When living on Hisaril Hill, money was merely something that Turan either had or didn't have.
With extremely limited items available to obtain, even having a lot of money meant there was nowhere to spend it.
But after coming down to the world, he found money was far more incredible than he'd thought.
If magical power was the key to omnipotence, money was the substance of omnipotence.
From delicious food to books, even magical devices and Masu like Bize could be traded with money.
Even nobles valued gold and silver enough to mint them into currency.
And the wealth now spread before Turan's eyes matched or even exceeded everything he had earned until now.
Over a hundred crudely cast gold ingots, over four hundred silver ingots...
Besides these, there were accessories and jewels clearly plundered from somewhere piled messily, and among them was even one magical device.
'There definitely wasn't anyone with something like this during the fight, where did it come from? Did they find something hidden away?'
Wondering this, Turan tossed and caught a bead containing something sloshing inside before storing it in his pocket.
Though unlikely, it might be a trap-type magical device harmful to its user, so reckless use was forbidden.
For this reason, he still hadn't confirmed the functions of two magical devices obtained from the previous battle in the western wilderness.
Nobles with Artificer bloodline could examine magical device functions, so he could ask Asiz later in the Dakein Plains.
After scanning the warehouse, Turan asked the woman he'd appointed as leader.
"Is anyone demanding their share?"
"Sh-share, you mean?"
"The miners, they worked hard extracting this gold and silver, so I thought they might feel cheated if I took it all. Plus, some of these accessories might have been someone's original possessions."
At Turan's words, the woman made an expression as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, then quickly tried to control her expression.
"How could they! We're already grateful just for being rescued from the pirates, and you're even paying to send us home - no one would make such a shameless demand!"
Though Turan thought there might be a few such shameless people, he didn't detect the nervous smell characteristic of liars from her.
Anyway, if she was managing well, there was no need to worry further.
"Then that's settled, how are the sick people?"
"Thanks to your concern, everyone's much better! Though it'll take time to fully recover."
Though only a day had passed, rest with hope was far more efficient than rest in despair.
Providing abundant food had also had a great effect.
And somewhat sadly, those whose conditions were too poor to recover quickly had already died and been thrown into the sea.
"No one too sick to withstand the voyage?"
"Yes, probably... as long as it doesn't take too long."
"Then let's start preparing to sail right away. Don't worry about anything else, just have them prepare food and water. Leave the pirates on the shore to me."
"Should we load all these treasures too?"
"Just leave them be."
While the woman went to relay orders, Turan stuffed the massive amount of wealth into his large-capacity pouch.
Fortunately, while gold and silver were heavy, they weren't bulky, so they didn't take up as much volume as expected.
After organizing the pouch's interior so items could be retrieved when needed and leaving the warehouse, he saw the kidnapped people busily preparing for departure.
"Should we load this too? It seems like it'll spoil soon."
"We can just eat it quickly. More importantly, I'm worried if we can operate such a large ship with this many people... we don't have any skilled personnel like navigators."
"Wouldn't the master wizard have plans for everything?"
"Still, maritime matters are different."
Judging by the voices heard from afar, while the kidnapped people seemed anxious about their future, they appeared to believe Turan would somehow manage everything.
Listening quietly to this, Turan went to the buried pirates, dug them out, and asked.
"Raise your hand if you can guide us to Cobinus's base."
At Turan's question, the pirates looked at each other.
Though they feared him, they seemed even more afraid of betraying Cobinus.
However, since they were specifically chosen as the most cowardly among pirates, persuasion wasn't difficult.
"If you're useless, I'll have to dispose of you here."
"I know!"
"Me too!"
Though it was somewhat suspicious that all three claimed they could do it, at least one of them should be capable.
Turan took out rope, tied their wrists so they absolutely couldn't escape, and dragged them onto the sailing ship.
The former miners busy loading food and water quickly bowed their heads.
"Work instead of showing courtesy. I want to leave quickly. Lock these ones in a corner room and just maintain them enough to stay alive."
"Ah, understood!"
Turan didn't just urge them on but helped with cargo loading and departure preparations using telekinetic magic.
Having learned from the crew while aboard the Blue Marlin in the North Sea before, he alone could do the work of dozens of others.
Soon after, when the pirate ship unfurled its sails after completing all departure preparations, Turan used wind magic to push the sails.
A method he had tried while aboard the Blue Marlin before, but had thought too inefficient to attempt for long.
But now Turan had more than twice the magical power of that time, and though incomplete, House Arabion's bloodline ability to control wind.
"Whoa, the wind?"
"It's a favorable wind! No, at this level it's almost a typhoon, I wonder if the ship might fly away..."
Despite some people's worries, the ship smoothly cut through the sea.
Their destination was Anik Island, the base of the Red Whale pirates.
==
As one miner had predicted, operating the pirate ship became a situation where Turan had to take on almost everything alone.
Not to mention the women, even the men who had worked as miners only knew how to operate small fishing boats or work as low-ranking crew members, not how to sail a large ship.
The critical problem was that no one knew exactly where their target, Anik Island, was located.
Even the pirates only knew the name, not exactly which direction to go from here, so Turan resolved this difficulty with a remarkably simple and sure method.
Just as when looking for Parayan Island, he stopped at passing sailing ships and islands to ask directions.
Though in a faster and more certain way than before.
"A black eagle Masu! A Masu is coming! There's someone hanging from it..."
"L-lower your weapons! Right now!"
Turan had Bize fly up to search for sailing ships, and when one was spotted, he flew over and projected his magical power.
Then the knights stationed one or two per large sailing ship quickly shouted at their subordinates to give up resistance.
They sensed the presence of a grand wizard who could easily crush even their house head - someone they might never have a chance to see in their lifetime.
They couldn't dare be arrogant when aware the opponent could sink their ship with a single gesture.
"O great descendant of the gods' blood, I am a knight of House Razbet, tasked by my master to protect this ship-"
"Which direction should I go to reach Anik Island?"
"Huh? Ah, Anik Island is... Navigator!"
"Well, er-south! Probably..."
"Thanks."