Chapter 8: Merchant Ship
[Current Balance: 5,176 R]
'Nice, not bad...' Alaric thought as he gazed at the sky. 'It's already dusk...'
Turning to Nathaniel, who had just finished thanking a customer, Alaric said, "Me and my family are moving to Bristol. So I wouldn't be able to help you from now on."
Nathaniel looked up, surprised but then smiled. "What? Well, good luck to you then. Thanks for helping me these past couple o' months."
Alaric just nodded and said his goodbyes. 'I better hurry or they're gonna leave me here.'
Minutes later, Alaric arrived at the port.
Only one ship was in sight with people boarding, so he naturally made his way there.
The entire Kenway household was present, each carrying makeshift bags on their backs. People were talking and busy loading cargo, while others helped with last-minute details.
"Ay, 'Laric!" Edward called out, peeking over as he saw Alaric. "A bit later, and we'd have left ye behind!"
Leonard and Eleanor turned their heads to see Alaric walking towards them, making them sigh in relief.
Bernard Kenway then looked at Alaric and smiled. "What kept ye? Been makin' some reales, have ye?"
Alaric nodded, and just then a Purser carrying a paper and quill approached them.
"How many passengers?" he asked.
"Six," Bernard replied, retrieving his pouch.
"That will be 60 reales, mate," the purser stated.
Bernard's eyes widened as he heard this, "What happened? Weren't it 5 reales per passenger? That's double the price!"
"Pirates, that's what. We hired seasoned crew since last month," the purser explained with a sigh, "The seas be gettin' deadlier these days."
Bernard looked down and clenched his fist. "Bloody hell… I'm 20 reales short."
Before Bernard could say another word, Alaric sighed and pretended to grab something out of his pocket. He withdrew some money from the System.
[-25 R]
[Current Balance: 5,151 R]
"Here, Nathaniel from the town square gave me 15 reales, and I've saved up the rest for the past few months," Alaric said calmly, handing the money to Bernard.
Bernard was silent for a moment before nodding. "Don't fret, 'Laric. Life's better in Bristol, I swear it. And I'll repay ye for all ye've done for our kin."
'Yeah, yeah... just get on with it,' Alaric thought, smiling at his uncle. 'I feel like I'm the one making money in this family...'
Bernard then handed the 60 reales to the purser.
"Helpin' yer family earn coin?" The purser grinned and looked at Alaric, "Ye got a knack for it, lad. Anyway, the six of ye... aboard with ye."
---
The accommodation on board was... okay.
They were assigned the Lower Deck of the ship, which meant shared quarters.
With so many people in a confined space, the smell grew unbearable.
Alaric decided to leave the Lower Deck and head to the Upper Deck. The winds were light, so the journey was slow.
'It's not like the ship's powered by an engine...' he mused.
"Ah... so ye're that young lad with a knack for makin' coin!" the purser called out as Alaric made his way along the deck.
Alaric turned around to see the purser accompanied by another man. "Hello..." he greeted.
The purser smiled and said, "Come, let me introduce ye to the captain."
He gestured to a man approaching in a striking coat that looked like a captain's uniform, except it was... pink.
'Very pink...'
"Van Gogh..." the purser announced.
'VAN GOGH!?' Alaric widened his eyes. 'That's fucking impossible, it's 1697!' he thought.
The captain laughed and folded his arms on his chest. "Ye recognize me, lad? I guess I'm quite famous."
'Impossible, right? Yeah... definitely,' Alaric mused, then chuckled sheepishly. "I noticed you before at the docks last year," Please work...
"Last year?" Van Gogh questioned. "Hmm... aye, I've been to Swansea plenty o' times."
'It worked...' Alaric thought. 'How gullible...'
"Good to meet ye. Anyhow, roam about as ye like," the captain said, before adding with a wink, "But keep clear o' the captain's cabin."
"Aye," Alaric replied as the captain disappeared inside his cabin.
"I'll be leavin' ye to it, lad. Night's upon us," the purser said, ruffling Alaric's hair before heading to the quarters.
'Next time you do that, I'm gonna stab your throat... kidding.'
---awdawdashahadwf---
It was now midnight.
Alaric was absorbing the atmosphere of a sailing ship at sea... it was a first, even in his previous life. He wandered toward the helmsman in the poop deck, drawn to the large wooden wheel at the ship's helm.
