Reincarnation of a Hunter Chapter 36.2 - The Pirate King’s Sophistry

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One week later.

 

—Boom!

 

Luca, who had been raiding yet another slave transport ship, kicked the ship’s railing in frustration.

 

“What the hell is this?! All of them are slave ships! Why isn’t there a single grain transport?”

 

This was already the fourth slave ship they had encountered.

 

Why were there only slave ships? None of the pirates knew the reason.

 

But the answer came from an unexpected place—a slave merchant, thoroughly looted, provided the explanation.

 

“Pirate lord, grain ships don’t sail this route anymore.”

 

Startled, Luca grabbed the slave merchant by the collar.

 

“Ack!”

 

“You—explain. In detail.”

 

“T-the Marquis of Catalonia buys grain from the Kingdom of France now.”

 

Releasing the collar, Luca pressed further.

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, naturally, because of the pi—er, distinguished individuals like yourselves. And French grain is cheaper, they say.”

 

“How is it cheaper? They’d have to take a detour to transport it.”

 

“They load it at the port of Marseille. It takes less than a day to reach Catalonia.”

 

“Marseille?”

 

‘So now we have to raid ships from Marseille?’

 

Luca was conflicted.

 

‘Wasn’t the Lord of Marseille the magnanimous man who forgave and spared my son Marco, even after he tried to kill him?’

 

It was a slight misunderstanding, but from Luca’s perspective, it made sense. He called his subordinate and shared his dilemma.

 

“What should I do? My conscience won’t let me raid Marseille’s ships, but if we don’t, how will we survive?”

 

“Hmm. Some of the grain ships might belong to Catalonia. The volume is huge, after all.”

 

“That’s true.”

 

“Besides, it’s not just grain ships. There must be trade vessels traveling between the two territories as well.”

 

Luca frowned, lost in thought. Then, he reached his decision.

 

“We raid ships traveling between Marseille and Catalonia! But we spare any ship flying Marseille’s flag! Any objections?”

 

“No, boss!”

 

Raising an objection would mean an express ticket to the River Jordan. The pirates had no choice but to accept.

 

Their fear of the boss outweighed even their fear of the navy.

 

Meanwhile, the slave trader who had been listening to their conversation decided to head to Catalonia as soon as possible to report this.

 

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Port of Marseille.

 

I came here after receiving reports that the grain transport ships had been plundered by pirates.

 

The grain trade had been revitalizing the port, drastically reducing unemployment—only for this disaster to strike.

 

Captain Adrien rushed over in a panic as soon as he saw me.

 

“My lord! Pirates have appeared!”

 

“Calm down. What’s the damage?”

 

“Three grain ships from Catalonia were completely looted.”

 

Damn pirates. Now I understood why the Marquis of Catalonia was always cursing them.

 

“What about our losses?”

 

“Fortunately, our ships were spared. They were left untouched.”

 

“Huh. Why?”

 

Captain Adrien seemed just as clueless.

 

There was, of course, an obvious guess. Since the Marquis of Catalonia had tried to kill Marco, this was likely retaliation—looting Catalonia’s ships in revenge.

 

The reason our territory’s ships were spared was probably because I had saved Marco.

 

But that wasn’t certain.

 

“Adrien Axel! For now, refrain from voyages until we know the exact reason.”

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

However, the reason became clear through an unexpected turn of events.

 

A few days later…

 

While I was temporarily setting aside the pirate issue and wrestling with a mountain of paperwork in my office,

 

Diego, the chief of economic affairs, came to see me.

 

“My lord, you need to go to the port.”

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“Merchant ships from other territories are asking to fly Marseille’s banner. They’re willing to pay for permission.”

 

It seemed my guess was right.

 

Flying Marseille’s flag meant the pirates wouldn’t touch them.

 

I couldn’t help but laugh at Pirate King Luca’s absurd behavior. At this rate, it’ll look like I’m in cahoots with pirates.

 

Either way, I can’t just let any ship fly my banner.

 

“Diego, reject all of them. Only shipping companies that establish their headquarters in our territory and pay taxes are allowed.”

 

“So, in the end, you’re saying no.”

 

“Well, one or two might still come, right? They could even set up a company.”

 

“The Marquis of Catalonia might not like that.”

 

This implied that the Catalonian territory, which relied on trade ports and slave trading, might react sensitively.

 

“Then reject any companies from Catalonia. Say it’s not possible since their territory is bound by a marriage alliance with us.”

 

“Understood. I’ll head to the port.”

 

But whatever Diego told the merchants, requests to establish companies started pouring in.

 

Several merchants proposed forming joint-stock companies to set up operations. They could separate the ships traveling to and from Marseille from each shipping company and reassign them under the new joint-stock company’s ownership.

I clicked my tongue at the merchants’ cleverness.

 

Then, I gave Diego another order, “Tell the merchants that shell companies—no, companies without substance—will face penalties. They must have a proper office, employees, and maintain accurate ledgers. If they’re just a front, they’ll be kicked out.”

 

“Ah! So this is what you meant by attracting businesses, my lord.”

 

“Forcing it won’t have a huge effect, but it’s still good to have something come in.”

 

“It’s a bit unsettling that pirates are the reason companies and jobs are increasing.”

 

I shrugged and replied, “What does it matter? The Iberian navy will be here soon. Even then, they won’t just withdraw their companies because they’re no longer needed. There are sunk costs, and our territory’s tax rates are relatively low anyway.”

 

Diego’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

 

“Amazing. How did you even come up with that, my lord? Did you learn it in Westphalia?”

 

“Let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of headaches running a company before.”

 

In my past life, I was an S-rank hunter and, at the same time, a guild master.

 

True to Korea’s reputation as the land of regulations, guilds were bombarded with all sorts of restrictions, so I gained some experience and seniority in managing a company.

 

Well, it ended up failing, but…

 

It’s a past life. Let’s move on.