The former pirates I’d prepared had once belonged to a pirate crew notorious throughout the region.
About three years ago, pirates entered a small village in Hebei and conspired with the county magistrate to abduct the villagers.
I learned about the incident because of Student Man Suk from Apricot Blossom Academy.
These men were among the pirates subjugated back then.
Most of the pirates captured alive had since died in the underground prison, but these five had managed to survive.
That meant their crimes had been lighter than those of the others.
They had been serving hard labor at a nearby construction site until I petitioned the Emperor to place them in my custody.
After all, no one knew the ways of a thief better than another thief.
I intended to use these former pirates to learn how best to deal with pirates.
It wasn’t a bad arrangement for them, either.
I’d promised to shorten their sentences.
If they cooperated properly, I would reduce their terms by ten years or so.
What they didn’t know yet was that their sentences were a hundred years long.
Since they were prisoners assigned to hard labor whom I’d personally received from the Emperor, I had decided to escort them to Nanjing myself.
Before then, I’d made a little time for them to meet the people from our merchant group.
That way, our people could hear more detailed accounts from a wider variety of perspectives.
Some might call this cowardly, but I didn’t care.
Considering the trouble I’d endure dragging these men around, this much was nothing.
A short while later.
I took them upstairs to the second floor.
“Who are those men?”
Most of the people there either stared in confusion or tilted their heads.
“…!”
Some of the sailors, however, seemed to recognize them or at least guess their identities, and their faces filled with shock.
“Those tattoos!”
“Kekekeke! So you recognize them!”
“We were members of the Red Bone Pirates!”
Their bravado quickly faded, however.
“Hah, but that was a long time ago.”
“Good grief.”
Clap, clap!
I clapped my hands to draw everyone’s attention.
“Then let’s begin today’s lesson.”
The former pirates’ lecture proved remarkably useful.
“They… They truly go that far?”
“Good heavens…”
“How utterly brutal!”
“I thought I knew plenty about water bandits, but those bastards are even worse!”
They had now learned exactly what horrors awaited anyone captured by pirates.
In truth, even the sailors didn’t know the details.
After all, none of them had ever been captured.
And those who hadn’t worked as sailors merely knew that pirates were terrifying.
Given their ignorance, I made certain to drive that fear deep into them.
“I was confident about this voyage, but now I suddenly don’t want to go.”
Everyone nodded at Supervisor Geum’s words.
I rose from my seat and reassured them.
“I didn’t arrange this meeting merely to frighten and warn you.”
Then I turned my head and grinned.
“There are ways to deal with them as well. Isn’t that right?”
At my question, the former pirates cleared their throats.
“Ahem. Well, that’s true.”
“If we’d been able to capture every ship we attacked, we wouldn’t have ended up like… Hah.”
“Then perhaps you could explain how.”
That day, the senior members attending the banquet had never been more attentive.
.
.
.
The next day.
I took the former pirates to the Eunpoong Division’s training grounds.
Naturally, they were blindfolded and transported by carriage.
This was a place where security had to be maintained at all costs.
Once we arrived at the training grounds, I spoke to my Escort Guards.
“Remove their blindfolds.”
“Yes.”
They removed the former pirates’ blindfolds.
The men squeezed their eyes shut against the sudden brightness, then slowly raised their heads. A moment later, their faces filled with surprise.
“W-Where are we?”
“This is where the men responsible for protecting the ships bound for the Great Yue Kingdom are training. I brought you here because I’d like to hear your esteemed opinions on whether our preparations are lacking in any way.”
The subtle praise immediately put them in a good mood.
How simple.
If a little flattery was enough to secure their help, I had no reason not to use it.
“You’ve arrived, Deputy Merchant Lord.”
Warrior Man Jeong hurried over.
“Thank you for all your hard work. I’d like these men to observe the training. Please proceed as we discussed earlier.”
“Understood.”
Warrior Man Jeong immediately struck the drum, signaling the archers.
The archers climbed aboard the ship and assumed stable firing stances despite the deck swaying beneath their feet.
“Aim!”
“Fire!”
They released their arrows toward targets barely visible in the distance.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Dozens of arrows streaked through the air and buried themselves in the targets in an instant.
Then another volley followed, flames blazing from the arrowheads.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Fwoosh!
The targets erupted into flames in the blink of an eye.
I smiled and turned to the former pirates.
