Captain – Chapter 437 – Manor Like a Fortress

The next day, as the winter sun first rose into the sky, the Anderson family’s guest carriage arrived, carrying the First Mate and the still drowsy captain toward the city.

The carriage proceeded along the central avenue, turned right after passing the Ria Clock Tower, went through the bustling University Town and the old, quaint museum, then crossed the eastern city gate and vast fertile fields before finally approaching the manor.

However, to call it a manor was an understatement—it wouldn’t be excessive to describe it as another fortress.

Although in terms of area, the estate was at most only a quarter the size of Hipalia, its defensive fortifications were nothing short of formidable. Not to mention the towering walls and the heavy cannons prominently positioned atop them, just the moat separating the interior and exterior that connected to the canal, along with the warships patrolling its waters, already created an insurmountable divide.

Not to mention the potential military facilities within the estate and the Anderson family’s private troops that rivaled regular armies.

This level of defense was incomparable to Robert’s mansion. If Roy had any ideas about using the Mermaid for intimidation or assistance via the waterway, it would be nothing but a pipe dream.

“This is way too excessive. Can this still even be considered within the realm of a family estate?”

Slightly lifting the carriage curtain, feeling the cold wind brushing against her neck, and looking at that massive structure resembling a giant beast—still mostly dark despite the winter sunlight—the captain immediately lost all drowsiness and exclaimed in amazement.

If any imperial family dared to build defenses of this scale, and purchase warships and recruit private armies, they would likely be executed for “amassing military power for personal gain” before they could even move in.

“This is why political entities like the Federation, which aren’t unified but held together by so-called alliances, are always hollow at their core—a void that can’t be filled no matter how many interests or powers are poured in.”

While spreading jam on white bread with a butter knife, Caine made this somewhat harsh critique. Looking down on the Federation’s political system, cohesion, and various aspects seemed to be in the nature of Auran military men.

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“Captain.”

At her First Mate’s call, the captain closed the window, shutting out the cold wind that kept trying to creep inside her collar, then turned around to accept the bread from her “feeder’s” hand, mumbling indistinctly while eating: “Prejudice, that’s all prejudice. As books would say, you’re viewing things through colored glasses.”

“I’m only stating facts,” said the First Mate as he finished feeding his “cat” and began preparing his own breakfast.

“Huh, facts indeed.”

Roy quickly finished her breakfast, brushed the bread crumbs from her hands, and didn’t miss the chance to mock him: “Be honest, before you met me, you hated pirates to death, didn’t you? Not just the First Fleet, even the Tyrant was deployed to hunt down the Mermaid.”

It was well known that when dealing with ordinary pirates, even powerhouses like the Black Emperor, the imperial military would deploy no more than five warships, because outside the Southern Islands, this numerical and equipment advantage was more than sufficient.

As for treasures like the Tyrant, which could even be considered Auran’s most fundamental asset, these massive ships usually only patrolled the inner seas, and rarely docked throughout the year.

They had to defend against threats from both sea and land.

After all, while Auran could build as many ordinary three-masted warships as desired, these behemoths that exceeded conventional regulations and approached fortress-like dimensions had only numbered a few throughout history.

But similarly, once such warships were deployed, with a fleet escort and no internal problems, they had few equals on the seas—even natural disasters and sea rage could hardly shake them.

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If not for this, Edward wouldn’t have risked deceiving the gods to counter the Victoria.

“I was following orders.”

Reminded of this, Caine recalled the tragic end of that fleet, his expression darkened, and he seemed to lose his appetite—even the white bread already raised to his mouth was set down.

However, his explanation wasn’t an excuse. Although that operation was largely propelled by Robert, important figures including Federo, his father, and even the old Emperor had tacitly approved it.

Their intentions varied—some wanted to use it to build the young man’s reputation, others truly hoped to eliminate Golden-Eyed Roy—but none had anticipated the fleet would encounter such a horrific calamity during the pursuit.

Undeniably, the annihilation of the First Fleet set the imperial military back at least ten years, and as for the economic losses, even the financial officials accustomed to budget deficits couldn’t bear to look.

“Look at me, look at me—my mouth really knows how to bring up the worst topics. That’s all in the past now.”

Seeing her First Mate’s low spirits, Roy almost wanted to slap herself. She hurriedly tried to comfort him, moving around the table to approach him, picking up the bread he had set down and eagerly holding it to his lips.

“You shouldn’t skip breakfast no matter what. Come on, since I was wrong first, today I’ll make an exception and serve you. You should know, this is a privilege even the Great Captain doesn’t get.”

As the girl began her “unreasonable insistence” to divert from the previous topic, Caine sighed helplessly, took the bread from her hand, and with an expression of “I can’t accept this honor” said: “I’ll do it myself. But Captain, honestly, I don’t really have anything against pirates.”

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“Sure, I got it,” the girl responded in a drawn-out voice with some mischief.

What followed was the young man’s much more solemn voice: “Captain, I’m serious. I’m not just saying this because of you, though… it’s mostly because I’ve never actually seen pirates before.”

“You dare to claim that as a naval officer, you’ve never seen pirates?” The girl questioned with disbelief.

Not to mention Ilruwin, Auran’s city of sin that never lacked pirate visitors, even in ordinary waters, desperate men frequently crossed the warning lines aiming to plunder imperial merchant ships.

Such individuals, once captured by the Auran military, rarely survived the trial, and public hanging performances to cultivate hatred for pirates among citizens were common.

Sometimes the military would deliberately move criminals inland to demonstrate to people who had never been to the coast.

It was rare for any Auran, whether living in the northern territories or still in swaddling clothes, to have never seen pirates.

“I certainly dare to say so. As a child, my father never took me to see executions, and after that… fire, when I grew a bit older, I began receiving military training, basically confined to the academy.”

As the First Mate recounted in a somewhat low voice, the carriage wheels rolled over the drawbridge, driving into the city under the watchful eyes of the guards, winding through the unnaturally large estate that even encompassed forests, lakes, and hills, taking who knows how many turns before reaching the destination.

“But later when you boarded warships, surely you must have seen pirates?” the girl still refused to give up her point.

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“I’m sorry, Captain, but by the time I entered service, I was already on the battlefield against the Federation. Although the declaration of war was several years earlier, conflicts between both sides were still frequent during that period.”

“So, I truly never had the opportunity to witness… the style of pirates.”

“Oh…”

A disappointed sigh came from the girl inside the carriage. After accepting this incredible fact, she asked in a lazy tone: “Now that you’ve seen them, has your impression changed?”

“Of course.”

Clearly having finished his meal, the First Mate’s tone became more measured, but his answer…

“Although there are exceptions among pirates, I believe most are just evil men who refuse to work honestly.”

“Sometimes they’re even far more cowardly than Federation soldiers.”

…was obviously not to someone’s satisfaction.