As the Carlos-Goldman fleet approached Murky Bay, they could tell from a distance that something has happened to the town. All four vessels slowed down, and Carlos went to the front of his ship, observing the pce thoroughly with a spygss. Sir Kleid did the same – the two men stood side by side, with about twenty meters of water separating their ships.

  “What is it, Sir?” asked Eric, buttoning up his shirt. It was early in the morning, and he just woke up to the yelling of the crew.

  “It doesn't look good. Must have been a battle. But it seems like there are still some people there...”

  “Oh. May I see?”

  “Of course, my lord!”

  As the knight turned to Eric, the young noble was a bit taken aback for a moment – he was still not used to Kleid's bck eyepatch. He took over the spygss and put it against his right eye a little hesitantly. After he got adjusted to the view, he saw some scorched remnants of buildings and some broken windows. It was not like the town was completely devastated, but it was definitely messed up. There were however indeed some people on the waterfront, some watching them, some going about their business.

  “Sir Kleid, should we...”

  But Eric fell quiet as he heard Marcel's yawn right behind them, and he slightly blushed. Ever since his confession a few days ago, things have turned kind of awkward between them. They hung out a little less, and neither of them brought up the matter anymore. Eric would have assumed that putting his feelings out there was going to be the hardest part of it. A scary jump into unknown territory which then concludes his pending longing one way or another. Even though Marcel herself was the one who kind of provoked him into it, he has done that jump now... and it didn't conclude anything at all. What was he supposed to do now?

  “Good morning,” said the girl. “What is going on, have we arrived?”

  “It looks like the pirate town was attacked, miss,” said Kleid.

  “Oh. May I see?”

  Eric handed over the telescope to her clumsily, almost dropping it. Their eyes met for a moment, then Marcel quickly began observing their destination.

  “Carlos Wayne!” Sir Kleid yelled towards the ship next to theirs. “What do you suggest we do?”

  “I could go in with just my own crew first, if you would prefer,” the pirate yelled back.

  “Oh my!” Marcel gasped. “Would you look at that!”

  Soon, they could see it with their bare eyes too: a big, white bird of a kind taking wings and flying towards them. Then in a few moments, they could tell that it wasn't a bird at all, but an angel.

  “That's Chio Tanaka, our friend!” yelled Carlos.

  The angel nded right besides the pirate captain, and they began to discuss things. Many of the crew members on the Goldman ship dropped what they were doing, and hurried to the side of the ship, watching the divine being in awe. Marcel too was gazing at her, drumming on the railing with her fingers restlessly – her frustration of being left out was obvious.

  “An angel? What does this mean?” asked Eric. Carlos and his men kept Chio's secret from them all this time, of course.

  “God only knows,” replied Kleid.

  “Is she here to give us advice? But would an angel appear before so many people for just that purpose?” the young lord began to pace back and forth excitedly. “And didn't Carlos Wayne just refer to her as a friend? How? Could it be that she is here to actually help us, like personally?”

  “If such a heavenly being is here, it must mean you have stumbled onto quite the grand adventure, my lord,” said the knight.

  “I did, didn't I? To think that even an angel is assisting us! What a tale this will be! Right, Marcel?”

  The white-haired girl stared at Eric with a strange expression, which made him feel awkward again.

  “Hmmm,” the girl said, turning her gaze back towards the other ship.

  That tattooed elf woman appeared on the deck of Carlos's ship now, she hurried up to the angel, and she straight up hugged her. Then Carlos yelled over to Kleid, saying that the town should be safe to enter. The angel took wings again, and flew back to the harbour.

  “I suppose we will find out soon what all this is about,” Kleid muttered.

  As they anchored in the port, the rge dwarf guy named Goliath greeted them on the pier.

  “Eric Goldman, was it? I didn't expect to see you here again.”

  “I did not expect to come back either,” replied the young lord.

  “So you really have met Carlos Wayne. I appud your dedication to your cause. Suppose he couldn't tell you where your uncle is?”

  Eric shook his head. “Well, that whole deal is kind of behind us now. We are here to help.”

  “And they are quite the valuable allies, Goliath,” Carlos commented as he walked down the gangway from his ship, on the other side of the pier.

  “Who would have thought,” the dwarf said.

  They went straight to Goliath's house, where some of the most important people in this mission gathered up together to discuss things and catch up with each other. Carlos Wayne, Iesha Silverlight, the angel called Chio Tanaka, and a fairy called Friska were present, and of course Goliath himself. Sir Kleid, Marcel and Eric joined them. They sat around a table in the dwarf's dining room; this many people fitted in there rather tightly, but there was something homely about that.

