Chapter 151
Chapter 151
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Infiltration at Dawn Harbor
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Heave-ho!"
The fishermen hauled up the net with practiced ease.
"Pull it out, pull it out!"
Fish filled the net emerging from beneath the sea's surface, piled high.
It was an abundant catch, but in Dawn Harbor, such hauls weren't all that rare.
Despite its serene name, the waters here were notoriously treacherous, which was exactly why it was a fisherman's paradise teeming with all sorts of catches.
"Ugh, damn it! What's the point of pulling in this many when the Khan Empire pigs will just devour them all anyway?"
The fisherman Taya grumbled, and the others around him gave wry smiles.
"Hey now, Taya! Watch your mouth! What if those words reach the ears of the higher-ups?!"
Captain Sari Yul scolded him, but Taya stood his ground.
"Let 'em hear, damn it! Hell, those noble bastards aren't shedding blood and guts for the kingdom when they should be! Instead, they're cozying up to those Khan Empire scum. I don't even want to live in this shithole country anymore!"
Thwack!
Still fuming, Taya hurled the net to the deck and huffed.
"Sheesh, that temper of yours..."
Sari Yul clicked his tongue, choosing not to prolong the argument.
He didn't want the sparks flying his way.
Sari Yul let out a quiet sigh.
The old Pang Kingdom hadn't been like this.
The Khan Empire's exploitation was ever-present, but at least the kingdom's leaders had pulled together with one heart to make the nation prosperous.
But had they reached their limit?
Despite their endless efforts, nothing had changed in recent years, and weary nobles had begun turning pro-Khan one by one.
Everything's hardest at the start.
Watching the first to deal with the Khan Empire live lavishly like flaunting it had cracked the dam, leading to a flood of turncoats.
Like a drizzle soaking clothes, the Khan Empire's influence had ensnared nearly thirty percent of the nobles in under three years.
And Beltaron territory, home to Dawn Harbor, was among them.
"What could the lords have done..."
Yet elders like Sari Yul felt resentment but couldn't bring themselves to stone them.
They knew how desperately those nobles had struggled in their youth to escape the Khan Empire's shadow.
Of course, they hated the current situation just as much.
The Pang Kingdom felt like a clichéd doomed nation, with nobles and commoners tearing at each other.
'What will become of this country? Tsk, tsk...'
As Sari Yul inwardly clicked his tongue, Taya's tirade showed no sign of stopping.
"Goddamn it, even if they're incompetent, we'd forgive them if they worked hard. But if all that frantic effort just ends up sucking the common folk dry, then those nobles are better off gone!"
"Hey, you! Don't you have a filter?!"
Just as they were about to reprimand Taya for his increasingly dangerous words...
Screeech...!!
The fishermen spotted a battered ship limping toward the shore.
"W-what the hell? It's like a ghost ship..."
Taya and a few young fishermen recoiled in horror to the edge of the deck.
The seas around Dawn Harbor were so rough that only a handful of locals dared venture out.
For superstitious fishermen, a creepy vessel approaching from such waters was terrifying.
"Tsk tsk, all that size and no guts. It's a shipwreck survivor."
"A-a shipwreck? In these waters?"
Taya snapped out of it at Sari Yul's jab.
"You young ones might not know, but the currents around here are brutal. Back in the day, ships smuggling over the Baekra Mountains to the northern continent would wash up now and then. Didn't expect any fools still trying that nowadays..."
Sari Yul said while sorting the net Taya had tossed.
"We've got a good haul already. Let's head in. Those wrecks often carry bloated corpses that'll haunt your dreams. Best to let them sink on their own."
At Sari Yul's words, Taya and the young fishermen hurriedly packed up.
Though full of youthful vigor, they were greenhorns who'd never seen real blood.
The spot where Sari Yul, Taya, and the Pang Kingdom fishermen had departed.
The sun, dipping lazily beyond the horizon, had long vanished into the sea.
Screeech... creak...
The ship the fishermen had dubbed a ghost vessel had miraculously stayed afloat and reached the shore after all that time.
But it wasn't the only surprise.
Thud!
Contrary to Sari Yul's expectation of swollen, gruesome corpses, lively figures—though thoroughly soaked—emerged stealthily from the hatch below.
Confirming no one around, they darted toward the sparsely populated foothills.
Their faint footprints on the sand soon vanished under the crashing waves.
Aside from the half-rotted ship, the shore bore no trace.
Anyone seeing it would assume it had drifted in wrecked—no one would suspect uninvited guests had set foot on the land.
Right.
"...What the hell are those guys? Sneaking into Dawn Harbor in the dead of night?"
Except for one man lounging against a tree midway up the mountain, who'd watched it all while scratching his belly.
"...Can't just let this slide. Gotta report to Lord Veltaran."
Stopping his scratching, the man bolted off somewhere.
The foothills of Beltaron territory, where Dawn Harbor lay, were deserted unlike the bustling port.
Inevitable, since Beltaron's mountains marked the gateway to the Baekra Mountains.
In other words, bandit territory—no Pang Kingdom citizen dared approach.
But conversely...
