And as if those words were some kind of a trigger, I saw the first shadow of a boat emerge from the thick, white fog. I recognized it immediately. It was a large ship, moving at an incredibly fast speed for its size— because it was powered by mana. It was The Lightbringer’s Vessel, and it was followed by two other ships at its rear.
I saw the nebulous figures of men standing on the deck of the large ship, with some of them pointing frantically at us. A figure fell as the man standing next to Ginah took aim and fired a shot at them.
"Let’s go!" he yelled, gesturing us over.
"What is going on?" Gennady asked, looking around confused.
"I have no idea," I said, looking between the pirate’s and the oncoming ships. "But they better explain later."
Because if we somehow got ourselves wrapped up in an entire ordeal, I would be so annoyed.
We boarded the pirate ship captained by the woman named Ginah, and fled from the three pursuing ships. The Lightbringer’s Vessel was fast, but it did not stray too far from its two escorts for whatever reason. Probably because unlike the other two, it had little in terms of firepower or combat potential. And with the cover of the fog and night, we managed to lose them after an hour.
It was only when I was sure we were safe, did I even sheathe my dagger. I had already healed up, and removed the bandages on my arm at that point, so I was less worried about getting into a fight. I was still cautious, of course; these pirates were skilled fighters as evident from our brief incursion against them, but with Gennady by my side and with both of us prepared, I felt like we might have been able to take them on— at least, until we could somehow escape.
"So," I said, stopping in front of Lisa and Ginah as the two women were in the middle of a discussion. "What’s happening?"
"Aria," Lisa started, then she paused. She looked over to Ginah for a moment, then she folded her arms. "First, you have to tell me what was that? That was… magic?"
"Yes." I nodded curtly. "It was." I didn’t clarify anything, and just stood there.
Ginah placed her hands on her hip as she turned to address me. She was dressed in nothing more than a pair of ripped pants and a tube top, with a blue coat hanging loosely around her shoulders. "You’re not part of the Dark Crusaders are you?"
I studied the expression of the two women, and saw they were scrutinizing me as well; I took a deep breath, remembering their reaction to my use of magic at the start of the battle, and decided to answer honestly rather than giving some indefinite response.
"I’m not," I said.
"Good." Ginah seemed satisfied with that. She turned to Lisa and inclined her head in my direction. "Seems like she really did save your asses, huh?"
The other woman sighed. "She did." Then she turned to me. "Thank you, Aria."
"So what’s going on?" I asked, ignoring their gratitude; those could be exchanged later. "What’s this about the Elise chasing after you guys?" I pointed first at Lisa, then at Jack who was grumbling off to the side by himself.
Lisa hesitated. "I… don’t know," she finally said. "I had no idea this would happen. I didn’t think they would try to force us into submission, after having done nothing but put some light pressure on us for so long."
"So those guys were after you?"
"Yes." She nodded.
I tapped a finger on my mask before turning to Ginah. "And how about you guys? You’re pirates, right?"
The pirate Captain shot me a grin and jerked a thumb at herself. "We are indeed."
"What’s this have anything to do with you guys?"
She shook her head. "You don’t know anything about the Elise, do you?"
"No," Gennady piped up. "We just got to the city."
I nodded my head in agreement with the Dwarf, and looked up expectantly at Ginah. "So… are you going to tell us?"
"I can tell you what’s wrong with them," a voice came from the side. Jack strutted up to us, his hands hidden in his pockets, with a clear scowl on his face. "They’re an organization of the most villainous scum in all of Luke. They came and took the underground by storm, and would crush anyone who doesn’t join them so completely and utterly that everyone quickly began to fear them."
"What’s wrong with that?" I raised an eyebrow.
Everyone turned to stare at me, giving me a look, and I shrugged.
"What? Aren’t you all criminals here?"
"Yes," Ginah said. "But that doesn’t make us monsters. We support those who help us, and allow those who don’t to go about their business. Only when they’re our enemies do we even consider such drastic courses of action."
Jack voiced his agreement. "And they are ruthless. They don’t care if you’re in the business to support your family. They will force you to do jobs you wouldn’t want to do for them."
"I see." I listened as Ginah continued to explain.
"Their leader— a Half Elf named Bahr— is also said to be capable of magic. We think he might be from the Dark Crusaders. That’s why he was able to bring the group into prominence so quickly— he had their funding and their connections to help him get to where he is now."
"So what?" I asked, frowning. "You don’t like that the Dark Crusaders are crossing into your territory to spread their influence or something?"
"No." She exhaled deeply and turned to Lisa. "What’s with this girl? We just explained
