Chapter 9: Eloise's Origins
I was sitting behind the desk in my cabin. In front of me was sitting Eloise. She wasn't wearing her mask but had hung it on a string around her neck.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, but I managed to gather some courage and speak up first.
"Do you want to talk about something?"
She had dragged me alone into the captain's room after her face had been revealed.
"Ummm, yes"
Her tone was a lot softer than usual. My eyes were staring at her; she was beautiful. She had foxy eyes and a small nose. Her lips looked very soft but what drew my attention was the huge, mesmerizing tattoo on the right side of her face.
"You can see it, right?"
"Yes, I can … you look pretty."
At my comment, she got a bit embarrassed and looked slightly angry
"NOT my face, the TATTOO!"
"Cough... indeed"
"Well, it doesn't matter, let me explain. I wear my mask to hide it because I am from a tribe located on Itios".
I was a bit stunned that she wasn't from the same continent. In this world, planes didn't exist, and to sail from the Urone continent to Itios would take at least 318 days without using any magic.
"The tattoo on my face can't be seen by anyone but only by the ones that have awakened magic. It is made using a special technique and blood taken from a special magic beast "
"And how did you end up stranded in the Woflen empire?"
"Well, our tribe mainly hunted and didn't have a lot of other resources besides meats and pelts."
"Our relations were bad with our neighbors, so we decided to gamble by trying to sail and trade with other people. But our boats weren't good enough to travel to other continents, and our first commercial ship sunk in the waves with me on …."
She had a frown on her face while recollecting her past. Without her mask on, I could read her emotions and started to feel sympathetic. I continued listening to her.
"I was lucky I hung on for dear life to a piece of floating wreckage for three days. A vessel passed by when I couldn't hold on anymore and spotted me."
"They rescued me. The one who healed my injuries was a woman; her name was Monique."
Oh, interesting, she met her at sea. Considering how broad these waters are, she could call herself the illegitimate daughter of the goddess of luck. I am unsure that she isn't the novel's main character.
"She was on the vessel because she was helping at the time find a new commercial route for her father. By meeting me, she completed her task. I told her the way to find our tribe."
"So, Eloise, what will you do in the future? Do you want to return to your tribe or do something else?"
She lowered her head and started thinking her blonde hair draped down and obscured her face. After a while, I decided to make a proposal to her.
"Listen, I have a good idea. What do you think about staying on this ship for a while? We may even go to see what the sea is like along the shores of Itios."
She lifted her face and looked me in the eyes. They lacked the usual coldness but couldn't be considered friendly.
"Sure, I will follow you for now. But if I find a faster way to reach my home than with you, I will take it and leave. "
I reciprocated and shot her a cold gaze.
"Well, that can't be done."
As I said that, the atmosphere turned frigid. I put my hand on the pommel of my sword.
"I like giving my crewmate freedom, but what if the one that can get you to Itios is an enemy of mine in the future? I don't want to feed a snake that will bite me when her occasion comes. Do you understand?"
Her gaze now started to show a bit of hostility.
"Yes…."
"I guess that you know about the oaths since you have stayed for a while with Monique in Woflen."
"You want me to swear one to you? It's not going to happen. What if you then don't want to let go of me ?"
A smirk formed on my face.
"You sure look beautiful, but brothels are in every big port. I don't need you. I want you to swear an oath not to me but to one of the goddesses that rule the elements."
The frown on her face deepened, but she started reciting an oath
[If I ever betray Adrien Holmes or his subordinate, I swear to give my soul and my life to Rharot, the one that with her eternal beauty rules upon the dead.]
As she finished saying that, a small set of black runes formed a bracelet on her arm that disappeared into her skin.
"Is that good enough, captain?"
I noticed that our relationship had gotten a bit tense due to this exchange, but this had to be done.
As she sat there in silence, I also thought. That I had been a bit too naïve. Nothing terrible had happened but being careful wasn't wrong. I should get the rest of my subordinates to swear an oath as soon as possible.
I was deep in thought when a knock sounded on the door
"Ke ke, I have come to bring some food."
