As the Cross Heart Adventurers carried out their first quest their rivals also did the same. A pigeon wearing a cap that had 'Guild' written on it, landed on the blue sun figurehead of the Golden Jubilee, the ship belonging to the Blue Dawn Adventurers.
Luca collected the letter on the pigeon's neck and it flew off while Luca opened it. He scanned through the letter before turning to Aila. "Get the ship moving, we're heading to Unyi Island."
"Hana, make sure we're heading the right direction."
A girl with white long hair with a light blue rose holding up the side pulled out a map, her blue eyes on the piece of paper. "Roger that."
William looked at the quest, biting through his crackers. "Do we really have to watch over some snotty merchants?"
"Don't question it," Luca said. "A job is a job."
William pouted. "If only it were cute girls."
Luca rolled his eyes, pinching the swordsman ears with force. "We aren't here to play."
The adventurer yelped and Vernon smiled as he walked out of the kitchen with drinks. "I've got drinks."
The Blue Dawn Adventurers happily surrounded Vernon for their drinks, the Golden Jubilee sailing slowly down the sea to take them to the destination of their quest.
.....
The Golden Jubilee ported on Unyi Island and the adventurers made their way to the Unyi Adventurers Guild. Obi, the guild head led them into a waiting room where a middle aged man and a younger boy were waiting. Both were plump, wore circular glasses and had black hair. The only difference between the two were their height and one had more wrinkles than the other.
"You imbeciles kept us waiting for too long," the middle aged man snapped, his oversized glasses nearly toppling off his face.
Luca forced a smile, his one finger twitching. "We're sorry sir."
He grunted and Obi shifted uncomfortably. "This is Mr. Aboh and his son Ibe. He owns the steel and iron company on Inn Island. They need you to escort them back to their island. Rumor has it that some infamous bandits known as the Suoh bandits have been going after merchants," Obi said. "The head of the guild there will give you your reward and your level will increase as soon as you get on the island."
"I understand," Luca said, then turned to the merchants. "Please follow me to my ship."
.....
"Where is my drink?" Aboh snapped from the beach chair on deck, his flabby body pulling down the chair.
Vernon ran towards the impatient merchant with a glass of lemon juice, an apologetic smile on his lips.
"I want to punch him," William mumbled, watching his vice-captain get scolded. "Why does the vice-captain have to suck up to him?"
"Hold yourself William," Luca said, sipping tea. "He's our employer. Plus, it's not nice."
William pouted. "He's so annoying."
"Captain, there's a ship heading towards us," Hana said from the observation tower. "And they look ready to attack."
Before Luca could reply, a cannon ball came hurtling in their direction. It crashed into the water, raining down and drenching them. The ship rocked heavily, the passengers grabbing something to hold on while the merchants fell over.
Luca frowned. "Aila get…" his eyes widened as two people holding gun riffles jumped out of the water, shooting at him. He dodged it, but the bullet grazed him a little,
"Hana, take Mr. Aboh and his son inside the ship. Aila, steer the ship faster. William, Vernon we're dealing with these goons."
"Roger."
"Mr. Aboh, Mr. Ibe, let's go inside," Hana said to their employers, leading the startled merchants into the ship.
Aila ran to the helm to propel the ship away from their attackers while Luca, Vernon and William stood in front of the two intruders. Vernon held up his golden staff and William pulled three swords out of his sheath, placing the hilt of the third in his mouth.
The two intruders shot their guns, but the adventurers jumped out of the way. Vernon flicked his staff, a heavy gust of wind blowing at the three intruders, sending them to the edge of the ship. Before they could steady themselves, Luca and William propelled themselves forward.
Three sword style: triple way slice.
Exploding right.
William sliced one of them in three places: knees, chest and neck while Luca used his right arm to send an explosion at his opponents face. The two collapsed on the ground, the one William attacked, swimming in a pool of blood.
Luca glared at William, grabbing his collar. "You weren't supposed to kill him we needed to ask questions."
William chuckled. "My bad."
Luca sighed, looking at the body of the one he had sent down. "I guess we'll have to manage this one." He released William. "Get me ropes and when you're done you get punished after this. I'm taking away your magazines."
William pouted, but left to get the ropes. They had easily avoided the attacking ship, Aila's sailing skill leaving nothing to be desired.
The four of them hovered over the wounded man, Luca crouching. "Now, to handle this moron that thought it was a good idea to attack us."
.....
The eyes of the intruder peeled open, his whole body numb and the coarseness of the ropes nipping painfully at his skin. Bile rose to his throat, William in front of him with a creepy smile on his face. "Ah, you're awake. You sure took your time. I can't wait to torture… I mean question you."
He said torture just now, I'm very sure he said torture, thought the intruder, sweat trickling down his face.
