Herald of Steel

Alexander was well aware that hiring the pirates and building his navy were not mutually exclusive.

He could use them both- just for different purposes.

Or even together if he should wish, such as bolstering each other's numbers in the event of a battle.

"I see. So you wish to both guard my ships and destroy my competition." Alexander at last chimed with a light nod, not showing any real objection to this arrangement.

Although he was pro free trade, Alexander was also not averse to kicking his enemies in the nuts if he could.

But before accepting the pirate captain's demand, he wanted to clear a few more things.

"Captain Vidian, if I hire you, how much can I expect to get from your plunders?"

Alexander wanted to get an idea of the rate of return on his investment.

"Last year we made the family about one and a half million wesas milord." Vidiyan stated in an almost memorized tone, "I can promise a similar amount in a few years."

This was about 15 million ropals, which to Alexander was frankly….

"That low? I thought being pirates was good business," The man made no attempt to hide his surprise, or more than that, his disappointment, "Did the Heeats not let you plunder much? Or is the slave trade not going well?"

Now don't get me wrong- 15 million ropals was an astronomical sum in any sense of the word. A large city like Zanzan used to produce only 10 million ropals in taxes before Alexander took over.

It was just that given the number of ships Vidiyan wielded, and the rich 'clientele' he served, Alexander thought the returns would be far more luxurious.

While seeing Alexander's genuine surprise, the captain first let an understanding, almost self depreciating smile, "Hehe, it seems my lord is not aware of our true state. Yes, most only see the enormous booty we catch, not the costs."

No one liked to be called poor, and especially not so blatantly to their face.

But it seemed the Crimson pirates were not as flashy as their captain's getup might suggest, as the man confirmed,

"What we make is normal, my lord. Actually last year we made more than the average. Typically the average pirate our size makes about 1 million wesas a year."

"Hmmm…" Alexander gave a small hum hearing this, understanding piracy was not the money making machine he thought it was.

It was clear there were obstacles and risks.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

So Alexander curiously posed,

"Then Captain Vidiyan, if you do not mind, could you tell me how you made that money? And your various costs?"

"Of course!" The thick beard slightly swayed at the glad nod,

"For the first part- we earned our money by attacking rival merchant ships- particularly from Iyizarid, but really from any other country that was not Sybarsis. The goods were sold in black markets to designated fences and the men ransomed, if not sold.

In the same way, we also took slaves from raids- attacking various fishing hamlets and small coastal towns all around the Central Sea. Last year we sold around 5,000 men." The man paused here a bit to proudly show off his numbers.

"As for costs- hehehe.." But then his tone suddenly turned a bit sullen, "They are so numerous that just the list might become a whole book."

"First there are the obvious ones- food and drinks, port charges, and ship maintenance fees. Hehe, let me tell you, my lord, you will not believe how frequently these ships tend to break down. There is always a cracked mast that needs propping up, a sail that needs patching, broken oars that need replacing, and always, always hulls that need wood fitted and barnacles cleaned."

The captain almost sounded like he was venting as he listed all the things that always seemed to go wrong with his ships, and hence paused to take a deep breath here.

"*SIgh*... these are all the ship's operating costs. Then there are the… what I like to call 'pirate' costs." The man unhumourously smirked,

"First there are fees for brokers who sell information on potential plunders out in the sea, ships that are actually worth attacking.

We need to buy this because we do not want to target a ship carrying things that were not really valuable, things like slaves, grain, ore, or… in general, bulky goods that are difficult to move. We always prefer to take gold, silver, precious gems, fabric, and increasingly everyday sugar!"

Alexander's lips visibly twitched at the last mention, while the pirate captain pretended to not notice his subtle hint,

"Half of the booty is immediately given to the family as payment. The rest we have to find a fencer to sell it through. They take a cut, anywhere from thirty to sometimes even fifty percent of their regular market price.

After that, there comes the hundreds of bribes and commissions we have to give to various navy captains and watchtowers soldiers for them to look the other way when we attack settlements."

"There is pay for spies and other contacts. And lastly, of course, the biggest expense- crew wages."

"We do not give the men any salary, thank goodness for that… but they do get a part of the loot. It is first evenly divided into shares and then distributed. I, the captain get two shares, the quartermaster one and a half, then the carpenter and doctor one and a quarter, and the rest of the crew one share each.

All in all each of my men expects to make around four to five hundred wesas a year. I cannot remain a captain if I can't give them at least that much."

"So when everything is done and deducted, I barely make anything for myself. Maybe a few thousand wesas in a good year. *Sigh*... it is not easy being a pirate captain, my lord."

As Vidiyan finished his recount with a sort of helpless air of weakness around him, Alexander noticed the pirate captain's eyes had become slightly bloodshot, as if he could see all the red numbers being deducted from his black revenue column right before him.

Every time he made those substractions, it made him feel like his heart was being ripped out.

And listening to the cost breakdown, Alexander would agree.

Although Vidiyan making the equivalent of tens of thousands of ropals was quite handsome by any metric, remember Alexander paid Cambyses only 10,000 ropals yearly for her position as head of the city guards, but when taken into the context of the risk and amount of plunder involved, it was really quite small.

Just take those 5,000 slaves Vidiyan captured last year- they alone were worth at least 15 million ropals in the open market.

But the vast majority of the value was eaten up by all those costs.

Alexander found the rate of those fences especially egregious.

'Taking fifty percent! Are you kidding me? What did you do to get these? You sat there on your bump and waited!'

Now granted it might be harder to sell stolen goods and the quality might be slightly lower due to some incurred damage but slashing the price a third to half…. this was too much.

And thus as the pirate captain slumped back and slightly heaved out his frustration, Alexander asked this very question.

"These fences… take so much! You are actually okay with it?"

"Hehehe, this is the going rate, my lord. Everywhere it is the same," The 'poor' man solemnly shook his head, then revealed,

"Actually almost every reputable fence has a noble or even a few nobles backing him. So as much we pirates hate it… there is nothing we can do."

This let Alexander guess that these pirates might be contractually obligated to sell to these 'designated' fences or the like.

As for why this arrangement by the nobles,

"So they take half your loot at the very beginning and then buy the other half at half the price. Heh!" Alexander frankly sneered, revealing the ploy.

"....." The pirate captain responded to this with only a helpless sneer of his own

.Such were the shackles of being a pirate, even the freest of man were bound by something.

But then Alexander made the obvious ask,

"So if you are dissatisfied, why not sell the goods in the open market? There are so many cities and port towns around the Central Sea. I do not believe you cannot find a single merchant to trade with?"

This was obviously impossible.

These greedy businessmen would do anything, even if it was morbidly evil if it meant there was a chance to make a profit.

And needless to say, buying these stolen goods and re selling them should have been quite profitable.

The Crimson Pirate captain also agreed with Alexander on that, heavily nodding,

"Of course we can. Many free pirates do exactly that. But these are usually small time pirates dealing in small numbers. To trade in bulk…. traders who are willing to work with pirates so openly are rare."

"And there are also very few neutral ports that are friendly to us pirates. Most would rather hang us the moment we get on land. You see, most lords do not like us, pirates, on their fief, hehehe.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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