North x Northwest

Gualtiero.

A prison, once infamously known as the western pirates’ graveyard, continued its significance by catching administrative criminals and fraudsters now that those same pirates had been completely annihilated. And because Roahn was a port-based commercial city, head-rolling crimes were common.

The misfortunes of the Gualtiero prison began with the disappearance of pirates in the Anatole Sea. When the official route for merchant guilds became safe, the aristocrats who supported Gualtiero backed out one after another. However, due to the long history of pirates, the prison’s significant growth had actually reached its peak and the sudden withdrawal of donations became a fatal problem for the inmates’ livelihood.

The governor of the prison endured this headache for a while and eventually came up with a clever idea. He thought about taking some of the inmates as his clients as well. There were quite a number of intelligent criminals in Roahn, where dozens of merchants fought for major commercial powers, and most of them were nobles or wealthy people with influence. Given that, those men initially thought they could use their wealth as bribes to circumvent the law. But that didn’t work, because the enemies who sued them were men of wealth too. It was the same for administrative offenders who took a lot of bribes from them. So instead, Gualtiero cleverly prepared a variety of prison cells. The more expensive the room, the more spacious and comfortable it was. If an inmate wanted to bring in a servant from their house, they simply paid an extra fee. The room would be decorated according to the inmate’s liking and quality meals would be served. 

Of course, heinous criminals such as murderers still existed and were also detained there, but they managed to help the rest of the inmates lead a comfortable life by locking them in one of the four towers, each located at the corner of the square building.

There was even a tea party every Monday. It was all part of the act of showing off towards the capital, showing them whom the man was with the most power and that it continued even after being imprisoned. The battle of pride was enormous, with or without a shack around their ankle. Wealthy inmates would invite not only their cellmates but also their children and household servants to laugh and talk until late at night. These men had no fear of punishment. After all, they were destined to get out of jail by merely paying some fines.

“…What’s all this?”

Alain’s eyes widened as he entered the room where one of those parties was in full swing. In comparison to their place of confinement, this luxurious room was comparable to a room in any nobleman’s mansion. The sight of people dressed up and laughing made him question whether he was still in the prison. Alain, who had initially assumed he would be executed the moment the jailer ordered him to follow, looked around in a daze and discovered Marenzio devouring a goose dish on a long table.

Making his way towards the table, Alain was unable to hide his joy. He hadn’t even fully comprehended if he was dead or alive for the two weeks he had been in prison. And the closer he got to the table, the more the rich aroma of meat stimulated his sense of smell. Servants passed among the people with fragrant champagne on their silver trays. Alain grabbed a champagne glass and drank it all at once. Because of his quick steps, the shackles around his ankles creaked, making the woman in the dress next to him look at him with contempt. Not caring about it at all, Alain stood next to Marenzio and grabbed the goose leg.

“Marenzio. Right now… what the hell is going on?”

Although he spoke seriously, he remained faithful to his instincts and began eagerly gnawing at the goose leg. Even so, Alain didn’t forget to check the situation by rolling his eyes around. Marenzio, sucking his finger clean, replied with equal seriousness. 

“Take the bones.”

“No, why?”

“So we can dig through the wall and escape. It doesn’t really matter to me, but the youngsters in my cell are already going crazy, yelling they’re going to die if they stay like this.”

“I’d rather steal the utensils you fool. And those are stone walls.”

“Isn’t tableware subjected to body search?”

“What? You think the bones aren’t?”

“Then what’s your idea?”

Marenzio chewed on the cartilage while Alain lamented the fact that he couldn’t think of anything else for the time being. 

‘So even in Marenzio’s cell are talks about escaping going around…’

It was the same for Alain’s. About 30 people were locked together, and all they could talk about from the time they woke up in the morning till they closed their eyes at night was running away. However, contrary to his fears, the fact that he could scout the place as easily as he did now meant that prison life was not as harsh as they had anticipated in the beginning.

