Chapter 13: Pirates
The following morning, Garfield received a message from the Fighter’s Guild requesting he and Hannah visit as soon as possible. The invitation stated it was in the spirit of cooperation between the Adventurer’s Guild and the Fighter’s Guild. As far as he was aware, he had no obligation to respond, but he wasn’t busy. Solana also insisted on coming along, of course.
--
“Welcome to the Fighter’s Guild. Duke Garfield, I presume?”
“Please, call me Bearclaw. I’m here in my capacity as an adventurer, after all.”
“Very well, Bearclaw. Please follow me to the Fightmaster’s office.”
‘Hm, I guess they call it a Fightmaster here rather than a Guildmaster…’ The group was led to the back of the building.
“Sir, Bearclaw’s party is here to see you.”
“Come in! Welcome, Bearclaw, it’s an honor to finally meet you. I’ve heard all about you from my colleagues across the street.”
“Yes. I haven’t had cause to come here before, but I’m interested in what you have to say.”
“And you must be… Hannah? And you are?”
Hannah nodded while Solana spoke for herself. “Solana.”
“Miss Solana, is it? I’m surprised to see an elf here in Bretten but please consider yourself welcome here.” The Fightmaster, clearly an impressive hand-to-hand fighter back in his prime, cleared his throat before getting down to business.
“Unfortunately, your invitation here is because of a major problem, rather than some happy occasion. Have you heard about the recent occurrences of pirates ravaging the coast recently?”
Garfield looked to Hannah and Solana who both shook their heads. “We have not.”
“The Azure Bay Adventurer’s Guild and local lord have reported many recent cases of pirates raiding ships along the southern portions of this country’s coastlines. In addition, they are sneaking into ports at night and conducting all sorts of crime including thievery, rape, murder, and just about anything else you can think of. Most recently, we lost contact with Azure Bay which is the most populated port city in the lower half of Fenwick.”
“If things are that serious, I’m surprised I haven’t heard of this already,” said Garfield.
“Oh, I’m sure word will be spreading quickly now that it’s come to this. I am just one of the first people to get this sort of news. Occasionally, our guild requests assistance from top adventurers to engage the greatest threats to our Kingdom. I’m inviting you to accept a mission to join the battle against the pirates and retake Azure Bay.”
“How big of a group are you sending?”
“The plans are still preliminary, but likely we will funnel top Fighter’s Guild members and a few adventurers from each city west of the capital to a staging point near Azure Bay. Once the group is assembled, the assault plan will be finalized and executed. The royal family will likely attempt to do something similar with the army and other forces but we want to get the jump on them and save the city ourselves.”
“I’m a bit surprised you invited a Duke then, considering your ulterior motive here…”
“You have a reputation that I’m counting on, Bearclaw. Hannah, too, is invited to join you as a fellow Diamond adventurer, if you wish. Is Miss Solana an adventurer?”
“I want to be one too!” Solana declared.
“Um, she’s strong like Hannah and me, but we haven’t registered her yet.”
“I see… Do you want her to participate in this mission?”
“Well, I haven’t said I would participate yet, but I’m sure she’ll come along if the two of us go.”
“Of course!” Solana insisted.
“Hm, in that case, we could register her here at the Fighter’s Guild. So long as she demonstrates above-average ability, I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t sanction sending her. Archers are unusual here, but there’s no problem if she’s with you two.”
Solana turned to Garfield. “I haven’t really been doing archery since, you know. I’m not sure if I’m effective with my current equipment anymore. I’ve been fighting hand-to-hand, mostly.”
“That’s true,” Garfield acknowledged. “I do want to equip you with some better ranged weaponry since you have experience in that area, but for now you’re probably most effective as a straight-up fighter.”
“My word, I know she’s an elf, but this little girl is also a strong fighter like Hannah?”
“I’m stronger than her,” Hannah made sure to point out.
“That’s no fair, you know!”
“Um, Fightmaster, I’m sure Solana is plenty strong enough. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll make the arrangements for a tiny bit of sparring right now. Once that’s complete, we can quickly register her and then move on to deploying you. Is that acceptable?”
“I have three requests.”
“Say them, Bearclaw.”
“First, you will send word directly to the palace of my group’s direct deployment to Azure Bay.”
“Consider it done. In fact, I look forward to doing that.”
“Second, you will have a good healer on hand for the sparring match.”
“Say no more. I will ensure no harm comes to Miss Solana.”
Garfield’s group looked back and forth at each other but didn’t say anything.
“Third, you will allow us to travel to Azure Bay separately and operate independently.”
