Aether : Calraem

Chapter 34: Mysterious Quest

There were currently nine people present in the meeting.

On the one side it was Cortez Zaelivaar, the captain; Calico Jack Vor'Arlet, the first mate; Nirvana, the nature goddess and Howell Davis, the druid. They were the four members from the Zaba Pirate Fleet allowed to take part in the meeting.

On the other side it had been Kaizoku Kuro, the captain; Milliana Stem, the navigator; Alavara Talbot, the scholar and Elaine Marsanth, the doctor. These were the four that had attended the meeting from the Black Pirate Fleet.

Sitting in the middle of them, the one in charge of gathering these extremely dangerous pirates in a meeting without fighting was but an unusual quest-giver, Kasper.

"So I'll just go ahead and point it out," Cortez spoke. "Kaizoku, what's up with the harem?"

"... Huh?" Alavara sat dumbstruck, confusion on her face.

"... W-what?!" Milliana, red in the face, panicked as her eyes darted about it. Her hands were looking for something to break.

"... I-It's n-n-n-n-nothing l-l-like that...!" Elaine had her back turned to everyone else as she shrieked. It would seem she still had a problem with facing other people.

Their reactions were purely normal to the unexpected question, especially since it had not been the case... At all.

But remembering who their captain was -

"Oh my..." Kaizoku smirked and crossed his arms. Exuding the presence of a proper sea emperor. "How did you notice?"

- he spouted lines that were completely inaccurate.

Ten second later...

"As I was saying, Cortez... You're completely mistaken. Yep, completely off the mark. They're my loyal comrades who also coincidentally all happen to be women."

Kaizoku told the truth this time. Maybe it was to eliminate the misunderstanding and continue with the topic of discussion... or maybe it had something with the three bulges sticking out of his head.

"I-I see..." Nirvana chuckled awkwardly. She then gave a quick glance over at Cortez and then at Kaizoku.

Are these two... Really the most dangerous pirates alive...?

She was starting to find it really hard to believe, even having it seen first hand how well these two carried themselves in combat.

"Anyways, before we derail again," Alavara spoke up. "Shouldn't we get to the main point of why we're sitting like this?"

At that same moment, all the people present focussed their gazes on Kasper. While it was not as if they had been glaring at him the seriousness in their gazes created a heavy tension. They might as well have been glaring.

"The news that I will present will only entail a part of the Quest. The rest you all will have to figure out for yourselves," Kasper spoke, his voice as calm and unfazed as his expression. "As a Quest Giver I am already breaking a large amount of rules for even actively seeking you all out to hand you this quest. But, desperate times..."

Kaizoku interlocked his fingers in front of him as his expression darkened. The relaxed air he had around him dispersed in an instant.