“Hmph!”
Even after relenting, Lawkey continued to be scolded by the blue-haired mermaid bartendress. It was only after she voiced everything on her mind that she turned her back to him with a pout.
Being on the receiving end of that, Lawkey couldn’t help but be reminded of another bossy woman who constantly lectured him for the past six years.
She’s just like Jun…
“Are you sure about this though? From what we can tell, that creature has the ability to mess with your head.” While the swordsman was busy thinking about trivial matters, a triton with pale blue hair and light green eyes voiced his worries, “I mean, besides it being a Hyking, that power is why we’re letting you take it with you instead of taking care of it ourselves. It might be able to control you too!”
“Good point.” Lawkey adapted a more serious tone again, then explained based on all the clues he noticed thus far, “If the little thing was able to control just anybody, it would have controlled the shorty here instead of paying him for those weapons, don’t you think? So, at the very least, we know it can’t control him.”
Being pointed at, Alviss reflexively closed one eye and looked at his savior with the other, as if he had known this piece of information all along. On the inside however…
I had no clue…! I didn’t even realize it!
“Who are you anyway? I saw you with Riana and Sana, but…”
“Right!”
As Lamia voiced the question on every siren’s and triton’s mind, the mysterious swordsman put on his signature smirk, stepped forward and struck a kabuki, or Mie pose he had seen in the theaters back in the Kage Clan.
“I’m Lawkey! A Pancake-seeking Ronin!”
“...”
For some odd reason, the blowing of the wind in that moment seemed much louder than it had been in hours.
Lawkey cleared his throat and tried again, “Or was it trouble-seeking ronin?”
I think it’s brain-seekin’, friend… Alviss snickered inwardly while giving him the side eye.
“Wait, I got it, it’s duel-seeking ronin!”
By the time Lawkey remembered his own introduction, the merfolk had turned to murmur amongst each other.
“Is he supposed to be famous or something?”
“He might just be an idiot…”
“What’s a pancake, anyway?”
Hey! I can still hear you, you know! How rude! How can you not know what pancakes are?! I feel very sorry for you! The swordsman who was left hanging complained to himself, before letting out a long sigh and raising the creature in his hand to observe it again. This guy really looks weird, even if he is a Hyking, what kind of race looks like this?
“Friend, yer name, did ya mean Law Key, by any chance?”
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Alviss stepped closer to ask about something that was on his mind, but before he could get a reply, a stranger’s voice interrupted the party, making all the merfolk shudder in place.
“Lawkey, you say? So, you must be the one going around challenging warriors to duels, huh?” The new voice snickered, then continued without waiting for an answer, “Be careful who you challenge, newbie! You might just bite off more than you can chew! Hahaha!”
Lawkey turned to face the one everyone seems to be looking towards. The first thing that came into view was short red hair that trickled down into sideburns, only to reappear in the middle as a mustacheless goatee. Even though the man’s hair was short, there was a single braid wrapped up in some kind of hair accessory coming from behind his head and resting on his shoulder.
He donned a black shirt that had a full sleeve on one side, and was completely sleeveless on the other, showing off the crossed-out mark of a clan logo on his muscular right shoulder. Beside the dark red pants, he had a white cloth going around the waist and up to one shoulder. To top it all off, he wore golden arm and leg guards at the end of his limbs.
This was Cleitus of the Golden Garden Guild.
However, he wasn’t alone. Behind him, two other companions had left the mermaid bar with him and made their way here to the central square.
“Hey! Stick to the job. I want to go back as soon as possible!” The only woman of the group let out in exasperation as she adjusted her long katana on her back.
Her long flowing pink hair swayed behind her, with only the red ribbon on top of her head to somewhat restrict its movements. She wore a short black piece that covered everything just below her waist, but left her thighs exposed where a mark of a crossed-out clan logo was visible on her inner left thigh. The long shoes that covered up to her knees complimented the dark blue cloak she wore around her shoulders.
