Farmer remained sitting in front of Oulong until the latter released his dying breath, relishing in the man's suffering.
He had died in excruciating agony, and with many regrets in his heart. Nonetheless, Farmer ordered his remains to be thrown overboard with a few offerings to grant him safe passage to the afterlife and then dismissed everyone present. They all left with heavy hearts and even heavier spirits, particularly Serena and her entourage; they would still hear Oulong's shrill cries of misery in their ears even long after the execution concluded. A few of them would have nightmares of this day for years to come.
However, none contemplated seeking revenge. After all, this had been Oulong's own fault and Farmer was simply too terrifying of a man to fight against.
"That was… interesting." Said Lampa when they were the only two remaining there. Blood still flooded the deck, and a strange air could be felt pervading their surroundings. Yet Farmer seemed as if he couldn't tell, knelt on the floor, and began scrubbing the gore away. "Captain, what are you doing? Let me call up some men! We'll take care of this!" Exclaimed Lampa.
"You will do no such thing. Mine was the hand that did this; mine is the hand that will suffer the consequences and will wipe the blood away. It's the least I can do." Working to clean the mess up, Farmer continued talking. "Remember my words well, Lampa: we can kill if we must, but we cannot debase ourselves to act superior than those we kill. The only difference between the living and the dead is that the living are stronger, smarter, or just plain luckier than the dead. How is that any basis to hold the high ground?"
"Naosh blesses those who have righteousness in their hearts." Retorted Lampa. He was a firm believer and these words were part of his creed.
"Is that so? Then you're suggesting that your wife and kids weren't righteous?" He turned to face Lampa. The latter shook his head, trembled slightly, and stared back at his captain at a complete loss for words. "No, I didn't think you'd believe that. Lampa, never confuse the deeds of gods with the actions of men."
The two of them remained silent from that moment on. Farmer was busy scrubbing the blood off the wooden boards. Lampa was busy digesting his captain's teachings; each one of the lessons he learned, he took to heart. Although, many times, he struggled to come to terms with Farmer's convictions, the captain held the highest place in his heart.
The sky had already darkened by the time Farmer rose to his feet again. In front of him there was no longer any evidence that an execution had taken place. Before taking his leave, he gave Lampa a map and some indications of bearing and instructed him to change their course. After that, he went to sleep.
When the Sun rose the following morning, Farmer decided to pay a visit to the female prisoners in the gaol after he'd had some breakfast. As he walked into the gaol, the refined ladies all rose to their feet with pale faces.
They had all been present when Oulong had been turned into a blood eagle, and the images of that evening would haunt them for the rest of their lives. In their eyes, the pirate lord before them was the most dreadful of monsters and they were scared witless by the sight of him. What could be the reason for his sudden visit? Would he be carving another blood eagle today? They worried.
Seeing the feelings of apprehension and trepidation in their eyes, Farmer chuckled to himself. This had been one of the reasons why he'd opted for such a gruesome method of execution; to serve as a warning to those unfamiliar with him that he was as ruthless and unforgiving as he was strong. Only then would he have a chance of gaining what he wanted from them.
The five women huddled closely together and stared at Farmer with foreboding. Farmer smiled at them coldly, opened the door to their cell, and proceeded to sit down on a wooden chair in front of them. His eyes never made contact with any of their own and he merely crossed his legs and closed his eyes as if in deep thought.
The women didn't even dare to breathe loudly, lest they disturb the devil from his thoughts. Neither did they consider escaping because they knew that at least five guards were waiting in the corridor outside. They were utterly, and irrevocably, in the hands of Farmer's mercy. If he even had any.
"You're not stupid enough to try running, that's good." He said flinging his eyes open after a while. "But are you cunning enough to understand your current predicament?"
He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but four pairs of eyes glanced discreetly to one of the women. This, Farmer noticed and made a mental note of the woman. Interestingly, she was the one who had seductively offered herself when he'd rescued Raven. Clearly, she was the leader of this group.
Grunting in displeasure, Farmer rose to his feet after a few moments of silence and turned to leave. Seeing that Farmer was unhappy, the leader of the women called out to him before he could exit the cell. "My Lord, what is it you intend to do with us?" She asked.
