Fan Fiction ❯ Skies of Arcadia, the noble airpirate 2 ❯ Two vice captains down... ( Chapter 5 )

Skies of Arcadia, the noble airpirate 2

Two vice captains down…

 

The Lupus arrived at Sailor's island around five o' clock in the afternoon. Because Lawrence's orders were to go undercover, he had changed into his old helmsman clothes, and was wearing a long black cloak with a hood to obscure his face. As he entered Polly's transvestite tavern, he saw his business partner sitting in a dark corner.

“Have you got the goods?” He asked, sitting down.

“Have you got the gold?” the man asked in response, and Lawrence nodded.

“Well, I was thinking… Perhaps 500 gold per crate isn't enough…” The man began.

“I should let you know that I am under direct orders to kill you if you were to raise the price.” Lawrence cut in, and he shifted his cloak a bit so that his sword blinked in the light of the candles.

“500 it is then! I'll help you load the crates!” the man said hastily, and he hurried out the door. Lawrence made to get up too, but just as he did, three very familiar airpirates entered the tavern. He quickly sat down again and pulled his hood over his face a bit more, listening intently.

“Hey guys, I haven't seen you in a while! I've got lots of good rumors for you!” Anne said brightly.

“No thanks Anne, we'll just take two barrels of loqua. We're in a hurry.” Vyse responded.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Lawrence, our helmsman, went missing two days ago. But we'll find him. I'm sure of it!” Vyse said.

“Lawrence went missing? That's too bad. I really fancy him. Well, if I see him, I'll let you know.” Anne said assuringly.

“Thanks Anne. So, here's the gold for the loqua.” Vyse said, and there was the ringing sound of coins.

“Help yourself.” The barwoman/man said.

“Well, Bye Anne!” Vyse called amongst the huffing noises of Aika and Fina each carrying a large barrel of loqua.

“Later Vyse!” Anne called after him. Lawrence remained seated for another minute after the door had closed. He didn't know what was worse. That Vyse was out looking for him, or that Anne fancied him. He quickly tiptoed out the door, still with his hood down so Anne wouldn't recognize him, and hurried back to the docks. From the looks of it, the Delphinus had already departed. The business partner had just finished loading the last crate of romance novels on the Lupus with the help of some random soldiers. Lawrence paid him, and boarded the ship.

 

Soon the Lupus was on its way back to Valua. Lawrence was incredibly bored. They hadn't encountered any airpirates yet, so there was nothing to do. He retreated to the captain's quarters after a couple of hours, with the orders to get him if something was wrong. He sat down in a chair, thinking. This admiral stuff really wasn't for him. But he couldn't back out now. The image of himself swimming in money came floating back once again. Ofcourse, if he were to swim in the money, he wouldn't make the same mistake his father made. He would only stay in the shallow end. And perhaps he could install a money slide too. A diving board would be a bad idea. Landing in coins was probably very painful. But the problem was that if Lawrence indeed traveled around the world a lot, an encounter with Vyse would be inevitable. And as an admiral, he would be forced to kill those who oppose him. Yawning, Lawrence got to his feet again and grabbed his sword. He started practicing his sword moves against thin air, though he knew he couldn't improve his skills anymore.

“Sir, we've arrived in Valuaaaaaaaargh!”

And with that, Lawrence had murdered the new and unsuspecting vice captain, who had appeared in the doorway.

“Oooh crap!” Lawrence shouted, quickly wiping the blood off his sword and leaving the room.

 

Two months passed, and Lawrence had gotten himself quite a reputation. He managed to finish all his missions perfectly and never had any trouble with the airpirates. He was however, also known as the “Vice captain killer” because somehow the vice captains never lasted longer then one trip. They were either electrocuted, crushed between crates, set on fire, or last seen falling into deep sky. Some said the job was jinxed. Alfonso said that this was nothing to worry about, because it happened to him all the time. This made Lawrence feel even worse. Meanwhile, Ramirez kept trying to prove that Lawrence was a snob, by popping up in the strangest places and questioning him about his habits. There was a fierce argument when Ramirez suddenly turned up in the bathroom, and asked Lawrence what kind of toilet paper he used.

“Who cares whether I use super plush or regular?! Get out!” Lawrence roared, kicking Ramirez into the hallway.

“I'll catch you some day! And then my path to world domination will be wide open!” Ramirez called after him.

“Freak!” Lawrence shouted, slamming the door shut in his face.