"Swim slowly ..."
"Yeah, catch the rope loop and lasso your wrists ... It's two wrists, stupid! You better cooperate if you don't want to get eaten by a shark!"
"Keep your hands up in the air so I can see the rope loop. If you want to float, all you have to do is tread water with both legs."
"Okay, those who have tied the rope loops can board!"
"One man per gangway, two at a time, climb up ... damn it, one at a time! Don't the Roma speak English? Do they understand?"
"Squeeze again! Squeeze again you're all soaking in the water! Damn it!"
The Beauty was in full swing, and Pierce was teaching Noa to tie rope knots, then tossing [8] rings of rope shaped like handcuffs into the water to guide the Roma who were leaning against the ship to tie themselves up, boarding the ship one by one.
This is where tonight's battle comes to a close.
In all, thirty-four Roma men and three women attacked the Atis Beauty.
As a result, the harpoon gun killed two, Lorraine killed three, Kron hammered another, and the rest of the men, wounded or not, were all prisoners, and even the three remaining skiffs were captured together.
Keren picked the best of the lot to haul aboard and replenish the Beauty's two-ported boat racks, making it the first haul of the night.
That belongs to the unexpected.
In the dining room of the transom, three drop-dead Roma women sat in a ball of trepidation under Haina's gaze.
They were generally young and pretty, with long eyes and large eye sockets, straight noses, and hair that looked like drooping waves.
It was just that their faces were pale, their light skirts clung to their bodies, and while they were delicate, they were more of a mess.
This group ...
Are these people really businessmen?
They still can't believe that a whole tribe, more than thirty men, were defenseless in front of just a few sea merchants.
The way Lorraine looked underwater scared them.
He was nimble as a ghost under water, quick, steady, and bright-eyed.
His eyes were open underwater, and he killed with a smile on his face, giving the impression ... that he was not at all like a man diving, but a human sized shark, tearing at the prey that fit his mouth.
Seafarers ...
England's seafarers ... so terrible?
The three women winced in unison.
The door opens ...
The inner hatch creaked open, and Lorraine, who had changed into dry clothes and wiped her hair, stepped out, followed by Noa, who was following in her footsteps, ducking and dodging.
Seeing Noa, the three women's aura immediately returned. The leader snapped the table before she was about to reprimand, when Lorraine suddenly said.
"If you stand up, don't sit down."
The words were not heavy, the tone mild, but the woman, as if she had heard a wild beast roaring, maintained the posture of one who would rise, not daring to move a muscle in her body.
Lorraine dragged out her chair and sat across from the women, her legs lifting and snapping, setting them on the table.
The three women shuddered again.
They only heard Lorraine say, "Introduce myself, my name is Lorraine, Lorraine . Drake. Captain of the Atis Beauty, Noa. Miss Sara's protector, and a ... privateer merchant in England."
As Lorraine introduced herself, all the mysteries were solved.
Privateer, a notorious and legendary term.
They are pirates, soldiers, adventurers, but not proper, lamb-like, rebellious merchants.
A combination of everything characterizes them as killers ...
The three women were wide-eyed, you looking at me, I looking at you.
Roma are foxes.
Foxes feed on lambs and make food for beasts of prey ...
They were supposed to stay away from real beasts, but they, in their own arrogance, instigated the tribe to charge at a beast, still in the water, at an aquatic beast!
Are all the intelligence dealers in Belle Mayo amateurs!
Seeing the shocked and angry expressions on their faces, Lorraine whistled softly.
"It seems the ladies are well-informed, so I can save myself some words by not having to start with the origins of the privateers."
"Yes ..."
"Are you three thirsty?"
"Not Thirsty ..."
Lorraine gave a dismissive laugh and snapped her fingers.
Haina pushed a small keg of stout along the long table, bared and grinding against it, stopping just short of his feet.
Noa brought the wine and Lorraine moistened her throat.
"How can I say this ... Today's meeting was not too friendly, my crew wanted to go to sea, it would have been a brave and responsible decision. As family, you can have doubts and be persuasive, but you shouldn't use force."
The woman in the lead blushed and immediately retorted, "We are not ..."
"Crew!" Lorraine interrupted with a high pitched voice, "The crew is the sacrosanct and private property of the captain from the moment they board the ship. It is not good for you to try to take my property by force."