“Against my better judgment, I will defer to yours…”
“We accept. Let’s begin right away.”
--
The group was led to a dojo of sorts inside the Fighter’s Guild. The Fightmaster was explaining to a fighter on his staff about the circumstances of the examination. Garfield spoke softly into Solana’s ear.
“Tell me what you think I want you to do during this sparring match.”
“Win!”
Garfield closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Swat away his attacks without injuring him. Keep your own motions to a minimum. If he overreaches too much you may use his own momentum against him, but do not slam him hard into the ground. Remember, humans are even more fragile than you were before that time.”
Solana nodded and then cracked her knuckles. The pair of opponents stepped into the center where the sparring would occur.
“If at any time you want to stop, you need only shout ‘stop’ and I will pause. Okay?”
“That won’t be necessary.” In response to these words, the fighter narrowed his eyes but he didn’t say anything. Another fighter stepped forward to judge the match.
“Begin!”
The fighter positioned himself rather directly as he prepared to unleash some punches at Solana. Most likely, he was starting at an easy pace in order to test her, with a plan to increase the difficulty if she held her own. Solana raised her hands into defensive positions and prepared to receive some attacks.
--
The fighter was laying on his back, out of breath, staring at the ceiling. “Th-Thank you for the match…” He was too exhausted to stand back up.
“Good job, Solana.”
“You did all right.”
Solana made a face at the unimpressed Hannah while she lifted Garfield’s hand up over her head.
--
“The registration is complete, both for Solana and for the mission. You can leave any time.”
“Thank you, Fightmaster. We’ll head over there immediately.”
After Garfield’s party left the building, a clerk addressed the Fightmaster.
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“Why did the Duke need to request permission from you to travel there ahead of everyone else? Wasn’t that what you wanted him to do from the beginning?”
“Do you know why I’m the Fightmaster and you’re not?”
“Because you’re ten times stronger than me?”
“Okay, that’s one reason. The other is that I know when to keep my big mouth shut!”
--
“Garfield, are we going to teleport to Azure Bay?” asked Solana.
“No, it’s pretty far and I’ve never been there. I don’t have any creatures there so that would be challenging.”
“Will we ride that wyvern?” Hannah proposed.
“If we were going to ride a wyvern, couldn’t he just sent the wyvern alone and then teleport us there after the wyvern arrived?” Solana’s thinking made sense.
“Hm. I haven’t quite tried something like that before. I’m not sure how much I trust my summoned creatures to navigate themselves over long distances, but we can try it…”
“Oh, then you should summon your fastest creature! What is it?” Solana asked excitedly.
“No, my fastest creatures would create sonic booms and disrupt an entire portion of the kingdom. I’ll make a middling selection, I think.”
“Aww…”
The group moved into a quiet alley. “«Summon Hellish Creature of Legend, Air Prince Of The Scale, Azazel».” Hannah and Solana both ran behind Garfield. Garfield took out a basic map of the kingdom and showed it to Azazel. “We are here. Go there, about one kilometer east of Azure Bay. Try not to be seen.”
Azazel nodded and then flew up into the sky. Although he moved at subsonic speeds, he was quite difficult to see with the naked eye.
“Even at his speed, it will take a little while. What do you want to do?”
“Let’s see Eleha!” Solana nodded at Hannah’s suggestion.
“Oh, uh, ok.” The trio teleported back to Garfield’s estate. Eleha was in Assitant Duke’s office, discussing various matters related to being a lord.
“Eleha, can you take a short break?”
“Of course, Duke.” The group of four relocated to the parlor. “What is it?”
Garfield answered her while Hannah and Solana sat next to her, kind of like how the bear cubs snuggle up against other people while they sleep. “We three will be going to Azure Bay in a little while. Hannah and Solana wanted to see you before then.”
“What’s in Azure Bay?”
“Pirates, apparently. We’re going to rescue the city.”
“Oh, I know little of pirates, so I can’t be of any help there. All I can do is wish you good luck.” She looked around nervously. “I do respect Hannah and Solana but, it does make me feel somewhat awkward having two little girls hanging on me…”
“Believe me, I can relate,” Garfield offered. Hannah and Solana both looked at each other and nodded. They then grew their bodies to adult-size.
“Wha!?” Eleha was quite surprised by this. The girls continued to hang on to her from each side.
“Oh, yeah, they can do that. This is why I don’t recommend complaining about them doing naughty things as little girls. They’ll just get bigger and continue doing the naughty things.”
“Duke, uh, help me please…”
“Eleha, I don’t see how I can help you from all the way over here.”
