Chapter 111: Chapter 110: Meeting & “Respectable” Sailors

Never use that thing again! At least not on me!!

Make that "against us"! And don't come here and say you never knew what it could do when choosing it!!

After leaving Aino and Rolf, both furious over being guinea pigs for demonstrating the abilities of my new ticking and tocking spider friend, plus getting some other business done, I was left alone. At the same time, I moved to visit Miss Cold=Rose. Man, those two can be so heartless at times.

A bad mood aside, I found my way to the promised meeting place. An old tavern close to the Barataria's port. You'd expect more places like this close to where the ships go, considering Barataria is a port town and all, but no. Only this old bar, the "Drunken Sea Breeze", seems to be the closest water hole for sailors after a long voyage. 

The tavern was...far from what I'd call "pleasant". It was gloomy with only oil lanterns as lighting, no windows to speak of, and a heavy stench of booze that assaulted my nose the moment I stepped in. This must be another reason why this game is rated 18+. I'm feeling a little sick...

"Whatcha want?" asked the old, burly former sailor from behind the desk. They didn't spare any effort when designing this unimportant NPC...

"...I'm here to meet someone," I asked after swallowing my fears. This old man has that much intensity behind him. The four-season guardians from the event should take a lesson from this guy. 

"Hmm... Plant-ish, yet cold-ish?" - Old sailor

"That sounds right." - Garami

"She's been waiting for ya behind there," he said, pointing toward a table barely visible from the entrance. I gave some coins as thanks and headed toward the half-hidden spot. 

"Ya-hoo~, Garami. You took your sweet time." - Cold=Rose

The one greeting me was an icy-looking Alrune player. Her pure white kimono did not bother hiding much of her icy-blue skin, though some people might take more notice of the flower growing out from her head or her vines-like hair. There is only one person who has this avatar, no mistake about that. 

"You're the one who arrived too early. Anyway, what's the agenda? Not that I don't have a guess." - Garami

I sat down in the free chair while declining the menu. Booze and I have never had good chemistry, so I won't take a risk even if it's in VR, not even with their food. 

"That's a no-brainer! Tell me where I can find this Author-character! Your rabbit friend knew, didn't he?" - Cold=Rose

"Our Palug has a vast network to work with. Rabbits are quite fleet-footed, meaning their network can cover a vast area. Of course, it is not easy to acquire so much info, so our payment..." - Garami

*Bang!*

The icy Alrune slammed her fist on the table, leaving behind a set of coin-like objects on the wooden surface. Extra Medals. 

"Here. We can offer three Medals for now, but you will only get the rest AND the promised Keystone after we see some results." - Cold=Rose

"Thank you for your purchase~," I said while showing my greatest business smile and swooping away the Medals. They're all of the Samurai-type? I can live with that. 

Still, to be so loose-handed with the Medals yet not willing to part with the Keystone? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Or maybe Keystones are rarer than I first suspected? If they are, then Bloom better take back her pointy comment about my negotiating for one. 

"In that case, let's set off~." - Garami

"Heh?" replied the icy Alrune. Hey, a grown adult shouldn't make such a stupid sound. Not that I can't get enough of it~. 

---

"...Garami, what is this?" - Cold=Rose

"Oh, this girl? This here is Echo. I'm using her as my eyes on the road." - Garami

I petted the demonic bat that was hanging from my arm, tired after having guided me to the city safely. If I had to rank the eyesight of my tamed demons, she might come in first place. And that's even when including she is a BAT. ...Maybe I should consider getting some glasses for the rest of the crew?

Echo's also the reason how I was able to find the "Drunken Sea Breeze" before as well. These days, she might be the best demon I have subordinated. Hmm, I should start looking into giving the rest of the gang roles they can shine in...

"No, not the bat. I mean the thing in front of us." - Cold=Rose

"Oh, that? It's a pirate ship. What else does it look like?" - Garami

After concluding our deal, I dragged Cold=Rose with me to meet with the ship that I'd hired through my connections with the Blackmarket. It is a cutter that looks like it would be at home in the 18th century, except some parts of the rig were armored with magical-looking metal parts. On top of the main mast was a black flag with skulls and bones in a pattern that most people would recognize. 

