Elena and Yuto joined their crew after a late lunch. The members decided that they wanted to make sure that their baby would be in tip top shape plus with the money that they earned from the bodyguard job, they didn’t need to find a second job.

“How are the repairs coming along Baise-dono?”

“They’re doing a great job. Mast is up and almost secured. They’re almost finished for the day, all that’s left some reinforcements tomorrow. They’re a bit ahead of schedule and we can set sail earlier than expected if nothing goes wrong.”

Elena was busy counting the members while Baise was talking. Baise and Morgan were on the steps watching the ship while the others were fooling around by the water. The only one that was missing was there new member, “Baise, where is she?”

“Morning, well afternoon to you too Lane.”

“Baise-dono.”

“I sent her off to fetch the money. Her first official job as a crew member. Should be back soon. It’s been a few hours.”

“How long exactly Baise?”

“How long has she been gone Morgan?”

“Three hours and twenty-three minutes.”

“That.”

“Baise.”

“Yes Elena?”

“I’ll be back, you guys don’t leave.” Elena gave up the fight and ran off towards the Earl of Thistle’s estate. It only took an hour for a round trip, she was gone for more than tripled the time. How could Baise be so stupid to let the newbie run off with that much money? That bastard only needed money and to get off of Alphenrose. Now she had both.

Elena ran at top speed to the manor. The guards recognised her as the guard and accompanied her inside. She waited until the duke finished his meeting and greeted her with a grand smile.

“Ah the lovely lady from the request. How are thou? Thou friend had already collected the payment.” The Earl explained. “If thou would like another job.”

“My lord, she is gone.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

“Our lordship, it’s time for your next meeting.”

After hearing that the money was already collected, Elena bolted out of the manor and to the map. Assuming that she left almost two hours ago, she would still most likely be in the kingdom. With the remaining money on her, Elena commissioned an image of her runaway and started asking around town.

“Nope can’t say I’ve seen her.”

“Wow what a beauty, I wish I’d seen her.”

“First time seeing her.”

“Nope, wouldn’t forget a face like that.”

“Is her hair real? I’ll pay good money for it. Ow, sorry.”

“Haven’t seen her.”

An hour of searching and there was no luck. Elena headed into the centre of town to see if anyone there saw her. As she walked down one of the main roads but came to a stop due to a large gathering of people. Already annoyed, Elena pushed her way through the crowd, only to find the person she was looking for barely breathing, beaten to a pulp on the ground, and clutching a sack of money tight in her arms.

Throwing the sketch of her aside, Elena ran towards her crewmate, “Hey! Hey! Tori wake up! Are you alright.”

“Mmh.” Victorian groaned and weakly with a smile said, “I got the money.”

“You idiot.” Elena picked up the poor girl carefully and headed back to the ship at full speed.

“KIYIYA! GET YOUR TOOLS! EVERYONE ELSE MOVE!” Elena shouted orders when she saw the crew.

The men moved automatically at the sound of her voice and then gathered when Elena gently placed Victorian on the cloth.

“What happened?” The doctor asked.

“Not sure. I was looking for her when I found her beaten on the ground but judging from her words it seems like she was protecting the money which lead to her current state.”

“She’ll be okay. Well in pain for a few days but nothing’s broken.” Not even Kiyiya had it in him to joke around. He like the others felt nothing but pure anger.

“Where are you going Elena?”

“To find out what happened.”

Information regarding the incident was easy to come across. As Elena returned to where she found Victorian, the locals were already gossiping about the incident.

“All because the poor girl stepped on the duchess’ shoes.”

“Shush, you know the Duchess of Viridian has ears everywhere. You should be careful of what you say.”

“I don’t understand why she just didn’t hand over the money.”

“The money must have been important, poor girl didn’t even let go when she was beaten up.”

“Wondered why she picked punishment instead of paying for forgiveness.”

“I already asked that dear. Go back to managing the shop.”

“Yes dear.”

After understanding the situation, Elena made her way towards the Duchess of Viridian’s estate. She was going to learn the hard way that she messed with the wrong crew.

Sneaking into the estate was easy. The guards were too lazy taking an afternoon nap when she arrived allowing her to walk straight through the main doors. Elena was about to warm up with the guards but figured that she should save everything she had for the duchess.

Finding the duchess was just as easy as sneaking into the estate. The high pitched shrill that was her voice was deafening and her appearance, was just as terrifying. Elena walked around until she found the duchess’ resting chambers. If she was going to make her feel terrified, she was going to do it in the one place where she felt safe.

Everything hurt. If it wasn’t throbbing then it was pulsing. If it wasn’t aching it was stinging. With her eyes still closed, Victorian tried to prop herself up. When she felt the comfort of a bed beneath her, she slowly opened her eyes one at a time.

Instead of a dark grey pebbled floor beneath her, Victorian was in her room at the hotel. Kiyiya had his back turned towards her as he was putting his medical items away. He turned around at the sound of her groan with a smile in a larger than necessary needle.

“Oh good you’re up, kekekekeke. If you were a few seconds slower I would have used this needle to inject this new serum I’ve been working on. It contains traces of sheep brain, chicken blood, and I forgot. What a shame, would you still like to try it?”

“That’s enough Kiyiya.” Baise said as he entered the room. “You’re lucky Elena isn’t here or else you’d end up with another bruise on the head.”

“But Tori you’re lucky. No one in the crew has the same blood type as you. If it wasn’t for Elena rushing out to find someone with the same blood type, you’d be in a much worse state. That girl didn’t even rest after she carried you all the way back here from where she found you. Also captain, you’re no fun. Well then, I’ll be on my way then.”

“I am fun.” Baise shouted as Kiyiya shut the door. “You okay?”

“I’ve been better.”

“You can cry if you want. You don’t need to pretend to be tough.”

“I’m al-” Victorian was cut off by her tears. She cried into her hands until Baise pulled her into a hug. “It hurts. It really hurts”

“There, there.”

“It was so scary.”

“You’re a lady not a bandit like us. You did a really good job hanging in there. Next time, just hand over the money, your life is worth a few fiores okay?”

Victorian was still in deep cries and didn’t register what Baise said other than it was going to be alright. After an hour of a good and much needed cry, Victorian was able to catch her breath.

“Can I be,” she said with a hiccup, “can I be trusted now?”

“You always were.”

“And, can I get something to eat.”

“Of course. I’ll get Julius to make something when he returns. The crew went out for a bit. They should be back from their stroll soon.”

The Earl of Thistle was upset to find that the bodyguards he hired the other day had already left the island. He had another event to attend, much further and longer than the previous one, but he was too afraid to travel alone. He thought string of beatings that occurred throughout the island had calmed down as the most recent accident was over two weeks ago until he heard that the Duchess of Viridian had been attacked and then robbed in her own home within hours.

Back in Alphenrose, the Duke of Burgundy performed one last check before setting sail. With the help of the Countess of Azure’s pleas, the Earl of Azure accepted his offer of finding and marrying Victorian.

“My lord, there have been talk about a red haired woman being spotted in Hibhisus.”

“The source?”

“Word had been spread of a beautiful red haired woman being the cause of an epic brawl in a salon in Hibhisus which resulted in thirty grown men passed out cold on the salon floor.”

“Prepare the men, we set sail for Hibhisus at noon.”