Weeks later, the Rising Sun company went to travel to Rito Village to free Vah Medoh.
"Be careful out there," Boldon warned them as they left. "I've heard that monsters have been gathering in Hyrule Field."
"That won't be a problem," Claude said.
"I don't know, it seems like it would be," Boldon said. "The only roads to the Hebra province lead through Hyrule Field."
"Roads, maybe," Claude said. "But we won't be following the roads. We're sailing to the banks of the Regencia River. From there, we can cross the West Hyrule Plains into the Tabantha region, and follow the road north from there."
Boldon thought about that. "But that means you would have to sail around Hyrule Castle! The Calamity could be able to strike at you from there!"
"If the Calamity manages to escape its imprisonment within Hyrule Castle, it won't matter how far away from it we are. There will be no escape for any of us," Edelgard said.
"It won't," Link insisted. "Princess Zelda has the Calamity sealed in Hyrule Castle. She won't let it break free."
"Where will you get a ship?" Boldon asked.
"Pirates have been attacking Lurelin Village recently," Claude informed him. "We'll deal with the pirates, and take their ship."
It ended up being fortuitous that Flayn's group had visited Riola Spring, because Linhardt had activated the teleporter on a Shrine near Lake Floria. From there, it was only two days' walk to Lurelin.
"Too bad we couldn't bring the horses," Hilda said.
"We couldn't sail with them anyway," Annette noted.
After some time, they reached Lurelin Village.
"This looks like a fishing village, and not a wealthy one. What would pirates want to steal from here?" Lorenz asked.
"I think there used to be a topaz mine in the area," Link answered. "It's probably not in operation now, but there might be some wealth remaining in Lurelin."
"Are you of the thinking that the pirates might also be being slavers?" Petra asked.
"It's possible," Monica said. "Of the coastal towns in Hyrule, Lurelin is the one with the fewest defenses. It's not near anywhere that could send reinforcements, like Samasa, and it doesn't have Ancient Tech defenses, like New Kasuto. " She was referencing two other villages on the coastline. Samasa was a small town near Zora's Domain that had been established after the Great Calamity. It wasn't a large town, but it was close enough to Zora's Domain to call for reinforcements if needed. Though with the Lizalfos getting bolder and more well-equipped, that could end up being a problem. New Kasuto was a town not far from the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. It was far from any possible reinforcements, but Robbie had set up defenses with Ancient Tech that would make it a tough nut to crack for any pirate.
Compared to those two villages, Lurelin was bigger but it lacked any real defenses. At most, it might have a local militia. "There could be topaz here, or not, but even if not, it seems like an attractive target for slavers."
"Either way, soon the pirates plaguing Lurelin will pay for their crimes!" Ferdinand declared.
"We should start by speaking to the town's mayor," Edelgard suggested. "Perhaps he can give us concrete information."
As they approached Lurelin, they were greeted by a funny-looking man in a green outfit, with what looked like red undergarments on the outside of his outfit. "Tingle, tingle! Would you like to buy something?"
"No, thanks," Link said. Something about this man seemed...familiar, but Link was sure he had never met him before.
"Are you sure?" the man asked. "Tingle has candles, maps...bombs."
"The thing is...we don't actually need any of those things," Link admitted. "We're not staying in one place for long, so we don't need candles. And this device, the Sheikah Slate? It provides us with a map of Hyrule and bombs." He showed Tingle the map, and then used the bomb rune to summon a bomb. He threw the bomb onto the beach, a safe distance away from anyone, and detonated it.
Tingle looked on in shock, staring at where the bomb had gone off, as the Rising Sun Company passed by him. As they left him behind, they heard him cry, "Tingle has been replaced!"
"You heard about the pirates troubling Lurelin, and you came to deal with them...because you want to steal their ship," the mayor of Lurelin said.
"Commandeer. We want to commandeer their ship," Claude corrected.
"Considering that these pirates have been raiding Lurelin, one would think that the ship should become Lurelin's property to help pay off the damages the pirates have caused Lurelin," the mayor said.
"One would think that since the ship is the only thing we're asking for as payment, you would let us take it," Edelgard said.
"We need that ship!" the mayor protested. "Lurelin has fallen into squalor without the opportunity to trade with the rest of Hyrule!"
"Let's calm down," Link said. He made a suggestion. "We don't really need the ship. We need to get from here to the Regencia beach. You can have some of your men crew the ship and transport us there, then they can bring the ship back to Lurelin."
"And will you be paying for the transportation?" the mayor asked.
"The payment is you get a ship and you don't have to deal with pirates raiding Lurelin," Dimitri informed him, hostility in his voice. "We are offering you a good deal. But if that's not enough, we can let you deal with the pirates yourself."
"Fine," the mayor grumbled. "I'll have some of my boys sail you to Regencia."
"Good, now we're getting somewhere," Claude said. "What can you tell us about the pirates?"
"Near as we can tell, there's only one pirate ship. We think they're outlanders. Used to be that they actually raided us, but they figured out that making us pay them not to raid was more profitable. We've had to start mining topaz again just to pay their tribute. Trouble is, we hardly have enough people on hand to mine topaz and catch enough fish and collect enough palm fruit, hyoi pears, and hearty durians to feed the village. And the pirates have been asking for more than usual recently."
"That won't be a problem for much longer," Dimitri promised. "When will the pirates next come for their tribute?"
"Three days from now, at sunset," the mayor said.
Link nodded. "We'll be ready."