Getting ready!

Two days had passed since we visited Monique.

I was training with my new sword in my room. I had taken off my shirt long ago, and my bare chest and arms had been repeating the same motions for a while.

The experience and memories of swordsmanship rewarded by the system were advantageous, but my muscles hadn't changed. I knew that putting into practice what my mind wanted to do, required muscle training.

What I was doing was very basic: blocking, slashing, and piercing.

In this world, the strength system was straightforward. There were six stages to go through to reach the peak. Every profession had different titles and names, but merchant guilds established a convention: beginner, intermediate, advanced, master, grandmaster, and saint.

The ability to infuse mana in its muscles and sword usually differentiated a beginner swordsman from an intermediate.

So before completing my current side mission, I had to learn to sense mana, and I knew the right person to ask.

As I was swinging my sword and thinking, the sun had already almost set. Through my glassless window, I could see the last few mellow sun rays disappear.

I decided to stop and rest. The system reward kindly included the information on how to take care of my blade, so I took my sword and brushed it with a cloth soaked with oil until I could see it shining again like new.

After putting it back in its sheath, I decided to wash up. Since I was going to take a bath before dinner, I took a towel and left my room to go to the laundry room, where a big bucket full of water waited for me.

While I was cleaning myself, I heard a knock. I knew that Otto and Zurkx had left to buy something for me.

I dried myself and took a towel to wrap around my waist, and went to open the door. I cautiously opened the door to see who it was without giving complete entry to whoever was standing outside.

"Who is it?"

A charming voice entered my ears.

"Have you already forgotten that I would come"

I immediately recognized who had come to see me, Monique.

I opened the door and greeted her. She was standing outside, covered head to toe with a large overcoat with a hood that covered her head. Behind her stood two disguised figures.

One had the same mask that the lady playing music in the brothel had, but instead of holding a harp, she had a large saber. The other had removed her head covering. It was Erika, the woman who guided us to Monique last time.

I let them in and guided them to the table with only three chairs. While I looked around for something to sit on, Monique spoke to me.

"You are a bold young man, Adrien. I warn you that I am a married woman."

I turned around and looked at them. Erika blushed as if she hadn't ever seen any indecent acts, and Monique was grinning.

I looked down. I had forgotten that I had just a towel covering my private parts. I gave them a cheeky smile.

"This isn't a brothel, but since one of your companions is enjoying the view, you can leave a couple of bronze coins on the table while I get dressed."

I barely managed to keep my composure, I could confidently face one woman gazing at my physique, but three were too much even for me. While I was making a tactical retreat, I heard a defeated voice.

"I imagine this is payback for making him pay for the fruits the goblin ate. Well, at least he's got a good physique, right Erika?"

"Yes …"

I had just been training for a couple of days, but my predecessor had already put some good work in.

----- ----- -----

We were sitting around the table. I, Monique, and Erika were seated while the other woman was standing like a guard.

"So, I see your other two companions aren't around."

"Well, let me present these two girls. The one you have already encountered is Erika. The second one is Eloise."

"It's a pleasure meeting you."

Eloise bowed down and greeted me. I could see her luscious blond hair cascading and covering her nape.

"No, it's my honor. Let's discuss our deal; since you came in person, I can guess your husband has agreed to my proposal."

Monique smiled and responded.

"Indeed he has, but I want to add another condition."

"First, I trust Otto since I had known him before he started working for you, but I don't have much faith in you. So I want to include in the plan also Eloise and Erika."

I shot her a sharp gaze. Both of us are a bit unsure if we can trust each other. I needed experienced sailors as soon as possible to gather enough power to face my future difficulties. She needed someone to help her who didn't have any connection with her father.

She grinned confidently and spoke.

"Both of them are intermediate assassins, so you don't have to worry about them weighing you down."

"I agree with your condition, but I want two things. First, you need to teach me to sense mana; second, I will steal back your husband's boat to sail as soon as we set him free."

"It seems that we have an agreement. You don't have to worry about the ship. It wasn't his in the first place. Have you forgotten that he was part of the navy?"

Monique got up and presented her hand to me, so I shook it. She handed me a letter.

"My husband also left me this message to give you. Don't worry. I haven't taken a peek. I respect my hubby's private spaces."

