Knock knock.

I wait a moment but hear no reply from inside. I knock again curious if he's perhaps out.

"Working, just come in!"

I open the door slowly and peek a head in. This is apparently the home of the man who requested the pearls. I carefully avoid a few stacks of crates and meander into where I hear the man clicking away at something on a desk.

"What'd you want I got orders for months so if it's that, you'll have to wait awhile."

"Ah, no it's not that, actually the opposite. I have something for you. A request you made."

"You can't mean…?"

"Yeah," I pull a small bag from my pocket and open it revealing more than twenty beautifully round white pearls. "There's more than twenty but I figure you can make a real nice…"

"This is," He grips the bag staring at them in awe. "They are amazing. I… I can't believe it was really completed. And this will be our 50th anniversary! You are a God send boy! With this, it will be perfect."  

"Ah, I'm sure she will be very happy."

"Mhm, She surely will." He says clutching the bag close to his chest. "Ah, the money. I, hold on, right here…"

"Ah actually rather than that what are you doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, this?" He says pointing to the pile of shells and small wood picture frame beside it.

"Yeah, did you do this?" I ask pointing at another frame hanging on the wall.

"Yeah, that one there is my pride and joy. Beautiful isn't it? It's that old ship sitting on the beach a few miles away."

"But it's made entirely of…"

"Yeah, mother of pearl. It's hard to find the right colors but sometimes the subtle difference is what makes it looks nice. Look at the purple chunk there. When it broke I just about cried. it's a perfect window shape I couldn't believe my luck. Curves are hard too but I've figured out some tools."

It really was incredible it was a perfect match to the first time I saw the Excalibur. The silver angel glimmering in the sun. He even got the shine right.

"The key is to paint it first and then cover it up." He says with a smug grin. "The hardest part is learning to paint in mother-of-pearl colors, not a wide palette. And it's nice because a little mistake like this is hard to spot."

He points to a small gap between two shells, but with the color shining through behind, I hadn't even noticed it. He really was a master craftsman.

"How about for a reward you take that."

"No, no, no way. That's your pride and joy. And honestly, it's a masterpiece, gathering those pearls could never be worth that. Honestly just seeing all this is reward enough. Here I came to help an old man make a necklace, but now I'm thinking I'd just get in your way."

"You're too kinda scamp. Here, please."

He hands me a small bag of coins and I reluctantly agree. He explained that he would occasionally sell a painting so this much was no problem it seems.

Well, I suppose he would have to be wealthy. He's the one purchasing the shells from the guild after all. Or at least that's my deduction.

"Come on by again. I know adventurers like yourself never stay in place long but I'd love to have you by again."

"Be glad to," I say with a polite wave as he leads me out.

~ ~

"Yeah, I need fourteen, sorry about that I hope I'm not cleaning you guys out."

"Ah, no worries. All smalls?" She says looking at Mirna who had wandered into the shop with me.

"No! Half large," I say attempting to clear the misunderstanding. They aren't all children, who do you think I am? "…and half small. Oh and socks too."

"We have long and short."

"Let's go half and half. Do they come in sizes?"

"No, it's one size fits all."

Ah, so it's one size fits none then.

"I suppose that works."

"Anything else?"

"Oh umm…" I say pondering for a moment. "I don't think so."

"May I be so bold as to suggest…" She holds up a small ball of thin cloth and unfurls it.

"Yes, we will, of course, need 14 pairs of those as well. Thank you."

"Of course."

"Mirna wants these" Mirna shouts from behind me flapping something loosely.

"And then that too I guess," I say pointing with a thumb towards Mirna.

"Ahem… A very bold choice madam."

Wait what did I just get myself into exactly. I turn around to Mirna but she has hidden her hands behind her back mischievously. I'm nervous for my health. Particularly if Mirna brags to Rou about it. Whatever 'it' is exactly.

~ ~

"Thank you so much!" Alice says doing a twirl and looking towards a similarly aged girl and complimenting her look.

I had heard the two were childhood friends but I couldn't for the life of me remember the other girl's name. I could check the menu but that would be cheating. It will come to me.

The girls were apparently having trouble. Well not all of them, but even now I could tell the effect of the sea was not good on about half of them. I wanted to find a place for them, somewhere they would surely be safe but also monetarily secure. They all claimed they would work at the brothel but I said I wouldn't allow it. A few looked surprised while few other grasped at their chests with rosy cheeks.

I really don't understand the girls of this world at all. Though I guess, what's new?

I could open some sort of business but I don't even know what they can do? Could they run a business if I left them in charge? I don't doubt for a moment we could make a profit, but the question is could they handle the work? I honestly wasn't sure, they were young. My age or younger mostly. Could I handle a business alone at my age? I kind of doubt it.

"Alice?" I ask remembering something the girl mentioned earlier.

"Yes?" Alice responds turning from her friend and smiling at me kindly.

"You said your parent ran a trading company?"

"Oh my parents worked there but it was Karlie's parents business."

Right, Karlie. I remember now.

"Right, sorry. Karlie how much about running their business did your parent teach you?"

"A bit, they mostly taught my brother but I picked up some here and there."

