Morland - Blood and Sweat [Ongoing✓]

Prologue : Pleasures of a Deadman

- UNKNOWN LOCATION -

The crew was in high spirits after capturing another of the Empire's mining camps. He understood their glee since these camps held not only abundant resources but also high-value treasures.

Some mines were known to hold entryways that led to dungeons, and dungeons on all accounts held the greatest boon for people like him.

"Strip the armor from their bodies!" He roared as he slashed the throat of the last of the Empire's dogs.

"Yes, captain!" One of his men bellowed in response.

The men he had left Sigul with still called him a Captain, even though they were hundreds of miles away from the seas and no longer had a ship.

The so-called Captain grinned his approval then he wiped the blood from his curved dagger. It was ridiculous how the Empire had left such a rich mine in the outskirts of Moriandia so under-guarded.

When the Captain had first decided to launch an attack on the camp, his crew had shown their disapproval with murmurs and lusterless emotions. However, he would not have any of it, so to reassert his dominance he called out any who opposed him and challenged them to a duel to decide who would lead the shipless crew.

Fortunately, none of his men had dared to show any spine, but to reconcile their loyalty to him, a new plan was formulated to replace the foolishly brazen one.

This time the crew launched a surprise attack as one group led by the Captain charged from the front, and the second group was led by Fere the vice-captain, his group would scale up the hill then jump in the fray, and attack the defending guards from the rear.

Even though the surprise attack had worked, he had expected a lot more resistance from the Imperial soldiers.

The site of the mine was suspicious enough, he could not let the elation of victory cloud his judgment, and he had to remain cautious moving forward.

Gardary lit a torch from one of the fires and then ventured deeper into the mine's womb.

The first part of the mine looked like mortals had frequently occupied it, it appeared well-maintained and the mineshafts seemed to have been barely dug into.

This meant that only the path had been carved through the first few layers of the mine and whatever treasure lay below, had barely been touched.

"Free treasure! A pirate's dream!"

The Captain walked into one of the chambers and smirked to himself as more glee from his easy win flooded his mind, their raid had been too easy that it was almost unfunny.

"Tch. The Royal Army has got nothing on me, Gardary Captain of the RockWater." He chattered.

As he walked further he noticed that the banners that held the Empire's sigil on them had been stripped down from the walls, the flags appeared worn out, and from the looks of it, the inner chambers seemed to have been abandoned quite a while ago.

'is that why these shafts look so untouched?'

"Probably just turncoats... No wonder they were easy to beat, men like them prefer to stab you in the back or cut your throat while you slept and dreamt of wet thighs." Gardary murmured, but his decision was firm, he was not leaving this place without his treasure.

Captain Gardary remained adamant about his overwhelming victory, and nothing would ruin his much-needed success.

Strings of defeats and failed plunderings had sent his reputation and his ship to the bottom of the sea, and the crew had nearly abandoned him but had remained out of sheer respect.