I took the letter, stuffed it in my clothes' inner pocket, and shot her a suspicious look. She had a gaze that screamed trouble. In her eyes, I found more than love. She looked crazy.

My sixth sense screamed trouble; thanks to all the reading I had done in my previous life, I immediately recognized that look, a yandere. Well, it's not my problem. I hope good fortune to her future husband and … oh … I will have to save her partner.

A drop of sweat formed on my forehead. I must do a good job, or I would have just made another enemy.

"Thanks. I will read after we finish talking."

She looked dissatisfied, as if she wanted to know what was written on it.

A breath in, a breath out. I needed to calm down.

"Now, Let's talk about how we will save your lover and his crewmates."

Finally, we started to design our scheme.

----- ----- -----

"Knock! Knock!"

As we were finishing up our talk, someone banged on the door.

"Ke ke, It's Otto and me."

I recognized the voice. It was Zurkx. I got up from my chair and let them enter.

Otto looked at the table and saw our guests. He had a constipated look on his face.

"Oh! It's madam Monique. What a pleasure seeing you again."

"It seems to be so."

She shot a suspicious look at Otto and got up.

"Our talks will end here. Your young master and I have already decided on a plan, so get ready because tomorrow night will be a bloody one."

Her two companions followed her and went outside together. As she was about to disappear into the night, she said

"One more thing, us three will also travel with you on your future ship for a brief time, so see you soon, captain …."

I looked pissed at the moon. Damn, a hot potato just invited herself on the boat. Great!

A cold wind started blowing, so I closed the door left open.

I turned around and stared at Otto.

"As you see, we have a plan now. Did you manage to get what I asked you to buy?"

"Sure, we did."

He pulled out from his coat a wooden box. He opened it and showed me what was inside.

A floating golden leaf was standing inside. I couldn't believe that they managed to get it.

"I don't know how you knew that the poor old merchant by the north lower gate sold this"

Of course, I knew it from the novel, but I couldn't tell him that.

"It's a secret, old man. I imagine you know what I want to do with it."

Otto was just an advanced swordsman; he was powerful but not enough. It was common for ten or twenty intermediate professionals to be in a small town, with usually only the mayor being the only advanced expert.

He had been stuck at this stage for many years, and only the object in his hand could enable him to go further without creating hidden wounds due to his old age.

His eyes got immediately a bit watery, and he got down on one knee.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get up"

"Young master, I have yet to do this, and I will do it with my heart."

"I, Otto Olbrich, swear to trust my own very soul to my Sovereign, to be my judge and master, entrusting all of my value as a human being to my Sovereign and master, Adrien Holmes."

After swearing that oath, a bright red emblem lifted itself from Otto's chest and floated toward me.

"Otto, you didn't need to do this…."

"Young master, please accept it."

As a sigh escaped my lips, I touched the floating symbol that imprinted itself on the back of my hand. I knew what this was. In this world, thanks to the existence of magic, ancient monarchs created a way to ensure that their subjects could not rebel. This system managed to develop the current long-lasting dynasties that usually, like in my previous world, would have collapsed at some point.

The mark now on my hand was the knight's symbol. Usually, rulers and nobles forced their subjects into an unequal pact, and the more emblems one had, the more powerful they were as a ruler.

I had the urge to curse. I just had the slavery mark removed. Did you want to replace it? I'm not too fond of tattoos.

"Well, Otto, I appreciate your devotion, but now go and become a Master Swordsman because we will need your strength tomorrow."

"Thanks, brat. You resemble your mother a lot even while you keep your stern face."

He walked to his room and closed his door. I touched my face and asked myself if I was easy to read or if Otto's familiarity with my predecessor had a role in it. But I was sure of one thing: the memories I inherited had some influence on me even though the original soul had disappeared.

"Ke, em, Young master?"

I stopped staring at the closed door and looked at the goblin holding something he didn't have when he left.

"Yes, Zurkx"

"You see, when we bought the nice looking leaf, we had some time left, so I also found this"

The goblin opened the bag he was carrying, and inside was something I wasn't expecting to see black powder.

Where did this old green thing buy it, and why is he storing it so carelessly in a bag? Despite everything, I was very pleased because even if we didn't have a musket, it could render itself very useful tomorrow night.

