Chapter 59: Trivial Matters on the Skull Flag Islands

A day later, the pirate ship arrived in a group of islands with complex terrain. On the outer side of the islands, sharp reefs stood jagged, forming a natural defensive ring that made it impossible for outside ships that did not know the way to approach. The Golden Rose skillfully and lightly turned through the reefs, following a safe channel we could not see toward one of the islands.

This place was called Reef Fort, and outsiders also called it the “Skull Flag Islands.” It was where most pirates in the Comet Sea made their home. Many people knew that there was such a mysterious place in the Comet Sea: under every tree in the jungle was hidden a bag of gold coins plundered by pirates. The island was dark and damp, and outsiders would run into traps at every step. The pirates held this place by relying on the complex terrain, and many times the naval campaigns of various countries ran aground on the unpredictable reefs everywhere.

Only after we landed did we discover that this legendary pirate stronghold was completely different: on every nearby island there were many beautiful houses, like a city in the sea. There were even places such as tailor shops, general stores, and taverns. The island residents were men and women, old and young, living a very “normal” life.

According to Kelsey, robbing seemed to be just the pirates’ hobby. They had many ways to live a comfortable life even if not rich, such as cutting pearl oysters, whaling, and salvaging sunken ships… Even if they did nothing at all, the wealth accumulated by generations upon generations of pirates was enough for them to live richly for several lifetimes. Here, “pirate” seemed to be only the name of a group, not a terrifying occupation. These free people who lived outside ordinary society only wanted to stay away from the dull, restricted life on the mainland and find the meaning of their lives among the waves and the sea breeze.

Order on these islands was maintained jointly by several highly respected retired old pirates, but clearly there were not many chances for them to step in: these free, fierce people of the sea did not object to using fists to settle disputes among themselves. As long as no lives were lost, no one interfered. But according to Kelsey, there were very few cases of the strong bullying the weak. Even hot-blooded young people who often made trouble would only look for opponents of their own level to show off their bravery.

Here, it was very hard to tell from an old man’s appearance whether he was an island manager. They could be street vendors selling grilled fish, blacksmith shop owners, or managers of boatyards and docks. And the one Kelsey was now going to say goodbye to was a tavern owner:

“Kelsey, who have you brought onto the island? Is he your boyfriend?” A loud voice came from the “Square Sail” tavern nearby, and then we saw a sturdy, spirited bald old man holding a wine bottle and shouting at us.

“Mr. Banglin, if you keep talking nonsense, I won’t bring you any more wine!” Kelsey’s cheeks flushed red, and she walked up to him a little shyly. Her face carried an affectionate expression like a daughter toward her father.

“Then don’t bring it. Do I lack people who bring me wine here? Young people, come over. You’re Kelsey’s friends, right? I’ll buy you a drink.” The old man warmly extended his right hand to greet us, revealing a deep scar below his right elbow.

“Mr. Banglin, this time I came to say goodbye to you,” Kelsey said.

“Oh, what’s the matter?” Old Banglin looked at us with a strange expression. “Are you getting married? Good, the sooner the better. It’s just a pity that you’re not staying a pirate…”

“Look at what you’re saying. That’s not it at all.” Kelsey hurriedly denied it. She told the old pirate everything from beginning to end, without hiding anything.

“So, I might not be able to come back for a long time. Also, I need your help. I want to bring some people back to help me fight. According to the rules, I will pay them proper rewards, and all the spoils they get will belong to them.” These conditions had all been approved by our generous Majesty.

“Is that so…” The old pirate thought for a moment and said, “I’ll find a few young fellows to help you. After all, fighting is not fun. You have to be careful too.”

“I will. Thank you. I’m sorry to trouble everyone for our matter…” Kelsey said uneasily.

“Look at you. Isn’t your business everyone’s business? And all of this is according to the rules. These little rascals are making a mess of the island with all their noise. Sending them out to see the world will give us old folks some peace and quiet. So it’s decided. Come, everyone, come over.”

“Speaking of which, I’m the one who brought Kelsey onto the island,” Banglin told us with a smile at the table. “That was about a year ago. Little Kelsey had just arrived in the Comet Sea and didn’t know how to be a pirate. Her first job ended up robbing this old pirate. Hahaha, robbing a pirate—that was the first time in the history of the Comet Sea…” We never imagined that Kelsey, who was calm and steady in command during the storm, could have such an embarrassing moment, and we couldn’t help snickering.

“Please don’t say any more…” Kelsey lowered her head in shame.

“I thought this little girl was interesting, so I brought her onto the island. Later, I didn’t want to do it anymore, so I opened a tavern here and gave her my ship—the one she has now. But I never expected that my old, ugly, broken ship would become completely different once she fixed it up. Now I kind of regret it. If I had known, I would have pulled the little girl onto my ship as first mate. How impressive it would be to sail around in such a beautiful ship…”

“Now, the little girl has made a name for herself. The only female pirate captain in the Comet Sea has shamed those kids who play at being pirates, and she has even outshone us old folks. Many young men on the island are so crazy about her they can’t eat or sleep. I say, which of you is the little girl’s boyfriend? You’d better be careful…”

“Mr. Banglin, if you keep talking, I’ll ignore you!” Kelsey grabbed Old Banglin’s collar and acted spoiled, completely like a little girl. You couldn’t see any trace of a pirate’s bearing—I mean the “pirate bearing” often seen in adventure novels. Red Flame beside me blushed and lowered his head.

