Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Jeremiah entered the room and glanced around.

In the center of the banquet hall was a long table, stretching dozens of feet, covered with a white linen tablecloth.

It was filled with silver platters containing delicate pastries, golden-brown bread, and an abundance of rich food.

At a single glance, Jeremiah spotted roast suckling pig, venison pie, and various other dishes and soups he had never seen before.

Wine, champagne, and sweet fruit liquor were poured from silver decanters into gem-encrusted goblets, then delivered to the guests by attendants.

“Damn nobles.”

He muttered as he walked straight to the table, grabbed a few pieces of fruit, stuffed them into his mouth, and washed them down with a gulp of wine.

The night sea was still a bit cold. Having just come from the water and been chilled by the wind for a while, he really needed something to warm himself up.

Just as he reached out to grab a piece of meat directly from a platter, another hand got there first, spearing it with a fork.

Jeremiah squinted and followed the hand upward with his gaze.Alexei was smiling at him, lifting the forked meat into his own mouth.

“What brings our dear Captain Jeremiah here?”

Jeremiah had originally come to demand answers, but the tattooed man’s sudden retreat and Hughes’ unhurried demeanor made him hesitate. Doubts crept into his mind as he quickly tried to find an excuse.

“Looks like you’re also here to check out Castel’s goods.”

Goods?

Jeremiah blinked, a bit confused by the statement. What goods did Castel have? Sweet fruit wine?

Oh, that was indeed good stuff, but surely that so-called Count wouldn’t expect to use it to fool Gem Bay, right?

Ever since he had spread the word that rare commodities could be obtained here, Gem Bay had been stirred up quite a bit.

The pirates had been cut off from supplies for too long and were indeed desperate for resources, but they knew the Frontier Count’s ways too well. Most believed this was just a stalling tactic.

Even so, the Pirate King had still given Hughes a month to prepare. Jeremiah wasn’t just some reckless thug, he understood what that meant.

It meant that even Gem Bay was so desperate that it had to try out such an unreliable supply source.

Things were worse than he had imagined.

If this Hughes had nothing but sweet fruit wine to offer...

Jeremiah sneered coldly.

“Try this, Castel’s olive oil dressing.”

A small plate of salad was placed in front of him.

“Olive oil?”

“Yes.”

“Your goods aren’t just olive oil, are they?”

“Something like that, along with a few small trinkets made from its byproducts.”

Jeremiah’s mouth twitched.

“Listen up, if you don’t come up with something real within a month, Gem Bay won’t let this slide. You’ll all be lined up and fed to the fish, and Captain Jeremiah, who believed your nonsense, won’t end up any better. Got it? Tell that so-called Count to hurry up and send for something useful!”

“Alright, don’t worry.”

Seeing Alexei’s completely indifferent attitude, Jeremiah gritted his teeth in anger.

“I know you might be good at fighting, but you are absolutely no match for Gem Bay. Even if that so-called Empress comes, she wouldn’t stand a chance. The Sea God is there… along with many things you can’t even imagine. Get it? I don’t want to end up fish food with you.”

“Ah, the lord is coming up now. It’s about to start. Let me introduce the goods to you.”

Damn it, these people had no idea how powerful the extraordinary beings of the Church of the Sea God were.

And those lunatics would absolutely make a move.

Jeremiah had heard that extraordinary members of other churches rarely stepped onto the battlefield, but the madmen of the Church of the Sea God had no such hesitation.

This Count probably thought that having a few ships and some troops meant he could go head-to-head with Gem Bay.

Jeremiah sighed inwardly as he glanced at Alexei’s nonchalant expression. Castel was doomed.

Not that he cared much.

He could only hope Gem Bay wouldn’t take out their anger on him.

Hughes stepped into the center of the crowd and clapped his hands lightly.

The musicians in the distance stopped playing, and all eyes in the banquet hall turned toward him.

The long table in the middle was cleared away by servants and replaced with a small square table.

Hughes lifted the cloth covering it, revealing neatly arranged small rectangular blocks.

“Soap. You can use it to wash your hands. It works similarly to the Church’s Holy Water No. 9… but I doubt you’d be interested.”

A servant came forward carrying a tray with a few small blocks, placed on delicate porcelain plates.

“Holy Water No. 9? Hmm…”

Jeremiah thought for a moment but couldn’t recall anything about it.

There was no church near Gem Bay capable of producing holy water.

He had seen Holy Water No. 7 before, which was said to prevent infection when poured onto wounds, but it was expensive, pirates preferred using strong liquor instead.

Not far away, Hughes was enthusiastically introducing the product to a noble lady while a servant brought clean water for them to test it.

“What’s the use of this?”

“Washing hands, clothes, bathing… basically anything that needs cleaning.”

What was the point of that!?

Maybe it could be sold for money, but Gem Bay wasn’t lacking in money.

What they needed were supplies, ships, and weapons.

“That’s it?”

He was already losing patience.

Might as well head back and explain things to the Pirate King.

If his ship could be the vanguard in an attack on Castel, maybe he could atone for his mistake.

“No rush. There’s a little something else.”

Jeremiah stood up.

“…Like gunpowder.”

“Gunpowder? You mean firearm powder?”

Jeremiah instinctively touched the flintlock pistol at his waist.

In this era, firearm powder was exclusively produced by alchemical workshops, expensive and not particularly effective.

Firearms were fine for scaring people, but in real combat, Jeremiah only considered firing his gun as a last resort.

After all, even if he did fire, hitting the target was uncertain, but spending several gold rums was guaranteed.

“You could use it in guns, yes. But we have other uses for it. In Castel, we call it gunpowder.”

“What other uses?”

“Loading it into cannons, you’ve never seen a cannon, have you? It’s basically an oversized gun. Imagine replacing your usual bullet with an iron ball the size of a human head. Now, boom! How many hits do you think your ship’s mast could take?”

Jeremiah’s eyes widened.

He pictured himself holding a giant firearm and firing at his enemies.

Damn.

He could even shoot at ships, blowing holes right through them.

Wouldn’t that mean they could sink instantly?

Could something like this really exist?

His gaze fell on the curved blade hanging from Alexei’s waist.

It looked somewhat familiar.

If such a massive gun truly existed, would pirates even need to board ships anymore?

They could just stay at a distance and pull the trigger.

Jeremiah’s eyes glazed over as he slumped back into his chair.

(End of Chapter)