Chapter 31 - Marine Captain Kirin
***
"Young man! You've returned from the mountain!"
The gathering of villagers of Calmaria was in effect, especially when the news that Vlad was seen returning from the mountain by some of the kids playing closer to the forest.
First to worry was Elder Lark who didn't believe wholly in Vlad's capabilities, but once he made his way toward the village entrance, he noticed the casual strolling of the tall young man, with his once white shirt being a thing of the past.
His clothes were covered in blood, and ash, but his overall body was without a wound, which confused and shocked the villagers.
"No need for this welcome, Elder."
"How can we not? This is something you deserve. Tell me, have you managed to do what you said? Hunt the bandits?"
"Pretty much those bandits will no longer bother you."
The old man stared at Vlad with big eyes, following him with his gaze as he walked using his walking cane and trying to assist him, he stopped abruptly.
"Something is wrong, young man? Do you want me to prepare the rewards?"
"Keep it to yourself, old man. You'll need those funds more than I do. Besides, as I told you, I don't expect any rewards, nor thanks since I've done this for myself."
Vlad continued his walk toward the village, where in front of him stood a tall man with a sword and gun on his hands, looking like a fighter from the looks, accompanied by some other guys equipped with swords.
"Someone like you managed to defeat Malus?"
"Now, now, Ghalvin. We can't behave like this with the young man who helped us with the bandits." remarked Elder Lark, who moved to ease up the tension inside the rowdy man.
The man's question was ignored by Vlad, who moved past him, continuing his walk toward the village and the beach shore, finishing his business inside the Calmaria Island.
"I asked you a question. This is how you answer me?"
"If you are so curious about the validity of my actions, go climb the mountain and check it yourself. Now piss off, I am not in the mood to answer stupid questions."
The guy, Ghalvin tightened his grip on his sword, but when he received a look from Vlad who opened his abyssal eyes, he took a small step back, feeling an invisible pressure from this blind man.
"You better be right, otherwise you damned all of us with your actions."
Vlad still ignored the man's remarks, and with the Elder trying to stop him, so he could at least offer him some rewards for killing Malus, just like he wanted to do for each Bounty Hunter that visited the Island with their mission of taking Malus bounty.
"If you keep annoying me with those rewards of yours, you've wasted all your time in building up your image for me."
"Fine. You don't need anything else? Do you have supplies for your journey?"
"Plenty that I would be bothered for months to come."
"Understood, then all I can do right now is once again, thank you for each villager that you've spared from suffering the attacks of those bandits."
Vlad waved his hand to dismiss him, and the way he made his way out of Calmaria Village was taken as disrespectful by some of the villagers, especially the warriors, such as Ghalvin, who stared with a hateful look at the black-haired man.
"Old man, do you still have the dial snail and marine number?"
"Hmm? I'll report to the Marine Captain about this adventurer killing Malus. It would come as pleasing news for him, and who knows, they might look at us favorably and place a small camp on our island."
"That's for the better of the island. With the valiant marines, we will no longer have to worry about fending off the Pirates and all criminals seeking refuge on our island." commented Ghalvin, to the old man who nodded his head, beginning to walk toward his mansion.
He didn't even bother to see Vlad off, instead returned to his home, and walked toward his private room where he took out a dial snail and a piece of paper where a long number was written down.
[Captain Kirin of Valent Base: Dial number: 543-721-043]
"I hope it is a good time to call this number. I had to make my way to Valent and be subjected to that humiliating treatment. But everything will be worth it once the village is safe from the attacks of the pirates."
Looking at the frail dial-snail, Elder Lark took out some fresh leaves that he started feeding the snail, and after it got some vitality back after eating, he started forming the number on the piece of paper.
『PURU* PURU*』
『PURU* PURU*』
.
.
『PURU* PURU*』
'Come on, respond. It is important. I know this news will be of interest.'
『PURU* PURU*』
The elder looked at the dialing snail that tried to connect to the formed signal, and as it was calling for long minutes, at last the sound of the signal being picked was heard, along with a confused voice, asking a direct question.
"This is Captain Kirin of Marine Base A015, with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"
"H-Hello Captain Kirin, this is Elder Lark speaking to you. The leader of the Calmaria Island that visited you last spring."
"..."
"You don't remember me?" inquired the elder, who took the silence as a declining answer, however he soon heard a question being thrown to someone else.
"Auril, do you know about some old fart that visited the Base last year? From the Calmaria Island he says to be from."
"Let me check, Captain."
Elder Lark was placed on hold by a calm remark, which gave him some hope. "Elder, some minutes please, I'll have my assistant check on the logbook with all people that visited the office with business."