If you evaded the bandits' eyes, it was the perfect spot to conduct shady business unseen.
"Ugh... damn, my stomach's still churning."
"Want some water?"
"Nah... even water might make me puke right now..."
"Tsk tsk, a big lug like you being this weak? A true warrior endures like me... urgh."
Aelion, teasing the heaving Ralph, got jabbed in the ribs by Byona in embarrassment.
His face instantly paled—confident words aside, he hadn't fully shaken off his seasickness either.
That's right.
The "ghost ship" Sari Yul had pegged was the vessel Ian and the Latent Dragon Squad had used to infiltrate the Pang Kingdom.
Despite the brutal route and weather nearly turning them into fish food multiple times, they'd overcome every peril and barely reached Dawn Harbor.
"So, boss, you gonna tell us now? Why ditch the perfectly fine Silver Harp and sneak into the Pang Kingdom like this?"
Ryu An Pallkion asked Ian while patting Ralph's back.
"I get sneaking in— the Khan Empire controls the Pang Kingdom so tightly that if your Eastern Continent business ties to here, normal entry might complicate the mission."
The Pang Kingdom's centuries of subjugation were infamous across Agena.
As was their fierce enmity toward the Khan Empire.
"But we're already here. What's the need for this much caution even after arriving?"
It made no sense.
If it was to check the Khan Empire, the kingdom's mood would welcome cooperation, not obstruction.
Why this hassle?
Faces gaunt from seasickness, no one had voiced it, but like Ryu An, they all puzzled over it, ears perked for Ian's answer.
"Fair point. Most Pang citizens hate the Khan Empire, true. But it changes with the nobles."
Recalling his past chat with Viscount Sojen in Shurton, Ian turned to Aelion instead.
"Aelion. You've tasted broken hopes recently. You know what happens when the human spirit cracks."
"...Ouch, brutal. Rubbing salt in the wound right now?"
Aelion, slumped against Byona, dropped his playful facade for a bitter look.
"Shitty feeling. Before the Earth Dragon subjugation, I trusted that hag Drakellas to save Byona... but she washed her hands of it. When hope shatters, well... you know, I had to backstab to survive. No other way. But why bring that up?"
Ian nodded slightly at Aelion's reply and continued.
"Like you said, when desperate hope breaks, people choose one of two paths: cling to it relentlessly or turn to an easier one in despair."
Seeking the easy path wasn't always wrong.
For Aelion then, betraying the Great Curtain was the only way to save Byona.
The Pang nobles were the same.
For centuries, the Pang Kingdom had united and endured.
Believing someday they'd topple the Khan Empire.
That a patriot hero would emerge to save them from agony.
They'd endured and strived for hundreds of years.
Building academies to nurture talent without class bias.
Trusting a savior would arise to break free.
But no hero came.
Or rather, Pang's talents never outshone the Khan Empire's.
Pang had its share of geniuses.
But for every one in Pang, the Khan Empire produced ten or twenty matches.
Their self-funded struggles to build national strength ended in惨め defeat.
The diamond-hard resolve of Pang nobles slowly eroded.
Like rock worn by waves, bit by bit.
"The Khan Empire has waited for Pang to surrender willingly. They believe true conquest comes from the heart. But Grand Duke Kaidu Ballak thought differently."
Sword Saint, Kaidu Ballak.
The most belligerent of the Four Heroes, with a volatile temper.
Harboring inferiority toward Hero King Siegfried Dupel.
Unable to stomach failing to unify the East like Dupel, he chose a swifter path.
"Kaidu began bribing Pang nobles."
"...What? Bribing?"
The shocking revelation left the Latent Dragon Squad gaping.
Who were the Four Heroes?
The righteous saviors who liberated the North from the tyrannical Hegemon Lucas Alexei.
Yet the Sword Saint Kaidu Ballak was inciting treason among weak nobles?
"Wait, hold on."
Ralph swallowed dryly, interjecting.
"This is weird. Even if the Sword Saint did that—which is suspect already—the Khan Empire has an emperor. Isn't this blatant overreach?"
"Yeah, exactly. I thought the same."
Ian had figured likewise.
The ancient Khan Empire prided itself on dignity.
Its insidious system of willing submission was national pride; even Kaidu Ballak wouldn't dare tamper without imperial approval.
But Kaidu boldly went rogue, and his policy worked wonders.
For Pang nobles whose spirits were cracking, his riches were irresistible sweets.
Even if it meant becoming traitors instead of reviving the kingdom.
"Viscount Ramoel, lord of this Beltaron, fell to Kaidu's schemes. If he knew we entered for a Pang-related mission, he'd capture and hand us to the Khan Empire immediately. Claiming audacious foes of the Empire tried sneaking in."
"...My god..."
The squad couldn't hide their shock.
Never imagined the revered Sword Saint had such ugly pettiness.
"Wait, something's off. Even if the Khan Empire controls Pang, treason crosses a line. Surely some refused? If the Sword Saint schemed this, why let it slide?"
"Simple reason."
As Dane questioned the oddity, the answer came not from Ian, but from behind the foothills.