Muskets and cannons were very common in many countries. They couldn't kill advanced professionals since they could generally use mana outside their bodies to protect themselves, but they had a lot of uses in raising armies and large battles.

"You did a good job. Take it and store it at least in a dry and solid wooden box. And by the way, where did you find it since usually, it is restricted only to be used by the army?"

"Ke ke, I hid it before I was captured by the slavers in this town."

"Those filthy humans attacked us as we had just docked our ship."

"All my brethren died, but I managed to escape and hide this chest before being captured. I don't know how they got the info about our whereabouts, but since nobody presented himself to say I was a free demi-human, they made me a slave."

I could see a hint of sorrow in the depths of his eyes, so I said.

"Don't worry, Zurkx, me and Otto don't have any intentions to kick the bucket any time soon. While you are with us, you don't have to worry about pesky humans trying to catch you for dirty money."

"KE KE KE Ke. Thanks brat… I meant CAPTAIN!"

The goblin quickly ran to his room, holding the black powder as if it was gold… I stared at his retreating back, deciding if it was worth throwing at him the candle we used to illuminate the table.

After eating a piece of bread and some jerky, I decided to go to bed. Otto was breaking through his level so he couldn't cook a good meal, and Zurkx was busy munching something in his room.

----- ----- -----

As I closed my eyes and turned around in the bed, I felt something hard in my shirt. I lifted my head from the stiff cushion and rummaged in my clothes.

I managed to take out an envelope. I immediately remembered what it was. I took a lighter from the night table drawer and lit a candle.

Finally, I was able to see the letter. I opened it and read the contents. The handwriting looked crooked, but I wasn't surprised since it had been written in a prison cell.

In it, there was nothing interesting besides a couple of love words for his wife and our general agreement until I read the last few lines. I heard a loud DING! in my mind.

[Side mission: 14/10 crewmates recruited]

[Issuing mission rewards]

At the end of the letter, there were 12 oaths to follow me as a captain. As information started pouring into my head, I began to feel a lot of pain. My suffering got worse and worse until I passed out on my bed.

DING!

[ERROR] [ERROR]

[Unable to upgrade skill: beginner swordsmanship to intermediate, it requires skill mana sensing]

[Status updated! A skill upgraded!]

[User: Adrien Holmes]

[Race: Human]

[Occupation Captain LVL 1]

[Skills: pseudo-intermediate swordsmanship mastery]

[Current main mission: Steal a medium-sized ship]

[Reward: ???]

[Objective: defy fate and live a happy life]

----- ----- -----

The next day had come and gone.

It was already evening, and I was sitting on my bed while only wearing my underwear. A pair of soft hands were pressing against my back.

"is it indispensable to be almost naked?"

"Of course, it is, young master. This will help you perceive the magic particles around you better."

Monique was standing behind me with a smirk. I had insisted that before night came, she had to help me sense mana, but it felt wrong.

"Okay, you already told me that, but what is she even doing?"

Erika stood a few feet away from me, blushing and staring at my naked upper body.

"She is making sure that you don't get any ideas."

"Wait for a second. That seems to be the opposite. I feel like …."

"Shhhhh …. It's okay. You need to concentrate on my hands and feel the mana flowing into your body."

I reluctantly decided to close my eyes and focus on the current task. A warm current was swirling around in my body, but I couldn't perceive its direction.

A voice reached my ears.

"I will increase the output. You will feel like a cold shock."

"Argh!"

As my back started to feel colder and colder, I understood the pattern that mana made in my body. I visualized it and immediately heard a loud ring.

DING!

[A new skill acquired: mana sensing]

DING!

[pseudo-intermediate swordsmanship mastery became Intermediate]

"Congratulation, I feel that you broke through."

"Thanks for your help, Monique."

She got up from the bed and pushed Erika outside my room

"Get dressed now. We will wait outside with Otto and Zurkx. We have just half an hour before we start our scheme."

The door closed, and I got dressed. I was wearing a black overcoat and dark brown leather armor under it. I picked up my sword and slid it behind my back instead of hanging it at my waist, where a belt that hung on my torso kept it in place.

I left my room and told everyone.

"I am ready now. Let's go and have some fun."

A grin made its way to my face even though I knew it would be a brutal night.