Chapter 43: A Waste
Chapter 43: A Waste
The royal castle of the Forest Kingdom somewhat resembled the structures built by Indigenous tribes in Sag's memory, especially the palace. On a gigantic stone staircase were square-shaped buildings with intricate carvings.
It gave one the feeling that there were many treasures hidden within.
Having dealt with the hundreds of soldiers gathered here, Sag and his crew marched straight into the heart of the palace. About a dozen pirates spread out, searching for any wealth stored within its chambers.
At that moment, in the grand hall constructed entirely of stone, Sag sat before a stone throne, one leg draped over its armrest as he lounged, propping his head up with his hand while observing Ajin inspecting each and every chest.
"Male."
Ajin flipped open a chest and spoke before moving on to the next one.
"Male."
He repeated the process with another chest, calling out the same assessment.
"Can you determine the gender of a chest?"
Renitia, intrigued by their actions, walked over and pushed aside a wooden chest, only to find it empty.
"It's empty!!" A vein popped out on her forehead.
Watching this unfold, Sag couldn't help but feel his eyes twitching.
They had indeed discovered treasure chests, but they were all empty!
Not a single Berry was to be found. His crew had labored for nothing, only coming across some supplies. Their collective efforts had yielded less value than the corpse of the king, who had at least been adorned with gold jewelry.
"Captain, we've caught a man who claims to be the butler!"
A pirate dragged a middle-aged man, clad in a cloak and adorned with exquisite feathers, before the throne and unceremoniously dumped him on the ground.
"No, please don't kill me!"
The man pleaded, his buttocks in the air as he knelt with his hands clasped tightly around his head, his body shaking uncontrollably. "I'll tell you everything! Please, spare my life!"
"Butler Gadry, it's been a while," Marika said gently, a smile on her face.
Hearing her voice, the butler lifted his head, his eyes widening in surprise. "Mar—Marika! Is this your revenge?"
"You could say that," Marika replied, her smile unwavering. "In any case, I'm about to join a pirate crew with a captain who has a bounty of 70 million berries. And this Captain Sag here is troubled because he can't find any treasure."
Maintaining her smile, Marika asked, "So, could you please tell us where the treasure is?"
Sag gave Marika an approving glance.
After killing the king, it seemed this woman had made up her mind to join his crew.
"T-treasure..."
The butler stuttered, "There is no treasure. All the money collected was handed over to the World Government by the king."
"What?!"
Sag exclaimed in disbelief, "You mean he handed over all that money? Not a single berry left?"
Sag had no idea how much the 'Sky Berry' was worth, but he knew that with the king's relentless money-grubbing, he must have been able to scrape together enough to afford it.
"N-no, Captain. The king thought the kingdom was too poor, lacking in resources. He wanted to move to another country, so he paid extra to the World Government, hoping they would assign him a new, wealthy country to rule."
While the World Government was undoubtedly a formidable power, it did not encompass the entire world. Only about half of the countries were under its jurisdiction. The other half were non-member states, and this included half of the countries in the East Blue as well.
It wasn't that these countries didn't want the protection of the World Government—such cases were actually extremely rare, limited to only a handful of nations that were exceptionally powerful and saw no value in joining.
The vast majority of non-member states simply couldn't afford the exorbitant cost of membership. These countries went unprotected and lacked the so-called 'human rights' afforded to those within the World Government's sphere of influence, leaving them vulnerable to conquest.
However, the World Government's reach didn't extend to every powerful entity, and many of the countries within its jurisdiction were evenly matched, some even inferior to non-member states. The sea was vast, and there were likely many non-member states unknown to the World Government.
Even if they managed to locate one of these countries, it would be a formidable task to launch an expedition with the might of a single kingdom.
After all, defending one's homeland would always confer an advantage over attackers traveling from afar.
And so, the king of the Forest Kingdom, recognizing his own limitations, sought to leverage the power of the World Government. Each year, he paid a hefty sum, hoping they would grant him a wealthy non-member state, allowing him to become its king.
The Forest Kingdom was indeed impoverished, its only abundant resource being fruit. The king had squeezed every last drop from his people, resorting to coercion and even human trafficking to provide labor for the Bridge Kingdom. The meager profits from these endeavors had been handed over to the World Government, leaving little to no surplus.
Sag clicked his tongue. "Who did he deal with? Do you know where this person is?"
"N-no, I don't know their whereabouts. I only know that the money is handed over to officials of the World Government each year along with the Sky Berry tribute," the butler replied.
