"Sure, uh, just give me a minute. I’m going to freshen up, ok?"
I nodded, and pointed back at the ship. "Could you meet me in my room?"
"Of course!" The young woman headed to a makeshift bath as I returned to the boat.
More people were waking up now, and it was starting to get a little crowded; I did not plan to do anything against Ginah’s Crew, but I wanted to fish for more information as well as covertly get back my gold. That meant I had to do it in private rather than in public.
I waited for a while in my room, just sitting in my bed. Eventually, I heard a knock and a voice called in.
"Hello?"
"Come in," I said, standing up.
Lisa entered, dressed in a plaid shirt and pants, looking very different from the robed young woman I had gotten used to seeing for the past few days. She smiled her usual smile as she approached me.
"Did you need something?"
"Yes." I nodded my head and put a hand out. "My gold. I want it back."
She immediately froze; the smile on her face slipped as she took a step back, and twiddling her thumbs, she spoke out slowly. "Y-your gold? Come on now, Melas. Jack and I lost our ship and our crew. We don’t really have anything left."
I just stood there, arm still outstretched. I continued staring into the young woman until she heaved a sigh.
"Fine," she huffed, and procured a bag of coins from a pocket. "Here."
I gladly accepted my money back, then nodded. "Thank you."
She scowled. "Was that all you wanted? Because I feel like I just came into your room to get robbed."
"Seems like you’re a little bit low on gold," I said, pointing out the obvious.
Lisa snorted. "No thanks to you."
"Well," I started, pulling out a few coins from the pouch. "What are you willing to do to make some of it back?" I grinned underneath my mask as I watched her eyes light up.
"That’s an interesting proposal. What do you want?"
I counted out ten gold coins, and placed it on the wooden table next to my bed. "I want to know everything there is to know about Ginah’s Crew."
It was a lot of gold, but I was pretty sure things like information were worth a lot— especially in the underground. And since Lisa was someone who was experienced with such deals, I knew I was at a disadvantage here; I had no idea what was a good price, and ten gold seemed like a decent amount to start off with.
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Well," she started, keeping her voice neutral. "I feel like if you want me to tell you everything about Ginah’s Crew, you might want to fork up some more gold."
"I’m not playing this game, Lisa," I lied. "This is all you’re getting back from me. So either speak up, or walk away empty handed."
This was a gambit. If she did not bite on the bait, I’d have to concede and give her more than I wanted to. I was prepared to say goodbye to all the gold she had returned me considering I had already given it away in the first place. However, I’d have preferred if I did not spend so much on things I didn’t need to.
Shuffling her feet, the young woman took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine," she said, putting up her hands, "you caught me. That’s more than enough. And it’s not like there’s anything interesting to tell you anyway."
I relaxed slightly upon hearing that. "So what is there to know?" I asked.
"As I told you yesterday, Ginah’s Crew is considered to be one of the better pirate groups around. Everyone knows if you’re in hard times and considering to turn to criminal activity, but don’t want to do anything egregious, Ginah’s Crew would probably accept you."
"Wait," I cut her off, "why would you even want to do that?"
"What do you mean?" Lisa frowned.
I paused, choosing my next words carefully… or stupidly. It felt like a mix of both, considering I had to ask the question in the first place. "Why would you… turn to crime? Can’t you just find another job?"
"Do you even read the news, Melas?"
I hesitated. "No?"
Lisa looked at me inquisitively, but did not comment any further. "Laxis, as a country, hasn’t been doing so well for the past few decades," she explained. "You at least know about the Free War, right?"
At my nod, she continued.
"During the Free War, the Holy Xan Empire claimed that any country that aided them in invading the Free Lands would be rewarded, but those that did not would not be punished. Since Laxis did partake in a moderate amount of trade with the Free Lands, the King at the time decided to remain neutral. Stay out of the war."
I drew my lips into a thin line as I realized what happened. "And when the Holy Xan Empire was forced back to their continent, they blamed you guys."
"They blamed everyone who did not offer them support," Lisa corrected me. "And that’s not just Laxis. It was Elius, Puer, and a handful of small countries too. However, what makes our country stand out was what happened before the Holy Xan Empire left.
"The Holy Xan Empire realized they could not maintain their supply lines, and demanded all countries that had chosen to remain neutral to switch sides or face punitive consequences. Our King thought that if all the countries that chose to remain neutral refused this demand, the damage the Holy Xan Empire could do would be negligible. Much to his surprise however, more
