70. The Last of Incompetence
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Chapter 70: The Last of Incompetence

 

On a large wooden capital ship sailing on the calm ocean, was Klauna staring over the edge, feeling the windy breeze by her skin. All around her were Ak’hims still getting used to the rocking boat and the smell of the ocean.

For most of them, this was the first time they even got near an ocean, much less going out into the sea in a boat to engage in naval combat. Klauna, on the other hand, showed that she didn’t mind the sea too much. Understandable as she basically lived out most of her life near an ocean after all.

“Hey, Lord Klauna,” Poi came up behind Klauna as she looked at the sight of the endless ocean.

Poi was one of the few that wasn’t affected by seasickness, probably because of her rigorous training as a rogue that requires her to move her body around quickly. Motion sickness was no stranger to her.

“Poilatenula?”

Standing in a stiff stance next to Klauna, Poi saluted to her. “Harbin wanted me to let you know that we are closing in on Divinatus."

“I see. What of the other ships? Are they following closely behind?” Klauna asked.

“Yeah, all fine. They may be slightly apart from us, but we will reach Divinatus all the same.”

"And of Saladis and the others?"

"They have travelled back to their hometown for now. They are preparing themselves to leave the kingdom. She told us that she will arrive at Divinatus at a later date."

“That’s good to know.”

“Yeah…” Poi replied as she continued standing there stiff as ever.

“You don’t have to be so afraid of me," Klauna said to her.

It was then that Klauna remembered that Poi has always been a little bit awkward around her. Klauna thought that the years would have warmed her up.

"You know, you haven’t changed much since I’ve met you. I’m not that scary of a person,” Klauna said to her as she continued to observe the vast ocean.

“No… It’s not that. I'm not afraid. Not anymore,"

"Hmm? Then what's wrong?"

"I just thought… that with Senior Balestra gone and I’m the one replacing him… I thought that I should be more uptight about things, you know. Stop playing around for once, become a responsible and respectable figure for the others,” Poi responded. She leaned on the edge of the ship to view the ocean as well. A little hint of land was seen in the distance.

“Uptight? Funny you should say that when you are still as playful as always. Weren’t you the one most excited about charging into battle with the ship?”

“That’s…”

“There is also your playful tease with Scuttelinaria. Not really responsible or respectable-like if you ask me.”

Poi let out a wry smile. She didn’t have anything to respond back to her. “You really don’t mince words do you, Lord Klauna?”

“Balestra is a straightforward person. So I’ll be straightforward with you as well, Poilatenula.” 

“Hmm?”

“You are not Balestra. You will never be Balestra. You will never be the man he is,” Klauna said to Poi, not even bothered to look at her.

For a while, Poi looked a little bit overwhelmed at the words Klauna said to her. Her heart was beating irregularly and she was a little bit upset at her words. Poi then only looked away in sadness. Despite how she felt about it, she couldn’t refute Klauna. Maybe it was too much for her to think she could match her teacher?

It was then that Klauna turned around and looked at her in the eyes. “That’s why you should just be yourself.” 

“Lord Klauna…” Poi's voice shook a bit. It was a bit cliche, like it came from a storybook, though it was very like Klauna to say those kinds of things.

She closed her eyes in order to think of her late senior and his teachings. It was then she opened up her eyes and gave back a confident smile back at Klauna. 

“No can do. His path is a rogues path and so is mine. If I were to follow in his footsteps then I must be exactly that.”

“I see… If that is what you choose for yourself, then so be it. I have no objections. Just… don’t bury your true self underneath,” Klauna advised Poi before looking out to the ocean again.

“Don’t worry about me. Just watch. I’ll be the responsible and respectable elder rogue and still be just as playful and cheerful as I am. You got my word!” Poi saluted her before running off.

‘That better not be a promise.’ Klauna thought to herself as she witnessed her disappear among the crew of the ship.

Letting out a small sigh, Klauna looked back to the ocean. The landmass appeared bigger and bigger at the edge of her vision. It was only a matter of time before she reached Divinatus. Time where she used to just stand there and take in the sights; just pure relaxation and a state of a calm mind. She felt peaceful.

Though that state ended abruptly when her mind started going into the wandering territory. ‘Now when I think about it. Poi has been calling me Lord as well as of late.’

She stayed in that state of mind until the very moment that the ship docked at the port of the floating city of Divinatus. Once docked, the ramp of the ship deployed and soon made a path from the top of the boat to the docks below. Near the ramp was the sight of a few hundred soldiers and workers waiting in standby. Some of the soldiers and workers she recognized. She used to work with them before.

