Chapter 14 - Everyone is doing their best

At the same time that Adam had found someone he could share his studies with, the rest of the team was scattered across different areas of the ship, doing various things. Kazue and Sebastian, the middle-aged man, were with a large number of pirates, specifically around a long wooden table where the girl was sitting alongside three other men.

“Now deal the cards!”

It seemed that a card game was taking place at the table. One of the participants was a dark-skinned man with a bare chest, and a jaw completely replaced by a toothed steel plate. The latter was attached to his neck, with visible gears that allowed it to move. He grabbed a worn, bulky deck of cards and began dealing them one by one to the other three, including himself.

The rest of the people around watched curiously and were amused by what was happening, especially because, for some reason, there was a large stack of strange silver coins piled up in front of the girl, while the other three had only a few scattered across the table.

“I call it all again, let’s roll!”

The girl had announced that she was going all in after seeing her cards, slamming the table violently, and eliciting sounds of astonishment from the audience.

“Oooh!”

“Miss Kazue, I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Even poor Sebastian stammered while trying to dissuade her, because although he didn't understand what she was saying, he had seen this happen six times already.

The game being played seemed to be a version of poker he knew, except the symbols on the cards were completely different, there were no numbers, and there was something called the 'four plus one rule.' He couldn't really say he understood it, but for some reason, the girl seemed extremely good at it, having started with nothing and now possessing a small accumulated fortune.

On their side, the pirates at the table exchanged worried and even fearful expressions. None of them were sure or confident enough to continue after losing so much. However, before any of them could say or do anything, the girl spoke up loudly again.

“What? Are you cowards?”

“What?!”

Without missing a beat, she continued provoking them.

“Are you afraid of losing to a little girl… Again?!”

“You insolent bitch!”

Under any other circumstances, those men would have lunged at her, leaving her with more than just a couple of broken bones. However, betting and games of chance were sacred to all pirates, from the fierce Gearforged Raiders to the wild Steamcraze Tinkerers, and even the greedy members of the Brasscoin Brotherhood. They all respected any practice and gains obtained through these means as the only 'legitimate' thing among them.

“I’ll go!”

“Me too!”

“Aye!”

The three pirates stood up from their seats and revealed their cards simultaneously, slamming the table so hard that the coins on it jumped everywhere.

“Triad Triumph!”

“Linear Path!”

“Ha! Read 'em and weep, dogs! Quadruple Threat!”

At the last announcement, the spectators erupted in shouts of surprise, as if they were witnessing something quite unusual. Meanwhile, Kazue had a solemn look, her gaze fixed on her own cards, which she slowly lowered to reveal what she had.

“I got nothing…”

The victorious howl resounded throughout the place, echoed by cheers from his comrades. But just as the pirate was about to lean in to collect his winnings, a sharp kick to the table from the girl stopped him in his tracks.

“...Yet!”

Immediately after, she leaned over the deck of cards and drew two more, placing them on the table beside her own.

“Two more! That’s a Steady Stream! I won!”

“Whaaaat?”

The pirate's cry of disbelief was only surpassed by even louder laughter and cheers from all the men watching the game. Meanwhile, Sebastian could only smile nervously, as he hadn't quite grasped what had happened with those strange rules, but he certainly enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Without anyone stopping her, Kazue leaned over the table and swept up every last silver coin towards her seat, placing all her winnings into a bag that another nearby pirate had handed over to her for some reason.

"I finally have a small fortune...Humm, does anyone know what I can do with this?"

After the initial uproar, some pirates who heard her looked at each other and shrugged.

"Here, money isn't much good for anything besides betting, but once we reach Gearspire Stronghold we'll spend everything we have on supplies and several days of fun. It will be a great party; we have an excellent haul after intercepting an Armada cargo ship."

The comment referred to the Ironclad Armada mentioned in the plot description at the beginning of their scenario, making it an excellent opportunity to gather as much information as possible. However, what Kazue did after hearing that was to focus and ask about the shops and services she could access with all she had won, a conversation in which the rest of the pirates began to participate cheerfully.

Sebastian didn't have much else to do there, nor could he join in the conversation, so he was gradually edged out until he found himself outside the group of men talking with the young girl. Feeling it wasn't something he needed to worry about, he started to walk away slowly, enjoying the sea breeze on his face.

He had to admit that it had been many years since he felt so at peace, despite the circumstances and the scare he had experienced hours earlier. It was as if this were the crazy vacation he had always imagined taking with his wife.

"I'm sure you would have loved the view, Ellie."

