The Water Magician

"That is to say, trade is occurring between the Nozoo Kingdom to the north and the Western Nations. You thought this ship was a trading vessel and attacked it."

"Yes..."

On the deck, an interrogation was taking place with five captured pirates.

"They are answering very fluently."

"Well, isn't that good since it saves time?"

"It doesn't hold up to the pirate code... No, it doesn't hold up to the code of wickedness either."

"Pirate code? Code of wickedness?"

For some reason, Ryo was furious, and Abel couldn't understand the meaning.

"The leader of the wicked doesn't easily spill their secrets even when captured. That's their sense of righteousness towards their fellow comrades."

"Righteousness..."

"They must declare, 'Torture me or do whatever you want! I will never speak!'"

"I-I see..."

"But once their subordinates are harmed, they finally start to spill their secrets. 'Stop! I understand, I'll talk! Don't touch them!'... It feels filled with grievance."

"…"

"And then their subordinates cry, 'Boss…'"

"…"

"After such exchanges, information is drawn out. I believe such stylistic beauty is necessary."

"That's classic Ryo for you... I'm always impressed by your imaginative beauty."

Ryo talked about stylistic beauty while Abel coined a new phrase, imaginative beauty.

That said, Ryo had doubts upon seeing the pirates who answered without resistance.

Doubts should be resolved as quickly as possible.

Moreover, there's an expert in the field right next to him.

"Abel, what kind of punishment do pirates face in the Central Nations?"

"Basically, it's the death penalty."

"Basically... the death penalty..."

"Unless there are significant mitigating circumstances, like a neighboring village on land suffering from famine and someone committing piracy with the heart to help those villagers, anyone involved will face the death penalty."

"What an exceptional case..."

"Right, it's rare. So basically, it's the death penalty."

Ryo was surprised, and Abel grimaced as he answered.

Abel didn't want to see fellow citizens of the kingdom face the death penalty.

Even if they were bad people... even if they were indeed wicked.

Even if someone temporarily turned to a life of crime, it didn't mean they couldn't change their hearts.

However, there are instances where severe penalties must be imposed to prevent similar actions... Abel understood that as a ruler.

"Whether it’s pirates or bandits... even if you retaliate against attacking bandits, you cannot immediately hand them over to the warships or guards. You have to take them to a place where you can hand them over, but during the move, you’ll also consume food for the bandits."

"Ah, that's true."

"So, there's also the aspect that we have no choice but to impose the death penalty."

Food isn't always readily available everywhere.

Especially at sea, where there are also issues with drinking water.

Not to mention, you would have to provide for the captured pirates as well... which isn’t practical.

"Thus, in the Central Nations as well as, at the very least, the Western Nations, piracy basically results in the death penalty."

"The realistic reason why we can't hand them over to those in charge of security..."

Both Abel and Ryo shook their heads slightly.

"But, trade has already begun with the Western Nations around here, hasn't it?"

"Seems like it."

"Seems like? Don't you know, Abel? You might want to study a bit more..."

"No, it wasn't mentioned in the reports that came to me."

"Maybe you skimmed through the report?"

Ryo looked at Abel with a dubious expression.

"What’s with that look? I usually remember what I've read in a report! However, it didn’t state that the Western Nations were trading with this area. Well, not all information is made public, and there’s no guarantee that what the pirates are saying is true."

"Are you saying they are lying? That wouldn't make sense, would it?"

"They're not necessarily lying. They could be deceived, uninformed, or acted on incorrect information... There are various possibilities."

Abel shrugged.

Not everyone in the world has access to all information.