Stretching out her body, she then took her sweet time as she moved down the ramp. She stayed to the sides in order to not disturb the soldiers working hard to unload the ship. Once reaching solid ground, she was greeted by the officers of the Kingdom: Cera, Samiyadare, Vargus, Sheiska, Kazakiel, Yuupiecca, Blackmask, Natahiniel, and one person whom she hasn’t met for quite a while.

“Sennari,” Klauna said as she moved towards him. 

“It’s been a while, Lord Klauna. We’ve finally met face to face after those long years,” Sennari replied as he gave her a salute, his other hand behind his back.

“Sennari. Balestra… he—”

“I know. I heard of it from Officer Yuupiecca,” Sennari looked away to his sides.

The two then shared a minute of silence, to mourn the loss of a dear friend.

“I must say. You’ve changed a lot since the last time I saw you. You are actually sober for once,” Sennari threw out a joke the moment the one minute is up. 

Klauna gave off a soft smile. “Let’s hope it stays that way.” 

She then turned to face Yuupiecca. “How’s the progress?”

Yuupiecca gives a quick salute. “ During the past few weeks, we’ve determined that repairs were indeed possible, we are hard at work on the matter. It’s just that…” He went quiet near the end of his explanation.

“Just that? Was something the matter?” Klauna asked.

“Recruitment of manpower did not go as smoothly as we wanted it to be, Lord Klauna. We are picking up the pace now that the First, Fifth and Sixth army are here, but we are still behind schedule. I’m afraid that we won’t make the deadline near the end of this month,” Kazakiel responded.

A frown was seen on Klauna’s face. “Why is that? Didn’t I order you to force the citizens if you have to?”

“It’s not the civilians that is the problem,” Kazakiel said back.

“Hmm?”

“It’s the governor of Divinatus, the head merchants and the remaining Familias. They are actively hindering our progress of the restoration,” Kazakiel said to her.

“Negotiations went sour, to say the least. The Governor says that they won’t listen to no damn crazy Analyst. The merchants want some sort of deal but refuse to accept our part of the bargain, saying that they will operate at a loss. The Familias are as hopeless as always. Some of them even said that they will bring their private ar—” Yuupiecca tried to do his best impression of them but was soon cut off by Klauna.

“Bring me to them,” she said, a sense of urgency in her tone.

“Huh?”

“Bring me to them now. I’ll handle those people,” Klauna said with a grim voice. She will not accept any delays.

“No… even if you say that. They are quite busy people. We got to arrange a time to meet up wi—” Yuupiecca was once again cut off by Klauna.

“Busy? The whole race is on the brink of extinction and they are busy? What are they even doing? What could be more important than the survival of our race?” Klauna asked Yuupiecca various questions.

“Hey hey. Why are you getting snappy on me now? I’m no negotiator,” Yuupiecca said back at Klauna, shrugging both his shoulders.

Klauna let out a small sigh. “Sorry about that. Just… just get back to work for now.”

Klauna turned to Cera, Samiyadare, Vargus and Shieska. “Round them up. Cera, Samiyadare, you two go after the Familia, I want them in a meeting room with me. We will solve this matter today. I don’t care about your methods, as long as they are there.”

“Leave it to me, Lord Klauna. I’ve always wanted to tussle with those Familia pigs,” Samiyadare saluted before flying off into the distancem, her officers followed after her. 

“Yes, ma’am.”
“Order’ssss accepted.”
Vargus and shieska saluted before going off as well.
The only person who didn’t move was Cera who still stayed behind. “I wish to wait here for Harbin and Medica before I do that task. Is that… okay?”

Klauna gave out another soft smile that day. “I’ll stay here with you then.”

And so they stayed there that whole morning, waiting for the ships that were being crewed by Harbin and Medica.

 

* * * * *

 

Just as instructed; the governor, the merchant’s representatives, and the Familias were all gathered that day. 

By force.

The governor was easy. Having an army of minotaurs outside one’s mansion was sure to get a reaction. Vargus will not take no for an answer and was prepared to even destroy his home. There was really nothing the governor could do about it, his security guards were no match against an army of veteran minotaurs who have seen countless battles. 

The Merchants were a little harder but doable. For all their talk about money, they quickly folded when their lives were concerned. Shieska and the lamias did a great job at binding those that would not cooperate. The biggest of the merchants was the hardest but even he folded the moment that Shieska threatened to eat his daughter alive if he did not attend the meeting.

