Chapter 15 "Growth of Land and Crew"

Ready to settle in for the continuation of last night's story, my darlings? Alright then, after successfully defeating the small force of pirates guarding Yenchei Harbor and capturing most of them, our crew had to settle in and make the harbor fit to be the Black Stone's temporary base of operations in Yenchei. Before we could formally establish a proper HQ on the island after its liberation, preparations began. These preparations included accounting for all prisoners, counting the weapons they had, moving the armor to the ship's treasury to be transferred to the mainland HQ in a few days, collecting any interesting pieces of gear on the island, and transferring them along with the sets of armor.

Some of those interesting weapons included a large black steel club with studs and a barrel made in the center, which could be used to launch a projectile. There was also a set of full gold armor that covered the user's whole body except his eyes. The only parts that weren't made of gold were the sides, which were made of fur, the feather on top of the helmet, and the pants under the golden leg plates. We assumed that the armor was used by a leader of the pirates. Since we found two, we, as a crew, decided that Jo and Nori could have it either as cosmetics for their room in the mainland HQ or to use in actual combat. That was entirely up to them.

We divided the work amongst ourselves. The brothers destroyed the pirates' shabby buildings so that we could use the land to build our own defenses. We had Jey use her earth magic combined with her control over water to make a sort of cement so that we could make stronger buildings. We had Kinny, Jiro, your uncle Mil, and Hana collect wood so that we could make watchtowers and walls around the harbor. With our combined strength, the harbor was fully upgraded by the end of the day. We even had light running through the base and a flagpole at the center of the area to wave our banner.

Our crew was lacking as of the moment, so we sought help from our enemies. We went to the lower levels of the ship. We stopped on the first floor to check out the people we had captured, and one person, in particular, caught my eye—a young man, his age ranging somewhere within 20-25, yet he already had a scar across his face. I asked Jo to take him out of the cage and take him to a room on the first prison floor of the ship. In the room was a table and two chairs. I asked the young man to take a seat, and in good faith, had his restraints removed. Nori and Jo stood behind me. The young man looked at the three of us as if he were looking at a god, with his two guardians.

I asked the young man for his name, and he replied, "The name is Sean Walsh." It didn't take much to figure out what his role was in the battle. It only took me a slight peek at his hands; I could tell this boy was an archer, a deadly one too. I smiled at him before speaking up, "So you're an archer, are you the leader? It's pretty obvious if you look at it from where I'm looking. Your hands are scarred from using your bow too many times, so I won't hold you any further. I need your skills on my roster. I need a group of archers protecting this area of the island. I'll pay you and your chosen men. I'll feed you as well. Your bows won't be made of simple wood; I know someone who can give you an amazing bow fit for an amazing archer. So, what do you say, Sean? Take the red pill, join us, leave that dark past of yours behind, put your skills to better use, and the emperor will not forget it. I swear I'll make sure of it."

Sean smiles, "You'd feed a man who only hours ago tried to kill you and your men? You're quite the interesting man, Captain. I want to see more of that attitude of yours, that willingness to take risks to keep your men alive, 'cause as the leader of the archers that tried to attack you a few hours ago, I understand. I didn't want to lose a single man, and even though you killed some of my boys, you tried to keep your crew under control so that not as many of us would fall. So, if you'd be so kind to put me under your care, I'd like to accept your offer, Captain."

I smile as I pat him on the back. "Choose four men from the archers we captured; we'll free them and make them a part of our family. You will lead them when there is a battle, and your assistance is required." He thanked me for the opportunity I gave him and his men, and so only minutes later, a group of five archers stood before me, awaiting my command. I didn't plan on making them wait much longer 'cause just then your old man spoke, "Alright archers, my crew built five archer towers around the base. I'll need two using the towers facing the sea, two guarding the east and west sides, and as for the leader Sean, you've been granted the best position for an archer, that being the wall. Don't worry too much; Nori and Jo are at the gate keeping watch, so if enemies do attack, they're practically setting themselves up for failure. I swear those two could destroy this island if they want to."

Sean bows to thank me before running off silently to his post, and as he ran, I saw a gun on his hip. Looks like our archer is trying out new projectiles.

