Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 12 - Chapter 7

7. Jewels and Skulls

The flight of dragons left in the evening. The Mantis-go entered port after that, so by the time they had disembarked and left the pier, it was quite late in the day.

It turned out the dragons had begun appearing ten days ago, and started swooping down like that seven days ago.

The damages extended to the port town of Roronea’s residential district, commercial district, and pleasure quarter. The port had only had one of its piers destroyed, and two of the ships there were heavily damaged. Well, even if that was all that had happened, it still meant one of seven wharves and piers was completely out of commission. The ships were a major asset for their owners, too. Sometimes the entirety of their fortune. It was a huge loss.

That being the case, there were far fewer people in Roronea than usual. Normally, it would have been a wild town with drinking and singing all day and all night, a sort of sleepless city, but none of that bustle was on display now.

“Our company’s main racket is the various taxes we collect from all over Roronea, after all,” a man told them.

The man was sitting at a desk, looking out an open window. He wasn’t quite middle age, but he gave off the impression of an adult man. His sailor style outfit suited him well, and he came off as far more captainly than either Momohina or Ginzy.

The mansion Momohina and the rest had been brought to stood on high ground, and the window of this second floor room gave a full view of the port. The damp sea breeze felt lukewarm. There were a large number of moths in the room, perhaps drawn by the lamps inside, and they were fluttering around near the ceiling.

“The residences are one thing, but we have to pay to repair the pier ourselves,” the man went on. “At this rate, we’re going to be put out of business. I’d never have expected this nonsense would happen while the president and Kisaragi were away. Bad luck, that’s what it is.”

“No, this isn’t the time for your luck nonsense,” their fishman shot back. “You’re the managing director!”

The man who’d been called the managing director seemed like he couldn’t care less about Ginzy’s objection. Ignoring the noisy sahuagin, he turned a scrutinizing eye on Haruhiro and the party.

“Newcomers, huh. It’s not the sea. You people smell of the land. Were you volunteer soldiers from Alterna, or something?”

Haruhiro didn’t respond immediately. His comrades didn’t open their mouths, either.

“Hey.” The man cleared his throat and laughed. “I’m asking you a question, you know? Answer it. You haven’t trained them very well, have you, KMW?”

“Umm, I taught the girls kung-fu!”

“Did you, now?”

“Shihoruru’s kind of iffy, but the other three maaay end up being pretty strong.”

“Well, that’s fine. Better than them being weak, I suppose.”

“Hey, listen, do you think Yume can get stronger?” Yume asked suddenly.

Momohina let out a weird giggle and nodded. “You sure caaaan. I think you may be on the right track already, Yumeyume! If I train you good and hard for three, four months, you’ll be an honest-to-goodness kung-fulier! Yep!”

“Oh-ho! Yume’s gonna be a kung-fulier, huh?”

“Yumeyume, you’re a hunter, riiiight? Your moves are a little more agile than the warriors, so maaaaybe that helps?”

“Hmmm. Yume’s not stiff. Maybe Yume’s pretty flexible?”

“Oh, and Harupiroron’s a thief, Kuzakkyun’s a paladin, and Shihoruru’s a mage, right? Merimeri’s, hmm, a priest, I think, but maaaaybe she’s got experience in other classes, too. Setoranran’s from the hidden village, I gueeeess? She’s got a nyaa-chan with her, after all!”

“More or less volunteer soldiers, then.” The managing director stroked his chin. “Well, maybe they’ll be more use than dyed-in-the-wool pirates.”

“Me, too! Me, too! Me, too! I’m not a pure pirate, either, after all!” Ginzy added proudly.

The managing director ignored him again. “Even our KMW, Momohina, was a volunteer soldier originally.”

“Only a trainee, though,” said Momohina. “Same with Kisaragicchon and Icchonchon.”

“Now she’s a head of a crew of pirates. That’s life for you.”

“And you’re a pirate managing director, Giancarulun.”

“Of a pirate company, yes. Though, even when I get called that, I don’t really know what it means.”

“The managing director! That’s a kind of important person!”

“Dammiiiiit,” Ginzy moaned. “I’ve been around longer, yet they only made me a captaiiiiin.”

Momohina and the managing director, who was apparently named Giancarulun or something like that, didn’t so much as look at Ginzy as he ground his teeth in frustration.

It wouldn’t have been odd to feel a bit sorry for him, but there was something about this sahuagin that didn’t produce the slightest bit of sympathy. That something was how annoying he was. Way too annoying.

