NOVEL FROG 240. The price of peace.
It was the first of July, the first year of the Arcadian calendar when I received the reports that Berna's last pocket of resistance was quenched. The unexpected turn of events resulted in Viscount Jehaness Terion changing sides, which allowed Pyonta to capture most of the remaining Bernan nobles. I suspected that some may have fled Berna or at least placed their heirs and some of their assets abroad, but finding them was a task for later. For now, Pyonta would execute most, if not all, of the captured nobles. I was... Indifferent to their fate. Members of the nobility were almost always a pain to deal with, especially the Bernan ones, since, in my opinion, they were all just fancy slave traders. Since all slave traders deserved to die anyway, I concluded that getting rid of all those who also opposed me was the least problematic option. Besides, Pyonta was the Cardinal of Verka, so I was sure that fair and thorough trials would precede the executions. After all, there were many ways to kill a person, and Pyonta informed me that she was going to make examples out of them. Verka herself was slightly concerned about Pyonta, so she took Akh'ila with her to watch over her high priestess. With the news of the fall of the last bastion of Berna, slowly but surely, all lands conquered during the latest war obediently fell under my rule.
The worst-case scenario never happened, and the Devilkin army has yet to arrive at my gates. The unknown traces found by the Legio Umbra remained a mystery. However, the nodule we reactivated began resonating with the Dragon's Gate as if to try to reach out to each other. The mana streams started flowing again, and it turned out that another nodule was between those points. The exact location is still unknown, but given a few more days or weeks, it should reveal itself. I'm still uncertain if the method of securing nodules was sufficient, but I doubt I will ever have enough soldiers to fully secure each cardinal Leyline location. Recent events had pushed aside the matter of checking the Shadow Realm under the towns and cities of Arcadia. While I couldn't build anything without hurting my humanity levels, I could, fortunately, order expeditions. While no nodule or gate was found directly under the Dungeon Cities, the Faé and Shadow Fenrirs were sure that the Leylines were doing something there. That was... That wasn't helpful at all. Still, there was little to no certain and credible knowledge about the Leylines of the World, so any guess was useful to some degree.
Lastly, there was the matter of Vestargo. Though everyone I spoke to seemed vaguely familiar with him, and my vassals had some experience fighting with him, I still couldn't gather much about his true capabilities. The expedition force he sent this time was on par with the capabilities of an inexperienced Legion. Only the presence of the Scions and Queen Anne's Revenge allowed my forces to be victorious. The total losses accounted for almost seventy percent of the Ninth Legion, twenty privateers from Blackbeard's crew, and forty percent of the auxiliary forces that strengthened Adiutrix. Overall, my army performed very well in such circumstances. The terrain was awful to defend; without prepared defensive lines and fighting against the enemy, we had no idea they existed. However... Just one glance at the map was enough for me to realise that I simply couldn't send my Legions blindly into the Ancient Forest. That wood was easily three-fourths the size of Arcadia. I couldn't afford to thin my forces before dealing with the Devilkins.
However, all of that, while important, was just a background thought for me. My Queens should have awakened yesterday, and I was again anxious, but Stella and Lanka were adamant it was within the norm. Considering the amount of work they did each day, I reluctantly had to agree. Despite all the helpers they had, my wives had a lot of work on their shoulders. With some luck, I hoped we would get even a brief period of peace right now. After dealing with Berna, the only enemy I had to watch out for was the Devilkins. Other neighbouring countries were simply too small to pose any serious threat to a Kingdom as big as Arcadia. While the Slime spies discovered some concerns among southern countries, they were far too occupied with trying to stop Mia and Tia to even think what to do with Arcadia. On the east, Metaka was silent, but I knew it was the silence before the storm. Metakan couriers had been arriving at Avalon at least once a week since Janet enlightened their nobles on what a battleship looks like. Fortunately for me, Cassmira and Leonard were dealing with most of whatever those couriers were bringing. It finally looked like we all could catch a breath.
"My Lord?"
"Yes, Eva?"
"Captain Teach is humbly requesting an audience."
I looked at her with an absolutely blank expression. However, it wasn't the mindless gaze of a person entirely caught off guard. Most likely, the pirates would be signing a cease-fire with us until the defeat of the Holy Kingdom of Berna. On the other hand, I had given them letters of the marque to have some semblance of control over them. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best I could do without needing to hunt them down.
"He's quicker than I anticipated," I admitted with a slight shrug. "I guess he wants to see me at my earliest convenience?"
"Yes, my Lord," she replied instantly with an equally blank expression.
"And where he is now?"
"He is approaching Avalon. He will be here in three hours."
"Then tell him that he can get that audience in four hours," I replied, looking outside the window.