‘Gualtiero… At first, thinking about being imprisoned in this notorious prison even made me want to pee my pants, but my thoughts changed as time passed. There was no decapitation or torture. The only strange thing is that there hasn’t been a trial, even after such a long time…’ 

Alain had one of the best brains on the Bell Rock. So he tried his hardest to figure out why. 

‘Perhaps our identification is delayed. I don’t know about Julio’s side, but we were treated like hostages until we got here from the Bell Rock. It’s all because of our Captain. He exclaimed that we were only Julio’s hostages. Whenever I remember Lil, my appetite goes away…’ 

In a complicated mood, Alain laid down the bone after eating all of its flesh. At the same time, Marenzio spoke without notice.

“If only the Captain was here, we would’ve escaped by now…”

“…”

“I can’t believe he just died like that.”

“Marenzio. Stop talking about the Captain.”

“They didn’t even return his corpse, Grandpa. These Navy guys know no respect for others.”

Several sailors witnessed Lil’s death by the dagger of the Navy. Alain was one of them. 

‘Though corpses that fell into the sea can’t be recovered, Lil surely died on the deck. The corpses of Julio’s gang, who were despised by the Navy, were even collected and buried, but Lil’s body wasn’t returned.’

Alain had a good guess. He whispered, lowering his voice towards Marenzio.

“…You’re asking why they didn’t return the Captain’s body? Perhaps it’s because he’s been decapitated outside here in Gualtiero. The Black Whale’s bounty had been the best among the League’s captains after all…”

“What?! Those fucking Imperial bastards…”

“…If I were the Imperial Navy, I’d want to brag about it to the whole city. The head of the Black Whale whom everyone feared, now rotting. I’d put it on the highest window so they could all see it even from the sea off Amiaeng…”

“Grandpa, the Captain…”

“Quit it.”

“But where did they put his body, now that only his head is hanging?”

After having said that, Marenzio squeezed out tears like chicken dung*.

‘I always assumed he was one of those who weren’t that close with Lil, but apparently, he cared about him more than others would think.’

As Marenzio’s thick shoulders fluttered, Alain patted him on the shoulder in an equally melancholic mood but then turned around upon feeling a stranger’s hand on his own shoulder.

“Are you the new guys from downstairs, the merchants from the South?”

“..?”

A well-dressed man spoke to Alain, breathing out cigarette smoke as he talked. It was a man with a carefully trimmed moustache that extended to his cheeks. Several rings glowed on his hand as he tilted the teacup. Alain scanned the man’s noble appearance and the guard who stuck to his side.

“This is Sir Avar, the inmate of this cell and the owner of Cocoon. Pay your respect!”

Alain bowed coldly.

“Greetings. My name is Alain.”

“He told us that you were also from the South?”

When Alain turned his eyes to where Avar had chinned, Jericho appeared in his field of vision, standing by the fireplace while talking to a few nobles. 

‘It seems there was a reason why they called for one person from each prison cell.’

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I heard that you were one of the officers of the ship belonging to the Viscount.”

A flash of light shot through Alain’s head. Only then did he realise why he was brought to this tea party. 

‘The fact that Avar mentioned Viscount Noirmont, not the League, means that he knows us as sailors of a merchant ship.’

His history of working for a merchant of the Empire before he boarded the Bell Rock shone in unexpected places. Alain had a hunch.

‘Avar wants to expand his business to the South. But because management secrets are strictly maintained at an officer’s level, he needs to spend a lot of money and effort to find something out. And coincidentally, because of what happened in the South, he happened to find himself in the same prison as those “Southern merchants”… This is all about buying information.’ 

Alain opened his mouth wide and gently clenched his hands together.

“Oh, Sir. That’s right. Is there anything you’re curious about?”

“These days, southern spices are becoming more and more in demand. I’m a little interested in them.”

 – – – – –   

Footnote:

Squeezed out tears like chicken dung. = This is a Korean idiom. It basically means that the droplets are very big and the person is crying really hard. Some others say that it also refers to the fact that the one crying is slightly bending forward, so the tears won’t roll over their cheeks, but hang on the corner of their eyes till they’re getting too big/heavy and they fall directly on the ground. Just like how a chicken takes a …