He thought, fixing his gaze on the vast ocean they were crossing, whose great waves couldn't shake the colossal ship thanks to its steam engines. It was a curious design if he thought about it carefully, reminding him of the stories his father used to tell about his great-great-grandfather, which made his dreams of steam-powered ships, trains, planes, and automobiles run wild as a child, something that made him sigh with melancholy. Perhaps it wasn't a bad place to spend his last days after all.

On the other hand, inside the hull and in the ship's canteen, Li was holding a mug and drinking without restraint alongside other men who were laughing heartily. He had spent who knows how long in that place, downing mug after mug of the strange drink that the pirates called beer, though it was dark brown, telling random stories and shouting for no particular reason.

"Then I told my lieutenant that he could take his orders and shove them up his... *Hic*."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Hahahaha! I didn’t know you were from the Armada dogs, are their leaders as boring and cowardly as they say?”

Notably drunk, Li didn't seem to be fully aware of what he was saying, yet he continued.

“Nah *Hic*… They’re worse! Hahaha.”

Everyone began to laugh all over again, a fact noted from across the room by Nikolai, the other young man and last member who had joined the group. He wasn't sure why he was there; he had followed the man with the strange hat because he seemed the most competent, and someone he could be safe around. But after seeing him in this state for so long, Nilokai wasn't sure if it would amount to anything.

He was very afraid, he couldn't deny it, and the last thing he cared about was what they had been telling him—about pirates, history, recruits. He simply didn't want to be alone or feel in danger. Without further hesitation, he stood up from his seat and hurried out of the canteen, heading towards where he remembered they said the medical wing was located, and where the blonde boy was hospitalized—his second-best option for protection.

The path wasn't long, but he still avoided crossing paths with any pirates in the area if possible, walking quickly when passing by. However, upon arriving, he saw a large number of men gathered around the door—rough-looking types of all sorts, many with some form of mechanical implants. Among them was Girthblade, massive and fat, taking up much of the space but observing something from the doorway along with the others.

*Nope*

With no intention of getting close to all those men, the young man turned around and hurried away, thinking that perhaps staying in the canteen wasn't such a bad idea after all.

But what were all those people gathered at the entrance of the infirmary observing? The answer was none other than Drake himself, lying motionless in a bed, with his abdomen, and injured leg wrapped in strange mechanical compresses that vibrated and emitted a bit of steam from their pipes.

He had regained consciousness quite some time ago and had encountered who claimed to be the ship's doctor—a tall, slim man wearing a heavily worn white coat that partially covered his thick white beard, despite him not looking elderly at all.

"Wow, you're quite popular, kid, but your fans at the door are becoming a real nuisance."

"Please, don't say it like that. They're just waiting for me to recover so we can fight again. I don't feel lucky at all to have that kind of popularity."

Said Drake with a nervous smile, and the truth was that after the ten fights he had faced and finally overcame, his popularity among the pirates had soared to its peak. He was the most respected in the entire group, to the extent that quite a few individuals had stayed waiting outside the infirmary, watching him like teenagers gazing at their idol. Some admired him, while others honestly wanted to test their skills against the blonde. Even Girthblade sat in silence, with his hand in a metal brace and several bandages around his head.

One might think that those who had lost would be furious and thirsting for revenge, but the truth was none of them felt that way. After all, they were now comrades, not to mention that in the world of piracy, even in an era dominated by firearms and mechanical engines, the law of strength prevailed above all else. Therefore, someone like Drake, who had endured such a hellish trial, deserved unconditional respect from the rest.

"Get out of here, you damn nuisances! The patient won't be fit to leave for at least another two days."

The doctor growled, pulling a mechanical pistol from inside his coat and firing without hesitation towards the cluster of people. His aim was so precise that the bullet passed through them all without harming anyone and hit the wall behind them. The message was clear, and everyone present scrambled over each other to run out of there.

“Dear lord these muscleheads.”

The doctor grumbled, sighing with resignation as he holstered his weapon again, at least grateful that they had stopped pestering his patient.

"Sir, forgive me for asking, but did you say I'll be fine in two days? I thought you mentioned I had some broken ribs and a sprained ankle. How can that heal so quickly?"

The doctor then looked at him inquisitively, as if what he had just said was ridiculous.

