9 – Helping those who help themselves (9)
The ship is already quite far from the pier, so it is a distance that only demons who have opened their bodies can never overcome.
However, surprisingly, Ainor easily jumped over the several-meter gap and landed on the deck of the ship.
The sailors looked at each other in confusion at the appearance of a port security officer who suddenly fell from the sky onto the deck.
“Where’s the captain?”
At Einer’s question, one of the sailors ran to the stern.
There were several people at the stern rudder, and the sailor shouted something to one of them and pointed this way.
Soon the captain came down the stern and stood in front of Einer.
“What?”
“A message from the branch manager.”
You rummaged in his arms and took out his small note.
Taking the note, the captain read it over and looked at you with his eyes wide open.
Eh, you pointed at his memo with your chin, as if to read it carefully.
The captain read her note again and hurried to his stern.
Then he called all the ship’s officers to a table with an open chart.
After a while, under the direction of the officers, the crew moved busily, adjusting the mast and correcting the ship’s course.
The ship moved forward quickly, watching the morning sun rise over the horizon.
You stepped forward as a player and looked out at the horizon, covering the sunlight with his hand.
Wait a minute, Ael.
Because I will absolutely stop being sold as a Brechner.
* * * * *
The high seas off Daham.
Brechnert’s 5th Fleet had just taken over the sea area from the 3rd Fleet early in the morning and was on a mission.
Their mission is none other than toll collection.
Pirating would be a bit more like a sailor.
Their mission for one month is to seize ships using the eastern route out of Daham and extort money or goods in the name of tolls and protection costs.
The reason why this is called a ‘mission’ rather than piracy or plundering is because it is a major mission officially given to the navy by the Brechnert Castle.
Pirating as an official mission carried out by the official navy is completely different from a privateer ship.
If anyone hears it, they’ll say it’s crazy, but in Brechnert, this is common sense.
If you have power, it is natural to take it away, so it is a country that makes and sells even the powerless citizens as slaves.
Received such a critical mission, Admiral Ordwick of the 5th Fleet stood at the stern of the flagship and commanded the battleships to take their positions with a solemn expression.
According to the admiral’s instructions, signals went up and down, and hand signals went back and forth between the ships.
One galleon as the flagship, one heavy carak used as a supply ship, three frigates with combat troops on board, and five corvettes that approach and pirate actual merchant ships.
Sailors with a lot of practical experience in a fleet consisting of a total of 10 ships.
It was a formidable force unmatched in the nearby waters, and as long as such a fleet blocked the road, no ship could use the eastern route without paying the tolls and protection fees they demanded.
“Admiral. A galleon and two frigates are approaching from the west. Appears to be a cargo ship from the Paling Merchant.”
At the first mate’s report, Admiral Ordwick raised his telescope toward it.
As expected, I saw three ships coming straight this way, fluttering the flags of the Paling traders.
A cargo ship from the Paling Merchant.
As soon as the mission starts, a big guest is coming.
“Prepare to receive guests.”
The admiral’s orders soon spread rapidly to all ships in the fleet.
The ten ships moved in perfect order, blocking the path of the ships of the Paling Merchant.
“Send the stop sign!”
As the first mate shouted, the signalman raised the flag in both hands and signaled in a complex motion.
Soon, the other ship signaled that it had received a signal and slowly raised its sails.
As the ships came to a complete stop, the admiral opened his mouth.
“It’s a big guest, so you should treat it as politely as possible.”
That means that you should rip as much as you can, since they are rich.
A corvette quickly made its way to the Paling Merchant’s galleon.
Just as the corvette pulled up next to the galleon, a strange movement was noticed above the galleon.
Wouldn’t one of the sailors of the Paling Trade Merchant jump from her deck onto the corvette’s deck?
Originally, the corvette’s armed men go up on top of the galleon, offer ‘the right amount’, receive it, and return, and everything is over.
So, there’s no way people will come down from there, so what happened?
After getting off the corvette, the sailor began beating the soldiers on the deck mercilessly with his bare hands.
“What?!”
“What is that?!”
The first mate and sailors who watched the scene closely screamed out of breath.
“My, Admiral!”
In an unprecedented situation, the first mate looked back at her admiral, stuttering her words.
Admiral Ordwick was equally perplexed because it was his first time doing something like this.
In the meantime, the corvette, with the crew member disembarking, slowly began to turn in this direction.
Looking closely, I could see the battered sailors limping and steering the boat.
“Admiral! What shall we do?”
“All the frigates and corvettes are sent to the Farlings’ ships and forced to moor. That corvette seems to be coming right to our ship, so she waits and she arrests it.”
Two hundred sailors alone aboard the flagship galleon.
No matter how many of the Corvette’s crewmen were knocked out, life is dead the moment you get on it.
I don’t know what kind of guy he is, but he wants to die like that, so I guess I’ll have to grant him that wish.
But that’s a little strange.
