British hegemon

Chapter 54 Treasure Acquired

It's only thirty miles from Ramrush Bay to Elsa Rock, but ships of that era were not as fast as those of later times, and they often had to navigate against the wind in a "snake-like" pattern, so their speed was naturally as slow as a snail.

Roger and the others drank about half a barrel of beer in the cabin, and then they went out drunk. Roger also lay down on the small wooden bed and took a nap.

When he woke up naturally from his drunken nap and stepped out of his cabin at the stern, the setting sun was already touching the horizon. A half-circle of faded light dyed the entire sky, turning it fiery red and orange, while the gentle waves rippled with layers of gold.

The slightly fishy sea breeze was a bit cool, blowing away Roger's last trace of drowsiness as he woke up. He saw a group of people gathered under the awning in the middle of the boat. The bald man was sitting in the middle, continuing to boast about the women he had slept with, while several fishermen around him listened with great interest.

"Elsa Rock is here! Elsa Rock is here!" An excited shout came from above. Roger looked up and saw that the person on the mainmast lookout tower was the old fisherman.

Roger looked in the direction the old fisherman on the watchtower was pointing, and sure enough, an island appeared in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Elsa Rock, some distance away, looks like a giant raisin bread floating on the sea.

Elsa Rock's full name should be Elsa Regg, which means "Fairy Rock" in Gaelic. This island is less than a mile long and only half a mile wide, with steep terrain and a maximum height of over a thousand feet.

The granite islet is sparsely vegetated, with only a few wild goats and rabbits surviving there. However, its sheer cliffs are a paradise for seabirds such as gannets, gulls, herrings, and puffins.

Roger had never been to Elsa Rock, so it seemed the island was not very famous. In fact, the island became quite famous in later generations because the best curling stones were made from mica-free granite from Elsa Rock, polished with diamonds, and were extremely expensive.

However, Roger was unaware of these things, nor did he care about them. His greatest interest in the island stemmed from the gold and silver that the pirate Wolf had hidden there.

"This island is only ten miles from Gwen. It was originally inhabited by a group of monks who took the rocks from the island to build a monastery and never came back. In the past, ships would occasionally land on the island to seek shelter from the storms, but in recent years, the English have been plundering the coast, and this isolated island has been basically abandoned." Marne appeared next to Roger at some point and introduced him to the island.

Roger nodded without replying. If this place were rich in resources, he would be willing to take it over while it was unclaimed. But upon closer inspection, it was a deserted island with nothing but rocks and bird droppings.

The old fisherman grabbed the rope from the watchtower and slid down the mast. He called over the other fishermen and began to steer the Sea Wolf toward a beach clearing on the east coast of the island.

The Seawolf wasn't visiting this place for the first time, so the old fisherman quickly steered the boat to a section of wooden pier.

Elsa Rock was once the quarry of Gwent Abbey, so there is a dedicated pier here. However, the pier is too old and no one has repaired or maintained it, so many parts have rotted from wind, sun and sea erosion. When a few people were using the gangplank to get off the boat, they almost stepped on the pier and fell into the sea.

Roger cautiously stepped onto the beach from the pier, found a slightly higher mound, and looked around.

This beach is triangular in shape, bordered by the sea on two sides and mountains on one side, and its terrain is about six feet higher than the tide line.

On the mountainside of the beach, there is an abandoned quarry. Several dilapidated wooden houses, with only rotten wooden beams and pillars remaining, prove that people once lived and worked here, undoubtedly left behind by the miners of the quarry. There is a paved path between the quarry and the pier, which was probably built to facilitate the transport of stones by cart across the beach.

According to Olaf, the place where he hid the gold and silver was in a secluded cave halfway up the mountain on the other side of the island. It was too dark to travel there today, so he decided to rest on the beach for the night and set off again the next morning.

He pointed to the dilapidated wooden sheds and said to Ma En, "Ma En, go check those shabby houses over there to see if there's any danger. We'll stay there tonight."

"Baldy, take your henchmen and gather some firewood; it'll get cold at night."

"Ponytail, go to the boat and ask the old fisherman to bring down some food and drinks to prepare dinner. You'll have to work hard tonight, stay on the boat with two fishermen." Roger's decision to send Ponytail and two fishermen from Arun Island to guard the boat was somewhat of a precaution.

After giving instructions to the people around him, Roger strolled along the beach with Olaf, occasionally asking him about the situation in this area and further south.