After a few more minutes of desperation from Eleha, Garfield got the message he was waiting for. “Time to go.”
The girls both walked over to Garfield, but still in their big, insufficiently-clothed size. “Go back to your small size before we teleport.” They obeyed. Garfield teleported them away.
Eleha said to no one, “The sooner I move to Fork’s Crossing, the better…” She redoubled her efforts to prepare.
--
Garfield, Hannah, and Solana arrived outside of Azure Bay, as planned. He dismissed Azazel and started walking towards the city, with the girls following.
The easternmost entrance to the city was guarded, but not by the usual city guard. “Wait right there! The city is closed!”
“You didn’t say Halt! You’re clearly imposters!” Garfield shouted back.
“What!? Whatever! Go away!”
“I can’t go back until I finish my mission. I’ve been hired to eliminate the lord of this city. Stand aside!”
“Eliminate the lord? Whadaya talking about?”
“He made some associates of mine back in Bretten very angry. I’m here for his head. I won’t get in the way of any other… special… activities going on.”
The grunts guarding the closed gate looked back and forth between Hannah and Solana. “Who’re the girls?”
“Slaves. I keep them with me when I travel so I won’t get bored. You can have them if you want. I have plenty more back home.”
“We can?”
“Hey, aren’t they freaking young?”
“Quiet!”
The grunts were apparently arguing among themselves. After some more of that, one of them responded back to Garfield.
“Okay. The lord’s already captured but you can have his head or whatever. We’ll take you up on your offer. My friend here doesn’t want to join the fun, but who cares?”
“His loss, am I right?” Garfield answered back.
“Yes, hahaha! Come on in!”
The three proceeded through the gate where several men, presumably pirates, were waiting for them. The gate shut behind them.
“Hah! I was able to talk our way in! I’ve still got it!”
“Garfield, do we actually need to let those gross men touch us?” Solana asked.
“He wouldn’t do that,” Hannah asserted. “He’s going to change up the plan now.”
“What’re yall talking about? The girls’re ours, right?”
“Yes, they’re yours! If you want them! I’m glad to be rid of them, honestly.”
“Huh? Why you gettin’ rid of them?”
“They have an annoying habit of teleporting right behind you and then knocking you unconscious.”
“They what?” A few seconds later, Garfield asked the pirates a question.
“So, do you want them?”
The pirates weren’t able to answer on account of being unconscious.
--
As Garfield’s party proceeded into the city on foot, they noticed it really was being ruled by pirates. It seemed like most residents were being left alone if they stayed in their homes, but the streets and public buildings were another story. A small group of pirates came jogging over to Garfield.
“Hey! You lot! What’re you doing out! You want to die!?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Garfield remained silent. The pirate was so mystified he wasn’t even sure what to say. Another one stepped in for him.
“If you want to die, then turn around and get down on your knees!” The other pirates laughed.
“Okay.” Garfield turned around and got on his knees. The girls stared at him, unsure what he was playing at. The pirates too looked at each other, wondering what they should do next. “Hurry up!” Garfield demanded, but still, they did not step forward to strike him down.
“This guy isn’t all there, is he?”
“THAT’S IT!” Garfield shouted angrily as he stood back up and turned to face the pirates again. “You’re such GARBAGE PIRATES that you can’t even kill a man RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU who WANTS YOU TO KILL HIM and is FOLLOWING YOUR INSTRUCTIONS!?”
The pirates all stepped back, overwhelmed by the sudden unexpected outburst.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? If you won’t kill ME, then I’LL KILL YOU!” Even Hannah and Solana backed away and supported each other at the seemingly furious and unstable Garfield. “«Summon Plains Creatures of Legend, Leporidae Of The Zodiac, The Rabbit»!”
A single white rabbit appeared in front of Garfield. The pirates all stopped and looked down at the rabbit. “A rabbit?” one of them asked.
Garfield sent the rabbit a telepathic command which would overwrite anything he said. “Leave none alive!” he shouted, as menacingly as he could. A short melee ensued. The end result was a rabbit standing on top of a small pile of unconscious pirates. “Ahhh, that felt good.”
--
Garfield’s party encountered groups of pirates several more times. He used a different method to dispatch each one, keeping it as interesting as he could. Eventually, one party was actually smart enough to send a messenger away with news of hostile intruders. Things would get more difficult from here, Garfield reckoned.
“Should we sink their ships?” Solana asked.
“What do you think, Hannah?”
“I don’t think we should. They could be valuable. We just need to defeat the pirates.”
“Solana, do you agree?”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
“In that case, let’s go straight to that large building at the center of the city.”
