The two captains made their way across the densely packed forest, eventually arriving at the only city in Flarenorice. Most of the people living there had already retired to bed, with only a few street lamps remaining as the last signs of life.
Fin tried consulting nearby taverns and resorts, but they were either too expensive for their taste or already full. Though Maria claimed she knew someone in the city, he couldn’t help but feel bad about intruding on someone’s home.
His reasoning surprised Maria, to say the least. Being a pirate herself, she never expected someone else to consider the feelings of others so much. Then again, she couldn’t help but remember that at his core, this was who he was.
After giving up, Maria finally led him away from the city as they trekked across the nearby hills. Even from a distance, Fin could see a large mansion illuminated with countless lights. It stood isolated, with nothing but trees surrounding the aristocratic structure.
By the time they arrived at the front door, Fin had to bend his neck completely backward just to see the top of the house. It was ten times, no, twenty times larger than the average home. Its roof came to a sharp point, like a pyramid. The outer walls were made of immaculately polished stone, without a single trace of moss.
There was no doubt that whichever family lived here was rich beyond their wildest dreams. At first, Fin couldn’t help but worry that someone might betray them and sell them off to the navy.
But if someone could afford a home this large, then an 80,000 pure gold bounty would be pocket change to them.
“How do you know this person?” he asked as Maria slowly knocked on the front door.
“I had some business with her a while back. She can be a bit annoying, but she’s not a bad person.”
Fin nodded along.
“If you trust me, then you can trust her.”
“She let me stay at her place before, and since she lives alone, I don’t see why she wouldn’t do the same for the two of us.”
“Wait, she lives alone here? In this big house?” Fin asked, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
“She does. It’s beca—” Before she could finish, the large wooden doors creaked open slowly. Golden light flooded out from inside, nearly blinding the two pirates. No matter how many times she saw it, Maria could never get used to the sight.
To her, a ship’s sleeping quarters or a dull stone building was far more comfortable.
When the door fully opened, there was nobody behind it to greet them. Maria stepped inside, and Fin followed. He expected at least a butler or the owner of the house, but no one was present.
His eyes scanned the interior, taking in the marble walls and pillars that composed the entire building. The pristine white stone was inlaid with golden strips, elevating its beauty even further. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
A red carpet stretched across the floor, serving not only as decoration but as a path to follow. Directly in front of them stood a large staircase, splitting to the left and right. Countless wooden doors lined the walls.
As he took in the breathtaking environment, the door behind them slammed shut. The two pirates turned back, startled. Even so, they didn’t find a single soul controlling the house. It was as if the building had a will of its own.
Before Fin could take another step forward, he felt a sharp sting at the back of his head. His body lurched forward as the sound of paper flapping through the air echoed in his ears.
“WATCH IT! WATCH IT! Make sure yer always standin’ at attention in the golden house, lil boy!” The voice was high-pitched, and Fin couldn’t tell if it belonged to a girl or a very young boy. When he finally turned around, he saw a floating orange envelope, folded in such a way that it resembled a cat.
“E-CAT!” Maria exclaimed, as if delighted and surprised to see the strange creature. For some reason, she seemed completely unfazed by something that should have been impossible.
“Fu, fu, fu… That’s right, green bean. You thought you got rid o’ me last time you was ‘ere, but let me tell ya somethin’…”
“I. CAN’T. BE. BEAT.”
“If yer tryin’ to pull some devious delights again, just know I’m ‘ere to stop ya!”
“Maria, what’s this orange paper cat saying? Devious delights?” Fin asked, staring at the back of her head.
Maria guiltily looked away. “Aha… Say, E-CAT, where’s your master? Is she home tonight?”
“Good try mosshead, your words of manipulation won’t work on me any longer. My master gave me some thorough discipline since the last time, and now, I’ve built plot armor to counter yer advances.”
Fin’s confusion only grew, as both perspectives completely contradicted each other. On one hand, he didn’t want to trust the strange magical object, but for some reason, he also had a hard time believing what Maria had to say.
“Why’d you open the door for us then?!” Maria tried to catch the floating cat, but it dodged her strikes with ease.