An unmistakable voice sounded from outside. The atmosphere in the room got immediately a bit lighter.
"Sure, enter Zurkx."
The green goblin entered the room with three plates of food. Two were on his hands, but the last one was balanced on his head.
Right behind him was Erika. She had a tense look on her face
"We have finished our talks."
"No…I just came to see if everything was fin…."
As she was talking, Eloise got up from the chair, took the plate on top of Zurkx's head, and walked out while dragging Erika with one hand. I guess that she didn't want to eat with me.
The door closed, and I turned my attention to the goblin.
"I didn't see on the deck while I was fighting where you."
I shot him a suspicious look, and he just shrugged his shoulders.
"I was rummaging through our food to see what was in it."
He put my portion on my desk, and I saw that it was some sort of stew with half a loaf of hard bread on the side. I took the spoon and tasted it. It wasn't bad for a meal on a ship in this world. It just didn't have a lot of flavors.
"Who cooked it?"
"KE ke obviously me!"
He laughed while trying to wake Otto to give him his portion. I almost immediately spit out the food I had just put in my mouth, but I resisted. It was fine if Zurkx cooked it. The rumors that goblins were messy and dirty were surely lies.
While trying to convince myself without much success, a voice rose from the bed.
"Damn, who is trying to wake me up! A monster! Don't you know some gentleness?"
Otto turned on his other side and saw what was poking him on his back. He looked surprised at the sight of Zurkx.
His stunned face made me snicker a bit.
"Take your plate, stinky human! Khe"
Otto had just been called nasty by a goblin…. His face turned red, and even Zurkx understood that fleeing before he exploded was a good idea. He bolted toward the exit.
A cushion reinforced with mana was thrown in his direction and barely missed him. It hit the wooden wall beside the door. It made the same sound as a solid brick but didn't cause any damage.
Otto had restrained himself quite a bit. After a couple of curses due to the pain, he sat on the bed and started to eat.
Halfway through my meal, I decided to ask him a question.
"You were awake while I was talking with Eloise, right?"
After a brief silence, he answered.
"Yes, I was captain."
"What do you think of what I did?"
"You did the right thing. She had always worn her mask, and besides Monique, we don't have anyone to verify her story, so being cautious is good."
"mmm"
"But if you are looking for a suggestion, I would make Erhan and Zurkx swear an oath. Even if we fought a battle together, having some insurance wouldn't do us any harm."
"The rest of the crew doesn't need to since Erhan or I will usually manage them."
"And remember one thing. You can only have 20 oaths sworn to you. If you want more, you will need to encounter some rare treasures."
"I will keep it in mind. Thanks, Otto."
After listening to him, my thoughts got clearer. He was correct. Even if I wanted to manage more people, I couldn't get everyone's mark of loyalty. I needed to have tight control of the persons with critical roles.
I finished eating and got up from my chair. At the end of my cabin toward the end of the ship was a large window covered by a big plank. I opened it and looked outside.
The sun was starting to set. I could see the boat leave small waves behind as we sailed.
"Otto, it seems that our adventure has begun."
After saying that, I turned around and looked at him. He had a big grin on his face…
"HAHA, indeed, captain!"
----- ----- -----
Two days had passed since I talked with Eloise.
Two new tattoos decorated my arm. Above Otto's knight mark were a goblin head and a bear paw. Both Erhan and Zurkx had sworn their allegiance to me.
Light shone through my window. Otto had long left my cabin and decided to occupy one of the storage rooms on the gun deck. I sat up on the bed and got dressed.
I wore a pair of black boots and pants. I picked up a white shirt and exited the captain's room. What greeted me outside was a couple of crewmates carrying boxes around.
On top of the main mast was Erika. When she looked down and saw me, she waved her hand at me and shouted.
"LAND!!"
I looked where she was pointing with everyone else on the deck. In the distance, we could start to see a small land mass. Erhan exited the room next to mine and came up to me.
"We are almost there, captain."
"Yeah, I can see Exval."
"Should we prepare something?"
