"NO! Under the pulley. No, not that pulley. Here Aqua, do you mind showing him?"

"This one," Aqua says point to a pulley near my left hand. I fashion the rope as she instructs and secure it to the deck.

"Is that it?"

"No way; we need the Jib lines, as well as tetherings, and do you want to just pull up with that thing hanging off the front?"

"Would that be bad?"

"Silver angel, royal family emblem," Mirna pipes up from halfway down a rope.

"Oh?"

"She's right, people in Marrow might understand the situation but any other port would haul us off as criminals."

"That's, something to avoid indeed."

I hadn't honestly thought much about that, to be honest. I kind of liked the angel. But if we have to remove it I guess I don't mind. Thier reasoning was good enough for me, I don't wanna go to jail. And a royal family doesn't seem like someone to mess with.    

"Oh wait how long ago did this ship beach though?"

"They said 6 years, but it was probably nearly new when it happened from looking at the condition."

"That's not what I mean, the royal family switched 2 years ago, remember the coup? The new family probably don't even know about this boat. I doubt it will be an issue really, as long as we remove the goddess of course."

The three of them begin prattling on about politics which I originally intended to ignore but instead chose to listen. even if I didn't have to deal with it now, knowing 'these things' I'm sure I'll get embroiled in political intrigue at some point.

The royal family had two main factions currently according to the talk. The prince and the princess. They were apparently parts of warring adventurer parties, both vying for the completion of the infinite dungeon. But of course, it wouldn't be politics if nobles weren't involved. It seems, depending on the loyalty of the Nobel, any up and coming adventurers from their area would join with the princes or princess's troops.

That's right troops. These people don't use six person parties they use 10,000 man parties. The leading theory is a wish will be granted when the dungeon is completed but no body is exactly sure where that rumor came from or if there is even any ending at all.

If we get stronger it would be fun to clear it.

The girls also have levels by the way, but I don't have control of their points or skills, they seem to get placed based on use. The menu is different now too.

I guess it's in [Pirate Mode]. Now I have a ship menu. I explored it a bit, seems to contain ship armaments and even ships themselves. I buy them with something called ship points. I have 100 now but I'm not entirely sure how I get more, so I don't want to waste them.

Rou and Aqua are currently level 3 while Mirna is level 1. I wasn't expecting differently but I wonder just how high a level 49 is? I shouldn't get ahead of myself and think I'm OP. This could be average.

Ah, so much to do. But every moment I look at that stupid menu leaves me with a searing headache, it's too bright to look at it at night and impossible to see during the day.

I shouldn't complain though, it's not like I need it anyway. We will just say I'm playing on hard mode for now.

"Ok we have a pulley in place Aqua do you want to secure the ropes."

"No, Bolts."

"Oh, that's true. Alright, Captain do you mind giving a hand?"

"Sure. Just tie it around the wings?"

"Yeah that should work, right?"

"Mhm. Tight."

"Right, right. Alright, you start on the bolts in the storeroom I'll stomp when were ready to go."

With that Aqua runs off and Mirna chases after her.

"Aqua is good with mechanical stuff?" I ask, curious why she requested removing the bolts.

"Yeah, She was always like that," Rou says with a smile on her face as she feeds me the rope to secure the angel. She giggles a bit and then continues. "When she was six she found a string on the ground so she started fiddling with, within a half hour the whole house toppled into the water. Apparently, it was securing the pontoons"

"I'm not sure if I should be worried about my boat or worried for the person who designed yours?"

"Hahaha, yeah my dad always was outlandish with designs. He said he liked his designs to have an Achilles heel, it was like its beating heart. Something that made it feel alive."       

"Hmm, sounds like a funny guy."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No, no I'm serious, I'd like to meet him. He sounds interesting."

"Ah, yeah that would be nice," Rou says absently looking at the ocean.

I figure it's something not to talk about so I continue my work. I tug on the knot a few times to be sure it's secure. After confirming it with Rou she stomps a few times and I maneuver back onto the deck.

After yanking on the ropes for awhile the angel finally released its hug on the bowsprit. We lowered it onboard and stowed it away in the hold. after closer inspection, it appears to be solid silver. I'm not sure how that was missed by the Knights but I'm not complaining.

After the thrill of getting the silver, the girls begged me to properly count my earnings so we are currently seated at the table in the galley with my two bags of coins.

Mirna had no interest so she ran off to clean the kitchen. She seems to be proud of her cooking skills so I plan to leave that area up to her. Of course, I will help as well when requested. She is my employer after all.

"15,25,35…"

"Plus this is 72."

"So…?" I finally ask the girls. They have begun to learn that I have no concept of money in this world so I left the counting to them.

"That 720 gold Captain."

"She means 'that's a lot of gold Captain.'" Aqua corrects.

"I see."

"We probably could have bought a boat…" Rou ponders quietly.

"A boat as nice as this? I think not," Aqua says chopping her on the head lightly.

"Ah, no I'm not saying I don't like it. this place is great, it's just… amazing. I've never seen this much money before."

"You think we are done? look at the requests." I say placing the leather binding on the table. I open it and place the first one on the table. I had noticed it earlier and it ate at my heart strings. "There is plenty more money to be earned!"

"You say that, but this request has almost no reward you realize?"

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"I know but look closely at it. It's a man looking for a dozen pearls for a necklace for his wife, he wants to give it to her for their anniversary."