“What do you think? Is there anything lacking?”
They stared blankly at the scene, eyes bulging and mouths hanging open.
Once they finally recovered, they gave hollow laughs.
“Ha! Did you just ask whether anything was lacking?”
“Are you mocking us?”
“Do you honestly think there’s a ship that could withstand that attack?”
They launched into a heated tirade against me.
“Is it truly that powerful?”
The pirates sighed and began to explain.
“As you know, pirates throw grappling hooks, pull the ships together, and then board for hand-to-hand combat.”
“But if their ship burns down before they can even get close, there’s nothing they can do.”
“Ugh… Just imagining facing a unit of archers like that when I was a pirate makes my blood run cold.”
“Then there’s nothing we need to improve?”
“If you insist on improving something, you could find a way to stop the pirates from putting out the flames…”
I exchanged a few more ideas with them.
“I see. You’ve been very helpful. You should begin preparing for our journey to Nanjing.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, you’re currently staying in the underground prison. How are you finding it?”
They were presently being held in the Eunhae Merchant Group’s underground prison.
They had still been prisoners serving sentences of hard labor, after all.
Even so, the prison was relatively clean, and they were given proper meals.
Perhaps that was why their response was so enthusiastic.
“Of course!”
“It’s a hundred times better than the place we stayed before!”
“The food is delicious, too!”
“Best of all, we don’t have to work!”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied. Then I’ll see you later.”
I gave a subtle glance, and the Escort Guards blindfolded them again.
The Escort Guards then led them out of the training grounds.
Watching them leave, I spoke to Warrior Man Jeong.
“Their reaction was stronger than I expected. I think we can relax a little.”
“We still cannot afford to lower our guard.”
“That’s true.”
In reality, what I’d shown the former pirates was barely a tenth of what we’d actually prepared.
Both the arrows’ power and range had been reduced for the demonstration, and I’d deployed far fewer archers.
We had also made preparations to prevent the enemy from extinguishing the flames, just as they had suggested.
I simply hadn’t shown them.
Complacency was always dangerous.
Besides, I’d heard in my previous life that pirates always dreamed of returning to the sea.
Apparently, they possessed some romantic notion that, even in death, they wished to die upon the ocean.
Men like that might be obeying me for now, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t attempt to escape.
And where would they go after escaping?
The answer was painfully obvious.
Of course, even if they fled, they would be captured again before long.
They had no idea their bodies had been dusted with the Tracking Incense Escort Guard Lee Pil had made, did they?
The Eunhae Merchant Group’s underground prison.
After returning, the former pirates cautiously checked outside their cell before gathering together.
“Haaah…”
They let out a chorus of heavy sighs.
“Those were only arrows, yet they had that kind of power!”
“Brother, what do you make of it?”
“It was so horrifying I’m afraid it’ll haunt my dreams. If I’d encountered men like that before, I wouldn’t be alive now. I’d be fish food at the bottom of the sea.”
“No, seriously! What in the world did Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho do to those archers?”
“With weapons like that, why did he make us frighten the life out of everyone yesterday?”
“Exactly!”
As they continued venting their complaints, they abruptly fell silent.
“…”
“…”
Then the highest-ranking among them, the man the others called Brother, sprawled flat on his back across the floor.
“Damn it! I give up on escaping!”
“What?”
“Brother! How can you say that?”
The others reacted with troubled expressions.
In truth, they had already conspired to escape when an opportunity arose on the journey to Nanjing.
That was why they had been pretending to obey so readily.
They needed to lull their captors into lowering their guard.
Once they escaped, they planned to become pirates again.
“No! Brother! Once a man of the sea, shouldn’t he die as a man of the sea?”
“Sure, dying as a man of the sea sounds wonderful. But think about this calmly. Do you honestly believe Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho showed us that training merely because he wanted our advice?”
The other four former pirates tilted their heads.
“What?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Haaah… You thickheaded fools! You bastards still don’t understand what kind of man Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho is?”
“…”
The question silenced every last one of them.
Stories of Eun Seo-ho’s exploits had reached even the place where they performed hard labor, and every one of those stories made them wonder, ‘Is he even human?’
Only then did one man’s expression stiffen as realization dawned.
“Could it have been… a warning?”
“That’s right, you bastards! You’re only realizing it now? He was warning us that if we escaped and became pirates again, we’d be burned alive!”
