Chapter 66: Bonney's Return
***
Parting with the "blessings" of the Queen, he was offered a carriage along with a driver which he gladly took, being too lazy to walk down the small cliff and later on arrive at the harbor, and while inside the carriage, Vlad who wanted to relax a bit, began hearing the girls going wild with various information all at once that it made him chuckle and say calmly.
"One at a time. I've noticed that you girls got restless when we passed the gallery with paints. You should have noticed something which might interest me? For example, the little Princess?"
"This means you knew it, master?"
"Not from the paintings, but first I've eavesdropped on the little girl. Yes, I know, shame on me.
And later on, found some body language movements both the old lady and the little girl are doing when thinking about it hard, they start playing with their hair."
"Impressive, master. You should teach me how to spot small details in the body of people, instead of how to wield a sword."
"Who knows, if you stick around long enough with me, you might learn some of those "tricks"?"
"You know master that I will not try to run away from you." added Eleine who was gazing into Vlad's cold eyes as he was in a relaxed position inside the carriage seat.
Vlad only hummed, placing his hand on Eleine's thigh, remaining quiet for the entire journey back to the harbor while the girls were discussing what they saw inside the castle, painting a picture for the blind man, who was visualizing in his mind a picture based on their information.
'It seems the Castle looks far better than my castle … Well, there's no point in comparing them because of how advanced the technology in this world is at this point. It makes me and my Greek architects feel like cavemen.'
When the group of three arrived at the harbor, the carriage driver did a turnaround, and started his journey back to the Rock's King Castle, leaving Vlad to slowly walk up toward his Caravel, only to stop meters away from the ship when he felt a new presence in the ship.
'I wonder, who could it be?'
His steps were paced, echoing on the wooden structure of the ship after getting amplified by his heeled boots, making the person wearing a brown coat watch the night sky while the snow created a white veil that made it hard for people to look in the distance.
Everything surrounding the island of Sorbet Kingdom was covered in a veil of snow, from the shore to the city, even the Caravel main deck contained a layer of snow, while on the direction of the Officer's Quarters there were the jars Vlad instructed Fischer to bring to his ship, being covered by a black cloth.
The figure of this person standing on the main deck watching the night sky was of a young lady, with her long pink-hair being touched by the snow.
Stepping slowly, even making some noise with his stroll, the young girl looked to be drawn inside her thoughts and didn't notice his presence, and when he noticed she was pondering about something, it made him smile.
Ignoring the girl, signaling to Titania and Eleine to not disturb the girl, he moved toward the place the soldiers placed his Maggris Worms, and finding there were all of the Worms he extracted along with those from the soldiers, he nodded pleased.
'So many experiments I could do on those worms. I can't wait.'
"You returned mister Dracul?" asked Bonney who broke away from her thoughts, now noticing Vlad and his companions inside the ship.
"What do you expect, young lady? That I sleep on a bench?"
"Ahh, no, of course, no. I just … thought you would stay … at the castle."
"Too many strangers for my taste and it's not as if I could sleep there. What about you? What brings you to my own home?"
"... I wanted to thank you for what you've done for the citizens of the Kingdom. I am sure your gesture will never be forgotten in the hearts of the people."
Vlad stopped himself from checking on the Maggris Worms, and turning around to look at the pink-haired girl who had mesmerizing purple eyes, he replied shorty to her, but in doing so, panicking the girl who heard something she never thought she would hear from the black-haired man.
"Sure, for nothing Princess."
Bonney was left shocked, starting to get nervous, even stepping slowly in retreat, thinking that Vlad reached a deal with her grandmother, especially after the old lady visited Ursus Hotel and later on invited Vlad to the Rock's King Castle.
'Was he sent by grandmother to get me back home? … I have to retreat from this place since it isn't as safe as I initially thought.'
On the other hand, Vlad could easily feel the nervousness in the girl's body, as her leg muscles were tensing, ready to escape, making him chuckle in the process.
"What are you so nervous about, little girl? Do you think I've been sent by your grandmother to catch you?"
"..."
"Your grandmother has no influence over me, in my eyes, she is just someone with a tiny bit more influence. And, so you know, I am the one holding the advantage in the exchange with the Queen."
Bonney half-believed what Vlad said, continuing on stepping toward the exit of the ship.
