Chapter 107: Crew

Jaxir and Nick touched down on a rocky stretch above the riverbank, then made the rest of the descent on foot until the docks came fully into view. There were several boats tied along the shore, ranging from small ferries that looked barely large enough for a dozen people to broader river vessels with raised decks, patched sails and enough cargo stacked along their sides to suggest they made this trip often.

None of them looked particularly friendly.

The docks were crowded, but conversations stayed low and sharp while crewmen watched anyone approaching with almost too much attention. You would have thought they were scouting out potential targets. More than once, he caught a hand resting near a weapon, and judging by Nick’s expression, he wasn’t imagining the tension.

"This place has great customer service."

Nick gave him a flat look. "We can still turn around."

A shout pulled both of their attention toward one of the larger vessels before Jaxir could answer. A small figure came flying over the side of the boat, hit the wooden dock shoulder-first and rolled several times before stopping near a stack of empty barrels.

Jaxir frowned as the figure pushed herself up.

It was a little girl.

Her clothes were several sizes too large and patched badly enough that Jaxir couldn’t tell what color they had started as, while messy brown hair hung across most of her face. She looked small enough that the fall should’ve hurt far more than she showed, but after rubbing one elbow, she was already trying to get back onto her feet.

Nick’s expression changed immediately. "That has quest written all over it."

Jaxir glanced sideways at him. "Didn’t you want to avoid trouble?"

"Trouble is worth it if there’s money or benefits involved." Nick straightened his clothes and nodded with the dignity of someone saying something profound. "The creed of a thief—I mean, a gentleman."

"Yeah, real gentlemanly."

Jaxir walked toward the girl and held out a hand.

She stared at it for half a second before taking it, but the moment Jaxir pulled her upright, something brushed across his ring finger.

His grin widened.

The girl’s fingers had moved so lightly that he probably wouldn’t have noticed yesterday. Now Mana circulated through pathways that hadn’t existed before, carrying sensation through his hand with enough detail that he could feel the slight pressure against the underside of the Enhanced Inventory ring before she even started sliding it loose.

Jaxir pulled his hand back.

The girl froze.

For one second, she stared up at him with the wide-eyed expression of someone who had already imagined herself getting away with it. Then Jaxir laughed.

"Almost."

That was apparently all she needed to hear. She spun and ran.

"Get lost, you little rat!"

Several crewmen on the boat started shouting after her, and one threw an empty tin can that bounced harmlessly across the dock several meters behind her. Another joined in with something that looked like an old cup, but the girl had already disappeared between two buildings before either of them came close.

Jaxir watched her go. "Guess there’s no quest."

Nick rubbed beneath his nose. "Maybe I’m losing my touch."

"How about these guys?"

Nick followed Jaxir’s finger toward the boat the girl had just been thrown from, then stared at him again. "You want to get on the boat where they treat little girls like that?"

Jaxir laughed. "Look around. I bet if it was any other boat, they would’ve killed her instead."

Nick’s face tightened as he glanced across the docks.

He couldn’t really argue with that.

Jaxir looked back toward the alley where the girl had vanished and wondered whether she’d picked this boat for exactly that reason. She hadn’t seemed surprised when they threw her off, and if she’d been working these docks for any length of time, then she probably knew which crews would rough her up and which ones would cut her throat.

"Check your pockets!"

The same crewman who had thrown the cup leaned over the railing and pointed at Jaxir and Nick. "That little shit’s slippery. If she touched either of you, make sure you’re not missing anything."

Jaxir lifted one hand in thanks. "Already noticed."

The crewman laughed. "Then you’re doing better than most."

Jaxir stepped closer to the gangplank. "You taking passengers to Marr Town?"

The man’s eyes moved over both of them before settling on Jaxir’s equipment. "Maybe. You paying?"

"That was the idea."

"I can ask the captain. Shouldn’t be a problem if you’ve got the copper."

He disappeared from the railing, and several minutes later another man emerged from the cabin near the rear of the deck. He was broad through the shoulders, wore an old dark coat that had been repaired more times than Jaxir could count, and carried a curved sword at his waist without making any effort to hide it.

"Captain Verren." His gaze moved between them once. "Heard you need Marr."

"That’s right."

"10,000 copper each."

Jaxir waited for the rest.

Nothing came.

He glanced at Nick, who gave the smallest shrug.

"That’s it?"

Captain Verren’s brow lifted. "You want me to charge more?"

"No, I just expected pirates to be worse."

A few nearby crewmen laughed while Verren’s mouth twitched. "Pay first."

Jaxir transferred the 10,000 copper, and Nick did the same before either of them could reconsider how suspiciously reasonable the price was. Considering the map had cost Jaxir more than 100,000 just to tell him where to go, crossing the river for a tenth of that felt almost charitable.

They boarded.

The boat was larger than it had looked from shore, with enough room across the deck for several dozen passengers if someone packed them tightly. It smelled strongly of fish, old rope and river water, while the boards beneath Jaxir’s boots had enough cracks and warped edges to make you step carefully. Who knew when one would give way and send you to the lower decks.

At least the boat itself didn’t look ready to sink.

The crewman who had warned them about the girl came down from the raised deck after Captain Verren disappeared back toward his cabin. He wiped both hands on his trousers before stopping near them.

"Name’s Hale. We’ll probably push off in an hour, maybe two." He nodded toward several men working near the far side of the vessel. "Routine maintenance before we head out, then it’s a straight run to Marr if the river behaves."

Nick looked toward the water. "And if it doesn’t?"

Hale smiled, but didn’t explain further.

Jaxir chuckled while Hale walked away, then opened his map out of habit and focused on the crewman before he moved beyond the brighter radius of the Sparkling Third Eye effect. A small set of information resolved beside the man’s position.

Jaxir’s smile faded a little.

Level 17.

He glanced around the deck again, this time paying much closer attention to the people working around them.

These guys were pretty strong, but he was already ready for exactly that. Nick and Luxy both had already warned him.

If the crewmen were this high leveled, then the captain was probably worse, and there were two to three dozen of them in total. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.