Holding her breath, both Fin and Maria stayed as still as possible so as not to make a single noise. Now was not the time to ponder romantic advances, as if they were spotted without their weapons or crew, it would spell certain doom.
Fin peeked his head out slightly, just enough to see where Tan was. If he were spotted as well, then the navy would know for certain that the Clementine Pirates were still present. Luckily, he seemed to have vanished somewhere, having noticed the navy man around the same time Fin did.
“Well, please keep an eye out for these individuals. They are highly dangerous and should be taken extremely seriously,” the navy man commented.
“I see. This Fin B. Orangg person aside, the girl on the right certainly does seem a bit dangerous,” Yuna spoke in a dignified tone. To the navy man, she seemed extremely serious and oblivious, but Maria’s eye twitched, setting aside plans to jump her later.
“Will do, officer. Please stay safe. Velion’s security and peace depends on it.”
With a nod, the navy man walked away slowly, his heavy boots sinking into the sand with every step. After a minute, Fin let go of Maria. Still behind the bushes, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Yuna. We’ll meet you back at the mansion.”
“Yes. Looks like our little day off will have to be postponed for now,” she said while bunching up sand in her hands, before promptly tossing it into the grill’s flames and putting it out. Dusting off her hands, she commanded Nanaki to return home, as this was now unsafe territory for someone as young as her.
Without a shred of resistance, Nanaki immediately started sprinting home. Tan, who had leapt into the beach, finally emerged to catch his breath.
“I’ll make sure to scout out how many navy ships are around.” His usual playful tone was all but gone. He narrowed his eyes toward his captain, as they both came to a mutual understanding of their tasks. Despite being somewhat unserious most of the time, their skills as pirates were absolute.
“You ready?” Fin asked, bending down and whispering to Maria. With furrowed brows, she nodded in confirmation. Since Yuna was a natural resident of Flarenorice, she didn’t need to be as cautious, leaving the two of them to rely on the trees for cover.
Sprinting as fast as they could, both Maria and Fin made their way through the dense forest, expertly dodging every tree, bush, and bit of wildlife in their path. It was like two animals moving at indescribable speeds.
After only a few minutes, they were the first to arrive back at the estate, with Yuna following closely behind. As much as they wanted to wash off all the sand from their bodies, they had no choice but to stand in the main hall to discuss their next plan of action.
“We messed up. I knew the navy was going to catch on to us soon, but I didn’t think it would be this soon.” Maria bit her thumb, frustrated that she hadn’t properly anticipated the situation.
“This is certainly much sooner than the navy usually moves. Though, I feel like we always move from island to island so quickly that it might have just seemed like they were slow,” Fin added.
“Yeah. Typically, by the time the navy arrives at the islands we hit, we’re already gone for like three days or so. I guess I thought they were incompetent just because they were a bit slow.”
“So then,” Yuna chimed in, “I can keep you hidden in the estate as long as you’d like. Even if they barge in, I have a few hidden rooms you could use. But even if we do that, there’s still one glaring problem.”
“We won’t have enough money to set sail.” Fin’s shoulders deflated.
“There’s a chance we could steal a navy ship, but I feel like that’s too risky,” Maria went on. “As infamous as we are, there’s no way we can beat entire fleets of the Velion Navy by ourselves. I think sneaking away is our best option.”
Fin nodded.
“So the real question is, where are we even going to get that large sum of money?”
Maria paused, then slowly moved her gaze over to Yuna, a slow, smug look forming on her face. There was only one person she knew who had the capability of funding their entire escape on her own.
Taking the hint, Yuna sighed. “Miss Lemonia. Even if I wanted to help you, the funds I currently possess are not nearly enough to purchase supplies to build an entire ship. Perhaps I could fund a small boat, but that’d be all.”
Fin held out his hand, as if to tell her to stop. “Hold on, Maria. Didn’t we talk about this before? We can’t just go around begging people to help us out.”
