Two days have passed since I met with the lady pirate on the dark street.
I'm still a little embarrassed that I haven't asked her name yet, and I think I've been too direct with her.
But at the same time, our first impression wasn't the best in the first place.
Today is the last day I have to get the minimum emeralds necessary to order a ship, and I was quite excited about this since I managed to gather more emeralds than intended.
First day when I started I woke up early to get a lot of wood and waited at the same spot which surprisingly had a few people waiting already.
Looks like I managed to make a reputation for myself and people were willing to fulfil my strange requests.
Since I started before noon, I managed to double the sales because the trading system got reseted, and people didn't turn down free money.
So in the past few days, I managed to get a little over 500 emerdals which in blocks are 55!
A lot better than the first day.
And today was no different than the other's, as I waited with my disguise beyond the counter.
"Hey, are you still in business?"
I snapped out of my daydreaming and looked at the new voice and froze for a moment.
A scary-looking lady with an eyepatch was now in front of me.
The pirate lady that I was supposed to meet later this day looked at me impatiently.
"Hello, are you there?"
What to do?
I don't want her to connect the two identities, or at least not yet.
So I just nodded my head and placed two emeralds on the counter.
"Good, I thought this was a scam the first time I heard about it. I can finally eat something today."
With that, the Fletcher tab appeared in front of me and I quickly made the trade.
I did not expect her to have this job.
But then again it's not something they know how to control.
My pirate friend took the emeralds and walked away, and I waited for my next customer.
A few hours after she came back once again.
She stood in line for a few minutes before something unexpected happened.
"You've been here for the past few days giving away emeralds for nothing, if you have so much wealth why don't you give it to us the ones in need."
3 rough-looking men were disturbing the line trying to intimate me.
This was not the best scenario I could find myself in, since I didn't have my armor on me, and I didn't want to use my Netherite sword with the pirate captain here.
What to do, should I use one of my fireworks?
But there are too many people around here and I don't want to hurt my customers.
"Hey, you three, I'd you want to get paid get back in the line like everyone else!"
The three of them turned towards the yelling voice only to see a lady with an eyepatch.
"I'm sorry for the sudden announcement, but we close our stall for today."
What are they? My superior? How can they tell the others that with such a straight face? It's clear they have experience with this kind of thing.
I'll beat them to plump after everyone leves.
But to my surprise, I didn't need to interfere.
"What! I still want to eat something tonight get out of my sight or I'll cut you down."
Then she took out an iron sword ready to fight.
The tree thugs froze on the spot and looked at her weapon.
Even if the people here live more comfortably than in the sister kingdoms, that doesn't mean it's easy to get an iron sword.
If you had one, that meant you were either rich or so good at the sword that someone gave it to you.
And rich people don't stay in line to get two emeralds.
They just cursed and left without saying anything.
"Hey shopkeeper, if you want you can hire me for 5 emeralds a day to keep those kinds of people away."
5 emeralds!
She's trying to rob me now, I guess that's expected from a pirate.
I took my pen and wrote 3 down.
"I can't work for 3 emeralds, I get 4 if I visit you twice a day."
That's true, and it's not like I truly need you, but I want to prevent this from happening again, so I should take the offer.
"4? I guess that's a better offer together with the trading tab, I'll sit behind you until you leave."
With that, she stood protecting me from the side like she promised.
Unfortunately, that meant that I would have to stay silent most of the time which was a little annoying.
Was it a mistake to hire her?
Hours passed, and everyone was getting back home, so I broke the stall and left the sign.
"Done for today? Can you use my trade tab as well to get some extra emeralds?"
How shameless! But it's not like I'll lose anything if I did this.
I quickly traded the rest of the sticks that I had and gave her 6 emeralds.
"You truly are rich...tomorrow you'll be here again?"
I nodded my head in approval.
"Aye, see you tomorrow then."
With that, she left on her way and I was on my own.
------
I waited in the shadows just like last time, never getting tired of the surprised faces when I appeared out of nowhere.
Then I heard steps getting closer at a fast pace, the captain appeared.
She looked from side to with careful eyes, until she finally saw me.
"You came early today as well, hope you didn't wait too long."
"No, I just arrived here as well, ready for today?"
Looks like my theory was correct.
The armor doesn't make me invisible, instead, it makes the eyes move around me like I'm supposed to be part of the picture.
