Crookbag was anything but crooked. He stood at least seven feet tall, his broad body at least five times my size. Tattoos dotted from the top of his shoulder till his abdomen, all of different colors like a painting on his skin. His beard hung loose, and his eyes gave a mad grin as he cuddled with the women around him.

“Are you the wine boy?” he asked as I entered. Then he looked at Kaya. “Are you the next whore?”

“We come in peace,” I straight up got to the point. It was always easy when you got straight to the point with bastards like him. “The Pirate Queen Isla is dead. And her body will soon be discovered by her crew. There will be only one possible suspect, which is the Waylong pirates. Before dawn there will be a declaration of war.”

The little cheers, smiles and the crinkle of wine glasses faded away. Seven naked girls stared at me, with their big leader’s large red eyes piercing right through me.

And then he broke into a laugh, his baritone voice echoing through the little room that smelled of sweat and wine. He laughed for a long time. Very long. Until his temporary concubines joined him with giggles and smiles. A pretty lady, with long legs, nice hips and round breasts, scaled up to him, and whispered something in his ear.

He grinned. “True,” he shuffled her hair. “I asked for the wine boy not the inn’s jester.”

“If I was jesting then I’ll probably make a better joke,” I smiled. I tried not to focus on the shivering of my feet. Confidence was the utmost importance. “But I’ve come here to offer a deal. One way or the other you’ll have to accept the declaration of war, and you’ll have to fight. So it’s best to take action before it happens. I know where her weapons are stored, where her men are placed, and where her spies reside. Kill them now, and you’ll be pulling the roots before the weeds grow.”

“A lot of funny jokes,” the woman, who had scaled up to Crookbag’s lap like a monkey, chided.

Crookbag chuckled. “True. Isla dying? I’ve been trying to kill her for eleven years and no miracle has helped me then. And even if I am in a dream and this is true, how would you know?”

I smiled. “I slept with her.”

Crookbag broke into a laugh again. “Bless my balls, this boy makes a lot of good jokes.”

“A whore?” the woman gave a thin smile. The rest of the girls chuckled with her. “What a joke.”

“Funny coming from your mouth,” Kaya spoke for the first time, her eyes falling on the woman strongly gripping Crookbag’s buff arm.

She hissed. “You better watch your mouth girl. I am the-”

I fished out the pirate sigil of Isla from my pockets. I had dropped it to my pockets before dragging the body. Now I was very glad I did.

“Would this be proof?” I raised the sigil. “It’s a rule among you pirates never to lose your sigil, because each your sigils are unique. If you have fought Isla before, then you will recognize this.”

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I watched in fascination how Crookbag’s eyes slowly widened until they seemed to gouge out.

“By the bloody seas!” he threw off the woman on his lap. She flew and landed on another girl before landing on the ground with an oof. “She’s dead! The queen of the seas is dead!”

His eyes blazed at me, and then he lunged. I barely had the time to register before strong hands gripped me by the neck, and I was at least ten inches up in the air.

“Who the fuck are you? A lost sea pirate? A Divisioner? A Garrote?”

“Put him down!” Kaya’s voice had a strange trance to it. And I wanted to put myself down, if I had the means to do it. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Crookbag turned, face blazing. “Hah! A witch of the [Lust] class. I’ve survived far more charms than you. So that’s it then?” He turned to me. Face like a tiger. “You dare challenge me? After killing Isla you think you could kill me?”

I choked. It felt like someone was clawing down my neck.“There’s a misunderstanding-”

“Yes, of course there has been. So let me understand you fuckers. You thought you could kill me in my own place? Well let me teach you a lesson! Chagum! Kill the girl.”

From the corner of my eyes I saw the woman who had flown ontop of another girl spat, and then grab a dagger from the top of the dressing table.

Shit…

That is why I hated bringing Kaya. She didn’t deserve to be a part of this.

“If…you…put me down…” my eyes were turning blue, and my breath was running short. Damn, Crookbag’s entire palm was larger than my neck. “…I can…help….I’m not here to…”

“CROOKBAG!”

It was a completely different voice. It came from the street, but the voice easily pieced through the large stained windows.

“CROOKBAG!” the voice was more louder now. “Come out! I come with a declaration of war!”

Crookbag’s eyes moved beyond the wall to where the sound came from. In a very hazy purple view, and with my nose clogging up my last breath, I spoke. “Let…me…”

He released me, and I fell down to the ground, my butt hitting the floor.

“Jorg!” Kaya came running at me.

I took a deep breath. For once there was nothing more sweeter than the smell of sweat and thyme in a whorehouse.

Chagum, the assassin, advanced on us, blade raised. But Crookbag stopped her.

“You brought allies with you?” Crookbag raised his fist. “I’ll squish your head-”

“Listen to him!” Kaya snapped. “If he wanted to kill you why would he come and mention the pirate queen’s death at all? We are not your enemy.”

“Your Charm skill isn’t working on-”

“I am not using any skill,” Kaya gritted her teeth. “We are your allies. Jorg has killed the queen, and he has information valuable to you. But who waits outside is your enemy. If you kill Jorg and step out, no matter how powerful you are, you’ll be at a loss of words. Information is the most important here. You don’t want to kill information that lands right on your footsteps do you?”

“She’s using Charm,” Chagum snapped. “We need-”

Crookbag raised an arm, silencing her. “Tell me, how can one boys who can barely swing a punch at me kill the most dangerous woman of the seas?”

I glared back at him. “With the power of love,” I pulled out Isla’s ring I had hidden in my pocket. “After sleeping with her, I stole this. This gave me access to the-”

“Chaligan,” Crookbag muttered.

“The Higher System.”

“Higher System, Chaligan, Empress’s Blood, whatever you decide to call it.” He paused for a while. Then chuckled. “What a funny way to die. To get killed by your own power.”

“I still don’t know how I killed her,” I said, slowly putting the ring back on my pocket. I didn’t want Crookbag to take it.

“That bloody thing is an artifact. It temporarily amplifies the power of the wielder after a recharge. It’s not something you keep near your bed at night.”

Things finally started to make sense. So the reason why my attack has been so powerful was because I used the power of the ring. That was satisfying and depressing at the same time.

“CROOKBAG!” the voice thundered outside. “You have five seconds to come out before I burn this inn to the ground!”

“Chagum,” Crookbag looked at her. “Dress up. And dress the girls. We are going to war,” he turned to look at me and Kaya. “And you two fuckers are on the front line.”