The three women became all at once, Lorraine's words were sophomoric, but the situation did not allow them to question them.
Nor did Lorraine intend to listen to their skepticism; he allowed them only a moment to digest it before continuing, "I could have forgiven you for plotting to take my property. England teaches gentlemanly generosity, just as I do. But you have harmed my ship in the process of plotting to take it ..."
"Our clan only shook the hook a couple times ..."
"Hooks and cables can mar the railings, and dirty boots can trample the boards. The most problematic thing is that blood ... blood can seep into the wood along the grain of the deck, creating dirt that can't be cleaned up. This dirt contains organic matter that rots and destroys the structure of the wood, and if it seeps into the keel ..."
"How can that be!" The youngest woman shouted.
"How is it impossible? Ships are delicate things, you guys don't understand. After this battle, our ship looks intact, but in fact the whole structure is broken. She will probably fall apart under sail, in the middle of a vast sea, and throw the whole ship into the sea, with nowhere to escape."
The older one gulped, "So what do you think, Mr. ... What do you think, how should this matter end?"
"Compensate for it ...," sighed Lorraine, "Our ships are the latest merchantmen, costing ten thousand pounds. We are crewed by the finest seafarers, have a great smith of the military harbor, an Assassin rarer than a panda, a scion of a noble house, and the finest tanner in England. Oh yes, and witches rarer than Assassins ..."
"How much ... how many ..."
"Accident insurance, moral damages, labor costs, lost wages, well ... loss of youth and continuing education guarantee. I'll be generous and wipe out the change for the boat, totaling one hundred thousand pounds."
"How much?"
"One hundred thousand pounds."
"You're blackmailing!" It was the youngest one again, who seemed to be the loudest amongst Noa's cousins.
Lorraine looked at her helplessly and said earnestly and sincerely, "In all sincerity, do you think that I, a man who pinches the lives of your entire clan and can wipe the Romsala ministry off the face of the earth at any time, a decent, generous, honest, and compassionate English gentleman, would use such underhanded tactics as blackmail?"
The three women were glimpsed back to reality by Lorraine's glance, and finally thought to ask for help behind Lorraine, whose wide eyes were narrowing into a curved moon for her clan.
The oldest cousin pinched the tabletop and bit her lip as she turned to Noa for help.
"Noa ... Sorceress-sama, for the sake of your kinsmen ... Your mother would not have wanted the Romsala section to dissipate like this ... "
Noya tussled for a short while and grabbed Lorraine by the scruff of the neck, "Captain, they don't have any money ..."
"Without money you can sell industries and people. The Roma have a bad reputation, but there has always been a good market in Europe as musical slaves and dancing princesses ..."
"But their industry is only caravans ... words, fifty or sixty men are just not worth a hundred thousand pounds if they are sold at a high price."
"What then?" Lorraine frowned, "The Romulans have no place to live, even if they make an IOU, I can't believe their integrity. Fifty or sixty slaves and a dozen caravans ... seem to be able to only recover as much as they can ..."
"Captain, can you make them atone for their sins? Work off the debt, as in hoodwinking the Spanish nobility, as you requested?"
That said, who can't understand that everything is a game?
Lorraine's strength made the three women tremble with fear, but Noa's insidiousness chilled them even more!
The Ministry of Romsala has been wandering in Spain for over forty years.
They had lived well, but if they had deceived the local nobility, they would have had to wander to strange places again, and how much effort and how much would they have had to put in before they could go up to a new place of acceptance?
The older cousin gritted her teeth and looked at Noa with fire in both eyes, "Noa! Don't forget you're Roma!"
"Yes!" Noa stood behind Lorraine with her chest puffed out, her little face red with hatred, "I haven't forgotten for a moment that I'm a Rom, and when I get to a new environment, I'll endeavor to show my new masters value! What about you guys? The witch is the leader of the clan, as honorable as the matriarch, but you banished me!"
"That's because you don't deserve it!"
"I am worthy!" Noa pulled out her crystal ball and cupped her hands in front of her chest, "I am the heir to the Crystal Ball of Destiny, chosen by my mother, chosen by the last witch, chosen by fate! Fate has told us the outcome, it is you ... who are unworthy!"
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