Black Sail
Chapter 377: Ⅻ. Chenxi Port Memories (Part Two)

Chapter 377: Ⅻ. Chenxi Port Memories (Part Two)

"Twelve Golden Dragons..."

Inside the tavern.

Mika’s eyes were lifeless, murmuring the number repeatedly; new coins were worth much more than old ones. Although his old man never disclosed the family’s wealth, they were not rich enough to casually throw around such an amount.

Looking at the six silver coins in his hand, he felt a mix of emotions.

That couple had been too good to him.

It was easy to imagine that because of this, their household finances were even tighter than before.

His gaze shifted to the friends drinking around him, suddenly he felt a twinge of envy; these folks had many siblings, so even if one turned out to be a failure, there were others to fall back on.

Mika realized that the two people truly had high hopes for him; he would rather spend a few years in prison, or even be banished to the border regions to do hard labor.

He didn’t want to owe them anything, and for a while now, he had grown weary of being in a situation where so much was expected of him.

The teacher Mika had stabbed, only valuable because of some status, was also a teacher at a high-level institution. If his life were worthless, how could it cost twelve Golden Dragons?

The more Mika thought about it, the angrier he became, and he was now determined to get that money back, no matter what.

"Well, don’t look so grim; you were just fired, that’s all. You didn’t get thrown into jail, so it’s all good. If you have nowhere to go, you can always hang with me."

The blond young man leading the group of friends was the boss, a bastard of a Baron, but still got his money every month. He too had studied at the same high-level institution as Mika.

Noticing Mika’s gloominess, he comforted him and then changed the subject.

"Speaking of which, I went to this brothel last time, and there was this girl who was quite something. Let me introduce you, we could all go and have fun. What do you say, Mika? My treat."

The blond man, Caesar, slapped his shoulder, wanting to welcome Mika to the world, although according to the laws of New Aran, they were both still short of being of age.

"The ones you’ve been with, I’ll pass. It’s rather... off-putting."

Mika had expected that the female student would be grateful to him for dealing with the guy who had been harassing her, but she probably didn’t want to be associated with him. Not a single encounter or even a letter.

He was tempted to call her a bitch, but it wasn’t necessary; it only made him look foolish, and she had her studies to focus on.

"Here we go again. It’s not just her; there are plenty of others. I’ll spend one silver coin, a hefty sum, to get you a pair, what do you say?"

Blond Caesar was determined to rid this innocent fellow of his virginity today. What a romantic, he thought, willing to sacrifice half his life for a woman. You wouldn’t find a second one like him in Chenxi Port. He had to help him break the spell.

"No thanks, I have a thing about virginity."

Mika had high self-regard and wouldn’t stoop to fritter away his time in such places.

"Can’t you do the math? Just imagine, funds are limited, but women are unlimited. You could spend dozens of silver coins, even a Golden Dragon, on a decent woman, but who has that much money and time to squander? Only the nobles. But for twenty copper coins, my friend, with one Golden Dragon, you could have nearly five hundred women; with twenty Golden Dragons, for crying out loud, you’d be the enemy of ten thousand men."

So Caesar reasoned.

He had a better grasp of mathematics than Gauss.

"Who in their right mind would spend twenty Golden Dragons on prostitutes?"

Speaking of this, Mika was even more infuriated. Indeed, according to his calculations, twelve Golden Dragons... could actually amount to five or six thousand people.

Because of a moment of impulsiveness, he was paying a fortune.

With a bang,

Mika brought his axe down on the wooden table, which splintered slightly. He was tall and robust for his age and had the potential to become an adventurer.

He decided to commit robbery, to kill and silence the victim, to take back the twelve Golden Dragons and place them in the home of that couple, then no longer associate himself with Aran.

This was his thought process: when the time came, he wouldn’t just steal twelve Golden Dragons; he would take everything from that house clean, repaying the couple for years of tuition and food expenses.

"Want to come along for a murder?"

