It got darker a bit sooner than Label was used to, naturally since they were deep in the woods and the mountains were to the west now. They were hoping to get there before dark and maybe find a good place to sleep but Anciel devised a plan already, in case of need.

He found the storage room and some of the parcels looked soft enough to rest on. The problem would be only if they were found loitering around there, however, there was plenty of space to hide if necessary.

“Are you willing to risk it?” Anciel was checking.

“I'm not sure. They might throw us off the deck if they find us.”

“I hardly doubt so, on the other hand, it might lower our chances of finding the orgriash if we are forced to disembark. Your call.”

“I say we should try to hold on. Maybe it's not too far now,” blondie was acting surprisingly bright.

“Fair enough.”

Some time passed and still, there was no end in sight. They decided to ask around a bit; there might be someone knowledgeable about the route on board.

“There he is. You go ask him.”

“No, you go,” blondie was trying to back out, but Anciel pushed him forward.

“Ahem, good evening.”

“Hello there. I see you managed to gather the courage,” the blue man teased him.

“Well if I had a clock it would be a piece of cake,” Label smirked.

“A-ha-ha-ha-ha. You jest. Au contraire, you make for a fair point. Here,” he held out his hand and offered a smaller version of the clock to the lad, “A hundred silvers will do, since you are amongst my very first customers.”

“ A HUNDRED!?” Label put a hand on his mouth after surprising himself with shouting.

“Quiet down, for goodness sake! I gave you a discount!” the man shushed him.

“No, it costs way too much!” he steamed.

“Oh mon Dieu!... Fine. A fifty will do. I’ll even throw in this new map for you since your one seems to already have antique value to it.”

“Why does your map has these ugly colors all over it?”

“These are clearly defined borders that I worked hard for!”

“Naaah… I don’t want the map. But I'll give you twenty for the clock. Last offer,” Label was showing some surprising haggling skills.

 “Ahh... since you obviously underappreciate the ingenuity of this invention; putting it in your hands would be a waste. So, whatever did you make contact with me for?”

“I ah.. just wanted to ask you; do you maybe know how long until Wasserrad?”

Noix looked at him and then at the rotating paddle, “The place is called Wasserstadt. A 'wasserrad' is—”, as he was explaining, a blunt sound could be heard and the paddle stopped, giving them all a jolt from the vessel's sudden slowdown.

Anciel and Noix remained standing by taking a spread stance and holding the fence but Label fell down face first hitting the wooden floor.

“Ouch... what was that?” he rubbed his nose.

“The 'wasserrad' has stopped,” the tall man leaned across to have a better look, “It's hard to see in this moonlight but it would seem a thick wooden float is stuck in it. If the steam engine is not turned off or at least detached mechanically from the paddles; it could overheat and explode from the pressure. I must make haste!” the coated man rushed and jumped the stairs fence, making for the engine room as fast as he could.

The boys had a look at the paddle and then at each other.

“I'll go down and pull out the branch,” Anciel decided.

“No. I'll go. Do you think it will be that easy? I'm a lot stronger, leave it to me!” blondie pointed a thumb at his chest, smiling proudly.

Anciel was hesitant to let him go at first, on the other hand, he thought it best to keep an eye out since this whole situation smelled like a trap to him.

“Don't worry, I'll be careful,” Label looked confident, so Anciel just nodded.

Label took off his shirt and shoes and removed his necklace. The lad had one last look at the surroundings but except for the branch in the wheel, everything seemed fine.

He then jumped from the boat's first floor, right across the fence into the river head first. It was a somewhat skillful jump and one could conclude he had done it before.

The water was clear enough and he could see where the wooden float was stuck. Swimming forward a bit, he measured the size of it and decided it was doable.

Anciel observed the water's surface in anticipation and Label's wet head emerged from beneath.

“I think I can do it,” he was holding himself afloat.

“Ok, go for it. If you are not back 'till I count to hundred, I'm coming for you.”

“Ha, ha.. Give me some credit,” he dived back in.

Placing his feet at the hull and grabbing the branch with both hands, the boy tried to pull it out, but the wood was in between one of the paddles and the boat's own hull, therefore taking it out while the wheel is still trying to rotate was almost impossible.

“Nghh!” he was stubborn, as he felt it move a bit.

Finally, when the wood almost got out, Label felt arms grab him by his neck from behind. He let out some of the air in shock, yet couldn't really call for help while underwater. Who was it behind him and how didn't he notice them? Trying to grab the attacker's arms, he felt their skin is almost slippery and kind of scaly.

The assassin held him in a chokehold for some time, keeping him underwater and fighting his struggles off.

After less than a minute, the boy's movements seized and the attacker let him go.

Anciel was watching from upstairs but couldn't really see what was going on. Still, he didn't even count to one hundred yet as he heard the noise from the engine room quieting down.

Good, it seems Noix made it in time, but what's going on with Label?

The fish-like creature came in front of the boy to have a look at him, maybe to confirm if he was really dead. His face was covered by the floating blond hair, but since he was not moving, the creature went on and swam up to check the wood.

It was a bit out of place nevertheless doing its job and holding the boat stationary, or at least slowing it down a bit, since it was still going steadily downstream.

The dark-haired boy's concerns grew and he was getting ready to jump into the water after his friend, when suddenly from the trees near the shore a beastly scream could be heard and using some kind of ropes, a couple of orgriash jumped the boat, some landing on the roof, some on deck.

One or two were crawling their way up from the river and one even came from the air, folding his huge black wings as he landed. Anciel hid quickly in the previously designated cargo room between two crates, hoping he won't be noticed.

“Take the passengers hostage and we'll tame the guards more easily,” the black-winged orgriash with a metal raven mask ordered.

Meanwhile, in the water, the fish creature that was checking the branch got grabbed from behind in the same manner as it was holding the boy just moments ago. Surprised at the fact, it started struggling, not for air but from the sheer power its neck was held with.

It had to do something, for the pain was immense. Trying to hurt the one holding it, the fish took a dive deeper towards the bottom of the river and hit the rocks with its back, but the hold didn't subside and the next moment it was unconscious.

Anciel was listening to the sound of footsteps and shouting from all over the boat.

There were many and judging from the distinction between the ordinary footwear sound normal people were wearing, he could take a guess that at least a dozen of bandits were aboard the vessel.

What is he to do now? Go out and fight them off all on his own? His friend still didn't come back; did he notice them and decided to flee? No, Label's not that type.

The dark-haired boy crouched and focused. Now was not the time to panic, but to devise a strategy instead.

The main thing is locating Label and escaping unnoticed so that they would not be followed into the woods. To achieve this he must remain stealthy and observant of his surroundings.

At that time, something approached the storeroom. A silhouette of a humanoid beast could be made out as it stopped in front of the stained glass doors and took out its scimitar, slowly opening and entering cautiously.

It was a reptile of sorts; much like an iguana and it searched the room slowly as the boy watched it from behind the crates, slowly rotating his position to stay out of sight.

The orgriash had various parts of spiked and frightening armor on it, not like a proper set but more like it was stripped from fallen knights it butchered, and then decorated to be more menacing. On its tail, it had a small axe attached, alas Anciel found it to be a problem where he had to attack it from behind.

Even though the darkness of the night was his ally now, he remembered then that the reptile could probably smell his scent and knew someone was in there. It was only a matter of time before it snuffed him out; he had to act while he still has an advantage.