Toz looked at Dristel for a few seconds in order to try and judge Dristel's mental state before answering.
"Aren't the human and demon realms at war? How does the Starsling Kingdom have the leeway to try and get rid of Pirate Haven at this time?"
Toz's question was the reason he hadn't expected an actual fleet to come and help Stris. Things worked out in the end, but according to what most people knew, the human realm was at a slight disadvantage in the war against the demons. The Starsling Kingdom sending one of their fleets to get rid of a bunch of pirates in such a situation wasn't reasonable. There was no way the other kingdoms would allow it.
The Bunglehoppers' eyes widened in response to Toz's question as they also realized something was off, and they turned to look at Dristel. Since if he didn't have the answer, they would probably have to go and find the Starsling King or someone of equal position to get an answer.
Dristel didn't seem too shocked at Toz's question, and he answered after thinking for a few minutes.
"The war is indeed still ongoing, and it's worse than ever. Most of the kingdoms have already exhausted their populations, trying to get more soldiers, cannon fodder."
Dristel looked a little despondent as he stared into space before continuing.
"That was when we realized there was an untapped mine of powerhouses in Pirate Haven. I won't bore you with the details, but there's a cursemaster in the kingdom, and, using his powers, we made a bunch of slave collars.
"The plan was, in short, to enslave all the pirates of Pirate Haven and use them in the war."
Dristel's words revealed a lot, and Toz and the others sank into silence as they pondered on them.
Most kingdoms outlawed slavery even against beasts, but the war was apparently so dire that they resorted to enslaving other humans. And the enslaved pirates were probably not going to be sent to the safest battlefields. The kingdoms planned to enslave and dispose of the pirates just because they couldn't hold up against the demons on their own.
Toz didn't know why the war had started, to begin with, but considering the general attitude of the Starsling Kingdom and possibly the other kingdoms as well, he wouldn't be surprised if the demons' attacks weren't unprovoked.
"Beltor?"
Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by Stitches' questioning mumble.
Dristel turned to look at Stitches. Beltor's name wasn't as widespread as his reputation. Even if many knew about the Starsling Kingdom's cursemaster, not many knew his name.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"I almost met him."
Stitches' words made Toz remember the story Stitches told when he first joined the island. About how he managed to avoid becoming a slave due to his insubordination.
Toz didn't know much about Beltor, but from what Stitches had told him, Beltor was far from a nice person. And as he thought more about it, it felt like he was on the verge of remembering or realizing something. But the thought slipped out of his grasp before he could catch it, so he turned to Dristel and focused on his interrogation instead.
However, before Toz could ask his next question, Wulf beat him to it.
"But Stris has been in Pirate Haven for way longer than the war?"
"That's true. Pirate Haven has long been a thorn in the eyes of the kingdoms, especially the Starsling Kingdom since it's so close. Stris was sent as preparation for a future mission to clean up all the pirates in the area."
Dristel looked a little thoughtful after he spoke.
"Though, now that I say it out loud, I don't think that's the real reason. The war only officially broke out less than a couple of years ago, but I'm pretty sure things have been happening below the surface for more than a decade. It's highly likely the pirate enslavement plan was the objective from the beginning."
"I see. Then it makes sense you didn't even try asking the pirates for help."
Toz's question surprised Dristel.
"Ask them for help?"
Dristel asked it with such intensity that Toz wondered if he had somehow gotten the wrong information. He had asked Retsy about the pirate's involvement in the war, and according to them, the pirates didn't touch the war, and the war didn't touch them. Aside from robbing or demanding toll fees from the ships they encountered, the pirates didn't do much to the fleets and armies. They mostly targeted unlucky fugitives or merchants.
There hadn't been a single mention of the kingdoms trying to recruit Pirate Haven to join the war efforts. However, if the kingdoms were planning on enslaving the pirates from the beginning, it made sense they didn't ask the pirates to help. Or even try to hire the pirates.
"Do I need to spell it out for you? The pirates are humans and make their living by looting from other humans. If the demons win the war, what do you think would happen to the pirates?"
Toz's words seemed to have lit something up in Dristel as his eyes flashed with understanding and realization. It seemed like it hadn't even been an option to ask for help.
That reaction told Toz practically everything he needed to know about the kingdom's attitude toward people.
Toz had mostly satisfied his curiosity, so he and everyone else left the ship and used the sailboat to go over to Taienra. They were planning on sparing Dristel and Stris' lives, at least for now, so if Toz or anyone else wanted to ask them something, they could easily do so at a later time.
Toz and the others packed up and squeezed together onto the sailboat before meeting up with Taienra, who waited not far away from the wreckage of the fleet.
Dristel was devastated when he saw what remained of his fleet. The one solace was that Wulf and the other pirates hadn't indiscriminately killed everyone they found. But even with that, only a fraction of the fleet remained, and Dristel wasn't in a position where he could help himself, much less his crew.
The crew members who saw their one-armed admiral get hauled away felt despair at their uselessness since they knew that they couldn't help Dristel when he had already lost.
Dristel and the remaining members of his fleet looked at each other until they could no longer see each other.
Toz and the others still had some humanity and didn't pester Dristel when he was obviously deeply depressed. Even if they were enemies and represented opposing sides, it didn't mean they completely disregarded Dristel as a fellow human. Despite the Starsling Kingdom's apparent disregard for the pirates' humanity.
Brunswick, Hods, Joan, and Joshua greeted Toz and the others upon their return to Taienra's back. Taienra also greeted them, but barely since she was busy. Asilean was still unconscious, so she kept watch over him. But she also monitored Stris. If he woke up and broke free from his restraints, it wouldn't be difficult for him to kill everyone on Taienra and Taienra herself before fleeing.
Stitches already knew Asilean was injured, so he moved to help as soon as he stepped foot on the wooden ground.