Mika whispered, planning to act tonight. He knew where that sexual harasser lived; it was just that this time, the harasser hadn’t succeeded.

Under the Emperor’s policy, the Central Royal Court needed a vast number of capable people. Even if the Emperor didn’t prioritize education, ranking it only third, the domestic populace still highly valued it. However, with the Military Government in power, no one knew how much of the Emperor’s funding had been embezzled layer by layer. The teaching strength of public schools consisted of misfits and rejects, mere window dressing that couldn’t stand up to scrutiny—educational havens for the impoverished masses, while the good schools were privately contracted by military-backed powerful families.

Each year, to participate in the Imperial City’s grand examination, one needed a recommendation from a high-level institution; those with an unknown educational background couldn’t even step through the door.

Those at the bottom of Chenxi Port could not afford the tuition fees, but those with the slightest means would still send their children to school.

For some, school fees took up more than half of their family’s expenses. Those students, even if they were insulted or abused by teachers, could only swallow their pride and endure silently.

Of course, at this age, Mika couldn’t think of these things; with his temperament, he just felt pissed off.

That damn old man must have molested countless students and yet still had the nerve to act self-righteous, a true scoundrel.

Mika wished he could kill all the teachers in Aran— nothing but bad-hearted bastards. Even if they weren’t perverts, they were all pompous idiots. Just because they’d memorized a few books, they thought they were something special, despite their intellectually disabled minds.

If you asked him, there should be a revolt against the Emperor; to hell with lousy schools.

They liked the Continent Martial Arts Competition, didn’t they? Forget about reading damn books, better to practice swordsmanship.

He figured his old man must have also been driven mad, making desperate choices, seeking some family teacher. Mika guessed that if he couldn’t stand it and felt cornered, he’d have no choice but to grab a knife and start killing.

The illegitimate son of a Baron, Caesar, was somewhat frightened by Mika, sensing he wasn’t joking.

"What the hell, who are you planning to kill?"

Caesar raised his voice so that the scattered patrons in the tavern and the bartender could hear, hoping to deter Mika and prevent him from having blood on his hands over a dispute— even dealing with the smallest nobles wouldn’t be simple. No amount of money could alleviate that; it was far more serious than just injuring someone.

Mika was impressed by his loud voice but found these drinking buddies, who were just messing around together, boring.

"I’ve got something to take care of, I’m leaving."

Mika quickly left his seat and was about to exit the tavern, his mind set on his course of action. He had an obsessive-compulsive disorder, akin to a virginity complex; he couldn’t let it go unless he reclaimed his lost twelve Golden Dragons.

This great stone would continue to weigh on his heart, giving the couple leverage to manipulate him.

"Where are you going?"

Caesar stood up and called after him.

Mika paid no heed to him, having already left the tavern. This was no longer child’s play; he meant business. Knives and axes wouldn’t do; he needed serious weaponry.

"Hey."

Milke wanted to chase after him but was stopped by the blonde man.

"Leave him be. A walk might clear his head. I’m really at my wit’s end with him; he turns down an offer to visit prostitutes, an outright madman."

Caesar downed two more gulps of liquor, truly convinced of Mika’s mental instability. Ever since that incident, Mika would go to the marketplace’s scaffold at noon every day to watch pirates being executed, a clear sign of psychological issues.

Half an hour later.

Caesar and Milke’s secret base for their high school group was a cellar on the outskirts of the city.

Occasionally, Caesar would get his hands on semi-prohibited substances from the nightshade family for the group to enjoy together.

"How weird... Why is it missing?"

Milke was rifling through things searching for an item.

"What are you looking for?"

Caesar was high as a kite.

"The firearms I stole from my grandfather."

Milke’s grandfather could be considered an old soldier, having retired as a sergeant.

Caesar thought carefully.

"Damn it, stop being high."

He realized something and immediately ordered the other lackeys to look for Mika; the blockhead wasn’t just acting on impulse, he was dead serious about killing someone.