Chương 235

Rudra handed the heavy stack of signed ledgers back to Silas.

"There. Approved," Rudra said.

"In the future, Silas, you have my permission to approve these documents in my absence. Just give me a summary each time I get back." Silas hugged the ledgers to his chest. His eyes went wide.

"My Lord, that is a massive amount of authority. Are you certain?"

"You're better at this than I am," Rudra smiled. He gestured to the two islanders.

"Now, please take care of our guests. We need a formal alliance drafted." Silas immediately shifted gears. The young clerk turned toward High Priestess Neria and Chief Thalassa. He pulled his golden abacus from his belt.

"The Orca Archipelago," Silas said. His voice was polite, but his eyes were entirely focused on business.

"I must admit, I am not familiar with your local economy. What are your primary exports?" Neria stepped forward. Her serene voice carried a quiet grace over the bustling courtyard.

"We are people of the deep water. We offer ancient coral, rare deep-sea pearls, and salt refined by the ocean's magic. We can also provide safe harbor for your vessels. In return, we desperately need what the sea cannot grow. Sturdy timber, mainland grain, and steel ores." Silas's fingers blurred over the golden beads of his abacus. Click, clack, click.

"Timber, grain and metals," Silas muttered, his eyes darting across his mental spreadsheets.

"Lord Piaro's recent harvest yielded a massive surplus of premium wheat. We have grain sitting in the storehouses. We can offer a direct exchange rate. One crate of deep-sea pearls for ten crates of wheat and two crates of refined iron." Thalassa stepped up. He slammed the butt of his jagged spear against the floor. The scarred warrior glared down at the young clerk.

"Listen closely, boy," Thalassa growled.

"If you try to cheat my people with a bad trade, I will mount your head on this spear." Silas didn't flinch. He didn't even take a step back. He just looked up at the giant warrior.

"Calm down, Thalassa," Rudra called from the sides.

"You can trust Silas, as he speaks for me and would never deceive you."

"I attest to that, Chief," Silas said flatly.

"I assure you, my ledgers are perfectly fair. A hungry trading partner is a bad trading partner. Stormbreak thrives on mutual prosperity." Neria smiled gently and placed a hand on Thalassa's tense arm.

"Peace, Thalassa. I can sense the aura of this city. There is no deceit here. Only hard work." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Hmph," Thalassa grunted, lowering his spear slightly.

"Fine. If you speak for the Champion, then I can trust you." While Silas led the two islanders toward a wooden table to draft the paperwork, Rudra stepped back. Winfred and Dante walked over to him. Kratos let out a massive, rumbling yawn. The tank-sized lion trotted over to Dante and bumped his huge, heavy head against the elderly knight's chest. Dante chuckled. He didn't lose his balance despite the sudden weight. The old knight just raised a wrinkled hand and started scratching Kratos right under the chin.

"Right there," Kratos rumbled. The giant lion practically melted into the cobblestones, his eyes sliding shut.

"This grandpa has the best hands in the city. Keep doing that."

"He has grown quite a bit, My Lord," Dante smiled, rubbing the thick black and gold fur.

"He feels like a proper guardian beast now."

"He just eats a lot," Rudra laughed. Winfred crossed his arms. The Red Sage looked at Rudra, his mind clearly buzzing with questions.

"My Lord," Winfred started.

"Silas and I were reviewing the shipping logs right before you arrived. The merchant captains reported something impossible. The Red Sea was completely flat. There were no storms, and the sea monsters actively avoided our ships. Did you have something to do with this?" Rudra leaned back against a wooden post.

"Yeah, I might have caused that" Winfred raised an eyebrow.

"How exactly does one calm the entire Red Sea?"

"I undertook the Champion's Rite out in the archipelago," Rudra explained casually.

"They belonged to the God of Ocean, Asterion, and I had to pass a bunch of trials inside them."

"Trials?" Dante asked, still scratching Kratos.

"What kind of trials?"

"A bit of everything," Rudra shrugged. He listed them off on his fingers.

"I fought a blind leviathan the size of a mountain. I fought a giant starfish that kept trying to heal itself. I had to outrun acid rain, and I had to fight a phantom of a legend and near legend." Winfred stared at him. The old tactician let out a long, tired sigh.

"A blind leviathan and a legend," Winfred repeated.

"Knowing you, I would have probably be just another day for you."

"Pretty much," Rudra grinned.

"Anyway, after I finished the last trial, the Ocean God acknowledged me. He made me the Champion of the Sea. It basically means that I represent the Ocean as its Champion and I get a couple of perks as part of it. Sea races won't bother our boats anymore and we would always have favorable weather when traversing the sea. In fact, as long as the fleet is under my command, we would even become stronger in the sea." Winfred slowly pinched the bridge of his nose. He had commanded armies for the Saharan Empire.

He had seen terrible and amazing things. But his Lord's ability to casually stumble into unbelievable power still baffled him.

"You met a god," Winfred murmured.

"And now you govern the ocean."

"Just the storms and the beasts," Rudra corrected him.

"It keeps the trade routes safe."

"Do you realize the strategic advantage this gives us?" Winfred asked. The tactician's eyes turned sharp.

"If the Saharan Empire ever attempts a naval blockade against Stormbreak, their ships will be ripped apart by the natural tides. Meanwhile, our fleets will sail on flat water. Our supply lines are completely untouchable."

"Exactly," Rudra nodded.

"That's why I brought Neria and Thalassa back. With the sea secure, we need a steady supply of oceanic goods. The Siren Kingdom is great, but adding the Orca Archipelago to our network gives us a complete monopoly on the coast."