Ch.173Report on the Downfall of Charity (15)

The warehouse was filled with useful items.

I grabbed a Union Navy cutlass—shorter than an Imperial sword but wider and heavier—and a staff, which always seems to find a use at least once.

I also took a naval boarding hook with rope, and suspenders that allowed me to carry various items on my body without them getting in the way.

But the best thing about a military warehouse is that it lets you take out a simple but effective “insurance policy” for when things go wrong.

In less than ten minutes, Kain completed all preparations. The final step was to poke a small hole in the bottom of a sandbag with a sharp awl. Sand slowly trickled out through the small hole. The “device” would activate in about two hours.

After finishing all preparations, Kain opened the warehouse door and came out. He put the bolt in place and wedged the bottom of the door. It wasn’t perfect protection, but it would at least cause some confusion for any soldiers trying to open the warehouse door.

The moon was thin, and the outer harbor was covered in Venelucia’s characteristic night fog. It only reached the ankles for now, but if one wasn’t careful, this mischievous fog could suddenly rise to waist or chest level.

Naturally, guards were positioned in all directions. Since the duty roster showed which guards were assigned to which posts, Kain could clearly visualize their positions and patrol routes in his mind.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem necessary to knock out all the guards. Most security was concentrated on the facilities between the inner and outer harbors, apparently to prevent petty theft.

Only the lighthouse watched over the open sea where the fools’ ships were anchored. The lighthouse was managed by teams of two, with no patrols but shifts lasting about eight hours from late evening until dawn.

Kain approached the lighthouse. Despite some hooded torches placed here and there, it was still quite dark.

There were no guards at the lighthouse. The door was wide open, and there was a faint smell of alcohol. He also heard small animals scurrying about. The maintenance condition didn’t look particularly good.

Kain carefully climbed the stairs. After checking the corners and hiding, he made a laughing sound—loud enough to startle any dozing guard at the top into coming down.

As expected, a nervous soldier came down. He had a youthful face. Before he could turn around, Kain quickly choked him unconscious. He undid the soldier’s belt, pulled his pants down to his ankles, and bound him with the belt.

Upstairs in the lighthouse, a soldier who appeared to be the senior was nodding off. As expected, the lazy senior had dumped his duties on his junior while he continued to doze. Kain knocked him unconscious as well, then pulled down his pants and tied his ankles with his belt.

If he had simply tied their limbs, they might think it was an ambush, but leaving them half-undressed would add a sense of bizarreness.

Of course, the ideal situation would be for the guards to insist, “We didn’t see anything.”

Rather than filing an absurd report claiming they were lured down by laughter, knocked unconscious, and woke up with their pants down, it would be easier for both the investigators and the investigated if they simply said, “Nothing happened. Honestly, we fell asleep.” The logic of the military is the same whether it’s the Venelucian Allied Forces or the Imperial Army.

Thanks to this, Kain boarded a boat tied beneath the lighthouse breakwater without any burden. It was placed there for lighthouse personnel to use in case of emergency.

The night fog that had been so annoying while in Venelucia now concealed Kain and his boat. Since the tide was ebbing, Kain was able to approach the fools’ ships relatively quickly.

Though now used as prisons, these were once the backbone of the Venelucian navy—galley ships and old pleasure boats. Among them, the ship housing serious criminals was a three-tiered galley ship, quite elongated and capable of holding nearly 200 slaves.

However, the hull wasn’t very high. This was partly due to center of gravity issues, but also because galley ships fought by ramming into enemy vessels and then deploying bridges for soldiers to storm the enemy ship, making it advantageous to deploy as many troops as possible at once.

Of course, that’s ancient history now. With cannons imported from the East, albeit in limited numbers, they now primarily use maneuverable and sturdy sailing ships with smaller elite crews. After all, one can’t escort trade ships to the East with galley ships.

Eventually, the boat reached the ship in question.

Kain connected the grappling hook to the rope. After spinning it around a couple of times, he threw it toward the ship’s rail. He tugged it a few times to confirm it was properly secured, then quickly climbed aboard.

There was no one on the upper deck.

Since the ship was governed by the prisoners’ “autonomous rules,” there were no guards. Most prisoners would likely be one or two decks below.

Looking carefully at the deck, Kain noticed planks with light seeping through. It seemed to be an entrance to the lower deck. As Kain was about to open the hatch, he suddenly crouched down.

From the opposite direction of where Kain had come, near the outer harbor repair facilities, a boat was approaching. It was a small vessel with a sail that could carry about ten people.

It couldn’t be a patrol boat. There was nothing about patrol boats on the duty roster. But that boat was heading “straight” toward the ship Kain was on—the ship housing prisoners serving life sentences.

Fortunately, there were various wooden structures remaining on the upper deck. Kain hid behind one of them. Soon after, the boat with the unknown individuals came close.

“Push gently with the oars! If we crash, only our boat will break!”

A shout could be heard. Then came knocking sounds from the ship’s side. It sounded like someone was knocking with a long iron staff.

