Sules casually rummaged through her bag and pulled out her Siren Guild badge.
“See this? I have backing too. Do you dare retaliate against me on guild territory? You might lose more than just this tavern; you could lose your life.”
Seeing the man’s sudden desperate glare, clearly intent on eliminating her, Sules remained unfazed.
She mockingly said, “The door’s open, and a Siren Guild branch is nearby. Do you think I can make it to the guild for help before you catch me?”
The man was silent for a moment, then slumped his head in defeat, conceding, “What do you want? I was injured years ago and can’t work at sea anymore. I depend on this tavern to live. If its reputation is ruined, I can’t survive on this continent.”
Sules had been waiting for him to back down.
She snapped her fingers.
“My demand is simple: just provide me with ten bottles of good wine for free, and I can let you off the hook.”
The reason for ten bottles, of course, was that she planned to win by quantity.
The more of this stuff, the better; she wasn’t afraid of having too much.
“Ten bottles!” the man exclaimed, his expression darkening.
“Why don’t you just rob me?”
Sules innocently pouted.
“Isn’t that what I’m doing?”
She brazenly crossed her arms, confidently asking, “Just tell me if you’ll give them or not. If you give them, you only lose ten bottles of wine. But if you don’t, you lose the tavern you rely on for survival. You can’t be bad at math, can you?”
She was right.
Anyone would know how to choose.
So, after a brief struggle, the man nodded in agreement.
“Fine, I agree to your terms.”
As he turned to look for the wine, Sules leisurely reminded him from behind, “I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve traveled widely. Don’t try to fool me with trash again. Otherwise, I won’t give you another chance.”
The man grumbled in reply, “Got it! How could I dare trick you again?”
He’d initially thought Sules, a young girl buying wine alone, would be an easy target, but he’d hit a brick wall instead.
The cork was usually overlooked, and he’d made a lot of money with this trick.
You can’t walk by the river often without getting your shoes wet.
This time, he’d been outsmarted by a young girl.
While he was looking for the wine, Sules found a chair and sat down, starting to gather information.
“By the way, how can you open a shop on the mainland? Doesn’t it cost more the longer you live here now?”
The man looked up at Sules.
“You clearly don’t spend much time ashore if you don’t even know that. As long as you own property on the mainland, you’re not restricted by that rule anymore.”
“Then how did you get a house? This tavern shouldn’t be cheap, right?”
Sules asked again.
Looking at the man’s attire, he didn’t seem wealthy enough to afford land property.
The man was silent for a moment before replying, “This was compensation from my owner after the ship accident years ago.”
She’d hit a nerve.
Sules apologized, “I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
Hearing her apology, the man looked up at her, somewhat surprised.
“I tricked you, and you’re still apologizing to me about it?”
Sules nodded, stating matter-of-factly, “One thing at a time. I’ve already made you pay for trying to trick me. This matter, where I asked without understanding the situation and brought up your pain, requires an apology.”
Just then, the man found the wine.
He quickly arranged ten deep brown bottles on the bar, two in each hand, then put them into a seaweed bag.
“Authentic, top-grade Grape Bay wine, no tricks.”
Sules feigned a glance and then nodded.
“Okay, smart move.”
The man stroked his sideburns and suddenly asked, “Interested in hearing a story?”
Sules blinked.
This story was most likely his own.
In this era full of opportunities, everyone probably had many stories and secrets.
Combining their previous conversation, he was very likely going to talk about his accident.
There was no harm in listening; in the game, these were often plot triggers.
Sules nodded.
“Yes.”
The man frowned, thinking for a moment, as if figuring out how to phrase his words.
After a while, he let out a somewhat helpless laugh.
“Actually, there’s not much to tell, really. We just went to the Mysterious Sea and encountered a few sea monsters. Then the whole ship was ruined. I barely escaped on a lifeboat, but one of the poisonous sea monsters left me with a permanent illness.”
“So it was the Mysterious Sea,” Sules acknowledged with a nod.
Even in the game, she felt the Mysterious Sea’s power.
Despite having maxed-out gear in the game, she’d struggled there.
Of course, that was also because Sules hadn’t had time to improve herself or acquire strong crew members.
But her focus was elsewhere.
