"Hiring thieves? Since Osenfott is so determined, are those photographs that important to him?"
Shade asked. The old captain snorted, which instead led to another topic:
"I know his past, just as he knows mine. When he was a sailor on my ship, he was just as rude and violent as he is now. But that was exactly the kind of man I needed."
The old man narrowed his eyes at the surrounding fields and pointed them out to Shade:
"All these fields are mine, from here all the way to that spot. Besides what we can see now, I own properties in Randall River Valley and many cities in the kingdom's southwest."
"Impressive."
Shade offered dryly, and Captain Allen then asked the question that had occurred to him:
"Do you think inland shipping alone could make this much money?"
The captain asked, then answered himself:
"Of course not, young man. We were smugglers. We transported Delarion goods to Kasonlik and Kasonlik goods to Delarion. We even made a few trips to the New Continent every year, carrying sensitive goods, despite having neither maritime shipping licenses nor New Continent shipping licenses. Otherwise, do you think I dredged all this property up from the river?"
"Did you also work as river pirates and sea pirates?"
Shade asked. The old captain, walking a step ahead of him, turned back with a smile:
"Of course. Once you get involved in illegal business on the water, no one can keep their hands free of blood. Otherwise, it will be your own neck bleeding. The rules for surviving on water differ from those on land. Can you guess how much extra I could earn from one illegal trip to the New Continent?"
Smoke drifted from his nostrils:
"Osenfott was a good sailor—brutal, hot-tempered, but disliked