The witch thought I am a Demon God-Chapter 551 - 322: The Threat of the Black Death_2
Upon hearing this, Earl Clove exclaimed in surprise: "Seven years old? In many places, including our Potzstan kingdom, we believe that a child might not survive until seven years old. So, both legally and reasonably, we don’t acknowledge that a seven-year-old child has significant legal rights. Are you saying..."
The Hearthstone Witch replied: "Children are indeed fragile, and those under seven are easily taken by disease and might not survive. However, the formation of this custom indeed has the Black Witch working in the background."
"Children who are the reincarnations of righteous souls have extraordinarily strong innate talents. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Black Witch would want to abduct your child."
Only then did Earl Clove finally realize the danger they had been in.
Earl Clove: "She turned out to be a high-ranking witch, an ancient one at that. If she hadn’t run away after seeing me, wouldn’t I have been killed by her?"
The Hearthstone Witch shook her head. "That creature, having a witch Duchess as a teacher, is only a fourth-level witch. What a disgrace. She has indeed lived long, but as I have heard, she is a coward, never daring to face her bitter enemies."
"She won’t fight you directly. She is nothing but a useless witch who steals other people’s children."
Mr. Ivita understood, and said to Earl Clove: "Rest assured, I will take care of your child. However, I wish to take him as my student, if you don’t mind?"
Of course, they agreed.
These words coming from an old fox like Earl Clove were already an indication of their decision.
Earl Clove hastily nodded to Mr. Ivita. "I don’t mind, Kamizuki is very willing, too. He told me long ago, only a kind and righteous wizard like you would be a worthy teacher for him."
Mr. Ivita nodded.
Approximately an hour later, Mr. Ivita stood up to see them out of the town.
Due to their sensitive identities, Earl Clove and his party wanted to leave Maple Town as soon as possible, cross the Black Sea and Cross Island, travel through the Boot Peninsula and the Aristocratic Commercial Republic, and head to the Polito Kingdom.
At two in the afternoon, Earl Clove and his group, along with all their subordinates, left the town.
...
At three in the afternoon, Mr. Ivita met with Governor Rolof in the chapel at the town.
By then, the church officials had already left, and the tables and chairs inside the church were moved outside. Pirates didn’t like to sit in meetings, nor did they like their weapons being confiscated, thus any misstep, and the meeting turned into a war.
At that moment all the major pirates, as well as the great smuggling families, had arrived. Mr. Ivita arrived a little late because he had been seeing off Earl Clove and his family.
The pirates and smugglers all looked at him and the Hearthstone Witch, and Kamizuki Clove, who entered pushing the church doors.
However, they held their tongues due to the fact that they were on Mr. Ivita’s turf.
Standing on the pulpit where the church priest usually preached, Governor Rolof said: "Cough cough...let’s continue our topic. To protect Sunken Ship Harbor and support Black Port, I want to ask everyone to contribute treasures and ships to Sunken Ship Harbor."
"Once the fleet of the Belisarius Business Republic charges into Sunken Ship Harbor, every pirate here will be hanged, and every smuggler won’t be able to evade the law. All the nations detest us. Who wouldn’t want to get rid of us, these tumors? Where else can we go except Cross Island?"
The Governor’s words sparked anger among the pirates.
"That’s right, where else can we go but Cross Island? Cross Island is our home."
"The Belisarius Business Republic has gone too far!"
Governor Rolof’s eyes sparkled. He didn’t expect that everyone loved Cross Island so much and their morale was so high. It seemed that he could use this to his advantage.
"Then about the matter of contributing ships and treasures..."
The discussions among the pirates immediately became louder, drowning out Governor Rolof.
"Damn the Belisarius Republic, I just haven’t encountered their fleet yet. Otherwise, I would be the first to fight them."
"They’ve gone too far. If I were to see them, I would definitely capture them all, one by one, and throw them into the sea as fish food."
"Ah, we haven’t been able to rob anything successfully for three months because the Belisarius fleet is patrolling the sea every day. I will have to sell my ships. We are too poor. If I see any Belisarius people, I will kill them with a wooden mallet."
