Chapter 91: Checking the Guest
***
Introducing himself, seeing how the woman didn't want to release the "Cage" and he didn't bother himself into breaking it, he couldn't help but ask the woman about another of his newfound curiosity.
"That small spider … Raclham or whatever was his name, how much is he worth?"
"Calico
"Which one is the right and left hand? I couldn't make out the difference in power. Apart from the bug, the rest were just vermin consuming oxygen."
"..."
The red-haired woman couldn't help but get nervous when hearing how casually he was speaking about the pirates dead on the deck of the ships. She kept her guard high, but then the appearance of the black-brown Caravel where she could feel another stronger presence, made her nerve be tested.
"Interesting. You could feel that brats' presence." said Vlad, watching the expression of the mature woman, noticing her getting nervous when the Caravel made its entrance toward the island.
She couldn't help but observe the medium-sized ship that reminded her of a variety of ships that frequented her island, and having the person who could be the leader of this crew, she asked away.
"That style of your ship. Are you by chance from Kaysang? Or … Picodras?"
With a small smile, he asked her slowly. "How could you tell?"
"Everyone knows that Picodras stole the blueprints of the Caravel from Kaysang, or better said, Admiral Cochrane took the blueprints from the Royal Navy once he was dismissed from his high function.
"A fun fact about old Patrick. I didn't know about that exploit, or better said he didn't bother telling me"
Even after hearing Vlad's casual tone when responding to her comment, Catherine was still on her heels, sensing that Vlad was someone dangerous, but she calms a bit after hearing Vlad's following remark.
"So, do I take the old man, visited your place? By the way … A curiosity of mine, shouldn't you be older? Or so the stories of the foolish servants under me chattered about."
"... Are you referring to me?" asked the red-haired woman with a confused expression, clearly not expecting this tall black-haired man to be so direct with her, showing no signs of worrying about her, threatening his life.
"Yeah, aren't you the "Grandmaster" of the Isle?" remarked Vlad, the obvious, but it was something that the red-haired woman declined.
"No comment."
"Heh? Really, but from the rest of the people inside the Town, only you have enough Haki in your body to pick my curiosity. So, that old man, Patrick. Did he pass by here with trade or not?"
"If it's relevant to you … yes."
"I see, then lower your guard. An acquaintance of the old man should be a decent person."
Catherine sees Vlad's strange movements as he pressed his hand closer to the thorns, approaching closer, later on checking her ability by touching the poisonous thorns reminiscent of the time he bet against Elias and the other Herbalists, placing his entire hand in a handful of thorns.
"Wait, don't rush to touch my thorns. They are poisonous." exclaimed Catherine who was taken by surprise when Vlad inserted his hand in a sea of thorns, poisoning himself.
"Yeah, I am aware." casually replied Vlad, looking at Catherine as if there was something on her face.
"Then … why? I will not give you any antidotes to my poison."
"No worries. It's just about the time I tested the newly improved potion I concocted."
Saying that, the red-haired woman saw him take a vial from his coat, inserting his wounded finger inside the vial, leading to an immediate response from his body as the wound closed in real-time. Apart from the regenerative effect, the opened vial released a fragrant smell of medicinal plants which surprised her, not expecting this large person to have in his possession such an intricate potion.
"So you can understand, that isn't the antidote to my Devil Fruit powers. Besides, how could a Bounty Hunter like you have such potions in your possession?"
"How do you know that this isn't the antidote to your Devil Fruit powers? Do you even know what Devil Fruits are and what they do? As for how I could get my hands on the vial…
She gets a simple response that stuns her by how direct it could get.
"It seems being a Bounty Hunter is like being a Pirate, being looked down on by the people for being a brute. Non, my lady, apart from being a "Bounty Hunter" I am also a Doctor and Alchemist. This one is one of my creations, I call Elysium Serum Version 2."
"... Version 2?"
"Yeah, Version 2, because Version 1 almost poisoned me to death because of the high concentration of compounds I added to the mix."
"... Okay. Still, I would feel bad knowing I killed an alchemist like myself with my poison, so here is the antidote. If you start showing signs of high fever, muscle numbness, spasms, dizziness, and any other symptoms of the body, take it." said Catherine who took from her robe a small vial that she tossed to Vlad as the thorn cage withdrew, opening the way for the black-haired man who picked the vial, staring at it with curious eyes.