"I'm surprised by the lack of common sense here. Something as simple as broken bones can be fixed in a matter of hours in specialized medical facilities. But here, with only these old instruments on board, it'll take longer than usual"

The doctor replied, giving small pats to the little machines working on Drake's body. Drake felt greatly puzzled, as he had no idea how steam-powered machines could do something like that. Still, he decided not to question it and simply accepted that his body needed rest. Additionally, he found comfort in the idea that everyone else was okay. What could they be doing right now? Hopefully, nothing that would get them into trouble, especially after the effort it took to forge the deal with the Captain.

With no intention of overthinking it, Drake decided to get more comfortable and close his eyes. He didn't mind the idea of resting a little longer.

Finally, returning to what Adam was doing at that moment, one could say the boy was like a child in a toy store. It was no wonder, as the archivist Chrono Flint had led him to his study, which was a small room but was filled with scrolls and leather-bound books, all dealing with different subjects. This was not just general additional information, but information from another world. Who knows how much could be learned from a world inside a story?

But unfortunately, there was no time for that, because once inside, he had materialized his Necronomicon page again, creating quite a heavy atmosphere around him without actually affecting anyone.

"I see… Interesting, it doesn't seem like the material has anything special about it, it just seems to be plain paper and dry ink."

Said the man as he changed his glasses, which seemed like magnifying glasses or even a microscope.

"It might be hard to believe, but as I mentioned earlier, it's a cursed object, possessing supernatural energy with laws that don't adhere to conventional logic. According to the books I've read on the subject, the origin of its power might lie in the written language."

Adam commented, crossing his arms and hoping he had managed to make himself understood, as explaining the supernatural to a scholar of science shouldn't be an easy task. However, the archivist looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, surprised by what had just been said.

"What are you talking about? It obviously depends on the inscriptions on the paper, it's the basic principle of Mechanomancy. I just need to find the language or the base in the form of pictograms to decipher its meaning."

“Mechanomancy?...”

Adam couldn't believe what he had heard, thinking that his information was crucial to understanding the object's functioning and that something like magic didn't exist in a mechanized world. He was surprised at how wrong he was and how much he still had to learn, which only brought a smile to his face.

“Can you please explain to me about the basic principles of Mechanomancy?”

He insisted, eager to know what he was missing and what similarities it could have with an object that did not come from the same history.

“Eh? Kid, I don’t have time to play teacher, if you want to know about it you need to go to the Arcanotinker Crew fellas and… *Sigh* Wait, I had a book about it”

Resigning himself as he saw the determined look in the boy's eyes, and knowing that he probably wouldn't be left in peace to work, Chrono turned towards one of his many shelves and began searching for something that he luckily found within a few seconds—a book with an old, dusty leather cover. After shaking it a bit and checking the title, he extended his arm to hand it to Adam.

“Here, read it in silence, and let me work”

“Of course, thank you, sir!”

It was a true sense of satisfaction. The boy might not have known much beyond studying and taking exams, but he could certainly say he loved reading about something new, and this time was no exception. Like a child who had been given a new toy, a large and genuine smile spread across his face as he opened the first page of the book, grateful that the automatic translation feature was so convenient.

Minutes, or even hours, might have passed as he continued reading in silence, checking a few additional things. Despite observing and analyzing the book's contents, it never triggered an information window, similar to the books he had purchased from the system's store.

This further developed the theory that the information he could obtain didn't include items that were too ordinary or lacked any kind of real use or ability, kinda like furniture. Additionally, he found that the translation feature didn't work for the "runic" language described in the examples of Mechanomancy, just as it couldn't be used to decipher the language written on the Necronomicon page.

"It seems that even the system has its limits, or perhaps they are arbitrary boundaries set to aid the user without giving them a real advantage... It's becoming increasingly strange to think that all of this is just an inexplicable phenomenon and not something with its own deliberate rules"

However, those thoughts were set aside as he continued reading about the art of imbuing seemingly supernatural properties into an object through runic inscriptions in an ancient language. Except that instead of working through something called "magic," it functioned solely with electricity... Wait, electricity, precise physical markings on mechanical objects, could it be...?

But his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sudden exclamation from the archivist.

“Finally! Hey kid, I finally think I know a shared root for these glyphs, wait a second”

Puzzled, Adam closed the book and slowly approached as the pirate archivist rummaged frantically through a large pile of scrolls, tossing aside those he didn't need and digging deeper and deeper. Fearing something might happen with so much paper piling up, the boy hurried to help, clearing all the discarded material and placing it aside as neatly as he could. Finally, they found what they were looking for.

“Here! Look at this”

Chrono said, dragging himself out from the pile of papers and placing an old thin book on the table. It had worn-out letters that spelled out: "The Legend of Necrogear Citadel."