Fourteen different bays, coves, and hideouts. Fourteen! How could there be no real treasure or gold? Nothing valuable at all except in one. Each and every time Jonas felt his heart drop further when there was only scraps and an odd silver coin in all of them except the first.

They barely had enough to clothe their frickin back! Wearing dirty rags and even a few didn’t even have the luxury of shoes! Shoes! 

They had no shoes! What were they doing every single day of their entire pirate lives? Sitting on the port daydreaming? Where was the treasure? His treasure!

Poor bastards, the least they could do was make him more money. Why was it only the first area that had anything to give him of note. By themselves, they were worth a bit more than two trading fleets he had raided, on average, near the harbor of Petrous. Rich but not enough to count for all the gold he could have gotten from the numerous pirate hideouts.

Or at least, that was how he had imagined everything to play out. His dream of swimming in coins of gold and sipping from crystal goblets and chalices filled with the most exquisite fruity drinks only found in the islands he had raided. He would be fanned by the most gorgeous woman as he regaled them of his tales and heroics.

“Stop sighing, your making the world feel gloomy,” Ash said as she nudged him with an elbow. 

“How can I not sigh? All the gold we could have gotten, gone like sand. I have entire dreams and plans made for it! We were going to be so heavy, the ships could only crawl towards PennyHarbor!” Jonas said, building steam as he spoke. 

“Young master, you can’t really blame the pirates can you? You’ve been bleeding them dry for half a year already.”

“Can’t they just go raid another settlement? There are hundreds of islands around the subcontinent with fat cows waiting for them to harvest! It’s their jobs!”

Ash raised an eyebrow. People tend to do that a lot around him lately. 

“How can they go raiding without food or water? Or any weapons to fight with. You’ve taken everything they carried. They even lost most of their ships to your righteous...err...avarice.”

“I...they...we…”

Then it clicked. A money making scheme of the century. His dreams could still be reality! It maybe morally suspect, but lucrative, very lucrative. He could make an endless amount of money and still keep his goals of conquering the islands a go to plan later on in his path.

All he had to do was keep a few thriving crews of pirates he could raid from time to time. Each one would only have enough for him to take away and feed off of for centuries in the future. 

With a span of three seconds, his downtrodden face began to beam in renewed hope. Once Ash did not like seeing. It meant more work, much more work. 

“I have an idea!” he roared in triumph.

“Another one? Didn’t trying to tame the sharks a few weeks ago teach you a lesson about thinking through any plan you want to go through?” Ash said, shooting him down before he could speak out. 

But, he was undeterred. “This one is foolproof! Nothing could possibly go wrong! It’s geinuous, if I do say so myself.”

She sighed as she saw Frezar walk in with a thick scroll that had to be ten feet long. It was simply massive. How they got it to roll up so perfectly, they would never know. 

“Young Master! We’ve finally finished! It was beyond difficult, but we tallied every single coin including what your inheritance was worth. The amount is...just...awe inspiring really,” Frezar said. The jubilation in his voice could not be hidden. 

Many may not have noticed it, but Frezar had been clearly infected with Jonas’s burning gluttony for more gold coins. It was something Jonas fully supported and even encouraged in his subordinates. The more they want the money, the more he would make. It was a never ending cycle really.

Frezar placed the heavy scroll onto Jonas’s office table. It landed with a thump bellying its massive weight. But, just as he was about to roll it open in his excitement, he noticed Ash’s withering stare. It took only a second before he dawned on him what was about to happen.

Another money making scheme.

They seemed to be endless nowadays. Especially since Jonas made a group dedicated to making him more money. They thought up of the most ridiculous things to ‘corner’ the market before anyone could do it before them. The latest had been a shark taming idea.

The plan was to tame various species of monstrous sharks as large as a medium sized trading ship then sell them off to the highest bidders. The subcontinents navies were quite below the necessary requirement of any power house in the area. It was one of the main reasons the pirates were so numerous and effective in the area.

That was not mentioning the lack of areas on the massive stretch of lands that could actually be used as a port for them to build an actual navy. 

Either way, his plan was for these behemoths to be a pseudo navy. A fleet crusher he could ‘sell’ to the nobles of PennyHarbor before finally letting them know who he was as their liege. The idea was perfect at the time and the money prospects were well beyond anything he had lost to actually tame the sharks.

It had cost him four of the pirate ships he had raided and looted from Petrous’s harbor. The sharks obliterated them before finally getting ensnared in the traps and nets he had set out for them. And even then, it cost him some massive pieces of gems and mana stones before Medulis could tame the three monsters. He then let a few drops of his blood on them before they vanished into dust. 

It hurt his heart to see the gems and stones to literally turn into stardust before him, but he consoled himself with the thought that the sharks would payout ten folds the amount he had used on them. Or so he was told before he was reminded that PennyHarbor was a military port without any noble families to trick into buying the sharks. 

And even if there were, they had already sent forward warning of their arrival with all the pomp and show of a superior coming to their subordinates estates. The knights and mages were going to hate it, but it was to make clear who was coming. Of course, the messengers had copies of the royal decree. 

In the end, the sharks swam around his flagship playfully without anywhere for him to leave them.

“A money-making scheme that will actually work this time, Frezar. I assure you, its foolproof.”

Frezar began to comb his beard, a habit he picked up from the constant high stress he was put in. “Young master, I fear what you are about to say.”

“You see, pirates love to loot the islands right?” Jonas waited until both of them nodded. “Then what if we secretly give them a boost to start their raiding. We would have to spend little really. Just make sure they have the resources they need to start, they’ll do the rest. Think about it, not only would we make money hand over fist, but the islands would remain destabilized and without a unified front for when we return! It's perfect on all fronts!”

Ash’s left eye could not help but twitch. “Young master, thats...thats just…” A look of eureka passed her face as her mind began to work all the logistics within seconds for the entire endeavor for him. It was her talent, supply chains, food, water, army equipment, standards for training. Everything that separated a common army from one of the highest calibre was her forte.

“Yes,” she said more to herself than anyone else. “It could work, no, it will work. Us preying on the pirates prevents them from being too strong, and they do the same to the islands.” She looked up at him with a proud smile. “Parchment, I need parchment. I’ve got a campaign to plan out!”

Ash ran out the door as excited as Frezar had walked in. 

Jonas, on the other hand, felt beyond smug. It showed clearly on his face. They doubted his skills, but in the end, he came through with the best idea available. Even if they worked out the knicks and knacks out of the plan, he was the original thought holder. As such he should deserve all the credit. 

“Young Master, the report you wanted.” Frezar interrupted his musing. He brought something of far more importance. 

The report he had all his scribes and scholars work tirelessly to make for him. Everything he had put on parchment for him to look at throughout the day.

Of course, with room to spare.