"That's the second time you've interrupted me." He lashed out angrily.
"My apologies, my Lord." She bowed low and asked for forgiveness.
"No matter. I'm in a good mood today, so I will forgive you this time." Farmer placed his hand under his chin and scratched his head as if he was admiring his own graciousness. "But it all depends on whether you give me what I want."
"And what is it you want?"
"You know the answer to that."
"Information." Said the woman without hesitation. "You want to know what the Reichslag Trading Federation was doing and why we were attacked by pirate lord Krieg's men."
"Nope." Playfully retorted Farmer, much to the surprise of the woman. "I know all that already. The Federation was transporting some very precious cargo and Krieg wanted to get his claws on it; I suspect it was that chest we found. Luckily for you, I'm no fool and tossed the chest to the bottom of the sea and deleted all traces of our presence there to avoid trouble."
"You did WHAT?!" Exclaimed the women in unison. For a second, they forgot completely about the direness of their situation. If Farmer's words were true, then the consequences for them would be dreadful beyond imagination.
"Be quiet." Coldly whispered Farmer, causing the women's hearts to freeze in their chests. "What I want to know is who the little girl is and why she was with you. Why did someone go to such lengths to keep her from talking or revealing her circumstances? Just who is that cruel?"
Farmer had spoken to Lampa about whether there was a chance for the girl to speak again and was saddened when he heard that, despite the fact that the tongue could be regrown, even a class four elixir had been unable to heal her wrecked vocal chords. Whomever had done the deed was thorough and vicious to the extreme. This information had made him all the more interested in the Raven's story.
Realising that the past was already set in stone, the leader of the group calmed her aching heart and spoke up. "My Lord, my name is Roan and my position is…"
"I don't give a damn about your name or your position or your sorry sob story." Interrupted Farmer. "I've told you what I want to know and you will answer me. Bear in mind that there are two paths available for you. First, you tell me the truth; in which case, you will all be treated as guests on my ship and no one will wrong you during our voyage. As soon as we come across a friendly port, I will allow you to disembark with enough victuals and coinage to get back home safely and as swiftly as possible. The second path is that you lie to me or refuse to answer. If that were to happen I will cut off your ears, slice off your tongues, blind you with acid, sever your limbs, place you in neatly ornamented boxes, and send you off to a few perverted nobles I'm acquainted with to be their playthings for the rest of your short and miserable lives. And believe me, I know when I'm being lied to."
This threat was a complete lie; he would never do such a thing to anyone. At most, he would kill them. However, to Roan and the rest of the women he was speaking the truth. To them, Farmer was capable of following through with his threats. They had seen the extent of his ruthlessness first-hand not twenty-four hours earlier. Thus, they all turned green from trepidation and kowtowed in front of him.
"Please, my Lord, have mercy on us!" Begged Roan. "We cannot reveal this or we will be hunted down and our families will be killed!"
"Spare me your excuses." Coldly glared Farmer. "What has that got to do with me?"
"Please, my Lord, we beg of you!"
"I see you've made your choice. I shall return shortly with the necessary equipment." He turned around once more and prepared to leave. But, before he had taken two steps, a shrill voice sounded between sobs and stopped him.
"Sister, please, just tell him!" Cried one of the women who couldn't bear the thought of what Farmer had threatened to do.
"Be quiet, you know I can't!" Exclaimed Roan. To which her sister pounced forward and grabbed Roan's throat between her hands shaking her head as she did so. The other women rushed to separate the two women and pulled them apart amidst crying and sobbing.
Roan placed her hand on her neck, still feeling the desperate grip of her sister against her skin. To be honest, she understood why her sister had reacted in the way she did. Farmer's threat was nothing to scoff at. She had considered killing herself, but she imagined that Farmer wouldn't allow them to die so easily. Realising that she only had one choice available, she turned to face Farmer with sorrow in her eyes and answered his question.
"The girl is part of the family that protected the chest since time immemorial. The Federation was contracted to transport the chest after her family was massacred to obtain it. The girl is the sole survivor, and she was be to taken to the buyer in order to unlock it. We sisters were tasked to take care of the girl during transport; she was already injured when we met her. The rest of the story, you already know." She explained with great difficulty.
