Fantastic Beasts of Records: Lecherous Prince Of The Sea

Chapter 68 Loyalty And Service

?If only they knew how petty their Captain Is!!

A puckish smile graced my lips as I cradled all the scrolls from the left side in my arms and turned toward the ocean. Even with my back in front of them, I didn't need to turn back to hear their shocking gasps or see the surprised expression on their faces.

Wasting no time, I threw every scroll from the left side into the ocean.

Fast-paced steps ran towards me. Glancing to the side, I could see Seadog and the other men who had chosen to exorcise themselves from being part of my crewmen, looking at me with a grand mix of irritation and annoyance

"What is the meaning of this?" Seadog asked, slowly trying to understand my sudden actions.

It's a pity that there wasn't any other reason other than being petty.

"I have given you back your slave contracts, aren't I?.. All you have to do is get down there and get it yourself" I merely explained, before finally carrying the other remaining contracts, cradling them in my hands.

"Y-You!!" He stuttered. He must have thought that I wanted to hand the scrolls over to him as though he was the winner of some noble prize.

"You have until the sun sets to enter that water and get your slaves contract" I let the words roll off my tongue like a man granting a grand gesture.

A gesture that must have likely turned into a mortar and pounded their expectations to bits.

"What? Why the long faces? If you are brave enough to stage a rebellion in the middle of the sea, then you shouldn't be afraid of taking back what is yours before it gets washed away by it" I said, watching their faces turn grimmer.

I think that I might be enjoying this too much.

"What are you still waiting for? Lets's go!!!" A voice sounded from within their midst, prompting all of them to snap out of their thoughts and immediately head towards the jolly boats.

Meanwhile, Mad John walked towards me. His brows arched up high as he looked at the scrolls down below, no doubt trying to think about why I had done such a thing.

"Captain…"

"Yeah"

"I know that you lost your memories so I won't hold it against you. But please, the next time you do something as absurd as this, please, let me know beforehand" Mad John replied, the ship swaying with the lashes from the waves as the noise of 7 men scurrying for a jolly boat played in the background.

"Why" I responded.

Did I miss something important?

"Ahem….. The scroll that you have just thrown into the sea is a slave contract that contains the life of an individual" I already knew that. However, I felt like Mad John was trying to make me understand something else.

Glancing at me, he pinched his nose before looking at Seadog and the rest of the men behind him, making their way towards the sea in pity.

"What I am trying to say is that to make it harder for any slaves to escape from the masters, the slave traders enchants the contracts, making it a little durable"

"How durable?"

"Durable to the extent that it's almost impossible for the normal human being to tear it apart or put a wrinkle on it"

Oh!!

"Doing this makes it harder for a slave to escape from his master since the only way for the contract to be annulled is for the number of designated years to be completed or for an ascendant to tear the contract apart, rendering it useless in the process" Mad John breathed out tirelessly before he continued.

"In short, if they don't get their contracts fast enough, they might risk losing it forever as the scroll itself would sink to the bottom of the ocean".

"Doesn't paper float?" I asked, looking down at the scrolls that were now numbered down to a few.

"Paper floats Captain. But not a magically enchanted piece of paper that contains the fate of an individual and controls their life and death itself".

Okay, he has a point!!

But still…..

".... With all of its functions and capabilities, not having the ability to float on water seems a little underwhelming".

Mad John cocked his eyes towards me as his forehead wrinkled.

"Is that your only takeaway from this?"

I rubbed my nose together before I responded "What else?"

"SIgh!!" He grunted out in frustration "You have just thrown 7 slave contracts into the sea, at most, I doubt that they could retrieve back all 7 of them. So let's say that they can bring back 3, the remaining 4 would sink to the ocean floor until it is shredded to pieces by some magical sea beast or hopefully, by heaven's guidance, land safely on top of the ocean floor and stays untouched"

"Both options would have been good because, at this point, a master can no longer control a slave without using his slave contract. However, tearing the slave contract apart will only lead to the death of the specific slave because the condition on it hasn't yet been fulfilled. So leaving the only way to successfully and safely break a slave contract, is for a master to sign his slave's freedom with his blood print"

This- that…. I honestly didn't know what to say next!

"The slave traders are very thorough…"

"Of course they are. This is one of the most profitable businesses in the world so they have to be thorough about their business and ensure that their golden pot doesn't get killed and is greatly satisfied in other to secure more of their incomes for the future".

"I see"

"Captain" I could feel Mad John staring at me.

"Yes"

"Are you going to let them die?"

"No. I only wanted to scare them into the ship and make sure they would have nightmares if they ever thought about starting a rebellion again. I didn't know that the scrolls could sink"

"Scare them with what?"

"With Toothless of course" Staring back, I could see his eyes narrowing down into slits, trying to process what I had just said before a look of realization dawned upon him.

"Y-You mean with the Tiger Whale"

I nodded my head in approval "Yes".

"Captain?"

Oh! For the love of…. "What?"

"Why did you name a man-eating 155-meter magical sea beast 'Toothless'?"

"For distraction purposes!"

"What kind of distraction? Are you maybe, planning to loudly call out the name of your tamed beast in the midst of a battle, as though you are casting some kind of sorcery?"

I coughed, Almost wheezing like an asthmatic patient that has been dragged to watch an amazing comedy night show.

"Ahem... What makes you think that was the thought that drove right past my head when I named her 'Toothless'?"

"Then….."

"Mad John" I said, opting to continue listening to him or head back to take a long comfortable nap and retire for the day.

Retire for the day it is!!

"Take me to Knight Camille's room. Since my room is currently destroyed, I will make use of hers for now".

"Ye-es. Of course, Captain" Mad John turned around and walked in front of me, leading me towards the now dead knights' room.

Before leaving, I sent a message to Toothless, ordering her to carefully gobble up the scroll for me to get them later and threaten the men back into the ship.

Witnessing how Captain Crimson eye was reluctant to go against her, I doubt that they would spend a second glance upon her arrival before hastily making their way back into the ship.

Although it was a rough sketch, I doubt that the plan would be a failure. And also, it would give me enough time to see if I can change there their minds and make them have second thoughts about leaving my crew.

If I couldn't do such a thing with a bunch of leaves that have seen the worst side of me, then the worst-case scenario is that I wouldn't be able to do the same with newly purchased sea slaves unless I plan on using sea slaves as my crewmen forever.

Although the feeling of having the life of those around you, those who could betray you at any moment, in a tight grip between your palms, was a nice way of having a stable peace of mind, in these treacherous waters.

But, there was a more pleasant way of doing such a thing,

Allegiance and fealty done through devotion and commitment were much more pleasant and stronger than building and shaping my plans with slaves who would try to kill or betray me the very moment they have the chance to do so.

Of course, they were rare occasions, but I won't be putting all of my trust in Stockholm syndrome.

Receiving a message from Toothless, I couldn't help but shake my head at the amount of happiness in her voice.