novelraw Chapter 619
Chapter 619
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Chapter 619: The Real Job (2)
The lord of Planet Tehen, Duke Dalqui Izori.
Until recently, the only thing Yeongwoo knew about Duke Dalqui was that he was Lady Kanaph’s older brother.
That was no longer the case.
‘If he’s already encountered another planetary ship before, this should make things a lot easier.’
Of course, the implications of that fact were anything but simple.
If Duke Dalqui had met another planetary ship, that meant at least one planetary ship was currently active somewhere.
The nine planetary ships that appeared throughout cosmic history hadn’t all faded into nothing more than legends.
“Right? If Duke Dalqui has seen a planetary ship before, that means there’s another one out there, operating somewhere.”
Jiseon nodded in agreement.
—Unless Duke Dalqui is a creature that lives for thousands of years… that seems like the only conclusion. That’s quite unexpected.
As she spoke, Jiseon glanced sympathetically at Lady Kanaph, who was being held in Yeongwoo’s grip.
—My apologies, my lady. But since our real job is robbery, I can’t exactly scold my son. Work is work.
Lady Kanaph stared at Jiseon in disbelief.
—This family is truly something else. You’ll surely rise to greatness one day.
—We already have, to some extent.
Meanwhile, Mantero requested a communication link with Planet Tehen, and approval came through almost immediately.
Since the planet had already received a planetary ship once before, there was no attempt at posturing or intimidation.
—Connection established. Switching to forward display.
As Mantero finished his report, the glass wall at the front of the bridge glowed white, projecting a real-time communication feed from Tehen.
Fwaaaash!
On the screen appeared the broad, flat face of Duke Dalqui Izori—the same one they had seen earlier through a one-way transmission.
「This must be another planetary ship. To witness the marvel of the cosmos twice in one lifetime…」
Muttering to himself as if resigned, Duke Dalqui suddenly widened his eyes.
「Huh…?」
On the planetary ship’s side of the screen, an entirely unexpected sight had appeared.
「Ka… Kanaph? Is that really you, Kanaph?」
—Brother!
At the sound of her brother recognizing her instantly, Lady Kanaph cried out, her eyes filling with tears.
Yeongwoo grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her closer to the screen.
“Do you get it now? Our business here.”
「You insane bastard! You were the one who kidnapped my sister?!」
“…Huh? What?”
Faced with a reaction completely different from what he’d expected, Yeongwoo scratched his head.
Dangling awkwardly in midair, Lady Kanaph hurriedly tried to explain—if it could even be called an explanation.
—N-no! He saved me from kidnappers, and then afterward he… kidnapped me again…
‘Kidnapped again.’
At this point, even Lady Kanaph had no idea how to explain the situation properly. Seeing this, Yeongwoo decided to take the straightforward approach.
Flash!
He drew Bastard from his waist and pressed the blade against Lady Kanaph’s neck.
“Listen up, Duke Dalqui! If you don’t want to lose your sister forever, hand over everything you’ve got!”
「What?!」
At Yeongwoo’s myth-backed threat, Duke Dalqui jumped to his feet reflexively—then collapsed back into his seat as he remembered that his opponent was a planetary ship lord.
「What do you even want…? This place hasn’t even recovered yet.」
“Recovered? Recovered from what?”
「Don’t planetary ships communicate with each other at all? It hasn’t even been that long since this place was looted.」
“Hey, use your head. If planetary ships could communicate, why the hell would I come here again? I prefer fresh customers too, you know.”
Yeongwoo stared at Duke Dalqui’s utterly drained face for a moment before pulling the sword away from Lady Kanaph’s neck.
Click.
He set her down on the floor and continued.
“Still, give me something. I brought your sister all the way back—surely that’s worth a fee.”
Duke Dalqui weakly gestured behind him.
「Take whatever you need. If it’s true that you saved my sister, then I owe you a great debt.」
“Damn. This is the most lifeless ransom negotiation I’ve ever seen.”
With a sigh, Yeongwoo asked.
“What can you give me? Anything worth money? Cash, Katangdal ingots, whatever.”
「I did have some Katangdal ingots… but I used them all on the previous ‘guest.’」
“Used them all? You didn’t get robbed—you spent them?”
「I repaired their ship.」
“A ship? Like a medium-class vessel?”
「No. I repaired a planetary ship. It arrived here already half-destroyed.」
“…What?”
The moment he heard half-destroyed planetary ship, a chill ran through Yeongwoo’s body.
“A planetary ship… can be half-destroyed?”
「I don’t know what kind of insanity they went through before arriving here, but the damage was catastrophic.」
“So you took on a planetary ship repair job?”
「A job? It was practically robbery. We tried to resist at first, but we didn’t stand a chance.」
As if recalling the past, Duke Dalqui’s gaze drifted into empty space.
“How long ago was this?”
「Hmm. About two hundred years ago. Just before Kanaph was born.」
“Ah.”
