Felicia's Second Life Chapter 5 Part 2

A Sailing We Will Go (Part 2)

We bade farewell to the Surfesian merchant ship about three miles from the port of Kaliche in Surfes’s territory. At this point, there was no more threat to the merchant ship since the coastal patrol would be around to keep it safe from pirates. Unfortunately, Kaliche was an enemy port and not designated as a neutral port for trading. With our heavily armed-looking warship, approaching Kaliche would probably trigger a diplomatic incident. So after seeing off the merchant ship, we raised the sails and set off at full speed straight towards Lytis, or as straight as the wind allowed us.

It was two nights later that another incident happened. I was sleeping after a stressful argument with the nobles. They were unsatisfied with the food they'd been getting on the ship and demanded double servings each day. Obviously, they thought I was going be a pushover because of my age. When I said no, with no uncertainty whatsoever, they went to my quartermaster Gani. Gani finally blew up, much to Lili's glee, since that meant she won the bet. As reward for winning the bet, Lili asked if she'd be allowed to sleep in the same bed with me for the night.

Now, a normal noble lady would probably think that Lili just wanted to know how it would feel sleeping in a noblewoman's bed. I on the other hand would probably think Lili missed the days when we slept together as kids years ago. Unfortunately, Lili already confessed her feelings towards me and I knew this was already something else. I had a sudden fear that I would be attacked in my sleep.

She looked so hopeful, and I knew it must've taken her a lot of courage to ask that. Looking at that cute puppy dog eyes, who could say no? Besides, I still like girls, even though I have accepted that I would have to marry men in my second life. So I consented to her request. The look of happiness on her face made my heart beat furiously.

I did get attacked that night, but not by Lili. I woke up when I noticed the bed shifted. Lili was no longer by my side, but once my eyes adjusted to the darkness and the grogginess faded, I could hear sounds of something falling to the floor. There were shadows in the room, but apart from Lili’s silhouette, I couldn’t make out anything else.

"Lili?" I asked.

"Are you awake, my lady? Please don't worry, I'm already done," she said as she made a sound of dragging something heavy on the floor.

I quickly lighted up a lantern and could finally see what she was dragging. It was the corpses of two men! They were wearing black cloaks with their blood pooling under them. Shortly after, there was the sound of tolling bells.

Something is happening!

I quickly got up, grabbed my robe, my new sword, my two guns and my bullet belt and stepped over the bodies of the two men that Lili had already let go since the warning bell sounded.

"Please stay close to me, my lady," Lili said as she wiped her bloody knife on a piece of tissue paper.

Together, we came out into the scene of a battlefield. Around us were my men and women fighting against black-clothed men wielding cutlasses and daggers. My men also wielded cutlasses though the women all wielded either short pikes or their spear sentry standard issue throwing knives. It seemed like they were not confident with fighting using cutlasses yet. Or it could be that they couldn't get ahold of any cutlasses and only used their throwing knives as melee weapons since three of them were strapped to their belts. Similarly, the knife Lili was using was also a spear sentry standard issue throwing knife.

"My lady, duck!" Lili said as I quickly went down on deck. Lili threw the throwing knife in her hand and hit the man who was about to throw his own dagger at me from behind.

From my position, I could also see men approaching Lili from behind and her left, so I let loose with my guns. The explosive sound of the gun stunned everyone except Lili, Gani and I. As the men I shot fell to the deck from the wounds that penetrated their unarmoured bodies and hitting the men behind them , I stood up, pulling the hammer again and fired a second volley when they overcame their shock and came at me as one.

Gani, Lili and Mr. Lustri protected me as I reloaded my gun. Each time I ran out of bullets, they would come forward and shielded me as I reloaded. Eventually my spear sentries (armed with only throwing knives and short pikes) managed to fight their way towards me. On the cramped aftcastle, the women formed the only formation they knew of, the phalanx, but without the spears, the shields or the armour. They had to make do with a throwing knife in each hand, the left functioning as a parrying weapon, the right functioning as a stabbing weapon.

It was a close quarter combat technique that I drilled them in, remnant of my days as barbarian re-enactor. The instructor I learned from told me the style was designed for cases where there would not be enough space to use shields and spears. Naturally, a woman's strength couldn’t compare to a man's muscle strength, so deflecting sword thrust was a better option than blocking it. It might not look like much, but it was a very versatile fighting method. Against an opponent with a shield, it might not be of much use. But against opponents with long swords, large swords or spears, as long as the knife user could get in range, she would have a chance of winning. Heavy weapons had great damage, but they were also slow. For each slash of a heavy weapon, a dual-wielding knife user could make three separate stabs and slashes if the weapon proficiency was at the same level. Unfortunately, this fighting technique would be pointless in large scale open battles as a volley of arrows could easily mow down whole sections of them.

