Wolves of Hader

Chapter 103

*Click—*

"Uwaaaagh! Spare me!"

I cut off both hands of the crawling Red Beard. The watching pirates quickly retreated.

"What are you doing! Kill him, now!"

"D-Dan... Captain!"

"I said kill him! Kill him!"

"Vice-captain! The captain is—"

"The captain's finished, you idiots! There's only one of him! All of you, charge!"

"What are you standing there for! Kill him!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

Only then did the pirates storm at me.

Dodging their sloppily swung sabres, I began lopping off their hands and legs one by one.

"Aaagh!"

"Urgh!"

The pirates dropped one by one, blood spraying as they collapsed.

Within moments, more than ten lay sprawled on the ground, and the rest began inching down the stairs.

Behind them stood the one they called vice-captain.

He had betrayed his fellow mercenaries to become a pirate vice-captain.

Did he think he would come out unharmed?

I grabbed the boot, pulled off the severed leg, tossed it aside, and walked down the hall with just the boot in hand.

The pirates kept getting pushed back as I descended to the first floor.

Downstairs, a mob of pirates awaited.

But I didn't even need to move.

From outside the mansion came screams and shouts.

BOOM—

The front door exploded as Donnie burst in.

Donnie, too, was wielding assassin's twin blades and dove into the midst of the pirates.

"Urgh!"

As torsos and arms were slashed open, blood splattered everywhere.

Some pirates even had their sabres snapped in two.

The difference in the material and forging quality of the blades.

When all the pirates turned to Donnie for a moment,

I, too, cut through arms and legs as I made my way down.

The pirates were now surrounded by just the two of us.

Then the vice-captain shouted,

"Whoever kills these two will get a ship!"

"Vice-captain! Shouldn't we be running?"

"Those guys are too strong!"

Even as a few yelled, four more pirates fell.

In the end, only the vice-captain and ten pirates remained, encircling us.

"Damn it all!"

Some rushed at Donnie, blocking the door. They, too, were cut down, spraying blood as they fell.

Just then, the vice-captain pushed a pirate into Donnie.

As Donnie kicked that pirate away—

The vice-captain darted out the door.

But that was all.

Thud—

A sword lodged into the fleeing vice-captain's back, and he tumbled to the ground.

Donnie casually stepped outside, yanked out the sword, and came back in.

Clang.

With the vice-captain dead, the pirates lost their will to fight, threw down their swords, and surrendered on their knees.

Eight pirates remained.

I sat in front of them.

"How many pirates headed out to sea?"

One pirate answered, trembling,

"If I tell you, will you spare us?"

"I never said I'd kill you."

The pirate glanced at his companions and then spoke.

"A big ship and two small ones are out at sea. What's left: three big ships and four small ones."

"When will those ships return?"

"Two small ones will be back tomorrow. The big ship's far off—it'll take two weeks at least."

"And how many pirates left?"

"About 120."

I sheathed my sword.

"Donnie. Cut them all."

"Damn it! You said you'd spare us!"

Thud—shlick—

Behind me, as I stepped outside, the sounds of bodies falling and hands being cut rang out.

Just as pirates would say when plundering: those who die are simply unlucky.

The castle's buildings were engulfed in Flame.

In the distance, Allen ran around like a madman, setting fires and laughing wildly, a torch in hand.

The plaza was littered with pirates whose bones had been shattered.

There too, the unlucky ones died, while those with broken limbs were comparatively lucky.

Allen had aimed only for the joints so they'd never pirate again.

"Hey! Looks like we're done here, huh?"

Allen threw away his torch and approached.

His face gleamed with sweat and exhilaration.

"Is this what you call adventure?"

"Having fun?"

"More than fun—it's just refreshing. So, got anything else for me to do?"

"Go to the west shore where the pirate landing craft are clustered, and catch the ones trying to escape."

"We're taking their ships, right?"

"That's the plan."

"Alright!"

Allen headed for the castle gates.

I made my way there, too.

Donnie followed.

"I should tell them not to bombard the place."

"Exactly. When the sun comes up, have everyone shift west on the archipelago. They should be able to make it in, avoiding the reefs."

"Understood."

As I left the castle, fishermen, all former mercenaries, came walking up with the swords they'd taken from the drunks.

They bowed deeply in respect. They recognized the boot in my hand as one of the pirate king's relics.

They'd also seen the fire roaring in the castle.

"Incredible."

"Do you recognize all the pirates?"

"Most of them. Wait—did you really get all the pirates left in the castle?"

I nodded.

The fishermen were at a loss for words.

"Some must have gotten away. There's no rush—just find them gradually. For now, gather up those among the villagers who have backgrounds as sailors."

"You mean, those who can operate those ships?"

"Yes. We're going to take all of them."

"Understood."

The mercenaries spread out to various villages.

I headed straight for the market.

Chaos there as well.

People who had nothing were trying to loot whatever they could.

Kids fighting each other over a single piece of bread.

Inside the tavern was pandemonium, too.

Several drunks lay dead on the ground.

The tavern mistress stood with an axe in her hands.

"Huff! Huff! How dare you steal from me?"

I walked over to the bar and sat down.

At that, the tavern mistress finally lowered her axe.

"Whew, out of breath... Are you hungry?"

"Do you have anything to eat?"

"Give me a second. I'll bring out some duck."

She happily disappeared into the kitchen.

Death was such an everyday occurrence here that neither shock nor madness overtook the tavern mistress.

Seems the drunks had rushed the place during all the chaos—lots of top-shelf booze, and probably plenty of them had grudges against the mistress.

"Oh ho! Now they want to set my place on fire? Just try it! I'll have your heads before you even start!"

Her shouts rang out from outside the tavern.