The two look closer and both faces seem to lighten at the story written on the paper. and then I seal the deal with what amazed me most about it.

"And now look at the date."

"It…it was posted almost twenty-five years ago," Rou says with a gasp. "Do you even know if he's still alive though."

"Mhm. Muscleman told me he comes once a year and shuffles his request back to the top of the dead requests folder."

"Oh, that's…"

"Right. How can we not? And Muscleman told me about a lizard that eats nothing but oysters. Apparently, you can find a ton of pearls in its rock gizzard. I say we head towards one as soon as the ship is sailable!"

"I'm motivated again, right?" Aqua says glancing at Rou.

"Mhm. Let's get the sail set, it should be almost ready just need to make sure everything is right."

"And you two, are sure you know what you're doing?"

"More or less," Aqua shouts as they run towards the door.

Please don't pull on any strings Aqua.

I scoop the gold from the table and deposit it back into my pouch before following the two to do the final checks.

"Check, Check, Check, Oh did we do that?" Rou consults Aqua while glancing at a sheet of paper.

"Yeah Mirna almost fell from the Crowsnest remember?"

"Ooh, ah but of course captain would never allow that to happen."

"Oh, would you two shut up about that. it wasn't a big deal."

"Wasn't a big deal, captain you were on working more than 20 feet away and you leaped to catch her in like, a single stride. Please, try pretending that's not a feat of mythical proportions."

This had been going on for awhile. What was my other option let her fall and have Aqua heal her? Not gonna risk it I'm just glad my base stat of agility was high enough to pull it off. Mirna was crying but when Aqua and Rou properly explain the event from their point of view the tears stopped and she stared at me with awe.

Well, I wasn't planning on keeping my abilities to myself so there's no harm. Other than the literal harm to the deck that my step caused. It seems Aqua wants to replace the deck anyways so no problem I guess.

"Well, then that's everything. Captain. We are ship shape."

"Captain," Aqua says following Rou's lead and saluting me.

Mirna ran over from where she was sanding and snapped to an adorable salute. I patted each of them which seemed to put them at ease and then made my first command as a captain.

"Set sail!"

"Where?" Rou counters making me drip sweat.

"I have no idea do we have a map? Or does anyone know where we'd find a Clawfoot lizard?"

The group sat silent.

And then Aqua came to the rescue. "Let look for it in the requests. maybe there is a subjugation for one including its location."

So we returned to the mess hall and began to flip through the endless requests. Aqua and Rou decided they had to organize them while Mirna was just looking at each of the pictures in Awe. I wonder who draws them? is it Muscleman? I can see him being an artist.

"Oh maybe this," Rou says putting a sheet in front of me. "It's not a request at all, that's why it caught my eye, look!"

"Hmm, oh, maybe!" she was pointing at a line that read. 'Unlisted dangerous island #283 - Big Lizards found.'

"This is a completion report. For pirates, I'd guess. look at all the quests."

"That's some detailed report. I guess pirates are busy. But whats Unlisted dangerous island 283 mean?"

"It's a code, look." She says exchanging the sheet with a large map. She flattens it with her hands and politely requests Mirna hold it down. After complying she again turns to me. "See the black ones?"

She's pointing at a dark colored blot on the map deep off the coastline.

"Here's marrow and 283 is…" She mumbles for a moment and runs her finger across a few islands looking closely at some notations on the map.

"Here!"

"Oh, that's not far at all."

"Nope, I'd say a few days if we have good wind."

"Great work Rou! You didn't sell yourself short at all in your introduction!"

"A..ah, thanks." She says burying her face back into the map.

"Muuuuh, I helped too!" Aqua fusses beside her with a stack of papers in her hand.

"And Mirna held the map!"

"Ah, of course, all of you were a great help as well. But we are not done yet, we haven't even set off. So do we know our course?"

"Well, it tough to chart a course though because we wanna avoid black waters and all, and it's a black island nonetheless. If we follow the coast here we can island hop…"

Aqua roughly smacks Rou on the back of the head. It likely would have hurt more if not for the messy bun. "Rou we are pirates, we always take the shortest path between two points!"

Rou seems to ponder this for a moment before lighting up with a smile. "We are pirates…"

"That's right, there are no black seas to pirates."

"Mhm."

They seem motivated again so I left it to themselves. Rou began charting and calculating distance while Aqua did a third check on the knots.

""We are ready."" They finally report again after a few minutes of harsh deliberation.

"Well then Set Sail! We have no time to lose, have you seen the request date on the form?"

"Yeah, we know 25 years."

"No, not that. The date of completion. It's not often filled in, but if I had to guess he did it in order to have it finished before the anniversary in which case it's a little less than two weeks away, twenty-five years ago of course."  

"""OH!"""

They each threw a fist in the air with an entirely higher level of motivation. I was handed a thick rope. I glanced at each of them but it seems to be something I have to do.

Was it strength dependent. I pull on the rope and confirm any of them could easily draw it so why.

Oh.

As I continue to pull I realize why, the sail rose and began to catch the wind, the more I pulled the faster it went. I reached the end of the rope and tied it where I was instructed. I glanced towards the girls and each of them just stared at the massive sail with a sense of wonder.

I understood. I felt it too.

We were moving. It was real now. We are pirates.