“Come to think of it, I hadn’t introduced myself yet,” the managing director said with a shrug. “I’m technically the managing director of the K&K Pirate Company, Giancarlo Kreitzal.”

“It’s a pleasure. I’m Haruhiro.”

Haruhiro greeted him as the party representative. However, he felt it strange the whole time. Why were they, the new recruits, being taken to meet an important executive of the pirate company?

That executive, Giancarlo, had this vague attitude of, What the hell am I doing? Well, whatever. There are dragons. Everything’s a mess. He seemed disinterested, and listless.

Jimmy the bandaged man, who had remained quiet up until this point, stepped forward, whispering something in Giancarlo’s ear. Giancarlo reacted like he finally got it, and nodded.

“Haruhiro, was it? Whatever led you here, you are now members of our K&K Pirate Company. Congratulations on joining the company. Okay, time to clap.”

When Giancarlo started clapping, Momohina said, “Yay, clap, clap,” saying the onomatopoeia out loud, while Jimmy clapped in silence. Who did Ginzy, who was clapping both his hands together while giving off an air of reluctance, think he was? Well, a captain, maybe.

It seemed like a rather forced celebration, but it didn’t feel half bad.

Yeah, right.

Unfortunately, unlike Kuzaku, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment with an “Uhh, thanks...” or Yume, who bowed politely with a “Thank youuuu,” Haruhiro was not so pure and innocent.

He quickly traded glances with Shihoru. Shihoru, like Haruhiro, was dubious. From the looks on their faces, Setora and Merry were suspicious, too. When it came to Kiichi, who was sticking close to Setora’s feet, he’d been in alert mode from the beginning.

“By the way, sorry if this is an awkward question, but, um... what sort of organization is the K&K Pirate Company, exactly?” Haruhiro asked. “If we’ve ‘joined’ the company, I think you could tell us that much, at least.”

“Huh? You weren’t told?” Giancarlo spat the words out in exasperation, then looked to Jimmy ad made a gesture with his chin.

Jimmy nodded, turning back to Haruhiro. “The Emerald Archipelago was originally run by this big pirate called Dead Skull.”

According to him, the Emerald Archipelago had long been called a pirate’s paradise. It had ports where pirates with nowhere else to go could stop safely, and was a place for them to rest their weary bones. Some pirates had been born in the Emerald Archipelago, too. There were even rumors that the islands were the birthplace of piracy.

However, when the Skull Pirate Gang under Dead Skull had taken the place over, the Emerald Archipelago had ceased to be a paradise for many of those pirates.

Thought of as a man of character, an understanding and moderate pirate captain, Skull had been a large man, with white hair and a white beard.

When he had first come to the Emerald Archipelago, he’d called himself an old man. His underlings had called Skull “Old Man.”

Good at arbitrating when there was trouble and acting as a middleman, there had been a continuous series who brought profitable ideas to the old man, and made a fortune working with him. The old man had held connections in trading cities like Vele and Igor, in the Coral Archipelago, and on the Red Continent, too.

Whenever a pirate had consulted him about something, the old man had always started with, “I’m just an old man. I don’t know if I can help you,” but then handled it, or provided a plan of action.

Quickly becoming acquainted with the top pirates, the old man had in no time gained a role as a coordinator.

Then, one day, he had shown his true colors.

On his seventy-seventh birthday, he had told the other pirates he’d like to share a drink before he passed on.

Each pirate thinking he would be drinking with the old man alone at the tavern, all the biggest names in piracy had gathered in the Emerald Archipelago.

Fair enough; this was apparently what the old man wanted. A birthday party, huh?

There were pirates forced to sit with those they didn’t get along with, but how could they complain? Having decided to help the old man look good, and to put up with one another for the night, they had all shared a toast.

That was the last drink any of them had ever taken.

The pirates had dropped like flies. The booze had been poisoned.

The old man had tricked the powerful pirates and done away with them, becoming dictator of the Emerald Islands in a single night.

Anyone who refused to swear loyalty to Dead Skull had been captured by the Skull Pirate Gang and executed. Men and women alike. Even a twelve-year-old girl had been killed for badmouthing Skull.

Their standard modus operandi was incredibly cruel, cutting off the nose and ears, then throwing the victims into the sea for the sharks to eat.

Despite shuddering, everyone had understood that there was no choice but to submit to Skull.

“And who brought down Dead Skull?” Ginzy declared, his nostrils flaring. “I... am good friends with Kisaragi-san, who along with his comrades, did the deed!”

