Captain – Chapter 7 – Monthly Salary of Three Gold Coins, Room and Board Included

After spitting out these four words from its chest, the frightened raven finally stopped crying out. Instead, it lowered itself by Roy’s ear, its withered and bloodshot eyes darting about, filled with vigilance but also confidence from returning to its master’s side, as it gazed toward the direction from which it had flown.

Having witnessed the new captain’s cruel acts and nearly being made into a specimen symbolizing betrayal and intimidation, Alfie naturally harbored deep shadows in its heart. But when it managed to escape with tremendous effort and landed on the arm where it most often perched, it suddenly wasn’t afraid anymore.

In its view, that new captain was nothing more than a weak, fearful child before Roy. He didn’t even dare to turn the Mermaid’s bow around to confirm whether she was dead or alive from a distance.

“It seems your ship and crew… won’t be coming after all.”

About ten minutes had passed since the raven arrived, but as Alfie had thought, the Mermaid did not appear beyond the solitary island. So Caine spoke up, interrupting the captain’s silent waiting.

Roy withdrew her gaze from the sea surface, walked back to sit beside the naval officer, and tore a piece of white cloth from her sleeve to bandage Alfie’s wounds. During this process, the small raven placed on her lap was incredibly docile, not at all mischievous like others of its kind.

“Richi has the courage to betray me, but not the courage to come kill me personally. The same applies to everyone else on that ship.”

Roy spoke without looking up as she treated Alfie’s wounds. She didn’t become furious like those betrayed captains in stories, declaring to the rolling waves that she would send all the unfaithful to the bottom of the sea.

Reаⅾ оո KαtReaԁіոɡСafe

“Alright, you’re fine now.”

The bandaging ended quickly, and the raven hopped out of its master’s hands, landing on the damp soil. It tilted its head curiously at the weakened naval officer, as if seeing one of those black fish eagles that often scared and threatened it, and called out sharply: “Mola! Mola!”

Mola is a type of deep-sea fish that looks like a large plate and often likes to expose its belly to sunbathe, appearing dumb and silly, very much like the imperial navy who liked to hang their military flags high, constantly proclaiming their identity, fearing others wouldn’t recognize their authority. So pirates of the Eastern Seas generally called the Auran navy “Mola” as an insult and joke.

“Don’t make noise.” Roy reached out and tapped the raven’s small head, and the little one dejectedly ran away. Clearly, it did not want to share the same shelter with its former mortal enemy. Under the dry stone wall remained only the naval commander whose fleet had been destroyed and a pirate captain betrayed and abandoned by her crew.

“What do you plan to do next? Still intend to use me as your money tree?” After a long silence, Caine broke it.

Roy shook her head lightly. Having confirmed that the Mermaid had abandoned her, her current predicament was not much better than that of this fallen naval officer.

On such a solitary island, far from normal shipping routes and not even recorded on sea charts, hoping to contact old friends was nothing but a fool’s dream. They could only pray that some vessel would encounter a storm, deviate from its course to arrive here, and that they would happen to spot it.

Of course, this possibility was also very low, even lower than the probability of finding genuine goods in an underground gem market. At least there, occasionally some fools would sell treasures in good faith, only to be robbed by the bandits managing the market.

Rеad οո КatReαⅾіոɡСаfe

“What else can we do? We can only sit here like two idiots, praying that heaven will take pity and send a ship… even if it’s just a crude single-sail wooden boat to the island. At least that would give us a chance to reach Frans Island, the closest to here.”

Frans Island was a barren small island far from the empire yet still included within the imperial territory. It had only one populated small town and some estates contracted by nobles for vacations. It was known as the Auran Empire’s dagger closest to the Southern Islands.

Roy brushed aside her increasingly irritating hair strands and said somewhat impatiently: “And before that, we need to survive as long as possible.”

She said “we,” not “I,” which surprised Caine, because given his current physical condition, he could only be a burden to her. When seeking survival on a solitary island, the hope for one person is always much greater than dragging along an injured person.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t save you for some unspeakable secret.” Seemingly guessing the young man’s doubts, Roy looked at him with an expression that said ‘don’t flatter yourself too much,’ explaining: “It’s just that in a place like this, loneliness can sometimes be more lethal than the lack of food and fresh water.”

Seeing that he seemed to accept her viewpoint with a nod, Roy’s eyes suddenly flashed, and she leaned in slightly closer, whispering: “Hey, why don’t you become a pirate with me?”

Caine looked at her as if she were an idiot, unobtrusively pushing that face a bit further away, coughed a few times and said: “Daydreaming.”

Rеaԁ οո ΚаtRеαdіոɡСafe

“Hey, what kind of attitude is that? You should know I’m your lifesaver, and in the days ahead, you’ll still need to rely on my care. Can’t you show a better face?” Roy was extremely dissatisfied.

“Asking a naval commander to become a pirate, that’s a story even traveling poets wouldn’t dare to compose.”

“Isn’t that because your Auran Empire would arrest anyone who describes similar stories and throw them all into prison?” Roy was relentless.

“Not everything in this world is related to power and coercion.” Caine frowned in retort.

“But everything is related to benefits, isn’t it? Is it that my conditions aren’t good enough?” Roy narrowed her eyes, smiling as she bargained with him: “When I rise again, I’ll let you be my deputy, how about that? Being the deputy of the great Captain Roy should be much more prestigious than being a minor officer in the navy, right?”

Caine rubbed his somewhat aching temples, suddenly feeling that those old naval generals had a serious misconception about Captain Roy.

That is, she never seemed to be a gloomy strategist, nor a heroic figure who disregarded thousands of troops. She was just a rogue, the most shameless kind.

Let alone an imperial officer, even just a regular navy man would have received knowledge education and belief instillation from the Auran Military Academy. Facing a great pirate like Roy, who was regarded as a typical villain, not drawing a knife to fight to the death was already considered very polite. Yet she still thought about enticing him to become a pirate?

Rеаⅾ oո КatRеaⅾіngСafe

“How do you know I’m just a minor officer? Wanting me to follow you to become a pirate is wishful thinking. As for your kindness, I will naturally find an opportunity to repay you, don’t worry about that. After all, we in the navy aren’t like pirates who don’t keep their word.”

“Reconsider it? Let’s talk about monthly salary? How about three Pronora gold coins a month? Enough for you to buy six bottles of high-quality Siris wine. Your navy probably only gives you one Pronora gold coin a month as salary, right?”

Unlike the unified Auran Empire, Pronora is a loose federation on the western side of the Northern Continent, composed of many member states. It is the most economically developed region in today’s world. So naturally, the gold coins minted by Pronora have become hard currency throughout the entire world. And Siris is just one of Pronora’s federal members, the most authentic wine-producing region.

“No way.” The young man still wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Then add in room and board, the conditions can’t get any better!” Roy gnashed her teeth.

“You might as well give up on this idea, Captain.”

Their dispute echoed on the eastern coast of the solitary island, reaching the ears of the raven that was turning over soil and picking out stones to find insects to eat. It looked up somewhat puzzledly toward the direction of the sound, wondering if the captain was fighting with that naval officer, or why else would there be such loud noises. After thinking for a while without any clue, it lowered its head and began pecking at the soil again.