Chapter 248
Chapter 248
Iron Emperor — Chapter 248
Gerard, having momentarily regained his composure, was listening to the story Risel was relaying.
[So what you're saying is.]
"My head's about to split open. What's so damned complicated about it?"
[*Sigh.* The homeland considers it the best course of action.]
He had received many communications from the homeland, but never before had the person on the other end sighed so heavily.
Gerard understood the gravity of the situation and said nothing more, merely nodding his head.
"So you're saying, if the Holy Empire's fleet sails, we are to pursue them."
[That's right. If you can't manage that, the defense will become far more difficult.]
"Damn it. The Holy Empire at last. It does feel a little early, though..."
[I'm counting on you.]
At Risel's request, a faint smile touched Gerard's lips, and he answered heartily.
"Understood. Don't worry about the sea, and please send my regards to His Majesty the Yeolje. Tell him Gerard curses him every night and asks whether he's enjoying being the only one who got married."
[Sir Gerard, that's...]
"A joke. A joke."
[I heard all of it.]
"..."
Inside the crystal orb, Go Jin-cheon's figure was visible behind Risel.
"I'm jinxed..."
He'd switched to magic communication after getting burned by the hobgoblin communication system, yet his ordeal showed no sign of ending.
* * *
The next day, Gerard assembled the captains drawn primarily from the Gauri fleet. They were better suited for military operations rather than simple plunder, after all.
Some thirty warship captains, gathered around Fleet Commander Jang Bogo, listened intently to Gerard. As Gerard explained that the current situation could become far more serious, the captains' eyes began to sharpen.
"From now on, all prize-taking will be conducted near the Federal Empire. The rest of our vessels will be committed to patrol duty. Any questions?"
"None!"
The captains answered Gerard's question with fighting spirit.
"Then move out at once. Fleet Commander Jang, come with me."
"Understood."
Once the captains had left, Gerard walked on with Jang Bogo in tow.
*Step, step.*
"Damn it. Sticking to me like a magnet."
"Ha ha, what does it matter? It's all good fortune for the Commander-in-Chief."
At the small footsteps still following behind him, Gerard scowled and grumbled, and Bogo burst out laughing at his reaction.
"Fortune, my ass. A stinking, rotten fortune."
*Step, step.*
Behind Gerard, who was pouring out his grievances against the world, and Jang Bogo, who followed laughing his head off, the sound of someone else's footsteps still echoed softly.
* * *
When they reached the basin at the island's center, several hundred people were cultivating crops.
"How's this year's harvest looking?"
"Looks like we'll have more than enough to feed ourselves, with plenty left over."
"Food isn't the problem—we need to stockpile for emergencies. Disguise ourselves as a trading company and buy up grain little by little from other regions. If war breaks out with the Holy Empire, we may have to fight on land instead of only at sea."
Jang Bogo nodded at Gerard's order.
"How's the training going?"
"They're following along decently. If we had to face a regular army, we'd match them at worst, and certainly wouldn't fall short."
The strength Gerard and Jang Bogo had cultivated here over time was immense. Including not only the ships swindled and stolen from the Federal Empire but also the new vessels built and refitted by Gauri shipwrights, they could hold their own against the Maritime Empire.
Of course, they'd be at a disadvantage if it turned into a prolonged war.
On top of that, they possessed over fifty turtle ships—invincible assault vessels unique to them alone, found nowhere else.
As a result, though, Giant Crabs could no longer be found in the surrounding waters. Even setting the fleet aside, their population alone had reached 120,000. It was a massive force, surpassing one-tenth of the Gauri homeland's population. Fifty thousand of those were combat troops. The remainder were women and children.
There were a few elderly people too, but literally only a few. That was because they hadn't been settled here all that long.
All this time, they'd been training a portion of their forces—excluding those deployed aboard the pirate vessels—as troops skilled in land warfare.
It was partly to utilize surplus manpower, but also Gerard's judgment in preparing for the future. If they intended to live only on the sea, that would be one thing, but were they not commanders of Gauri?
