Spoils of War

The captain raised his wineglass toward Ian, who listened with a smile.

Spirituality flowed through the wineglass. [Making the Most of Everything] gave its feedback: nontoxic!

The captain watched Ian's actions with a smile, showing not the slightest displeasure. Instead, he looked thoroughly approving.

"Only caution can prevent unnecessary risks. When I was your age, all I could think about was gold coins and women."

"People grow. My name is Trist, and I also came from Storm Cape."

Ian gave a false name. Storm Cape had suffered an inexplicable attack, and the situation was unclear. He thought it was better to be cautious.

Storm Cape had become a chaotic and dangerous melting pot over the years. The original owner of this body had spent most of his time training in the castle and rarely interacted with outsiders. Ian was not worried that some random person he met outside would recognize him.

"I also ran into pirates—the Blackbeard Pirate Crew! I was lucky to escape. I should be the one thanking Captain Homan."

Captain Homan stared intently into Ian's eyes, as though trying to determine how much sincerity they held.

"It was the First Mate who found you. Every time we pass through that reef area, we find a few lucky survivors."

"You know how slave ships usually handle things. If you have money, you buy your freedom. If not, you are sold as a slave."

Captain Homan continued to stress the point.

He truly could not get a read on the young man across from him. There was something far too unusual about him.

While Homan had been treating his wounds in the cabin that afternoon, he had even feared that Trist might suddenly come to kill him. He had no doubt that the young man before him possessed that kind of strength.

"Being a slave is still far better than losing your life. Captain Hoby was doing a good deed."

"Thank you for your understanding!"

Ian merely smiled and said nothing, raising his glass in reply.

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the atmosphere became noticeably more harmonious.

Honey-glazed grilled fish, creamy soup with dried mushrooms and cheese, blackened smoked meat with a strange flavor, sashimi, unidentified dried vegetables—there was all sorts of food. Though the taste was truly difficult to describe, this body of Ian's was obviously starving, and he forced himself to eat quite a lot.

Seeing Ian eat with such appetite, Captain Homan stopped using his knife and fork. He only drank several glasses of wine and left all the food for him.

The two chatted as they ate.

The Windbreaker was a secondhand merchant ship Homan had bought with all his savings. It was registered under the Hansa Trading Company, both for protection and to avoid taxes.

The ship mainly transported grain, timber, and everyday goods. They had set sail from Storm Cape for Paradise Island five days ago, on November 7, 2635—the day before Storm Cape was attacked.

Normally, they waited to depart alongside several merchant ships or followed the escort vessels of the Kingdom's Second Fleet. But during those days, the Second Fleet's garrison at Storm Cape had all put to sea, and there were particularly few merchant ships departing. Rather than wait any longer, they had set sail alone.

After all, the Windbreaker had sailed this route for more than a decade and often traveled alone. With favorable winds, they could reach Paradise Island in about a week.

The Kingdom's Second Fleet regularly patrolled this route, so pirates rarely appeared there.

Just as the Windbreaker's crew thought this would be another dull voyage, they passed through a small patch of sea fog less than two days from Paradise Island and unexpectedly encountered the Bloody Hand Pirate Ship.

What followed was a forced battle.

"..."

"Thank you for the hospitality, Captain Homan. It tasted pretty good."

Ian finally stopped eating only after clearing every last dish.

"Should I have Old Bill prepare some more?"

"No, this is enough already."

"These are your spoils of war!"

Captain Homan placed a grayish-white leather bag beside the low table. Ian heard the clinking of gold coins inside.

The leather bag was not small. It resembled an oversized drawstring purse, with an opening roughly forty centimeters wide and a depth of around sixty centimeters.

Ian opened the bag. Inside were a money pouch, a damaged short crossbow that still glimmered with magic energy, a fine shortsword with a leather sheath, and a severed hand wrapped in a rag.

The money pouch was made of dark brown leather, stuffed full and heavy. It contained around one hundred Poderia Gold Coins, twenty Divine Grace Gold Coins, and some large and small silver coins from various nations, though the majority followed the Poldoria Kingdom's currency system.

This was no small sum. Even the best farmworkers in the Poldoria Kingdom earned only ten Poderia Gold Coins a year.

A Non-Commissioned Officer in the Kingdom's fleet earned around thirty Poderia Gold Coins a year, and even that pay was often in arrears. As for sailors aboard merchant ships like the Windbreaker, they probably did not earn more than a few gold coins a year. Sailors were, after all, expendable.

Storm Cape's annual revenue exceeded that of most nobles, aside from the royal family and the "enclave" grand dukes, yet it only amounted to ten or twenty thousand gold coins a year.

The active Fourth-rate Ship the Calvinde Family had purchased for Ian had cost roughly thirty thousand Poderia Gold Coins. In reality, they had paid fifty thousand—and that had been a friendly price. Others would not even have had the chance to buy one.

The Poldoria Kingdom had always produced high-quality coinage, and its currency circulated widely across the Sea of Miracles.

Unlike the old-era exchange rates of 1:20 and 1:12, the current standard was the currency system and gold-silver weight ratio promoted by the Seven Major Churches of the Righteous Gods.

1 gold coin = 10 large silver coins; 1 large silver coin = 10 Small Silver Coins; 1 Small Silver Coin = 10 minted copper coins.

Divine Grace Gold Coins were issued jointly by the Seven Major Churches of the Righteous Gods. Their system was similar to Poldoria's, but their quality was better. One Divine Grace Gold Coin was worth roughly 1.5 Poderia Gold Coins.

There were also magical gold coins created through extraordinary powers.

The money in the pouch was worth more than two hundred Poderia Gold Coins altogether, an amount many sailors would never earn in their entire lives.

Ian was not surprised. He had long known from the original owner's memories that the gap between rich and poor in this world of extraordinary powers was absurdly vast.

As the undisputed heir of the Calvinde Family, a few hundred gold coins were nothing!

What truly surprised Ian was the Magic Crossbow. Though it was damaged, its most important parts—the bow limbs and string—were intact, making it extremely valuable.

Even cheap Magic Equipment cost more than a hundred gold coins, and much of it had no market price. It was not something one could simply buy whenever one wanted.

"This Magic Crossbow belonged to Bloody Hand Collier's Deputy. The damage is not serious. Paradise Island has a branch of the Alchemist Fellowship, and their prices have always been fair."

"Bloody Hand Collier's longsword was badly damaged. We happened to have a shortsword aboard that we did not use often, and its quality is quite good."

"Collier is listed on the Black List of the Pirate Wanted List. The Adventurer's House, Bounty Hunter Guild, Equilibrium Sect, and other organizations have maintained bounties on him for years."

"Even though there is only one of his hands here, you can still claim a considerable reward. At least... hmm, two or three hundred gold coins? Probably. Of course, they will take the evidence, so you can only go to one organization. I recommend the Bounty Hunter Guild."

Captain Homan explained continuously from the side as Ian examined the spoils.

"What about the gold coins?"

Ian shook the money pouch in his hand.

"Those are naturally to express the gratitude of the entire crew, as well as our apology for the First Mate's earlier offense against you."

Ian smiled and shook his head. Captain Homan was truly generous. Did I really look that frightening?

Ian picked up the money pouch, tied it shut, and hung it from his belt. He fastened the shortsword to the weapon clasp at his waist, then placed the severed Bloody Hand and the Magic Crossbow back into the leather bag before pushing it toward Captain Homan.

"I wasn't the only one who drove Bloody Hand back. Taking all the spoils for myself would not be in keeping with the rules of the sea."