"Understood. No problem whatsoever. I'll wait."
"Of course, you'll wait." replied the man with a cold voice that sounded pure of arrogance, which made Elder Lark frown but nevertheless, he couldn't do anything, especially to that man he was speaking to.
.
"Captain, there's the name of the person that called you on the logbook. If I am not mistaken, Calmaria Island is the place that the bastard who killed Taem, Malus, chose to pick and hide."
"Ohhh, that cockroach, Malus? Haven't those Bounty Hunters killed him after I made you send notice inside Valent?"
"From what I understand, every person who took the task didn't return, which means this Malus is more capable than we expected."
"Really now? What was his bounty that he managed to dispose of those idiots?"
"Let me check the logbook. Indeed, the bounty was decent taking in account the level of power the people in the South possess.
"The Spewer" Malus, with a bounty of 8.750.000 𝔅."
"That guy still didn't die after he killed one of my good servants?
Double his bounty.
Make it 18.000.000 𝔅, this will teach that guy a lesson."
"Understood, I've noted it down. I'll report this change to the Headquarters."
.
Elder Lark could hear this discussion between the Marine Captain and his assistant, and was dumbfounded by how casually the man was willing to increase the bounty of the criminal he feared in antagonizing, after experiencing first-hand how easily Ghalvin got defeated by him.
And in this shocked state, the Marine Captain returned his attention to the conversation he had with him, asking him a simple question.
"Old gentleman, how may I help you this time? Has that criminal attacked your village again?"
"That… Not that much since we managed to appease his bloodlust. However, I wanted to report to you sir, that an Adventurer landed on my Island, and defeated all of the bandits."
"You mean, killed?"
"Yes, from the words of that person, he killed every single bandit, including Malus."
"Really now? Auril, you've heard it? See how easily we can dispose of cockroaches without wasting our time by journeying to some marshes? Ahem, so I assume that person desires to claim the bounty?"
"No, not at all. He departed without wishing to claim the rewards."
"I see, that excuses me from some funds. You know what old man, I will give you 4.500.000 𝔅 for telling me this news. Do you have that Malus guy's head with you?"
"... Yes."
"Very good, I'll send out a mission team to your Island, and they will proceed with the rest of the steps in building a camp to your island. That's what you were looking for, anyway."
"THANK YOU KIND SIR!" replied the elder with an ecstatic tone, feeling the stars aligning for himself and the place he was overseeing.
"Sure, no problem. Tell me the name of this "Adventurer" guy. If I ever hear his name around Valent and remember it, which I probably will not, I will give him half of the rewards since I feel magnanimous today."
"Yes, yes. His name, … what was it? Ahh, Vlad Dracul. That's how he introduced himself to me."
"Dracul? … Weird name, never heard of it.
Auril, note it somewhere.
Compared to most of the shitty Bounty Hunters begging me to give them some tasks, this guy did it without even checking with me. I like this direct approach."
"I've noted it down, Captain."
"Okay. Then, Elder, is there anything else to be said? I doubt it. Make sure to keep that guy's head in good condition so you can claim the rewards. Have a good day."
『*GOTCHA*』
Elder Lark took a deep breath of relief, however it didn't last long since he remembered what the Marine Captain asked of him, something he lacked.
"I don't have Malus's head. FUCK!! I forgot to tell him to bring me his head. How can I be so stupid to forget the biggest thing."
Unlike his frail state, the old man dashed off from his house, and arrived inside a tavern where the village warriors were drinking, having some sort of celebration that Malus and his bastards got killed by Vlad, and even raised their cup when seeing Elder Lark.
"To our shrewd old man! We shall take lessons from you Elder, and learn how to fool stupid people into believing our story! CHEERS TO OUR VICTORY!"
Ignoring their cheers and toasts, the old man walked closer to the tavern's counter where the tall man with short brown hair, and a build-up stature was drinking some hard liquor in a slow manner.
"Ghalvin, I came to ask you something. Walk to Malus's camp and search for his head. I forgot to tell that brat to return with his head, and I require it when the marines arrive at the island."
"Damn, you are making me work again, old man. Fine, I will see it done."
"Thanks."
.
.
.
It didn't take long for Ghalvin to rise up, and take a small group of guys with him, starting their journey toward the mountain, where in about 2 hours they reached a height and a specific part of the mountain where they could see the surroundings of the island.
There, not far from the shores, a caravel could be seen on the sea, moving far from the island, with a destination unknown to them, but from where it looked to be directed to Kaysang Kingdom, or specifically Valent City.
"I hope you sink your ship, blind fuck. Hmph, the arrogance of that guy was atrocious. If not for the old man and for the fact he killed Malus, I would have cleaved his head."