"Where are you rushing off, little Bonney? Don't run away from me now that you've made up your courage to visit me? So, on what occasion are you visiting me?"
She froze down when she noticed his abyssal black eyes who, unlike her former thoughts, they weren't cold at all, but instead looked calm at her.
"I - I …"
"You want what, little girl?"
"I - I want to stay hidden from the people of Everfall, and I wanted to ask you if I could hide using your ship for a period of time? That person would start searching for me for sure. Actually, I can tell you from the start that she might want to use me to convince you to help her with whatever plans she has for the Kingdom."
Vlad was watching the girl calmly, and slowly approaching her, the girl flinched when he extended his large hand toward her. Feeling her head being touched in a warm manner, unlike what she believed that Vlad was a stern person, who wouldn't deal with her without getting something in return.
'Does he want my body?'
All sorts of thoughts were running through the young girl's head, making her tremble in the process without even daring to watch his black eyes, but a calm voice broke her initial thoughts.
"Sure, I don't mind it. You can stay for as long as you want on my ship and make yourself at home. I understand your fears, and I even experienced them, being hunted down by people wanting my life or to use me as their pawn."
The pink-haired girl who had her eyes closed wasn't expecting such an answer from Vlad, especially the one where he understood what she was experiencing. It was hard for her to believe that Vlad would be so lenient with her since her belief was of Vlad being a stern guy.
"What do you want from me, mister Vlad?"
"Little girl, you really are smart. Even being aware that such trade deals wouldn't come free. However, calm down, haven't I told you that I will be your biggest ally for what you've done to me?"
"W-Will you accept my request?"
"Of course, however. In exchange I want you to turn me back on my smaller version."
"I doubt I had any choice in this matter." remarked Bonney who felt familiar the manner Vlad was patting her head.
It was a fatherly touch, which could calm most of the lost kids who longed for such touch.
"Exactly. Still, this isn't a bad deal. You just have to change me in my smaller form, and you'll be the safest person in this entire kingdom."
"Mhm, should I change you now, mister?" asked Bonney who opened her eyes, looking up at the tall man who watched her with a serene expression.
"Now? Let me think … Sure, since I got to study those worms I got from treating those citizens. I'd rather do it with my vision on, so I am assured I don't make too many mistakes in my observations."
The pink-haired girl nodded, and while darkness watched over the Everfall City allowing only some of the moonlight to touch the lands, the figure of a beautiful girl standing on the main deck of a caravel in the Harbor, began shining with a bright pink, followed by a touch which enveloped a tall man.
The man was rapidly decreasing in size, turning younger and younger, while the clothes he was wearing became oversized for him. He had short hair, being cut by Titania in a stylish way, and some of the weight he was missing initially returned in his body, looking no less than a healthy 9-10 years old boy.
"Ahhh, this change sure is awkward." commented Vlad who had to open the crimson coat which weighed down on him, before turning his eyes at Bonney who began breathing heavily, as if she lost a lot of energy when utilizing her powers.
'Could it be? The drawbacks of utilizing such powers are so heavy on this child? I can't have her struggle, and be quick on refilling her energy.'
"Eleine, prepare some food for our little Bonney. She will need plenty of food."
Bonney who utilized her Devil Powers could feel and even hear how her stomach started turning around, shouting at her to get fed, since she utilized a lot of her energy in turning someone who was as strong as Vlad who could put on a fight against her powers.
Yet, since Vlad lowered all of his guard against this girl's powers, the transformation from a young adult to a chibi form was swift, compared to the first time where he tried to fight it back with his own spirit.
"Understood, master. I will make sure the young miss is fed properly." replied Eleine who later on grabbed Bonney to get her to the kitchen, yet, what Vlad wasn't bothered to mention to the pink-haired girl was, how bad is the beautiful black-haired woman at cooking.
'Well, if she doesn't burn the kitchen, it is a win for me.'
"Titania, watch over her so she doesn't burn the kitchen. Also, help her with the cooking. Some easy food for the night."
"Sigh, Vlad, why are you always pairing me with this crazy woman? Even telling her to cook for the little girl."
"I will start getting busy, Titania. I have so much to do now that I have my vision back."
Titania pouted a bit while flying around Vlad, only to have her lips being touched by his small finger, giving her a cute smile that warmed up the Fairy in an instant.
