Chapter 445 - 347: Am I That Charismatic?

Chapter 445: Chapter 347: Am I That Charismatic?

"Chief... Your Majesty," Captain Byron said, choosing his words with extreme care. "The goods you requested have all been delivered."

"You can call me Boss," Shire said with a smile and a dismissive wave. His gaze was fixed on a point in the distance where four small boats were unloading cargo from the freighter, the *Retire When You Have Enough Money*. They ferried sacks back and forth, one by one, like a line of ants.

The sailors were huddled in a corner of the deck, their eyes wide with terror as they watched the goblins stream in and out of the ship’s hold. The goblins worked in small groups, carrying out large sacks and lowering them by rope to the small boats below.

’Hmm, looks like we’ll need to build a simple pier first,’ Shire thought, stroking his chin as he evaluated the unloading speed. This shipment was all food—wheat, rice, and tubers. With this, he could temporarily alleviate the pressure on his people’s food supply.

’There should be more cargo piled up at the docks,’ he murmured to himself. ’It’ll probably take several more trips to bring it all here.’

The thought of the ship brought him back to the present. He turned and saw Captain Byron standing nearby, waiting respectfully with a slight bow. The captain wore a fixed smile and said nothing, showing no sign of wanting to rush him.

However, Shire could still see a hint of resignation in his eyes. The captain clearly had something he wanted to say but didn’t dare to.

"Still, I should thank you," Shire said with a smile, reaching into the leather pouch at his waist and rummaging around. "I’ll give you your payment now."

"No, no, B-Boss," Byron immediately waved his hands in refusal. "It’s what I was hired to do. Just a simple cargo run."

As he spoke, he took a step back, as if afraid the goblin before him might pull something strange out of the pouch.

But Shire didn’t keep him waiting long. He pulled out a handful of Gold Coins. "According to our agreement, these are yours. You’ve earned them, so don’t refuse."

He held out the Gold Coins, and Captain Byron bowed, accepting them with both hands.

"It’s too much. There are two extra Gold Coins," the captain said after a quick count, carefully handing back the excess.

"Oh, alright." Shire nodded and took the coins. "You’re not half-bad. Didn’t get any funny ideas."

He was pleased with Captain Byron. The man hadn’t tried to pocket the extra Gold Coins just because he was dealing with a goblin. "Did anything else happen on the trip?"

"No, it went very smoothly," Byron replied immediately. "It was just a little late by the time we returned. The laborers at the docks had all gone to the taverns, so we had to wait until the next day to load up."

In reality, Captain Byron could have loaded the ship that day; the laborers would have taken the job for extra pay. But his entire crew was still reeling from the shock of their last encounter, and no one was in any mood to get right back to work.

But now that he thought about it, Byron felt this trip had been unusually fast. They just had to head north up the Darren River, and he’d felt as if there were no obstacles at all. The journey had been surprisingly smooth, with little to slow them down.

Once before, when his ship traveled north to Darren Lake, a Paladin had used Magic to quicken its speed. Byron hadn’t invested that kind of money into modifying his vessel. Wealthier captains would affix Arcane Runes to their hulls, altering the water flow to sail against the current. Poorer ones would hire a Mage Apprentice to influence the ship with Magic.

Byron was just an ordinary captain, too ordinary to afford any of that. It was also why he’d been bold enough to accept the commission from the Holy Order Army in the first place.

It was all for the money, after all.

But this time, he felt he was only slightly slower than when the Holy Order Army had used Magic to propel his ship. He hadn’t even had to expend much effort adjusting the sails. Byron found it strange. ’Could the Holy Order Army’s Magic still be working?’

"I know. All that matters is that it went smoothly," Shire said with a nod. Just then, a loud SPLASH echoed from the distance. A monster—with the head of a fish, the torso of a man, and the tail of a serpent—heaved itself onto the bank and slithered toward them. "I specifically asked my friends to look after your ship. It seems their Water Magic is quite useful."

"Water Magic?" Captain Byron’s mouth hung open. His jaw worked, but no sound came out. He hadn’t imagined that the strange phenomenon he’d noticed was something the goblin had arranged in advance. That meant that from the moment his ship entered the forested stretch of the river, these fish-headed monsters had been lurking in the water.

"Chief," Pazani said as he slithered over, raising a webbed palm in greeting. He glanced at the stunned Captain Byron and flashed a grin, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. The fleshy barbels at the corners of his mouth twitched. "Hello."

Byron managed to force a smile. He was no stranger to these Naga; they were the very ones who had captured his entire crew before. There was nothing he could do now, knowing he was once again under their watch.

"How did it go? Any trouble in the water?" Shire asked, looking up at the Naga.

"No problem. We scouted the whole waterway, and everything’s clear. There were a few Water Beasts, but nothing we couldn’t handle," Pazani said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Controlling the Water Flow for just one ship is fine, but if there were more, we’d be overwhelmed."

"Don’t worry, it was just for this trip. From now on, they’re on their own," Shire said, gesturing toward the ship in the distance. He then turned back to Captain Byron. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask. I have quite a bit more cargo piled up at the docks. I wonder, would you be willing to make another run?"

"M-More?" Byron stammered. He desperately wanted to say, ’Sorry, I’m done. Find someone else!’ But then he glanced at the burly Naga monster standing nearby and swallowed the words right back down.