Karon jerked his head up and met Kael's half-smiling gold eyes.
There was no censure there. If anything, there was the weight of recognition and a hand up the ladder.
Karon had lived in the underworld long enough to read a room in one glance.
In a flash he understood what Kael meant.
This was not about trousers. This was about position.
Joy crashed over his reason. His whole body trembled with fierce excitement.
He dropped to his knees again, this time not in fear but in gratitude and loyalty that came from the gut.
"Lord Kael."
His voice wavered. The steel jaw rang dully against the stone.
"I, Karon, will walk through fire for you and never turn back."
Kael nodded, satisfied.
"Enough. Up. Do not kneel every two steps. It ruins the view of the street."
He flicked his hand and turned toward the villa.
"From now on, all the dirty business in Sabaody that should not see the light goes through you. Do not let me down. Do not disgrace yourself."
"Yes. Yes. I will not fail."
Karon scrambled to his feet and gave a deep ninety-degree bow to Kael's retreating back.
Only when Kael vanished behind the doors did he straighten. The fawning smile vanished. Something like authority took its place.
He turned to the black-suited ranks behind him.
"You all heard."
"Heard." The chorus from a hundred throats shook the paving stones.
Karon drew a breath. The metal in his throat gave his words a hard ring.
"From today, we are no longer street punks. We are not thugs scraping protection money."
"We are the guardians of the New Sabaody Order. We are Lord Kael's direct corps."
"Pack away every trick from the old days. If anyone dares use Lord Kael's name to grind the innocent and stain his reputation, the Navy will not need to lift a finger. Iron Jaw will take his head first."
"Remember this. From now on, we are men of rules."
Kael had not misjudged him.
A phoenix does not hatch from a chicken coop, yet the underworld had somehow bred a genuine talent.
As a brawler, Karon was ordinary. As an organizer who could build scaffolding and run things like a company, he was a genius misplaced by fate.
With Kael's formal mandate, he finally took the gloves off.
He carved the Three Disciplines and Seven Degrees into a code of iron and rolled out a set of internal rules and KPI checks that bordered on cruel.
Human trafficking. Touch it and die. Families implicated.
Protection fees. Rebranded as Community Security Contributions. Tiered by shop revenue and floor space, publicly posted, no cheating the old or the young. Quarterly bundles and annual memberships included.
Territorial disputes. The Sabaody Commercial Arbitration Council opened for business with Karon as chief arbiter. Both sides sat down with tea. Facts on the table, reason first. If reason failed, physics would persuade them.
Within months, the air in Sabaody's underground changed.
Street brawls nearly vanished. Vicious incidents plunged. Even swaggering pirates thought twice when they docked here. Make trouble, and the next morning you woke in a sack headed for the seafloor.
Shopkeepers discovered they paid less than before and received more protection than they had ever imagined.
At the root of it all, the Waveguide King rarely showed his face. The less he appeared, the deeper the legend sank in.
One afternoon, Kael was dozing on a lounger under a kindly sun when Karon returned.
Still in a sharp black suit, he held a thick folder and waited with respectful posture.
"Lord Kael, last quarter's business summary and our next-stage five-year plan for your review."
Kael did not open an eye.
"Read."
"Yes."
Karon cleared his throat and began.
"Report. Last quarter we shut down seventeen trafficking sites across the archipelago and freed over three hundred victims.
"Community Security Contributions rose thirty percent over pre-reform levels, while merchant complaints fell ninety percent…"
He rattled off figures as if born doing it. The logic flowed, each line crisp enough to cut. Kael nearly fell asleep.
This man ought to have been a civil servant in the World Government.
"In conclusion, our next priority is to establish the Sabaody Orphanage to house rescued children, provide unified care and education, and select those with talent and desire to join our organization. This will realize sustainable talent development…"
"Stop."
Kael finally opened his eyes.
He sat up and looked at the expectant Karon.
"You are very good at finding me work."
"Never dare," Karon said, bowing low. "It is only to better carry out your grand strategy of sustainable development."
Kael sighed. The man had taken an offhand joke for scripture.
"Enough. Handle it yourself. You do not need my say on everything."
"Yes." Relief and delight warmed Karon's face. "There is also one more item."
He clapped softly. The villa door swung open. Two girls in black and white maid uniforms stepped in with lowered heads.
They were twins, fifteen or sixteen at most. Both had the same sakura-pink bobs and delicate features. Only their eyes differed. One sparkled with lively warmth. The other was cool and quiet, lips pressed, unspeaking.
Kael's brows drew together.
"What is this."
His tone was mild, yet the air grew colder.
Karon's heart lurched. He understood the misunderstanding and broke into a cold sweat.
"Please be calm, my lord. They are not goods. Absolutely not."
He rushed to explain. "We rescued them when we smashed the last slave auction. Their home was lost in war. They have nowhere to go. I meant to place them with the orphanage, but they…"
He glanced at the girls.
The lively one gathered her courage and lifted her head. Her voice was clear.
"We came to serve you by our own wish. Mr. Karon told us you gave the order that saved us and gave Sabaody new rules. You are Sabaody's sun.
"We have nowhere else to go and do not want to return to that sea that eats people. We want to stay where we finally feel safe and repay your kindness by doing what we can."
The cool sister nodded. She did not speak, but sincerity shone in her eyes.
Kael studied them.
He felt the fragility that comes after survival and the fog that hides the road ahead.
After a silence he asked, "Your names."
The lively girl answered at once. "I am Sakura. This is my sister, Suzu."
"Sakura. Suzu." Kael nodded. "I do not keep idlers, and I need no one to wait on me. If you stay, you do it on your own merit. What can you do."
Sakura thought, then straightened her small chest. "I can clean. I can massage. My sister Suzu makes very good sweets."
Suzu's cheeks flushed. She murmured assent.
Kael waved a hand to Karon. "Enough. Go. They can stay."
"Yes."
Karon bowed out with visible relief.
Karon: I am so ready to improve.
Kael sent Sakura and Suzu to tidy the rooms, then lay back and shut his eyes.
His heart was still as water. He almost laughed.
So-called beauty becomes a handful of dust in the end.
As if such trifles could shake iron will.
Do not be ridiculous.
A sigma man does not fall into snares. Women only slow the draw of the blade.
Half an hour later.
Kael lounged in comfort while Sakura's small, soft hands worked gently at his temples. Suzu peeled jewel-bright grapes and placed them at his lips.
The sun was just right. The breeze was kind.
Kael swallowed a grape and sighed with open pleasure.
"I am doomed to decadence."
On the Oro Jackson, it was swords with this one, arm-wrestling with that one, a ship full of men. Where would such finery have come from.
Karon, you use this to test a superior. What superior could pass.
What of it. Kael has fought and bled on the sea for decades. He cannot enjoy a little now.
Keep the music playing. Keep the dancers dancing.
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