Reward
“Master! Your beautiful strength is like a resplendent jewel, brimming with a dazzling brilliance!” Karen, who was standing beside Leylin, immediately complimented him. As a half-drow, she seemed to have regained her natural instincts after being liberated. She was gradually recovering her darkness and thirst for blood, which was characteristic of the drow.
“Alright, get up.”
Cyclops and the other pirates who had long pledged their loyalty were already aware of the outcome, thus they didn’t appear to be flabbergasted. The new pirates, on the other hand, were all frightened out of their wits, especially Ronald and his group.
“So, what do you think? Does anyone else have any objections?”
Leylin ran his eyes over the crowd. The other pirates didn’t dare meet his gaze, yet their eyes were brimming with reverence.
“Excellent! I like the respectful look in your eyes.” Leylin nodded. His subordinates immediately pulled out two trunks of silver kronas and copper coins.
This was the only payment he had obtained from selling the majority of goods he had on hand. Madam Tillen had ruthlessly cut the prices, probably in an attempt to vent her anger.
However, this much was sufficient to maintain the pirate crew for a few months. As for the months after that? Why would he still worry about providing for his men after getting a hold of the riches of the entire sea?
“The pay I promised earlier will not be reduced.” Leylin opened the chest. The twinkling radiance of the silver kronas blinded the eyes of numerous pirates.
“Each buccaneer of the Scarlet Tiger will obtain a fixed salary every month, in addition to the loot plundered,” Leylin announced loudly. This policy was quite different from the usual pirate way, and it instantly received cheers from the pirates.
Although it was akin to opening a huge hole in the finance department, Leylin needed to create a strong pirate crew as fast as possible, and he couldn’t care less about anything else.
After all, immense pressure and death threats were insufficient to govern a huge group. A system that gave encouragement through incentives had to be established. Otherwise, why would they join a crew with a temperamental captain like Leylin, when there are so many other pirate crews?
As soon as news of this spread, no matter how savage Leylin would be rumoured to be, he probably would still have enough manpower sources. Perhaps he could even attract a few Professionals, which would be incredibly amusing.
‘As expected, these pirates don’t have a single bit of loyalty.’
After giving out the money, the newly recruited pirates were immediately in high spirits. They looked as if they had completely forgotten what had happened earlier. Leylin secretly shook his head.
However, this was the objective truth, and there was absolutely nothing that could change that. Leylin could only take a laissez-faire approach.
After all, the control that any pirate captain had over his men was always the same. Unless authority was rooted deeply after long periods of time together, and trust was established through continuous victories, this was all it would amount to.
If it was not like this, Leylin wouldn’t have been able to subdue the Black Tiger crew previously, and set up a new crew with them as the first few subordinates.
‘These incentives… It seems like it is still not enough.’
There was a flash in Leylin’s eyes as he stood on the platform, “Giant!”
“I’m here, boss!” Giant immediately half knelt on the floor. His body resembled a small-scale mountain.
“You killed more than ten enemies when you accompanied me last time. You’re also the Professional with the highest rank among all my men. I want to reward you.”
Leylin waved his hands and a piece of leather armor, that resembled a singlet, flew in front of Giant. There was an armor plating in the most crucial body parts, offering better protection.
Giant put on his sleeveless leather armour. His face, however, changed when a magical brilliance burst from his armour. He couldn’t help but shout in surprise, “This is magical armour!”
“What? Magical armour?” This immediately attracted envious looks from the other pirates.
Even though it was the cheapest of all magical goods, it had to be supported by primary smelting spells, and was worth hundreds of gold coins. Furthermore, a life-saving item such as this one was priceless.
“Yes. It has been reinforced by the “Hardness Spell” three times. Even a heavy hammer would be unable to break through your defense with a single blow.”
Actually, the raw material of this leather armour had been looted from the captain of the Merfolk Pirates after the battle. Leylin had found it to be beneath him, thus he decided to modify it for his men to equip.
Giant didn’t know what else to say and could only scratch his head as he smiled foolishly, while attracting a few jealous looks.
“Also, Ronald!” Leylin turned his gaze to Ronald.
“Young master! You called for me?” Ronald knelt on the floor with one knee, with a strange feeling in his heart.
“Yes! Your earlier actions attest to your loyalty! This rapid explosion ring is yours!”
This had also been a contribution made by those unlucky Merfolk Pirates. Leylin did not feel a tad bit embarrassed.
“Many thanks!” Ronald felt as though he had been struck in the chest by a heavy hammer.
While knowing that he had only coincidentally been there when Leylin needed to point out role models amongst the new pirates, he was still elated.
