It took us twice as long as before to reach Etaripe Cove than we normally would have if we still had the caravel.
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
He pulled back his fist and punched forward, hitting Odeta right in her abs.
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?
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–”
Oh wow, Odeta… Since when have you learned how to talk smack like that?
She then turned to the other two and they ran for it, not even looking back.
I reached out and patted her head, “Yes you did, thank you Odeta.”
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…”
𝑖𝗻𝗻𝑟e𝒶𝗱. 𝒄𝑜𝑚
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.”
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.
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.
I nodded in understanding just as we reached the Guild, Emilia pushing open the door for us.
That is, aside from some people who were passed out on the floor or table but no one was doing anything problematic at least.
No response.
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.
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.
Maurice raised an eyebrow at her, “What? What are you talking about?”
Maurice frowned, “I thought you already knew? Which was why you came in dressed like this yesterday too?”
Maurice seemed to be even more confused before his eyes widening, “No… You’re really saying Merrick…”
Maurice’s eyes turned to Odeta and I before nodding at us.
Well… I did it for sweets so you don’t need to thank us for that… Which reminds me…
THAT BASTARD!! HE NEVER GAVE ME MY SWEETS!!!
ARRRGHHH!!!