British hegemon

Chapter 72 Return to Arun Island

We seized a Noor fishing boat, which, although a bit old, could still sail far out to sea and was worth at least ten or twenty pounds.

The items included a single-layer leather armor set that had been pierced by arrows, a one-handed sword, a thick-backed cleaver, and three short spears; the rest of the clubs and farm tools could be ignored.

There was almost no valuables on Nol's ship. They only found fifty or sixty silver pence on the "pirates," and the black bread and rotten dried fish were the lowest quality food.

After searching high and low, only one fishing boat was worth some money.

Of course, the six fishermen who were captured and disguised as pirates were all in good physical condition. Fishermen don't know how to farm, but at least they can be taken back to be salt slaves.

There were originally seven prisoners, but after interrogation and identification, the sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy was found to be the son of the guy Roger stabbed to death.

Roger would never spare someone who killed his father right in front of him.

However, he did not do it himself. The girl with the ponytail, who had seen through Roger's thoughts, took the young man after the interrogation to the stern tower and sent the captain away.

While feigning to ask questions, he drew the dagger Roger had used to kill Wolf and stabbed it into the young man's heart. Then he pulled out the dagger and pushed the man into the sea.

"That bastard tried to steal my knife, and I stabbed him instead," the woman with the ponytail explained simply to the crowd while wiping the blood from her hands.

Everyone understood that this was Roger's intention, and no one said a word more than necessary; however, their gazes toward the ponytail were now more complicated.

Mann led Toran and two fishermen aboard the captured Nol. The four men steered the ship and followed the Seawolf northwestward. To prevent the two ships from getting separated in the wind and waves, the Nol was tied to the Seawolf with a thick cable.

The rest of the voyage was uneventful, but when passing through the waters off the west coast of Galloway, they encountered a patrol ship that was blockading the English waters.

The ship on patrol was a Kirk, similar in size to the Seawolf, and the flag on its mast bore a pattern familiar to Maen Olaf and others.

But by this time, the Seawolf had already hoisted the Seawolf flag, which was familiar to the northern seas, and the patrol ship wisely chose to ignore it.

However, the "ambush" outside Lambe Island took up a lot of time, and the elimination of "pirates" along the way added six more mouths to feed. In addition, the northward journey was mostly against the wind and had more tails than tails, so the return voyage took four days longer than expected, and the ship's originally sufficient fresh water suddenly became scarce.

Roger dared not risk landing on the coast to replenish fresh water, so he could only endure his thirst and strictly limit the daily fresh water supply for each person.

............

On the evening of September 21, 1305, the Seawolf, trailing its tail, landed at Elsa Rock.

Olaf led two fishermen to a stream of fresh water seeping from the rocks on the isolated island, which finally solved their immediate problem.

With a sense of relief, the group spent the night in a thatched hut in an abandoned mine on the triangular beach of Elsa Rock. After a week of tossing and turning on the ship, they slept soundly upon returning to land, having never felt such a strong love for the land before.

It was almost noon when the Seawolf entered the makeshift pier in Ramlash village.

Most of those willing to risk their lives with Roger were poor people who needed to earn money to support their families. So, after everyone helped move the cargo from the Seawolf back to the Milk House Manor, Roger took out money and distributed it as a reward before everyone dispersed.

As was customary for suppressing bandits and pursuing English patrol ships, Roger's rewards were still divided into three grades according to his merits.

Marne and Olaf were naturally in the first tier, and the ponytail was also included in the first tier. Everyone knew the reason, but they were just envious.

The three of them each received five shillings. The reward wasn't much, but since they had all pledged themselves to the Milk House Manor, it was only right that they didn't receive any reward. It was already quite generous.

Baldy, Black Dog, the temporary captain, and the young stable boy were ranked second in merit and each received a reward of two shillings, which was a considerable fortune.

The newly recruited sailor Toran and the five fishermen who served as temporary sailors received rewards ranging from five pence to one shilling based on their contribution, and the five fishermen received their full wages.

Even the alchemist who hadn't done anything of help, the old fisherman who was still a slave, and the henchmen received two silver pennies and half a piece of corned beef as a reward.

Finally, Roger also allowed all crew members to purchase any cargo on board at cost price.

With the business just starting out, Roger could only offer limited rewards. Besides, he had already distributed the money paid for the Three Lions ship once.

Everyone receives a reward and everyone gets a share, making everyone happy.

Roger had originally planned to leave a few men behind in Ramrush to guard the ship, but the five fishermen who had benefited from the deal patted their chests and swore to God that they would take good care of the Seawolf and the newly captured Noor for Roger.

Roger was naturally happy to do so, and gave the five fishermen the remaining bread from the Seawolf's cabin.

That amount of bread weighed at most seven or eight pounds, and it was rye hard bread, which Roger disliked eating the most.

But in the eyes of these lowly fishermen, this was already a great favor. They decided to find time to go back to the Seawolf and the Noel and do a thorough deck cleaning, to repay Lord Roger's generosity...

The newly arrived sailor Toran and the alchemist had nowhere to go for the time being. The manor's barns were already full of food, and Roger didn't want the two of them to sleep in the stables and passageways like the old fisherman, his lackeys, and servants. So he could only send the two newly introduced technical talents to the bald man's house to make do for a while.

The bald, half-blind grandmother and her ponytail-wearing maid sister now live on the salt flats, washing clothes and cooking for the salt workers.

The hut that Baldy rents on the estate is usually occupied by Baldy, Ponytail, and Blackie. It's already crowded enough, so what difference does it make if two more people squeeze in? Although Blackie is clearly unhappy, Baldy has already readily agreed.

The six captured "pirates" were also difficult to settle, and Roger had already decided to send them to the salt flats to work as salt slaves.

But these people are all newly captured, so we can't just throw them on Holly Island. We have to lock them up and starve them for a while before we can use them with peace of mind.

After racking their brains for a long time, they finally decided to lock the six prisoners in the stone pigsty of the manor. It was definitely a bit crowded and smelly, but at least it would keep them out of the wind and rain.

To prevent the prisoners from escaping, Roger had three rusty iron shackles brought out. These were used to deal with newly acquired serfs and hadn't been used for many years.

The two men were shackled together by the feet, so they had to move together if they wanted to run, which made escape more difficult.

Physical defense is only one aspect; the key is to win people's hearts and minds.

Roger told the guys that they had been exposed and it was impossible for them to return to their hard but stable fishing life. They might even be wanted criminals on the Isle of Man by now.

Besides, this place is an isolated island at sea. Even if we escape the manor, we can't escape the island. Sooner or later, we'll be caught and beheaded. It's better to stay put.

This has blocked their escape route.

He then told everyone that he was not an inhuman slave owner, and that as long as they worked hard, they would have two meals a day. He added that if they worked diligently, they would one day regain their freedom.

This opens up a path forward.

The six prisoners, still grieving, remained silent, but Roger believed they would come to their senses, since they had devoured the little food that had been brought to them in the pigsty.

After settling the new recruits and storing the money and goods, Roger quickly ate a couple of bites of bread, then escaped his adoptive mother's nagging and went into his attic bedroom to sleep soundly for the entire afternoon. Last night, in order to let his men get more sleep, he stayed on the ship all night.

Falling asleep with my head hitting the pillow...