Well, that was that, then.
"What kind of officials?" Sag grumbled. "There are only two types: those who are corrupt and line their own pockets, and those who honestly turn in the money, only for it to be embezzled by higher-ups. Either way, it has nothing to do with me now."
"What about the nobles in your country?" Sag asked, unwilling to give up. "Surely they have some wealth."
In any country, there would be not just a king but also nobles.
"The nobles are in the villages, but the king has already squeezed them dry. However, they should still have some money left. I can lead the way!" the butler offered.
"Never mind, it's too time-consuming," Sag decided after a moment's thought.
A continent this size would undoubtedly have numerous villages and towns, but the nobles would be scattered, making it tedious to extort them, and there was no guarantee they would have much money anyway.
Besides, he was a pirate, not a mountain bandit. Their ship was still anchored in the shallows, and staying too long increased the risk of being discovered by the Navy.
Bang! Sag stood up and kicked the stone throne, shattering it to pieces. Looking down at the butler kneeling on the ground, he scowled, "So after all this, the most valuable thing I got was the gold on the king's corpse?"
"I-I can collect taxes from the commoners now! No, I'll go collect taxes immediately!" the butler hastily offered.
"Forget it, I'm not interested in the poor," Sag replied, shaking his head. "And..."
He walked down the steps and glanced toward the entrance of the palace. "It's uncertain if you can even collect the taxes now. Let's get out of here!"
He strode out of the palace doors. Below the royal castle, in the town, the civilians, armed with pitchforks and wooden clubs, had gathered spontaneously. Seeing Sag, they parted to the sides, creating a path for him.
"Lady Marika," they began, spotting Marika behind Sag.
But Marika shushed them with a finger to her lips and a silent gesture.
The street leading to the entrance fell silent.
Only when Sag had exited the castle gates did he turn and ask, "Not going to say goodbye?"
"Well, as someone who's about to become a pirate, it's best if I don't. Otherwise, the townsfolk might be implicated for colluding with pirates, and that would be troublesome," Marika explained with a smile. "You kept your word, so I'll keep mine. I'll join your crew as I promised."
In her eyes, Sag had fulfilled his end of the bargain by killing the king, breaching the castle gates, and setting the people free.
Now that the king was gone, the oppressive taxes would be lifted, and the people could finally eat their fill.
As for the rest...
"Ohh!"
A thunderous cheer erupted from the rear of the royal castle.
"Why are they cheering so loudly?" Renitia turned to look and asked. "Are they that happy the king is dead? Well, I guess I was pretty happy when Murdoch died, too."
"That's different," Lily replied. "You were avenging your father, but they're celebrating their freedom from oppressive taxes and the fact that they won't have to work on the Bridge Kingdom anymore. At least, I think that's why."
Whether they would successfully resist and change their fate or be crushed and return to their previous lives was anyone's guess.
"What do you think, Sag?" she asked.
"Not my problem," Sag replied with a cold smile. "I'm just a pirate here to rob them. Whether they prosper or not is none of my concern. I've given them the opportunity, and it's up to them to make the most of it. But..."
He sighed. "What a waste."
"A waste?" Lily echoed, confused.
"Of course," Sag asserted. "If I had this much land and this many people, I would definitely develop the area's unique products, innovate with new strategies, align the granularity, promote accessibility, leverage distribution capabilities to tap into vertical fields, and ultimately realize a value conversion, raking in big bucks!"
"..." Lily was only partially following his train of thought.
While she couldn't understand everything he said, she had a feeling that Sag's repeated failures in his ventures might not have been solely due to bad luck.
She steered the conversation in a different direction. "Aren't you going to try recruiting them? They don't seem to have a negative impression of pirates, and with Lady Marika here..."
"With Marika here, I dragged her along to play in the sand for two years, and these people are not suited to be pirates," Sag shook his head. "Besides, I've already left, and not a single one of them followed. That means they don't want to be pirates either. We'll find recruits elsewhere."
"If we're talking about crew members..."
Marika paused, then suggested, "Captain, how about we try the Bridge Kingdom?"
"Oh?" Sag's eyes lit up, and a smile tugged at his lips. "Yes, I have plans for the Bridge Kingdom!"
"What?" Lily asked, intrigued.
"We're going to the Bridge Kingdom!" Sag declared, waving his arm. "That's where I'll find the crew members I want!"
(End of Chapter)
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