you into the river and feed you to the fish.”
At Sirius’s declaration, Shahit finally rose from his seat.