Remaining on his feet, he heard Rance shout and moved forward, as the deformed cannonball fell from his body.
This time, entering the gun deck, Bill moved like a shadow in the dim light, sometimes on two feet, sometimes on all fours, crushing the terrified pirates.
His pride was hurt more than his chest, and he looked at the damage inflicted on the ship he planned to sell.
Having finished with the pirates, Bill counted ten people and continued to inspect the deck.
He moved quickly and no longer offered them a chance to surrender. He found another five pirates hiding on the gun deck, whom he swiftly subdued.
Pausing to listen before descending to the lower level, Bill heard muffled sounds and shuffling.
Having adjusted to the darkness, Bill descended as before to the ship's hold. There, two rough-looking men guarded a door.
After dealing with the pirates, Bill placed his hands on the door and continued hearing muffled sounds. Not knowing what was behind it, he burst inside, ready for anything.
What he saw left him bewildered. Before him was a creature bound like a mummy, and upon seeing him, it began to cry and crawl in his direction.
Despite having just been shot at with a cannon, Bill could only guess at what he was seeing. The horned creature with a furry face reminded him of...
"A goat?"
On the deck of the Border Breaker, five young Marines watched as a two-legged goat eagerly devoured pickled eggs.
The prisoner claimed he had been starved, and it seemed true, as he managed to empty two whole barrels of eggs and even drank the vinegar they were in.
Seeing this, Bill heard Ricky whisper to Sasha, "It's a talking goat!Equally surprised, Rance whispered to Fia, "Are goats supposed to eat eggs?"
After the goat consumed two barrels with astonishing speed, he started laughing and crying simultaneously again.
"Yagigi! Thank you, kind Marines!"
Nodding, Bill was the first to speak, "Glad to help, Mister?.."
"Not mister! My name is Miyagi, and I am a trainee doctor!"
Making sure he understood everything, though Miyagi's words seemed contradictory, Bill nodded again and said, "Got it, so Mister Miyagi..."
"No! No 'mister'!"
Slightly irritated but still polite, Bill said, "Miyagi, what were you doing on the pirate ship, tied up?"
The goat, looking somewhat embarrassed, exclaimed, "Those people tricked me and then tied me up! "I should have guessed that something bad was waiting for me, but I thought I was almost at my goal.
Besides, they were so weak!"
Hearing this, Bill had several questions, but he couldn't leave the pirate ship unattended for long. So he asked directly: "I have a few questions for you. First, why do you think they were weak?"
To this, Miyagi slightly smiled and replied, "Well of course they were weak! They were just some unknown pirate people, and I am a mink! Minks are natural fighters, you know?! If I hadn't been tied up, I would have brilliantly displayed my natural skills!"
When he said this, the others smiled, and Bill had difficulty keeping a serious face because the idea of a five-legged goat in a lab coat taking on pirates was quite amusing.
"Understood. And where were you heading?"
Beaming, the mink-goat replied, "I was heading to the Kingdom of Torino! I read about its amazing medicinal flora! I need only one ingredient to complete my incredible super medicine!"
Nodding, Bill turned to Rikki and asked, "What do you think, how far are we from the base near Torino?"
After some thought, Rikki replied uncertainly, "Maybe ten days? I'm not sure, especially now that we're towing this brig, but Log should be able to adjust to it soon."
Bill nodded in agreement and turned back to Miyagi.
"Well, you heard it. You can sail with us for the next week, and then you'll disembark. I'll ask the Marines when the next ship is headed that way — maybe they can take you."
After this, the mink thanked him but appeared more cautious than before. Despite this, Bill needed to ask another question: "No problem. But why were you tied up like that?"
Hearing this question, the goat's smile completely vanished, and he replied grimly, "What do you think? They were planning to sell me off...
They wouldn't have succeeded," the mink said, shaking his head, and continued, "I would have gotten free, but now I understand why we're told not to go down and not to sail the ocean... it's too dangerous."
When the mink finished, he looked up and saw five frowning faces. Naturally, Bill was the first to speak again: "What do you mean by 'sell'?" "Did you commit some kind of crime?"
Bill knew that debtors and criminals could be sold off for their labor, and not being a fool, he understood how such a system could easily be abused. In the world of archipelagos, prisons were rare on islands, except in large kingdoms.
Labor camps were morally dubious at best, but if the only alternative was capital punishment... well, it's all about compromises, Bill thought.
Shaking his head, still grim, Miyagi simply replied, "I left my duchy only a year ago and haven't committed any crimes. These pirates wanted to sell me on the black market, and if I were weak, I would have been sent to a human zoo."