Badlands Saga: Reincarnation in a Different World with Extreme Charisma

Chapter 32 Funky Dealer 6

Summer had arrived in the wasteland.

Even though it was summer, the low humidity and constant breeze across the plains made it surprisingly pleasant in the shade. However, with limited shaded areas and the blazing sun overhead, it was a dangerous season for fieldwork.

Despite the heat, the children of the castle were out in full force, cheerfully working on the prime plot of land next to the castle that they had cultivated last year.

“Martha, do you have enough drinking water?”

“We’re fine! I make sure to refill everyone’s canteen during each break!”

“Make sure to wet your hats, too. Too much sun can be dangerous.”

“Okay!”

With the sudden surge in demand for brewing, I had come to check on the fields as a break and found myself fussing over Martha, who was leading the kids.

“If you start feeling sick, lie down in the shade right away. If anyone collapses, use a potion.”

“We’re fine, we’re all full of energy. At worst, we get a bit sunburned and feel it when we sleep.”

As she spoke, I noticed her arms—her long brown braids hanging down her back—had turned bright red from sunburn. Tanned skin can look healthy, but too much sun is no good.

“You should switch to long sleeves.”

“Long sleeves? But it’ll trap heat and make it even hotter.”

“Yes, but too much sunburn isn’t good for your skin. If you get hotter, just take more breaks.”

“Oh, come on! If we take any more breaks, we won’t get anything done!”

“Safety first, understood?”

Even though we had set up shaded rest areas around the workers and supplied them with plenty of water and salt, you can never be too cautious about heatstroke or sunstroke. It’s better to slow the pace of work than have someone collapse and need a potion.

Now that we had more hands to help with the fields and settlers, I would have preferred if the children spent their time studying or playing. But they seemed uneasy without some work to do, so we stuck to the original plan and let them help with farming.

Besides, it seemed the bulk of the work was being done by the off-duty foster fathers who had joined in, perhaps out of boredom. But I guess that’s just part of the charm.

“Fusha-samaaa!”

As I looked toward the field, I saw one of my knights galloping on horseback from the castle.

What could be the matter?

“Fusha-sama! There’s trouble!”

“What’s going on, Isara?”

“Pirates! Pirates have arrived! Koutasma-sama told me to call for you!”

Isara, pointing toward the harbor from atop her horse, shouted in panic. The children who had been working in the fields, now intrigued, gathered around us.

“Pirates?”

“What are pirates like?”

“I wanna see!”

With the children swarming around the horse, Isara pulled me up onto the saddle in front of her as she continued to shout.

“It’s the great pirate of Makiano! Palui, the ‘Wet Sand!'”

“Never heard of him…”

“He’s such a notorious villain that bards sing about him in Folk!”

“Well, that does sound serious.”

“It is serious!”

When we finally rushed to the harbor, an unfamiliar magic-oared ship was moored, with two more ships of the same design anchored offshore.

In front of the trade building, my brother’s men were glaring at a group of scruffy-looking men, weapons drawn and aimed at each other.

Urok, who was standing a little further away, spotted us and ran over to greet us.

“Fu of the Wastelands! Lady Harriett is calling for you.”

“Where is Lady Harriett?”

“In there, in there. She went inside with Koutasma of the Wastelands to meet with the top Makiano leader.”

Urok pointed to the building as she spoke.

“You let them go in alone?”

“Oh, you worry too much. There are knights with them, plus Kintman and Inuzame are there too.”

Ah, so that’s why I hadn’t seen Kintman. He must be guarding Harriett. Well, let’s go. Either way, even if it weren’t about Harriett, I’m the only one here who understands their language and can represent us.

“Let’s head in.”

“…”

As I said that and started walking, Isara, perhaps wary of the armed men ahead, unsheathed her Emerald Sword and stepped in beside me.

As we approached the building, some of the men who were facing off against the knights noticed us and exclaimed in surprise.

“La… Lao kan!?”

“Hey, that’s… the Cobalt Sword of Chiyono, Vagna!”

“The Golden Wolf!”

“He really exists!!”

“The Black-haired Lao kan!”

“…I’d like to enter.”

When I said that, the men quickly hid their weapons behind their backs and made way for us.

The Emerald Sword still holds a lot of popularity, it seems.