Realizing this, Governor Rolof looked at the speaking pirates with contemptuous eyes. So they were all just talk.
You all suddenly pretend not to hear when it comes to taxes and contributions of ships.
The Governor turned to Mr. Ivita, his eyes lighting up. "Mr. Ivita, the lord of Maple Town, you’ve been making quite a name for yourself lately. The foolish Valji family is no more than chickens and dogs before you."
"How about Mr. Ivita is the first to donate a ship?"
Ivita was initially prepared to lean slightly in favor of the governor if he didn’t try to pit him, who knew this pirate port’s governor was so crude as to not be able to resist pitting him in front of everyone.
With the Governor’s utterance, the pirates began to boast about Ivita, trying to flatter him into contributing.
One after another, the pirates eagerly approached, hoping to rub shoulders with Ivita, to forge bonds.
Ivita wouldn’t play along with them, he kept a straight face and said: "I can lend money and donate ships, but Governor, I have been losing innumerable sums due to the war recently, I even owe the National Bank of Belisarius seven thousand British pounds."
"So I was hoping to take the opportunity of all you notables coming to this small town, to ask you for a loan..."
Ivita barely uttered the word ’borrow’, when all the pirates who were previously hounding him, dodged him as if he were a plague, out of fear of being caught in his net.
Even Governor Rolof dared not make eye contact with him, pretending to ignore him, continuing to engage in conversation with the pirates, trying to get them to think about the bigger picture.
Ivita had no idea, the words ’borrow money’ were so useful.
These pirates were too opportunistic.
The Three-Mountain Pirates were standing with the Governor, Volcano Captain said to the pirates: "Don’t any of you want to consider the bigger picture?"
Immediately a medium-sized pirate group’s captain rebutted. "Consider? How do we know whether the fleet of the Republic of Belisarius can break through the sea wall, and if you will return our ships and valuables to us? If no war breaks out after all, are you just in disguise robbing us? Robbing your own people!"
The Volcano Captain was instantly enraged. "Get lost, dare you say that again? Do I want to rob your few old ships?"
The captain was not to be outdone. "If you don’t value our ships, then why did you call us here, really..."
The rest of the pirates also stirred, they indeed suspected that this was a setup by the Governor and his crew, to scam them of their ’hard-earned’ money.
A captain even pounded the table and shouted: " That Ivita must be one of you as well, otherwise why would you want us to have this meeting here. Dammit, the Three Mountain Pirates, they are all the Governor’s lackeys."
"You just want to scam us."
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, to the point there was a risk of conflict, Governor Rolof looked extremely displeased.
Ivita suddenly said: "Why are you all focusing on the fleet of the Aristocratic Commercial Republic of Belisarius, and indifferent to the Black Death?"
"Let me tell you, the fleet of the Aristocratic Commercial Republic of Belisarius will not pose a threat to us. This war will not last. The Aristocratic Commercial Republic of Belisarius is a nation made up of businessmen who like to monopolize, and those who enjoy monopoly do not make unprofitable deals."
"Their individualism is too strong.""
"But the threat of the Black Death to us is indeed real.""
At this statement, all the debating pirates cast their eyes on Ivita.
On one hand, they do not want to pay money, on the other hand, they feel that prevention is key and there is indeed a need for everyone to pull their weight.
But nobody anticipated that Ivita regarded the Black Death as more important than an enemy nation’s fleet.
Governor Rolof frowned, and then said to Ivita: "I have already taken measures to prevent the Black Death, but after all, it’s just a plague, how can it compare with the threat of a national fleet?"
"The Republic of Belisarius is not going to let this go so easily this time."
Ivita spread his hands at him, indicating his helplessness."
In his view, this meeting wouldn’t make any impact, wanting the pirates to consider the bigger picture, to give up their self-interest, that’s harder than ascending to heaven.
If there were pirates this obedient, they wouldn’t have been robbing merchant ships at sea.