“…”
“Dying as a man of the sea might sound romantic, but I have no desire to burn to death. Besides, he said he’d even shorten our sentences if we cooperated properly.”
He continued.
“You can escape if you want. I’m not going.”
The others exchanged glances before lying down one after another and grumbling.
“Damn it. If Brother says that, why would I escape? I’m giving up, too.”
“Same here.”
“I’d rather die doing hard labor or get killed by a blade or an arrow. I have no intention of burning to death.”
And just like that, the former pirates abandoned their plans to escape.
It was an outcome even Eun Seo-ho hadn’t anticipated.
As usual, I woke early in the morning.
Today was finally the day the Eunhae Merchant Group’s fleet would set sail.
Thanks to all the running around I’d done preparing everything, we were able to depart on schedule.
I lightly stretched before stepping into the courtyard.
After breathing in the crisp morning air, I performed Breathing Meditation. By the time I rose, Master was entering the courtyard of my private residence.
“Good morning.”
“Indeed. Good morning. Now then, let us begin your training.”
As expected of Master.
Even though we were setting sail today, Master conducted my training as though it had nothing to do with him.
Haaah. For some reason, his training had become considerably more intense recently.
I’d taught him the Extreme Ice Sword I learned from the Patriarch and told him that the Snow Soul Sword Art was not actually bound by rigid forms.
He seemed to have attained some kind of enlightenment from that.
Was this the result?
.
.
.
I stood on the dock, staring blankly at the fleet.
“Why do you look so drained?”
Brother Jeong-ho’s voice came from behind me.
“It’s nothing… Really…”
I couldn’t exactly admit I was exhausted because Master’s training had been so brutal this morning, so I merely smiled.
“What about the plums?”
“We loaded the plums we stored last year, along with all the drinking water and provisions.”
Brother Jeong-ho had also decided to travel with us to Nanjing.
As the future Merchant Lord, he couldn’t miss an undertaking like this.
We examined the list of goods to be loaded and checked everything again to ensure nothing had been forgotten.
“Did you load the cats?”
“Of course.”
Cats, or more specifically ship’s cats (艦在猫), were essential on any voyage. Their purpose was to hunt rats.
Rats aboard a ship caused all manner of trouble, so the cats were entrusted with exterminating them.
For that reason, captains often went to great lengths to acquire cats known for being skilled rat hunters.
“Kui! Kui!”
Hm?
Was that Geumryeong’s voice?
Following the sound, I found Geumryeong inside the food storage hold.
A ship’s cat crouched before Geumryeong, its entire body rigid with attention.
“Kui! Kui!”
“Meow.”
Ah… Was Geumryeong training the ship’s cat?
Geumryeong was even threatening it with terrible consequences if it failed to catch the rats properly.
It looked adorable to me, though.
Judging by the way the ship’s cat couldn’t even meet Geumryeong’s eyes, the training seemed quite effective.
Excellent.
Rats aboard a ship were nothing but trouble.
But Geumryeong, do you know something?
The Eunhae Merchant Group has four ships…
Once the training is finished, I should give Geumryeong a few Silver Taels as a reward.
Father arrived a short while later.
He had come to conduct the departure rite.
Whenever a fleet this large set sail, the Merchant Lord traditionally performed a ritual to raise everyone’s morale.
Father finished reading the ceremonial prayer, then set it alight.
Fwoosh!
Everyone cheered as it soared high into the sky.
“It’s an auspicious sign!”
“Auspicious! It’s an auspicious sign!”
Using my Qi to make the burning prayer soar so high had been worth the effort.
Before long, everyone who needed to board had climbed onto the ships.
The archers dressed in the Eunpoong Division’s uniform boarded as well. They were men I had spent considerable effort training.
Hopefully, that effort would bear fruit during this voyage.
“Have a safe journey.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Seo-ho and I will return safely, so please don’t worry.”
Father nodded at Brother Jeong-ho’s words.
“Please be careful!”
It was finally time to leave.
“Brother.”
“Mm.”
Brother Jeong-ho shouted.
“Set sail!”
A man with a thunderous voice immediately repeated his command.
“Set sail!”
“Set sail!”
Bwooooooo!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
The blare of horns and the pounding of drums rang out. Slowly, the ships began to move.
Our destination was Nanjing.
–TL Notes–
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