Chapter 116: THIRD POV.
No one knew who started the rumor or how the word had managed to spread so quickly through the lower decks, but soon after, the main deck of the massive warship was filled with people.
Of course not the entire deck since the ship was still large to begin with.
Both the saved captives, who looked a bit better after a good night’s rest, and Rebecca’s royal vassals alike had swarmed out of the dark corridors to get a good view.
It looked like everyone had stopped their daily chores, and were now standing next to one another, some climbing down the sails and bird nests to see what the fuss was about.
All of them gathered around two men who were standing in the very center of the wide deck.
Jacob and Flounder respectively.
Both had a pair of fishing gear that had been dragged out from storage.
There were long wooden fishing rods, thick bundles of tightly woven rope lines, and several iron hooks resting in small wooden boxes on the floorboards.
Dinklehimer, acting as the official judge for this sudden event, stepped right into the middle of the circle, holding a large brass pocket watch in his hand.
He cleared his throat loudly, his deep voice carrying over the sound of the wind.
"Alright, the rules of the competition are simple," the older sailor announced, looking between the two challengers with a serious nod.
"Both of you have to catch a green-finned tuna. No other fish will count for this wager. The first one to catch the fish, bring it back to the main deck, and prep it in time wins the whole thing. We will give you exactly two hours. Do we have an understanding?"
"Sounds simple enough," Jacob said with a calm, unbothered look on his face.
He stood with his hands crossed over his chest, his posture completely relaxed.
’This idiot, he has no idea he’s going to lose today,’ Flounder couldn’t help smirking inwardly, holding back the urge to mock Jacob outright in front of the entire crowd.
He kept his face stiff and serious, but inside, his chest was practically bursting with a sense of early victory.
He had a secret piece of knowledge that he was sure this random sailor didn’t possess.
’You might be able to become a mermaid, or whatever weird magic trick you did with your scales back there in the hallway, but I doubt even you’ll be able to catch a green-fin with regular gear,’ Flounder thought to himself, his inner dialogue full of pure spite.
’Those darn devils are known to be extremely fast in the water, and they never bite regular bait unless you know exactly how to trick them. They’re more difficult to catch than you could ever realise!’ he laughed inwardly.
And yet, when he glanced at Jacob, the latter simply smiled at him.
Flounders eyes narrowed as he glared at Jacob’s smiling face.
’ Just keep acting smug...’
’By the time I’m done and my fish is sizzling over the galley fire, you’ll be completely left behind without having caught a single thing.’
’ You’ll be sitting in your little boat all day staring at an empty hook. That’ll teach you not to mess with me next time, you smug bastard.’
He took a deep breath, his thoughts turning back to the little princess standing near the edge of the crowd.
’How dare someone like you act so casually, as if you can treat her highness as you please just because you pulled her out of a cage.’
’ I won’t let anyone of you keep undermining her....’ for a moment, a frustrated look crossed his face as he recalled a few things from the past.
’ She is royalty, and you’re nothing but a glorified ferryman. I’ll show everyone here who the real protector is.’ He scoffed inwardly, thoroughly convinced that his victory was already set in stone.
Jacob had absolutely no idea what the young man was thinking inside his head, but even if he did, he probably wouldn’t say anything about it.
He would have just laughed it off. To Jacob, Flounder was just a funny little character from a book who was throwing a silent tantrum.
He didn’t care about the boy’s internal monologue; he just wanted to enjoy the free entertainment and perhaps teach the future hero a small lesson about humility.
Dinklehimer closed his brass pocket watch with a sharp snap, pointing a thick finger over the side of the wooden hull.
" Alright... Since the main vessel is far too large and the noise from the hull will scare away any decent schools of fish, you’ll both have to take separate rowboats to get closer to the water. We’ll lower you down from the cranes on opposite sides of the warship so your lines don’t get tangled up together."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
A soft, heavy voice suddenly spoke right next to Jacob’s ear. He didn’t even have to turn his head to know who it was.
It was Priscilla who had walked up to Jacob and whispered into his ear, her large, furry frame blocking out the midday sun as she leaned down toward him.
Her long white tail flicked back and forth behind her, showing a slight hint of nervousness that she didn’t want the rest of the crowd to see.
’Something’s telling me that guy has a nasty plan in mind,’ she said to herself while glancing at Flounder from the corner of her golden eyes.
She had spent enough time around desperate men and cunning foxes to recognize the look in that man’s eyes.
Clearly, she believed he had something planned for this event.
One had to admit that her observational skills were impressive.
Flounder didn’t look like a man who was guessing; he looked like a man who knew he had an unfair advantage, and she didn’t like the idea of her first mate walking into a trap.
"It’s merely a simple game to liven up the place," Jacob whispered back, his smile never fading for a single second. "Look at the captives, Captain." He whispered back.
" While I did save them, I’m sure everyone’s been on the edge for some time now after learning of the little ones incident."
" They’ve been terrified for days. A little bit of silly drama between two sailors gives them something else to look at. It’s good for the crew’s spirit."
"You say that, but what if you lose?" she said, pursing her lips together tightly as she looked down at him.
Her large ears pointed forward, flattening slightly against her head. "I can’t have my first mate losing face on my own ship. If you get beaten by a half-starved human who can barely hold a sword right now, the crew will never let you hear the end of it. My reputation is tied to yours now, remember?"
"Are you saying you don’t trust me to catch a simple fish?" Jacob said with a sharp, knowing smirk, tilting his head up to look her directly in the eye.
"Now why would I do that?" She shook her head helplessly, a small, defeated sigh escaping her nose.
She knew how strange and powerful he could be when he wanted to be, but her protective instincts were still giving her a hard time.
"Just sit back and watch the show, Captain," he added, giving her a reassuring nod before stepping away to pick up his wooden fishing rod from the deck floor.
"Best of luck to ya, Boss," Dinklehimer said, walking past and patting Jacob heavily on the shoulder with a massive, weathered hand that nearly knocked the wind out of him. "Don’t let that brat show us up, you hear."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Jacob replied with a genuine smile, turning around to head toward the ropes where his small wooden rowboat was already being prepared by two crewmen.
*****
On the other side of the wide deck, a completely different conversation was taking place around the broken-sworded guard.
"Big brother Flounder, is this really necessary..."
A small, timid voice called out from behind Rudwig’s coat.
Shy little Rebecca walked over to Flounder and said, her tiny fingers reaching out to tug gently on his top.
Her silver hair was tied back with a piece of clean cloth into a nice bow, and her large, innocent eyes were filled with a deep sense of worry.
.She didn’t like seeing people argue, and she was still scared that these sea people might get angry and hurt them.
Even after being saved, it was safe to say her earlier experience at sea played a great part in this.
"Listen to her highness, boy. What’s the point of doing all this?" Rudwig said, his voice low and incredibly stressed as he stepped towards Flounder.
He crossed his thick arms over his round belly, glaring down at the young man. "You’ll only be creating more problems for us if anything goes wrong. We are guests here, or prisoners, depending on how they feel. We should be keeping our heads down, not starting ridiculous fights over dinner!"