“A little fun doesn’t hurt anybody, Liv.”
“Shut it, Bakari. No one asked you.”
Finally, the man named Bakari was the one with the bronze-colored skin. That detail, amongst black hair and orange eyes, made him look oddly similar to the captain, Baahir. He even wore similar clothing, donning a red cloth around his shoulders and waist, where a small dagger and a sword were supported. The only differences were his shoulder-length hair that almost hid the crossed-out clan marking on his neck, and lastly, his slim build that looked nothing like Baahir’s broad shoulders.
Watching them saunter into the central square, Lawkey studied their features with narrow eyes, checking to see if he recognized one of them. The matter of the captain and rookie was still on his mind. He suspected they would likely cause an incident once they were back on the island.
“Right. Seeing as we don’t seem welcome enough to receive a response, I’ll get to the point.” Cleitus raised the corners of his lips as he squinted his red eyes, “Then, by the order of the Golden Garden Guild and the Coin Masters, we now hereby claim this small island once and for all, along with everything that lives on it!”
“Claim? Me stars…” Alviss grimaced as he felt this hair stand on end.
“...” Lawkey watched in silence, but innerly, he realized what was about to happen. At this rate, there is no need to wait on that captain to report… or maybe he already did. Either way, this isn’t good…
“What? We agreed on more time!” Lamia, the leader of the sirens, was the first to voice her opposition amongst the shaking merfolk behind her. “We’ll get you the money, so please-”
“What time?!” Cleitus cut her off as he bent down to pick one of the weapons the tritons had let go earlier. While admiring the great craftsmanship, he slowly continued, “you haven’t paid us to protect you in months. Now it’s obvious why.”
Hearing that, some tritons gritted their teeth, while others simply lowered their heads in shame. They knew exactly what he was insinuating, but he wasn’t about to leave it at that either.
“The males took the money for those weapons, and you females couldn’t meet the quota with half the effort.” Cleitus dusted off his hands as he got back up and fixed his posture. “At this rate, you won’t be able to protect your race, let alone this island, but there is no need to worry. Unlike what other guilds would do, Golden Garden will take good care of you. Well, most of you, at the very least.”
“Hahah, a lot of people would pay serious money for a mermaid!” Bakari shamelessly proclaimed, not considering anyone’s feelings. After noticing a piercing glare from Liv beside him, he quickly cleared his throat and tried to follow up, “well, that’s only if it gets to the point where it's necessary to save the majority…”
“...” As the leader of the sirens frowned and bit on her nail, trying her best to think of something, other sirens began to surround her with worried eyes.
“What should we do, Lamia?!”
“If we resist, we’ll have to deal with the whole guild again…”
“Which means…”
Many of them turned to the golden statue of their former leader. Even though her pose was exuding confidence and strength, to them, her mere state was the perfect reminder of what would happen to them if they opposed the Coin Masters.
“?!” Alviss suddenly noticed Lawkey step away from the commotion without saying a word, “Where ya goin’, friend?! We should help ‘em out!”
“...”
Even now, Lawkey was still unsure what to do about the situation. He had thought it over countless times already.
Should he help? Should he stay out of it?
This was Tartarus. Even his mentor had warned him against meddling with the affairs of others on this continent.
And yet, Lawkey had already taken action, telling himself it was for the sake of Riana and Sana, but was that really the truth?
Even if he wanted to help now, it wouldn’t change a thing at the end. He would leave this island to continue his journey, and the Golden Garden Guild would simply send more of its members to subdue the Undine Clan once more.
Dammit… I don’t want to leave things like this, but it’s not like I can take care of the entire guild on my own. They aren’t even based here, and they’re already known as one of the biggest guilds on this continent, with only exiled or defected members from Royal Clans as their members.
In the end, it isn’t me who should be taking action here… it’s…
“!”
Lawkey turned his back to the dwarf.
“It’s not my problem…”
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]