"So, gentlemen, we shall leave before night," I say, looking around the room. "As obvious as it is, thou shall not tell a thing to anyone uninvolved in this operation. There are still about 4 hours before noon. Thus, if any of you lads want to eat breakfast, stock up on snacks, or need to say goodbye to a lover, you still have lots of time."

After I say so, the three knights nod at me knowingly.

The infantrymen look at the knights for permission to leave, something which they got easily and almost instantly.

On the other hand, the knights' servants also went back to retrieve the rest of the 'goods' back at their lodgings. Only a few of them stayed, including the squire and the maid (miss Black) I met down earlier at the storeroom. It seems that the knights purposely avoided hiring more men to carry the goods so that the servants have to leave again. Quite a simple but effective plan there.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

With that in mind, including three-quarters of the ship's original crew and the five elite soldiers under my command, the people currently onboard the ship totals 50. This ship is a small galleon requiring about that many crew members to run it optimally.

Even if a good quarter of those people--me and my men, the knights and their attendants--have never run a ship before, we will have to make do. No matter, we have successfully tricked the infantrymen accompanying the armored guests. As such, we must bail.

We should not waste such an opportunity!

The Captain quickly tells his men to prepare for departure. When one of them points out that the rest have yet to return, the Captain swiftly gives him a letter of instructions and a sack of silver coins before throwing him out of the ship.

Some of the crew are hesitant to leave their companions behind, forcing the Captain to cook some bull to persuade them in the end.

Alas, before we have removed the gangway, two servants and two ship crew members poke their heads above the bustling crowd, sprinting towards the ship as they realize that we are running for it.

Oop.