“You don’t ask for handouts, you don’t steal. Why did you even become a pirate again?” Maria asked, her eyes twitching. There wasn’t even a second of pause before Fin replied, “To look for you. I thought I told you this already.”
That he had. So for now, Maria was willing to let him off the hook.
“Still, we can’t just not take advantage of our situation. How are we even going to build a ship in secret without the navy catching on?”
“We can use my own personal, private port,” Yuna suggested. “I had it built in order to bring me goods without devious pirates being able to steal them. As long as you get the necessary materials, you should be able to build it just fine without anyone peeping in.”
Fin smiled sincerely. “Sounds good, thanks Yuna.”
“Anything for you, my dearest Finny.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Fin and Maria quickly slipped into the nearby halls, ready to bail out of a window if necessary. Slowly, Yuna opened the door, its metal hinges groaning.
Standing on the other side was Tan, slumped over and out of breath. His hair was drenched in sweat, as was the rest of his bare upper body. He still had his swimwear on, not having had enough time to change. Upon seeing it was a false alarm, Maria and Fin regrouped with the others.
“What’s the situation, Tan?”
“Captain, it’s not as bad as it seems right now.”
They all cocked their heads to the side in unison.
“Right now, there are only one or two ships. If I had to guess, they were most likely dispatched from the nearest island.”
Fin rubbed his chin. “Makes sense. The nearest navy base isn’t for at least a week out. I was wondering why they were so fast, but they obviously weren’t.”
“Which means,” Maria continued, “we still have around two more days until they finally catch up to us. This way, we could steal that one navy ship and take off without any real consequences.”
“Sure, the other ship will follow us, but as long as we make sure to sink them, we’ll basically be off scot-free!” Maria was basking in her victory far too early, letting out sighs of relief and stretching off the accumulated stress.
“How are you going to sink the second ship?” Tan asked, which confused Maria.
“How? Using their own cannonballs, of course.”
“Mmm, sorry if I wasn’t being clear.” Tan scratched the back of his head. “The two ships are scout ships. They don’t have any weapons on them.”
“What I’m guessing is that they’re here mostly for recon, and in the chance that they do spot us, it’s to increase security in the following days to prevent us from leaving.”
“Wait, that makes no sense either,” Fin interjected. “Why would they raise security AFTER they find out we’re here? Wouldn’t it be safer to do that the entire time they’re investigating? I mean, if I was a navy person, I’d be doing that.”
His point was all too valid. Without any of their crewmates present to provide meaningful intel, their theories were just that, theories. Fifteen years ago, when rulership changed from Emperor to Empress, Velion developed new policies focused on increased safety and security.
As such, every year, ship formations, strategies, and apprehension methods were constantly shifting. Whether or not it was intentional was something only the Velion authorities knew, but regardless, it worked against them.
Normally, the two pirates operated far from the mainland of Velion, and Flarenorice was no exception. However, with how infamous they had become since their debut, even the chance to capture two rising pirates would be a great win for the navy.
Upon hearing about the battle in Flarenorice, the Velion Navy deployed units and ships to the nearest islands. However, since no pirate vessels were seen entering any of these ports, whether or not they had even left Flarenorice was still uncertain.
Annoyed, Yuna spoke. “So it seems like no matter how you approach this, you’re bound to be seen or captured. There’s little to no room for a stealthy escape.”
“I think the best thing to do right now is get more information,” Fin stated. “It’s a bit dangerous to make concrete plans right here, right now. Our plans could fall apart in a second if they’re fully prepared to counter us.”
“So then how do we even gather information?” Maria raised a brow.
Yuna raised her hand slightly. “I can try to gather some information. If they’re on recon ships, that means they’ll have to rely on the island for food, lodging, or whatever the case may be. I can wander around the city and try to get one of them to talk.”
Widening his eyes, Tan couldn’t help but blurt out his first thought. “Are you going to beat them?!”
“Better.” Yuna smiled proudly, subtly bouncing her upper body to “enhance” the view of her assets.
