216 Etaripe Cove
Good news, Emilia didn't really care that I scared the Pirate Hunters away.
Bad news, apparently me firing the [Laser] like that was also considered abnormal.
I mean… I already know that the fact that I don't chant was a problem, but apparently for someone to charge up the [Laser] spell like that requires them to continue chanting the spell multiple times to achieve that result.
Thus, it was entirely abnormal that I could fire two concentrated blasts of [Laser] by myself like that so quickly.
The silver lining for this is that the Pirate Hunters probably thought I was using some kind of magic tool or something to cast that spell, which also told me that the Cave Goblin Light Mage was also most likely using some kind of magic tool that allowed him to fire those spells so quickly.
I can't believe I missed that…
Thankfully, Emilia did not ask any more than that, since I assume she's also used to keeping her own secrets from others.
Surprisingly, she also didn't ask me for hush money this time either which actually made me worry a little.
I would like to say that more exciting things happened during the voyage but unfortunately that would have been a lie.
We were once again back to our routine and it really drove home how normal life at sea could be really monotonous.
Emilia kept herself busy with sorting out the loot we got and plotting our course.
Odeta kept up her own training regime which I would sometimes join as well, though there was only so much we could do with the limited space the ship had and running around the deck multiple times was also relatively boring even with a partner.
At least I got to squeeze those tight abs of hers after every workout.
On the other hand… The Sirens have gotten quite bold as the days went by.
Cherith, Ephyra and Diona each came to me at different times requesting me to let them inspect me individually.
And by 'inspect', they meant they wanted to use their hands to jerk me off just so that they could see how a cock feels like.
Allure also got a little bolder where she started trying to give me titjobs. Apparently she found it quite satisfying to see my rod disappear into her bosoms.
Then there was Delmare, the one Siren I had to be most careful around by constantly keeping up my [Mind Shield] since I never know when she would unconsciously use her [Siren Voice].
Still, she was proving to be the most needy one as she would constantly vie for my attention that even Odeta started asking what she was trying to do with me.
Delmare would always give the excuse that she wanted to sing to me which would prompt Emilia and Odeta to put on earplugs while she pulled me to the back of the ship.
Sometimes she would do as she said and sing to me, only to have me fuck her after she was done. Other times she would have me fuck her while she was singing instead.
Somehow, even though I was slamming myself deep inside the Siren and causing her to make an exceptionally lewd face, she still managed to maintain her perfect singing voice and only started moaning after her song was done.
Besides all the sex on board, I managed to spend a good amount of time practising my Aeromancy by continuously shooting [Breeze] at the sails. Maybe I can get it to Tier two if I do this enough?
After another week out at sea, we finally spotted land on the horizon. Or at least, Delmare spotted it first and we did later on.
We have reached the islands of Sitnalta Union at last.
The first thing I noticed was that the number of ships drastically increased as we sailed closer to it, most of them bearing the flag of being pirates.
No one paid us any mind and Emilia took over in steering the ship, manoeuvring us through the gaps between the larger ships to head towards the islands.
"There's so many ships here, are they all pirates?" Delmare gasped while marvelling at the sight.
Emilia nodded, "This place is known as the pirate haven for a reason. This place has everything a pirate might need. A place to fence their stolen goods, to resupply their ships, to gamble their fortunes, to indulge in their desires and also to compete amongst themselves."
"Compete?" I asked.
"Mmhmm, the pirates have their own fame as well. So people take note of the ones with the high bounties, the most daring raids or the biggest crew. You need that infamy to get any attention around here after all. Otherwise people will just assume you're a nobody and treat you as such."
"Would we be alright then?"
"Ohohoho~ Did you forget who you're talking to, Aster? I have contacts here myself~ Besides, it's not my first time here, we'll be fine~"
I decided to ignore the implications of such a statement.
Most of the larger ships seemed to be anchored out in the bay and I noticed that there were various merfolk swimming out in the waters towards the ships. Some of those ships were lowering what appears to be a wooden platform filled with cargo via a pulley system to the waters while the merfolks watched on.
"They're trading," Emilia explained without looking. "Some of them are just here to restock before moving on and instead of docking at the port, they just anchor out here and trade with the merfolk directly."
I watched on and sure enough, the mermen waiting at the side went forward to start grabbing the crates that were lowered on the platform and bringing them underwater. Meanwhile, a different group of mermen surfaced from the water and placed boxes onto the platform instead.
"Won't the goods get wet?" I pointed out.
"Oh, those are cargo crates, Aster. They are waterproof so it's fine even if they are submerged," She explained like it's common sense.
I nodded without questioning it, all the while imagining a whole factory in charge of making boxes like these for the entire shipping industry or something. Do they use a special kind of wood? Or was it just some unique processing method?
I should make a note to go find out if I have a chance.
Our ship slowly made its way into what looked to be a port city on top of an island, dropping anchor in one of the free docks.
"Welcome to Etaripe Cove! Also known as Pirate Paradise!" Emilia gestured to the city in front of us. "Now normally I'll let everyone get off the ship and explore the land but this place does not allow such luxuries if you get what I mean?"
"Is it because of the pirates?" Cherith asked.
The Nekomata nodded, "That's right~ We may be pirates now but this place is still pretty much lawless. Look at someone the wrong way or just say something that someone finds offensive and you could be attacked without warning. That's why only Aster and I will go ashore to sell those stolen goods. The rest of you stay on this ship."
Odeta pouted, "Ehhh?! I want to go with sister Aster too!"
"I need someone to defend this ship in case someone comes to make trouble and I, quite frankly, worry about Lady Aster doing some more troubling things again so I want to keep an eye on her."
"Eh?! What did I even do?" I protested indignantly.
She put her hands on her hips and gave me a pointed look, "Your spells… Lady Aster… Need I say more?"
Point taken… Although…
"Are the two of us even enough to move all the loot we are going to sell?" I asked.
"Ohohoho~ Don't you have your Pack of Folding, Lady Aster? That's all we need to transport them off the ship! Anyway, we won't be here for long. We should be setting sail again before nightfall."
Oh, that's right, I forgot we could use that.
We proceeded to load up all the Grey Powder and also the loot we got from the merchant into my Pack of Folding, leaving only some of the food behind for ourselves.
With everything packed, we waved goodbye to the Sirens and a still disgruntled Odeta before we disembarked from our ship.
Even from here, I could already see how different this place was compared to the places I've been so far.
As the city was designed more for the merfolk's convenience, there were only a few dry paths within the city itself.
The rest of the city was pretty much made up of water canals that flowed out towards the sea, though those canals were not as grand as a certain city of water, but more like paths that were dug out just to let the water flow through.
No doubt, these were the main roads for the merfolk here and sure enough, I could see a number of them swimming through the canals to get from one place to another.
At least the dry roads were big enough to accommodate land based people like myself to walk through without bumping into the other people that were gathered here.
Seeing that there doesn't seem to be a lot of residential buildings that looked to be designed for merfolk around here, I had to ask, "Is there another city underwater?"
"Oh most definitely. There are merfolk species that cannot breathe on land after all. Which incidentally, is also the case for one of my contacts we will be looking for too."
"How do we contact them?"
"Oh I have my ways~" She answered before suddenly furrowing her brows at something behind me, "Come on, I don't want to stay in this place longer than I have to."
I turned to the direction of where Emilia was looking at and found a few Mahun pirates ogling at my chest unashamedly.
Hmm… I wonder if they would have the same look on their faces if they knew I had something extra in between my legs?
Actually… I think they might even like it more so forget I said anything.
Hopefully we could just have a quick chat with Emilia's contact and leave immediately…
