Chapter 6 - Unexpected Passengers
He was staring at the slime he had ordered to restore the weapons they had pilfered from the pirates to an acceptable manner.
"Are you shitting me?"
"No, Captain."
"You mean to honestly tell me that most of the weapons you have processed this far, have broken while you tried to clean or sharpen them?"
"Aye, Captain."
"I know you are not one of Kregs men. But how come almost all weapons broke?"
"No idea Captain."
He sighed, this was not good.
"So how many are in presentable condition?"
"Should be six daggers and four swords?"
"Ten? You mean to tell me that out of 78 weapons you only managed to not break ten?"
"Aye, Captain."
"Sigh Ok, stop for now, we will have to think of a different solution. {Kreg, come to my quarters.}"
"{Hick Aye Cap'in.}"
Why did he make his shipwright a dwarf that was drunk every waking hour of his life? He just hoped that little bit of flavor text wouldn't hinder the dwarf's ability to work.
He would have him and his men try to restore the weapons, they might be able to do it, with their build being focused on repairing, more than creating. Maybe since they were in a new world, their knowledge would allow them to create weapons now too. And with such low-level equipment, he was sure that with their basic crafter classes they'd be able to recreate something similar.
He had already gotten a report about everything they had managed to salvage from the remains of the pirate fleet.
The 314 'cannonballs' would only be useful as raw material, the problem being they didn't have a forge or anything the likes on board. Maybe he could put them in the Exchange Box and see how much gold they'd get. Even if the Ygdrasil coins weren't acknowledged as currency here, they should maintain a healthy stockpile of it, for the various mechanics of the ship if ever needed.
The 174 leather armors and 67 chainmail shirts had been in a much better condition than the weapons. They were all between level three to five, when compared to Ygdrasil equipment, and in a good enough condition to be sold.
They had retrieved a total of 412 melee weapons, ranging from daggers to war hammers, as well as 249 ranged weapons, from slingshots to longbows. The ranged weapons were all in acceptable condition unlike the melee ones, he suspected it was because they needed a lot less maintenance than the other. The melee weapons he wasn't sure if they could be of any use except raw materials. The current success rate of restoring the weapons was about 12%, taking into account the time and effort put into a single restoration, it wouldn't be worth it if they couldn't improve these numbers to at least around 50%.
They had also started getting the canons, mainly for resources. Unfortunately, they had been unable to salvage any documents, but that had to be expected.
What had taken his interest the most were the four coins he had been given along the salvage report. They had been able to get some of the local currency from the wrecks, although he didn't know how much it was actually worth since he knew nothing of the economy here.
They used four different coins, made of metal. Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. He assumed the pirates had only taken them because they were shiny since they had acquired almost none of the copper coins and he highly doubted that they were worth much. They had mainly found gold coins, with about half as many silver ones, and a few dozen platinum ones.
Lastly, the report mentioned various trinkets and other items of potential value, all once again shiny in some way, along with a decent amount of gemstones.
All in all, this could give them a steady monetary foundation, to start on.
He was going through the more detailed list of the various assorted items of potential value, when the door to his quarters was kicked open and a bald dwarf stumbled in, drinking from a flask.
"Cap'in, ya wan'ed, to see me?"
"Yeah, now hand me that flask. I need a drink."
"Aye. He'e ya go. Hick"
He took a deep swig from the flask before handing it back.
"I want you to take a look at the weapons we have salvaged. Their condition is piss poor and we currently have a success rate of about 12% when trying to restore them. If you can bump that rate up to around 50 or higher, get to work with your guys on restoring them, but keep them the same level if possible. We can't really sell anything over level 10 here, and even that is going to be a challenge. Afterward, see if you can manage to create some nonmagical equipment similar to the weapons of level 5, give or take 2 levels. The mountain of scrap metal should still be at the front hatch."
"Aye, Cap'in. If ya don' mind me hick askin', why keep the qualidy so low?"
"Just standards of this world. I don't want to suddenly appear and have equipment that is considered legendary, it would paint too much of a target on our backs."
"Aye, I'll get ta work."
"Good."
"CAPTAIN!"
"WHAT?"
He was too lazy to get up right now, the day was just getting worse and worse.
"VERA IS BACK."
"SHE GOT ANY NEWS FOR ME?"
"IN A WAY."
"WHAT?"
"JUST GET YA ASS OUT HERE CAPTAIN."
"SIGH Yeah yeah, coming."
