Captain – Chapter 291 – Repayment

Though Roy’s relationship with this family during their initial encounter had been somewhat complicated, even involving some entanglement of interests, there had always existed a sense of closeness.

Moreover, people are naturally sentimental and nostalgic. The decade that had passed was like aged wine, and the cleared misunderstandings were like honey—the reunited parties truly seemed to have become family.

The maiden’s laughter and the couple’s warm greetings occasionally echoed from the farmstead house. As twilight shifted to night, soft lights illuminated the darkness, and the fragrance of food and wine traveled far, like the unbreakable bonds between people.

From the male host, Roy learned about their lives over these years. She learned that the boy who had been slightly older than her back then had now become an army officer, responsible for the border defense in western Auran, commanding hundreds of soldiers.

When speaking of his eldest son, the man’s face was full of pride. The captain listened with genuine attentiveness and admiration, truly regarding the boy who had once cared for her as a brother.

But after several rounds of drinks, when the man’s face had reddened somewhat and his eyes grew slightly unfocused, his mood suddenly dropped.

After a long silence, he exchanged a glance with his wife and told the maiden everything about the letter, asking her not to be too grateful for what their family had done, as it was all connected to the promise in the letter.

After saying this, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as if unburdened.

The maiden listened to these past events, smiling and nodding without saying anything, not taking it to heart. Knowledge was one thing, but her unconcern was genuine, not pretense.

Judge the deed, not the intention—this had always been the captain’s principle in dealing with matters.

For this reason, she returned kindness to the people of Yadris, and for this same reason, even knowing the truth, she would not forgive Robert’s actions.

After relieving the couple’s burden, Roy also briefly shared her own experiences.

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Of course, she omitted most of the bitterness and dangers, only saying that she had been “doing business” at sea, later met and fell in love with her first mate, and was now engaged to be married. It sounded completely unrelated to pirate life, more like a perfect love story.

But even so, hearing about those hardships that were not even one-thousandth of the maiden’s experiences, the couple’s faces showed distress and heartfelt sympathy.

Finally, as the dinner ended, Roy and Caine did not accept the couple’s kind offer to stay overnight. Instead, they declined with the excuse of having important business that couldn’t be delayed. They left the farmstead under the family’s escort, boarded the carriage, and disappeared into the vast night.

Only when the carriage was no longer visible did the couple withdraw their gaze, their eyes containing some reluctance. But their emotions were quickly disturbed by the sound of a dog barking.

They took their daughter to the small open space beside their dwelling and found their little yellow dog barking at the darkness under a locust tree.

The lantern’s light dispersed the darkness, and under the couple’s tense gaze, an old-looking wooden box came into view, resembling those treasure chests from legends.

Before the couple could collect their thoughts, the little girl, unable to contain her curiosity, ran to the now-quiet yellow dog, crouched down by the wooden box, and lifted its lid.

There was no burst of golden light, no flash of silver, no dazzling assortment of jewels. At the bottom of the old wooden box lay just two pieces of paper.

A letter, and a check bearing the emblem of the Volkin Bank. The unremarkable number written on it was more eye-catching than any gold, silver, or jewels.

This was certainly not a treasure buried in the farmstead and luckily dug up by the little yellow dog, but something deliberately left there.

With some unease, the male host carried the wooden box into the house and opened the letter inside. As he and his wife had guessed, these were left by the maiden.

After reading the maiden’s beautiful and moving handwriting, feeling the genuine emotion within, the woman’s eyes naturally reddened. Even the man, who had been a soldier for decades and was accustomed to being strong, couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat—some joy, but more emotion.

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Although their eldest son had grown up and established himself, sending home most of his salary each month, which was enough to support the family’s life and his sister’s education, this check and the enormous wealth it represented would still improve their lives considerably.

With this money, their son wouldn’t need to send money home anymore, wouldn’t have to live so frugally in that harsh frontier. They could choose a better school for their daughter in the future, and they could even move to Nickaga to accompany her growth and take care of her life…

Regardless of what plans the couple had for this money, one thing was certain—they were very happy and blessed tonight.

For Roy, that was enough.

“By the way, why didn’t you give them the check and letter?”

Drawing back his gaze, Caine lowered the carriage curtain, feeling like he had forgotten something. After careful thought, he suddenly realized they hadn’t given the gift they had brought, so he looked at the maiden with confusion.

“I already gave it to them.”

Roy gently stroked the raven that approached her, lowering her head slightly, answering in a very natural tone.

Hearing this, the first mate’s face showed some doubt, but it quickly disappeared. He knew very well how much the maiden loved money, and equally how well she remembered kindness.

The money used to repay her benefactors was something she would absolutely never touch.

However… at other times, that might not be the case.

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Thinking of this, Caine asked with interest: “Where did you hide them?”

“I didn’t hide them. I just had someone put them in an old wooden box placed beside the house. I specifically instructed him to make sure the little yellow dog saw it, to alert uncle and auntie.”

Roy didn’t explain too clearly, but the first mate basically understood.

On this journey, apart from the two of them, the raven, and the young dragon, only the coachman accompanied them, so it could only have been him who did this.

As for the timing, it must have been when they were being escorted out of the farmstead.

At that time, the prepared coachman had sneaked in, placed the wooden box beside the wooden house, and finally returned before they boarded the carriage.

This process sounded simple but was not.

After all, the wooden house was not far from the farmstead’s gate. The coachman not only had to deliver the wooden box, return more quickly, but also avoid attracting anyone’s attention, including their own. This was difficult to achieve, and if any part of the plan went wrong, this heartwarming arrangement would likely become a blunder.

However, Caine wasn’t particularly surprised after guessing the truth.

Because the coachman Federo had assigned to them was an imperial assassin.

What might be extremely difficult for ordinary people was hardly a challenge for an imperial assassin skilled in stealth and agility.

But there was still something he didn’t understand.

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“Why go through such a roundabout way? Wouldn’t it be better to give it to them directly?”

Hearing the first mate’s question, Roy rolled her eyes at him: “Idiot, would they accept it if we gave it to them directly?”

Why wouldn’t they?

The first mate thought silently but didn’t voice the question.

He knew that in matters of human interaction, he was indeed much inferior to the captain, so he just quietly waited for her explanation.

“It’s about face. Men care about their dignity, especially a soldier. They already felt so bad about not telling me about the letter. If you directly handed them such a large sum of money, saying it was repayment, do you think they would accept it?”

Looking at Caine as if he were a fool, the maiden rambled on at length, then continued explaining: “Even if they were truly willing to accept it, they would certainly not feel good about it. It’s better to just leave it there and leave a sincere letter. This way, they would find it much easier to accept.”

“Besides, this way, they have to accept it whether they want to or not, since we’ve already disappeared without a trace, and they have no way to return it even if they wanted to.”

After saying this, Roy gently stroked the raven’s little head, saying “well done.” It must have been the raven that notified the coachman during this time. As for how the girl and the bird had “secretly conspired,” perhaps… it was through understanding?

“It was through pirate signals.”

As if guessing the first mate’s confusion, the maiden grinned, looking quite pleased with herself.