Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1030 - 88: The Pirate Nation

Chapter 1030: Chapter 88: The Pirate Nation

Pirates.

In most regions of this world, the term exists only in legend.

People have an instinctive fear of the silent, lightless sea.

But it is different in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is a group of islands nation comprised of Dennisiowa and many other islands.

Although the United Kingdom acts as a unified political entity with native Dennisiowa as the center of power, the surrounding islands, while nominally Dennisiowa’s territory, in reality, do not readily submit to Dennisiowa’s governance.

On each of the islands, there are governors who have been enfeoffed by Dennisiowa.

The governors must first be responsible to the "Dennisiowa Privy Council" and secondly to the King of Dennisiowa. Although the King of Dennisiowa himself has the power to dismiss advisors, he would not casually use this right if he does not wish to openly break relationships.

The Privy Council is divided into three structural levels.

The lowest tier comprises of decorated veterans, rich merchants from various regions, elders of standing in villages, craftsmen with ancient and hereditary skills... in other words, the "indispensable" masses that form "Members’ Assemblies" locally.

Members’ Assemblies may present some optimization suggestions for bills based on their life experiences at the biennial meetings.

However, these suggestions are not all necessarily implemented... they are transmitted up to the "Committee."

Members of the Committee are bishops from Yawen, silver-rank Transcendents, the most outstanding elites from various industries, and the nobility of the new generation. Most of them have experience in politics in various places and understand which opinions are feasible and which, for various reasons, cannot be implemented.

After their internal meetings, they refine and optimize the suggestions presented by the Members’ Assemblies and come up with opinions of their own. Ultimately, a thick stack of documents moves up to the "Advisor Assembly."

The advisors of Dennisiowa are, in fact, the cardinal bishops of Yawen, gold-rank Transcendents, the highest-ranking officials managing the various departments of the kingdom, the great nobles from the founding of the nation, and the "governors" from various regions—or, said differently, the inheritors of those minor kingdoms’ bloodlines, and even the King himself.

Or rather, it’s not that any highest-ranking official from various departments can become an advisor. It is, instead, that managers in areas such as foreign affairs, finance, defense, culture and education, chief justices, and others are selected exclusively within the Advisor Assembly.

Even for the great nobles from the nation’s founding... regardless of the size of their family now, only one person could enter the Advisor Assembly, which is the "spokesperson" of the family.

The remaining family members, even if they achieve success, can at most enter the Committee.

For example, if someone from a family becomes the Pope of Yawen or becomes a gold-rank Transcendent and enters the Advisor Assembly, then their family loses its quota for the Advisor Assembly.

—Each surname may hold only one vote, an ironclad rule in Dennisiowa.

Not even the "Royal Family" is an exception.

From the founding of the nation, the Duke of Dennisiowa, who was a duke at the time, made a choice. Since their strength was not sufficient to suppress the other great nobles... rather than be deposed or become a figurehead later, they decided to take a step back from the outset.

He did not have a speck of nostalgia for power that was never within his reach—he would not regret ceding it promptly since it was not his to begin with.

Take a step back from the highest position, and everyone is on an equal playing field.

At that point, anyone who wishes to advance even a step further must be held back by the other "advisors."

This is the Wisdom of retreating in order to advance.

And now, the power of the governors has swelled to nearly unchecked levels—the military and economy on each island of the Feld Archipelago are independent and under the sole jurisdiction of the governor.

The United Kingdom customarily refers to the governors as "Little Kings."

However, the Little Kings are actually more powerful than the "Great King."

Although the King retains the power to "dismiss advisors," he hasn’t used this power in nearly thirty years.

And because each island’s military and economy are independent,

Another business has arisen from within that arrangement.

—That is "piracy."

Militias from each island are not allowed to be dispatched near other islands, nor are they allowed to be dispatched near Dennisiowa. As a result, this has formed a custom similar to that of the Underground City—if goods are stolen from near this island, one only needs to circle around the United Kingdom to avoid further pursuit.