"No, I understand what it is. What I wanted to ask is: why pirates?!" - Cold=Rose

"Hmm? Why not?" - Garami

The icy Alrune started to shoot down my suggestion before we even boarded the vessel. Geez, what a pain-in-the-ass woman. I wonder how the Committee keeps up with her bad attitude. 

"Hey, which one of you sea dogs is Captain Tarreltow?" - Garami

"That'd be me," replied a large man who'd look more like he'd be called "barrel"-something.

The man's dressed like a typical pirate, minus the eyepatch and the pegleg. He's got a dirty shirt and a large waterproof leather coat on top of it. His black, scruffy beard has a stench of rum and gunpowder that can be smelled even from a distance. In short, a typical pirate NPC, er Inhabitant. 

"And what's a lass like you want with me?" - Tarreltow

"Glock or one of his colleagues should have told you that you're getting a customer today." - Garami

"Glock!? That nasty, green-cloaked glob of shadows!?" - Tarreltow

"Yup. The same guy from the Blackmarket who gives me discounts and freebies." - Garami

"Ah, no doubt, it's that guy. He's always a leecher for the pretties." - Tarreltow

Eh, he is? ...Half of me wants to take advantage of that, but the other half wants to never have to do anything with that guy...

"Ehm, you're that Migrant girl Garami...and another Migrant. Yes, sir, we have you on the list," said Tarreltow while looking at a letter he retrieved from his dirty pocket.

I recognize that paper as the stuff that the Blackmarket uses. Glock sure knows how to get the job done at Lightspeed. I only requested this boat trip after I left the training hall earlier today. 

"Okay, you two, please get on board right away. Men, we're departing!" - Tarreltow

Following that, the pirate grunts started to move quickly as they prepared for the departure. Cold=Rose and I found ourselves a relatively free spot on the deck to watch as the seadogs ran around like headless chickens. 

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"...Garami? I wish not to repeat myself, so I will ask: do you reaaally think these criminals can get us to where this 'Author' character is?" - Cold=Rose

"Hey, they wouldn't be good pirates if they can't get that far. Besides, there are not many other ways to get to that island." - Garami

"Island?" - Cold=Rose

"Yeah, listen to this. This 'Author'-guy has commandeered a whole island and made it into his personal-." - Garami

"TAKE OFF!!" - Pirate Grunt A

Unfortunately (for Grunt A), I was stopped from sharing my research with Cold=Rose as the ship took off with a jolt. This is supposed to be a sailship, not a jetboat! From where in this pile of rotten wood did it hide such a massive kickoff ability?

I looked up at the sails and found the answer to my question. The sails look like there's a magic circle woven into the cloth. Magical sails, hmm. That's cool. No, for real. Maybe...

"Captain! We got a bunch of weasels on our tail!" - Pirate Grunt B

"Tch! Keep your hats on, gents! Uh, and guests! Hoist the extra sails! Fire up the hidden engines! Get the oars moving! We're getting out of here!" - Tarreltow

Something fishy is going on here. The pirates looked terrified by whoever was chasing us. I asked Echo to take a look for me. Soon, she (and by extension, I) saw several ships sailing from the harbor, or vessels that emerged from hiding spots behind large reefs. They came in all sizes, colors, and shapes, but they all shared one common point: they all had a black flag with skulls and crossbones on them. 

"More pirates?" I asked, not expecting an answer. My expectations were betrayed in a good way for once.

"Move it, you lazy bums!! If I'm forced to pay back my debts, then I'll take it out on your salaries!!" - Tarreltow

"NOOOO!! Captain, everyone here's in debt to those sharks! Nobody's going to be spared!!" - Pirate Grunt A-to-Z

"THEN START ROWING!!" - Tarreltow

Wow... Now this is an easy mystery to solve. Debt, huh... I've almost been in the same boat...

Hold on just a ****ing sec! I AM in the same boat! Both literally and figuratively! That Glock, did he perhaps warn the other pirate crews that Tarreltow's ship, this "Big Barrel", would take off today? And he used me as the kicker for this event!? ...Nah, that can't be it. That old geezer I met at their headquarters is one thing, he felt like the sleazy type, but Glock is a cool guy... I think.

"Never would I suspect that our boat ride would come with a pirate fight show," said Cold=Rose, not bothering to hide her sarcasm at all. 