•••
I sat bored in my throne room, awaiting the arrival of the legendary pirate. I was surprised at how boring it was to be a King when everything was seemingly sorted out. I even helped with all the work of my wives that I felt competent to deal with. Naturally, most of the work I did not feel like dealing with belonged to Irene, but fortunately, Gloria kept everything in check. Of course, it took me the last four days and nights, but I had nothing else to do. I dared not to improve or build anything Dungeon related, so I buried myself in the office work. As I was idly staring at the grand banners of my Legions, Sebastian announced the arrival of Captain Edward Teach. I gave him the time needed for anyone to see the room for the first time. In the meantime, I looked at the man who, at first glance, simply screamed with his look, 'I'm THE Pirate.' However, the more I looked at him, the more I liked what I saw. He was focused, serious, and full of the kind of conviction I had seen in others so many times before. That man was like Ban, Blair, and Lanka.
"Captain Edward Teach, the Captain of Queen Anne's Revenge and a commodore of the Privateers in your services, my King," Sebastian dutifully announced to my amusement and Blackbeard's shock.
I looked at him and almost snorted, seeing his panicked expression. He clearly wasn't planning to get this far, and I could see him piecing together what he wanted to tell me. While I was amused, I wasn't a cruel man, so I decided to ease his life a bit.
"I want to thank you for your support during the border skirmish with the forces of Vestargo." I looked deep into his eyes and saw a ray of hope brightening his eyes. "I'm also sorry for your losses during that battle. If you wish, your people may rest along the Alley of Heroes, among those who gave their lives to protect Arcadia."
"Thank you, my King, for acknowledging our efforts and allowing my men to rest as decent men and not like the worst scum they never were." He lowered his head in a deep and respectful bow, still kneeling on his right knee in front of the dais.
"Stand up, Captain." I nodded at him and waited for him to follow my words. "What brings you here?"
"I..." He hesitated for a moment. I saw him take a deep breath and clench his fists. "I wanted to confirm the status of my people and myself."
"Have you broken any law of Arcadia?" I asked him instead.
"No!" he firmly declared.
"Then you are still the privateers in my service." I shrugged with a soft smile. "As long as you comply with our agreement, I won't turn back my word, Blackbeard. Your last actions were enough to grant you a bit of my trust."
"I'm glad to hear that, my Lord," he replied with a relaxed exhale. However, now he was so perplexed that I decided he needed additional assurance.
"Captain, if there is anything you believe I need to know, I will be glad to hear it. You don't have to be always worried that a single wrong word would mean your death." He flinched at that and just stared at my face. "I'm not the kind of a king you may be familiar with or usually deal with. As long as your warnings are sincere, of course..."
"My Lord..." He finally made up his mind and started with a deep bow. "Some of the crews of my small fleet don't want the life of privateers. They demanded that we return to the life we had before."
"I see." I shrugged without much surprise. "What about you?"
"I don't know if you will believe me, my King, but you have my full loyalty right now." He slammed his fist on his heart and nodded to me. My Truth Seeker skill confirmed his words, causing me to smile softly. "You allowed me to see you without even asking me for a reason. What's more, you, the King of Arcadia, the most powerful man in Aderon, have found time to speak with me in person. For that alone, I'm grateful. I and most of my people are too tired to run and hide. We are too tired to live a life full of uncertainty and dangers without a single friendly harbour..." He shook his head and could see the exhaustion he referenced in his motions. "But... I don't know if I could also stand a life of taking orders."
"That's fortunate since it's tiresome to order everyone around." I laughed and saw his incredulous gaze—a gaze I completely ignored and changed my cheerful tone to something more serious. "But there will be times I will rely on your services, Captain Teach. Once I can fully trust you, Blackbeard, I will introduce you to the concept of special forces."
"I will do my best to see that day, my King!" he replied with the bright smile of a man already seeing himself living that life.
"Anyway..." I sighed. "You were telling me that some of your people want to abandon the life of a privateer."
"Yes." His face twisted as if he had eaten something extremely sour. "Nearly three and a half hundred men from my crews threatened me with a mutiny if I didn't abide by their wishes."
"That's three crews of ships the size of a brig?" It was less than I expected, to be honest, but I keep that observation to myself.
"Yes, my Lord." He lowered his head. "I don't want to fight them; that's why I wanted to confirm if our agreement was still in place. Now... I will let them go. I will allow them to take three brigs with them, the part of our spoils that belong to them, and advise them to leave Arcadia if they plan to be pirates."
"A wise decision, Captain Teach." I nodded after a moment needed to consider other options. "If they plan to attack the cities and towns of Arcadia, the Navy might ask for your help to hunt them down, but I doubt that. In less than one battle, Janet will show them the difference between the Holy Navy of Berna and the Royal Navy of Arcadia."