I pointed to the flag that was flapping in the wind.
"I think that it would be better if we take it down. And, do we have someone that has had some experience as a carpenter?"
"Sure, I will take it down. As for the carpenter, we don't have a good one, but Jacob can do some rough work."
"Who is Jacob?"
"That one"
A man with black hair and a long beard was tying some ropes on the forecastle.
"Well, tell him I want to scrape away the grey line on the ship's side before we arrive at the port. If we go there with a warship from Woflen, they won't greet us with a smile."
"Sure, sure, don't worry. Apart from the gun ports, we should be able to disguise our ship as a merchant's vessel."
I nodded and looked at the distant island we would reach in about 10 hours. We would get there in the evening.
A smile decorated my face as a couple of interesting plans about Exval swirled around in my head.
----- ----- -----
Night had come, and the sounds of waves hitting shore resounded in my ears. The wind was blowing, and the sea had become rough.
Our ship had already entered a port that looked much larger than the one in Shremel. A small sloop had guided our boat to a place to set anchor.
Otto's shout reached my ears.
"THAT ROPE NEEDS TO BE TIED BETTER!!"
I saw him and Erhan ordering our cremates around. When everything was finally ready, we took a longboard and lowered it from our ship to the harbor.
The first to set foot on land was Otto. He had gone down to talk to the local official that was looking at our vessel.
I also followed down with Eloise, that was wearing her mask. We had already returned to our initial status after a couple of interactions in the past two days.
I walked up to Otto. He had just finished talking.
"So, what did he say."
"Good news. He told me we can leave our boat there for two days without paying, but after that, we need to pay a hefty two gold coins a day."
I looked a bit worried since we had only around five gold coins I had found in a small chest in the captain's room.
They probably used to be owned by Erhan when he commanded the ship, but I took them as mine since nobody said anything. After all, we share glory and riches, right?
After getting rid of my greedy thoughts, I looked around the harbor. A lot of boats were stationed here. Most were merchants, but a couple had more cannons and looked ready for war. Their owners were probably mercenaries.
I turned my gaze at the small city that dominated the landscape. It was built going up a small hill. Many houses decorated the place, but almost all of them were made of solid wood. I could only spot a few of them made in stone.
At the top of the city stood a small fortification made of wood and stone. On it, I could see two banners. One resembled the Woflen empire flag, and the other was half orange and half black.
The second one was the banner representing the Meugar cult's façade that they had put up before the common populace while the ugly side had been hidden in the shadows.
I stopped looking around and spoke to Erhan, that was staring at me, waiting for orders on top of the ship.
"Erhan, you and Monique will stay on the boat with half of the crew. The other half can wander around the city in a team of two."
"Zurkx, Eloise, Erika, Otto, and I will scout around the city."
"Understood, captain!"
I briefly returned to the ship to take my coat since the cold wind made me shudder.
When we were all ready, we set off to explore.
We passed a couple of sailors moving boxes around before exiting the harbor and entering the city. A lot of people immediately swarmed our surroundings. Everyone was dressed colorfully; meanwhile, all of us stuck out beside Zurkx, that was wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt and yellow pants.
I took a deep breath and calmed my excitement a bit. Exploring had always thrilled me. If I hadn't had to work in my past life, I would have used all my time to sail instead of sitting ten months out of twelve at a desk.
I turned around and said to my companions.
"I Zurkx and Erika will look around the auction houses and casinos."
"You, Otto, and Eloise will look for a good place to rest on land."
"We will meet here in two hours, so don't get lost and be careful in this place."
They simultaneously responded
"Yes, Captain!"
Otto shot me a look as if saying don't worry. I had already told him about who really controlled the city. When he asked how I knew this, I lied to him as usual. Sorry old man~~
"Well, now let's go."
I turned around and started walking. My two partners followed me closely.
In my mind, I thought.
[Hopefully, we will find something interesting besides the item that is in the hands of the cult]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
OwlOrty
OwlOrty HI~~~
The chapter didn’t come out exactly as I wanted, but I hope you like it! :D
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