“Alright, no more talking. Let me buy the young ones a drink. I have plenty of good wine here.” The old pirate smiled, took out a bottle from the wine cabinet, poured each of us a small glass, and whispered mysteriously: “This is something I salvaged from the bottom of the sea when I was young. Now it’s the last bottle. If you get to drink it, you’re lucky. I, old Banglin of the Square Sail, don’t have much fame as a pirate, but when it comes to drinking, I’m first-rate.”

I took a small sip and said in surprise, “Huh, so this is what Dwarven Koka wine tastes like after being stored for more than fifty years.”

“Yes, young man, you really know your stuff.” The old man’s eyes brightened as he looked at me. “Indeed, Dwarven Koka wine is very strong. If it’s stored for too short a time, it becomes harsh. But Dwarves can’t go a single day without this stuff, and the consumption is too great, so there is very little Koka wine kept for more than five years. One like mine, stored for more than fifty years, is absolutely unheard of. If I hadn’t happened to discover a sunken ship, this wine would still be hidden at the bottom of the sea.”

“Please wait.” I picked up my glass, walked to the wine cabinet, selected several wines with different flavors, mixed a small amount into the Koka wine in my glass, and then casually dripped a few drops of chili oil into it. I made a drink with a fiery, strong flavor, tasted it, and placed it in front of Old Banglin.

“Try this.”

Old Banglin drank the whole glass completely off guard. As if struck by an arrow, he suddenly went stiff in his seat, his face turning bright red. I was startled and quickly asked, “What’s wrong? Are you all right? Or is it the wine I mixed…”

Old Banglin held his breath and waved his hand at me. Only after the strong surge of alcohol passed did he let out a long breath. He smacked his lips, looked at the glass with lingering desire, and then said seriously to Kelsey a sentence that made us all faint:

“Girl, when are you going to marry this young man? I find this guy really damn likable…”

We spent a lot of effort to convince the old pirate that Red Flame was Kelsey’s real lover. Old Banglin looked over the Elf Ranger again and again, seeming to have no fondness for the Elves, a race not good at drinking. Only after he saw that Red Flame’s drinking capacity was far stronger than ordinary people’s did he reluctantly acknowledge his relationship with Kelsey. He felt that this foreign youth, whose actual age was much older than his own, “although not as good as the young man who can mix wine, was still not bad.”

This was probably the only time I ever outshone an Elf in other people’s eyes.

Even though Old Banglin only wrote the news of Kelsey’s departure on a small blackboard and hung it in front of the tavern, three days later we still had a powerful navy of nearly twenty well-equipped pirate ships and plenty of excellent sailors. Kelsey’s influence among pirates—especially among young pirates—was overwhelming. Many people joined this expedition without reward just for her name. These young men were not lacking in hot-blooded courage and the pursuit of “pirate honor,” but they probably had never seen the cruelty of real war. The admirers and worshipers of the Red Scarf Pirate Queen formed a so-called “Skull Rose Expeditionary Force,” vowing to help the pirate flower of the Comet Sea. This was good news for us, but perhaps not for Red Flame: he was startled by the sudden appearance of a large number of “love rivals.” Whenever Kelsey walked past people with her arm linked through his and a smile on her face, he could always feel dense, burning, murderous stares coming from behind. And in just three days, he had already accepted fifteen challenges from young pirates. Because of his superb martial skills and generous personality, he quickly formed deep friendships with those disappointed losers. But it had to be said: the warriors lining up to challenge him were growing more numerous, not fewer.

Little Phil still received Red Flame’s strict teaching every day, but his relationship with Red Flame could no longer be as harmonious as before. He was more diligent and harder-working than before, and even more silent. During almost every combat lesson, it was Red Flame who did the talking. Unless he encountered a problem he couldn’t understand, Little Phil hardly wanted to say a word. His father’s misfortune made him unfriendly to everyone on the island, and of course, especially to Kelsey. In comparison, the ones he got along with better were the Dark Elf and the Necromantic Warlock: Miss Eliot was the only person on the island who could pinch his little face affectionately without being resisted, and he often pestered the Necromantic Warlock to tell him stories about the dead:

“Every dead spirit leaves differently. Some are sad, some are reluctant, some are timid, some have no fear at all. Most of them will come to the side of Tefreelimeilansi, the goddess of the dead, and meet their loved ones.”

“Will my mom and dad meet there too?” Little Phil asked.

“Yes, child.”

“Then… what about me?”

“You? You can’t. You’re still too young. Only after you complete your mission in the mortal world can you face death calmly and return to your loved ones. If you haven’t, you will cling to this world, and the dead will feel regret and sorrow, unable to find the door to the realm of the dead.”

“I miss my mom and dad, sir,” the child sobbed quietly. In the past few days, he was only willing to smile in front of Miss Eliot, and only willing to cry in front of Poirot.

