"Damn it... And to think the day has been going well for me so far. I can't believe that I forgot my 'Beginner Numerology' textbook back at home!"

In one of the civilian cabins within the transport ship, the frustrated image of Elias could be seen. He seemed to be quite annoyed, searching through the traveling box in front of him with rush and panic.

He continued to probe the box for a few more moments, before ultimately giving up with a long and deep sigh.

"Ha!.. I really did forget it."

Elias felt like he didn't deserve the scholarship at this point, as he had made such a careless rookie mistake. He should have cross-checked his box before leaving!

Beginner Numerology was the only theoretical subject of the written exam that he hadn't been able to complete, vastly due to him having to work and other basic responsibilities. He had planned to cover the remaining topics he hadn't had the time to finish during the trip, only for him to forget the textbook at home.

The worst part was that Elias hadn't forgotten any of the other textbooks that he had completely covered at home, meaning that he had left the one he needed the most. It was painfully ironic!

While Elias was wallowing in self-pity and questioning all the life decisions that had brought him to this point, Lars materialized by the side of his table, stretching and yawning like a bear just returning from hibernation. He had a look of satisfaction on his face, causing Elias to click his tongue in annoyance.

"Wow... so Lady Alliee's apprentice finally decided to grace us with his presence?"

'Lady Allie' referred to the protagonist of a romance book, 'Until my dearly beloved', which was quite popular among children of all age groups within the Kingdom of Wessex.

The story follows the romantic journey of Allie, who was an enthusiastic enjoyer of romantic tales. She read a lot of books on the subject, attended theatre drama events and even ended up writing a book herself, which didn't end up doing very well.

Her intense hyper-fixation of romantic tales inevitably led to her being unable to settle down with a 'real-life person', as she felt like most of the suitors who approached her were not on par with her fictional princes.

In the end, the young maiden would fall into hyper-delusion and enlist the assistance of an occult witch, asking her to cast a sleeping spell on her. Her plan was for her prince charming to arrive before her through the hands of love bound by fate, ultimately breaking the curse with a kiss of true love.

And as you would expect, that didn't end up happening and she would end up sleeping right into her death. Some even speculated that she was still asleep in the afterlife, waiting patiently for her knight in shining armor.

The book was quite popular among children, even with its heavy themes, as its fun factor massively overshadowed its deep plot. It was a book with a lot of comedic interactions, with Elias even breaking into a laugh several times while reading it to his siblings.

Lars looked at Elias's annoyed face for some time before chuckling, his face not losing its satisfied look. "Why are you so cranky? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything, so don't take your annoyance out on me."

Lars had hit the nail on the head; Elias was actually trying to find an excuse to lash at him. He wasn't in the best emotional state and needed a way to vent, and what better way than to bully his twin brother who also enjoyed teasing and mocking him?

It was perfectly justified!

Elias purposely exaggerated his annoyance, casting a long, contemptuous glance at his brother. "Of course you didn't do anything, you never do, nothing at all! Why couldn't you have reminded me to take all my textbooks? We are supposed to be an extra pair of eyes for each other!"

Lars seemed to be enjoying the display, ultimately deciding to play along with his brother's antics. He spread his hands out wide with a look of defeat appearing on his face. "How was I supposed to notice something that you didn't? Have you forgotten the mood we were in last night... We were both way out of sorts. I was the one that even reminded you to pack the ointment for your eye, you would have forgotten if it wasn't for me!"

Elias gave Lars an instant retort, obviously not willing to lose the upper hand in the debate. "That is not true. The eye drops were on the table and I didn't pack it up immediately, because I wanted to place them on top of my clothes so it doesn't crack. When you reminded me about it I was already about to pack it, I just wanted to pack up the last bits of my items into the box first."

Elias's sharp and clear response momentarily stunned Lars. He had a look of shock and disbelief on his face, which was usually not common. He genuinely couldn't believe what he had just heard!

Lars knew that what Elias had just said was a fabricated lie, albeit a very solid one, and he knew that Elias knew too. It was quite obvious from the years of them being together, that Elias was clearly about to forget the ointment. The problem now was that he couldn't prove it, since Elias had provided a clear and solid argument.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

While Lars was thinking of a way to snatch the initiative from his brother, Elias continued, aiming to ride on the momentum of his advantage.

"Besides, that isn't even the main point. The main problem here is the fact that you didn't remind me to take a book that was clearly out in the open for you to see. I was busy doing our expense calculations, appeasing the kids and doing round-up study sessions. You were in your wraith form for the most, moving around the room carefree. You had the opportunity to notice it!

"Now I might end up missing out on the scholarship... all because of your carelessness!"

Lars stood beside Elias, totally stunned and confused by what he was hearing. He had never been subjected to this amount of gaslighting before!

At first, he planned to argue against the bizarre, but solid logic of his brother, but eventually decided against it. He felt like this was an argument he would lose, no matter what he said.