"Interesting choice in plants for the antidote." commented Vlad after opening the cap of the small glass bottle, making the red-haired woman intrigued, but he left it at that as he moved toward the body of Captain Rackham who was left with a large hole in his chest oozing blood.
Looking at his body, he took out all the jewels and later on severed his head, throwing the rest of his body into the sea.
"..."
"Old habits. It's logical and ergonomic to only keep the head, instead of the whole body. Formalin is expensive to make."
The nonchalance and dismissal of those pirates, as if they only become objects that he could earn money from, shocked the woman, especially when she found out familiar terms coming out from his mouth with regard to plants and alchemical substances.
"Which two you said were his "Right-Hands". Or do you want to claim their bounties?"
"Not interested in their bounties. It's the one lying dead at the back of the ship, and the one at the forecastle."
"Ahh, right, it's those two who reacted to my sword slash."
Moving along to decapitate those pirates after taking off their precious stones and jewels, he, later on, found a large bag that he inserted their heads, while another one for the jewels he found, stopping when his ship arrived next to Rackham's Flagship revealing to Catherine the crew on the ship which was rather modest.
Her eyes moved towards Eleine and Bonney who also checked her, then stopped at Dalyon who give her a murderous look that made her step back.
Vlad smirked a bit before jumping from the pirate's Flagship and appearing on his Caravel holding two bags of different sizes, which resulted in Titania asking right away.
"You've done it again?"
"Done what?"
"Obviously … taking their heads."
"Its easy money, my dear. When do you have such a chance of earning about 100.000.000 𝔅 without even sweating a bit. Bounty Hunting is a lucrative business." said Vlad while moving toward his laboratory, accompanied by Dalyon's comment which made him laugh.
"That's until you come to anger people you can't face … like the Emperors of the Sea or the Newly formed Warlords of the Sea."
"And you think I am stupid to face such enemies when I am not even prepared with information about them? Besides, by the time I travel to the Grand Line, it should be when I am ready to take over those "Great Pirates"."
Not bothering with Dalyon's comments that were targeting his conviction, an attempt at making him doubt himself, he swiftly started preparing his newly acquired goods, shifting himself in a scientist attire.
On the other hand, while he entangled himself into new work, it left Catherine to look at the newcomers especially at Dalyon whose black wings and back were set ablaze giving him an intimidating appearance that placed in check the red-haired woman, all until the black-haired woman retorted something that broke the tense atmosphere.
"Flaming chicken, if this is how you've been thinking of courting a woman? It means your people are greatly off in this process. No wonder you've been left secluded in that place."
"I've sensed hostility in her from before we got here."
"Yeah, and what? Have you seen Vlad gesture something, or act against this woman? Besides, we are guests to this Isle of Gardens. Now stop complaining and acting though and direct the ship to the harbor."
"You better don't regret your choices … Eleine."
Dalyon who resumed sailing the Caravel to the small town's natural harbor, turned his eyes on the red-haired woman who jumped on their ship without any hostility after understanding those travelers had no intentions on her island.
"Titania, Bonney, take the guest to my office and prepare some coffee while I am at work. Okay?"
"Sure, sure, as you wish "Captain"." remarked Titania who stood on Bonney's head, calmly observing Catherine with her golden eyes.
Catherine missed initially in her observation of the small young woman on the pink-haired girl's head and had a surprised expression as she said with amazement.
"The Fairy from the Galena Mountain stories."
"In flesh and bones. Right, follow me. It's rare we get a guest on board." replied Titania jokingly with a bow, before flying from Bonney's head to reveal herself in her full splendour, as her translucent wings were beating akin to a butterfly.
She couldn't reject the offer of those travellers as it would be frowned upon, and stepped toward the Officer's Quarters, later on stepping inside a large room that looked similar to a luxurious private chamber that had everything one would wish for.
Following Titania's guidance as she took a seat on a comfortable seat that made her curvaceous body get drowned into a relaxing sensation, and at the moment she was alone, Catherine noticed at the walls of the cabin an extensive Library that didn't have a single open pocket.
'This person filled an entire wall of his cabin with a library, and no joke, there's about thousands of them from a close look.'
'I wonder if he has something to say about plants and gardening.'
Looking curious from her seat, she was spooked by the voice of the black-haired woman who told her casually from the entrance of the Cabin.
"You can look around at the library, since Vlad isn't the type to be stingy when it comes to sharing his knowledge."