"I can only count on you, Titania. Take care of that little girl while I am busy with work."
"When will we go to the mountain?"
"In 3-5 days, since I can't resist not doing some research on those worms. Afterward, we will set off on this journey.
Should think about how many supplies we need on this journey, and also check around with that boy … What was his name again? Alemar, Akemar?"
"It's Ademar, Vlad."
"Yeah, that boy, I will have him to tell me more information about the Yehimal and what I should expect."
.
The days flew by, and the news about the doctor Vlad Dracul who managed to break the curse of the Mountain Spirit brought the entire Sorbet Kingdom into a boil, everyone wanted to meet this mysterious man who healed the people with his magic hands.
Yet, over the course of the next day, the people began gathering around the harbor to ask the doctor to heal them, but they couldn't find his ship. Even the Royal Guards who received money to look after Vlad's ship couldn't help but get confused when the caravel disappeared from the harbor.
Such news even reached Queen Conney who was dealing with various letters from the nobility requesting that Vlad go to their territories to heal their dear ones.
"Granny, my Guards reported to me the disappearance of Vlad Dracul's ship from the Harbor. There's no news to where he might have gone. Since he did specify he would try to climb Yehimal Mountain." told the large man with blonde hair, wearing a silvery knight's armor, standing on one knee while reporting the news to the Queen who took off her glasses.
"This is unexpected. But I doubt he left the kingdom. He probably moved his ship to another part of the island where the citizens of Everfall wouldn't disturb him, since he is in plain sight right now." commented the old lady, who tapped her finger on the desk.
"It must be that reason, granny."
"Mhm, let's not bother with his affairs in the kingdom. Moving to another subject, how is Viril and the rest doing?"
"They? The same annoying old pricks."
"Leave them to stay in the dungeon for one week, and later on we'll see if they cooperate with me."
.
Everyone in Everfall City was asking themselves, "Where was the ship of the doctor?"
Where was it?
Away from the noisy city, reaching a distance far away from the Everfall City, after some hours of contemplating to himself about how his study would be disturbed by various people trying to get a hold of himself, and not wanting to kill anyone in this city for breaking boundaries, now that he could see it became easy for him to relocate his ship.
The new location where one had to follow the shoreline of the Sorbet Kingdom, where he went further in the north of the island, anchoring again his ship in a wild place where snow reigned over all the eyes could see with a large mountain the eye couldn't even grasp properly spanning over the horizons.
Inside the captain's cabin, both Eleine, Titania, and Bonney were breathing hard, looking at one another, while the pink-haired girl asked with a questioning tone.
"Is this how he acts most of the time? Giving unreasonable orders?"
"Hah, who would believe that anchor was so hard to rise, even with his smaller frame we had to help him raise it up." commented Eleine who was rubbing her shoulders feeling some pains washing over her body after she helped Vlad who was having the body of a 10 years old boy raise the heavy anchor.
"What's shocking to me is the fact that mister Dracul is so strong for being only 10 years old. He did the heavy lifting regardless of how much we like to say we did the hard job." added Bonney, who had a surprising experience now that she tagged along with Vlad and his companions who she found weren't his lovers, but more like journey travelers.
"The Fairy can tell you how strong he is exactly, since I've only seen how he took down some fools who couldn't even lift a finger against him."
"Well … now that you girls ask me about how strong he is. He fought against the Guardian and even won fair and square, and I think I haven't seen everything he could do back then. Then, he fought against some guy called Mallus, who had a bounty of 8.500.000 𝔅."
"And?" asked Eleine and Bonney who were curious to know the outcome, and learn some intricate details about Vlad that he wasn't willing to share.
"He fought about 60 bandits on his own, leaving alive only 8 of them, and was hit with various bombs at, even being shoot at with those firearms."
"My, my, he sounds dangerous." remarked Eleine who licked her gorgeous lips, while lying on Vlad's bed gazing at Titania who was also recovering from the support she offered.
"If you think fighting 60 bandits and even surviving some of their bombs was a big achievement from him, you are mistaken. Later on when we journeyed to Bulge Island from Calmaria Island, he fought against the pirate Charles Vane."
"Charles Vane? I heard of him." added Bonney, who saw Charles's bounty poster, some dangerous guy who was wanted in the entire South Blue, with a bounty of 32.000.000 𝔅.
