Free Web NovelChapter 112: Alone?
Two days had passed since Victor had accepted Franky’s offer to help repair the ship that had brought him.
This alternative wasn’t the quickest way for Victor to solve his problems, but he felt he needed a few days away from the mansion, after all the last night there wasn’t very good.
Although he chose to stay, the next morning Victor sent a letter to Selvarum Manor explaining the situation and that the mission had been successful. That way, no one would have to worry about him not returning for a week.
During the first two days, the renovations progressed surprisingly quickly, thanks to the skill and experience of the ship’s carpenter and the help of Victor and the other crew members of the " Traveling Mermaid".
On deck, in the dim light of the lanterns, Victor and Franky worked side by side until night fell. The wooden hammers beat rhythmically as everyone replaced the damaged deck boards. Not all of the crew were skilled at this, so it was common to hear a few grunts of pain when the hammers hit their fingers instead of the nails.
At one point, Victor saw Franky, the lizardman, perfectly cutting a plank of wood with his claws, without using a saw, and said:
"You’ve become much more skilled at this than you used to be, Franky," praised Victor.
Franky smiled as he hammered the board he had just cut. "Twenty years of practice have taught me a few tricks. You’re not doing too badly yourself, considering you’re not a professional carpenter."
Victor held a board in place for nailing. "When I bought the hut where my tavern is, it was in such disrepair that I had to learn a bit of carpentry to fix the whole place up alone."
"’Alone’?" Franky asked after driving the nail into the board with a single hammer. "I thought she’d gone with you."
"She? What are you talking about?"
"No... it’s nothing. Never mind."
After this strange interaction, Victor thought for a moment about what Franky had wanted to say to him, but decided to ignore it for the time being. They were in the middle of work and surrounded by sailors, it wasn’t the time or place for that and there wasn’t much time for distractions either - well, Franky didn’t quite agree with that methodology, because he soon started telling stories about the sea voyages he’d had after Victor left.
At sea and in the coastal towns, among pirates, sailors and ordinary citizens, it wasn’t uncommon to meet non-humans because, after the Non-Human Race Rights Act was established in the Athina Kingdom thirty-five years ago, all non-human slaves had to be freed by their ’owners’ and look for decent jobs in order to survive. Many didn’t make it and continued to work for their former masters, hostage to the lack of jobs and the guarantee of a little money, and others had to resort to extreme means to keep eating, which included working for pirates and taking part in their crews.
This wasn’t the case for Franky for a long time, because after being saved by Victor he began to follow the young hunter everywhere, learned from him and became a warrior too. However, when Victor left, Franky chose to live by the sea precisely so that he wouldn’t have to face problems with prejudiced humans who weren’t used to non-humans.
While Franky was telling his stories, the various crew members inside the ship were also carrying out repairs to the damaged compartments. Lanterns hanging from the beams illuminated the meticulous work of the sailors, who replaced rotten planks and reinforced compromised structures with iron plates.
At the end of the third day, on a milder evening, a cool breeze blew into the bay to ruffle the sailors’ hair. fгeewebnovёl.com
Victor stood up, looked at the tidied main mast and wiped the sweat from his brow, proud of all the progress they had made.
"Wow, you guys are doing great!" Captain Demetrius said, approaching Victor. "I think we’ll be able to get my beloved ’Traveling Mermaid’ into port tomorrow to unload all the supplies and make the last repairs. We’ll finish ahead of schedule"
Victor looked tired. "Are we? And you’re not going to help with the repairs?" asked Victor, noticing that the captain seemed to be just supervising during these last three days.
The old captain let out a hoarse laugh. "Dhaha! Ah, my dear, I’d like to be hammering boards and changing nails like you, but age has brought me some back pain that prevents me from doing that kind of heavy work." He said as he placed a hand on his lower back.
"I see, Captain." Victor said with a wry tone.
"But that doesn’t mean I can’t reward you in some way for the excellent work you’re doing," Demetrius continued. "Later, when night falls and all of today’s work is done, I’ll make a point of buying you a round of drinks. It’s the least I can do as a thank you."
The captain’s proposal cheered up even the sailors who were listening to the conversation.
One of them, Jonathan, looked enthusiastically at Demetrius, ready to express his gratitude, but before he could say anything, the captain interrupted him with a stern look.
"Jonathan, stop daydreaming and get back to work. You’re being left behind by Victor and Franky, so I’m going to have to pay them a lot of money."
The sailor quickly turned away, resuming his duties. Demetrius looked at Victor and Franky with a friendly smile and slapped Victor on the back.
"See you soon, buddy. Tonight Franky, you and I are going to drink a lot!"
Demitrius kept his promise and they did indeed go drinking in a tavern very famous for its mead, but Captain Demetrius couldn’t finish even one mug of mead before collapsing with his head on the table in a deep sleep. He was too weak for alcohol.
That winter night, the tavern was especially busy, with groups of sailors and pirates competing with each other to see which table could drink the most and form the largest tower of mugs. However, the friendly atmosphere so rare in the taverns of Naeross was exhausted when the tavern door opened with a bang, drawing the attention of everyone present.
Two men entered, creating a hush as the conversations subsided and curious eyes turned to them.
The first man to enter had a face with fine features and wore shiny, clean armor, giving him an air of nobility. His dark hair was neatly combed and his posture was one of pure confidence. Behind him, a taller, more robust man with a serious expression followed him like his shadow.
Murmurs began to circulate around the tavern as people began to distinguish between the visitors’ attire. There was no doubt that these two weren’t sailors or pirates, but hunters and, on this island, it wasn’t common to see monsters, meaning that these hunters weren’t there to hunt monsters but criminals with bounties.
Just for the record, in any tavern on Naeross, the average percentage was that around seventy percent of the patrons had bounties on their heads.