  Both the newcomers and those who have been in town summed up their recent experiences to each other. Carlos was the one who talked the most about how his trap at Scalehide went, and about the manticore attack in the middle of the ocean. Marcel straightened her back rather proudly when she and her ice magic was mentioned, and gnced secretly at the angel, but stayed silent. Then Goliath told them about Warren's attack on the town, and stly Chio talked about what happened to her party, only briefly mentioning how she was given permission to now reveal herself freely. As Eric could gather, this Chio Tanaka was a fallen angel who has made some friends in the realm of mortals, and they apparently wanted to travel around the Scorched Lands, but they got attacked by another manticore, then came here. During Warren's attack of the town, one of Chio's dear friends was captured, and she wanted to get her back.

  “So where is this despicable pirate now?” asked Sir Kleid.

  “Supposedly, he is going to a pce called Pinewood Hill,” Goliath said.

  Is that in Cesanitia? Eric wondered. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

  “No way...” Carlos muttered. “Are you sure about this?”

  Friska the fairy, who was sitting on Chio's shoulder all this time, jumped on the middle of the table, drawing everyone's attention to her. “Yesterday, me and Chio flew over to Newchance. The settlement is in a simir shape to this town, and there was not a living soul there, or so we thought at first. But we found one little boy. That sick Warren left him alone there on purpose, taking the other prisoners somewhere else. He clearly wanted us to find this boy, who then told us that Warren is going to Pinewood Hill.”

  “Unbelievable...”

  “What is it, Carlos?” asked Iesha. “You gotta be transparent with us!”

  The pirate captain cleared his throat. “Pinewood Hill is a pce that's dear to me. It's on the north-western shores of Cesanitia, Warren and I have history there, we both spent time there in our youth. I did not think he would do this, but... the people of that vilge are in danger. We have no choice but to follow him there.”

  “He will be expecting us,” Goliath noted.

  “Not all of us. But be it.”

  “I'm sure he knew you would chase after him fast,” said Iesha. “Is he setting a trap?”

  “Probably. Regardless, I can't just sit around idly. As I said, that pce has sentimental value to me, so there is no time for me to waste. I'll set sail as soon as possible, but if any of you have reservations, I understand.”

  Iesha sighed. “I'll go with you, my friend. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.”

  “So will I,” said Chio.

  “You can count on us too,” nodded Goliath. “We will settle this together.”

  “We aren't gonna back out now either!” Eric blurted.

  “Thank you all,” said Carlos.

  With that, the meeting was basically concluded, and soon everyone went to take a rest. In the end, they agreed to only begin their upcoming voyage the next morning, and for the night, Goliath lent the Goldman crew a couple of retively untouched houses on the eastern side of town. Since it was the district farthest from where Warren attacked, it avoided the worst of the ordeal, and so most of everyone who stayed in town were dwelling in these houses now.

  As the sun began to set, and the shadows of the buildings got elongated on the cobbled streets, a lone eastern-looking guy with a pointy mustache was walking back and forth on the waterfront, thinking, barely noticing the handsome young man sitting on a barrel nearby.

  “Are you part of Carlos' crew?” the young man asked him as he passed by him.

  The eastern man stopped, looking a bit irritated. “Yes.”

  “I don't recognize you. What was your name again?”

  “Fabio Araki.”

  “I'm Porco. Just Porco,” the young man jumped off the barrel and extended a hand. Fabio took it reluctantly.

  “Let me guess, you are that guy who was the captain of Ike Lazarus' soldiers, right?”

  “What makes you think so?” Fabio asked with thinly veiled disinterest.

  “You are not really hanging out with the rest of Carlos' crew, you seem to have some reservations, and as I said, I don't recognize you.”

  “Are you a friend of Carlos Wayne?”

  “That would be an exaggeration. I merely travelled with him for a little while. I am however friends with Chio, the angel.”

  “You must have quite the story then. Now if you don't mind...”

  “You dislike being amongst us, don't you?”

  “It's as you said. I have my reservations.”

  “But you will come with us to fight Warren anyway.”

  “I will.”

  “Well, it would probably serve you right to try and loosen up a bit then.”

  “Why do you care?”

  I'm just trying to distract myself from that succubus-shaped hole in my soul. “I'm just a little bored, I guess. But also, we are in this together. We are allies now, like it or not.”

  “Allies, yes. Not friends. I still don't have to like pirates.”

  “Technically, you are one now, aren't you?”

  Fabio grimaced. “Carlos Wayne killed my father. I'll never forgive him for that, even if there are worse people than him out there. Even if fate has brought me to his side for now.” He turned his back to Porco, and was about to leave.

  “Not long ago, I set out on a voyage to get my revenge,” Porco said. “I was gonna uncover the sins of the girl I was traveling with, the one I thought to be responsible for my greatest friend's death. And in some sense, she was responsible. But then stuff happened. I learned more about her, found out that her circumstances in the past weren't simple at all, and then fate brought us to be on the same side, so to speak. We are just friends now, she is Chio.”

