A young man dressed in a brown thick trench coat, spotting a black boat and a white inner silky long sleeve responded with a smile on his face.
He stared at him momentarily "Yes, I am. What do you want?" .
It seems that he will be busy for a while.
"Oh!!" The man eyed him from the top to the bottom of his figure "Well then, Mr Shipwright, I want you to fix my ship".
He didn't respond.
"Cough!! Cough!!" Another voice made its way to his ears. And strangely, it was familiar.
"You should have let me handle the negotiation" Turning his head, his eyes were locked with that of a woman. A very familiar woman indeed.
"Miss Annabelle" He greeted.
"Mt Alson, how have you been?" She responded, ceremoniously.
This wasn't the first time that she had come to his wooden home to receive some supplies or to ask for repairs.
However, this was the first time that he saw her with another different.... Pirate.
"I am okay, Miss Annabelle" His mind had already changed the status quo of the man standing beside her.
"You seem calm as usual".
Yes, he was. Was there anything for him to worry about if all he had to do every single day was chop down wood?
And, as for, someone coming to kill him.... What a stupid thought!! It wasn't as though the Miracle queen will sit back and watch his assassination take place.
However, he nodded.
"Alright. You see we have an enchanted ship that needs repairs. I know your handiwork, so I trust that you could fix all its damages".
He nodded again. It didn't matter how strongly enforced the enchantments were, he who had been training and growing his skills for years could now naturally handle such a thing, even with his eyes closed.
"Let me go get my tools" He walked back into his house and came out 10 minutes later with a huge wooden backpack that stopped right above his knee and an equally huge toolbox in his right hand "Show me the ship that needs repairs".
"Ahem!!" The man beside Annabelle drew his attention "Unfortunately, we won't be following back. However, one of my crewmen will guide you to our ship" The man said, pulling out a slim man with an unkept appearance that looked like the typical appearance of a pirate loyal subordinate. They all possess a style of dressing that makes them easily identifiable.
"And as for the money, take a look at the ship and do the best you can do. When you are done, we can take about how much your payment is" The man added.
However, he didn't respond. He turned his head and looked at Miss Annabelle. He has been cheated before in such a situation, and so he didn't want to be cheated again.
But the appearance of the young woman in front of him meant that the Pirate was trustworthy.
"Don't worry about the money, money isn't a problem".
He wanted to say that repairing an enchanted ship wasn't cheap. But…..
He sighed.
"Very well, let's go. The faster we get there the better"
The young man blinked at him before blinking again in surprise.
Possibly, he was just another person that had immediately concluded that he was a man of only a few words just after their first meeting.
Regardless, he had another task to test his skills and see how far he had improved. He began walking forward, along the frozen bridge port not paying attention to them any longer, as the man tasked to follow him followed behind.
"Keep up" He muttered. His voice was clear and loud enough for the man close to him to hear.
Getting to the end of the frozen bridge port before midnight is the plan he had at hand.
….......
"Is this it?" Prince Wyatt asked, staring at the giant metallic closed gates with a similar iron fortress stretching out around it.
"Yes," Annabelle replied.
Turning his head to take a glance at his back, Prince Wyatt shook his head before gazing in the direction of the gates.
However, his actions were caught by Annabelle
"Dont worry about your ship. Mr Alson will repair it if he can. And even if you are worried because he is an ascendant, don't be, because he won't do anything bad to it" She said.
"What you should be worried about is whoever will stop him from finishing his work"
"Why?" Prince Wyatt asked, curiously.
"Because it doesn't go well for whoever wants to destroy what he has fixed" She replied, with a smile.
Prince Wyatt stared at her, bemused.
"Anyway, we need to pay for the gate fee," She asked, trying to divert the conversation "We will need a few silver coins if we want to get through"/
Prince Wyatt shook his head. He only had a golden paper bill and coins in his pocket.
Annabelle frowned "You don't have any cash with you?".
Seeing that this was the best time to see how much the golden bills in his pocket were worth, he brought out a bill and held it in his hands.
Even before he could speak, a loud gasp quickly penetrated his ears.
"T-That's" Annabelle's eyes shone like a crow's before she shook away her stray thoughts immediately.
She dashed towards him and instantly hid the bill in his hands before looking around.
"Are you mad?" She whispered into his ears "Don't you know how much that bill is worth for you to flash it anyhow, especially in a place like this?"
'It seems that my guess was right. It's really worth a lot" Prince Wyatt thought.
"I wanted to see if they had some change" He responded.
"Change!! You wanted to see if they have some change. You want to give them a bill worth 10,000 gold coins and see if they have a change of a payment of 10 silver coins" Annabelle responded, gritting her teeth at his words.
Prince Wyatt showed a wry smile. He then put his hands in his pocket and brought out a piece of gold, before placing it in her hands.
"Then I think this might do" He replied, with a smile.
Annabelle stared at the gold coin, then looked at his face. She repeated her actions a few times before she sighed and gave up in defeat.
Well, at least now, she was sure that he had money to repair his broken ship five times over.
'Rich' She thought. Her new captain was disgustingly rich. This however proved his status as the First prince of the Endossa Empire.
Meanwhile, the crewmen who had seen the bill didn't pay any attention to it as they knew how rich their Captain was since the first day he bought them at the slave market.
After a few minutes, Anabelle came back and gestured for everyone to follow her.
Two guards stood in front of them a moment later, and the other took a minute to count the number of people present before he nodded his head in acknowledgment and opened a door beneath the large iron gates to let them in.
"Keep the change" Being the last to pass through to make sure everyone has entered, Annabelle turned to the guard and said, before following after the rest.
........
"You know, I thought that everybody around here will be.... You know scared to come out and even touch the snow" I spoke to Annabelle who was now by my side while staring at the children playing in the field of snow and the adults who took care of their shops and attended to their customers.
The whole place was crowded. Too crowded.
"Well, it's to be expected since the other citizens from the other fallen kingdoms are now staying here so whether it's day or night, you can expect everywhere to be busy" Annabelle replied.
Oh! I guess they aren't living in fear of their terrifying environment. At this point, I want to meet and see who this Miracle queen is.
I tilted my head to the side, dodging a small snowball while I stared at the kid responsible for it. He shivered at my gaze and walked backward with an uncertain footstep.
I smiled. I tried to put on the best smile could display at the moment. I then gesture for him to come forward while I flip a gold coin in my hand.
He gulped. His gaze instantly snapped sideways to see if he was the only one to have watched this sight.
Hmm!! It went as easy as I had imagined. A flash of a gold coin in a convoluted environment that was possibly poverty stricken due to their unavailability of food and natural resources was enough to tempt an adult to come forward, much less a kid.
And so, in an instant, the boy was in front of me.
"Good evening sir, can I help you? Are you new here?" the boy asked warily.
"Yea, we are" I responded while pointing at my crewmen who were behind me.
Damn it guys!! Now is not the best time to look intimidating.
And as expected, the boy walked back with a certain fear in his eyes "Pirates*.
Well, at least he got my new profession right.
Nonetheless...
"Alright boy, I need your help, and if you deliver, this gold coin will be yours" I said, flashing the coin in my hand one more time.
The boy gulped "On what?"
"Nothing difficult, just take us to the best brothel in the kingdom".