However, it provided enough of a buffer for me to shoot and reload as I pleased with no danger to myself. Anytime a pirate came within range of one of them, she would parry a blow, while those on her right and left side would take a step forward and thrust their knives into the offender's guts or chest, creating multiple wounds within a period of one or two seconds. At some point, the pile of corpses started blocking the way and the rest of the pirates hesitated to move forward, which made them easy targets for my guns. The battle was over when the soldiers below decks managed to push the invaders out into the open, after which they became clear targets for my guns and my archers.

In total, we killed over one hundred pirates, with me dealing over ten kills on my own. It was mostly because they were unarmoured and my bullets easily tore through their bodies and hit the pirates behind them. I had to thank them for crowding up around me, I would probably hit my own men if they hadn’t come at me as a crowd. Considering that only one hundred and six men and women actually fought, it was a pretty good outcome. We lost twenty-two people, mostly due to the initial surprise attack, but there was nothing I could do about it. I swore to their spirits that I would take care of their families, and that was all I could promise them.

So now we had sixteen pirate prisoners, including the captain of one of the pirate longboats. Apparently, the captains of different pirate longboats came together and discussed hitting my ship together. The pirates that came on board first were the black clothed 'Night Raiders' group. They caught us by surprise with their night attack. I did not train my spear sentries in night warfare, since nobody attempted it in the battlefield. So this shocked me a lot, and because of that I lost some good soldiers. Out of about twenty that came on board, only three survived the battle.

The rest of them were from the 'Stare Viper' pirate group, supposedly the underdog of the five pirate groups that attacked us. From what I learned later, they were only formed a few months previous by survivors of the first campaign in the war between Surfes and Forlendia. With their homes destroyed and their families having nothing to eat, they resorted to piracy. Of course, that excuse wouldn't work with me.

I unsheathed my sword. It had a very thin blade, measuring 2 1/2 feet in length, two inches in width at the base leading to a sharp point and less than half an inch in thickness at the base. The cross-guard had a pretty design, as befitting a sword for a girl. It had an amethyst placed inside the rain-guard with the Metrune coat of arms drawn inside, using a method of production that was only known to me.

I know it's flashy, but I deserve to have nice things by now.

I placed the tip of the sharp sword under the chin of one of the black-clothed pirates and pushed it up so his eyes looked straight at me. He was the oldest of the three, probably in his twenties. The other two looked like they weren’t even a day over 15.

"You have a choice, scum," I said, "Die horribly or serve me."

He spat at me, despite having a sword at his throat. Gani managed to shield me from his spit with his own hand as the pirate cried, "I'd rather die horribly than to serve a noble bitch."

I see, still not giving up.

"Gani, mess him up," I said as I pulled back my sword.

"With pleasure, my lady," Gani said before he sliced the pirate's windpipe with his sword. Obviously it was a quick death.

"Gani..."

"Yes, my lady?"

"Did I accidentally say 'mess my ship up with his blood'?"

"No, my lady, you said mess him up."

"I see, then WHY BY THE ANCESTORS DID YOU KILL HIM?"

"But he already refused you and chose to die, didn't he? He also insulted you."

"You could’ve just beat him up a little, you idiot!" I smacked him in the back of the head, "People can change with enough motivation!"

"Please forgive my stupidity, my lady. I still have a lot to learn," Gani bowed sincerely.

"Obviously! Oh well, what's done is done. You!" I pointed my sword at the remaining two black clothed pirates. "Obviously Gani doesn't mind killing you for me, so choose, death or serve?"

"Serve!" both of them answered at once.

"Mr. Lustri, I leave them in your hands."

"As you wish, captain," Mr. Lustri said as he had the two pirates taken away.

As for the rest of them...

"You are the captain?" I asked with my sword hanging limply on my side.

"I am the captain of the Stare Viper pirates. What of it?"

"How long have you been captain?"

"Long enough."

"How many ships have you attacked?"

"We have a good piracy record."

"How many exactly?"

"Why would you want to know?"

"Curiosity?"

"I killed enough people and stole enough goods to feed my family and my crew's family. If you want to execute me, go ahead. I have been well prepared for this."

"Oh? So you don't mind dying?"