Thinking that, I took a breath and opened the door to the building. However, the conversation with Palui, which I had braced myself for, expecting a confrontation, turned out to be unexpectedly different.

“I am of the Tanukan Frontier House, Fushanklan.”

“…So you’re the infamous Fu of the Wastelands. And that one there is the Golden Wolf, I presume?”

Palui of the “Wet Sand” was a tall woman with dark purple-black hair and a large scar running from her forehead down across her right eye to her cheek.

With her right hand resting on the hilt of a long, curved sword, she looked me up and down carefully, and then, with an amused expression, rubbed her sharp chin.

“And so…”

“My husband isn’t familiar with the intricacies of the Makiano affairs, so let me explain first.”

Harriett interrupted Palui just as she was about to speak.

The air between the two was tense, but Palui’s subordinates stood perfectly still, well-disciplined.

“This lady is Palui of Jene, and she has a truly noble ambition.”

“Huh…?”

“She’s been a pirate all this time, but now she wants to live for the greater good, for society. That’s why she’s come here to seek our counsel.”

“Wha…?”

“Is that so?! That’s wonderful!”

I had assumed she was here to make some sort of pirate demand.

“No! That’s not it!”

“Huh? It’s not? Then, why did you come to Tanukan?”

When I asked the flustered Palui, she hesitated, looking embarrassed as she glanced back at her subordinates.

“You wish to become a merchant, correct?”

“Huh?”

“A merchant? That would be a blessing! Our land is in dire need of goods.”

“Ugh…”

Palui seemed surprised and let out a groan, but I wondered if something was wrong.

“Palui, is there a problem?”

“It’s probably difficult for her to say. Just a moment ago, she was asking if you could take her in as one of your direct vassals.”

“What?!”

Palui made an intense expression, but I couldn’t tell if everything was alright.

“To be honest, that would be very welcome! We don’t have any proper merchant ships of our own. If Palui is willing to assist, it would be a great help.”

When I extended my hand for a handshake, Palui suddenly glared at Harriett with piercing eyes.

In response, Harriett gave Palui an emotionless stare, as if she were looking at a mere stone on the roadside, and smiled faintly with just the corners of her mouth.

In the midst of this strange tension, Palui knelt before me on one knee.

“Uh… So, you’re willing to help us, right?”

When I asked that, the guards standing behind Palui also knelt down timidly, nodding and patting her back.

“…Palui of Jene, at the command of this generation’s Laokan.”

“I am not Laokan, but I am grateful for your assistance.”

“Everyone! It’s alright! It seems there was some misunderstanding, but it was an offer of service!”

As I spoke those words, I felt the tension ease among my brother, the knights, and even Kintman and his men.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that arose from the way Harriett had looked at Palui.

The town of Jene where I was born was once one of the prominent port towns of Makiano… but that was long ago. Now, it’s nothing more than a rundown fishing port.

A convenient new port was built beyond the mountains, making it easier to transport goods to Tsutomuporita, and as ships stopped visiting Jene, the docks started to collapse. After years of storms, the port is now half-buried.

In this dying town, the only way to make a living was through rough work.

We set sail on a ship filled with outcasts and misfits from the town, raiding the merchant vessels coming from Tadl. That’s how we survived, making a living through piracy.

After boarding a fleet owned by one of the “Three Demons of Nanban” and seizing an ancient magic-powered oarship without a scratch, we became unstoppable.

We didn’t get involved in any skirmishes between nations, instead targeting foreign ships indiscriminately.

Leaving Jene, we took control of a port in the middle of the northern sea trade route, and no ship dared to challenge us.

Since we never attacked our fellow Makiano people, the Makiano military didn’t bother seriously pursuing us. If the military did come, we simply escaped to the open sea, only to return later.

Gradually, foreign ships passing through our port began paying us tolls, and the pirate group that had emerged from the dying port grew larger and larger.

We bought five brand-new magic-powered oarships, recruited more crew, dressed in matching uniforms, and started acting like a full-blown navy.

I thought we could keep living this easy, carefree life forever…

But this spring, greed got the better of us, and we made a mistake.

We attacked a ship belonging to the long-eared Elves.

“Second ship, Erich, is on fire! Fourth ship, Gordon, is burning too!”

“That’s an Elven wizard… All ships, starboard! Engines at full speed!”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere! They’re a sailing ship, we’ll turn tail and run!”

