Author's Notes: This chapter is a gift to Bluerozeknight and ShadowYano03. Thank you for supporting this short story and it's many clips. XD

~ ... The Problems with Gentlemen... ~

One more squeal from some random girl and Ace was going to lose it. This was entirely too much! All he did was put a coat on and brush his hair a bit and all of a sudden he was getting attention! That's so stupid! What happened to him being able to just visit a place, make a new friend, and roam around without stiff clothes or following rules down to the letter? Huh? What happened to the absolute freedom of being a small town, average, "nice when he felt like it" shmuck? What the hell wrecked all his rebellious ways? Oh yeah, this gorg - he meant cu - no! God dammit! It's all the floor scrubber's fault! Why'd she have to wear the cool coat? Why does she like gentleman anyway? They're frou-frou, don't like dirt, would rather have their noses in the clouds, need to feel like they're better than you. They're worthless! At least... those oppressors were worthless. The ones out to get him and his boys were "bottom of the barrel" people. Why weren't the privateers like that, though?

Exploring Mariners Bay was something else. Nesi worked her ass off to improve the militant base's conditions, and, for the first time ever, he got to see his floor scrubber actually have fun and be comfortable around everyone. She spent time with the ladies, shared a drink or joked with the men, played with children, and trained with the soldiers. She was a busy but versatile lady. The soldiers had no ill will to the pirates. Privateer harbor towns and third-party contractor ports were probably some of the most bustling places Ace had seen in a while. Everyone worked together, ate together, partied together, and got to know each other. In truth, Ace found that he actually liked Pierre LeGrand out of the small group of privateers that were at the bay. Pierre, according to what he said when he joined Nesi for breakfast to see about the grumpy cakes she was talking about, was planning to largely remain a pirate but still be contracted as a privateer. Unfortunately, Ace had the absolute privilege of hearing Pieter explain precisely what Pierre intended to be. He was going for the title of buccaneer, which was a level just under the privateer (so he could have his own public harbor and port in the future) and a level just above a pirate (so he could still up the ranks as a pirate would), and that sort of... interested Ace. It got to a point where he spoke with Pierre at length whenever he was around, and he didn't mind speaking to Hesereg from time to time either.

One particular instance made Ace really think about his career as a pirate and captain. Cobalt wanted to potentially try his hand at bounty hunting for particular criminals who harmed the status, or economy, of towns in the process of being improved. Cobalt wasn't a privateer himself, but he liked how they operated and was interested in being a third-party contractor type of worker. Mostly as a side hustle. Ace sort of stumbled on him targeting a particular person and offered advice on hunting the person down. His methodical planning impressed the man, and Cobalt went on his journey to capture the criminal. He was supposed to be coming back soon. In the meantime, the Spades were actually working with Nesi and exploring the town to its fullest. They found some treasure! Since the privateers and townspeople didn't want it, they let them have it. That was suspicious to Ace, so he asked Nesi why the privateers didn't go for treasure. They were still pirates.

"That's the best part about the job!" Nesi claimed, running through her room in the barracks to pull out a booklet of Enemy Ship Capture Warrants and tabs. "Our treasure comes from the government itself. We serve the countries, so any enemy to our respective homelands is who we're concerned with. You see, cargo ships hold millions of berries in product that can go towards advancing the countries. We protect the cargo and eliminate any and all threats who would disrupt economic improvement for the countries. If the money gets distributed correctly and evenly like it's supposed to, then we eliminate many forms of illegal or unnecessary labor. Job opportunities open up, resources are better and become readily available, and everyone has a fair share. Guarding trade routes and transport services is crucial to us. Enemy ships are prize ships. However much the enemy's cargo is worth, we get a share of it as long as it's undamaged. That share is an agreed upon amount, so, if a prize ship is worth 1 million berrie (just as an example), we can earn anywhere between 10 to 25 percent of that prize. Sometimes, it's more depending on the enemy and the type of cargo. That's a healthy 100,000 to 250,000 berries per ship of legal, continuous earnings. We can use that money however we wish whether it's buying food or spices for poor towns or buying a house for yourself. It's no different than how a pirate might earn his keep. It's just the government funds you for it. All without being their dogs! Your concern is the country, not the sovereign who thinks he's immortal. Since not many people in the upper class bother us, we're able to work together and work with the right people to build towns like these or help others."

"That why you're working on clean water projects?" Ace asked, smiling a bit.

