ushernet Chapter 77 : Chapter 77
Chapter 77 : Chapter 77
Chapter 77Jereuth.
Standing silently beside Leonardo, he was mulling over Leonardo's words one by one.
'To summarize what His Highness has said... it seems he indeed intends to subjugate the bandits.'
Jereuth had vaguely anticipated that Leonardo would subjugate the bandits.
However, he had never imagined that Leonardo would separate the bandits into 'trash bandits' and 'righteous bandits,' and that he would forgive and recruit the righteous ones.
'To recruit the very bandits that should be subjugated and make them our own military force... a truly wise idea. It is tantamount to 'winning without fighting,' which can be said to be the pinnacle of military strategy.'
That was not all. Jereuth also thought that Leonardo's detailed explanation to the knights and soldiers about Ronak and his pirate crew was a very wise decision.
'If His Highness had accepted those pirates without any explanation, the knights and soldiers would have harbored discontent. From their perspective, they would not have been able to accept bandits becoming the kingdom's army.'
Of course, since Leonardo had said he would accept the pirates, the knights and soldiers would have had no choice but to acknowledge them at first.
But as time went on, their dissatisfaction would have grown, and it would have been only a matter of time before something happened.
'It might not have ended with a simple argument; the knights, soldiers, and pirates might have drawn their swords against each other.'
But Leonardo, as if he had anticipated such a thing, explained to the knights and soldiers about the person named Ronak.
He also explained in detail the reason why he wanted to recruit him.
Thanks to that, the misunderstanding that the knights and soldiers had about the pirates was considerably alleviated.
'When His Highness suddenly said he was going to Misty Port, I wondered why... was it all for this? Truly, every day I serve His Highness is full of surprises.'
A vassal needed by a great king.
Among them is the 'sage who reads the future.' But it seemed that Leonardo would not need a sage.o get hurt, but no one should be seriously injured."
"No one should be seriously injured, you say..."
Jereuth repeated my words and then smiled lightly.
"I understand, Your Highness. We will conduct the sparring match appropriately so that no one gets 'seriously' injured."
For some reason, I felt a meaningful nuance in Jereuth's words.
"Ronak. The sparring method will be to select three representatives from each side to fight. The winner will continue to fight in the next match. What do you think?"
At Jereuth's words, Ronak calmly nodded his head.
"Very well. We will prepare accordingly."
***
The Ingrid Island Pirates disembarked from their ships and sat in a circle on the sandy beach, listening to Ronak's explanation.
An explanation about how the Crown Prince already knew him, and how he had forgiven and accepted the entire pirate crew.
"S-so... to summarize what you just said, Ronak... Crown Prince Leonardo accepted all of us into the, the kingdom's army?"
At Rollo's incredulous question, Ronak nodded.
"Yes. His Highness has decided not to hold us accountable for plundering the ships of the nobles and the merchants allied with them, and in addition, he has accepted us into the kingdom's army."
—Ah...!
As Ronak stated it clearly once again, a faint gasp escaped from among the pirates. In the meantime, Rollo asked Ronak again.
"Admiral. Could it be a trap? He might be trying to make us let our guard down and then attack and wipe us out all at once."
“To be honest, I thought so too at first. It’s impossible for a royal, and the Crown Prince, the supreme authority at that, to invite a pirate like me as a guest. But…”
"But?"
"He didn't seem like the type to use such a childish trick."
"Why do you think so? What kind of person was the Crown Prince Leonardo that you saw?"
At Ronak's strangely trusting words about Leonardo, Rollo asked again. Ronak thought for a long time before reluctantly opening his mouth.
"...I don't know either. He is a very strange person."
“A strange person?”
"That's exactly how it felt. He is young, but there was a sense of leisure in every word and action. As if he could read the future. And it seems he actually has such an ability. According to the lord of Misty Port, His Highness predicted the storm and that we would appear on the mainland."
“The lord of Misty Port, you mean Count Dorapuk?”
"No, he has been purged. It seems a knight named 'Walter' is now the lord. Anyway, this might sound strange, but... I felt like it was my destiny to follow him. It seemed like a predetermined fate."
At Ronak's cautious words, the pirates each fell into their own thoughts.
After a moment of silence, Rollo clapped his hands and stood up from the sand.
"Well, if you say so, then so be it. You're the one with the best sense for these things among us, Ronak. And we elected you as admiral to do this kind of complicated thinking for us idiots, so it's right to follow your thoughts."
At Rollo's refreshingly frank words, the pirates laughed. As Rollo said, it was more comfortable to simply trust and follow the words of the admiral they had decided to follow, rather than wracking their own brains unnecessarily.
Looking at his comrades, Ronak continued to speak in a serious voice.
"Then, I will assume that everyone has decided to follow His Highness Leonardo, and now I will talk about something important."
“Something important? Was there something more important than this?”
"There are two things. First, His Highness has entrusted us with a great mission. The mission to uproot the bandits who are secretly active in the kingdom."
"Uproot them... you mean we have to kill all the bandits on the mainland?"
At Rollo's question, his eyes flashing, Ronak shook his head.
