“Why do you get a bigger fish?!”

Mun screamed out as she reached for Tal’s fish.

“Back off! This is mine, you already got yours!”

While pushing Mun with his left hand, he hurried ate his fish with his right. He knew that Mun would finish the fish if she ever got her hands on it.

Everyone else at the dining table didn’t seem to mind the noise. They were even creating noises of their own.

Ralphie was sharing his story of how he and Hector captured Hugo from the kitchen. Hugo seemed to have given Ralphie the largest fish to prevent him from sharing the story, but he did so anyways.

Listening to his story, I realized how easy we had it. All we had to do was talk with Betty and then walk her back.

I was almost done eating my fish. I planned to talk to Scarlett about how Lanport used to be before Crowell took control.

The way I saw Lewis act really bothered me and when I tried asking him about it, he only shrugged me off.

“Something bothering you, Din?” Lorelei asked.

Since she didn’t have to eat, she had just been watching over all of us. I guess she noticed how quiet I was.

I smiled, “Nope. Just really enjoying this fish.”

I could tell that she knew I was lying, but she didn’t pry any further.

Tal noticed my reply and stared daggers into me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“You better not be pitying that fool, Crowell.”

“Why would I be doing that?”

He gave a slight pause. He seemed to be trying to read my expression.

“From how little I’ve known you for, I can tell you’re the type that wants to help as many people as they can. Even in Newron, before you even knew Eliana was someone we knew, you decided to help her overthrow the governor there.”

“That was because I knew people were getting hurt. She was trying to stop the kidnappings and I wanted to help—”

“—help her, yeah, but that’s not something people will just jump into like that. I’m sure even though it looked like Eliana trusted you, she probably still had doubts that you were a spy all along,” Tal said with a slight smirk.

I don’t get it. Why would Eliana think I was a spy?

Lorelei explained, “I think what Tal is saying is that Eliana was just a stranger to you, but you still wanted to help her. She might’ve thought you had something to gain from helping her and that’s why you did it. People would normally need time to think about helping a stranger, but you jumped into it right away.”

Why wouldn’t someone help a person in need?

Katherine had told me to that she wanted to protect the weak because that’s the right thing to do.

I don’t see why they would suspect me of working against them when all I want to do is help them.

Suddenly, Tal patted me on the back, “Don’t worry too much about it, Din. You’re a good guy so you don’t have to worry about stuff like that. Anyways, while I’m travelling with you, I’ll make sure you don’t get taken advantage of!”

“Thanks, Tal.”

It was reassuring to know that there was someone looking out for me.

—Soon after everyone had finished their meal, we had all met in the planning room that was located on the main deck. There was a big room located right under the steering wheel platform.

After noticing that everyone had their focus on her, Scarlett began, “We will head out after sunset. We will split off into two groups. There will be my crewmates and Din’s group. From our previous battle outside of the forest, it was obvious that Crowell had no clue about how battles were done. The moment he found us outside of Lanport, he sent all of his forces there, leaving everything else wide open. We will use his lack of experience to our advantage by drawing all of the guards towards the shore wear we departed from.”

Scarlett turned towards us, “And that’s when you go straight for Crowell’s mansion and take that magic item away. I’m sure there will still be some guards near his mansion, but you guys should be able to handle them. After you get the item, come to shore. The moment we see your boat nearby, we will flee as well.”

“If we do get the item, I doubt the guards would still be attacking you,” Tal pointed out. “The guards should be freed from his control. And if not, we will still have the item to make it so they don’t attack us.”

“We do as I instruct,” Scarlett said in a menacing voice. She seemed mad at Tal for some reason.

Tal had no remark to add.

“Everyone! Be prepared for the battle. We will be victorious!”

The crewmates cheered loudly.

A little while after everyone left the room, I walked up to Scarlett, who was sitting down on her chair and looking at a map. The map was much larger that one I had seen before. It not only showed Grandel, but also other kingdoms as well.

“What is it, Din?” She asked, still keeping her eyes on the map.

It was only Scarlett, Lorelei, and me in the room now.

“What was Lanport like? Before Crowell, I mean,” I asked.

She glanced up, “What do you mean? The people, the land?”

“The people.”

