Herald of Steel

"....Okay, you have convinced me Captain Vidiyan, you have a deal! I will give you everything you want."

The pirate captain was frankly surprised by this frank response, the simple way Alexander agreed sending a slight tremor through his heart.

Honestly, he thought there would be a bit more haggling. He had even made his demands a bit excessive based on that.

But given that he got what he wanted and more…. of course, he was not going to complain.

Hence that surprise quickly turned to momentous glee, as he excitedly got up to flash a wide grin,

"Thank you, my lord. I swear you will not regret it! I swear…"

Alexander only gave a composed nod as the man went off pleading his allegiance, the cool eyes greatly constantly the shining pair.

It was once the man finished that Alexander then suddenly asked in a low tone,

"Did the Heeat family also promise your men land and title like you wanted from me?"

"...." This instantly produced a slightly awkward pause as Captain Vidiyan's eyes shifted sheepishly.

The answer was obvious but he instinctively wanted to say yes.

However given Alexander had already accepted his offer and it was too easy for this falsehood to be sniffed out, Vidiyan decided to come clean and nodded with a bit of a struggle.

"To an extent yes my lord. The captain and the quartermaster were indeed promised land and titles. The rest of the crew were only promised to be treated as free men within the family's fief."

For pirates who were deemed criminals just like bandits, this was already lucrative enough. The former captain and his crew had accepted it with minimum resistance.

"Well… did the Heeat family live up to its name then? Where is your former captain now?"

So Alexander then followed with this.

Given the family had betrayed him virtually the same day they shook hands with him, Alexander definitely had reasons to suspect otherwise.

"Yes. He is the lord of a small city called Mynia. It's south of Galiosos." The pirate captain however easily dispelled the doubt, even naming the place should Alexander want to verify.

In fact, there was better evidence of the family's honesty.

If the Heeat family had not fulfilled its promise, Vidiyan would have surely broken up with them long ago.

So Alexander followed to his next question,

"Do you think the family will retaliate on him now that you have 'betrayed' them? Strip him of his title? Send him to hunt you down? Or the likes…."

"This….:" The pirate captain was unable to reply.

Was it possible? Certainly.

But he did not exactly know and frankly, he did not want to think about it.

Whatever happened to the old man, he would still prioritize him and his crew.

However, he also did not want to sound heartless by saying this aloud, so kept mute.

But as Alexander still kept looking at him for an answer, and as the room started to become uncomfortable, Vidiyan understood he could not avoid this and at last, gave a vague reply,

"I…I do not think so. At least I have never heard of such a thing happening."

"I see. That's good. I was only asking because I did not want your crew to have to decide between you and your former captain." Alexander sounded neither pleased nor peeved by the Heeat family's supposed integrity.

And simply moved on to the next question,

"You told me your men demand four to five wesas a year. I believe this is minus their food and lodging. How is that possible? That's more than double what I spend on my soldiers, wage, food, and equipment combined!"

The surprise in Alexander's voice was palpable as it was something he had wanted to touch upon the moment he heard about Vidiyan's expenses.

"Hehe, that is because we pirates are different my lord." The pirate captain softly replied in defense of the amount, stating,

"Most of us pirates just want to make some good money as soon as possible and retire. Buy some land in a small village or forgotten town and forget the past. That is the dream."

The man sounded a bit ethereal as he said like he too longed for such a fate.

And then continued,

"I do not think you know my lord, but most of us pirates have a very short life span. We only work for a few years, mostly half a decade before retiring. Like my two younger brothers."

"They worked for five years as deckhands until the captain freed them, and then as soon as they had saved enough, both left. One of them died of fever long ago but my youngest brother is still alive. He owns a nice inn in a small city."

Alexander was a bit surprised by this revelation because he thought piracy to be a profession like any other- farmers, miners, blacksmiths- i.e.- something you worked at for decades and then finally retired when your bones became too old to work.

But from what Vidiyan revealed, this sounded more like a side gig you did to earn a bit of extra money.

"Is it so easy to give up piracy? You can just buy land anywhere you want? Is no one looking for them?" Alexander naturally asked.

He imagined that if he heard a pirate was trying to settle in his fief, he would immediately arrest the man. Even if he did not care about his previous crimes, there was still the high possibility of him causing a lot of trouble.

Pirates tended to be troublesome men, both on sea and land.

"Haha, the world is so big, who can find them?" The pirate captain however in response casually shrugged, then slightly nodded,

"Some do indeed get caught, my lord. And they are swiftly hanged. But most disappear into the wind. Many are able to disguise themselves as traveling merchants, new slave traders, or even successful mercenaries. Men with money looking to settle down."

"All they have to do is bribe a few village chiefs and elders, and they can get a land without much trouble. And even if someone suspects something, most don't care. The money keeps them shut."

Now Alexander understood where this great demand for money came from.

Indeed, if you wanted to show yourself as someone with a heavy purse, and do it within a few years, you needed to be very greedy.

But then the question came,

"Why do pirates retire after a few years? If the pay is so good, why not stay longer? And why do you captains just let them leave whenever they want?"

The obvious solution here to the 'workers' demanding greater wages seemed to be making them work longer.

"Hahaha," However this natural question only produced a frank, amused chortle from the other side, with Vidiyan slowly nodding his head,

"Indeed, just as I said, my lord, you do not know much about us. Like I said, we pirates are different from your soldiers. If one of my crews decides to run away or even goes into hiding at one of the docks, there is little I can do to bring him back. Even if I just try to rough him up a bit, the guards will show up."

"But if one of your soldiers deserts, hehehe… I am sure you know what happens."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

It was then that Alexander understood what the man was trying to say.

"Hmmm, I see. For a soldier serving in my army, there is the whip of the law to keep him in check. No matter where he runs, there is always the possibility of being found out by my men or the relevant authorities."

"But a pirate group obviously can not wield such deterrence. The only thing you can provide is money and this can only tie them to the ship for so long."

"My lord is truly astute. You are correct!" Vidiyan heavily nodded, "Nobody likes to take the kind of risks we do. We regularly have to put our lives on the line in ways most would not ever do in their entire lives. Cut, slashes, lost limbs, and of course death… we face them all."

"And despite all that risk, we still have to live in fear for the rest of our lives, ever afraid of our past surfacing."

"Whereas your soldiers can return to their homes without any worry. They don't have to lie awake at night worrying about you suddenly catching them in the darkness and then hanging them by the marker center the very morning."

Vidiyan spat half venemously, sounding like he was speaking from experience.

"So that is why we practice what is called an open contract. Any crew can ask to leave anytime they want and the captain has to give him all his dues no matter what. We have to do this even if they go join a rival group."

"The only way for a captain to stop this is to show his crew that he can earn them more loot."

Alexander understood this was also one of the reasons why Vidiyan had come to him.

With the Heeat family hunting him and blocking his 'fishing' spots, his crew would quickly start to desert him.

They were no chivalric group that would go down with their captain.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Please come Here!

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