Chapter 81 – I made a declaration!

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“So, is this everyone?”

I muttered while looking at the dragonfolk who were no longer Lindwurms.

Their three ships were pulled in by Mappa Golem as if they were toys, and they were now tied and anchored by our docks.

Each ship had only about a dozen guards and some slaves. And so when the giant stone Golem started to move, they immediately gave up trying to fight it.

After all, it was hard to maintain the will to fight when their leader, Arder, was being strangled in front of them like a chicken.

Currently, over a thousand dragonfolk were sitting on the ground in front of us.

They were surrounded by monsters, and not one of them thought to resist.

Furthermore, nearly all of their ears were burnt black.

Perhaps it was because they were burned when they were in their Lindwurm forms, but the wounds looked rather painful.

Also, they seemed thinner and weaker than they had before the transformation.

Baris really had been right when he said that their wings were the source of their power. As for Arder, he no longer seemed like a robust man in the prime of his life. He seemed more like a frail old man.

…Had they just been people who drifted here or were shipwrecked, I would have treated them.

But I could not do that.

After all, they were invaders.

We had offered them food and water and taken care of their wounded.

But that was not enough for them, and they tried to hurt us. Just for some gold and precious gems.

Indeed, Erevan and Kamyu had pointed their blades at me at first. However, they were desperate to survive, and had stopped fighting when I showed that there was another way. But this time, things were different.

And so I could not treat them in the same way.

Just then, Berfalt came forward as a representative of the slaves.

“Lord Heal. All of the slaves and prisoners in the ships are now free! Lady Rienna is now treating them.”

The slaves had been shackled inside of the ships.

Their clothes were ragged, and they had wounds suggesting they had been flogged.

“That’s good. Food is also being prepared, so you must all eat as much as you can.”

“Th-thank you! I really don’t know what I can do to express my gratitude… I know.”

Berfalt said as he ripped open his sleeve and took out a piece of paper.

He had apparently been hiding it from Arder and the others. So it must be important.

“What is that?”

“It’s my insurance certificate. I put insurance on my ship and cargo before setting out to sea.”

The sea was always full of danger.

Disastrous weather could cause your ship to sink, your cargo to be lost. And there were also pirates.

And so people had insurance for such events.

You could pay the state or money lenders before a voyage, and if your ship or cargo is damaged or lost, you can receive money in compensation.

What made it different from the insurance that merchants that traveled in carriages used, was that ships were a great asset that carried great amounts of cargo. And so the price for insuring it was very high.

However, Berfalt looked embarrassed.

“Though, I know it is a terribly low amount for you, Lord Heal…”

I looked at the paper. It was written in the Fallion language, and I couldn’t interpret it immediately. However, I was able to see the numbers at once.

“30,000 orts… Uh, orts are the Amolis currency, right? How much would that be back home…”

“1 ort is about 10 dels…so, that would be 300,000 dels.”

“300,000 dels!? You could buy a house near the main street in the capital with that…”

It was enough money to buy the kind of house that rich merchants and low ranking nobles lived in. 

Hell, it was enough money to bribe some royals, even.

“Huh? Oh, I suppose. Maybe you could do that… But I’m sure it means nothing to you, Lord Heal.”

Berfalt seemed puzzled that I should be astonished.

He had probably seen the jewels that the monsters were wearing and thought that 300,00 dels would be nothing to me.

Indeed. If I wanted to sell everything I had dug up until now, I would probably make more money than what existed in the entire kingdom of Sanfaris.

Well, except for the fact that the value of the stones would drop tremendously once it was known I had so much of them.

“No, it is a lot of money…Berfalt. But this is your insurance. You lost your ship, didn’t you? You should be the one to use it.

“Bu-but… You saved my life and freed me. I have to give you something in exchange…”

Berfalt was a very righteous person.

And he could not leave a debt unpaid.

“Either way, you can’t receive the money unless you return, right?”

“Ye-yes… Ah… Now that I think about it…how can I return…”

Berfalt’s ship had been sunk, apparently.

So those three carracks were Arder’s from the beginning.

“But don’t the others all want to return too? Then you should use those carracks.”

“B-but, those were captured by you, Lord Heal. We can’t take them.”

“It’s true that we’ve wanted new ships. Unfortunately, we don’t have a big enough crew right now. So we don’t need three ships.”

“But…still… I know. I will buy it from you. I can bring the money when I… Oh, but a ship of that size might be more than just 30,000 orts…”

Berfalt held his head.

“In fact, with just 30,000 orts, much of it would be spent on the voyage to deliver it… Oh, maybe I should mortgage my house…”

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The Cave King will live a Paradise Life -Becoming the strongest with the mining skill?-