“You must have known the Mysterious Sea was dangerous before going in. Why did you enter with inadequate preparation?”
The Mysterious Sea was notorious for its perils, and the mist before it often deterred captains from straying inside.
The man’s fleet clearly had a purpose, one that compelled them to enter.
Sure enough, the man’s expression changed at her question.
“Well… we just wanted to find treasure. The Mysterious Sea has countless treasures, and many are willing to risk it for riches.”
“That’s true,” Sules chuckled softly.
“But you could have waited until you were fully prepared to search for treasure. Your fleet suffered such heavy losses, clearly indicating insufficient preparation. That means there must have been a definite, time-sensitive objective that forced you to embark on such an adventure.”
“I…”
The man tried to explain, but Sules raised a hand to stop him.
“It’s fine, no need to explain. We both know if I’m right or not. I’m not concerned with that; I just need what I want.”
With that, Sules, carrying the seaweed bag, turned to leave without hesitation, waving her free hand as a farewell.
“Goodbye. Next time we meet, try not to give me any more leverage, okay?”
Was she truly uninterested in the hidden information the man subtly revealed?
Of course not.
In fact, Sules quite wanted to keep asking.
However, the man was clearly resistant, and she wouldn’t get any more information by pressing.
Besides, with a rational thought, she realized that this information wouldn’t be very useful to her anyway.
First, the man’s injury was clearly from years ago, and information from then might not even be relevant now.
Second, given her current strength, exploring the Mysterious Sea was a distant prospect; she’d likely not even get past the mist now.
So, what would be the point of asking?
***
The ten bottles of wine were somewhat heavy, and Sules, a weak woman, refused to carry them all to Saike Tavern herself.
Seeing that it was almost time, she hailed a carriage.
The coachman, seeing she was headed to Saike Tavern, casually struck up a conversation.
“You’re going to recruit new crew members, aren’t you?”
Sules nodded.
After all, that was a primary use for taverns; it wasn’t surprising he guessed.
“I hope to recruit some good ones…”
At this point, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, “By the way, Master, you often drive around here and must be very experienced. You’d know which crew members are capable, right?”
At her words, the coachman immediately understood Sules’s intention, but she phrased it so pleasantly that he felt comfortable.
He smiled and said, “I’m not as formidable as you say, but I do know a thing or two about the people around here.”
Sules, seeing an opening, immediately showered him with compliments.
“Of course! You clearly look like an experienced veteran. I’m a new captain; there’s so much I don’t understand. Could you perhaps give me some pointers?”
The status of a captain was highly respected on Mercury.
Seeing a captain speak to him so softly and gently, the coachman felt thoroughly pleased and didn’t mind sharing some information with Sules.
“There are indeed some unattached sailors living around Saike Tavern. Some are newly adult, looking for a captain to hire, and some are old sailors who’ve fallen out with their previous captain. If you’re looking, I suggest you find older ones. After all, as a female captain, you might not be able to command new recruits.”
Sules wasn’t annoyed by him emphasizing her gender; she knew the coachman was speaking the truth, and her authority was indeed lacking.
“Mm-hmm, you’re right. I’ll definitely look for experienced sailors. But I’m worried about finding some stubborn old-timers who think they know everything; that would make things difficult.”
“That’s true,” the coachman said, clearly empathizing.
“On a ship, especially one with few crew members, if a stubborn one comes aboard, the whole atmosphere of the ship will turn sour. You have good foresight, unlike some newcomers who always doubt common sense and think they can solve everything.”
Sules smiled and nodded, then asked, “I’m young and lack discernment, so I might not be able to tell who’s troublesome. Currently, my ship needs fishermen, martial artists, and sailors, and a ship doctor would be even better. Do you have any advice for me?”
As she spoke, she took out two more copper shells and placed them beside the coachman’s seat.
She had already paid the fare; these were a tip, and payment for the information she was seeking.
This was an unexpected bonus.
The coachman immediately grinned.
“You’ve asked the right person! I know the people around here like the back of my hand. As for ship doctors… we don’t have any around here. After all, ship doctors and engineers are highly skilled professionals; they wouldn’t be found in a small tavern like this.”
Sules nodded understandingly.
“What about fishermen? There’s no shortage of those, right?”