The final group was the hardest to gather. They were the so-called ‘nobles’ and even had a private army under their disposal. They were the most stubborn and they were the ones who still think that they have power. That illusion was shattered when Samiyadare and the First Army transformed into their draconic form right in front of the Familias. Their army couldn’t even lay a finger on them. Having no other choice, they folded and attended the meeting despite their ‘busy’ schedule.

All eight of them were sitting on chairs in front of Klauna and the rest of the officers that were currently in Divinatus. It was easy to refute their bargains back during the meeting with the Eighth Army, they couldn't do anything much as they still held power. Talking thrash about the lowly Analyst was easy when the person herself wasn’t there. 

It was different now. It wasn’t just four guys in the room with them. It was now a whole army within the room. The ‘lowly Analyst’ was here herself in front of them, after being forced by her four heavenly generals. Klauna showed them a displeased face, the banner and spear, Indominatus, waving high above them. Its shadow loomed over their faces.

“I heard from my subordinates that you refused to help them?” Klauna was the first to break the silence in the room. She pointed her thumb towards Kazakiel and Yuupiecca who were sitting in a seat across from her.

“Governor was it? I believe you said that you would help no damn Analyst? Would you make an exception to that rule?” Klauna gave her best threatening voice towards the Governor.

“That’s…” the general was frightened, but he didn’t say anything much.

Klauna let out a sigh as the governor refused to cooperate with her despite being given the chance. 

“Strip his title and rank. We have no need for a Governor that does nothing but sloth around in his mansion. I want the mansion demolished and all his lands replaced with farms as soon as possible. Get him out of here.” 

Hearing her orders, two soldiers grabbed him by the shoulders and started dragging the gaudy Warrior out. 

“What? Let me go! You can’t do this!” He yelled back at Klauna.

“I just did,” Klauna replied while the two soldiers pulled him harder out of the room. He screamed until the point where he was out of the room. It was then that he suddenly went quiet.

“Now then, merchants… All of you will help us with the repairs of Divinatus, you hear me?” Klauna brought her attention to the merchant’s representatives.

“...at what cost? ‘Cause we can’t operate with the previous deal given to us...” One of the merchant representatives spoke out. 

Despite being intimidated by the show of force, the merchants still have the guts to talk back. Was profit really all that important to them?

“A deal?" Klauna asked as she started tapping the table with her finger. "So you want a new deal? Alright then, how about this for a deal? We get to repair Divinatus and you all get to live after that. And maybe… just maybe you don’t end up like that guy just now?" Klauna said as she continued to tap the table. The merchants could feel their heart beat to the tune of her tapping, jolting every so often.

The four merchants only kept silent, cold sweat dripped down their backs.

“Do we have a deal?” Kazakiel said to them.

“Yes… we have a deal…” the head merchant nodded in fear.

Looking towards the Familias, Klauna stood up from her chair before looking down upon them. Unlike the others before them, they just sat there with defiant faces on them. Still thinking of the Analyst and the others as beneath them.

Klauna and the Familias have a staring showdown for about a full minute.

It was then that Klauna broke away before starting to leave the place. “Get rid of them. I want their private armies and those serving under them to transfer under the Eighth army.”

“Wh-what?! Who gives you the right to order us like that!” One of the Familias stood up and shouted at her.

“We are the nobles of the Kingdom. If you think you lowlife can just order us around then you ar— ARGHHH…”
“Surrender our power? Are you crazy? There is no way w—URKKKKK” 

The other two Familias members stood up as well and tried to fight back, but soon found themselves out of breath, their chest hurt as if being crushed by something. It wasn’t long before they started to kneel to the ground, their knees shaking without end.

It wasn’t just the Familias either. The whole room was filled by the sight of soldiers having difficulty breathing. The strong ones like Samiyadare, Kazakiel, Blackmask and Cera were fine. But the weak ones have their body shaking with their hair strands standing up, a weird feeling could be felt crawling up their spines.

“Lord Klauna…” Harbin said in a reprimanding tone.

It was then that the sensation stopped and everyone could go as normal again.

“Negotiations are done. Are there any more problems that we need to solve?” Klauna asked the others.

All the officers in the room shook their heads towards her. Truthfully speaking, there were a few more problems here and there, though they decided to solve that problem by themselves. Klauna’s method was a little bit too much for them.

 

Thanks for reading!

A/N: Just a heads up that I won't be posting any chapters this Sunday. I'll be busy celebrating Eid al-Fitr(Break of Ramadhan for those of you who don't know). Just a small break and all.

 

No bonus chapter this time. Please don't be mad at me TwT

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