25 Chapter 24
A/N: Guys help me think of a name that suits Auron's trading company. Just leave it here in the paragraph's comment and I will choose one.
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The ship had to turn around though. The captain can't resist the temptation of gold but Auron didn't care. He just stayed inside his room sleeping soundly. Drawing a long bow and shooting rapid fire took some toll on him. It made him so tired that his strength seems to be sapped out of him. It looks like he needed to catch up with his stamina training once more.
When the captain of the ship found the pirate ship, it was eerily quiet. They boarded to its deck and saw a horrifying scene. It seems the pirates that they saw falling to the sea from a distance was the tip of the iceberg.
They spread out to check if anyone survive but all they can see were some pirates embedded to the wall with arrows plunging half of its shaft into their heads. There was even a pirate pinned onto the mast of the ship. All clean shots, no extra arrows without a victim. Seeing all this, the greed in the captain's eyes diminished considerably.
The captain's crew gulped and they searched the ship. They found a lot of gold inside the pirate captain's cabin. When they reached the lower deck of the pirate ship, they found two prisoners alive. It seems they were among the victims from a merchant ship recently attacked by the pirates.
They released the two prisoners who were happen to be merchants wearing dirty bright colored clothes. They look sophisticated but somehow the frabic was stained with grime and blood. When they reached the main deck, the two merchants were frightened seeing the horrifying scene.
Once all of the gold was transfered to the Passenger ship, the crew decided to clean the pirate ship since it can also be sold in Braavos. All of these took so much time that when they are finished, Auron was already a awake from his sleep. They left some men to help man the pirate ship to follow their own ship.
When Auron walked out from his room and arrived at the main deck, The captain had to explain what had happened after he went to his room.
"Esteemed Storyteller, the journey has been delayed because we have to go back and fetch your gold." The captain fidgeted nervously.
Auron was surprised but before he could speak, there was a commotion heading out in their direction.
A crew approached them and said, "Captain, one of the merchant prisoners requested to see you."
The captain looked at Auron for brief moment then nodded.
"Let him through."
Not long after, the merchant who was oozing with haughty attitude and greedy eyes stepped forward.
"Captain, I demand my gold returned to me!"
All of them was stunned and they gasp collectively. Subconsciously, they turned their eyes to Auron who was watching the scene amusingly.
The captain became agitated and he nervously drag the greedy merchant to a corner.
The captain whispered furiously but Auron could still hear them.
"What the fuck are you doing?" The captain asked.
"What? I am just demanding the gold that belongs to me!" The greedy merchant became irritated so he shouted quite loudly.
"Listen here you piece of horse shit. You are not in the position to demand anything. You are a rescued prisoner! You think you can just get your gold back? You are too naive!" The captain growled.
"I want my gold back! Those gold you have right there! I want them back or else.."
The captain exploded in anger cutting him off.
"Or else what?! You don't have anything, you don't even have men. Do you want to know how we were able to rescue your pathetic lives? The horrifying scene you saw on the pirate ship's deck was done by only one person!"
The captain pointed at Auron and said, "Him! He shoot the pirates to death alone with just a long bow. He killed them all easily like swatting a fly. The gold and the pirate ship belonged to him now as his loot so if you want to die and demand the gold like before. Go ahead, I won't stop you. Just don't drag me into this!"
Hearing this, the greedy merchant's haughty behavior diminished replaced by a nervous look on his face. He gulped hard trying to find a reason to atleast get some benefits.
On the other hand, Auron playfully played along with the captain and said, "Ah~ someone wants my gold? I think my hands are still itchy. There must be a pirate who survived and he is just wearing a different clothing. Where's my bow?"
The crew was startled and they couldn't help but stifle a laugh. But in merchant's ears, it's like death knell marking his death if he didn't reign in his greed.
"Of course, of course.. Ah~ I must've hit my head I forgot that I was rescued and the gold was long gone. I think I have to return to my room and rest." The greedy merchant said as he found an excuse.
Without hesitation, he run away towards the direction of his room.
When the greedy merchant finally left, Auron, the captain and the crew burst into laughter.
"HAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAH"
"Hahahahahahha, did you see his face?"
"I saw his face crumpled he looked so ugly, hahahaahahaha."
"I think he pissed himself, hahahaaha!"
A few minutes later, they all calmed down. The captain had to initiate the concerning issue.
"Seriously, these are all yours. You just finished off a pirate crew singlehandedly. Technically, these gold belongs to you bow."
"No, I can't accept that. You delayed the journey just for this that means you are expecting something in return right?"
"Heheh, you got me." The captain said embarrassingly.
"No worries, you deserved some rewards since it was you who collected these gold for me. How about this, I will take half of the gold coins, the rest will be yours including the pirate ship. Sounds good?"
"Aye! But you're in the losing end? I think it isn't fair."
"Nothing is fair in this world, captain. All of it belongs to me, I get to decided what to do with them. I only want gold. That's my final decision. Who would dare oppose me?"
The captain smiled wryly but he was grateful the he was able to get the goodside of the young man just by waiving of his transport fee. He gained a lot in this journey.
"Share the gold with the crew or someone might stab you in the back someday if you didn't." Auron said with a warning.
The captain nodded and said, "Thank you! May the Merling King bless you always in your journey."
Right after the captain said that, the sea suddenly went calm. Then they heard cries of dolphins getting closer and closer. Auron and the captain looked at each other in disbelief before running to the edge of the ship where the sound was coming from. They saw a large pod of dolphins heading their way jumping over the water. This scene was witnessed by the crew when they felt the sudden abnormal shift of sea phenomenon.
When the pod of dolphins got closer, they stopped jumping over the water. Only one dolphin remained doing that and it was the largest of its peers.
The large dolphin hopped one last time in front of Auron and spat a cylindrical object towards him. It bounces off his leather armor and it dropped down to the floor.
Auron was startled by what was happening before him. He crouched down to pick up the object only to find it was a transparent glass bottle. Surprisingly, it didn't shatter from being mishandled by a large dolphin.
Auron examined the glass bottle closely. He found two things inside it. One was a rainbow colored pearl and a note.
Then everything went back to normal. See breeze can be felt once more, the pod of dolphins were gone and the sea kicked some waves once again.
The captain of the ship was dumbfounded and he looked at Auron in awe and reverence.
"You have been blessed by the Merling King."
Auron was dumbstruck when he heard him. But he was not that so surprised because it's not the first time these gods do him a favor. He wonder what these gods are up to giving him gifts he didn't even ask.
"Blessed with what? A bottle? That's ocean giving back our trash! He should've filled it with ale at least."
The captain shook his head in helplessness but he was sure that the extraordinary scene they've experienced was a miracle from a powerful being manifesting his power.
Seeing that all of the issues was addressed properly, Auron returned to his room to examine the bottle.
'Wait maybe it's really magical.' Auron thought.
He pulled out the cork of the bottle and rub it rapidly. But then nothing happened.
'No genie?'
Auron was bewildered and he didn't know what to do with it. He almost thought that he was being pranked.
Finally, he decided to fish out the two things contained inside. He turned the bottle upside down shaking it and the pearl spilled out. He looked at the beautiful pearl but he didn't know what to do with it. Using a stick, he poked the nozzle of the bottle trying to pull the note inside. He did it after half an hour of struggling.
Then he opened the note and it shows rows of texts in high valyrian. The note says something like this:
Greetings Black Dragon of New Hope.
Tis' is a gift from Merling and Moonlight. Though it wasn't filled with ale, we hope the gift was to your delight.
And the aim is to assist you in your journey with its might.
Push the pearl into the helm of the ship of your choice.
Half-filling the bottle with water from sea turquoise.
The vessel that was chosen can be safely stored, inside the bottle with its power it can never be destroyed.
Be careful Black Dragon it'll be bound to your soul, to use it when you need it just shout, Ahoy!
After reading what was written in the note, he realized what was happening. He found something very important and very crucial that surfaced in his mind. That was...
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Do all gods got addicted to Haiku?