Until now, the Paling Trade Corps has always prepared money in advance to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Has the ethos of the Paling Daham branch changed while the other fleets are on duty?
But I haven’t heard anything like that from the 3rd Fleet, which took over the sea area.
In the meantime, the corvette with the sailor passed by the warships headed for the Paling Trade Merchant’s ship and touched the side of the flagship.
All the heavily armed soldiers were already waiting on the deck of the flagship.
With his hand perched on the hilt of his sword, the admiral stood on the bowstring, looking down at the men lowering the rope.
I wondered what kind of madman was trying to do something close to suicide.
There is no way that a sailor would not know Brechnerd’s flag, and of course he would know what Brechnert’s fleet was doing.
How dare we, the famous Elion Navy, who are reluctant to face us?
I need to see what kind of guy he is and give him proper mental training.
At that moment, a hand suddenly jumped out from over the rope ladder and grabbed a soldier who was waiting with a knife by the collar.
The soldier who was grabbed by the collar was thrown helplessly onto the deck of the corvette below.
As soon as the soldiers who saw it shouted and ran toward the rope ladder, someone jumped onto the deck.
It was the same sailor from before.
The sailor hurriedly approached the poop, knocking the rushing soldiers to the ground with his bare hands.
The deck was densely packed with armed men, but no one could stop him.
As the sound of armor colliding with each other and screams erupted in succession, the officers drew their swords and blocked the admiral’s way.
“Admiral! Step back!”
However, the defense wall of loyal officers was torn down in the blink of an eye.
The sailor who trampled over the officers who had collapsed on the floor saw the admiral and spread his arms with a happy smile.
“Aren’t you Captain Ordwick?!”
Seeing the sailor’s face, the admiral felt his heart drop.
Khazad… ?! Why did that bastard suddenly appear?!
Khazad, a war hero now called Ainer in Daham’s port security unit, looked around the stern of the flagship and said.
“Have you become an admiral already? Time flies.”
“Yes, why are you here…”
“Me? Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be here?”
“That’s not it…”
“I’m working for the Paling Trading Merchant. These days, there are so many pirates on the eastern route that the damage is serious, so I’m here to help.”
“Do it, do it, pirate?”
At Khazad’s answer, cold sweat began to break out on the admiral’s back.
Those pirates are us… ?!
f*cked up, the admiral assessed the situation hopelessly.
“Pa, working in Paling…? Since when…?”
“I recently joined. They said they were looking for people to protect the Merchant from pirates, so I applied right away. Captain, you know that well, right? I’m good at that.”
Khazad raised his fist as a joke, and the admiral took a few steps back.
“I wondered if they were pirates because they suddenly blocked the route, but I don’t think so.”
Khazad continued speaking while smiling at the admiral.
“I didn’t know that Brechnert’s navy was even carrying out desirable missions such as protecting merchant ships. I didn’t know that and misunderstood. If any soldiers were injured, please give them an apology instead.”
Now the admiral’s legs were shaking.
I felt as if I would collapse on the floor like a girl at the slightest touch.
“Then let’s go. If there are any pirates wandering around, please let me know. If I get caught, they’ll be followed.”
If you get caught by me, you’ll fall behind.
The admiral staggered, feeling dizzy.
Really, if you get caught by that bastard, you’ll get lost.
And now is exactly that situation.
“That, yes…”
“Then thank you for your hard work.”
Khazad approached and patted the admiral on the shoulder, and the admiral actually collapsed on his knees as his legs gave out.
“Get some exercise. If you become an admiral and sit at a desk, you’ll get old quickly.”
Khazad went down the stern with a cheerful smile.
As Khazad’s corvette left again for the Paling Merchant’s galleon, the admiral grabbed the fallen first mate by the collar and shook it wildly.
“Give the order to retreat immediately! Now!”
* * * * *
As the ship did not move for a long time after it stopped, Ael started to feel uneasy and looked out the small window of the cargo hold.
However, the Brechnert fleet blocking the ship was in front, and the window of the cargo compartment was pierced on the side, so Ael could not grasp the situation outside at all.
“Don’t expect me to go back. I’m just pausing to pay a toll to the pirates.”
The unlicensed saintess on the other side said to Ael with a mean smile.
“The Brechnert you’re being sold to is a den of lunatics. You’ll be taken over by a pervert and used as a plaything, then completely disfigured and thrown away. So give up.”
But Ael has no intention of giving up.
The teacher jumped over her pier and boarded this boat.
You must have come to save me.
They’re negotiating to get me out of the top, so we haven’t met yet.
So I mustn’t give up either.
“It’s noisy.”
Ael shot at her saintess without permission.
“Don’t express your wishes in that way. Actually, do you want to suffer like that? You didn’t join the Order because you wanted to be promiscuous, right?”
“What? What the hell does this b*tch believe in…!”
At that time, the cargo bay ceiling door was wide open and light poured in.
“Ael!”
Leaving his back against the blinding light, Einer jumped under the cargo hold.