She leaned back on her chair and seemed to be pondering through her memories and then when she was satisfied with her answer, she replied, “It was what you would call a shitshow of a city. We would only stay in the city for one or two nights to restock on food and other items, but even we could tell that the governor of the city had no control over the people.”

While leaning back, she folded her legs, “The people were savages. They fought each other for food, for women, and just for the reason to say: I’m stronger than you. We’re pirates and even we thought the people of Lanport were extreme.”

I recalled back to what Crowell had told me in the prison. He said something similar to what Scarlett was telling me.

Scarlett leaned forward onto her desk, “If you want to know more, ask Tilly. She was originally from Lanport. You’ll get the most honest answer from her.”

I nodded and then left the room.

Thankfully, I found Tilly by herself looking out onto the misty view of the sea.

“It’s a nice view today, isn’t it?” I joked.

She gave a quick chuckle before turning to me.

I gave right to the chase, “Scarlett told me you were originally from Lanport.”

The smile left her face as she nodded, “And that would be correct. It was my birthplace and the place I’d spent almost twenty years at.”

“How do you feel about Lanport as it is now?”

“Oh I like it. Much better than what it used to be. I don’t care that those savages are under the governor’s control, to me, it’s much better this way. When I first talked to the controlled people, I was shocked it was even the same city, it almost gave me the chills.”

She slammed her fist onto the side of the ship, “But they messed with us. Trying to control our members is just wishing for death. We’ll make sure he gets what he deserves.”

“Are you guys planning on killing him?” I asked.

“No, silly. There’s more than one way of getting revenge. We’ll make sure everything he’s built so far crumbles. The moment he loses control over the people of Lanport, I’m sure they’d want to pay him back for controlling them. They’ll just do the dirty work for us,” she laughed off. “And anyways, it’s not us who are going to be meeting him. It’s your group, right? So you better not fail.”

“Right…”

Suddenly, her expression turned grim, “Did Scarlett tell you about my son?”

Her son? I don’t think she mentioned anything about her son.

Noticing my reaction, she sighed, “I guess she didn’t. Well, I guess I just gave myself out.”

“What about your son?” I asked.

“Dammit, why did I have to go and ask you something like that,” she cursed as she scratched her head. “When I left Lanport and joined Scarlett’s crew, I left behind my son. I wanted to take him along, but there was no chance. Frankie’s crew had attacked Lanport that night and while I was on my way home to Percy, I was cornered by his men. If it hadn’t been for Scarlett, I would’ve been dead.”

Percy? Why did that name sound so familiar?

“Scarlett and her crewmates were fleeing before things got any worse,” Tilly continued. “I had no time to get my son. My house was too far from the docks and Frankie’s men were already wreaking havoc everywhere in the city.”

Then it clicked on me. The thief kid, I think he said that his name was Percy.

“Is your son still in Lanport?”

“How would I know that? He was just a kid back then and we had no relatives or anything close relations with anyone either. I doubt he’d still be alive.”

“I met a kid named Percy just a few days ago…”

Seeing hope fill her eyes, I felt guilty. I pointed out, “I can’t say for sure he’s your son! He just told me his name was Percy.”

“Did he have black hair and black eyes?!”

Tilly grabbed my shoulders as she asked. I could see that she had her hopes high.

The details she just asked for also fit the descriptions for so many other men in the city that I wasn’t sure how to answer.

It was true that the kid had black hair, but he has the Spirit eyes so I couldn’t know what kind of eyes he normally had.

The last thing I wanted to do was raise her hope any higher for the kid to end up being a different person all along, so I lied, “No, he had blond hair.”

She released her hands from my shoulders and then went back to the side of the boat, “I see. Then that was most likely a different person. There’s no way my son could’ve survived alone for all this time anyways.”

Damn it. Why did I have to mention that to her?

“Din, I think we should leave,” Lorelei suggested. “Anything more we say to her will just make her feel worse.”

I agreed. I quietly left for my room until I met with Tal. He had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

“You better not change your mind, Din.”

“What?”

“We have to get that Spirit item off of Crowell no matter what. It doesn’t matter how Lanport used to be before, getting that item is our top priority.”

Right. Even if the people that are controlled now used to be savages, they are still people and deserve to make their own choices.

We had to stop Crowell no matter what.