After several rounds of yelling, she brought over a serving of boiled duck.

"Here, eat. It's been a few days since it's been boiled."

"Thanks."

Donnie and I ate the duck.

The mistress dragged corpses out of the tavern and dumped them outside without a care.

"Pretty good, isn't it?"

"It is. Are you alone?"

"I had a husband and a son. The good-for-nothing husband got betrayed and killed while out pirating. My son died to the blade of a drunk who had a grudge against me."

She spoke plainly.

As if it brought neither sadness nor anger.

Then she asked,

"There was fire at the castle. Was it you two?"

"Yes."

"So... what'll become of us?"

"You can just live as you always have. It'll be much better than before."

She brought out a bottle of spirits, filled her cup, then drank it all in a gulp and stared out the tavern door.

"Why did my boy have to go so soon..."

Children were running around outside.

The village almost felt festive, the kids so innocent and lively.

Some women chased after them, too.

But there were still guys walking around with weapons.

I saw one yanking a woman by her hair, dragging her off.

They were trying to escape the island.

"That bastard's at it again!"

As the tavern mistress reached for her axe, Donnie stopped her and went outside.

He cut off the arm of the man dragging the woman.

"Aaagh! That woman's my wife!"

"T-Thank you so much!"

The man, clutching his severed arm, screamed, while the woman bowed deeply and then fled.

There were many men dragging women off like that. So Donnie headed for the shore.

"Wouldn't it be better for the women to live alone?"

"You're telling me. Those bastards never acted like real husbands. We should just be glad if they weren't abusive."

Truthfully, they were never real husbands.

The pirates had kidnapped the women and forced them to live with them.

Of course, the women were better off alone or with children.

"Could I ask you a favor?"

"Go ahead."

"Would you look after the women and children on this island? The fishermen have their own tasks to do."

"I'm just a dumb tavern mistress, you know?"

"But you're also strong. Be the matron of this market and take care of the weak. The drunks will be gone to another island for a while."

"You really think I can do that?"

"Don't worry about income. Within two months, construction crews and workers will arrive here. If you provide them with meals and lodging, that'll make you plenty of money. You can hire other women as well."

Her face brightened immediately.

She must have been deeply worried about making ends meet.

/ / /

By morning, our ships reached the island.

A fisherman who knew the waters guided us safely in.

Though chaos raged late into the night, by dawn the island was peaceful.

Some pirates fled in small fishing boats, and several drunks escaped as well.

I didn't pursue them.

Eventually, they'd set foot on this island again, as workers.

Their pay would be much less than our workers', but at least they wouldn't starve.

I gathered 70 men with sailing experience.

Most were fishermen in their 40s or older, some even elderly.

There were many missing arms.

I asked Mr. Rio,

"There are ex-pirates among you, right?"

"Yes. Folks who turned to piracy in their youth, then quit. We know their characters well."

Most were crew from ships that had been plundered.

They'd endured so much.

"I want to hire all of you as sailors."

No one made a fuss; they just listened intently.

Seems they'd heard what was to come.

"So I need you to man these pirate ships and travel to our territory with us. Later, we'll refit them as trade ships, and then you can all serve as trade ship sailors."

"Is becoming a sailor mandatory?"

"This trip only, you just need to help operate the ships. After that, I won't interfere with what you choose to do. You could come back here and work as a miner, or go back to being a fisherman."

"I've had enough of catching fish!"

"Hahaha!"

It varied by age group.

No doubt the elderly found it tough to sail.

"I also plan to develop this archipelago as a retreat, so the older folks can run inns. As you know, there are plenty of hot springs here."

The old men's faces brightened.

Others did, too.

Looking them over, I continued,

"I promise you here and now: We will drive out the pirates completely, and even if they try to come back, they'll never set foot here again."

They nodded.

I was intentionally giving a speech.

Because these were people who had lived without hope.

"Lastly, it doesn't matter to me where you live. But if you become one of us, you'll all become wealthy. If I were you, I'd build a house here, and another in my hometown."

"Hahaha!"

They burst out laughing, but soon it went silent.

Maybe it was the mention of home.

A good number had tears in their eyes.

"No matter what you do, our merchant guild will support you. Now you can live doing reasonable work and enjoy life. You all deserve it."

A few older men bowed deeply.

Then the whole line of sailors expressed their thanks just as respectfully.

It was a gratitude no words could ever relay.

Around noon, two small pirate ships returned.

They came in on landing craft, knowing nothing, and our crew cut off all their arms and legs.

Same for the pirates who remained on the ship.

While some came ashore on landing craft, others from our crew, lying in wait, slipped onto the pirate ships.

Those whose limbs were cut yesterday got the same treatment.

At most, we treated them with hemostatic powder. Now only one ship remained, and around sixty pirates.

Next, we forcibly shipped the pirates and drunks to another island.

Then we ordered them to dig for coal until it was found, telling them they wouldn't survive without their wages.

The fishermen took charge of watching them.

We had more than enough to pay their wages.

In the mansion basement was Red Beard's treasure vault, stocked with enough wealth for the archipelago's whole development plan, and more.

I left just a thousand silver behind and loaded everything else onto our ship.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"We're the grateful ones."

"Here, take this."

I handed Mr. Rio Red Beard's boots.

"It'll take some getting used to, but once you do, the pirates will be no match for you."

He thanked me in silence.

It was decent magic gear, but honestly, wearing it was uncomfortable.

I'd rather just take some top-rank agility potion.

"We set sail soon! Board the ship!"

The ships preparing to leave with us lined up in a row.

Landing craft made for the ships.

Three large vessels, six small.

It was an unexpected windfall.

Now, we truly were a merchant fleet.