"Hearing a death threat from a 10 year old girl feels strange, but I've seen stranger things. You can kill me anytime you want."

"I'm 11."

"What makes you think I care?"

"I can have you beheaded."

"Just do it."

"Why are you not afraid?"

"I knew what I got myself into. I was prepared to receive my punishment if caught. I am caught."

"Don't you care about your crew?"

"They knew what they signed up for."

"Don't you care about the family you left behind?"

"I left them enough to help them survive for a little while. They knew what was at stake. They will survive."

"Won't you beg for your life?"

"Won't you just shut your mouth and just do it?"

I had a good laugh over that reply. The sight of me laughing hard must've shocked everyone on deck. For some reason, his reply really tickled me.

When I recovered, I asked him a different question. "Don't you want a real ship?"

"Huh?" he looked confused at my question.

"Instead of those small, fragile longboats, don't you want a real ship so that you can rob all those rich nobles and merchants?"

"I don't..."

"Do you like my ship?"

"My lady!"

The pirate captain looked utterly confused.

"Would you like to captain a ship like this?"

"My lady!"

"Quiet, Gani."

I could tell the pirate captain was trying to restrain himself. He was biting his lip and sweating. I could tell he was starting to be swayed by my words; men like big toys after all.

"Of course I'm not giving you this ship. It's a warship after all. What would I do if you use it against me? But I may be able to give you something close to this."

"Would you like to rob the rich nobles with a ship like this? Of course, it's only half this size, but it will still be pretty big, won't it?"

"And what do you get from this?" the pirate captain looked at me with eyes full of distrust.

"Honestly? I'm in it for research purposes. I guess you can also say that it's kind of amusing."

"What?"

"You can raid as many Surfesian ships as you want. If you can get away with raiding their towns too, go ahead. What I want are battle reports. I want to see how well my ship performs in battle. I also want to know the strategies you use with my ship and how it works for you."

"We can raid as much as we want? You won't ask for any cut of the profit?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, I'll be expecting one tenth of the spoils. It's fair, I think, since I'm allowing you to use my ship for free. Do try however to conduct yourselves in a chivalrous manner. That means avoid killing peasants unnecessarily and definitely do not rape the women and children."

"A ship like this will need to be maintained at a port, we don't have a port of our own."

"Don't worry, what kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course I'll open my port to you. Just make sure that you're not docking at my port with the identity of river pirates."

The pirates and their captain whispered with each other. I have heard that pirates actually run a democracy instead of tyranny, but this is the first time I've seen it in action.

"If the ship is as good as you say, my lady, then we shall accept your offer."

"Is that so? Then come kneel at my feet, captain."

He did as told, as did the rest of his crew.

I put the sword in my hand back into its sheath that hung on my belt. Then I unbuckled the sheath itself from my belt. This was a unique sword. Due to its complexity, I only had the time to forge one, yet...

"Take my Dusk Claw as proof of employment. Show it at the port of Mruna if you are refused docking rights at any time in the future. If you ever decide to quit, return me the sword and the ship and you'll be free from your obligations."

Suddenly I heard whispers from around. Gani who had been quiet, spoke loudly, "My lady, why would you knight a bandit?"

Knight a bandit? Ahh, I see. So by having him kneel and giving him a sword, that means I'm knighting him? Medieval customs are so stuffy.

"I'm not a titled noble. Being knighted by me doesn't give any benefits," I rebuked.

"But, we've followed you for years, my lady. Why is he your first knight?"

Ah right, there's that thing called first knight, second knight and so on. It seems like the title of 'first knight' is very important. Damn it, I guess I've made a faux pas.

"It's not that... ahhh geez. Fine! Kneel before me, Gani."

"Yes my lady," Gani eagerly dropped to his knees in front of me with head downward.

"Will you swear to serve me loyally, obey me unconditionally and protect me with everything you have?"

"Yes of course, my lady. My life shall be in service of you. My loyalty is yours to command."

"Raise your hands, Gani."

He raised his hands higher than his lowered head.

I took out the fully loaded double-barrelled pistol from the pocket of my robe and placed it on his hands. "This shall be your proof of allegiance. If one day you decide to quit, return me this gun and you shall be free from your obligations."

This sounds so pretentious and pompous. I'm embarrassed just saying the words. How can anyone make a career out of this?

"My-my lady!" Gani stammered when he realized what the thing in his hands was.

"What? Are you unsatisfied that you're not getting a sword?"

"But it's your boomstick!"