Olaf, being a wanderer himself, was naturally knowledgeable and answered Roger's questions one by one.

As night fell, the group who had landed on the island lit a campfire in a dilapidated wooden hut at the beach quarry and had a simple meal of salted meat, bread, and beer.

Roger had slept on the ship during the day, but he was still not sleepy after dinner, so despite everyone's advice, he personally took the first round of night watch for the group.

The sky in this era was not so gloomy; looking up, one could see the twinkling stars shining in the clear and bright night sky. Roger, stranded on the island, realized how insignificant and insignificant he was.

"Could I really make a name for myself?" Roger couldn't help but ask himself...

............

It must be said that the sunrise at Elsa Rock is beautiful. Even Roger, who usually has no aesthetic sense, found the shimmering waves on the sea breathtaking.

The feeling of the rising sun fills one with hope.

Roger lifted the half-covered wool blanket, and the pile of hay that served as a pillow crawled into his neck, making him feel itchy all over.

The old fisherman and his henchmen had already gotten up early to prepare their campsite. A small iron pot sat on the embers of the campfire, bubbling with a thick soup made from the leftover bread crumbs and salted meat from the previous night.

Sleeping fully clothed felt uncomfortable, but the people around him didn't seem to mind at all, so Roger didn't feel comfortable rubbing their backs or shoulders.

The group gathered around the embers of the campfire, took out wooden bowls, and drank some thick soup. Then the old fisherman and his henchmen stayed on the beach to pack up their things, while Roger, along with Baldy and Maen Olaf, took some fresh water and began to climb up the steep slope next to the quarry.

With its jumble of rocks, bushes, weeds, and bird droppings, Elsa Rock's details are not as beautiful as one might imagine.

Due to the steep terrain and jagged rocks, it took the group more than half an hour to reach the ridgeline. This was not the highest point; the highest point was about 300 steps north of their location, a bare rock. Due to the strong winds at sea, the vegetation became sparser at higher elevations.

We saw many seabirds along the way, especially the large gannets, which are astonishingly long, reaching fifty inches in length.

"We should at least shoot one on the way back. Roast them and sprinkle some salt on them, and it'll be enough for the rest of us to have a good meal." The bald man looked at the slow-moving, clumsy gannets and planned to shoot one with his crossbow on the way back.

Roger ignored the bald man's intentions. He stood on the ridge and looked around. The altitude here was already quite high, so the surrounding sea was unobstructed, the land of Gwen ten miles away was in full view, and even the southern tip of the Argyll Peninsula further to the west could be faintly seen.

"It's a good place." Roger silently made a mental note of this isolated island at sea.

The group continued onward, crossed the ridge, and walked down less than fifty steps before finding a cave.

Calling this a cave is a bit of a stretch; it would be more appropriate to call it a seabird's nest.

Roger had Marne take out his flint and steel, find some dry grass, light it, and throw it in to ignite the empty bird's nest inside. Only after confirming that there was no danger inside did Roger signal the bald man to carefully enter.

The narrow opening was barely big enough to squeeze through, and the hole wasn't very deep either. After the bald man went in, half of his boot was still sticking out.

"Lord Roger, there really is a small iron box." The bald man's voice boomed in the narrow cave.

After saying that, he dragged a heavy object and swerved back out.

It was indeed a small black iron box, covered in white bird droppings, and locked with an iron padlock.

None of them had the key, so Roger took the Viking battle axe from his waist, and with a swift stroke, smashed the lock off the iron box.

Upon opening the iron box, it indeed contained gold and silver treasures—mainly silver coins, various silver coins, silver pennies, provandniers, Paris deniers, and Luxembourg silver coins; a small number of gold coins, florins, Venetian gold coins, Genoese gold coins, Neapolitan gold coins, and French gold coins; as well as some silver cutlery, plates, candlesticks, and crosses.

This pirate's wealth came from merchants, and the merchants' wealth came from the whole world; this small iron box contained the civilization of the entire European world.

Roger closed the iron box, too lazy to identify the dozens of currencies. They were all money, all wealth. "Marne, take the iron box and head back."

The return journey was relatively smooth, and the northward journey was much faster with the tailwind.

Roger originally intended to go south again to investigate, but Marne firmly opposed it, arguing that the English naval fleet that had besieged the army on Arron Island some time ago might still be operating along the coast, and that going further south would be too risky.

Given Roger's current strength, heading south would be too risky, so he abandoned the idea and boarded a ship to return north.