When I swabbed the game room the next day, there were some bloodstains on the floorboards. After having a night to dry on the wood, I almost couldn't get them out. I had to scrub pretty hard in order to do so. I almost wondered if Morlow and Curloch had killed Laryn, but I saw him in the galley for lunch. He looked pretty beat-up, but not in a way that would explain the blood stains I saw.

“Oh, they took me eye,” He said offhandedly when I asked him about it, pointing to a bandage over his left eye. When I stared at him, aghast at his nonchalance, he smirked back at me mirthlessly. “I deserved it. Had a bit too much to drink, I did, and started talkin’ about things I shouldn’t’ve. Me mates were lenient on me. And it ain’t a big deal, anyway. I’ll get it grown back once we get back to port from this here business.”

Okay. Well.

I don’t think I would be that relaxed about someone literally carving out my eye. But maybe it was because I came from someplace where you couldn’t just go to the equivalent of a doctor and get it grown back.

After that little episode, it was pretty smooth sailing for the next few days. I did my assigned duties, spoke to my friends when I could, and even tried to learn a few things about sailing. With the way that Grey had spoken about having a ship somewhere down south, it might be helpful. You know, what with being his apprentice and everything.

I…don’t think I was going to follow too closely in his footsteps, though. I wasn’t interested in becoming a full-on pirate.

Excuse me.

Privateer.

However, on the fourth day after that little incident, I was called to the Captain’s quarters after hours. When I got there, I found my entire party in there, along with Pete. You know, I hadn’t actually seen him over the last few days. Weird. It wasn’t that big of a ship.

Bella impatiently waved me in. “Close the door, will ya?”

I did as she asked, raising an eyebrow in a wordless question at the closest person to me. That turned out to be Sylvia, who just shrugged at me. I decided to wait for the explanation instead of just bothering people with needless questions.

“All right,” Bella started in a firm tone. “Now that yer all here, we can start. We’re getting’ close to the Seahorsemen’s huntin’ range. I reckon we can expect them to start tryin’ to hit us soon.”

The mood in the room grew much more serious. I stood up straighter, and paid even closer attention to Bella.

Said Captain leaned over the map table, where one was laid out. She waved our group closer. When I approached the table, I saw that the specific map she had seemed to be of a long stretch of coast where some locations were marked.

“This,” Bella said, pointing to a spot on the coast. “Is where Marrowmist is. And this,” She said, moving a finger to a point on the open sea about a hands length away from Marrowmist. “Is about roughly where we are.”

Grey cleared his throat politely, and used his finger to move hers down slightly. At Bella’s dirty look, he just smiled at her, as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

Bella snorted, but continued. “Over here,” She said, moving her finger to point at a small spit of rock on the map. “Is where Caer Drarrow is. Now that’s where I’m takin’ ye, but first we’ll have to deal with the Prime and his herd. Now, I talked to some of the other Captains back in port, and we figure that their range is somewhere around…here.” She said, making a large circle on the map.

Inside said circle was the island of Caer Drarrow.

Grey’s attention sharpened. “Wait,” He said, raising a hand. “That cannot be right. Such a large hunting ground is unheard of. Even for a Prime. Especially for a Prime. They’re not known for ranging far and wide in search of prey. Why would they? They’ve already reached the apex designation for their species. Their bestial instincts tell them that all they need now is to defend their territory, and control their underlings.”

“I don’t know about that, but this is what I’ve been told,” Bell said stubbornly. She stabbed a finger down at the map, farther from where we were, but still within the circle she had indicated earlier. “I was around right here when I was attacked and lost me fleet. I know they range farther than they should.”

Grey stroked his bare chin contemplatively, while I considered the problem. “Is it possible,” I spoke slowly, drawing everyone’s attention. “To control monsters?”

Grey’s stroking stilled at my question. “Elaborate please.” He said, directing an intense gaze at me.

“Well,” I said, a little unnerved at the strength of his stare. “I already know it’s possible to influence monsters, through the Breakage Effect. If this Prime and its herd are acting unusual, maybe they’re being compelled somehow.”

While Bella was mouthing the words ‘Breakage Effect’ to herself in confusion, Grey’s frown grew deeper with every word I said.

When I finished, he was scowling. “Damn,” Grey said in frustration. “It’s possible, if not difficult, to influence the behaviors of monsters.” He heaved a sigh. “You cannot outright control them, but…”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Are ye sayin’,” Bella said slowly, dangerously. “That I lost me fleet because someone’s been playing silly buggers with a bunch of damn monsters?”

Grey gave a short nod. “Isabella, whereabout on this map is the current blockade line, separating the north and south of the continent?”

Bella narrowed her eyes at Grey, but hunched over the map again. She studied it for a moment before she outright scowled. Wordlessly, she drew a straight line across the open waters of the map.

Right through the bottom portion of the range circle she had drawn earlier.

And near Caer Drarrow.

Grey heaved a long, drawn-out sigh. “Damn,” He said finally. “The Loyalists are directing the herd.”

Aurum spoke up hesitantly. “How is that possible, Headmaster?”

“As Nathan said, it’s possible to influence monsters in certain ways,” Grey answered. “I cannot say which way they’re using, but the evidence available to us suggests the possibility. These are low tactics indeed, but I can see the masterminds behind the Loyalists stooping to this degree.”