  “And?”

  “Sometimes it's not worth it to hold onto these things, man. Even if you can't bring yourself to forgive Carlos, you shouldn't isote yourself from all of your allies.”

  “Hmm.” Fabio stood in pce for a moment, then he walked away without a word.

  Yet, after a few minutes of circling around on the abandoned streets of the western side of the town, he made up his mind. That annoying nosy guy was kind of right, he concluded.

  He hurried to Iesha's pce – he knew that the elf was residing in the house right next to the one he was going to sleep in, and although the woman shared that building with a couple of others, she had her own room upstairs. While most of Carlos' crew was hanging out outside by a rge bonfire they lit on the nearby town square, Iesha happened to be here alone, waking up from an afternoon nap. She opened the front door to Fabio's knocking, looking a little surprised.

  “May I come in?” asked the man.

  “What for?”

  “I would like to make love to you again. I very much enjoyed being with you.”

  “Oh. Well... fine.”

  Fabio went in for a kiss and hugged her passionately, and the two of them stumbled inside, smming the door shut behind themselves.

  Carlos' crew (including the League of Bold, who adapted pretty well to the pirates by now) and the Goldman crew finally shared one huge stable body of ground called a continent, and with that, it was as if the tension between them has truly softened. The remaining locals, Goliath's guys, felt more rexed too – their numbers more than doubled, after all, they were even going to have several Cesanitian knights fight along them. And an alleged ice mage.

  It was a night of celebration. They drank, they dug into their combined food reserves without holding back, they sang and danced and ughed, all gathering around the bonfire. Their spirits were high, their determination set.

  Chio too was there, and she brought Terry with him, encouraging him to enjoy the party while trying not to be overtly pushy about it. They made plenty of love since the boy awakened, and at first the poor thing was being so desperately devoted to her, it pained her to see. But slowly, he seemed to somewhat come to terms with the bittersweetness of their situation, and he was able to rex and enjoy Chio's embrace in the present. Part of Chio still wished to tell him to stay away from her, from this whole mission against Warren. Terry might have trained some, but he was no warrior, and for a young guy like him to risk his life just to be able to be near her for a few more days, that was quite heart-wrenching. But overall, Chio did not want to interfere with his feelings anymore. She respected him, she loved that he loves her so much, and she enjoyed the tenderness of their time together. She just wished that he could make connections with others too, to not center her in his life too much. To be able to live on freely once they inevitably have to part ways, to have his story continue. But again, she knew she couldn't really force such things. She wasn't going to. All she could do was to guide him gently.

  They sat down side by side on some rickety chairs which they brought out from the nearby houses, and listened to a drunken Friska singing a funny old fairy song. Terry grabbed her hand, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  “I'm sorry I tied you up in the inn. I won't do such things anymore.”

  “Okay,” replied Terry in simple fashion, and Chio smiled.

  As the night went on, Porco too turned up finally, returning from his little self-isotion. His eyes were worn out, but Chio caught glimpses of him smiling and ughing, he was drinking too. Porco is going to be okay, she thought.

  Then that rge reptilian mercenary, Gator, cimed he can beat anyone in arm-wrestling, and many have challenged him. He did beat everyone, so in the end, the orange cat-pirate Roy (who was quite drunk himself) grabbed Chio's arm and dragged her to the table where Gator sat at. The angel had no choice but to defeat the guy.

  “She has heavenly powers! This doesn't count!” the big man compined, and everyone around them ughed.

  Iesha too turned up eventually, she only greeted Chio briefly, then sat down by the fire with an eastern-looking man. Surprisingly, they were holding hands, and Chio remembered that time when she was still a futanari and her advancement was rejected by the elf. You're not so over such earthly pleasures after all, she smirked.

  Even Ali and Suzy seemed to enjoy themselves. Ali was the little boy who was left at the desote Newchance, and it turned out Iesha has met him before – she called him “little warrior” as she noticed him. Suzy, Warren's liberated victim, was remarkably strong. She was fighting through her depression and nightmares like a champ. She and Ali were amongst the few who were going to stay here in Murky Bay.

  Porco suddenly came up to Chio and Terry, and he asked Terry to go with him. He showed him a table on which many bottles of alcohol were put out on, some of them empty, several half-empty by now. Friska too joined them, drunkenly flying over and sitting on the boy's shoulder like it's only natural. She has only really done that with Chio up until that point, so Terry gnced back at Chio with confusion in his eyes, and the angel winked at him encouragingly. They all knew Chio was not a fan of alcohol, and so she stayed back, watching as Terry teams up with their friends in their endeavour of intoxication.