"Why?" Alice asks curiously of my line of questioning.

"Well, I imagine you all don't want to stay on the ship. Karlie's head seems to be swimming for instance. So if I open a business in Marrow…"

"Oh," Alice says seemingly looking between Karlie's face and me.

"You aren't wrong. I'm sort of embarrassed, to be honest. I thought I would handle the ocean better." Karlie shrugs, "I think opening a business would be a good idea, But wouldn't it be expensive?. And what kind of business?"

"I don't know. I've been thinking about that for awhile now. And as for the money that probably shouldn't be an issue."

"You could offer Slave collar removals. That's always in high demand."

"Well, that's not something that you all can do though. I want something that you all can operate yourselves."

"We could open a restaurant. Those hamburgers would sell well."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how much demand for that there would be in Marrow. It already has a few eateries and I would hate to take business from the Inn."

""Hmm"" The two girls seem to ponder it for a few moments.

"There you are Captain!" Aqua's voice from the hall resounds, back tracking and entering the room with a huff.

"Captain, what are you doing in Alice and Karlie's room?" Rou asks following behind Aqua and peering at me with concern in her eyes.

"We were discussing their future plan. I don't want to force them to stay on the ship but I would feel bad just abandoning them in Marrow."

"I see," Rou says thinking about my words.

"And what is it currently?" Aqua asks

"The plan?" She nods to my reply so I continue. "Well, it's nothing concrete yet but I will open a business of some kind. Somewhere they can work until they get back on their feet. From there they can move on or stay depending on how they feel."

~ ~

"What do you think this city needs more than anything?" I ask a small ratty creature I corned on the beach. No one knows this city better than these urchins. If anyone knows what is in demand in this city it's them, or the peddlers.

The small homeless boy looks at me with stiff eyebrows before taking a bite into the cookie I had given him. He stares at it in surprise before taking the rest into his mouth in a single bite.

"I have more so go easy on it. Take your time."

He gulps slowly taking a sip from the cup of water I had set down in front of him. He still looked at me in somewhat confusion.

"Do you understand what I am saying?" I try asking, he hasn't exactly responded to any of my words so it's possible he can't understand the language.

"Mm." The boy says clinking the emptied cup onto the table.

"Then do you just not know the answer?"

"Hard question. What Marrow needs is different than what I need I think."

"I'm not sure that's exactly true but go ahead."    

"Marrow is a rich town. People with nice clothes happy families, they like nice things. I imagine this 'cookie' would sell for excessive…"

"And what is it that you need?"

"I wish this city had more jobs."

"You mean in the guild?"

"In general, I am an F rank but I would gladly work as a stable hand if there were an open position. I've asked just about every shop owner in town, even asked the Lord's mansion. None of them want workers."

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"I see."

"Mhm, but like a bakery, I think would probably…"

"Ok, I've decided. Do you want to be a pirate?"

"What?!"

~ ~

"So you will act as both a merchant and pirate basically?" The guild master looks at me with a hand to his thick beard

"The Excalibur won't, we will continue as we have been. This will be a separate entity. A business that will both ship goods and protects boats making shipments. We will carve new trade route directly through black seas."

"And you think a crew without you could do that?"

"I have no doubt. I will personally train them. And as we expand we will split the trained crews in order to spread the training."

"I see, well there is no problems with your idea. Though I wonder why you are even consulting me on this."

"Well, I was worried I would be taking business away from the guild…"

"On the contrary. You will likely make the whole thing more organized. Despite the lack of Pirates we still receive ocean based jobs often. We have no choice but to eventually put them into the dead requests pile. But if you operated in the city we could send them in your direction. You will also be giving work to the F ranks who desperately need it."

"That was my intention."

"Mm, I agree to the proposal. But for something like this you will have to ask Carrington, I expect you will want a good location near the port."

"Actually I wondered about building a whole new pier," I say giving him my honest thoughts on the matter. No matter how you cut it this town's port was too small. It could barely hold four ships, and we take up the space of two.

"A new pier? Mm, then that is definitely something you need to talk to the Lord about. Would you like me to arrange a meeting?"

"That would be great, thanks!"

"Oy, it's ready," Muscleman says with a knock on the door frame.

"Oh!" I say excitedly turning to the man and taking the small bag he held in his hand. "Kinda light though."

What the hell. These are silver. What a rip off. I thought that core was supposed to sell for a ton of money.

"What the deal?" I ask taking out a silvery coin and holding it out to Muscleman.

"Boy, you really are some kind of idiot aren't-cha."

"What?"

The guild master spoke up behind me. "Those are platinum signets in case you didn't know, it's not surprising they are a rare currency. The Lord could probably change a few of them if you need. Or the bank maybe, Signets are hard to spend."

"How many is it?"

"It's 100 per."

"Oh, oh, that…" I say beginning to count the silver coins in the pouch.

17. so that's 1700 gold coins?

"And this is the most recent payment for sea dragon materials. And this here is from the Sharks. And lastly the lizard." He says handing me three more pouches. "As for stones they were shipped to the auction house yesterday."

"Um…"

"Yes?"

"No, nothing. Nevermind."

"The bank is the short stout building across from the church. You'll see it."