“Hold on now,” Azarus frowned, and crossed his arms. “Bit of a stretch, don’t ya think? It could just be a coincidence.”

“No, I see what he’s saying,” I said before Grey could, studying the map. “If the blockade line is directly in the path of the herd’s hunting range, why aren’t they being attacked by it? They must have some way to ward off the Neptaurians.”

“As you say, Nathan,” Grey said wearily. “Before we had even left Hollow Hill, the latest intelligence was that the blockade was whole and undamaged. The Uprising’s intelligence agents would have noticed if it was under attack by a Prime led monster herd.”

“And those agents would have had no idea that the herd even existed,” Sylvia said in a displeased tone. “Their mission was to observe the blockade, and not the waters north of it. If these monsters were avoiding the line…”

“All right, all right,” Azarus said, raising his hands. “I get the point.”

Bella took in all of our conversation with a narrowed gaze, before speaking up. “I don’t care much about any o’ that. What I care about is killin’ the damn things.”

“Then you’re in luck, my dear,” Grey said with a shake of his head. “I believe our goals align. You see, if the Loyalists have been directing the herd, they must be providing a safe haven for them as well. It just so happens that there’s a convenient cave at Caer Drarrow, hidden under the water line.”

I suppressed a sigh. I think I knew where this was going.

“Call it fate, but that same cave has been our destination this whole time. It is from there that I can access the prison interior, through a backdoor that I installed during its construction.” Grey said with a grim smile.

A sharp smile grew on Bella’s features. “Well, well, well. Looks like we ain’t gonna have to comb the waters fer the Seahorsemen after all.”

I guess not.

……………………………………..

After inadvertently discovering our target’s location, Bella had left the room to adjust our course. We didn’t need to wander about through the Neptaurian’s hunting range anymore, waiting for an attack with baited breath.

No, we were going to beard the dragon in its den.

So to speak.

While Bella and Grey left to adjust our course toward Caer Drarrow, I retreated to the same room that I had played cards in a few days ago. It was empty at the moment, as most of the crew were either asleep or working their night shift. I should be asleep as well, but I was feeling restless. I’d decided to get some crafting in to try and calm my mind. I was nearly done with my most important project anyway.

Way back after we had escaped Addersfield, I’d hit on an idea. Back home on Earth, we had conquered our planet through the use of a certain weapon. One that I wanted to see if I could recreate, with my oh-so-special Profession.

The gun.

I had no hope of being able to recreate anything modern from back home, but I think I understood the mechanism behind an extremely simple hand cannon. I was far from a gunsmith, but it was basically just a metal tube stuffed with gunpowder and a metal ball.

Hardly the most complicated thing I’d made at this point.

Honestly, I wondered why nobody on Vereden had made any yet. From what I’d seen, they certainly had the tech level for it. It’s not like they would be completely useless in a society where nearly everyone had a Status and a Class with some combat capabilities. I think a large amount of the monsters I’d fought here could have been killed more easily with a gun.

If this worked out, I would get to work on trying to advance to flintlock pistols. For now, my test bed gun was just too unwieldy to use in combat. I mean, Mechanical Engineering was a thing on this planet now, and Aetherial Melding was pretty much all of the Professions combined. I should be capable of it, especially after I’d managed to make my spear.

Heh, I guess I might end up being the equivalent of Sam Colt on this planet. I may not have made the people on this planet, but I was fine trying to make them all equal. Man, I’d love a revolver.

Picking up the finished product, I cast a gaze over it. It…pretty much looked like an iron tube on a stick. There was a hole in the side where I could insert a firestarter, but it wasn’t much more complicated than that. This was really just a proof of concept.

Setting it back down, I picked up the small bag of black powder that I’d managed to kludge together. I’d needed Grey’s help with this part, as I hadn’t remembered the correct ingredients. I’d remembered charcoal and sulfur, but that was all. When I’d talked to Grey about the creation of black powder during our trip to Marrowmist, he’d actually been a little interested in it. He’d considered my question, and then directed me to a grey, powdery substance that he said was typically used in the tanning of leather. I don’t know what it was called in the local languages, but Language Adaptation had translated it to saltpeter.

Which was the right ingredient. As soon as I’d heard that word, I’d remembered that was what had been missing. I’d tested the mixture several times, to the interested gaze of our party. It had worked just fine, producing a satisfying sizzle and flash of light when ignited. Interesting smell, too.

It was time to test this. I, uh, knew that most people on the ship were sleeping, but…

I was too excited from having finished this to wait any longer. If the noise of the gun going off woke people up, I’d just apologize.

I mean, what were they gonna do? Throw me overboard?

I picked up my proto-gun, the powder, the simple lead balls that I’d made for bullets, the stick I’d be using as a firestarter, and a torch. I’d just light the end of the stick in the torch to produce the fire I’d need. Then, shove it in the back hole to set off the powder. In the meanwhile, I shoved everything in an empty sack I’d grabbed from the hold.

Once I’d gathered my things, I left the room to go try out the gun on the upper deck.

I’d make sure I was extra careful. Didn’t want to set the ship on fire, after all.