But if you're looking specifically for me or invisible particles, there's a high chance you'll see me.
"Did you manage to get more emeralds?"
I didn't respond, instead, I gave her 60 emerald blocks, which took her by surprise.
"That's a lot more than last time, with this much we can start building the ship in no time."
While surprised she looked excited about the future prospects she would get.
"We met a few times already and I don't know your name yet, how should I present you to the others?"
Looks like I didn't have to ask for her name, should I tell her my real name or make a fake one?
"You can call me Light for now."
Let's give a fake name to be safe.
"Light you say, then you can call me Captain Siren."
She clearly wasn't expecting that name with my looks.
We left the dark alley and got closer to the lake, there we stopped at a huge building with a simple style.
I think it was more of a storage building than something that someone would live in.
We got inside, and as I expected I saw the ceiling was very tall with a lot of room to walk around.
I even saw a ship being worked on.
There were not a lot of worker's here, but they were busy like bees.
We walked around looking for someone until Siren saw a bald man in a white T-shirt yelling orders at everyone.
"Fish Head, how are you doing!"
"Who dares- oh, it's you, Broken Siren. What brought you here, finally going to accept my offer to be a guard for us?"
So she has this kind of side job.
I looked closer at the ship that was built not too far away from us, they seemed to build it through layers from front towards the back.
On the side, they built a V-shaped structure before they raised it with ropes towards the ship and used slime to stick with the rest.
It was an interesting way to build it with some stuff I didn't know, and I wonder how they made the blocks fall while still holding together.
"No, I came here as a customer."
"I can't repair a ship that's already at the bottom of the sea."
"I know that you idiot, I'm here for my friend Light."
She said that while pointing at me, which made the man open his eyes wide.
"O-oh yeah, what can I help you with?"
"Hi there, I heard you could build me a ship, and I want a large one as soon as possible."
"A large ship? We should be done with it in 1 month, or 2 weeks if we concentrate on it, but it would cost extra. In total that should be around 20 diamond blocks."
20 diamond blocks?!
That's way over the estimation Siren gave me, still I could only rely on them.
"We would like if you build us as fast as possible. Here is some forward payment."
I said that while pointing at Mad Siren.
She rolled her eyes and gave the man the emerald blocks.
"69 emerald blocks, that's almost half of the payment. We can work with this, but you'll have to give us the rest before the project is finished. Any special requests?"
Good, at least they take those.
"More like a few questions. Do you think you could place some iron coating around the exterior of the ship without sinking it?"
"You mean like placing iron pressure plates on top of the wood? I guess that would work, and it would be much more durable, a daring ship to say the least. But I'll take the challenge, the price would be 30 blocks then."
30!
"Why is it so expensive?"
"That's the minimum amount I could think we would need to get all the iron blocks."
"What if I brought you the iron blocks?"
"Hmm, that would be only 23 blocks then."
That's a lot better than before. I rather go mine for those resources myself than pay such an enormous price.
"Let's do that then. Can I come and see how you work, I'm quite curious how such magnificent ships are built."
"Hahaha! Sure, it's not like it's that big of a secret. As long as you don't get in the way, you can watch from the sidelines."
I thanked the man and left together with Siren.
"That was a lot more expensive than I expected, do you think the extra protection would work against the guardian?"
"Guardian?"
"The one-eyed fish."
"Oh, I have to say, I'm surprised nobody thought about this method to build a ship. If everything would be fine by the end of this, it would revolutionise the way ships are being built! Fireballs would be a thing of the past, and new tactics would have to be developed!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she got which took me by surprise.
"I'm glad to hear that, and I hope everything would go without a hinch. Now I have to get the rest of the emeralds and the iron blocks. This is going to be a pain."
"If you need extra help, you can always hire me for a few emeralds."
"I don't need to go at the sea, and I know how to wield a sword."
Plus, your already working for me right now, even if you don't know it.
We walked like that for a few more minutes making small talk until we decided to split off and meet again in one week.
On my way back, I was thinking of a way to get those blocks of iron as fast as possible.
I know the best method would be to mine them myself, since in a day I should get mere then enough.
Not only that, but if I'm lucky enough to find some diamonds, I can lesson my stay at the stall.
But the question is, which way should I go mining?
Should I use their mines like I did with the Witches, or should I build one myself until I find an unexplored cave system?
I walked some more and I suddenly stopped.
"Or course! I could use that method!"