"You curious, lad?" the helmsman asked.
"Yeah," Alaric replied.
"Understandable..." the helmsman said, "I'd be curious at your age, too,"
They fell silent as Alaric wandered behind the helmsman, his eyes scanning the horizon.
Suddenly, he peered over the side and his eyes widened. (Left side of the back)
A small boat was attached to the merchant ship.
On that boat, 25 people were gathered.
One man at the front raised a hand, shushing the group into silence.
'A gunboat? How come no one noticed them? Well, I guess they've used the fog for their advantage,' Alaric thought.
'Ah... pirates. They must've also hijacked that gunboat...' he added silently, a smirk creeping over his face. 'At least I can make some money off this.'
Alaric quickly opened his System interface and searched for something useful.
[Genjutsu: Bringer of Darkness – 1,000 Reales]
He mentally pressed the buy button.
[-1,500 R]
[Current Balance: 3,651 R]
Information about the jutsu immediately injected into his mind, and he smirked.
Looking at the people below, one of them suddenly seemed to notice him.
"Ah? Hey, look!" someone called out.
'Damn...' Alaric cursed, then immediately went through a series of hand seals as all around him, people began to notice his presence.
'Genjutsu: Bringer of Darkness!' he commanded in his thoughts.
"Ah!"
"What?"
"Mother—"
"I can't see!"
Alaric smirked and quickly jumped onto the rail, launching himself toward the gunboat.
*Thud!*
Without hesitation, he stabbed the throat of the person closest to him. He then threw two kunais at another two pirates. One at the throat, one at the forehead... causing three of them to drop dead.
'Well... I was unsure about the forehead, but nice,' he thought.
"What in the nine-hell's happening?" someone shouted.
"Damn! What sorcery is this!?" another cried out.
Alaric dashed forward, stabbing another pirate's throat, then grabbed a sword from the now-dead pirate's hand and slashed the neck of another.
'Now...' he thought, smirking as he gathered chakra on his eyes, 'Mangekyo: Kronos!'
Everything turned black and white, and the waves of the ocean stopped to zero decibles, and even the wind stopped.
'This is too op,' he mused.
Alaric dashed once more, stabbing throats left and right.
Two bandits remained when Kronos' duration ended, along with the Bringer of Darkness.
"Ah? A kid?" one bandit gasped.
'Yep, now die,' Alaric thought and swiftly threw two kunais at their throats as fast as he could.
...
...
*thud*
Bodies dropped dead on the wooden floor board of the gunboat.
The pumping adrenaline faded, and Alaric finally panted.
Yet he continued to smirk, gathering a bit of chakra on his left eye, 'Mangekyo: Eros...'
Suddenly, the chakra from his eyes used a small fraction of his reserves to restore his body. 'I can no longer feel any tiredness... nice. Although I might not need this too much since I have Hashirama's Physique, meaning the Regeneration too...'
Without delay, Alaric began to loot every bit of money from the fallen pirates.
He sold everything.
Their clothes, a smoothbore cannon, cannon balls, gunpowder, flintlock pistols, swords, daggers.
[+3,480 R]
[Current Balance: 7,131 Reales]
'What!? Only three thousand? Those guns were expensive though?' Alaric widened his eyes in disbelief. 'Damn... this system's stingy as fuck...'
Seeing nothing left to sell, Alaric applied a little chakra to attach his feet to the merchant ship's wooden body.
He then looked at the gunboat and smirked at the thought of what he accomplished, even Edward in the Assassin's Creed video couldn't do what he did.
'Hmm... I wonder...' he thought.
He touched the gunboat and mentally clicked the [Sell] button.
[+4,500 R]
[Current Balance: 11,634 Reales]
'Pretty cheap... maybe because it's really used? Anyways, that was a good harvest.'
Clinging to the merchant ship's side at a 180-degree angle, Alaric applied another burst of chakra to his feet and jumped toward the ship's railing.
'Did anyone notice?' he wondered.
But the moment he landed on the railing, there was nothing... only the helmsman looking straight ahead. 'Okay, good. The air must've muffled their voices.'
---
It was now dawn, and Alaric now had bags covering his eyes.
He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, expecting more pirates to show up.
'Damn, I should've just slept.'