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At the stable under the deck, a maskless Drac fed Mist.

“Such a good boy. Did you miss me?" Drac’s steed neighed.

“I miss you too. Hold on for a while; we will be on land soon, and then we will run in the wind for as long as possible.” Mist neighed louder as Drac brushed his mane.

"Are you still hungry? Let me get you a treat.” Drac left his brush aside and turned. A sailor bumped into him.

“Sorry about that, if you could excuse me.”

The sailor went to block his way, and four more sailors blocked his sides. Several grins grew on sun-damaged men. The lanterns illuminated their ugly, toothless faces.

“Hey foreigner, where are you from?” the middle one asked

Puzzled by the question, Drac answered honestly. “Plyton north of Dyce.”

The sailors laughed. "No, you idiot. I mean, what country?"

“Here.”

The middle sailor starts to get irritated. Hood was losing his patience as well.

Just push past them.

Drac said, “If that's all, then..."

“Woah there. Don't you know manners, black boy? How long have you been in this country?”

“Since I was born, could you please move out of the way?”

“What is it like to serve the blonde girl? Horrible right? You could have revenge! Just lead her-"

A gloved punch crunched a nose. The sailor flew backwards, spilling blood from their nose, and fell to the wood floor.

Nice, Drac. You finally found your balls.

The sailor looks at the unconscious man on the floor in surprise. They all look at Drac again, ready to attack.

“I won't use my sword, so you have a semblance of a chance.”

Lured by the taunt, a guard on the right of Drac threw a wide punch.

So shitty.

Drac leaned. The sailor’s punch went past him. A short uppercut to the chin knocked him out. A left-hand punch from a sailor on Drac’s left was parried and tapped aside with his left hand. The same hand turned into a fist and broke a second nose. Drac's left jab turned into an elbow and knocked out another sailor on the left.

One left.

The last of them went for a grapple. Drac kicked the left knee, making the sailor buckle. A right elbow to the chin ends the fight. In the cabin, other sailors stare in the dark.

Drac tuned into Ignis and ignited a large flame.

"Cause no trouble for us, and no one gets burned to ash. Understand?

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They all nodded.

The flame was extinguished.

That was a great stress reliever.

The wood creaked above. Multiple heavy steps cause dust to fall on the crew under the deck.

Check it out.

Drac went to do as Hood said when a lone sailor burst down the stairs.

“Attackers! Everyone, get your weapons!”

Sailors rushed to get their swords and shields. While Drac only had one thought.

Marina!

Light as a feather, he threaded himself through the crowd of sailors and ran up to the deck. In the dark of night, twenty figures in capes hold their swords ready. The leader walked in front and shouted at everyone.

“WHERE IS SHE? BRING HER OUT, OR EVERYONE WILL DIE BY OUR SWORDS.”

Searching for someone, a criminal? No… They don’t seem to be the kind to deal justice fairly. Mercenary group, probably.

An unknown presence tapped him on the back with something that felt like paper.

What the fuck…?

Someone Hood couldn't detect. Who are they?

“Don't turn around,” a calm woman's voice said. “Take a look and read.”

The woman put a letter in his right hand. He took the letter, flipping it over, and found the seal of the church. A woman kneeling down in prayer.

Issac. The old bastard, is this a sorry for not seeing us off?

Drac hurried, ripped the envelope, and read the letter.

Dear, Drac.

Protect Flida. She will lead you to Asa. I vouch for her skills.

Thanks, Issac.

I guess you know what we have to do.

Drac turned around. A freckled young woman who stood at the height of Drac’s shoulder wore a brown shawl. Her light brown leather waistcoat, trousers, and boots look worn and used. A bright green shirt underneath. There is a dagger on her right side. Large brown leather gloves carry a rucksack. Short and boyish hazel hair blew in the wind. Her frightened face betrayed her calm voice.

Drac sighed.

“I just wanted a break from the killing.”

He turned back and tuned Auditus.

“Marina. Hang back and protect the crew. I will deal with this.”

“Yes, sir, boss.” She replied sarcastically.

Drac split into three. Two of his copies hide in the crowd. Drac made his presence known by unsheathing Heilong.

"Foreigner, are you sure you want to do this? We just want the girl.”

“Quit the lies. I see from your sadistic eyes that you won’t let any word of this get out.”

A smile crept under a hood on the leader’s rough face.

“Oh well, I tried to be civil.” All twenty caped men flared their auras. The leader's smile was growing larger with confidence.

Be quick about it. We need to play chess again.

Salty about losing last time?

The attackers jumped at the sailors.

“Now.”

A wall of blue protected them all. Swords bounced off. The copies came out of hiding, cutting down enemies like grass. The leader gaped as his gang was decimated by two unknowns.

The copy on the port of the deck slipped by a sword and stabbed a stomach with a blue knife of Murus. He was attacked from behind. Crouching down to evade, he saved his neck. From down low, the Drac kicked high. The aura kick crushed the man's skull. Another sword was parried, and a head was decapitated.

The second copy is on the starboard, sliced through a head. Dodging an arrow, the Drac threw his throwing knife, hitting the target yards away. The Drac blocked a heavy strike to the stomach with a reverse grip. The attacker went for an overhead slash. Before the sword could be swung, the attacker's bowels fell.

His copies doing their job, Drac walked forward past the blue wall

The leader flared his aura again and went to strike, roaring. Jumping high for a downward slash. An aura-covered sword came down on Drac. The wind boomed after the swing. Drac blocked the attack, hardly perturbed by the clash, and swept it to the side.

Drac controlled his aura. A cut up, down, left, right. The small cuts increased until Heilong was a blur of silver. In a moment, the body of the gang leader was lacerated, falling into a heap of meat and blood. With a quick flick the blade, Heilong is clean of blood and Drac sheathed his treasured sword

Drac saw the sailors staring. Their faces looked familiar to the soldiers at Foushire.

Chess.

Be patient. We have to ask the girl about a few things first.

“Sorry about the mess. Could you get the unconscious ones below to clean this up?”