"For sure, boss."
His lackeys could only lick his ass and boost about Ghalvin's strength, but their confidence soon vanished when they stumbled upon the 3 bodies of the bandits that Vlad initially captured that were left in a position that was nightmare inducing.
"BOSS! What the fuck happened here? Look at the holes inside these guys' chests!"
*PUKE*
One of the lackeys immediately puked when he saw the bodies of those unfortunate bandits that were full of flesh wounds, as if they suffered from spike lashes.
"What a sick person. Was there a reason to kill them in such a way?"
He resumed his journey toward Malus's camp, which looked rather normal, as if nothing ever happened, however once he got closer to the big mansion, from the entrance he saw the blood continuously dripping.
"I don't know boss! What if some monsters jump on us if we open the door."
"Stop being such a bitch, and open the door." ordered Ghalvin giving a cold look to one of his lackeys that trembled from toe to head.
With a panicked expression, he walked closer and closer to the door, everyone gulped except to Ghalvin who had his hands on the pistol and the sword, ready for anything that might jump on them.
Yet, what awaited them inside was the smell of death, which made the weaker lackeys even weaker.
"Let's go and pick Malus's head."
Stepping inside the mansion, they could see the initial guards who tried to stop Vlad, that had their heads cleaved, which already made this entire scenery something out of a horror story.
*Gulp*
The constant sound of men gulping their saliva could be heard inside this mansion, and once they reached the living room, most of the lackeys began puking.
"Weaklings." commented Ghalvin who began to check around the murder scene.
'Is this the exploits of that blind fuck? How? Did he fool everyone about his blindness? There's no way he could get unscathed from fighting Malus, yet I can see most if not all of those bandits laying dead.'
'Damn, I almost feel like puking. There are bodies, pieces, and flesh all over. *Sniff* Some gunpowder too. Yep, those guys threw probably some bombs at him.'
*Whistle*
"Now that I think about it. I've made the wise choice of not messing around with that guy. To even survive a bomb thrown at you."
"BOSS THAT'S THE MARKS OF THE DEVIL! ONLY SUCH MURDEROUS BEING COULD UNLEASH SUCH HELL!" screamed some of the weaker lackeys, while their body went pale, seeing this grotesque scene.
"Fuck, you idiots, let's search for Malus's dead body."
.
.
It took quite a while for Ghalvin and his men to find something, but one of the lackeys stumbled upon the head of a person that had bleached blue hair, and he screamed for their leader's attention.
"BOSS! I found him!"
"Where? It's been one hour since we have been searching around the house."
The brown-haired man, walked toward the lackey who was pointing out with his sword at a head, which in his mind resembled Malus, even having the same hairstyle, and bleached hair, which was spot on what he was looking for.
"Good job, let's search for his treasure. I might make this mansion my summer home."
"Let's get away from here, boss. We got what we wanted. I feel that I will be haunted by ghosts if I keep staying in this cursed place."
"Stop being a baby, there's no such thing. Get going, money doesn't have a smell or ghosts."
"... Fine."
.
.
.
On another part of the island, down the mountain, a group of 7 men along with a woman, carrying a lot of objects with them, arrived to the rugged terrain where a medium-sized ship was anchored down.
"Boss, I think I've heard those stupid fuckers."
"Let them be. We gave them a small gift, to settle down their greedy minds. Pencheska, let me help you get to the ship."
"Darling, where will we go now that we lost our home?"
"We'll go to Samba Kingdom. I heard that there's a lot of tropical forests and relaxing beaches. Then, after settling there, we'll start searching for the devil fruit, and once I achieve my goal, we will plan our revenge on that monster."
"Good! So many good people have been killed by that butcher. If I ever get my chance to place my hands on him, I will gouge his eyes and force feed them to him, even if he is a blind person."
"Silly woman, keep quiet. What if that guy followed us?"
Malus was clearly affected by his encounter with Vlad, and the same could be said for the rest of his henchmen, along with his girlfriend that hid herself under the bed for fear, Vlad would catch and torture her.
"At least, those marines will leave me alone now that they think I've been slain." remarked Malus, who prepared his ship along with his guys.
"Boss, I think I will require some treatment. The nightmares I will have, will not fly like smoke."
*Sigh* "You aren't the only one."
It took about 15 minutes to finish preparing the ship, but once everything was settled, they raised the anchor and set sail toward a direction that was opposite to the direction Vlad took, leading toward Valent.
Instead, their direction was directly to the West, toward a region unknown to Vlad who went in the North direction, following his settled path to the Sorbet Kingdom.