"Thanks."

~ ~

But really isn't this too much. I have no conception of money but this feels like a couple pounds of precious metals. Are these coins really pure platinum? I've never seen so much in my life.

"Deposit?" The woman asks as the line winds down and I step towards the counter.

"Yes. Though I don't have an account yet."

"Not a problem, do you have a guild tag? If not we can help you fill out the form."     

"Ah, yes I do. Here." I hand the woman the card and she frowns at the F ranking for a moment before returning to me with a smile.

"And how much will you be depositing?"

"Let's go with one thousand I guess. Ah, you know what, make it fifteen hundred."

I place the bag of Signets, sans two, onto the counter. She goes silent for a moment looking in the pouch. She eventually begins to count and then nods quickly stuffing it onto a cart and indicating for me to sign. I write my name on the form and slide it back to her. She rushes the cart off towards a large door at the back of the building.

A small man looks at the contents with wide eyes before quickly beginning to enter the combination.

It took nearly five minutes to open the vault door. It seems to be a multi stage lock. The dwarf checked a list before nodding and pulling on a handle. A gust of steam burst from the rim of the door before it slowly began to creep open. The dwarf ran the cart inside while the woman returned to me with a slip of paper.

"Thi… this is the confirmation of deposit. Please come again soon!" She gives me a bright smile and I nod to her before heading towards the door.

That was quite an ordeal.

Oh, damn I should have just put it into storage.

~ ~

"Oy! Get outta here urchin. No food here." An armored man standing at the gate says to me pushing on my chest with the butt of his spear.

He seems concerned by the fact that his prod doesn't knock me over. I knew his intention so I dug my feet in a moment before. Talk about rude though. I properly have an appointment.

The two guards look at each other seemingly surprised that the thrust hadn't knocked me down. But can you really call 'that' a thurst? It wouldn't even bruise me. Weak guards Lord Carrington, weak guards.

"Well, that must be him then." A man stepping out towards the gate says while a guard attempts to tackle me with his whole body weight.

"Seems like it." The guard who is ramming into me says with a grin. Was I being tested? "But really he won't budge. I'm amazed."

The man, continuing to push on me with his body weight topples over as I take a step towards the new arrival.

"Hello, I am Cole Moedy. I have an appointment."

"Yes, right this way." The man says smiling at the toppled guard. "I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble. They had trouble believing the rumors spreading around town."

"Rumors?"

"About you of course. 'Indestructible' might not be wrong after all."

"I don't know about all that. I just do what I can."

The man nods at my response and leads me into the large mansion. Just how many rooms does this place have though? I pass door after door in the wide hallway.

We arrive at a double door and he knocks twice. The doors swing open and I spot a man in fine robes seated near a table sipping a cup. He points towards the couch across from him and I make my way over.

"Well then; my name is Franz Carrington. You are welcome to call me Franz. It's good to finally put a face to the rumor. I truly hope you are enjoying Marrow." The man says after setting the cup down with a grin.

"Nice to meet you, As you have probably been told my name is Cole Moedy. And I am enjoying the town greatly. I have met some dear friends here. I am growing very fond of this place."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was worried a small town like this would be something you would grow out of quickly."

"Is this town really considered small?"

I thought it was large overall but I guess compared to a capital or something.

"It's the smallest town with a Noble Lord. Just my luck I guess. But I enjoy it here too, and so do my children, so I don't mind it. I just wish there was more I could do for the people."

"Hmm, I had no idea."

"Have you never visited another city?"

"Just here and Chipowa island but I wouldn't call 'that' a city."

"No. Well, maybe once you see the capital you will be disillusioned by Marrow, It wouldn't surprise me."

"Ah, no. Actually, I intended to open a business here, and the family of one of my crew members lives here so we will keep this as our port of call for awhile."

"Ox mentioned something about that."

Guild masters name is Ox? For some reason that doesn't surprise me.

"A pirate organization if I understood correctly?"

"Not exactly. More merchant/bodyguard work. We plan to open faster trade routes between the island villages, in hopes that tragedies, like the bandit attack on Tarufo, don't happen again."

"I see. So you will be purchasing merchant ships and outfitting them with trained personnel?"

"No, that defeats the purpose. I plan to strengthen the currently operating merchants, not compete with them. I will acquire ships another way."

"It will be costly to import them from the Island of Crows. But you likely earned a good bit from the Sea dragon. I suppose…"

"I am not sure what this Island of Crows is but that's not how I intend to get ships. I ask that you leave that matter to me, just know that it can be done."

"I…I see, and you intended to extend the pier Ox said?"

"I intend to build a new one."

"That is… quite an undertaking. Where would you construct it? And do you know how much something like that would cost?"

"I talked with the wood mill that currently works to maintain the dock, I needed to order new lumber for my ship yesterday anyways so I asked them for a quote. It shouldn't be an issue. But it might just about clean me out."

"I will pay half the costs. If you are really able to do what you claim in opening shipping lanes. I have no choice but to assist you. The good it could bring is too much to pass up. I also prepared a few properties in the area you may be interested in looking at."

"Thank you very much. I hope I can live up to your expectations."

"I have no doubts you will."