“As expected from Yuna! You’re the BEST!”
Yuna and Tan high-fived. If anyone saw them for the first time, it wouldn’t be strange to assume they had been lifelong friends, despite only knowing each other for a day.
Maria stared in disbelief. “Look at you, being oddly nice and helpful for once.” Genuine surprise colored her expression. The constant torment she’d endured had almost made her forget that Yuna was letting her stay here practically for free. The maid’s work was simply repayment for what she had stolen.
“Now then, there’s the matter of building our own ship.”
“Since we know they’re recon ships, I think we’d be better off crafting one ourselves. Tan and I can handle the construction, since we built our first ship from scratch.”
“That’s surprisingly handy of you.” Maria shook her head lightly, still processing everything. Building a ship had never even crossed her mind. She let out a small chuckle, recalling how she had simply stolen her first one from a merchant she couldn’t stand back on their home island.
“Fin.” Yuna called out sternly.
“I know you don’t want to accept outside help, but as a captain, I think it’s important you understand the value of putting others first.”
“Not only is your first mate on the line, but Maria, your childhood friend, is also in danger. The longer you stay on this island, the more risk you’re drawing to yourself.”
Fin lowered his head as her words sank in. He knew she was right, even if it clashed with his beliefs. Still, the thought of putting Maria in danger bothered him far more. After a brief pause, he gave a small nod.
Both Maria and Tan wanted to reach out in support. However, as pirates themselves, they knew Yuna was right. Slowly, they lowered their heads as well, lost in thought.
“I understand your teacher taught you to be a good person, even if you won’t acknowledge that fact yourself. However, you chose the life of a pirate, one filled with death, betrayal, danger, and endless running.”
“If you’re unhappy, blame yourself for not choosing the career path of a mage. Why you became a pirate doesn’t matter. These are simply the downsides of being a criminal. The only way for you to fully free yourself from these shackles is to quit.”
“Yuna!” Maria shouted, as if begging her to stop, but she was promptly ignored. She turned to Fin with worried eyes. He hadn’t said a single word for two full minutes. It was the most emotion she had seen from him in the entire week they had been together.
Taking a deep breath, he finally lifted his head. “Yeah, you’re absolutely right.”
“If you’re willing, I’m okay with receiving help from you. Though, I’d like to pay you back one day,” he said with a gentle grin.
“Heh, consider this a deal then.” Yuna scoffed, then sneered. “Imagine paying back what you take. I wish other pirates in our vicinity understood those values.”
“I hate you,” Maria mumbled to herself.
“However, the funds I have will barely be enough to purchase the necessary materials, so you’ll have to be very careful with how you spend your money.”
“No worries. I’ll take care of it with Tan. Unlike Maria, you can trust us with your money.”
“Why am I catching so many strays?” Maria said calmly, slapping the back of his head.
“Looks like we got ourselves a PLAAAAANNN” Tan stretched. “I’ll go out to buy some materials tonight. Chances are, the navy will be more focused on the open waters than the city once it gets dark.”
“I’ll go with you,” Yuna added. “Perhaps I can ‘persuade’ one if I spot them in a tavern.”
“Alright then, should I start taking money out of your treasury to begin budgeting?” Fin asked.
Maria quickly interjected, her eyes practically sparkling with excitement. “Oh, I’ll show you the way! I’ve been there before, so I can help you with that.”
Fin stared at her suspiciously. This was Maria, after all. Just as she took a step forward, a powerful stream of water slammed into her back, sending her flying across the long, seemingly endless hall.
It was obvious by now who had cast the spell. By the time Fin glanced over his shoulder, he saw Yuna with one arm extended, a blue magic circle hovering just above her palm.
Tan had his arm wrapped around her neck, dragging her along as he cheerfully pulled her toward the door. Just before she disappeared from Fin’s line of sight, she shouted at the top of her lungs, as if her life depended on it.
“DO. NOT. LET. HER. NEAR. THE. GOLD!!!”