Alyssia and Alfred waited until her berries were brought to her room along with the newly purchased slave.
Within the room, Alfred lowered his voice a little and spoke. "Do not mention any of this to her. Just let me be by her side if you do decide to let me stay and serve you. I have made many arrangements in the dark and held off many people from acting so soon against you. During the time that I met you I had intended to make use of you so I had to call in the odd favour or use my berries to put some others attention elsewhere so that they all would not come to bother you but it seems that my efforts were not really needed after all. The main thing I managed to hold back was other forces collaborating to attack you but I recommend leaving very soon so that you escape their plans. It is very likely they will strike at you or your crew members sometime after the auction is over."
Alyssia paused for a little while and looked towards him seriously. "You are right. It is no problem, if anything you have bought us some moments of rest and peace on this island and saved us from many troubles."
She went into thought. 'My crew is too mink focussed… their experiences are lacking and are too innocent. What I need is someone that can cover the things behind the scenes but also broker deals and look after our wealth and resources. He is a skilled negotiator and is very scheming so he suits this role.'
Alyssia could be said to be one of the more less naive minks but there would always be a limit to what she could achieve and understand about the ongoings of the other parts of the world.
Where there is light there is often darkness lurking nearby.
Where there is a pillar standing tall there is often those looking to tear it down by any means necessary.
Even famous figures in the One Piece world have their own troubles after rising to their position whether it be being hunted by the world government, being enlisted by them or others to work to further their goals or other competitors wishing to take their title away from them.
She needed someone to be able to strategise and sink their hands into all that darkness so that their travels can be smoother.
Now that she had someone in front of her with many years of experience and who had stepped down into the path but managed to pull himself back out of it, she was sure that he may be able to fulfil that role.
If he continued to make use of her at the cost of putting her and her crew in danger and did not make efforts to shield her from the predictable dangers then she may not have given him a second chance but since he bowed his head and admitted his mistakes, she forgave him since he was in a desperate situation of his own.
There are many people who are in the same situation but use it as an excuse to tear others down just to achieve their goal, this man still had a part of his humanity that made him act in a way to get what he wanted but also not harm her.
It was also a bonus that he would remain completely loyal so long as she helped with his daughter.
She turned and looked down at the chained up girl cowering in the corner and back at Alfred and spoke. "I will not say a thing about your connection but do not expect it to remain a secret forever. Even if you feel shame for your inability to protect her and her mother and not being there for them, you still have this time to make up for that lost time. What she needs most now is time to heal and enough love and care to completely recover in body and mind. One day she may even find out herself that you are her family, believe me. Often blood ties are the strongest bonds and family members are able to recognise each other upon a first meeting or over time without even knowing their connection beforehand. Do not look down on the bonds of blood."
Alfred lowered his head and clenched his fist in frustration. "I know. I just cannot bare to show my face and say who I am after not being there for her for so long."
Alyssia sighed. "Fine… I will protect her well and make sure that she recovers and in return you must do what you have been doing. Your role is to handle or delay troubling situations but also be the bridge that will negotiate or connect our ship to the places that we visit so that we can smoothly enter without suffering too many setbacks. It need not be said… do not do anything that would cause damage to myself or the crew but also our reputation."
Alfred bowed respectfully. "Of course. I will serve you well."
She moved away towards the girl on the floor and lowered her body to get a better look on her. "Your name?"
The girl did not respond to her and lowered her head defiantly. "…"
Alyssia sighed as is expecting this. "There is no time for the formal greetings so sorry about this."
She picked up the girl and held her close to her body and walked out of the room with Alfred followed behind her silently while occasionally glancing towards the small and weak girl with a look of sorrow and guilt in his eyes.
Meanwhile the girl immediately passed out in her arms.
Either it was her poor body state or Alyssia's mink body that was comfortable as she was hugged close to it but not long after being held in a comfortable position she could not put up a struggle before falling into a deep sleep.
There was also the fact that it had been a long time since someone had held her in such a gentle way since her mothers death.
A silent tear dropped from her eye during her sleep as if silently remembering or mourning over that lost nostalgic feeling of comfort.
Back on the ship, Alyssia arrived quickly with the father and daughter.
She turned to Carrot who was still half asleep and said as she took off the mask from her face and passed it over. "Wear this and help Alfred to take the prisoners to be handed in for a reward. Protect him well but try not to cause any trouble. Come back quickly."
She shouted for Tristan. "Tristan! We have a patient in need of your treatment!"
Then after handing her to Tristan who hurried her into the lounge to begin treatment, she shouted again. "Everyone! Get prepared to leave! By the time they get back I want to see this ship ready to set sail right as they get on board."
By the time the prisoners have been handed over, the auction should be over and there will be enough time for those with the boxes to go find the criminals stash before the prisoners have a chance to be interrogated by their prison guards or other people who wished to try get something out of them.
If the law was upheld well then there would be even more time to allow the mystery box buyers to find what they were searching for but if it was too corrupted then they would be easy to get to for information extraction or to even be silenced.
However this was none of her business as she had just handed them in for the reward since they tried to act against her and her crew.
By the time that the two of them got back and came back running in a hurry, the ship was ready to leave.
The moment they stepped on board, Alyssia shouted. "Onto the next destination!"
Their ship left the docks and before many could get the information about their departure or see for themselves, the ship was already out of their sights.
Many were kicking themselves over how they missed out on recruiting, exploiting or robbing such a 'big juicy fish' that had just swam into their territory.
Unfortunately not everyone would remain so inactive, a few of them thought that since they had gone out to sea then it would be easier to attack them.
A couple of ships began to chase in the direction of where their ship had left not knowing of the poor fates that awaited them.