All of them had their energy restored. A good night's sleep sure did wonders. The first thing they did in the morning was eating. One of the best things about inns is the easy access to food. They were on the second floor of the inn, and all it took for food was to get downstairs. Most decent inns had someone to prepare food at any given time.
The place was empty that early in the morning. All tables were available, so they took the one near the window. Joshua pondered the entire night if he should tell the rest of the group about his findings. And he decided he would.
Telling them was the only way to achieve success in the plan. Khali was the strongest aboard and also a friend. If they wanted to steal one crate, Khali would have to know.
All of them were sitting at the table, eating some of the local food. Leo and Joshua gazed at each other and started to talk.
Joshua cleared his throat before he said, "attention, everyone." Khali, Aurora, and Hanrog looked at him with a curious gaze.
"So, this is what happened." Joshua then explained everything that happened last night.
~~~~
"You know accusing a noble is a serious matter."
"But still, I do think you have your points here. Frederick is probably involved in something bad," Khali said.
After hearing everything, they all trusted in Joshua's judgment. All of these coincidences adding up felt unreal. They all agreed to help Joshua investigate this matter further, but they did not enjoy the idea of stealing.
"This is to pay for Aurora's tuition, of course," it was not a lie that Aurora would need money to survive in the capital, but she would not need that much.
In the end, they agreed to that part also. Money was something they lacked, and the contents of the crate could also help them investigate this matter.
After pinpointing everything, they left the inn. Even though it was early, some people were already walking through the streets. People had to work to survive.
The city was not that big in the first place, so arriving at the port was a piece of cake. To their surprise, Frederick was already there, waiting for them.
Joshua also recognized Philip. He stood near Frederick, acting as a guard.
"Khali, my friend. These must be the companions you talked about?" Frederick said with a big smile.
"Yes, indeed," Khali also showed a smile to present himself on good terms with Frederick. All they had was a theory, after all. But one that made a lot of sense.
"Khali's friends are also mine. Come, let's not waste any time." With that, they all followed Frederick inside the ship. All supplies needed for the trip were already inside, so all they had to do was leave.
The ship was huge. Joshua had seen the insides of it before, but during the day it was even more astonishing. If others saw the ship, they would instantly know it belonged to someone important. This could bring a lot of trouble, but it was also a warning for those trying to mess up with Frederick.
Someone showed them their rooms. This time each one had a separate room. They weren't big, but it was still impressive to have that many rooms inside a ship.
They went back to the surface of the ship as they weren't going to sleep again. Everyone controlled one part of the ship. Frederick just stood there making sure they all did their jobs correctly.
Khali did not need to do any of that manual labor. These were dangerous waters, and Khali's only job was to protect Frederick and the shipment.
As for Joshua and the others, they could also chill around. But the crew members did not like that.
"You see that mage Frederick hired?" one of the crew members pointed at Khali.
"It's ok for him to be chilling. He is strong. But these people he brought along? One is level 5, the other level 10, and the pretty lady does not even have a class."
"It should not be like this. We need to teach them a lesson, and make sure they help us with the ship."
The journey was still at its beginning, so the crew thought it was the best time to settle everything down.
"Hey, you two," the man said looking at Joshua, and Leo.
Joshua gazed at the man indifferently, and said, "what?".
The man burned in rage after Joshua barely paid attention to him.
"I'm Ganda. You can say I'm the vice leader here, only behind Philip. I am okay with that mage doing nothing, but you two? You two look like teenagers that never fought anything," Ganda said, and the rest of the crew laughed.
Philip and Frederick knew something like that would happen, so they let it. Nothing serious would happen anyway. At most, they would exchange some attacks and that's it.
"That's funny," Joshua smirked at Ganda.
"What's funny, brat?"
"It's funny that a 'teenager that never fought' can beat your ass in less than thirty seconds."
Everyone inside the ship did not mutter a word. Even Leo was surprised that Joshua said that to someone with more levels than him. But he remembered how Joshua kicked his ass, so he felt it was only natural.
"You want to fight, boy?" Ganda took off two curved swords. He would not back down. What would his crew think about him if he let a kid say that?
"To be honest, I did not want to lose my time fighting with someone like you. But if you are so willing to make a fool of yourself, then let's do it."
Ganda could not stand it anymore. He was burning with rage. At first, he only wished to bully them a little, but now? Now he wanted to tear Joshua to pieces.
The crew formed a circle, and only Ganda and Joshua stood inside of it.
"Arent you going to take out your weapon?" Ganda said.
"What?" Joshua laughed out loud, making everyone stare at him as if he was a maniac.
"Man, you are funny. Using a weapon to fight you? What a joke." Joshua made fun of him once again.
"You, piece of shit." Ganda was pissed.