“KEKEKE! It’s cuz of that pathetic face yer makin’! Listen up veggie hair, yer lucky my master doesn’t know yer here yet, cuz if she did, you’d be long dead by now!”
“Stop making fun of my hair you little piece of—” There was murderous intent in Maria’s eyes. At first, she had only been trying to get the cat to shut up, but now she was ready to cut the creature in half.
“Though…”
Upon taking a second look at Fin, the cat flew over to his side. “ya might exactly be my master’s type, youngster.”
“Say, are ya single right now?” The sudden question took Fin aback, but the cat continued, “I s’pose so, at first I thought you might be with slime head o’er there, but you seem way too reasonable and intelligent to date someone like that!”
Maria was at the end of her wits. Her right hand gripped her pistol, gathering every bit of willpower not to shoot the cat down while it was distracted.
“Hear me out, boy. What you truly need is a woman with a lotta conviction. Someone who’s honest with their feelings. Lucky for you, my master is just the kind of woman that’d be a great fit for ya.”
“Oh, sorry, I think I’m not interested right now,” he said, backing away from the cat’s invasion of personal space.
“Maybe what ya need is a bit more of a PUUUSHHH!! Ya look like yer someone who likes a baddie. So lemme tell you exactly what her sizes are, so ya know what yer gettin’ yerself into!”
Fin tried to stop the cat before he could hear something that couldn’t be unheard. “No, I really don’t ne—“
“Don’t be shy, don’t be shy! Let’s start off with her most striking feature, eh? Her breasts are a voluptuous, mouth-watering size—” Before it could continue, a fireball hissed through the air from across the building.
It hit the cat with pinpoint precision, rapidly burning it to a crisp. “GAAAHHH!! IM DYIN’! IM DYIN’ O’ER ‘ERE!!! GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
It flailed helplessly in the air for a few seconds before it was reduced to nothing but a pile of black dust. Fin raised his head from the ground and saw Maria’s shocked expression. Her hand was still on the handle of her pistol, which meant she wasn’t the one who shot the annoying cat.
“Finally, some silence.” A loud, confident voice echoed from the second floor. Unlike Maria, her tone carried an aristocratic elegance that didn’t belong among the two pirates. As she walked, her heels tapped lightly against the floor. She wore a long, slim, comfortable red dress.
Her blonde hair in a drill style and cyan eyes matched the interior of the building. Expensive jewelry sparkled from her ears, neck, wrists, and fingers, demanding attention with every step. She wore white gloves, as if to prevent her skin from touching anything impure.
Fin had never visited the Velion Empire before, but based on the rumors he had heard, this was the exact aesthetic many ladies from that nation bore. It was an easy way to symbolize status and power.
He had waved the cat’s rambunctious claims away a few seconds ago, but even he had to admit that her breasts, which protruded from her chest like two cannonballs, were nothing short of voluptuous.
“My, my. If it isn’t Miss Lemonia.” She made her way down to the entrance, where the two captains had been standing. “You have some guts to come back after stealing nearly half of my treasures last year.”
Fin turned to Maria with a disappointed look and whispered, “I thought you knew her from business.”
“I was in the business of pirating, and she was in the business of getting robbed.” She chuckled weakly, somewhat proud of her joke.
“You really haven’t changed, Maria.” Fin added.
The lady stopped mid-step, her eyes locking onto the only other beautiful thing in the building besides herself. She quickly rushed over to him, inspecting his face as thoroughly as possible.
“Hm… I see…” She placed a hand on her chin as her eyes darted up and down.
Taking initiative, she took off her gloves and held Fin’s hand. Maria’s eye twitched, unaware of why she was taking such offense to such a seemingly innocent action.
“You, what is your name?” the lady asked.
“Fin. Fin B. Orangg.”
“Fin… Fin…”
“Ooh Finny~!” She completely shifted her tone as she wrapped her arms around Fin’s neck.
“Even though you seem like a filthy pirate, my eyes know treasure when it sees it. I thought Miss Lemonia had come here to rob me again, but it seems like she was here to pay me back in full by giving me a handsome, quiet, young man!”
Fin couldn’t help but purse his lips to stop himself from breaking into a wide smile. To any man, being called handsome, no matter who it came from, was enough to fuel their happiness for ages.