(EDN: This is my BOOMSTICK! XD)

This is indeed a 'boomstick' of similar design as the one I used in chapter 3. It has two differences, though. The first is that it's designed to be able to handle the stress of nitrocellulose whenever I can find a way to produce nitric acid; I've forgotten all of my high school chemistry lessons. The second difference is that some parts of the wooden handle were replaced with citrine (with the Metrune coat of arms drawn inside) in the effort of making a sturdier, lighter gun. Yes, I know it's useless and there's no noticeable difference in weight, but I deserve to have nice things by now. Guess it's time to make another gun then.

There's also a slot for inserting a bayonet, in cases where melee fighting is inevitable.

"Call it a pistol, its name is Sunset Screamer. Now that I'm unarmed, you have to protect me, understand?"

Not quite. I still have the older Mk VII, but I really liked my Sunset Screamer. I was hoping to hold on to it a while longer.

"Yes! Of course! It is an honour to carry your boomstick and I shall protect you with everything I have, my lady!"

I sighed, suddenly feeling tired.

Seriously, I'm not even a baronet, why does it matter?

"I swear, my lady, that I will ensure your safe return, even at the risk of my own life," Gani said excitedly.

"Umm, thank you, my lady. I shall live in service of you," the pirate captain said as he kissed the sheathed sword.

Gani also kissed the barrel of the pistol.

Should I tell him not to kiss it? One of gunpowder's ingredients is processed poop after all. I wouldn't want to kiss poop, but that's probably just me.

"Hold out your hand, both of you," I said as I reached into the coin pouch at my belt.

With proof of employment still in one hand, they held out their hands. For each of them, I dropped three gold coins.

"That's for you. Do with it as you wish," I said as they looked at the gold with faces of shock.

It was an expected reaction. After all, commoners wouldn’t normally get to see gold coins at all, much less hold three of them in their hands. This ceremony also had never been done in public in recent history, except in cases of battlefield promotions.

Oh, I guess this can indeed be considered a battlefield promotion. The one doing battlefield promotion is often the king or his representative prince, though.

Since I was doing the whole knighting thing, I thought I might as well just go the whole hog. 'Gift of Gold' was a tradition that started way before, during the Imperial Era. The 'Knighting Ceremony' would basically start with the knight candidate performing exemplary deeds, which is called Gift of Valour. Then he would be granted a sword in a tradition called 'Gift of the Sword', and this was very significant, since only nobles were allowed to carry swords back then. Then, the knight would perform the tradition called 'Gift of the Vow' where he made vows of allegiance to his liege. After that, came the 'Gift of Gold' tradition, where the liege gave him his first income to symbolize that the knight now worked for the liege as well as to buy new equipment befitting his station as a knight.

Of course, that was just symbolic. Knights weren't actually paid in gold; they lived by being granted a 'knight's fee' or 'fief', so many knights ended up keeping their ‘gift of gold’ for many generations. The amount granted depended on the liege's station and wealth. A baron or baronet would normally grant one gold coin. A count would normally grant two or three gold coins. A duke would grant four gold coins. A king would grant any amount of gold he could grab from his pocket, so tough luck for the knight if the king only had one gold coin in his pocket. I chose to give three, the equivalent of a count's knight, because that was the biggest amount I could grab in my hand. I have small hands and those gold coins are big.

As for their knight's fee, if the pirate captain survived our return trip to and from Lytis, I'd give him one of the cogs currently moored at Mruna's port. I have no idea what to give Gani. I mean, my land is rented from my father, so I can't give him land. Giving him another cog would be repetitive, so maybe not. Hmm... I'll just think about it when we return.

Towards Lili, I whispered, "Sorry Lili, I'm out of weapons to knight you with."

"It's fine, my lady. I am already satisfied that I'm allowed to stay with you," Lili whispered back into my ears, her whispering voice sounded so seductive, making me break into cold sweat.

I later had the corpses of the pirates thrown overboard, except for those the pirate captain asked to be handled as soldiers. I agreed. The next morning, we performed a service for the soldiers we lost and the late pirates who served the pirate captain. They were still thrown overboard, but at least they had a lot more respect than the pirates we threw overboard the previous night. Since none of us were Spirit Clansmen, we had to make do with personal prayers and offerings of salt and ash so that they would be able to reincarnate in peace at their own choosing.

That night Lili and I shared the same bed again. No, nothing happened. I just thought I should reward her a little for her good work protecting me and for not making a fuss about not being knighted. When I woke up the next morning, we were in each other's arms. I seriously couldn't remember how it happened.

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