“Yes!” the girls both responded.
--
“They’ve already taken out quite a few of our crewmates. We need to work together to defeat them.”
“What’re ya, drunk from standing on land again!? We’ve got four pirate crews working together here! The city’s already ours. We needn’t hold hands and sing along to deal with a few pests.”
“She’s right! My crew alone’s enough to take care of ‘em.”
“You’re needed to hold the port! Don’t let any ships in er out!”
“Can’t you just notify the Coast Guard to secure all harbor traffic? That’s what I used to do.” The pirate Captains all turned to look at the source of the new voice. “Don’t forget the airports, either!”
“Who’re you supposed to be?”
“I’m Garfield. Duke of Rox, Bearclaw the Diamond adventurer, here at the request of the Fighter’s Guild to defeat all the pirates in Azure Bay.”
“What!?”
“Garfield, wasn’t that a little too honest…?” Solana asked.
“I used up my silly ideas on all the other pirates. Sorry.” Solana smiled awkwardly but Hannah laughed.
“Wait, I know you!” one of the pirate Captains yelled out.
“You do?” the others asked him.
“Isn’t he the one who defeated the kingdom’s army when they were up invading Fenwick?”
“Arr! I heard about that! Sent those landlubbers running to their mums! I know little girlies with more mettle!”
“Isn’t he the reason why Tyrin’s been all soft and squishy lately?”
“How’d ya defeat them? All I heard was that the campaign was ended by one man…”
Finally, Garfield had a chance to speak again. “As I recall, I surrounded the entire army with a magical wall, plunged them in invisible water, and threatened to drown them all.”
“He did!?” Solana called out excitedly.
“He did. I saw it,” Hannah said proudly.
The pirate Captains looked at the girls and then back at Garfield. “You can do that?” one of them asked.
“Yes. I didn’t even need to use any of my advanced spells. In contrast, when I conquered the crime families of Bretten, I summoned Legendary entities to intimidate them. It was so effective, they’re religious now and report every little thing to me.”
The pirate Captains all looked back and forth between each other, hoping another would speak first.
“Do you want me to use the same method with you all, or should I dig deep for a new creative method?”
“All words!” one of the Captains said, finally speaking up. “You hide behind words and stories of your deeds. Nobody is as strong as that!” The other Captains seemed a bit emboldened. Garfield continued.
“When my work is complete, you will beg me for mercy, and I will deny it. Even if you somehow manage to take your own life, I will make use of you in death. When your soul is finally cracking under the strain of eons of torment, I’ll rob you of your free will, but not the capability of rational thought. You’ll become a prisoner of your own mind for eternity.”
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Garfield’s next words were stated at a low volume.
“Get down on your knees and hope for salvation.”
The pirate Captains actually did as he commanded, getting down on their knees, eyes wide open, complexions white as a sheet.
“Crossing the border into my nation was the height of folly. Exactly what do you think I will do with you now?”
Once again, the Captains looked back and forth at one another. “S-Send us back south! We’ll be out of your hair faster than two shanties!”
“Oh?” Garfield responded. “Exactly how long are two shanties?”
“I-I know not!”
“Then you waste my time.” Garfield raised his right hand towards the guilty party. “The last time I used this spell, the fool turned into a puddle. I wonder what you’ll turn into.”
“N-No! Please!” The Captain fully prostrated himself. Garfield’s hand remained aimed at the air where the Captain’s upper body used to be.
“Hey! Look how far I made it with just words! I barely even need magic! Still, let’s do it. «Cosmic Slash».” The wall behind the Captain turned to dust. The other three Captains all stared at the void in the wall and then fully lowered themselves to the ground like the first had.
Hannah and Solana, whose senses were much more sensitive than humans’, shuddered from witnessing the spell.
“Okay, I think we’ve been at this long enough. It’s time to assign action items. Who’s keeping the minutes?”
--
The pirate Captains gathered up all their crews and lined up in front of the building. Many of the pirates were none too happy about the circumstances, but they hadn’t rebelled quite yet. Garfield shouted to address the large group.
“Everyone! I’ve never been to the Tyrin Kingdom, so I can’t promise this spell will be that accurate! Worst comes to worst, you’ll all fall to your deaths! Probably, you’ll be fine! Good luck!” He lifted up his hand.
“«Teleport». «Teleport». «Teleport». «Teleport». «Teleport». Is that all of them? Oh. «Teleport».” Garfield wondered how the Tyrin kingdom would handle multiple pirate crews suddenly appearing in the middle of their capital city. Hopefully, they’d handle it better than Azure Bay had.