And so, the base was complete. We had people seeking refuge inside as well; they started farms so that the crew wouldn't go hungry. As the sun fell and the moon rose, I wrote a letter to Emperor Takeshi. The contents went a little like this:

"To Emperor Takeshi, as the Captain of the Black Stone Pirates, I'm proud to announce our success in conquering a bit of the island. Our scouting missions revealed four outposts located in the North, East, West, and South of the island, and one large outpost at the center. The southern outpost was the island's harbor, which we successfully conquered. Our crew grows, as now we have two warrior monk brothers named Nori and Jo, both adept in all kinds of weaponry but mainly in Swords and Spears. We've also recruited an Archer leader who led the archers during the attack to retaliate against our takeover of the harbor. His name is Sean Walsh. We had him convince four of his most skilled archers to join our cause and protect the area we had just captured. In compliance with my promise to the man, I'd like to request four bows made from blue steel and some macarons (these are for me, by the way, Taka). And to assure you're not just giving away valuable weapons, I've prepared a gift for you. Consider it a gift from the crew. I also have a personal gift for you, but you'll have to guess what it is. If you guess it right by the time we make it back to the mainland, I'll give you a peck on the cheek, if you want. And before I forget, I'd like to ask you if you could send another ship here so that we can transport the treasures we have on board. Right now, we have quite a bit, and I'd like to have somewhere else to store it so that we don't sink from the weight of it all. Thank you for your time and patience, my dear Taka. Love, you know who, player one."

As you can see, my dears, your father liked the emperor so much, he made such obvious hints, yet he just couldn't get them at the time. He's as dumb as he is today, and that's what I like about him; he's got nothing in his head, yet he has so many thoughts when the moment calls for it.

Anyway, just a few days later, a ship arrives at the harbor with a letter from Taka that said this:

"To the idiot that is Rei, your letter reached me well. I'd like to thank you for your efforts in capturing the southern outpost in Yenchei. The report you sent in was quite helpful in determining the military power of the pirates ahead of you. It seems this group is a lot more organized than the ones at Tinwati. I'm glad that you are safe and that you are making more friends as you go on in your adventure. I hoped the goddess Themis has been treating you well, and it seems she has. It was her blessing that caused that Archer named Sean to agree to your deal, and since it was her will, I decided to send you 6 blue iron bows, ya know, just in case ya wanted one cuz I made one myself. The captain of the ship I sent should give that one to you. Don't get the wrong idea; it's not that I enjoy giving you gifts, I just think you having a long-ranged weapon would be helpful, you know. And you'll be happy to know that the place where I buy you macarons had a sale, so I got you like twenty boxes. Don't finish it all and drink water after eating a box, I swear to the goddess Themis, Rei, if you don't drink water, I will personally swim there and beat your behind, clap them so hard you won't have any remaining feeling there. Anyway, I look forward to this personal gift you speak of in this letter I received and the gift you and your crew prepared for me, that one especially, cuz why would I be excited about something you prepared for me? You're a weirdo, but the obvious aside, I hope you're doing well, player two. Stay safe."

And inside the envelope it was in, there was a medal custom-made. Looks like he made it just for me; it was in the shape of a cross with a heart in the middle. In the back, the words "To the captain who successfully liberated more than just lands" were etched on, but I didn't understand it at the time. I only realized what it truly meant a few years later in the middle of a quest. And just as I was clipping it onto my armor, the captain of the other ship walks up to me in my quarters to present to me the blue steel bow that the emperor had made specifically for me. The idiot spelled my name wrong; he spelled it as Rie—an idiot in and out.

"But that's all we can fit into tonight's story. Off to bed, you kids go. I'll tell you more tomorrow night, and don't think about what was etched on the medal too much. You wouldn't understand it; you'd be wasting your time. Good night, my dears."

(Character Lore/Fact: Jey the Mage has mastered all 4 elements and can control them all without incantation. She trained during the celebration at Tinwati. After taking some food, she returned to her home on the island to train and prepare for a harder mission than the one we had just completed. At the time, the training only took her 2 days, as she was blessed by Terio, the god of Magic and Alchemy.)

(Character Lore/Fact: Jiro has mastered the tamer occupation, granting him the ability to tame creatures of any difficulty. He mastered it that fast, thanks to the artifact given to him by the goddess Sophie, the goddess of Wild Animals and Creatures. She blessed him with a ring containing a gem that allows him to see a creature's abilities and weaknesses. He is now attempting to master the Summoner occupation in accordance with his second goddess. He is the first of us all to have been blessed by two goddesses.)