Chapter 326: Chapter 218: ’Garbage’ Cleanup_2
A light flickered in Rhodes’ eyes once more, but as soon as he thought of something, his gaze dimmed again. He turned his head, pursing his lips to apologize to the Drow, "Sorry, I have two companions who need my care. Without me, here in this Lower City District, they wouldn’t be able to survive."
"Then I wish you luck," Alianna nodded, no longer trying to persuade him. After all, she had only offered the olive branch because she saw a certain value in cultivating this Dragonkin. She was a Drow, not running a charity.
Rhodes smiled, nodded, and securely pocketed his day’s wages, then turned and dragged his tired body away.
But just as Rhodes’ figure was about to disappear from the port, the Drow seated on the mast’s crow’s nest seemed to sense something. She instinctively raised a hand, and a Magic Messaging owl landed on her wrist. After reading the magical letter, Alianna abruptly sat upright.
"Pafila above!" she exclaimed. "Hey, kid, wait a minute."
DING.
The Dragonkin Rhodes, just about to leave the port, heard the voice of the half-blood Drow behind him once again.
As Rhodes turned around, he saw a glittering gold object arcing towards him. He instinctively caught it, and then he was stunned.
A Platinum Coin! A Dewensen Platinum Coin!
This was a fortune he could only earn after working at the docks for over a hundred days! And that was only if he encountered a captain like Alianna, who naturally had a fondness for their Dragonkin.
"Do... Do you have any instructions, Miss Alianna?" His way of addressing her changed in an instant.
But upon seeing the Drow’s fervent expression, Rhodes grew even more panicked.
He had heard plenty of rumors about the lasciviousness of Drow; they were said to be so debauched that even true Dragons wouldn’t be safe from their advances! He dared not think any deeper. For a moment, Rhodes even thought this Drow lady had noticed he was nearing adulthood and wanted to try something fresh and delicious...
Should he agree? Or should he agree? He just didn’t know if his slight frame could withstand the rough handling from a Drow "sister," as it was said they generally had a fetish for physically disciplining their companions.
I... I should be able to handle it... right? This is a Dewensen Platinum Coin we’re talking about!
However, while the Dragonkin youth was lost in such wild thoughts, Alianna took an enchanted dagger from her waist and tossed it in front of Rhodes, saying,
"I have a task for you. No matter how many people you find, clean the entire port district. If anyone tries to stop you, use this Dim Doom and kill them. When the sun rises from the sea at dawn tomorrow, I want to see a spotless harbor district.
"Spotless!
"Do you understand?"
After giving this nearly absurd task, Alianna leaped down from the lookout platform on the mast and disappeared into the Lower City District, leaving Rhodes standing there, dumbfounded.
He glanced around the harbor, at the garbage and even excrement littering the area. His head felt like it was about to explode.
Clean it until it’s spotless? How is that possible!
Especially since the people of the Port of Wallens—or rather, the inhabitants of most cities in this era—had a particularly foul habit: in the morning, they would dump their chamber pots directly onto the streets, leaving it to the shoes of pedestrians and the wheels of carts to spread the filth far and wide.
Consequently, when travelers looked up upon arriving in a district, the first thing they were likely to see wasn’t diverse, exotic scenery, but rather a chamber pot full of "Aunt Flo" being splashed down by a woman from a second-floor window.
This meant that even if he truly managed to get people to clean the streets, all their effort would be wasted by the next day.
"Damn it! Why on earth did Alianna suddenly give me such an unreasonable task? Cleaning the streets... isn’t that something usually required only when some important personage is expected?"
In his memory, such a situation had only occurred once during his childhood, when he saw the King of Luwalden on an inspection tour.
As a result, that unfortunate king was assassinated by rebels right there on the street, and all of Luwalden descended into chaos.
Wait! An important personage?
Thinking of an important personage whom Miss Alianna would obey so fervently, it seemed it could only be that one...
The Son of the Crimson Calamity—Prince David Uthos?
Could it be that the legendary Prince was about to grace Luwalden with his presence?
Rhodes, realizing this possibility, felt his heart suddenly begin to thump wildly.
This was his—no, *their* chance!
An opportunity to prove themselves.
An opportunity to show the Red Dragon Prince the value of Dragonkin like them!
A Dragon might be individually powerful, but he also needs retainers, followers, and even Vassals to serve him.
Take Miss Alianna, for example. Although a Drow, by relying on the intimidating power and influence of the Dragon she was affiliated with, she had long become the foremost captain in all of Midway Bay.
Every time Alianna’s dragon-headed ship arrived, all the members of the various gangs in Wallens would behave themselves for a few days, at least not daring to lay a hand on this Drow’s crew.
"Damn it, I’ll risk it!" Embracing this thought, Rhodes yanked the dagger, which was embedded in the stone slab, pulled his robe tighter, and charged towards the district where his companions were.
If he could pull this off, perhaps, in the future, they would no longer need these stuffy robes to conceal themselves.
As night fell, Rhodes led the children he had recruited with his ’coin-scattering’ offensive, along with townspeople daring enough to risk it for this unexpected windfall, and they set out armed with shovels and brooms.
Even though they tried to be discreet, their movements were still considered a major operation by the gang members entrenched in the Port of Wallens.
Although Rhodes and his group were cleaning street garbage, had they received permission from these gang members?
Soon, a scream followed by pleas for mercy rang out. The very thing Rhodes had hoped to avoid had happened. He immediately led his group of timid companions toward the sound.
"Well, well, if it isn’t our little Dragonkin, Rhodes? What’s this? You little runts out ’looking for work’ in the middle of the night? Have you paid this month’s protection money?"
"No. I didn’t know we had to pay for this kind of work," Rhodes replied, taking a deep breath and lowering his head.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Either pay up, or chop off a finger to make amends. That’s the rule here in the Lower City District of Wallens."
"Whose rule is that?" Rhodes suddenly found himself surprisingly calm.
The gang member, clearly displeased with Rhodes’ ’arrogant’ attitude, retorted, "Of course, it’s our Blood Hyena Gang—GURK! You!"
He had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he stared in disbelief as a sharp dagger plunged through his leather armor and into his chest. Then, he could speak no more.
It seemed he never would have imagined that the Dragonkin boy he had been extorting his whole life would suddenly turn on him and stab him.
How dare he!?
Rhodes then stabbed the man several more times under everyone’s gaze, until he lay completely motionless. Only then did he look around at the crowd and say, "Get rid of this piece of trash. By dawn tomorrow, this *entire* bunch of garbage will be completely gone."
This was initially just something Rhodes had said on the spur of the moment to reassure everyone. He hadn’t expected that shortly after he spoke, thick blood would begin to ooze from the depths of the street, as if a monster hidden in the darkness was silently clearing away these unsightly obstacles.
With morning fast approaching, and seeing the streets drenched in blood and corpses lying around every corner, Rhodes led his people straight into the Purification Workshop.
Unexpectedly, what might have required a conflict to resolve was settled smoothly. The workshop owner, perhaps having heard something, readily assured them with a broad smile that he would provide clean water free of charge.
With plenty of fresh water, Rhodes and his group could finally use it to wash down the streets directly.
After a night of hard work, the awful stench of rot and blood in the Port of Wallens finally dissipated.
Rhodes watched in a daze as the sun rose over the sea, its light illuminating the immaculate streets of the port. Just as he let out a long breath, scarcely believing he had actually accomplished this seemingly impossible task...
AAAOOOHHH!!! A series of dragon roars carried across the sea.
Rhodes turned in astonishment. He saw a crimson figure, escorted by hundreds of dragons of various colors, descending upon them.