"No … I am fine. Thanks anyway." replied Catherine, turning her head at Eleine who walked closer to her, taking a seat in Vlad's chair, crossing her arms around her large chest looking sharply at the red-haired woman.
Eleine's black eyes scanned her target from head to waist, and noticing how her proportions were something to be envious of and die for as a woman, there was a click of her tongue, an annoyed one, but her mental state returned to normal when she could see how her chest was larger then hers.
"So, are you the leader of this Island?"
"Yeah, my name is Catherine Esthíl."
"Eleine Brinstill" added Eleine with a cold tone without even extending her hand, continuing to look grudgingly at the red-haired woman.
"Do you have any clothing stores on your island? Or something interesting to do while me and my man are resupplying for our next journey."
Catherine didn't feel intimidated by this black-haired woman, after all she was a leader of people, even if she might be weaker compared to Vlad or Dalyon, but she didn't feel the same strength inside Eleine, Bonney or Titania, which dulled the intimidation effects.
With a professional smile, and a cordial tone, Catherine began promoting her island and the great sites that one could visit and enjoy.
"Of course, my Rósande has a clothing store. It's only normal that I would encourage Tailoring and other crafts, but the primary occupation for my people is agriculture and medicinal herb cultivation."
"As for noteworthy sceneries in the island, I will make sure to give you a tour of the island."
Eleine, raised her eyebrow hearing the calm even professional response of this woman, which sent her all sorts of red alerts in her brain, quickly understanding that Catherine wasn't some bitch she could mess around easily and intrigued she began throwing various questions at her regarding her island, following personal questions which stopped the cordial, professional responses.
"What do you think about my dear Vlad? Afterall, he rescued your island from those pirates."
"Who are you calling "my dear Vlad"? Also, why do you even bother asking personal questions just to make the guest uncomfortable. Are you stupid? Baka." interjected Titania, who got inside the Cabin followed by Bonney who had a cup of coffee inside, slowly placing it on the table beside Catherine.
"Sush, Fairy. This isn't the time to debate this subject, especially now." mentioned Eleine coldly, not desiring to show any weakness when being faced with Catherine.
The atmosphere turned slightly tense, and with the host's return, it instantly dispersed.
"Now, now, are you two trying to make me look bad in front of Lady Catherine." asked Vlad while placing his hands on Bonney's shoulders, standing behind her, as he watched Eleine coldly, resulting in the black-haired woman trembling.
"Of course not, Master. I just wanted to know Miss Catherine better. Call it a woman's curiosity."
Eleine got up from the seat and stepped away until she arrived in front of Vlad, bowing respectfully at him before retreating.
As he settled down on the seat, he could feel that it was warm and full of perfume, with the addition of some wetness that wasn't common.
'Hah, forget it ... I am too old for those plays. Now ...'
'Let's see what information I can get from you, Catherine Esthíl.'
With the girls withdrawing themselves after noticing his "please-out" gesture formed with his hand, he was left with the red-haired woman sipping shyly from her cup of coffee while observing even closer the tall, black-haired man.
"Lady Catherine, I welcome you to my humble home. Hopefully, the remarks of my companion didn't bring any insult to your person."
"With pleasure, mister Dracul. Don't worry, there has been no offense added to my person."
"I see, then I am glad."
"..."
"Mhm, to not make it too uncomfortable for you, Lady Catherine, and also to not attract the wrath of your people who might believe me for a Pirate, capturing their Mistress, I'll be short."
"There's no problem. Once I explain the circumstances, their perception will shift to normal."
Hearing her comment, Vlad shook his head, afterall, as a Prince, a ruler of people he understood how the perception of people worked, and the first impression was the most important aspect for a person when encountering a stranger.
"It's fine. I'll start by telling you my reasons for visiting your home, Rósande. I am interested in finding some specific plants that have rarely been seen around South Blue, for an alchemical concoction of mine that is intended to help my losing eyesight."
Catherine looked at Vlad who was wearing a pair of glasses, shielding away his cold abyssal eyes, and her interest in this traveller was instantly ignited by the mention of alchemical concocting and his interest in rare plants.
"Understood. Mind telling me, what are you looking for? I might not look like one, but I am truly an alchemist myself."
"Indeed, you've told me this when presenting me with the antidote for your poison. Well, from where to start? The plant, I guess."