“We’re not killing all of them. His Highness wanted to accept the bandits who, like us, were forced to become bandits but tried not to harm the people. Just as he did with us. His Highness Leonardo called such bandits 'righteous bandits'."
—Oh...
The pirates let out a faint sound of admiration, and Ronak continued.
"His Highness said to recruit the righteous bandits and subjugate those who are not. It is certainly a dangerous mission, but since our very existence is dangerous, I don't think it matters much."
"That's right. Our lives have been hanging by a thread several times a day. So what's the second important thing?"
"The second is our 'skill evaluation'."
At the words 'skill evaluation,' the pirates' eyes lit up.
“Skill evaluation? Do we just catch some bandits and present them to the Crown Prince?”
"No, we're fighting against the knights. This wasn't actually said by His Highness, but by the 'Commander' of the knights... he said that even though we are pirates who rule the southern seas, he needs to confirm our skills."
Ronak's voice remained calm and composed.
However, the reaction of the belligerent pirates was different.
—A duel with the knights, sounds fun, doesn't it?
—It's been a while since I've fought with knights. Will there be any who are worthy of being called 'knights'?
—They're just guys with unnecessarily good equipment.
Having plundered nobles in the southern seas until now, most of the pirates had fought with knights or soldiers before. And since they had a history of defeating knights, they were all full of confidence.
It was the same for Ronak. More than any other pirate here, Ronak had fought many knights.
However, Ronak, unlike the other pirates, was not overflowing with confidence.
"The knights who are serving His Highness now are different from the knights we have faced. Everyone, keep that in mind."
"Different knights, you say?"
"The atmosphere they exude is completely different. The knights over there are not those who became knights comfortably because they were born as nobles, but those who became knights as commoners."
At the words 'commoner-born knights,' the atmosphere among the pirates died down.
Why? Because there was no way the pirates didn't know about the existence of 'commoner-born knights.' Not only the pirates, but any citizen of the Plank Kingdom would know of their existence.
Especially those who had participated in the war against the demons, returned to their hometowns, and then became pirates after being harassed by nobles, knew very well what kind of people the 'commoner-born knights' were. Most of them had been under their command in the war.
Then, Rollo asked in a sheepish voice.
"W-wait a minute. Ronak, you just said that the commander of the commoner-born knights suggested a duel, right?"
"It's a sparring match, not a duel, but yes."
"Then that knight... no, 'that person' is, by any chance—"
“Yes. It’s probably the hero ‘Jereuth’. I didn’t hear his name exactly, but it’s unlikely that there are two commoner-born knight commanders in the kingdom, so it must be him. I’ve never seen him in person before, so I’m not sure, but his appearance was also similar to the rumors.”
“...”
"His caliber was on a completely different level from ours. He was a man to be admired as a man."
Jereuth, that hero, suggested a sparring match?
The pirates were excited in a different sense than before. Because it was a truly great thing to be able to cross swords with that great hero.
However, no pirate stepped forward to fight Jereuth. They all implicitly expected their admiral and the strongest pirate, Ronak, to step up.
Living up to those expectations, Ronak said.
“The sparring method is simple. Each side will pick three representatives to fight. The winner will continue to face the next opponent.”
“...”
"This is our first opportunity to show our strength to His Highness Leonardo, so we must do our best. And Commander Jereuth, I don't know if he will participate in the sparring match himself, but if he does... I will face him."
"Then who will the other two be? You said there were three representatives."
Rollo spoke as if he was subtly hoping to be chosen.
Not only Rollo, but the other pirates also looked at Ronak with the same expression.
They all seemed eager to participate in the sparring match.
'Even though they're facing those great knights, they're all full of confidence. No, maybe it's because they want to show their skills to His Highness.'
Thinking, Ronak smiled and pointed out the two who would join him in the sparring match.
"Rollo, and Hark. I would like the two of you to come forward."
***
At the same time, in the camp of the Plank Kingdom's Knight Order.
Like the pirates, the knights were also deciding who would be their representatives in the upcoming sparring match.
Jereuth was leading the meeting.
"As you all know, His Highness has made it clear. No one should be injured in this sparring match. You all heard that, right?"
—Yes!
"Good. Then I will call out the names of the knights who will participate."
The knights were staring at Jereuth with fire in their eyes. They were all trying their best to be chosen.
After surveying the faces of the knights, Jereuth spoke.
"Walter, since you are the lord, you will be the commander in the last sparring match."
"Yes, I understand!"
"Danilo. You will be the second. You will be in the middle."
"Yes!"
Walter and Danilo.
The other knights had vaguely anticipated that these two would be chosen. If there was one thing those two were good at, it was their swordsmanship, which was outstanding even among the knights.
There was only one spot left. To get that spot, the knights looked at Jereeth with even more intense gazes.
The knights were all greedy. A healthy greed to show off their abilities in front of their respected lord.
However, unfortunately for the knights, Jereuth was also a healthy greedy person.
“The first sparring match, I will be the vanguard.”
—...
The rule of this sparring match was 'the winner continues to fight.'
So, for Jereuth to be the first knight to participate—
"...I guess I won't even get a turn."
Danilo, who was supposed to be the second to participate, muttered in a disappointed voice.