What could be so important that he had to come outside for it. The princess would not come, she was in the middle of some important negotiations. Vera certainly wouldn't have let Paladins onboard, regardless of their standing in the Holy Kingdom.
"So what is so important that...I need to come outside."
He had not expected the sight in front of him. There stood the man he had identified earlier as the father of Neia, Pavel Baraja. And behind him was his daughter.
"I'm gonna be honest. I did not expect this, at all."
"You didn't say, we couldn't come."
"Doesn't mean I expected you to actually do it. Specially cause of your daughter's trauma and my crew."
"Is it a problem?"
"Kind of. We were planning to leave once Stilg returns and won't really have time to get the two of you back to harbor."
"So you're just going to keep us here?"
The man took a defensive stance.
"No, if you have a way to get back, go ahead. Otherwise, we plan to sail south, for a bit. Once the Princess will return home, we will sail back. We can drop you off then. That's the best I can give you."
"So you're saying you won't let us go back?"
"No, I said I can't get you back myself."
"That doesn't give us much if a choice."
"Well, I didn't expect you to come after saying you'd probably be labeled a traitor and would probably re-traumatize your daughter, because I was sure that you wouldn't leave her alone after just reuniting with her."
"My Captain, I have returned." He looked towards the source of the voice and saw Stilg returning. "Unfortunately her Highness was still occupied with her conversation with the Holy Queen, so I left both the letter and the stone with the small girl that had accompanied them."
"Thanks, you can go back to Peete, if you want."
"Then I shall take my leave, my Captain."
"So you'll just sail now and we have to stay with you?"
He rubbed his temple, this was exhausting.
"Listen Baraja, I don't know how a normal human would have reacted, since all humans I know well, are part of my crew. But would a normal father, do what you did? After being told of the risks, to both himself and his daughter? If yes, then it shows that I have no idea how normal humans behave and apologize. But that is the situation now, so if you don't mind you can come into my quarters, there are a few things you could help me with."
"Like?"
"Basic knowledge of this continent. The monetary value of things, helping us set a price range for products by providing us with their usual price, stuff like that."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you refuse."
The man looked at him in confusion.
"You two are free to walk the ship, except private quarters and the storage rooms. If you want to get somewhere just ask someone. Meals are at Sunrise, Noon, and Sundown, here on deck. I expect you do help with at least some things. Simple stuff, like helping to clean or cock. Stuff that you can do without sailing experience"
He walked towards his cabin. Before turning around again, one hand resting on his cutlass.
"And if you attack any of my crew without provocation, I'll throw you overboard, I'll make an exception for Neia, as long as it is without malicious intent, but due to her having a fit, due to her trauma."
He turned around again and looked up to the helm.
"Trelios, get us out of here."
"Aye, Captain."
With that he went back inside his quarters, ignoring the confused father.
He just couldn't understand why the man had come here, it didn't make any sense. Not with everything he had told him.
He could feel the ship lurching forward when the sails were unfurled and began to catch the wind.
This day was just getting worse and worse, well, maybe the man would help him get a better grip at the monetary situation of the continent. That was the most important thing they needed to figure out right now.
Maybe he'd be able to bribe the man? Or guild-trip him into helping. He was the savior of his daughter after all. But if he wanted to bribe him, he couldn't just give him money. He had no idea how much all the money in his possession was actually worth, so he needed an alternative.
A weapon perhaps? If he was correct about his assumptions, maybe a level 15 weapon would already be enough. But he didn't know about the quality of the weapons the man normally used. Neither did he even know what kind of weapon the man used, all he knew was that he certainly didn't have the stature of a caster.
Some armor? No, much too obvious. Also, it seemed that the man's armor, with its color and the crest, represented the man's loyalty. It would be like spitting in his face while asking for his help. He would probably attack him instead of providing helpful information.
He ignored the particularly big wave hitting the ship. He was an experienced sailor, he could even stay firmly on his two feet in a storm. But what surprised him was the swearing coming from outside. His crew might not be the most polite, but they knew not to swear that colorfully in front of a child.
He looked through one of the windows beside his door to see what was happening on deck. There he saw Pavel Baraja standing up again with the help of his daughter. Still cursing his leg.
It was something he should have expected. The man had lost his leg about a month ago and was obviously still adjusting. Add to that the naturally unstable deck of a moving ship, of course, the man wouldn't be able to keep his balance. He needed to change that if the man were to help out on the ship.
"That's it."
In the game, they had been merely cosmetic items, providing minor stat boosts at times, but here, in this world. There was no reason to assume they wouldn't work. But did they have any in storage right now?