This was indeed a magical item! It was so valuable that it could be a family heirloom for commoners, knights and lords.
“I will always be loyal to you!” Ronald kissed the ring on his finger, and solemnly accepted this precious treasure into his embrace, also attracting many envious stares. Mainly, many of the new pirates had flushed faces. They gazed at Leylin as though they were looking at a god.
As long as they worked hard , there would be hope. As long as they put in the effort, there would be reward.
More often than not, the people of the lower classes only hoped for so much, yet the upper classes cruelly deprived them of even this slight hope.
But now, Leylin showed them hope of being able to completely change their fates. This alone was sufficient to arouse their enthusiasm and will to fight.
“Raise the flag! Set sail!” Seeing their boosted morales, Leylin loudly announced his command.
“Aye! Aye!” The multitude of pirates immediately started to get busy. Under the directions of Cyclops, Hulk and the others, the Scarlet Tiger was quickly driven out of the dock.
At this moment, the bishop and priest from the God of Murder were silently observing the situation from the shadows, until the ship departed.
The bishop spoke after a long silence, “What do you think?”
“He’s firm when dealing with issues, determined and unscrupulous. It’s hard to believe that he is only fifteen!” The priest seemed unwilling to admit it, but eventually admitted.
“But even so, we don’t have to tell him about ‘that’, right?”
The bishop replied with a cold snort, “Cly has already violated the teachings of our master, and is bent on avenging his brother who betrayed the church long ago. He must be punished for such conduct.”
However, these were just excuses, The pivotal point was that Cly was a hindrance to his own plan.
For a person with great influence, disposing of a small pawn was nothing in the face of the bigger picture.
As long as the glory of the God of Murder continued shining across the seas for eternity, what was the worth of a few highly-ranked assassins?
“I’m looking forward to what will happen to him” The bishop smiled as his silhouette slowly faded into the darkness.
The priest’s eyes were filled with shock. As the bishop left, he started understanding that the bishop actually placed great importance on that young nobleman.
……
The Scarlet Tiger sailed on under the azure skies, although it appeared to be moving slowly, it was travelling at high speeds.
“Five hundred metres ahead! I spotted an unknown ship without a pirate flag!” The mariner on the observation deck called out.
“Boss!” Giant immediately appeared behind Leylin, donned in his newly-attained leather armour.
Cyclops also appeared next to Leylin and reported softly, “I asked around beforehand. A bunch of scurvy dogs are coveting our booty and ship.”
“Organisations that have been blinded by greed?” Leylin suddenly raised his brows, “Their vessel doesn’t look too shabby. We are still lacking a few buccaneers and slaves, aren’t we?”
After hearing Leylin’s words, Giant and the rest were already dedicating a moment of silence in mourning for the pirates on the other ship. They would never know what a terrifying chap they had provoked.
“Prepare for battle. I want to check out the strength of these men,” Leylin instructed Ronald, who was standing behind him.
“On it, young master! You will see it!” Ronald retreated respectfully.
With such a formidable wizard on board, he couldn’t see the slightest possibility of them being defeated.
The two ships came into contact. Without the slightest bit of hesitation or shouting, they both launched their attacks.
After the whistling of the harpoons and numerous rounds of feathered arrows flying back and forth, they immediately jumped aboard each other’s ships and descended into a chaotic battle.
Giant laughed maniacally as he brandished the enormous claw hammer in his hand. He was covered in the enemy’s blood and resembled a fiend emerging from the abyss as he charged forth in the frontline.
Behind him, Ronald commanded the new pirates, and assembled them into a few simple formations, obtaining favourable results. He felt as if he possessed an irresistible force, especially with the weapon infused with poison that Leylin had provided.
Seeing his fluent commanding skills, Leylin couldn’t help but be fond of him, ‘Who would have thought that Ronald would be a military genius?’
“You guys attack them as well. I’m going to meet with an old friend.” Leylin waved his hands and flew out of his ship, landing onto the opponent’s deck.
Ray of Frost! Fireball!
A hell made of fire and ice spread across the ship, along with the ghoulish wails and painful howls of numerous pirates.
“He’s a wizard!”
The powerful force generated by the spells instantly dealt a huge blow to the morale of his opponents. The situation seemed to be tipped in favour of Leylin and his party.
At this moment, however, several secret conscients with the intent to kill approached from the darkness. Their keen aura had the characteristic of highly-ranked assassins.
“It’s indeed you guys!” The corners of Leylin’s lips curled into a gentle smile as he tore open the magic scroll in his hands right away.
“Ice Storm!” The snow attack covered an even larger area, and had the powerful might of a rank 4 spell. Leylin’s surroundings instantly turned into a land of ice and snow.