It took us twice as long as before to reach Etaripe Cove than we normally would have if we still had the caravel.
Still, the most important thing was that we made it.
Emilia manoeuvred the boat towards an empty spot on the pier and Odeta tossed a rope to pull us in, securing the skiff to the pier.
Just as I stood up to prepare to disembark, a group of three men each with rather tanned skin appeared on the pier to look down at us.
The one wearing a red overcoat smirked at us, “Hey there, ladies. I see you’re using our pier. It’s fifty Decrea per person so that will be a hundred and fifty Decreas please.”
I know this was obviously an extortion so I looked at Emilia to see what she would do, sure enough, the Nekomata was scowling up at the men.
Since she knew that there was a reward being posted around the underworld for her death, she had opted to leave her katana and her normal clothes inside my Pack of Folding while being dressed up in her disguise.𝑜𝑣𝗅xt.𝗰𝑶𝓂
“There is no such thing, I suggest all of you get lost from here, we aren’t new enough to fall for something like this.”
The red overcoat guy turned to her, “Ahaha, you claim to not be new around here but don’t you know that ownership of these piers can change frequently? Maybe you came here while this place was unoccupied but too bad, we claimed this place for ourselves a while ago already. So since you’re using it, you’re gonna have to pay.”
“I don’t suppose us leaving to find another pier is an option?” I asked.
He clucked his tongue at me, “Tsk, tsk. When you eat the food at a restaurant, surely you don’t expect to be able to get away without paying for the food even if you took only a bite right? You’ve already moored your boat on my pier, of course you’ll still have to pay even if you decide not to use it now.”
I thought that might be their excuse so I wasn’t too surprised to hear him say it.
He then leaned forward slightly, “Oh, but if you can’t pay with coins… We wouldn’t mind being paid with service. Those boobs of yours look mighty fine, so if you could help us relieve ourselves with them, that would be good enough too.”
…
Well… To be honest… It’s just a Crea and a half, we can easily pay that amount of money and be on our way. Thus I got ready to fish out my coin pouch but surprisingly, Emilia held out her hand and grabbed my wrist to stop me.
“Miss Odeta? I believe these three bad guys are bullying our Lady Aster here.”
Odeta, who had been sitting behind us quietly this entire time quickly stood up to her full height, towering over the three men as she stepped onto the pier while cracking her knuckles.
“Are you bullying my sister Aster?”
One of them was looking at the leader nervously but the other two didn’t seem to care about Odeta’s threat that much.
“Ho? An Amrap all the way out here? That’s quite rare. Are you supposed to be the bodyguard for them? I can pay you more if you were to join me, we need muscles like yours.”
Odeta obviously wasn’t interested in his offer so she folded her arms and glared at him, “Go away.”
The man furrowed his brows at the Amrap, “Hmph, I was being considerate of you but I see that was unnecessary. Do you really think I’ve never dealt with Amraps before?”
He pulled back his fist and punched forward, hitting Odeta right in her abs.
Only… Odeta took the blow without moving an inch.
I mean… That guy’s strength was only at like around the two hundred range when I checked with my [Screen]. Sure, that’s pretty high for a Mahun but… Odeta’s more than two times stronger than you, you know? What did you expect would happen?
Odeta raised an eyebrow at him, clearly asking if that was supposed to do something to her.
The man finally realised how outclassed he was and he quickly took a few steps back with his hands raised placatingly, “Ah… Ahaha… That was all a joke you know? Hahaha… Fe… Feel free to use this pier all you wa–“
Odeta grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to her eye level to growl at him, “Haaa? Do you think my abs are free for you to touch? Only sister Aster can touch them whenever she wants. What makes you think you can touch me and leave like nothing happened, huh?”
Oh wow, Odeta… Since when have you learned how to talk smack like that?
Before that guy could answer, Odeta turned around and flung him out into the sea, tossing him a good thirty metres out from the pier before he crashed back into the water.
She then turned to the other two and they ran for it, not even looking back.
Odeta then turned back to look at me proudly, “I did it, sister Aster! Did I protect you from the bullies?”
I reached out and patted her head, “Yes you did, thank you Odeta.”
“Ehehe~”
Emilia stepped on to the pier and sighed, “Truth be told… You went a little too far… If that guy belonged to a bigger group of idiots, they’d definitely come back and mess up our boat while we aren’t here. It’s a good thing that we aren’t relying on this boat after this though…”
I blinked at her, “Eh? We’re not? How are we leaving this place to find your ship then?”
She waved at me, “There’s no way a skiff like this would be able to last long out in the open sea, Lady Aster. We need to find another ship either on our own or join a crew to get back to my ship. For the latter, we’ll have to make sure it’s a relatively small crew instead of a large one in case we get discovered and have to kill everyone on board.”
That really got dark super fast, Emilia… But I suppose you know this better than I do.
I climbed up on the pier after her and the three of us made our way to the building that housed this place’s branch of The Guild.
Since Odeta didn’t get to see the sights this time, she was marvelling at everything she saw, especially the water canals.
Like the first time we were here, a few of the pirates around ogled at us as we passed by but I noticed there were far fewer people today as compared to the last time.
As though reading my mind, Emilia explained, “Most of them are still out at sea or still sleeping for those who were celebrating last night. You probably won’t see any active people around until early evening.”
I nodded in understanding just as we reached the Guild, Emilia pushing open the door for us.
I had a moment of panic as I remembered about the fact that people would openly have sex out in the open within the bar which wouldn’t be a nice sight for Odeta. Thankfully, it seems like there was also barely anyone here at this time of day.
That is, aside from some people who were passed out on the floor or table but no one was doing anything problematic at least.
Emilia marched up to the counter and knocked on the wood hard.
No response.
Emilia knocked on it a few more times, each time louder than the last before finally a head popped out of the water behind the counter to shouted at her, “Do you know what time it is?! What the heck do you want that can’t wait till– Oh… It’s you. Give me a moment…”
Maurice dived back into the water before resurfacing, pulling himself up behind the counter while tugging on a shirt he had thrown over himself, somehow remaining dry despite him being soaked.
“I didn’t expect you to be back this early, Em. What can I do for you?”
Emilia stared at him for a long moment without saying anything, which made Maurice show her a confused face as he waited for an answer from her.
She then let out a breath and leaned against the counter, her hand slipping away from the sabre she had at her waist, “So you don’t know huh… I was hoping you weren’t involved but after what happened, I can’t be sure anymore.”
Maurice raised an eyebrow at her, “What? What are you talking about?”
Emilia stared at him with an eye, “You can’t be telling me that you don’t know my former subordinates put a price on me within the underworld to make sure I am actually dead?”
Maurice frowned, “I thought you already knew? Which was why you came in dressed like this yesterday too?”
“I did not… And guess who decided to cash in on that prize?”
Maurice seemed to be even more confused before his eyes widening, “No… You’re really saying Merrick…”
“Burned my ship and left me stranded on my own island. He sent me after a group of smugglers too, probably expecting me to do it alone so that those smugglers would kill me instead. Too bad his plan failed since my… Associates were stronger.”
Maurice’s eyes turned to Odeta and I before nodding at us.
It took me a moment to understand that he was thanking us for helping Emilia.
Well… I did it for sweets so you don’t need to thank us for that… Which reminds me…
I’M OWED THREE CRATES OF SWEETS!!!
THAT BASTARD!! HE NEVER GAVE ME MY SWEETS!!!
ARRRGHHH!!!