“They are watching you, child. When you think of them, they will see you.”

Whenever death was mentioned, Poirot’s expression was always incomparably sacred and solemn. I didn’t know how much of what he said about the dead was true and how much was comfort for the child, but I always felt that because he could see the world we couldn’t see, he always carried a sadness we couldn’t feel.

Another sob sounded beside my ear. Kelsey, who had been hiding with me not far away watching all this, threw herself into Red Flame’s arms and cried softly. She always felt she owed this child, and during these days she had been trying to get close to him. She didn’t mind Little Phil’s coldness and hatred toward her. She only hoped to use her tenderness and care to make up for the pain of Little Phil losing his parents. Although she never said it, I knew that Kelsey, who came from an orphanage, felt an unspeakable guilt toward this child who had almost been made an orphan by her own hands—even though it was actually not her fault. The feelings she poured into this child who hated her were like a real mother’s feelings toward her own child.

We planned to leave the Skull Flag Islands early on the fourth morning. On the night before, the island residents held a grand farewell banquet in Old Banglin’s tavern for their heroes who were about to set out on the expedition to the inland rivers. Just when the guests and hosts were all enjoying themselves and the atmosphere had reached its peak, suddenly…

“Miss Kelsey, get away from those people! They’re dangerous!” The door was burst open by a tall man, and then he raised an iron rod and pointed it at us, shouting harshly. The originally noisy tavern instantly became quiet. The people who had been celebrating joyfully were startled by this unexpected guest.

I could see his face clearly. It was our old acquaintance, the brave sea warrior who had fought fiercely with Red Flame at the dock—Storm Dirk.

Kelsey didn’t know what was going on. She was holding Red Flame’s arm and looking at him in surprise. He became even more anxious and shouted with righteous indignation: “No matter what you want to do to Miss Kelsey, I warn you, if you want to hurt Miss Kelsey, you’ll have to step over my dead body first—Storm Dirk’s dead body!” His expression was so serious, but it was so out of place with the warm and friendly atmosphere here that those of us who knew the inside story couldn’t help laughing. Even Little Phil, who was weighed down with worries, was amused by his brave but somewhat dull manner, and the corners of his mouth turned up.

This brave man was made very awkward by our smiles. He seemed to realize he had made some mistake, but he didn’t know where he was wrong. He didn’t know whether to hold the iron rod up or put it down.

“Put down your fire poker, you reckless fellow. Don’t let the guests laugh at us.” Old Banglin snatched the iron rod from his hand and scolded him loudly. But there was no sign of blame in his expression; it was more like a father using a scolding to relieve the embarrassment of a child who had caused trouble. Perhaps to this old pirate, every young person on the island was like his own child.

“Sit here, my friend.” Red Flame greeted him in a friendly way and saved his dignity. “This is a misunderstanding. I’m very glad neither of us was hurt back then. We are Kelsey’s friends, not here to cause trouble.” As he said this, Red Flame gave Little Phil a meaningful glance. Little Phil was sitting beside Eliot, hanging his head over a glass of fruit juice without agreeing or disagreeing, silent.

After hearing Red Flame tell the whole story, Dirk’s face turned red with shame, and he kept apologizing to us.

“You are an amazing warrior…” Dirk said to Red Flame with admiration. “The best I’ve ever seen. What’s your name?”

“His name is Red Flame. He… he is my good friend.” Kelsey linked her arm through Red Flame’s and said with an ambiguous expression.

I don’t know if it was my imagination, but anyway, when Dirk saw the intimate posture between Kelsey and Red Flame, his expression dimmed a little. But then his eyes brightened, and he teased in a relaxed tone like a big brother to his sister: “Oh, your ‘good’ friend? Or maybe, your special friend?”

Kelsey was not at all shy in front of these young people, unlike the way she was with Old Banglin. She dashed up and grabbed his arm: “Oh! Since when did you dare to make fun of me too? I heard you went to Red Snake Island and thought you wouldn’t be able to come back.”

“Ah… mercy, mercy…” The rough man made a pained expression and kept pretending even after Kelsey let go, drawing a burst of laughter. He comically rubbed the attacked arm and said, “I met old Lynn at sea. He told me you were leaving, so I rushed back right away. I was afraid I’d be too late. From the look of it, I’m lucky.”

“Dirk, we’re going to fight. You…”

“I know. Kelsey’s enemies are our enemies.” He took a big gulp of ale and shouted to the other young pirates in the tavern, “Friends, let’s let those shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the inland rivers see what the men under the Skull Flag are made of, right?”

“Right!” A burst of cheers came from the room.

“Beat them until they piss their pants!”

“Ohhh…”

“For the most beautiful wave on the sea!”

“For Kelsey…”

“To the undefeated warrior.” He picked up another glass and raised it toward Red Flame, his eyes carrying a deeper meaning than the wine.

“To the brave men of the Skull Flag.” Red Flame answered. Our Elf friend was brave but not stupid. He calmly accepted that complicated gaze.

This was a crazy, happy night. Many people got drunk: Poirot, Eliot, Old Banglin, Little Phil, Kelsey, Red Flame…

Storm Dirk was the first to fall drunk.