  Assuming it all ends well, Terry is not going to be alone, she thought. She sighed in relief, and she walked back towards their house, not intending to go back inside yet, just distancing herself a bit from the fuss. She sat on that log that was by the side of the building, and set her gaze up towards the moon.

  "Khmmm", she heard a female voice. It was that pretty, white-haired young dy who approached her, carrying a jug. "Want some ice?"

  "Oh, Marcel, was it?" Chio stood up. "Nice to meet you!"

  "Sure, nice to meet you too and all that. I asked you if you want any ice." She raised the jug, which sounded like there was water in it.

  "Uhmm... Sure?"

  "Then... I guess you could just open your mouth and let me pour you some? Or no, give me your hands!"

  Chio put her hands together a bit reluctantly, ready to catch the girl's present. Marcel held the jug over it, and started pouring a bit of water, freezing it in the air. Sptters of small ice particles formed, and one main stick, like a thin icicle.

  "What you think?" Marcel asked, tilting the jug back.

  "Uhh, it's cold," Chio shivered, and looked up like she was unsure what she was supposed to do with the ice.

  "Dammit, this would have worked so much better if you had a drink! Well, you can just throw that away."

  Chio did, and she wiped her hands on her tunic.

  "It's quite impressive though," she said quickly.

  "I know, right? I've been going around providing the men with pieces of these refreshments, it's just one of many ways I can use my ability. People say ice really goes well with alcohol in particur. I personally prefer to put it in lemonade. In the summer heat, that really is nice."

  "I bet! It's pretty incredible."

  "It's just everyday stuff for me, really," Marcel said with thinly veiled pride. "Well, these days it is."

  "The story of how you trapped Lazarus' men on that isnd is straight out of a legend," said Chio.

  "And it was just the beginning. The real battle is yet to come. But I put years and years of hard work into my magic, you know. It really is a mix of talent and effort."

  "I see."

  "Do you? From what I heard, you just sort of... got your abilities. I still don't really get what you were before, futanari are baffling creatures, but they say you didn't even want to become an angel, you were turned into one against your will. It's like all this just happened to you. Not to say you aren't impressive, of course you are, but if you ask me... how should I put it... you aren't really a prodigy, are you?"

  "A prodigy?" The noble girl's intense self-importance kind of reminded Chio of Erleen, and that made her feel a hint of apprehension. "I never really thought about that. I suppose I'm not one."

  "Hah, so you agree."

  "Why does that matter to you?"

  "Well, it's not that it matters all that much or anything, it's just that... I'm sure you noticed you have plenty of sparkly gazes cast upon you around here. I suppose it makes sense that an angel has an inspiring effect, you are good for our collective moral, if nothing else."

  "If nothing else?" Chio chuckled.

  "What? Don't be arrogant now, just because you have a pair of majestic, feathery wings!"

  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be arrogant. It's just that I think I can do a little more than just raising moral."

  "Of course I know that, but there is no need to rub it in my face!"

  Chio raised an eyebrow, tilted her head to the side, and just kept the girl's eye-contact.

  "Okay, okay, I give up!" Marcel blurted, blushing slightly. "I'm just a little dramatic because a boy I care about seems to be a tiny bit caught up in your charms, that's all. I'll be damned, my mistake. Just forget it."

  "It's okay," said Chio.

  There was a long moment of awkward silence.

  "Uhmm. Would you mind showing me your wings?" Marcel asked, suddenly seeming a bit shy. "I haven't had the chance to look at them from up-close."

  "Sure thing!"

  Chio materialised her wings.

  "Wow!" Marcel walked around her in a circle. "May I touch them?"

  "Go ahead!" the angel smiled.

  "They are beautiful..." The girl stroked Chio's wings gently. "What a sight to behold! Look, I am honored to fight alongside an angel, even if you are a fallen one. Just... if you are as lustful as the stories go, a friend of succubi and all that, then please promise me not to seduce Eric Goldman!"

  "Seduce? I wouldn't do such a thing. Don't worry!"

  "All right, then." Marcel stepped back, and stared at Chio from a little more distance. "In that case, and excuse me for my nguage, but lets' fucking do this, my dear angelic ally! Let's hunt some evil pirates!" the girl raised her fist towards the air excitedly.

  "Yea!" Chio copied the gesture, matching Marcel's energy. "I'm gd to have such a powerful ice mage besides me."

  "Hehe," Marcel looked quite pleased. There was another long moment of silence, but this one wasn't awkward.

  "I'm going back to the party," Marcel said at st.

  "Sure! I'll join you soon too, I just wanted to sit down here a little."

  "Later, then!"

  Chio watched as the white-haired girl skipped away. She is nothing like Erleen.