Captain – Chapter 106 – The Grand Recruitment Fair

“Among all applicants, those with skills get priority, literate ones get a salary bonus. Oh right, we must have a ship’s doctor and carpenter, and of course a cook too—I don’t want to gnaw on black bread anymore.”

“Hmm… also get a few tailors, and preferably two or three helmsmen, so most of the time we won’t need to steer ourselves.”

“Those who can repair knives, swords and firearms will be hired first, plus gunners and musketeers…”

First close combat fighters, then the ship’s doctor, carpenter, tailor, and helmsman, followed by armorer, gunner, and musketeer. With each position the captain announced, Caine’s face darkened a shade. Seeing her grow more enthusiastic with no sign of stopping, the first mate finally couldn’t bear it anymore: “Stop!”

Roy abruptly fell silent, looking at the young man’s stern face, not knowing what she had done to upset him again.

“Captain, never mind all the positions you mentioned—just the three hundred sailors alone would be impossible for us to recruit,” Caine took a deep breath, calming himself down, and spoke as evenly as possible.

“How could that be? Thirty silver coins per month, plus a share of the profits higher than others offer—if we spread the word, we could recruit not just three hundred, but three thousand,” the captain promised confidently.

“But…”

Choked by the young woman’s confident demeanor, Caine massaged his forehead painfully and said with a bitter smile, “The key issue isn’t that. It’s where we’ll get so much money to hire people. After our expenses at the tavern, we have less than three hundred silver coins left—not even enough for one month’s wages for the crew.”

Even without considering other expenses, just hiring three hundred sailors plus the eighteen people on the Osprey would cost nearly ten thousand silver coins per month. Where would they get such a huge sum?

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Hearing this, Roy rubbed her chin, feeling that this indeed seemed to be the case, but quickly put on a relaxed expression again: “Relax, relax, don’t worry about the money. Your captain naturally has ways to handle it. You just need to recruit as many people as possible.”

If you could really handle it, you wouldn’t have owed me three whole months’ salary.

Caine thought silently. According to their initial contract, he was to receive three Pronora gold coins monthly, which converted to more than two hundred imperial silver coins.

In other words, the captain now owed him nearly seven hundred silver coins in wages.

Feeling a bit guilty under her first mate’s gaze, Roy smiled sheepishly: “As for your share, I’ll pay you as soon as I have money. As soon as I have money.”

Another promise with no timeline or effectiveness.

Sighing helplessly, Caine stood up, tucking a stack of confidential reports at his waist: “You’d better consider these people’s salaries first. I’m going to talk to the proprietress about recruitment now.”

For the young master of the Howard family, three Pronora gold coins was certainly a small sum. Even if they fulfilled Roy’s hope of recruiting three hundred people, the annual salary they would need would hardly concern him.

But now he was no longer the naval commander, without that high military salary, and his family would not be willing to support his pirate career. That’s why they were struggling with funding.

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“Good luck,” the captain encouraged with a wave of her hand, completely acting like an absentee boss.

The recruitment fair was still held.

With the support of the ice beauty proprietress of the Banshee’s Eye, news that an obscure pirate ship was recruiting spread at an astonishing speed throughout Yadris, even reaching several neighboring islands.

On this day, the Banshee’s Eye once again became bustling, regaining its previous popularity.

Countless pirates, down-and-out sailors, and craftsmen crowded at the tavern entrance, entering the door one by one under the watchful eyes of dozens of guards, and being led to the interview site by beautiful young women.

The first floor of the Banshee’s Eye had no customers today—this was the first time it had closed since the tavern was transferred to Miss Joyce’s name.

It’s worth noting that even though business at the Banshee’s Eye had recently declined, the first floor’s daily net income could still reach tens of thousands of silver coins. Willingly foregoing this substantial income to create buzz for a pirate ship no one had ever heard of showed how seriously the proprietress took this recruitment.

Everyone was amazed by Miss Joyce’s boldness and tempted by the monthly salary starting at no less than thirty silver coins. They couldn’t help but speculate about the identity of the person who had essentially rented the entire first floor of the Banshee’s Eye.

“Could it be some legendary pirate?” someone asked uncertainly.

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“Are you an idiot? Every legendary pirate has their own territory. Why would they recruit elsewhere?” his companion glared at him as if he were looking at a fool.

“It couldn’t be… that captain has returned, could it?” someone else carefully offered his insight, making others somewhat hesitant.

If it really was that captain back from the dead, regardless of his purpose in returning, there would definitely be a confrontation with Yadris’s new master, and that was certainly not a situation they could interfere in.

At that point, forget the monthly salary—they might lose their lives in less than a month.

“Shhh, be quiet! If it really were him, Yadris would have already changed hands. Would the Black Emperor still be throwing his weight around? You’re ruining the atmosphere with this talk. Be careful the recruitment officer doesn’t hear you and throw you out,” a brawny man with a beard scolded with a dark face, then added, “Besides, if he really did come back, that would be a good thing. Haven’t you seen what Yadris has become? In a little while longer, we might not be able to find work at all.”

Hearing the burly man’s words, the slightly chaotic crowd quieted down. People looked at each other with complex expressions.

Although some among them were violent thugs with vicious temperaments, honestly, they all had a special feeling for Yadris.

Besides Yadris, no place could be called a pirates’ paradise, because in those chaotic places, you could die in the street at any moment over a verbal dispute. Where else could one enjoy pleasure and merriment within the extremely limited order of the Southern Islands?

So, after witnessing the changes in Yadris and the atrocities of the Constantine’s crew, whether thug or civilian, people unanimously began to miss the free and comfortable peaceful times of the past, and to miss the captain who had established those rules they had once found so annoying.

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“If only it were Captain Roy.”

Someone mentioned without avoiding the name or deliberately lowering their voice.

“If only he would come back. Blood-Eyed Butcher and the Black Emperor can’t govern Yadris properly.”

“This isn’t that tyrant’s territory. Why can Captain Roy’s defeated opponent return? Why doesn’t Captain Richi do something about it?”

People’s voices grew louder, reaching the ears of certain individuals mixed in the crowd gathering intelligence. Seeing their increasingly agitated emotions, the spies’ faces gradually darkened.

Gradually, some people left the crowd, walking along the streets of Horn of Plenty toward the port or the territory of the Mermaid’s crew.

This scene fell completely under the gaze of Roy, who was leaning against a shop selling expensive jewelry near the tavern.

Seeing people’s dissatisfaction with Yadris’s recent changes and their hope for her return, the captain smiled somewhat gratified, then, guided by her memory, headed toward the port.

Just like a tiger ready to hunt.