"Meh, it should be fine. This ship looks to be the fastest one in the harbor. They won't be able to catch us...?" - Garami

Something strange was going on with one of the ships. The pirate vessel in question had been preparing some nasty cannons. How nasty? Well, imagine some sort of super-enchanted cannons of death. The type that could shoot a Kraken to death. Then multiply it by three, add those three cannons together to form a crude minigun (cannon version), then add three more copies of that monstrosity before aiming them all at us. 

And just like I feared, the cannons went boom. A sharp sound came closer to our ship before creating a large splash in the water right beside us. Or should I say it's "port side" us since we're on a boat? In any case, those are cannonballs, alright. 

"They're shooting at us?!" - Cold=Rose

"Wow, great deduction. I'll give you a teddybear later." - Garami

"You know what I mean. Isn't this bad?" - Cold=Rose

"Not really. Leave this to me." - Garami

Saying that I moved to the back of the ship. The other pirates asked me to leave, but they were too busy preparing for their escape to try and stop me physically. 

"Okay, Eon. Time to move." - Garami

Staring down the cannonballs (not really. I'm still relying on the Echo-cam to see stuff outside the blindfold's 3D map), I took out my pocket watch and summoned Eon, my Wonderland Timelocker Companion Creature. I came up with the idea when she (I think it's a she?) was messing with Aino and Rolf before. She lives in a clock, so the name fits. 

"Eon, trap those cannonballs for me, would you?" - Garami

Eon gave me a light bow before turning her attention to the bombardment. Waving her thin little arms, she created trails of light in the air and shot them toward the enemy vessels before pausing in the air. Visually, they look like tripwires of light that are frozen in the air. And when you consider Eon's abilities, they are exactly like that, just worse. 

Once the cannonballs touched the tripwires, what looked like a shell of red light around them snapped and broke apart. The affected cannonballs looked like they were paused in midair for a second before starting to move on again, albeit with much lower force than before. They ended up fizzling out into the water without much resistance. 

"Wow~. Is this your CC's abilities?" - Cold=Rose

"Yup. The trick behind them is a trade secret-, whoa-!?" - Garami

Cold=Rose had followed me to the back of the ship and started asking about Eon's abilities. I was planning on not giving her too much free information, but I didn't even get the chance to do so. Cold=Rose's armament left me completely flabergasted. 

She's carring something that looks like a balissta made out of frozen vines and flowers. In short, it is gigantic! Cold=Rose's avatar is pretty tall for a female, around 180cm or so, but her weapon is easily larger than that! 

Cold=Rose made me move away as she placed the giant bow onto the deck, freezing it in place, before starting to aim at the enemy pirate ships with it. 

"Uh, try not to hit Eon's threads..." I advised her weakly, having most of my force killed by the oversized weaponry. Cold=Rose nodded to my words before loading the bow with a giant icicle of an arrow. Or rather, it is truely an icicle no matter how you look at it...

Cold=Rose only needed a moment to aim before she fired the icicle arrow at the enemy vessel. After it was released, the arrow bursted into dozens of smaller ice shards, each clashing with a cannonball that had not been stopped by Eon's Slow-infecting + effect-cancellation threads. And speaking of the threads, the ice shards splendidly messed every single one of them.

Damn, I've heard about sharpshooters shooting through the rings of old coins, but to do something similar with what's pratcially a bow and ice version of a shotgun is even more unthinkable. 

I moved away from the ship's backside, leaving the cannonballs to Eon and Cold=Rose, while calling back Echo so she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Just as the bat landed on the ship, captain Tarreltow came up to strike a chat with me.

"Miss, thank ye! You people made our escape easier than snatching candy from a baby!" - Tarreltow

"An act you're familiar with?" - Garami

"You better bet I am! Euh, I meant to say we're thankful for your help. Don't worry, we'll be safe once we shake those guys off our tail, then it's a straight line to your destination. That...err...what was that placed called again?" - Tarreltow

The pirate captain retrieved the letter from Glock again, probably to re-read about where we were heading. Geez...

"Jungalow. The island Jungalow." - Garami

"Right, that place! Man, you sure chose one desalated place to take a vacation to." - Tarreltow

"You better think again," I said knowingly while getting a kick out of the old man's confused face. He's sure not going to recognize that place again when we arrive. All thanks to that "author"-guy. I wonder if there'll be any good demons to tame there...

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