Only then did Yeongwoo understand why Lady Kanaph had known nothing about Tehen’s history.
It had happened before she was even born.
“Wait—two hundred years ago, and you’re calling that ‘recent’?”
「Isn’t two hundred years just a moment? We haven’t even recovered half the damage from that day yet.」
To the frogfolk, two hundred years clearly wasn’t a long time.
‘Just how long do these frog bastards even live…?’
As Yeongwoo muttered internally, something suddenly clicked, and he asked another question.
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“Hold on. You said you repaired a half-destroyed planetary ship, right?”
「Yes. That’s why nearly all of Tehen’s resources were drained.」
Duke Dalqui continued emphasizing how broke he was—but Yeongwoo had a different goal in mind.
“So you’re experts at ship repair and dismantling, then?”
「The technology of House Izori is among the finest in the galaxy cluster.」
“Then take a look at our ship.”
Duke Dalqui’s face stiffened in fear.
「What? We don’t have the resources to repair another planetary ship!」
“Not the planetary ship. We picked up a vessel recently—a small one. It shouldn’t be hard.”
「I-is that so? What exactly do you want fixed?」
“There’s a tracking beacon attached to it. I want it removed.”
「……!」
At those words, Duke Dalqui frowned deeply, as if he’d caught the scent of trouble.
「May I ask where you acquired this ship?」
They’d find out as soon as they saw it anyway, so Yeongwoo didn’t bother hiding it.
“It’s a ship from House Salzeo.”
「…I see.」
“I know messing with this ship is dangerous. But this is your sister’s ransom.”
Once again, Yeongwoo pointed his blade at Lady Kanaph.
Duke Dalqui shook his head slowly.
「Planetary ships… must be designed to cause trouble, no matter what.」
Come to think of it, the previous planetary ship he’d seen had arrived half-destroyed as well.
At least in Duke Dalqui’s experience, there was no such thing as a planetary ship that lived a quiet, normal life.
“So, deal approved? Honestly, I’m letting your sister go for cheap.”
「Is that really all? Removing the beacon from a Salzeo ship?」
“How much money do you even have?”
To show he had no intention of lying, Duke Dalqui raised his wrist, displaying his balance indicator.
「460 million karma. Barely enough to maintain this vast territory.」
“…This bastard has less money than me while I’m on the run.”
Without meaning to, Yeongwoo was about to do an actual good deed.
‘I came here to commit extortion, not charity…’
But you couldn’t steal money that didn’t exist.
If he took even those 400 million karma, Planet Tehen would truly collapse.
“Fine. Just remove the beacon. Guess I’ll do a good deed for once.”
With that, Yeongwoo instructed Earth to prepare the ship.
He intended to send Lady Kanaph down aboard the Salzeo vessel.
“We’ll send your sister down on the ship. Remove the beacon, then send the empty ship back up. Sound good?”
「An excellent plan.」
At the news of his sister’s return, Duke Dalqui’s gloomy expression brightened noticeably.
“……”
Watching that, Yeongwoo couldn’t deny that his mood improved a little as well.
Even without making money, he still felt satisfied.
“…Damn it. My money.”
With a sniff and a sigh, Yeongwoo pushed Lady Kanaph forward.
“Go live well. It was a short time, but you went through a lot.”
Lady Kanaph turned back, worry evident on her face.
—But after you leave… House Salzeo will come looking for us someday. What then?
From Salzeo’s perspective, the last place their ship’s signal had been detected was Tehen.
It was only a matter of time before a Salzeo pursuit force arrived.
“Hmm. That’s true.”
Since he’d released the hostage, it would be nice if she at least lived out her natural life.
“When they come, give them Earth’s communication code. That way, they can contact us directly, and they won’t need to harass Tehen.”
At those words, Earth tilted its head.
『Sharing our comm code isn’t a big problem, but what then? Are you really planning to meet Salzeo?』
“No idea. But we’ll have to settle things eventually.”
Could Earth actually defeat the Salzeo fleet in a straight fight right now?
Objectively speaking, Yeongwoo didn’t think so.
‘To fight Salzeo, the deputy needs time to adapt to the new cannons and shields. Ideally, we’d get at least one small skirmish in before that.’
As Yeongwoo pondered this, Duke Dalqui cautiously spoke from the screen.
「Didn’t you say planetary ships don’t communicate with each other?」
“Yeah. Why?”
「Is it because they’re hostile to one another?」
There was a strange nuance in his question.
Yeongwoo tilted his head.
“Not really. It’s just that there’s no way to communicate. Why?”
「If you want… I can tell you where the planetary ship that visited here went.」
“…What?”
It was a completely unexpected offer.
Still, Yeongwoo quickly regained his composure.
“That ship came here two hundred years ago. What good is knowing its location now?”
Duke Dalqui raised a finger.
「Because that place was its final destination. After one last battle, it said it would retire there.」
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