Chapter 35 Aftermath
After a group of pirate captives were taken to the basement, Paul found a stranger standing next to Schroeder. Although his face was unshaven and his clothes were in tatters, he could tell at a glance It can be seen that that kind of clothes is not something ordinary civilians can afford.
He asked aloud: "Schroeder, who is this?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention it. He claimed to be a member of the Foster family of the Southern Cape Alliance. I came to explore the northwest bay a few months ago and was unfortunately kidnapped by pirates.”
The young man immediately bowed forward with a perfect gesture.
"My lord, you must be the lord of this place. Please introduce yourself. My father is Marquis Foster, who is a member of the Council of the Corner Bay Alliance. I am his second son Queller Foster. , on behalf of the Foster family, I would like to express my highest respect to you and thank you for rescuing me from the pirates this time.”
After hearing the young man’s self-introduction, he managed to hold back his smile. Replied: "You're too polite! This is my duty as a lord."
This Marquis Foster really knows how to name names, since he is a big shot in the Council of the Corner Bay Alliance , must also be engaged in business, he actually named his son "Qui Lai". Although he knew that the pronunciation was just the same as Chinese, he still couldn't help complaining in his heart.
"Are you Queller Foster?" After the young man reported his name, everyone in the Leachman Adventure Group looked at him.
"Exactly." The young man smoothed his hair and said narcissistically. These guys are obviously civilians. There is no need to be as polite to them as you were to the earl just now.
The leader of the group, Meru Heimer, was furious: "Ah - do you know how much effort we have spent looking for you."
Quiller Foster looked confused and full of questions: "Uh... ...I wonder how many of you are there?”
“Ahhh! I can’t stand it. You are such a willful young man. Your family has not heard from you for two months, and they are almost like ants on a hot pot. Yes, the Marquis entrusted our adventure group to find you. After we ran here, we found out that you were trapped in a pirate den. In order to save you, we almost lost our lives."
"Uh. , I am too impulsive and have made my family worried.”
“Hey! The point of what I just said is the last sentence.”
"Huh? What did you say?"
"I'm so angry! I don't care. When I commissioned the commission, I just said I was looking for someone, but I didn't say I wanted to fight pirates. The commission must be doubled, no, it should be Three times the original amount."
Quiller Foster snapped his fingers and closed his eyes and said, "Haha, it's a joke! I have always respected adventurers, and the Foster family will definitely fulfill your wishes. ”
That attitude can be as indifferent as it is.
“You didn’t even ask what the initial commission price was!” Everyone in the hall, including Paul, instantly felt envious and jealous of the wealthy people.
...
While talking, the officers who were encircling and suppressing the pirates who had slipped through the net in Fulan Port came to the church one after another.
So Queller Foster and the Leachman Adventure Group were arranged to go down to rest, and the townspeople were sent home. In a room next to the hall, officers of the battalion and company levels were summoned. Get up and have a meeting.
Staff Joyce was responsible for counting the results of the battle. He stood up and reported: "My lords, the results of this battle were brilliant. The pirate gang Shark Gang was wiped out. There were one hundred and twenty-three in total. The pirates were killed, and everyone else, including the bandit leader Shark, was captured. Thirty-two of our people were killed and fifty-five were injured to varying degrees.”
The officers communicated with each other and were very satisfied with the results of the battle. .
Paul asked: "Is there any news about the pirate gang whose leader is nicknamed 'Loach'?"
Joyce replied: "We didn't encounter any of their people in this battle. According to the prisoners' confessions, they seemed to have arrived early." They ran back to the sea.”
Schroeder added: “While chasing the sharks, we also recaptured several boxes of coins they brought on board. It is roughly estimated that there are 2,000 gold coins, 6,000 silver coins and more. Tens of thousands of copper coins."
"Oh!" Everyone opened their mouths to express surprise. They didn't expect that the profession of pirates could be so "profitable" and that a small pirate group could rob so much wealth. Paul was even more overjoyed. With so much money, he could do some things he had wanted to do for a long time.
“This money can be used to cast more cannons.”
“Recruit more soldiers.”
“Forge more muskets.”
“And more Establish our own maritime power.”
The officers expressed their opinions on the use of this money, and even Cecil kept giving him a wink, implying that his intelligence work also needed more funding.
"But a lot of this money was robbed from the coastal residents. Shouldn't it be returned to them?"
Someone suddenly raised this question.
The room suddenly became quiet, and the heated discussion came to an abrupt end. After everyone looked at each other for a while, they all looked at the Earl in unison.
Damn! What are you all looking at me for? What are you all looking at me for? Of course, in my heart, I want to give it back to the people, but I don’t know if you want it. If you also want to give it back to the people, of course everyone is happy. But if you don’t want to give it back to the people, wouldn’t it be against everyone’s rules if I say it? Will you throw me out of the window?
Lord Earl's heart was at war with heaven and man. oops! I'm so worried, who can stand up first and express my opinion?
After a stalemate for nearly a minute, the old knight Schroeder finally stood up.
“With our current methods, it is difficult to accurately count the losses of each household. Moreover, the Shark Gang has been rampant at sea for many years, and some of the money was stolen from other territories. If the territorial residents are allowed to move forward, If you come to claim it, it will give many treacherous people an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. For example, if someone insists that the only silver coin he has was stolen by pirates, what should we do?"
Everyone came to their senses one after another. Oh, the old knight was right. Maybe there wouldn’t be much money left in the end, and he might even have to pay part of it.
Cecil immediately said: "Yes, the common people are the most hateful, cunning and greedy. When I was in charge of forestry, the biggest headache was those unscrupulous people who wanted to take advantage every day."
Unexpectedly, the young earl became furious after hearing these words. He slammed the table and glared at the intelligence director with wide eyes. He was so frightened that he immediately covered his mouth, although he still didn't know that he was wrong. What.
Schroeder continued: "Therefore, I suggest using other methods to compensate the territorial residents who have suffered losses. For example, reducing part of the tax, or building bridges and paving roads for the robbed villages, or sending people to conduct unannounced visits, only to those who were really robbed. It is better to give a certain amount of money to the family who robs and threatens their livelihood, than to ask people to claim it based on just one word."
" Mr. Schroeder has a long-term view!”
“I agree.”
Everyone agreed with Schroeder’s suggestion.
Paul was also convinced. Seeing that everyone agreed, he made the final decision: "Okay! That's it."
I read through the chapters I posted last night and felt that the writing was a bit bad, and there were a lot more Typo, I will go back today and try to fix it.
In addition, I feel that calling the protagonist by his first name "Paul" is more convenient than calling the protagonist by his last name "Grayman", so I will change it as well.
(End of this chapter)