When we saw two of our comrades’ ships, which were ahead of us, get incinerated in an instant, the remaining three ships quickly turned tail and fled at full speed, not even stopping to rescue the crewmates who were jumping off the burning vessels.

Though the enemy ship was a sailing vessel, it closed in on us at an astonishing speed, forcing us to burn through all the magic crystals we had in a desperate attempt to escape.

Even after losing the elves, we didn’t return to port. We kept fleeing, drifting further and further south until we ended up at the southern edge of the world.

When we stopped at a southern port town called Rohara to refill our water supplies, my crew brought back some interesting news.

“Boss, they say in the demon lands, there’s this thing called Dragon Wine that dragons seek out.”

“They say it’s such an extraordinary drink that one bottle can extend your life by ten years.”

“Ho, wine, huh? That sounds good to me.”

For a crew like us, who had just lost our ships, men, and magic crystals, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start.

Wine is easy to transport and sells well anywhere. And the fact that it was located in the demon lands made it even better.

No matter what job we did in another country’s port, we knew the Makiano military wouldn’t seriously pursue us there.

There were rumors that the current Lao kan was in that area, but there’s no way they could be stronger than the elves’ ship.

“We’re heading to the demon lands! Let’s see what this Dragon Wine tastes like!”

So, we set sail for the demon lands. The port we arrived at reminded me of home — a small, desolate place.

Because the port was narrow and packed with a decent number of ships, we could only dock one of ours.

To make things stranger, most of the ships there were Makiano vessels, and many of them were large merchant magic-powered oarships.

It was clear this was no ordinary port.

“They say the son of the local lord is the one handling business here, but we can’t understand a word he says.”

“Tell them to bring out the most important Makiano in charge.”

I told my crew, who had gone ahead to speak with the port’s administrator, to pass the message, and we armed ourselves and disembarked from the ship.

With so many Makiano ships docked here, it was clear that our fellow countrymen were in control of this place.

And that assumption wasn’t too far off.

“The daughter of the Misago of Tsutomuporita, the wife of the Wastelands’ Fu, I am Harriett.”

Waiting for us in a crude little shack was none other than the princess of the current supreme leader.

“Palui of Jene. I’ll be straight with you—hand over all the Dragon Wine you’ve got.”

“It’s all already spoken for. There’s none left to give to you.”

“Listen here, princess. I said I’d be straight, didn’t I? Either hand over the wine to the great Palui, or I’ll burn this puny castle and your port to the ground. It’s one or the other.”

“Is that so… Urok, when my husband arrives, show him in.”

As the princess said this, the woman standing beside her left the shack.

Her husband, huh? Must be the infamous Lao kan of this era.

“So, you’re gonna let me meet the Lao kan of this era, huh? I’m so grateful I could cry, but you know, my men are surprisingly pious. If some impudent fool is calling himself the Lao kan, they just might feel inclined to teach him a lesson.”

Even after I said that, the woman didn’t even glance at me. Instead, she quietly poured tea from a teapot into a cup.

Without a smile, she said simply:

“Would you like some tea?”

Ever since I walked into this shack, one thing had been bothering me…

This overly composed woman was really getting under my skin.

It wasn’t just her noble-like demeanor, her arrogant attitude, or the expensive-looking clothes she wore. What irked me the most was her eyes.

Those eyes that looked at me, Palui, like I was nothing but trash floating on the sea. Eyes that regarded humans with complete indifference, devoid of warmth.

Having those eyes turned on me made me so furious, I felt like killing her right then and there.

“You… you’re mocking me?! Let me tell you something, I don’t owe a damn thing to the current supreme leader. If you think your status will keep you from being killed, you’re dead wrong!”

“I’m not mocking you.”

“Then what the hell is this? If you’re picking a fight, just say it! You filthy tramp!”

“There’s nothing in particular.”

“What?!”

“I simply don’t have any interest in you. I just find you tiresome.”

“…Oh?”

Ever since I, Palui of the “Wet Sands,” made a name for myself, when was the last time someone picked a fight with me this openly?

It was almost laughable, like my anger had passed its peak.

“Heh… heh heh heh… You’re a funny little thing, aren’t you?”

As my hand moved toward the hilt of my curved blade, her bodyguards reached for a black sword.

He seemed like a skilled fighter, but…

I could take out everyone here by myself if it came down to it.