He was interested in Nesi's work and was understanding what she meant all along about her dream. She was focused on results for the long-term, not the now. She was happy about doing this work regardless of the danger that came with it. Really, he respected Nesi more for it. She was earning her keep from the government but making them pay for the countries' improvements indirectly. Whatever was left, she could pocket for her own survival.

Nesi nodded, blushed a bit, and said, "I forget that you can be observant sometimes."

"Captain's habit. That booklet has all the ships you captured?" Ace asked, nodding at it.

"Just the ones I helped capture. I have to make rank or get close to rank before I can go on my own," Nesi explained, holding her book with a warm smile.

Ace wasn't sure why seeing Nesi happy made him feel strange, but he missed having his crew together to wreak havoc on the town. While they didn't cause trouble at the Mariners Bay, they did cause trouble at a neighboring town a couple of miles from the coast. Ace and his boys were largely curious about which towns were close to the privateer harbor since it was a pretty secluded area. Once they found some nobles to torment, it was a wrap. Finding other pirates made things worse, but, when Ace had enough adventuring for the day, he happily made the trek back to the harbor and the barracks where Nesi was retiring for the night. The boys, however, had something else in mind for their beloved captain...

"Ssssoooo, Captain Ace, we have a question," Deuce started, slamming his arm across Ace's shoulders.

"Oh, gods, no," Ace grumbled. It had to be something stupid.

"Oh, don't be like that! You know you love me the most! Since you're getting more female attention, we were thinking. How's about we celebrate for finding that heap of a jackpot? We hadn't even acknowledged it yet!" Deuce suggested.

"Oh, that's much better than where I thought this conversation was going. Sounds good to me!" Ace cheered, smiling mischievously.

"Bbbuuuutttt... we don't want nee-san to cook for us this time," Corale chimed in, making Ace wildly leery of this.

"Whaddaya mean she can't cook? You love her food!" Ace replied, kind of disappointed with his men. That was the best part of celebrating! Nesi made impressive feasts! While he hated his portions being cut to reasonable portions, it was still tasty. "That's almost like a punishment!"

"What!? No, it's not!" Corale argued. "You eat just fine without her going all out!"

"It is if I can't eat her white country gravy and biscuits with the meat!" Ace snapped.

"It took me 40 tries to get her recipes for that down to a science! You're eatin' my food!" Triska, the new ship cook, complained with visible frustration.

"You better tap into your feminine side then. 'Cause it ain't the damn same!" Ace ordered, returning to his walk in front of the men. "That might be the special ingredient. 'Cause the women I've grown up around do something extra to the food. It might be a woman thing."

"I'm not puttin' on the pansy tutu!" Triska roared. "Matter o' fact, I oughtta put strawberry syrup in everything!"

Cuatro stopped dead in his tracks and turned blue at the mere thought of such an ingredient in his food and begged, "Please don't do that."

"Why don't you want Nesi to join anyway? You can pick up girls if you want. My main rule is that you respect them in the way you talk to 'em and treat 'em. I learned a lot from women, and I care about the ones who steered me straight as a kid. I'm not having you ruin my rep as captain or a man with your lack of self-control. I want good, strong, confident, and talented men in my crew. If you can't treat a girl right, I'm dumping you in a pool of sharks," Ace threatened, quite serious about the sharks. "Bonus points if a Sea King is among them."

"Eek..." Corale grimaced. "Good thing that's not why we're saying give her a break."

"What are you saying?" Ace questioned, noticing all his boys exchanging an odd glance at each other before returning their attention to him.

... ... ... ... ...

Chew, chew, chew, swallow. Ace wanted to scream. Really, he did. His boys actually chose two other women to join him for dinner on his ship while they paraded through town. Bunch of crazy bastards! At no point in his speech did he say he wanted to pick up chicks. But, no... no, no, no, no! They had to setup a cooking competition with two giggling pigeons on his ship! Well, okay, they weren't parading around town per se. They were watching him to make sure he never removed his blindfold as he was taste-testing the women's food. Why did they want him with these two women? Largely, to test his patience. He could be out on the town getting to know people like usual, but NO!

