She quickly understood the message, and asked for confirmation.
"Are you saying that some pirates just want to be free of some absurd rules and that some have to do it to have a chance at surviving?"
Ars nodded and clarified.
"Pirates are free of the rules from society, they normally follow their ship rules that are made by their captain. Yes, most use that freedom to kill and rob, but not all, some simply don't want to follow the world government rules that demand absolute obedience to them, some others just want to go on adventures and have fun. Because of this you will find all sorts of pirates. From the great majority, who are scum, to actual pirates that get along with people if they are given a chance. For example, one of the most famous pirates that doesn't attack people randomly and even protects several islands right now would be WhiteBeard."
She was surprised so she asked.
"Isn't Whitebeard very dangerous?"
He laughed and explained calmly.
"Depends who you are asking, if you question anyone under his protection, everyone will praise him for being fair and even a good person in general. Make no mistake he is still a dangerous man, and like all pirates can be. But even if he is compared to some kings, he is widely appreciated by the people that follow him and he protects. But his enemies and the world government will never accept him as a good man. In the case of the world government, since the islands under his protection pay him for protection instead of them, they will jump at any opportunity to call him out as an evil man since if they fight him they might lose face or reveal too much, so instead, they throw dirt at him."
Ars thought about it and simplified it.
"Let me put it this way, even if a pirate saves people and doesn't harm anyone, as long as that pirate doesn't work for them, they will try to destroy them, because if they admit a pirate is doing their job better than them, that might make kingdoms question their ability and might risk not paying the heavenly tribute. That might hurt their overall image and finances, so they will throw dirt at them and will try to remove them from the picture."
Ars then remembered something and added.
"You might think of the world government as the biggest pirate crew around and since the marines follow their orders, by default the marines would also be pirates. The marines are also split into factions, and one of those factions will not hesitate to destroy an entire kingdom and kill all of his inhabitants just to kill a single criminal. I will even give you an example of world government cruelty, a few years ago a rumor that the child of the pirate king existed in a certain area, the world government then ordered that all of the babies that were a certain age and even unborn ones would be killed."
She got what he was saying, and finally completely calmed down before asking.
"So the world government is worse than most pirates, the marines are their dogs, and pirates simply decided to be free and do whatever they wanted with that freedom… So the only choice for people living in the kingdoms, is that either their military is strong or they are."
Ars smiled and said.
"Yup!"
She was very conflicted…
"I need a moment to think…Let's say I go complain about being attacked, like I was, to any of those parties…"
Ars' answer was simple but brutal.
"Well, if you complain to pirates, it will depend on your luck, the most likely scenario is they will try to do the same or ignore you, with almost no one helping you. The marines will probably help you or ignore you, since they don't have that much of a choice or their image will fall even further. And the world government either will ignore you, kill you or will capture you and do worse than the ones who attacked you…"
The more she thought about it the more she realized that in this world unless someone close to you was strong enough or you were strong enough, you would always be prey for others.
She didn't like it, she was now thinking how to get stronger faster. She remembered something she heard… Maybe just a rumor… But it was worth checking it up, since it would only take a question. She looked at Ars and questioned him.
"I heard something previously. I believe it to be a rumor but… Just in case it isn't, I would like to use it, if possible. Is it true you can enhance someone's potential? "
Ars smiled and nodded, she showed surprise then she went back to thinking again, what did she have that could convince him to enhance hers…
The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. She had nothing she could offer to him to trade for that opportunity.
It was one of her friends who spoke, and asked something that could help all of them.
"Your majesty, until now you only have 3 military ranks, so I assume you will increase the number in the future, because it would become easier to give orders. For example you might form units, with a captain commanding a number of people, and that would make it easier to mobilize in case of an emergency, am I correct in assuming so?"
Ars nodded, that was indeed in line with his plans so he answered, curious about her thoughts.
"Yes, you would be mostly correct, but to be precise I intend on creating a chain of command, similar to a pyramid, with small units being commanded by some one of a superior rank, and that superior rank being commanded by his own superior rank, and go on like this, until they reach the highest command. For now it would be Rook if we specifically talk about just the military ranks, but normally it would be me instead since I would be the highest level of command in the end but i'm not included in military ranks since i'm the sovereign of this kingdom, and maybe one queen will take my role in that department in the future, not sure yet… "
They all nodded, they didn't get where this girl was going with this but they were hoping it was something that would help them. The female ex-knight then made another assumption.
