Kazuma, Dust, and Jaune walked towards one of the few ports in Ionia that had ships that went to one of the other kingdoms, even though the people and the creatures in Ionia were mostly isolationist, there was trade between them and the other kingdoms of this world.
Before they left the town, the barbarians had returned their weapons to them without making things difficult for them, somehow the mark that they had in their arms meant something, outside of the town, but none of them cared about whatever it was.
Kazuma listened to the various fishermen and sailors unloading their catch or whatever merchandise they had just brought in, he couldn't help but notice how relived Jaune looked when he saw the Noxus emblem on both the soldiers and ships.
"Who are you and what do you want?" a soldier that was passing by said to them and Dust immediately handed the man a small bag of coins and told him that they wanted a ride out of Ionia
The soldier didn't say anything he just glared at the three of them.
"We were told to give the money to the first person that talked to us," Jaune said to the man hoping to clear up any misunderstandings that the man may have.
Jaune could feel the pressure of the man's brown eyes as he stared at him, Jaune was forced to step back out of pure instinct.
"Alright that checks out," the soldier said to them before gently tossing the bag of coins up and catching it again, then he pointed at a group of wooden boxes that were stacked on top of one another.
"You expect us to get in those?" Dust asked the soldier who just looked at Dust as if he had just said something stupid
"No, everyone carries their weight"
"See that ship over there the three of you will be helping the crew with whatever they need, now get those boxes on the ship already were behind schedule as it is," the soldier said to them before walking away.
The three of them looked at each other before they all let out a breath of frustration, none of them expected that they might have to work during the trip to the mainland.
Still, they had their ride and if they didn't want to lose it then they might as well get started.
It took them the entire day to finish loading everything onto the ship, and their group was separated more than once because a soldier needed them to do something or someone needed them to carry some supplies for them.
Every time they were separated they had no choice but to walk back to where their group once was before one or more of them were dragged away.
It had been a long and exhausting day, but in the end, they were already at sea heading for the mainland
Jaune couldn't help but smile as he bit into a piece of meat that was leftover from yesterday, Kazuma and Dust had warned about being in a Noxus ship, while not being a member of the crew or army.
The cafeteria was meant for the soldiers and the crew who were worth more to Noxus while they were fed and ready for battle should it happen while they were at sea, so Jaune shouldn't expect them to give him any food even if he offered to pay fr it.
As Jaune ate, he began to wonder what Kazuma and Dust experienced while they were looking for him, he knew that they had gotten into trouble from time to time, but considering who they are that was something that was bound to happen.
Dust handed him a water bottle and he took two mouthfuls of water before passing the bottle to Kazuma who immediately began to drink from it.
They were forced to work for three days even as the ship rocked back and forth Jaune was okay with the work they were given after all it helped him keep his mind from wondering.
Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Kazuma and Dust who resented every moment of it.
The ship began to shake announcing to everyone on board that they were stopping, they had finally reached land so the only thing that they had to do was leave before anyone told them that they had to help unload everything on the ship.
"So where do you guys what to go, I mean do you guys want to go get something to eat or find a place to sleep," Jaune said to his two friends
"Good idea, I need a bath" Kazuma answered him
"Nah, we need to find a place that has alcohol," Dus said to them as they walked out of the ship ut as they were about to set foot on dry land they all felt a hand on their shoulders
"And where do you think you're going," a woman said to them
"We leaving, we paid for the ride here" Kazuma answered her, he didn't bother turning to look at her, after all, their time onboard was done
Jaune and Dust heard someone say something to the woman, who didn't care about what she had just been told.
"Not so fast, the three of you need to help us unload the ship," the woman said to them.
Kazuma turned to look at Dust and Jaune he was about to use teleport and escape from the crazy woman and soldiers hat wanted them to work more than they had to
"Don't even think about it, even if you manage to run away, I'll just send people to drag you three back on board and you won't just have to help us oof load one ship" The woman said to them somehow predicting that the three of them were about to escape
Kazuma and Dust lowered their head and asked the woman what she needed them to do, and why she was even bothering to stop them.
"We just need the extra hands," the woman said to them before pointing at a pile of what looked like suitcases nearby.
"Just bring those down and you three are free to go," the woman said to them
So with little choice, they all began to bring the woman's luggage off the ship.
Jaune didn't say anything but he could tell by the look in both Kazuma's and Dust's eyes that they wanted to throw the woman's luggage off the ship and then say that they were done.
The reason that they didn't do it, was the fact that they were surrounded by soldiers, soldiers that judging from earlier she could order around.