Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Wintering (3) - Free Up to Here
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After leaving word with Roald to contact them if anything came up, the two boarded a ship.
Since this was a personal errand, they decided to hitch a ride on a decent merchant vessel this time.
Once the church officially recognized them for capturing the pirate boss, several merchants had boldly set sail for the Dawn Archipelago. Finding passage wasn't difficult.
Inside the cabin, Galen brought up the new commission.
"Remember when we left the Dawn Archipelago last time? We were in such a rush that we left the ship behind, right?"
"The ship?"
"The pirate ship."
"Oh, the one we salvaged?"
"Yeah. Back then, some of Banan's influential family heads said they wanted to buy it."
"Buy it? From you, Brother?"
Lilia's eyes filled with question marks, but after a moment, she finally understood.
"Pirates' property doesn't need protecting, so their ships naturally became yours?"
"Truth be told, I didn't leave the pirate ship specifically to claim it..."
Galen's plan had been to prioritize capturing the Seven first, so he hadn't wanted to waste mana on the grunts.
As a result, rather than blowing up the ships entirely, he'd casually dropped Lilia on a small one to clean it up while he handled a mid-sized one himself—finishing things quickly.
Thinking back, that was exactly how you'd seize a ship from pirates.
They'd dismissed it as robbing penniless bandits who stole from others anyway—what good would that do?—forgetting that pirates had ships.
"If the family heads see it as my ship, no need to correct them."
"I thought you donated it or something."
"Maybe if they were poor. But family heads are richer than me."
"Oh, right?"
"A mercenary earning money through hard work is one thing. A family professionally turning a profit is another league entirely."
Ten billion won in a personal account is a fortune, but ten billion in a company's vault means bankruptcy worries.
Same principle. A family prominent enough to be called influential in a city supports dozens of retainers at minimum, running large-scale operations in agriculture, commerce, or mining.
Even lowballing it, they'd have thousands of gold coins.
Of course, in a port city, much of that wealth was in ships—and all of it had gone up in smoke, so the damage was real.
But Galen wasn't strong-arming them; they wanted to buy first, so they had cash tucked away.
"And Lady Lilia needs to start saving too."
"Me? Really?"
"We caught the pirates together. That means she has a share in the pirate ships."
"But you did almost all the work, Brother. I don't need a cut..."
"Money's better the more you have. You need to know how to claim your share. Commissions in the frontier got treated like traps because you never nailed down payment."
"Ugh."
Lilia winced at the sore spot. Galen chuckled and continued.
"I'm not planning to gouge the family heads. Sell at a fair price—they get ships they need, you get cash to use wisely later. Most troubles can be solved with money."
"Th-then... handle it fairly, please!"
She was still far from eagerly grabbing gold, but Galen wasn't trying to turn her into a pirate anyway, so he let it slide.
"Got it. We'll apply the same to the new commission."
"The one you mentioned? Helping people, training, and earning money?"
"Right. We took out the Seven, but pirates are still around, and the fleet meant to fight them got smashed."
"True."
"Building ships takes months, even rushing. That's why the family heads want them—they need ships now."
"Aha."
"So we'll stick around the Dawn Archipelago a bit, raid a few more pirates. People benefit from fewer pirates, family heads get extra ships, and we make money. Win-win-win."
"Sounds great!"
Lilia jumped at the 'helping people' part more than the money.
"But where's the training? Fighting pirates won't help much, right?"
"Water's out. So fire training instead. Not against pirates—against you, Lady Lilia."
"Oh, that. I'm game anytime!"
"Looking forward to it."
"Yes!"
Upon arriving at the Dawn Archipelago, the eagerly awaiting family heads welcomed Galen enthusiastically.
The ships he'd brought were six mid-sized vessels and twenty-five small ones.
Haggling didn't take long. Galen coolly set mid-sized at four hundred gold each, small ones at a hundred.
"F-five... five th-thousand gold..."
It was enough to make even money-averse Lilia's eyes spin.
Seeing the family heads beaming and bowing, she whispered,
"D-did you threaten them or something?!"
"Huh?"
"They're smiling after dropping that much gold!"
"Because it's a steal."
"It doesn't feel cheap!"