While Ace was busy fuming and lightly blushing at his predicament, Deuce and Triska were taking notes on the girls' cuisines. They just so happened to overhear the girls talking about how cute Ace was, so they snatched up Cuatro and made him judge them on their attractiveness in relation to their captain's particular... tastes? The captain had a bit of favoritism towards Nesi's cooking, but that's what the crew was using as an excuse for their experiment. He had been switching between two looks since docking at Mariners Bay: the captain's garb provided by Nesi and his usual clothing provided by... himself. Tonight, they made him dress in the captain's garb. The girls were elated to be face to blindfolded face with the young, handsome pirate captain. They mentioned feeling like concubines almost, but they didn't mind cooking something special for Ace if it meant being close to him.

Nesi was in the kitchen making a special dish per the request of the boys. They wanted something really amazing, and she was allowed to have as much creative freedom as she wanted. The only stipulation was that she couldn't leave the kitchen under any circumstances. Nesi accepted the challenge, hummed with thought about a recipe she wanted to do, and snapped her fingers when she thought of something. It would be a mystery dish. While the other two girls were giving him small scoops of their particular dish, Baragon was running around with his toys like usual. That added to Ace's attractiveness as a pet owner. Ace was respectful throughout the whole time, further adding to the attraction towards him, and complimented each girl's dish until Corale brought out Nesi's plate. Ace caught the scent of her dish almost immediately and almost pulled the blindfold off.

"No, captain, that's against the rules, remember?" Triska reminded, taking Ace's hand away. He put the plate down in front of Ace and said, "We'll let one girl feed you this and the other feed you dessert. Deal?"

"Whatever that is smells really good," Ace replied, practically intoxicated by aroma.

"Oh, let me feed it to you, Captain Ace!" the brunette girl offered, blushing brightly.

"Sure," Ace answered, actually eager to eat whatever this new dish was.

The brunette fed him a spoonful... and then died from happiness because Ace tossed the spoon or fork away and went face first into the plate. Some food got on the girl and he ate it off her unknowingly, hence her unintended death. The other girl started blushing at the mere thought of what dessert might do. Baragon stopped playing all of a sudden and perked up at the smell of something himself. His ear fins popped open before he dashed across the deck to run into the kitchen. Some noises emerged before Baragon ran off with a bowl of fruit and cream. The other girl with white hair was red in the face as a parfait bowl and spoon was placed in front of her. She barely got the spoon of dessert up before she fainted. Ace finally undid his blindfold and started nibbling on his cake. Equally as delicious as whatever was on that other plate.

When his bowl suddenly became empty after three scoops, he looked up at Triska and demanded evilly, "More."

"I guess the girls lost the competition," Corale said, shaking his head at Deuce's big grin.

"There is no more, captain. The cook would have to make more," Triska said, backing away from Ace. He was giving him a look that didn't seem safe.

"MORE..." Ace repeated, slowly rising to his feet. With the cloak on his shoulders, he looked like a phantom.

"Cook's in the kitchen," Triska replied, pointing to the ship's kitchen.

Ace burst into the kitchen to see Nesi happily watching the stars in the sky. There was more food on the table for the boys in the end. She made too much with the ample time she had. She didn't know how to cook for just one person. Ace was confused. He thought the boys didn't want her to cook. Getting up to choose a bread and jam, Nesi nodded at herself when she heard the right noise coming from a roll of French bread. She started cutting slices when she finally noticed a shadow across the hall. She grinned wide and lifted a thumb as a greeting. When she went to sit down at her small table by the kitchen's window, she was jolted with surprise when Ace put a plate of food on the other side to sit with her. The boys came in right when Nesi was pouring a cocktail for them to share. Leaning back a bit, the floor scrubber relaxed as she continued her stargazing.

"When'd you start wearing lipstick?" the captain asked.

"Huh? Oh, on my birthday. Figured I'd give it a try for once. I haven't done anything lady-like in forever," Nesi replied, scoffing before returning her sights to the moon. "Felt kinda weird until I found the right color."

"Guess you were in on it, huh?" Ace questioned, earning Nesi's attention.

"In on what?"

"The cooking competition with those other girls."

"What other girls?" Nesi asked, squinting an eye and tilting her head to the side and down.

"Well, it looks like we'll be headed into town! Can we eat that scrumptious looking meal on the table first?" Cuatro asked, rubbing his hands together rapidly. "As reward for a job well done?"

"What're we talking about here?" Nesi asked, pointing to the boys with suspicion. "What're you talking about?"

"A reward for figuring out the captain's type, obviously," Cuatro said, earning looks of dread from the Spades.

That was supposed to be a secret!

... The screams echoing throughout the privateer harbor amused Pieter. He thought he saw a burst of flames at the docks...