Just then, the lady felt a hand grip her shoulder. “how about you get off him now, Yuna?”
Aggressively whipping her hair back, Yuna shot back, “Oh my. Finny, it seems like your moss head monkey pet is getting a bit too cocky for her own good. I suppose it’s okay for me to burn her like I did that annoying cat?”
“Maybe I need to speak its language so it could understand me? Ooh-ooh-aah-aah?”
Gritting her teeth, Maria grabbed Yuna’s wrist as hard as she could, pulling her away from Fin. “I’ll make sure to use your drill hair to dig up your grave!”
They wrestled relentlessly, neither gaining nor losing the upper hand. To Fin’s surprise, they were evenly matched, which only deepened the mystery of Yuna. How could a noble match a pirate in raw strength?
“Um.” Despite calling out in a low voice, they both paused.
“Sorry, but can I ask who you are?” He had an idea, but he wanted to confirm just to be sure.
The mark on Yuna’s neck flared a light blue. Immediately after, a magical circle appeared in her palm, shooting out a violent stream of water produced by magic. Maria, who had her hands locked against Yuna’s, was sent flying across the building, unable to withstand the force.
Now finally alone, she struck a confident yet elegant pose. “My name is Yuna Yuzu, the master of this household. This house may be big, but I currently live all alone.”
She scooted closer. "Which means, we have plenty of free rooms. I saw two ships fighting from my window earlier today, which I assume was you two battling.”
“Yes, we were hoping you could let us stay the night.” He stated. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in his voice. Even though he felt bad, he had come to learn over the years that there was nothing wrong with asking for help.
“Though, I’m not sure if we’ll be a burden.”
Delighted by the request, Yuna’s face practically lit up. “Well of course Finny! You can stay as long as you need! One day, one week, one year, or perhaps, even one decade. If you do stay for that long, I suppose I wouldn’t be against hiring a few staff to babysit our children.”
“Babysit?” Fin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In his twenty years of existence, he had never met someone so bold and shameless in his life. Despite her outward elegant appearance, her words completely shattered that image.
Recovering from her beatdown, Maria called out, “I need a place to stay too.”
“You have some gall, Miss Lemonia, to ask for free lodging after stealing my personal riches. I’ll give you lodging, that’s fine, but I’ll have to add a few conditions to make sure you don’t pull anything foolish again.”
“I won’t, I promise.” She embarrassingly mumbled, almost regretting her past actions. But when her mind drifted back to all the luxuries she bought with that money, her repentance faded in an instant.
“No. I may trust Finny, but I don’t trust you.”
“I’ll have you come by my quarters first thing tomorrow morning, understood?”
Maria crossed her arms, turning her head and pouting. “Hmph, fine.”
As much as she wanted to fight back, being left alone in the middle of the night, surrounded by hundreds of bugs, was the last thing she wanted. She would rather fight ten golems than deal with even a single spider or fly.
“Good.” Yuna pulled on Fin’s arm. “Let’s go Finny, I’ll show you which luxurious room to use. It has the latest and greatest technological advancements from the nation of Keptas, so you’ll be living like a king here.”
Fin couldn’t even resist as he was carried away into an unknown section of the mansion. Meanwhile, Maria stood in silence, frustrated and alone. Just then, she heard the sound of folding paper.
“’Nother day, ‘nother victory for da OG, takin’ down da sweats.” The orange paper cat rose from the dead without a single burn mark.
With a sigh of resignation, Maria asked the mysterious cat, which had come back to life more times than she could count at this point, “How the hell do you keep coming back to life every time you die?”
“Fu, fu, fu… don’t underestimate the feline power to be a pain in the ass! As long as the concept of being annoying exists, I’ll never fade away. Though, it’s a real mystery who’s killed me at least a hundred times now.”
“The world is truly a cruel place, don’t ya think green bean?”
Upon seeing Fin and Yuna’s silhouettes vanish, she couldn’t help but hang her head. “yeah.”
A mix of dread and irritation settled in her chest. Though she shared a deeper connection with Fin, watching Yuna take such bold initiative, and Fin go along with it, left a sharp sting of jealousy behind.
“I hope nothing happens between them…”