"William, stop playing with our prisoner," Aila said, sewing up a teddy bear plushy.
He grinned, spinning around in circles. "Ay, ay my beautiful Aila
She rolled her eyes. "I'll tell the captain he has woken up."
The intruder struggled with the ropes as the two adventurers left, but failed miserably to help his situation. He hissed in pain, the ropes digging deeper into his flesh.
"It's no use, William is a sadistic prick so he tied it like a pro," Luca said, walking towards the mast where he was tied to.
William chuckled. "You're so mean captain."
Luca ignored him and squatted in front of the intruder. "Who do you work with and what's your plan."
He looked away, eyes on the floorboard. "I don't have to tell you anything."
William touched the hilt of his sword, but Luca held up his hand. He clicked his tongue, pulling his hand away.
"As you can see, my subordinate is itching to torture you," Luca said, eyes glowing red. "So I advise you to talk."
He bit his lip, staring at the two adventurers. William tapped his sword three times, his blue eyes tearing into him. "Tick tock, we're waiting. I give you ten seconds. After that…" he licked his bottom lip. "I'm not sure I can hold on anymore."
His breathing became ragged, body shuddering under his gaze. "I-I'll tell you."
William sighed. "How disappointing, you should have waited a few more seconds."
"William, stop teasing him," Luca scolded.
William chuckled. "Sorry, sorry."
Luca stood up, towering over the intruder. "Now, tell me everything."
.....
"So captain, what are you going to do? This is what you hate the most, isn't it?" William said as they walked into the ship lounge.
"I'll handle it later. Let's concentrate on getting Mr. Aboh and his son back to the island. We can't allow our chance to move forward to slip by."
"So what did he say?" Vernon asked, looking up from the newspaper.
"He is from the Suoh bandits. As expected, they planned to kidnap Mr. Aboh and force money out of him," Luca said, settling in beside him.
"What should we do?" Hana asked.
"Unless they attack again, we shouldn't bother about it. Our main priority is getting them to Inn Island," Luca said.
"Yes captain."
William licked his lips. "So captain, what do we do with the prisoner?"
Luca rolled his eyes while Vernon snickered beside him. "Whatever you're thinking, stop it."
William puffed out his cheek. "You're no fun captain."
Luca glared at him, blue eyes prickling. "Do you want me to send you to the chamber?"
"Did you know I love you captain?"
"Good."
.....
Hana dropped the anchor into the ocean, stretching after a long day of sailing. "We're finally here."
"The mission isn't complete until we take them to their mansion," Vernon said, standing beside her.
Mr. Aboh and his son walked out of their sleeping quarters with Luca behind them. Both employers complained to the captain who regarded them with slight indifference.
"The service here wasn't top tier at all," Aboh complained.
Ibe nodded. "The highest we deserve as your employers is a comfortable place to stay."
"I have a mind to reduce your pay."
Luca ignored them, his crew lounging behind him as they walked away from the ship. His eyes focused on the dilapidated building with their crumbling walls and cracked windows, lips pursed at the state of the town.
Something small grabbed unto his black cloak, his body rotating to see what is was. He faced a young girl, face splotched in mud and body clad with a dirt ridden dress. She stuck out her hand, Luca's eyes softening at the gesture.
He searched his pocket and handed her a hundred egon note and a napkin. He went on his knees, stroking her stringy black hair. "Go buy yourself some food and use the napkin to clean your face."
Her eyes gleamed with tears, a small smile curving on her lips. "Thank you, brother."
He watched her run away with a little smile on his face, but frowned when Aboh spoke up.
"Are you done being a Good Samaritan?" the employer rolled his eyes. "Because I have somewhere to be."
Luca clenched his fists, but smiled with every ounce of patience he had left. "Shall we go?"
"Captain Luca might kill him," William said to the crew as they continued walking.
Vernon smiled a bit. "I'm surprised he hasn't already. I expected his usual tantrums."
"Give the captain some credit. He hasn't had one since the exam," Hana said.
Aila nodded. "Besides, he only does that when the God Clan is involved."
"Do you idiots know I can hear you," Luca said, glaring at them. "Would you all like to spend your time in the chamber?" They all shook their head rapidly, their fear making him smile. "That's more like it."
.....
What kind of merchant lives across a bridge, William thought as they got to the blue bridge that led to Mr. Aboh's mansion.
As they were about to step on the bridge, a huge puff of smoke engulfed them. They erupted into fits of coughs, the smoke clouds blurring their vision and making them lose sight of each other.
"Vernon!" Luca called.
Vernon removed the staff strapped to his trousers, flicking it immediately. A huge gust of wind burst out of the staff, the smoke blowing away. Once the smoke cleared up, their employers had disappeared without a trace.
Luca frowned,