"Who's the buyer."
"Aeldan Cuej." She said after hesitating for a while.
"That bastard again!" Furiously roared Farmer, kicking the bars of the cell with such force that he caused a massive dent in them. This surprised the women who realised that there was a strong enmity between the two men. However, they realised they weren't qualified to inquire into this matter.
"My Lord, our parents, husbands, and children are being held hostage and will only be released upon completion of our mission. As the eldest sister, I was the only one who knew of the particulars of the task and was threatened they would die if I ever revealed the details of it." Mentioned Roan after Farmer calmed himself down.
"Your families are already dead." Replied Farmer. "I know how Aeldan thinks and he wouldn't leave any loose ends. The Federation probably killed them as soon as you set sail and were instructed to do the same to you when you delivered the girl to Aeldan."
"You may be right, and we considered this ourselves when eldest sister told us, but we still chose to hope." Spoke up another woman with defiance in her eyes. "Now that hope is gone."
"That hope was never there to begin with. You can choose to hate me and, to be perfectly honest, I don't care either way; but I'm not the one who did this to you."
The sisters began glancing at each other. Roan especially could see the truth in Farmer's words. Thus, the five sisters teared up and hugged each other as they wept for their loved ones. Farmer sighed. This was a sight he had long grown used to. However, no matter how many times he bore witness to it, his heart still ached for those wronged by people in power.
"I hereby grant you all your freedom. I will keep my word and help you find your way back if that's what you want." He said warmly.
"We have no home." Whispered Roan with teary eyes. "What are we to do now?"
"You can stay on this ship. Don't misunderstand my words for what they aren't; I am not proposing you do anything you don't want to. Truth be told, I was bluffing earlier; the most I would do was kill you because, simply put, to keep you around would have been a danger for me and my men. You see, my pride only allows me to harm those that deserve it." Roan and her sisters looked at Farmer with doubt but the more they looked at him, the more they saw the sincerity in him. "I need as many people working in the kitchen as I can get my hands on. My crew numbers around the three hundred men, and my kitchen staff is a mere dozen. Already have my ears grown wary of their complaints from all the work on their plates." Casually explained Farmer. "You sisters are welcome to stay and work in there. I will treat you kindly and pay you generously. Ask around, all my crewmen enjoy great benefits from working here."
Realising that they had completely misunderstood the pirate lord, Roan raised her eyes at him with a glimmer of hope contained within them. If Farmer's offer was genuine, they would be able to live and perhaps move on from their tragedies. However, there was one concern nibbling in the back of their minds. "My Lord, what if Aeldan comes looking for us?"
"Don't call me that, I'm no Lord. My name is Farmer and, if you decide to take my offer, just call me captain." He waved his hand at the sisters. "As for that bastard… Let me assure you one thing: he will never come looking for me on this ship. This, I swear. Even if he knew of you and the girl, he wouldn't dare to seek me out."
Words that would have sounded like empty boasting if it came from another's mouth seemed to the five sisters like a proclamation made by the Emperor himself. There was a confident look in his violet eyes that made the women not doubt his statement in the slightest. Thus, they all readily agreed to join his crew under the condition they be granted a couple of days to mourn their dead loved ones.
Farmer had no qualm with this request and granted it to them. Then, he summoned two pirates and informed them of his decision to accept the five sisters as part of the crew. Instantly, the two pirates smiled with friendliness and warmth and greeted the women as if they were family.
Roan and her sisters were somewhat taken aback. They had expected some form of protest. Little did they know, however, that if Farmer said someone was part of the crew, they were immediately accepted without hesitation. After all, many of them had joined under dubious or otherwise strange circumstances; sometimes having belonged to the other side during a battle. When no one would have wanted them in their midst, the captain welcomed them with open arms. Thus, all the crew trusted in their captain's judgement and would always accept any newcomers openly.
Promising to give them a tour of the ship, the pirates led the sisters away to find a suitable place for them to live in. Farmer smiled to himself and left for his quarters. There was much work to be done and he was still in quite a bit of pain from his injuries. It was time to plan the next steps of their journey.