“K&K is short for Kisaragi and Kreitzal.” Jimmy’s tone was plain. Naturally, he didn’t even look at Ginzy. “Kisaragi didn’t want a post with the company, so Giancarlo’s younger sister, Anjolina, is our company president. She was a pirate to begin with, and opposed the Skull Pirate Gang.”

Giancarlo smiled wryly. “I, well, I’m riding the coattails of Kisaragi and my little sister. Not that I particularly wanted this job.”

“Where are this Kisaragi and Anjolina now?” Haruhiro asked.

Momohina jumped up. “Um, well, they’re reeeeally, reaaaally far away!” she explained energetically. “Kisaragicchon, Icchonchon, Miriryun, and Haimari got on Ms. President’s boat and left for the Red Continent. Ms. President’s on a business triiiip! That’s right!”

“Oh, and Mitsuki’s probably not coming back,” Giancarlo added with a sigh. “Still, Momohina, why didn’t you go with Kisaragi? You’ve never been to the Red Continent, right? It may not be a nice place, but it’s worth seeing.”

“Hmmm...” Momohina looked up to the moths flying around near the ceiling. “Kisaragicchon has Icchonchon, Miriryun, and Haimari with him, so I figured he’ll be fiiiine. If you love someone, let them goooo. Ooooh. You know? Like that?”

“Nuhuhuh...” Ginzy’s laughed creepily. “Love is complicated, isn’t it? How nice. Oh, such youth! Why, I’ve never once been popular! Lately, I’ve been thinking of giving up on sahuagin women, and setting my sights on humans instead! Oh, oh, oh, oh, what’s this? No witty retorts? I welcome those, you know! Come on, come on, come on, tell me, tell me I’ll have even less luck with humans! Three, two, one, go!”

It was quiet.

About the only noises to be heard were the distant waves, and the wings of moths beating against the ceiling.

It wasn’t as if anyone had taken the lead on this, but there was a thorough policy of not giving this sahuagin any bait. In a way, Ginzy had brought them all together on something, so that was kind of amazing.

“There have been dragons living in the Emerald Archipelago since long, long ago,” Jimmy said.

Merry stiffened a little. Those were the exact words Merry had spoken while the dragons were attacking Roronea. “But the pirates of the Emerald Archipelago have always coexisted with the dragons. There was an unspoken understanding: ‘Don’t go near the dragons.’ Trying to harm them is, obviously, out of the question. The dragons are like seabirds, feeding on large fish. Not far from this island, there’s a perfect fishing spot for dragons. We never disturb that fishing spot. As long as pirates just followed these rules, the dragons have left them be. As an added bonus, respectable ships feared the dragons, and they wouldn’t come near the Emerald Archipelago. The dragons were almost like protector gods for the pirates.”

“Isn’t that weird?” Setora asked in a tone too bold for a newcomer and an underling. She might simply have no concept of acting servile. “Why are those protector gods attacking the town?”

Jimmy didn’t seem offended. “Yes, it is weird,” he agreed. “Managing director, how is that investigation going?”

“We’re trying to investigate, but...” Giancarlo frowned. “I have my usual duties, and I can be pretty busy with them, and then the dragons make more work for me each time they come. The only pawns I have at my disposal are a bunch of ruffians. Jimmy, if I had a clever guy like you, I might make some progress.”

“That’s an excuse!” Ginzy shouted.

“Hey, shut up, Ginzy. You wanna get cooked and then thrown out?”

“Fishhh?! I didn’t get ignored, for once?! I’m kind of happy! But isn’t cooking me then throwing me out without eating me a little harsh?!”

“I understand.” Jimmy completely ignored the fishman. “I’m tired of riding on ships, getting shipwrecked, and waiting to be rescued, so let me take this on for you. I am a section head, after all.”

“What section are you the head of?” Shihoru asked.

Jimmy said, “Search me,” and tilted his head to the side a bit. “I was asked to choose between assistant director, section head, and department head, and just went with whatever, so I don’t even know. When I’m on a ship, I’m more important than the rest of the crew, but less important than the captain. On land I’m above the captains, but below the managing director. That’s about how the company’s structured. So, about that investigation, I’m going to need people.”

Giancarlo waved his hand as if to say, Do whatever you want, then glanced to Haruhiro.

“Why, isn’t this convenient,” Jimmy began.

I see where this is going, thought Haruhiro.

Haruhiro made his move before Jimmy could bring it up. “Sure. We’ll help. I’m sure we’ll be a little more useful than the pirates. There’s a condition, though.”