"It's dirt cheap. I checked prices in Belpas. New mid-sized runs at least twelve hundred gold—fifteen hundred with good materials."
"That expensive?"
"Ships are like that. But they last decades. Used ones don't depreciate much. Pirate ships aren't pristine, but I sold at under half price—I'm taking the loss, objectively."
Still, haggling full price from pirate victims looked bad; generosity played better.
Plus, with more ships to sell, high prices meant fewer buyers. Better to price low for quick sales.
In exchange—sort of—they provided various conveniences.
Over the Dawn Archipelago sea chart they'd obtained, Galen huddled with Lilia.
"Too many islets for accurate charts. They admit it's incomplete."
"This many marked, and still missing some?"
"Even so, pirate hotspots point to likely bases here." Galen circled the eastern section.
"Heavy reliance on western mainland trade means sparser population eastward. Rough currents, uninhabited isles—perfect pirate hideouts."
"Search there?"
"Pirates will lie low for now, but not forever. Patrolling should spot them, then use the Seven's method."
"Grab the captain, storm the base?"
"Exactly."
"Great! How do we go?"
"All arranged."
They'd packed for camping from the start—not leisure travel. They boarded a ship provided by the influencers. (One Galen had sold, incidentally.)
After sailing to the easternmost marked village...
"We'll wait here then."
"Might take a while—rest up!"
They left the ship at the village and boarded a small boat.
A bit larger and sturdier than standard.
Still a rowboat. Searching seas on a sail-less dinghy was suicidal normally—you'd be the prey, not the hunter. Drifting at best.
But a magic-powered boat circled islands effortlessly.
No need for Water Flow Manipulation alone now. Spirits could buoy and propel it.
"Nothing here..."
"Oh, an island there!"
"Not on the chart."
They skimmed islands casually, breaking for meals on visible ones.
Lilia, who'd only hunted pests before, moved fast enough to chase and snag rabbits wildly.
No need to hunt streams—Galen drew water, snapped branches, dried them, ignited. Campfire done.
Post-meal sparring for exercise.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
No onlookers, so Vanity Inferno freely unleashed.
Fireballs exploded in sequence, targeting Lilia.
"Feels too weak!"
"Sacrificing power for speed—to land one hit."
"One hit with no damage is pointless, no?"
"Fair point..."
Bronze-level spell hitting Gold bishop effectively? Weirder otherwise.
Anyway, they'd drain Vanity Inferno's mana fully, hop back aboard, repeat island sweeps.
Sunset: camp on a suitable isle, overnight.
Caves ideal, but not necessary.
"Whoa, spirits like this too?"
"No one's watching."
Like blocking Moritz's spell: enlarge spirit to lid-like dome.
No need for excessive thickness now—just broad enough for space.
Water igloo? Blocked winter winds made it cozy.
Unlimited water and fire meant hot tea luxuries.
Indoor winter camping vibe.
Still rougher than warm beds, sure.
Flash!
Lilia's miracles covered that. Galen never caught so much as a cold.
They'd traveled Abaca to Belpas before, but island-hopping felt fresh versus road trips.
No deadlines—pure relaxation.
"Pirate ship there!"
Days later, they finally spotted one.
"Guide us to your base."
"Like hell I w—gack!"
"Next? Follow your captain?"
"I'll guide you! Spare my life!"
The base they threatened out yielded modest results.
Too shabby—turns out post-Seven, pirates scattered, reverting to survival mode.
This was just one splinter group's hole.
"Back to 'too annoying to wipe out' days, not because they're strong."
"Still nabbed a few ships!"
"Back to village for crew first."
Not instant sweep, but repeatable.
Over a month and a half...
Galen and Lilia found and crushed six bases total.
They donated pirate hoards too. Ship sales already overflowed coffers.
One gripe: pirates hid more desperately, searches tougher.
But enough done.
Dozens of pirate ships captured, bolstering Dawn Archipelago's navy to handle pirates independently.
Above all, Galen personally thrilled with results.
"You two. Message from Belpas Diocese."
Roald's letter reached them via Banan.
Vanity Inferno Lv.55
Progress to next level: 12%
Galen had reached Gold rank with his third spell.