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Chapter 167: Pirates (2)

“Did you confirm it?”

“Yes.”

At Aquaz’s question, Ketal nodded.

“The pirates have settled and are staying within the territory.”

The buildings across the main road of the territory were incongruous.

Compared to other buildings, they were dirtier, and the quality of the people didn’t seem very good.

It was only natural.

The ones staying there were not citizens but pirates.

“Seeing that they’ve even built buildings and stayed, it looks like it’s been over a year. The name ‘pirate’ would cry.”

“Is that so?”

Aquaz ground her teeth.

It became even clearer.

This territory was colluding with pirates.

She spoke with a devastated expression.

“How could the lord, who should protect the city and uphold the law, accept and trade with pirates… This is unacceptable.”

She declared sharply.

“I will expose all your crimes. I will call the Sun God’s inquisitor. You will receive the punishment you deserve for your sins.”

“No!”

The lord shouted with a very aggrieved expression.

“The king has permitted it! Everything is already settled! It’s not a problematic matter as the inquisitor says!”

“The king permitted it! That’s impossible!”

Aquaz dismissed the lord’s excuse.

Ketal’s voice was heard by her.

“Is that so? I think there’s a possibility.”

“What, what?”

Aquaz’s expression wavered at the unexpected words.

The lord, who didn’t expect the barbarian to defend him, also widened his eyes.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Ketal said leisurely.

He looked at the lord.

“Dorban Vulcan, you said. I’ll ask you. Among the territories along the coast, how many deal with pirates?”

“Quite a few. There are hardly any cities that don’t.”

The lord answered quickly.

Ketal smiled.

“As expected.”

“That’s nonsense!”

Aquaz denied sharply.

“How can territories collude with pirates! Ketal, do you believe that excuse?”

“I don’t see a reason not to.”

“….”

Aquaz’s eyes narrowed.

Ketal was siding with the lord.

He was defending an obvious collusion with evil.

“…Ketal. Are you defending evil?”

A chilling gaze was directed at him.

The atmosphere cooled sharply.

Aquaz’s gaze at Ketal was like that of an inquisitor judging heresy.

‘What the hell is going on!’

Baker screamed internally, caught in the middle.

He thought they would just scold the lord and be done, but Ketal suddenly intervened, distorting the atmosphere.

He prayed with an anxious face for Ketal to step back.

“It’s the face of an inquisitor. It’s the first time it’s directed at me.”

However, Ketal seemed rather amused by Aquaz’s reaction.

“I’m not defending. I’m just stating simple facts. If you’re so doubtful, you can ask the Sun God’s power directly.”

“…Fine. Lord. I ask you. Under the great Sun, all shadows are erased. Are your words the truth?”

It was the Sun God’s commandment.

One could not speak lies and could only utter the truth.

Aquaz was certain that words opposite to what the lord had been saying would come out.

But when the lord opened his mouth, her belief was shattered.

“Yes. Most coastal cities are dealing with pirates. Only a few are not.”

“…What?”

The sinking atmosphere shattered.

Aquaz’s face was filled with bewilderment.

Baker also looked surprised.

“The territory trades with pirates?”

“No, that can’t be.”

Aquaz denied it, but her words lacked strength.

With the Sun God’s commandment enforced, lies couldn’t be spoken.

The lord’s words were the truth.

“Why…?”

As the lord quickly tried to speak, Ketal spoke first.

“The reason is simple. The sea is vast. And in that vast sea, countless pirates exist. The country tries to control them, but it’s difficult.”

Unlike land, where soldiers could be moved freely, it was different at sea.

To go to sea, the navy had to be summoned first.

However, since they had to stay at sea for several months, it was not easy to recruit people.

At sea, it was hard to receive supplies, so they had to load a lot of food and supplies on the ship in advance, and the quality would inevitably decline.

There were countless environmental variables, such as rough waves and the open sea.

Moreover, if the pirates crossed into another country’s waters, they couldn’t be touched.

From the country’s perspective, it was difficult to control the sea completely.

“In contrast, it’s not so difficult for pirates.”

Pirates, living at sea, were skilled at navigation.

They weren’t protected by law, but conversely, they had no reason to be bound by it either.

They could resupply through plunder and, if necessary, escape to another country’s waters.

Even in modern times, with advanced technology, it was troublesome.

In a medieval setting, it was even more so.

“That doesn’t mean it makes sense not to use the sea.”

The sea was the most cost-effective means of distribution.

Despite the risk of pirate attacks, its value was more than enough to justify its use.

However, ignoring pirates entirely was not an option, so coastal countries found themselves in a tough spot.

Aquaz, who was about to argue, closed her mouth.

She quietly listened to Ketal’s words.

“Well, that doesn’t mean the pirates live peaceful lives either.”

It was fundamentally a precarious life.

If a raid failed, they starved to death on the ship.

Even if they succeeded in plundering, they couldn’t dispose of valuables like gold and silver on the ship.

So, they needed to sell the plundered goods.

“Then who would they sell it to?”

“…The coastal cities.”

Aquaz muttered.

Ketal nodded.

“That’s right. Pirates would sell the goods plundered from merchant ships to merchants in nearby cities.”

From the merchants’ perspective, there was no reason to refuse.

They could buy large quantities of goods at an unbeatable price.

Refusing would be disqualifying as a merchant.

“….”

Aquaz wanted to argue.

She would refuse.

She would catch and punish the pirates on the spot.

But she wasn’t foolish.

She knew most merchants would close their eyes and accept the trade.

“But those are stolen goods.”