Kain held his breath and waited. After a moment, the floor hatch opened. A large-bodied man and four people carrying boxes climbed up the stairs.

The four men and women had their ankles chained together, but strangely, the large man had no such restraints. He was completely unbound.

The men and women opened the boxes and took out rope ladders, which they threw over the ship’s side.

Shortly after, with grunting sounds, the people from the boat climbed up. There were nine of them, all with good physiques.

One of them was holding a glass lantern with cloth wrapped around it to reduce the light, allowing Kain to easily observe their appearance.

Their weapons included clubs, cutlasses, and bundles of daggers. There was no uniformity in their weapons or clothing.

But they were clearly of good quality. The clothes they wore were also superior protective gear.

After all, an ordinary soldier’s salary couldn’t afford a vest made of thin yet tough leather interwoven with dense chains.

It could block slashing attacks, if not stabbing ones.

‘Mercenaries. But why are they here?’

“You’ve arrived.”

The large prisoner bowed in greeting. His beard was unkempt, making him look quite filthy.

The man who appeared to be the mercenary leader waved his hand dismissively.

“Enough with the formalities. Are the preparations ready?”

The large prisoner offered excuses.

“It’s too rushed. We need more time and more people. Most of the men below are already broken.”

Ominous glances were exchanged among the mercenaries. The apparent leader leaned back dramatically.

“Didn’t I make myself clear last time? I told you we’re not ignorant of the situation here, but the captain gave his orders, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The large prisoner hesitated. The mercenary leader prodded his chest with an iron staff.

“And there was something I told you never to forget. What was it? Hmm? Surely the clever Giuseppe Conlone wouldn’t have forgotten that?”

‘Giuseppe?’

Kain inhaled in surprise. Fortunately, he didn’t make any noise.

He had some idea of Giuseppe’s appearance from his preliminary investigation. That’s basic procedure. Otherwise, he would have to go in blindly and question people one by one.

Of course, a person’s appearance after being imprisoned on a prison ship couldn’t be the same as when they lived as a free and healthy citizen.

But Kain had imagined a thin man with hollow eyes, not someone built like a crouching bear. There was no excuse for not recognizing him, even with his back turned to Kain.

“We’ve done everything you asked. Didn’t we make you the king of these prisoners?

No restraints, you can sink anyone you don’t like to the bottom of the sea, any woman you fancy becomes yours. Plus, we’ve given you plenty of special ‘entertainment.'”

A mocking smile appeared on the mercenary’s face.

“Aren’t you enjoying yourself too much in here?”

“That’s not true! There’s no way to prevent addiction during the processing itself. You knew that when you said, ‘Enjoy as much as you want, but not so much that it interferes with meeting the quota!'”

“That’s right. But if you couldn’t increase production, shouldn’t you have reduced consumption? Hmm?”

The leader struck Giuseppe’s chest with the iron staff. The big man winced with a choking sound and hunched over.

“Stand up straight! Who told you to cower!”

“These people are already addicted to asas. If we take the herb away from them…!”

“You bastard.”

The iron staff gleamed in the moonlight. The light struck Giuseppe’s body. Despite groaning in pain, Giuseppe tried to straighten his posture.

“How dare you talk back to me? Fine, die here today. We can just appoint another manager or bring one from somewhere else!

I’ll turn you into minced meat right here. Then we’ll throw you down to the lower deck as a warning of what happens to those who don’t do their work properly!”

“You’re the ones who threw me in here!”

Giuseppe wailed. He snatched the iron staff from the leader’s hand. The prisoners were startled by this unexpected turn, but the mercenaries responded swiftly.

Two mercenaries drew their swords and rushed at him. However, Giuseppe swung the iron staff without concern. Even though his arm was stabbed and his side was slashed, albeit shallowly, he acted as if it didn’t matter at all.

“Yaaah!”

The leader drew his sword. He raised it high and brought it down on Giuseppe’s shoulder, but the large man blocked it with the iron staff.

Only then did the watching prisoners rush forward. Despite stumbling due to the chains on their ankles, they charged at the mercenaries with wild cries.

A brawl broke out in an instant. Hatches opened all over the deck, and prisoners with hollow eyes emerged. All of them had unfocused gazes, and a pungent smell of burning herbs wafted up from below.

The smell of asas herb.

A short scream was heard.

Giuseppe dropped the iron staff in surprise. The mercenary leader’s head was strangely crushed. Something that was neither a scream nor a groan escaped from his shattered head.

“Uh, uh…”

“Captain!”

The mercenaries all drew their swords and rushed at Giuseppe. His large body staggered. The prisoners all rushed forward, but their chained legs made it difficult even to approach.

The next moment.

A loud explosion was heard. It came from the direction of the outer harbor. Kain’s “insurance” had activated. As a flash of light burst forth, everyone screamed and covered their eyes. Red flames illuminated the outer harbor.

In the next moment, Kain, his face covered with cloth, rushed onto the deck wielding a staff and cutlass.