If anything, two-thirds of my wish was granted. Rising from below to find out what it was I saw, there was most certainly a ship, and it was definitely carrying some alcohol. Just one problem, it's not lightly guarded, I quickly found that there was far more than one ship, the people on the ships are prepping their weapons, and I'm surrounded. Did I say one problem? I meant a shit ton of problems. Adding even more oil to the fire, many of the people on the ships are something called Merfolk. According to the System's description, they're a humanoid race that lives in underwater cities near the coastline... meaning they can actually fight in the water. This would not normally be a problem, however, this is a lot of them. Eating the Kraken may have restored much of my health, but I'm only at 2,363/3,394 HP. I hope this works...
"Stay your hand! Hand over your goods and you shall be free to leave unharmed."
I speak loud and strong in an attempt to intimidate them, but they all have an unusual expression as they exchange looks. They speak in low voices, rendering me incapable of hearing the conversations that are being carried out around me. But after a short time, one of the Merfolk shouts out.
"A talking Sea Drake! We should capture it and take it back as a pet!"
What! I have so many complaints right now, like did they not even bother to something as simple as using Inspect on me? Wait, that's not the problem right now! All the Merfolk are jumping into the water with weapons in hand while the others are beginning to chant their magic and prime their bows.
Retreating back underneath the water I see the eyes of the Merfolk widen as they were clearly not expecting me to be as large as I am. I feel a slight shiver as one of them quickly speaks up again.
"That's no Sea Drake! It's a Sea Dragon!"
Seems like someone finally got the bright idea to actually look at what they just picked a fight with. And with this revelation in mind, some of the Merfolk become a little hesitant.
"Do you think we can actually fight with a Sea Dragon? just look at how big this thing is."
"There are so many of us here, and we even have the land walkers helping us. I think we can still take on the Dragon."
"Sea Dragon's are supposed to be extinct though, could this be the last of its kind? Perhaps we should give it some face."
"Who was it that said that! The monster clearly demanded it handed over our goods and you want us to give face to some bandit monster!"
"We stole most of these to begin with though..."
While the Merfolk are arguing amongst themselves the others that remained on board the ships begin shooting into the water. Arrows pierce the water and various magic attacks crash into the surface. On an individual level, neither the arrows don't do too much, but the sheer amount that's being thrown at me will become a problem soon. But most of the magic they're using is of the ice element, effectively rendering it useless.
Some of the more ambitious Merfolk make their move and swim up to me, trying to stab me with their spears. But I don'T even give them the chance. With my newly acquired pain resist, I ignore the damage from the arrows and slap away most of the few Merfolk who tried to attack me and even eat one of them alive.
Seeing me completely brush aside all the attacks and even eat one of their brethren, the Merfolk swim away as fast as they can, leaving behind the people on board the many ships in the area. deciding to let the Merfolk leave, I rise from the water once more, but bring more of my body above the surface to give a more imposing impression. They continue to fire volleys at me but as they see their arrows bounce off my scales and my indifference towards their magic, even the ones I'm not immune to, the lower their weapons in resignation.
Thankfully my intimidation worked out as best as it could, I was honestly pretty close to dying again, with only a few hundred HP left. I had to be really careful to not show any signs of pain and banked on the hope they didn't have Investigate to see my current health. The gamble paid off as they don't seem to realise I'm actually nervously sweating on the inside. In a display of strength and as a way to get some health back, I blast a few of the important people with my Ice and Water Breath before eating them, but whether or not they were actually important is beside the point. I could continue to kill them since they look like they are prepared for what's coming but I have a better idea.
"Recognise your folly. Hand over your goods and you may pass my waters."
With the chance of survival within their grasps, the... raiders? Pirates? Probably something like that since the Merfolk mentioned the stuff they had was stolen anyways. Whatever they are, they begin to toss over multiple barrels of alcohol into the water, but just as they are about to dump off the more tangible objects I stop them.
"I don't need the objects your people use to trade. Hand over all the alcohol and quickly be on your way, lest you face my wrath once more."
After almost half an hour, the pirates begin to leave, and in my possession are four barrels for every ship which totals up to one hundred and twenty barrels for all thirty ships. The raiders sail towards what is probably their home as the wind carries their voices back as I hear them saying that they are going to end their alliance with the Merfolk and complain that they just got robbed by a Bandit Dragon at sea. Their voices get louder and louder, to the point that I can hear them even though the wind has since switched its direction. They even started directly dissing me...
After listening to their insults I immediately turn my focus to one of their ships and shoot several Acid Beams in their directions. Most of my shots miss but one eventually hit as I hear their loud and delightful screams. Not wanting to waste this precious moment, I quickly gather up several barrels of alcohol and swallow them all at once. Nothing better than a drink while listening to the chorus of despair.
*****************Several Months Later (Third Person)*****************
In the mountain base of the Dragon Bandits, their current leader, the Dragonoid Milla August, is making plans on their next operation with several of the group's captains as one of the lieutenants walks in.
"Hey Boss, did we expand operations into the sea?"
Milla and captains give the man who just walked in a strange look. While their exact thoughts on him may differ, they all come to the same conclusions, why is this fool even a lieutenant?
"We don't even own any ships. I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't think you were this stupid. We are based in a mountain located in the centre of the largest continent. Give me a reason why I would even consider expanding towards the sea."
Scratching the back of his head he responds, "well it's like this, I just got back from Maua, and there's a port city a few towns away so sometimes sailors will drop by. I was at the... well that's not important, but I overheard some of the sailors complain that they had gotten robbed by a Dragon bandit out at sea."
"The hell! Someone out there is using our name to rob people at sea, all of you, go and investigate this right now!
At Milla's orders the captains scurry about and leave the room, but just at the lieutenant tries to leave he is stopped by what seems to be a soft and delicate hand that lands on his shoulder. To outsiders, this might not seem too bad but to everyone that knows her, that hand is anything but soft and delicate.
"You have some explaining to do. Just why are you in a place like the gambling city Maua instead of doing your job?"
"I-it's not what you think boss, I swear! I... I was just gathering some information!"
"Oh, and just what might this information be?"
Milla's tone might seem nice but that tone can hardly match the scene as she lifts the lieutenant up from the ground by his shirt. While struggling to find an answer that his boss will accept, an object falls from the lieutenant's pocket.
"A stone? No that's an arcane memory stone. Now just where did you get your hands on this."
Milla begins to channel her mana into the stone to reveal its contents. As for the lieutenant, despite not being held suspended in the air, his face gets paler for every second that passes. Soon enough an image is projected from the stone. A familiar young woman to Milla is shown and begins to undress, as she walks towards an open-air bath.
Still speaking in a soft tone unbecoming of the current situation Milla asks, "care to explain why you have a recording of Captain Lia taking a bath, and where you got this?"
After beating the lieutenant black and blue, Milla walks out from the meeting room and informs everyone that the Dragon Bandit's next operation will be a raid on Maua, specifically their auction houses. And to also look for any word of whoever it is sullying their not so good name by robbing the sailors at sea.