"So would it be correct to assume that it would be possible, that you will reward military personnel with those potential enhancements?"
All of them nodded, that would make sense, but Ars shook his head much to their disappointment, but then he prepared to explain his plan.
"Not quite, but you're not entirely wrong."
They were all showing confused expressions, so Ars decided to clarify.
"I guess I can explain what I already put on paper for the future. You see I already drafted a paper that explains how our military is structured, what I said before is just part of it. The potential enhancement needs to be created specifically for the individual and only i can create it, so it will be a possible reward but it will not be given by military rank instead i created a documented system, where people can acquire points either through their work, their breakthroughs, their achievements, and finally through specific missions that will be posted somewhere and anyone can try to complete them. Then with those points you will be able to buy certain rewards, the potential increase injection is one of those rewards. This will be available not only to the military personnel, but to everyone in the island."
The ex-knight then asked something different.
"Is the potential injection the only way to increase your potential or is there another way? And what does the potential injection affect?"
Ars smiled about the smart girl, she was making decent questions, he thought about it and decided to answer.
" Yes, there are two ways that I can enhance someone's potential. The injection will be available as long as you have enough points, but for the other method, you would need to sign a contract with me. Which may sound simple, but is anything but that."
Ars looked at them to see if they had any questions, and since no one posed one he continued to the second question.
"The answer to the second question, would be that it affects your DNA and literally evolves your body and bloodline, so any enhancement you get, will be able to be passed down to the next generation. But you also need to understand that even if they get some of those genes they might not be as strong as you, be close to the same, or even stronger than you, depending on your companion of choice. "
Kina then commented.
"It almost sounds like you're intending on creating a new different race or creating talented enhanced humans to follow you."
Ars smiled, nodded and replied with a sunny smile.
"It can indeed be seen that way, because at some point, as long as i keep increasing my potential and my special abilities in my DNA, it will be easier to look at me as a whole new race, and many others who will follow me, will also be seen as such, even if they are not as enhanced and modified as me. Others that won't be enhanced as much might only be seen as talented humans."
She nodded and was going to ask something else but the soldiers had finished their preparations and had started to return, so Ars interrupted her and ordered his men.
"Start boarding the ship that is docked at dock 1, and prepare it to sail."
Then he also got up and said to Kina and her knights.
"Well, it was a pleasure talking to you, but now I need to go to the ship, so we can sail the moment everyone is in place and ready."
They nodded and Kina just stood there trying to decide if she wanted to go the slow route to enhance herself or sign a contract with Ars, but she was pretty sure the contract wasn't that simple, to the point Ars had explained the other side but barely even talked about the contract side.
She had the feeling that he avoided talking about it on purpose, and didn't want them to follow that route, but since she could choose the route that Ars preferred for her without difficulties. It would enhance her all the same but at a much slower pace, she wasn't sure if she agreed with the slow enhancement Ars seemed to intend for her, but at least she wouldn't lose anything.
Kina and her friends followed Ars to dock 1 where they saw him and the soldiers off.
Olivia and the maids were here but Elia had gone along, not as the queen but as the head maid and a concerned party.
Olivia noticed that Kina had a very serious expression, approached and inquired.
"Is everything alright?"
Kina then looked at Olivia and described what Ars said, complaining that she didn't know what to think and if she should accept Ars intentions, or ask him for the contract and get stronger faster…
Olivia laughed, and showed a very warm smile, kissed her forehead and said. "That's an interesting way to describe the future royal guards, as expected of his majesty. But I think you should avoid going for the contract since that would lead to a loss of some freedom"
Kina and the knights showed a shocked face, and they thought, her majesty is right, Kina then complained.
"I didn't realize it but yes..."
Olivia then interrupted her and explained.
"Not sure if this is the case for all royal knights, but his idea of royal knights, are pretty much slaves with benefits, it has a bunch of benefits but it also makes you a pawn for the king to use, he could chose to send you to your dead and in some cases even your marriage partner, or even if you have one in the first place. So just go for the normal soldier and in the future if there is a unit that aligns with your goals you can follow it freely."