The improved versions had been added in the last major update two years ago. Including the many skins that made them look less suspicious.
If they still had one, he could play it off as something he felt necessary for the man to have, to be able to live on the ship for the next few days and hint at the possibility that he could keep it, if he helped him.
It was probably his best chance, and since he didn't know how long the Princesses talks would last, he needed to act quickly. He opened the door to his quarters heading straight for one of the hatches, leading into the ship.
"Shacklegear, take command. I'll check up on Kreg's progress."
"AYE CAPTAIN."
The dwarf's workshop was directly next to the storage rooms, so he might as well check up on him.
It didn't take him too long to reach the workshop, he stepped through the open doorway, seeing all of them diligently working, with the mountain of weapons in the middle of the room.
"Kreg!"
"Aye?"
The dwarf made his way from the other side of the room towards him.
"Any progress."
"Don' wan' t soun rude. But we hick haven' even work'd for halv n 'our."
"Just tell me. I need to get something from the storage room and thought I could check up on your progress."
"Well. We sertainly mad' som. Rate is 'bout 78%. But we jus' hick can' hick keep it same qualidy."
"Meaning?"
"Mos' o them, become aroun' 8."
"That's something we can work with. Good job.
He went towards the door leading directly into the storage rooms from the workshop.
He had never bothered setting up any real security measures, aside from the NPCs, anyone wanting access to his treasures would have to fight through.
He didn't need them. He had contracts with some very influential guilds, including 'Trinity', as well as 'Ainz Ooal Gown', both being the most famous 'good' and 'bad' guild. Both would have been unhappy to say the least, if their supplier of important goods and resources had been attacked, resulting in them getting the resources later than planned or said resources being stolen. And no one wanted to risk the wrath of those two guilds. Of course, there were a lot more he had contracted, but he always felt that those two had been the main driving force of his silent protection.
He strode into the room filled with labeled crates. They may look like not much was stored in here, compared to the size of the ship. But each of those giant crates was in fact an extra-dimensional storage unit.
It had taken quite the sum of paid items to obtain all these, but he had money flowing out of his ass back then, so he just did it.
He searched for the crates being labeled as 'Vanity' and found them after some searching. He took a look at the list pinned to the first crate, having no luck, and continued onto the next one.
There were only two crates left. He sincerely hoped he had at least one of them, even if it didn't fit into this world from the skin. He could just give it to Kreg to have it painted, but he needed one if he wanted to get Baraja to talk.
He skimmed through the list pinned to the crate. There. And not just a single one, but two of every basic skin, from the update two years ago. He couldn't believe his luck.
He went into the crate, looking around a bit before finding them. He settled on one looking like it was made of some black metal, combined with some dark wood. He put it into his inventory and made his way back on deck.
He found both Barajas, still on deck. The man leaning aging ta mast, working on his balance and the daughter looking over the railing into the ocean, a look of pure fascination on her face.
"Baraja!"
The man whipped his head around and looked at him.
"If you're gonna help out here, I can't have you fall over at every little wave."
"I'm not a sailor, so don't expect much. I only lost my leg a month ago, so unless you have a way to regrow my leg, three is nothing you can do."
"The is, try this one. You can use it until we get you back to Rimun."
With that, he tossed the leg made of metal and wood to the man. He hoped that it would work, but there wasn't any reason it wouldn't.
"Is this a joke?"
"Just put the damn thing on and get to work. If you want to help me with the stuff I mentioned earlier come to my quarters."
With those words he made his way back to his quarters, hoping not only that the artificial limb would work, but also that the man would come to talk to him.
He needed the information the man could provide as soon as possible. He could also ask him to judge the quality of the restored weapons. The man should be able to judge if it would be appropriate for a normal soldier, or if it was better than standard issued weapons.
The man was currently his best source of valuable information and he'd be damned if he didn't get some useful information out of the man.
Hey, I. Am. Back!
Unfortunately, the exams went very meh. So that is not a good thing. Neither is that I had two of my wisdom teeth removed earlier today, it felt like the guy was using a crowbar when considering he used both hands to get one of the teeth out.
Concerning Kreg. I really wanted a drunk craftsman, but I didn't know how to write that. So I just slurred while saying the sentence to myself, well as much as I could speak, with half of my face looking like that of a hamster, and I hope it is still understandable while also getting the drunkenness across.
I think that is all I wanted to say regarding this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.
-Zimzimgar