"He is an arrogant guy who likes to fight like an idiot, and was made easy work by Vlad who used his sword to pierce his flesh, he even cleaved his legs. However, Vlad didn't kill him because he thought it would be amusing to see this guy mature and grow powerful, having a chance at revenge against him."
Eleine couldn't help but chuckle with a slightly deranged undertone, telling the girls when being stared with confused eyes. "Don't bother with me, I am just happy I chose the right man to follow."
"... Crazy woman, you know that Vlad isn't interested in you in that way!" remarked Titania finding it annoying how Eleine was dead-set on conquering Vlad, and to return the gesture back Eleine told the flying Fairy with a mocking tone.
"And it is not like he is interested in you in that way. But … let's not get in that part of the talk. You continue your story about the journey you had with Master Vlad."
"Our next stop was at the island of Athkatla, where we found some interesting people and that's where we left Charles Vane to recover from getting his legs back together."
"Ohh, so this is where you stumbled on little me. Thanks for stopping around to pick this lost sheep."
"Meh, if I knew someone like you would be there, I would have just told Vlad to go directly to Sorbet Kingdom."
"Ufufufu, silly Fairy. As if he would have listened to you. I know him, a stubborn person like that would try to do things his way."
Bonney was still new to this circle, and her experiences with Vlad were immature, but as she was listening to the stories of the girls, she found out that she was dealing with an eccentric person with a powerful personality, who gave the girls the impression they were under a born King who would lead them even in storms and chaos.
What's more, he was also strong enough to deal with one of the most dangerous pirates in the South Blue, wanted by the Marines who even checked her island for information in regard to this pirate, and yet? He was standing in the Bulge Island, plotting around with a corrupt Mayor, extorting the people of their money.
'From what the Fairy and the strange woman who can't cook said, mister Vlad seems like a reliable person. Well, I can tell it myself, but it's better to have the opinions of others. It calms me a bit knowing no one will try to hunt me down here.'
'Also, I think he moved the ship because of me. Not wanting to get me endangered knowing that many of the citizens would visit his ship asking to be healed.'
'He sure is smarter than many people I know, even smarter than Uncle Kylian.'
In other parts of the ship, down the lower deck inside the laboratory which was positioned not far from the captain's cabin, a black-haired boy with short styled hair, wearing some loose clothes not fitting him properly on the small frame, turned his head up as he stopped from stabbing with a black needle a white-crimson worm which shrieked in pain.
"Those noisy women are once again gossiping about me. Tsk, maybe, just maybe … I should pick on some interesting guys on the ship to keep them in check so it would make me feel so weird."
"Regardless. The research is going excellent even from the first day. My observation about the properties of enhancing the regenerative factor of the cells is impressive. Those worms, as long as they are fed with blood to keep their organism functioning, will repair their damaged tissue at naked speed."
His workstation was filled with glass jars containing the Maggris Worms, where on a small dissection space there were some "Text Subjects" which got chopped apart, revealing some veins, even a heart, the intestine system, giving a creepy touch to this laboratory.
While, on another table not far from the main workstation, there was a notebook filled with various notes starting with the date and hour of his work.
[29 MAY 1514 - Clock: 08:45 AM - With the successful relocation to a place with a better access route to Yehimal, where no foolish peasant could bother me from my research and reading, I began by revisiting my initial observations written when I couldn't see.
Maggris Worm's contain in their saliva a substance I am not aware of which helps them quickly regenerate the flesh wound they would inflict on their host target.
Centered on this observation of mine, I am inclined to believe that their saliva can be of use for medical reasons, or in this case, to help me heal bothersome wounds in my fights.
08:50 AM - Worm A1 - The Worm doesn't wish to spit any of its salivae, making the process of studying their saliva a difficult step.
08:55 AM - Various methods of torture will be employed to gain any yield from those verms.
09:42 AM - The Worm react violently to any torture procedures, and would proceed in attempting to self-kill themselves, as if they got programmed from inception to not allow anyone to study their anatomy.
11:48 AM - Worm A18 - After various attempts which failed miserably on me, even being splashed by their blood hitting my face, I managed to gain new ground in my research, and reach to some important conclusions after dissecting some of the worms.
If I pierce their nervous central system with a flash movement of my needle in stopping any of the signals from reaching their bodies, I stop the worm from self-destructing itself.
Further observation is required.