From this situation, another new development has emerged.

That is...

—Since the Feld Archipelago doesn’t want to pay taxes to Dennisiowa, I might as well rob them myself.

Yes.

Dennisiowa directly funds a group of pirates to rob the goods transported between its own islands. And the islands are all well aware of this.

Because between the islands of the Feld Archipelago, there is no united front.

Originally, they were a "League of Exiles" composed of the defeated states from the era of bloodshed.

After being plundered by pirates dispatched by Dennisiowa, what was their first reaction?

Certainly, it wasn’t to rob them back... If they had been robbed, it already meant they were at a disadvantage, and it was even less likely that the governor could contend with the other advisors by himself.

So, they also began to employ pirates to rob the merchandise of other islands.

It wasn’t only the governors who were doing this.

Even the wealthy merchants had their sponsored pirates.

Some merchants had just sold their goods... and before the merchandise could even dock, it was stolen back by pirates deployed by the merchants themselves.

And since they were already keeping pirates,

when these pirates had "no work," they certainly couldn’t just be let go to rob at will, could they?

And the combat power they possessed was also quite valuable.

So naturally, they would send these pirates out to eliminate dissidents. This could also be considered a form of recycling waste.

As a result... in some way, this country was effectively ruled by pirates.

People seldom saw the governor, let alone the King.

But they often saw pirates appearing along the coast, in marketplaces, and in taverns. These pirates had a rather strong presence...

The pirates under the governor, the merchants’ sponsored pirates, the grand pirates of Dennisiowa... and those adventure squads seeking dreams at sea, as well as bands of robbers formed by wanted criminals.

They only required two skills: to sail, and to kill.

The tales of these pirates were sung by wandering bards; skilled sailors of merchant ships and fishing boats could become pirates at any moment, and pirates who had offended others might hide under an assumed name somewhere.

—This was a true pirate nation.

"The situation in Dennisiowa is somewhat unexpected to me."

A white-haired boy, wrapped in a white robe revealing only his left arm, walking on the bustling street holding a staff twisted like intertwined snakes, said, "I thought Dennisiowa would be much more prosperous than the Feld Archipelago.

"... I didn’t expect that even the roads at this port wouldn’t be fixed. And this smell..."

Annan frowned deeply.

He wore an expression as if he was questioning life itself.

Just coming out of the subway entrance, Annan was nearly fainted by the pungent stench.

Though there was no seafood market selling fish around, the air was mixed with a smell that blended the scent of blood and fish.

The port was bustling, with no shortage of merchants and Wizards in long robes.

Annan even began to wonder if their nearly floor-grazing robes would pick up dirt from the ground here, leaving some unpleasant fishy odor...

"... Where is this odor coming from? Isn’t this Dennisiowa’s most prosperous port?"

Because Annan was speaking with a distinct Winter accent,

it made the passers-by Dennisiowa people turn their heads in surprise.

But they were neither curious nor cared about what he said. The relationships between Dennisiowa people were distant and cold—they might frown and mutter about Annan’s impoliteness in their hearts, but they wouldn’t actually say it out loud or even remember it.

However, in Winter, two completely strangers on the street might suddenly start fighting just because of a sentence, a glance, and it could even escalate to a bloody brawl.

"That’s what You don’t understand, Your Majesty."

Isaac, on the other hand, took a deep breath with satisfaction—it was unclear if Hugo had given his puppet a sense of smell, but it seemed likely at this moment.

He spoke with a very distinct Dennisiowa accent, different from his pronunciation at the Heath Tower of Black.

"How so?"

"Being able to smell something foul is the correct response."

Isaac said with a smile, "If you can’t smell anything foul at a port, that would be a real problem.

"The fishy stench, the decay of corpses, the dust on goods..."

He spoke while slightly squinting.

His gaze glanced back, looking towards a street corner: "And the unavoidable smell of copper.

"I’m all too familiar with all this... It’s no different from over a hundred years ago."