"Okay, okay... I accept that I'm the one at fault here. I'll try to pay better attention next time. As for the topic of the scholarship, I finished reading the book about a month ago. If there is a question about a topic you don't know, I'll answer it for you."

Elias reluctantly accepted Lars' apology and solution, because even if he wanted to pass by his efforts alone, his dire financial situation compelled him. He silently apologized to the other scholarship applicants while remembering a line that was popular across the slums of Lowe, fairness is a term for the able!

Lars sighed in relief, while silently making a clear promise to himself. He would never get into another debate with Elias again!

Elias then proceeded to fill Lars in on all the details he had missed, which included the consequences of the war on Lytton and its inhabitants. Lars shared the noble-like gentleman's sentiments, communicating his animosity towards the idea of an unreasonable war.

The two brothers continued to converse like this for a few extra minutes, eventually being interrupted by an urgent announcement from the ship's captain, which resounded across the entire vessel like an urgent alarm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that we are currently about to face an unexpected situation. A sea bandit ship is en route to our trajectory, and we estimate to make contact in about 15 minutes. For your safety, we advise you to return to your cabins and immediately safeguard your money and other personal valuables. We will try to handle the situation safely and effectively."

"Sea bandits attacking an official transport cruiser? Especially one en route to Estica? That's very strange." Lars was quite surprised.

Elias nodded, showing his agreement to his brother's statements. It was indeed quite strange.

Sea bandits hardly attacked official transport cruisers, especially cruisers headed to Estica around this time of the year. The risk far outweighed the reward in most cases, as it would lead to a large-scale manhunt for the responsible group by the sea officials.

That explained why Elias and all the other passengers were quite surprised, their shock even surpassing their fear.

Elias walked to his cabin window and looked outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bandit ship. The jagged silhouette of a contemporary-designed ship came into view, a flag with the image of two eels twirling around a sail prominently swinging on its mast. The ship had an old and archaic vibe to it, similar in nature to ships that survived a bygone era and refused to adapt.

The sight of the ship's flag caused Elias to squint his eyes, he knew that flag all too well!

It was one of the flagships belonging to Captain Gideon Barak, a man popularly known as the 'Sea Revear', the most dangerously imposing sea bandit across the 3 seas!

Elias panicked at the sight of the flag, wondering what such a notorious pirate could be found around this part of the coast. His fleet hardly operated in the Naric Sea, fearful of possible altercations between the two prominent kingdoms within its proximity.

The sea officials have been chasing Captain Barak for years now, always coming close to capturing him before he mysteriously slips away. Elias had seen in the newspapers somewhere that he was the bandit with the most survival from altercations with the Berlin Navy, which further helped to boost his already stellar reputation.

He was as domineering as a shark and as slippery as an eel, a major role model to bandits across the coast.

Elias further studied the relic-like vessel, before heaving a small sigh of relief. The main ship was nowhere in sight! This was probably just a scouting ship, out to stock up on supplies and pillage unlucky merchant ships that came their way.

Elias suddenly felt aggrieved. He felt like his day had taken a turn for the worse after leaving home. First, he left behind his textbook which he usually never did, then he came across a fricking bandit ship, ships that never operate on this side of the coast.

"Did I use all of my good luck to avoid the battle in Lytton?"

Lars cast a contemptuous glance at his brother, wondering what he was babbling about. Before he had the chance to respond to him, the bandit ship suddenly came alive, its raggedy sails blowing in the mind as the bandits loaded their cannon artillery and pointed it in the trajectory of the cruiser.

Elias felt his blood boil as he couldn't understand why these irrational pirates suddenly pointed their canons at them, weren't they supposed to try to negotiate first? What was with the use of violence from the get-go?

Lars chuckled to himself while he watched Elias's nervous display. "It's at times like this that I'm glad to be a wraith". He proceeded to dissolve into Elias's mind after that, obviously not interested in being involved in the soon-to-be clash.

Elias could hear the ship's crewmen scampering around on the deck, engrossed in numerous activities to either prevent or, minimize the effects. Their voices sounded a bit too relaxed, like people who weren't too worried about the attack and were just following standard procedure.

Elias had already resigned himself to the imminent clash when the snowy white clouds in the sky slowly parted, making room for a clear ray of sunlight to fall onto the bandit ship, cascading across its form and painting it in bright, golden brilliance. What was most peculiar was the fact that the ray of sunlight only fell onto the bandit ship, with the other areas around it covered with the regular glow.

Elias felt a sense of calm from looking at the ray of light like all the worldly impurities within his mind were slowly being washed away. Elias could somehow tell that the light he was looking at, wasn't the regular type of sunlight.

From what Elias could see, it seemed like the bandits aboard the ship were also aware of the fact, as they seemed to be hesitant about proceeding with their attack. In the end, they decided to offload their canons, readjusting their route to the coast on the opposite side of the Estican route.

The captain, the crew and all the passengers looked on in silence, as they watched the bandit ship slowly pull away, getting further and further away from them until only the silhouette of the ship could be made out on the horizon.