Up until now, Gerard's fleet's top-priority targets had been slave ships; next came warships or armed merchantmen carrying iron, followed by treasure-laden vessels.
Their steady seizure of slave ships had produced substantial population growth. And though their life was little different from piracy, it was better than being enslaved. Moreover, this place had now taken the shape of a small city, lacking for nothing.
In fact, with everyone practically competing to decorate their homes with plundered goods, in many respects it was better appointed than most small and mid-sized cities.
All of these measures had been preparations for the future.
And now, having formally entered into a lord-vassal relationship with the Kingdom of Haian, they would soon be entering port openly and proudly.
"Heh! The Gerard Privateer Fleet..."
Gazing at the fleets riding the swell of the blue sea, Gerard felt himself drawing ever closer to his goal.
"Yeah. Who needs the land, anyway?"
The corners of Gerard's mouth crept upward.
"Win gloriously in this war against the Holy Empire, and live like a king upon the sea!"
Clenching both fists, Gerard thrust his arms toward the sky and let out a roar.
"I am the King of the Sea! Gerard!"
Gerard's grand cry surged over the blue waves and echoed out toward the horizon.
* * *
"Hmm. It seems I've been working Gerard too hard after all."
Go Jin-cheon let out a short sigh as he gazed at the now-dark crystal orb.
"He's been working nonstop all this time, hasn't he?"
"He has."
When Risel agreed with Jin-cheon's words, Jin-cheon turned his head and looked in the direction of the sea.
"I feel like I can almost hear Gerard shouting."
"Ha ha, surely that can't be possible."
"Just a feeling, that's all."
After exchanging jokes with Risel, Jin-cheon quietly spoke up, as if he'd made a decision.
"Once this war with the Holy Empire is over, I'll have to bring Gerard back. Let him smell the earth again for a change."
"An excellent idea, Your Majesty."
"Instead..."
Jin-cheon's eyes narrowed.
"I'll have to send that rascal Gurajaengi. I saw him fishing before; he's pretty good at it."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Risel merely burst out laughing.
* * *
Walking toward the lake with their fishing rods over their shoulders, Buyeo Gi-yul and his two fellow trainees spotted Gye Ung-sam heading the other way, raised their rods, and called out.
"Won't you join us for some fishing?"
"Are you out of your minds?!"
Buyeo Gi-yul shrank back at Gye Ung-sam's testy reaction.
"Hmph. You could've just said no."
"You damned bastards! During the Roselin War, I caught more than ten thousand fish as punishment on His Majesty the Yeolje's orders! Is there a single bastard in the entire expeditionary force who didn't eat the fish I caught?!"
"Touched a nerve."
They slowly edged away from Ung-sam's hysterical outburst.
"Damn it. Even if I were stranded on an island starving to death, I wouldn't fish. Hell, I won't even go near water anymore, goddammit."
Ung-sam was displaying a new aversion born of painful memories.
Chapter 80 — O! Gerard, Lord of My Soul
*Step, step.*
"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with my luck?"
Again today, there were footsteps quietly following behind Gerard.
It had already been over two months of being followed like this. All that time he'd subjected his follower to endless harassment and abuse, but the footsteps trailing behind him showed no sign of fading away.
"Damn it."
The heavens were unfair.
It had been a fine, sunny day two months ago.
"What is it this time?"
"Giant Crab, Multi-Purpose Feed Set: 2 Gold, 9 Silver, 99 Copper."
"..."
Gerard's Siren Wife Project, even after more than a decade, burned on as fiercely as a never-setting sun.
The absurd thing was, every time he was on the verge of giving up, a human-Siren couple would inevitably be born.
But there had been a decisive incident: Chunsam, the first man to win a Siren wife, had acquired a second Siren wife. And it had happened right when Gerard had scattered bait modeled after a Siren to lure a Giant Crab—a Siren had approached out of curiosity, and at that very moment!
A passing Giant Crab had spotted the Siren!
Chunsam had naturally taken care of everything after that and succeeded in gaining his second Siren wife.