Hunger and boredom finally caused Vysard to leave his room, only for him to be surprised that they were close to arriving at the port.
He felt a tinge of regret, he locked himself in his room on the first day of the trip, so he barely saw the sea, but, the distant sights of a brand new city for him to explore quickly rose his spirits.
Thorin watched Vysard from afar, the boy looked somewhat better, but, sadness still plagued his visage. -" Vysard, Robert needs help with some errands, can you accompany him?" Thorin finally approached the youth and asked. " You can use this time to go around the docks and relax."
Vysard eyes wavered as he finally faced Thorin, he could feel that Thorin still blamed himself for forcing him to deal with the pirates, but, Vysard had come to terms with his choice in his solitude. and he never blamed Thorin, as he had advised him not to go, and Vysard himself choose to go.
-Of course!" Vysard quickly accepted Thorin's request, but, he added before departing to find Robert. " Thorin? I wanted to say that I don't blame you... If I had listened to you, I wouldn't have to do all of that, and most of all, I knew that even if I spared them, you wouldn't care."
Thorin felt a heavy weight being lifted from his shoulders as he heard Vysard's words, every night he feared that Vysard would resent him, and this always took his sleep away.
Thorin smiled as he patted Vysard's head. " I appreciate hearing that, but, the truth is that I was too harsh with you still. I shouldn't have forced you so soon, everything shall happen at its right time." Thorin was previously so frustrated and concerned about the internal state of the Sun God's Chruch that he tried to force Vysard to mature faster.
-" Vysard... I finally understood my role, I am not supposed to make you grow up faster, or prepare you for what is to come." Thorin's eyes were full of emotions as he continued. " I am supposed to be your foundation, and stay by your side whatever happens."
Vysard clenched his hands, he felt that he had disappointed Thorin, and mostly, he had disappointed himself. " With you by my side, I'm not afraid of whatever is to come." Vysard smiled before leaving to find Robert.
Vysard soon found Robert organizing some crates and sacks, and he asked Vysard to help him carry them.
-" Are you going to sell this?" Vysard was curious about the life of a sailor, especially since it looked like they traveled all around transporting and selling goods.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
-" Sell? I'm no merchant, just a ship captain, all I do is transport things around." Robert looked happy as he strolled through the docks, many people that he passed by greeted him, showing the respect and fame he had.
-" So you were contracted to deliver this?" Vysard continued to question the man.
-" Just bringing some supplies to a few friends." Robert answered non-gallantly, yet, the boy's incessant questions were starting to annoy him. " Enough question? We are almost there."
Vysard nodded and returned to observe the docks, the streets were filled with merchants and shoppers alike, Vysard eyes shone as he felt impressed by the great variety of fish in the various stalls.
It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, an old and run-down building, that strangely looked to be bustling with noise. Robert quickly motioned Vysard to walk in as he opened the door.
The rowdy crowd came to a halt as Vysard entered the hall, however, when they saw Robert behind them, they all returned to their normal rowdiness.
-" Is this a bar?" Vysard was surprised, he never expected that such a place could have the funds to import things.
-" A pension." Robert took a deep breath as he entered the hall, his eyes were somber as he gazed at the group inside it. " The life on the sea is harsh, many sailors get injured during the voyages and no ship would want a cripple on its crew, so they all end up becoming hobos on the street,"
Vysard's gaze softened as he finally knew the backstory of the people in the building. " Cant they return to their families?"
-" Most of them are from poor families, can you imagine the burden of feeding a cripple? Even so for a family that is already struggling to make ends meet." Robert walked in the direction of the counter as he spoke. " I and a few other captains created this pension after seeing so many of our men suffering on the streets."
Vysard followed the man, he now viewed Robert in another light, he never imagined that he would be so selfless. -" Isn't running this expensive?"
-" We do what we can, as you can see this isn't a luxurious place, but, it's better than the cold streets of Whitelake City." Robert arrived at the counter and gestured for Vysard to place the crates on the ground. " Call Tyre, I have some things for him."
The man who served drink on the counter quickly ran inside and returned with another man, Vysard was sure that the man was northern as his skin was of bronze color like Baltsar.
-" Robert? Didn't you just bring us supplies last month?" Tyre looked confused, but, he felt relieved as he saw the three food crates that Vysard had carried. " By the Ancient Mother! Thank god you brought more things, food prices skyrocketed again! This is all the fault of those eastern bastards! Their invasion is making running this even harder."
Robert smiled as he saw the reaction of the man, and with a quick grab, he pulled the man closer to him. " This isn't all." Robert took a sack from his shoulder bag and placed it on the counter.
The metallic sound of the bag hitting the counter made the man widen his eyes, but, he felt even more surprised as he opened the bag and found out that it was filled with gold coins.
The man stared speechless at the bag for a few seconds before he recomposed himself. " Thank god, we can finally buy the place next to us, some rooms were getting too crowded." The man's hands trembled as he played with one of the coins. "But Robert, Did you find a treasure trove or something? How did you get so much money."
Robert smiled as he grabbed a cup that the bartender served him. " Just had good luck with a client." Robert took a deep gulp from the beer and continued. " If you think this is the best news of this trip you are wrong."
-"Another surprise? What else? I doubt that something will surprise me more than a bag of gold." The man didn't believe Robert's words, after all, almost nothing would be better than a bag of gold for men like them.
Robert laughed loudly and climbed on the counter, he took a deep breath as he raised his cup and shouted. " Cheer up lads! Tonight the whole Aegean Sea will feast! Black Beard and his crew are no more!"
Robert's shout caused the whole Hall to fall silent, they all had disbelief printed on their face.
-" What kind of joke is that?" Tyre didn't believe Robert's words and thought that he was just playing a stupid prank.
-" This is no joke! I saw it happen with my own two eyes!" Robert's voice was full of emotions as he continued to shout. " The Black Beard Pirates are no more!"