Aquaz argued, but her voice lacked its previous strength.

Ketal answered leisurely.

“The moment it enters the merchant’s hands, it becomes something he rightfully purchased.”

It was a form of laundering.

And those goods would invigorate the city.

That peculiar relationship must have been very old.

It probably continued since the birth of pirates.

Ketal asked the lord.

“Is that right?”

“Y-Yes.”

“As expected.”

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

He had knowledge of history accumulated from Earth.

Therefore, he knew that in the past, pirates often colluded with territories for numerous transactions.

It wasn’t a difficult guess for him.

But it wasn’t so for the lord.

‘How can this barbarian know so perfectly?’

The current relationship between pirates and territories was formed after many conflicts.

It wasn’t an ancient history but a current issue.

It wasn’t long ago.

The number of organized books on the matter was very few, and even if they existed, they weren’t open to the public.

In other words, unless one lived in a coastal city, they wouldn’t know why this form of relationship was established.

In fact, it was only after hearing Ketal’s explanation that the magician from the tower and the Sun God’s inquisitor understood.

Not because they were foolish, but because it was hard to grasp the local circumstances without knowing the background.

This barbarian understood it perfectly.

Even better than the lord of the coastal city.

‘What kind of person is he?’

The lord looked at Ketal in disbelief.

Aquaz, who had been silent, spoke up.

“…I understand.”

The merchants of the territory traded with the pirates.

And those goods circulated in the territory.

Though hard to accept, Aquaz understood that such things happened often.

“But even so, this territory is a different matter.”

The Vulcan territory had pirates who even built buildings and settled down.

It went beyond simple trading.

“That’s not so surprising either. It’s a continuation of mutual interests.”

As long as the pirates’ activity areas existed, they would keep meeting the same pirates.

As they continued trading, they would naturally become acquainted and develop a rapport.

Sometimes, even if they came to raid, they would leave seeing the merchant’s face.

As such events repeated, both pirates and merchants would start to think the same thing.

They would make a contract.

Pirates would not touch the merchant’s ship and would even protect it.

In return, they would sell the plundered goods only to that merchant.

A perfect symbiotic relationship was formed.

Then the territory had no reason to remain indifferent.

Practically, the pirates had become their allies, so they provided them with lodging, shelter, and daily necessities.

“…Is that really possible?”

Baker looked puzzled.

Though the explanation sounded plausible, it was hard to believe that a territory and pirates could collude in such a way.

“It’s not that difficult. There might even be pirates who have received titles from the country.”

Baker’s eyes widened.

“Pi-Pirates receiving titles?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

The lord quickly said.

“Not here, but in a neighboring kingdom, a pirate who donated many supplies was granted a title and given governance over a city he frequently visited. I believe he still rules there.”

“Oh, really?”

Ketal’s face showed curiosity.

He knew that pirates had been granted titles during the days of the British Empire.

He wondered how things were here, and it seemed similar situations occurred.

‘People everywhere are pretty much the same.’

He felt delighted.

He liked fantasy, but he also loved Earth’s history.

It felt like he was in the middle of history.

The lord, on the other hand, was just bewildered.

‘How does he know all this?’

Could he be pretending to be a barbarian while actually being a kingdom official on patrol?

The amount of information he possessed made it seem plausible.

“Well… it seems this territory is in a similar situation. Since the kingdom intervened, it appears the nation itself permitted it.”

“Y-Yes,”

The lord replied with a face full of resignation.

Aquaz remained silent.

After a while, she spoke in a trembling voice.

“The nation itself… colluded with pirates…?”

“It’s not that unusual. It’s a kind of gray area. Such situations aren’t limited to pirates.”

There were countless cases of employing criminals with exceptional skills for cleanup jobs or hiring capable war criminals to send them to the frontier battlefields.

Aquaz was shocked once again by Ketal’s words.

“How… how could such things…?”

“What, you didn’t know at all?”

“N-No, I didn’t.”

She had always followed the orders of her church.

And the Church of the Sun God had never shown her these gray areas of the world.

The church, considering her a highly promising talent, had decided there was no need to confuse her by showing her these things.

“Oh?”

And Ketal, realizing this, smirked.

‘So, the churches here also control information for their followers.’

This wasn’t much different from Earth either.

Ketal felt amused.

Aquaz remained silent, clearly shocked.

After a while, she finally spoke up.

“But… it’s still evil.”

“It’s a nuanced evil.”

“It’s not nuanced. Even if most cities practice it, even if the nation permits it, evil is still evil.”

She was an inquisitor of the Sun God.

Her duty was to eradicate the shadows, the domains untouched by the sun.

“My duty does not change.”

The lord’s face, which had been relieved thinking the matter was resolved, gradually hardened.

“I will not back down. Evil is evil.”

This was the answer formed by Aquaz’s identity and values, built since childhood, her education, and her achievements as an inquisitor.

She fortified her resolve.

“I see.”

Ketal nodded.

“Then, you are prepared to accept this territory’s destruction.”

And with Ketal’s words, her resolve was easily shaken.

“What? Destruction of the territory? Why are you saying such things?”

“Didn’t I say I would explain?”

Seeing Aquaz react as expected, Ketal found something amusing.

“Let me explain step by step.”

Ketal said with a smile.

Baker looked at him, puzzled.

‘…What?’

Ketal seemed very excited.

As if he couldn’t wait to explain what he had discovered.

And Baker had seen that expression before.

It was the same expression the head of a magic school had when eagerly explaining a newly discovered magical structure.

Ketal’s expression now was identical to that of the head of the magic school.