Chapter 59: Harpers
【Conch】’s remaining few crew members saw the captain dead, their morale completely broken, and they jumped into the sea one by one.
Anse did not pursue; common crew members had too little experience, and it was not worth the effort to chase them when he could quickly loot instead.
He scanned the surroundings; Ragna and the others were finishing off some, checking the cabin, soothing commoners, and a middle-aged man in a long robe holding a rapier stood not far from him.
Earlier when he fought the 【Conch】 captain, the other had rushed to support, but unfortunately the battle ended too quickly, and he missed out on an assist.
Now was clearly not the time to talk; the two nodded to each other and then went about their business.
Anse stripped the 【Conch】 captain bare, gathering all suspicious things together, not even sparing the underwear and damaged leather armor.
Money bag, two high-quality magic short swords, enchanted leather armor, pouch, and a palm-sized… piece of scaled dragon scale.
【Carved Scale Dragon Scale Amulet】, curio, rare
‘These slavers are too wealthy.’
Thinking of this, he could no longer sit still; he stowed the items and hurriedly ran into the sterncastle, searching for the captain’s quarters.
However, the doors to all the cabins were wide open, clearly already searched.
‘So fast; looting corpses and scavenging so professional?’
Thud thud thud, that middle-aged man strode over quickly and casually tossed him a large bundle: “For you.”
“Thanks.” Anse hadn’t expected the other to be so proper.
“Come up and chat?” The middle-aged man always had a faint smile on his face.
“Sure.” Anse agreed readily.
The two arrived at the ship’s rail one after the other, corpses littered underfoot, but fortunately the sea breeze blew, so the smell wasn’t too bad.
Anse quietly sized up the man: slightly dark skin, handsome features, with a steady poise and grace tempered by years, inspiring goodwill.
【Harpers elite）, half-elf, level 7 bard（Dance Academy）】
He secretly drew in a breath of cold air; the Harpers were too famous, one of Faerun’s longest-standing shadowy organizations, and despite multiple disbandments and reorganizations, they remained powerful.
They could be called the backbone of the good alignment, pursuing and upholding justice, resisting tyranny, opposing evil, with a noble ideology.
“I’m Tich, from the Harpers. I organized today’s action. You know Ragna; the warrior is called Matthew, the rogue is called Canisa.” Tich spoke like he was reciting poetry, but the rhythm was lively and not off-putting.
“I’m Anse.” Anse didn’t hide his name; it wasn’t trust, since the Harpers couldn’t be fooled anyway.
“I know. I didn’t expect you’d come too; we share the same ideals.” Tich looked approving.
“Uh, maybe.” Anse turned his head aside, vaguely catching a whiff of cleric.
“Actually, I’d heard of you days ago.” Tich had a mild expression, staring straight at Anse, “You’ve saved many people; your legend is still circulating in Baldur’s Gate.”
Anse’s expression faltered a bit; he’d just left Baldur’s Gate, and it sounded like he was dead.
“How about we discuss how to rescue the people from the cabin.” He changed the subject.
“Look—” Tich pointed to a few points of light to the right front, “Our ship is coming; it’s small, but should fit everyone.”
“Oh.” Anse nodded slightly; as expected of a major organization, the plan was thorough.
By now the cabin grew noisier, with faint bursts of sobbing.
“Shree—” Suddenly an eagle cry rang out overhead.
Anse froze, then reacted; this was Greyhawk’s warning!
He scanned the surroundings; aside from the lights approaching from the right front, nothing seemed unusual.
“How’s your eyesight? Look again; that seems like a medium sailing ship.” He pointed at the white sails under the dim lights.
“Ah?” Tich’s expression control failed, eyes squinting and widening, face turning ugly, “Situation’s wrong!”
With that he hurriedly ran into the cabin, probably to call people.
‘How did they get here so fast?’ Anse’s gaze held doubt.
That captain had indeed fired a flare, but raising anchor and setting sail on a sailing ship was troublesome; it was impossible in just minutes, which was why they hadn’t been too urgent at first.
‘Looks like they were already on the way before the flare.’ He wasn’t panicked at all; mission accomplished, he could leave anytime.
Moments later, Ragna and the others arrived on deck one after another.
The distant lights grew clearer, white sails faintly visible; it was indeed a medium sailing ship, shaped very much like the 【Conch】.
“What do you plan to do?” he asked.
“Extinguish the lights, lure them aboard.” Ragna said without thinking.
“No, they’ll spot the problem as soon as they get close.” Tich rejected it outright, pondering briefly, “Raise anchor, delay as much as possible, wait for our ship to pick us up.”
The 【Conch】 had undergone half a day’s repairs, sails restored to a small portion; lowering them to use wind and current should get it moving.
They weren’t far from shore; they were betting the slavers wouldn’t dare fire cannons.
“How about burning all the sails, then withdraw.” The hooded young man suggested.
“We’re here to save people; what then if the ship catches fire?” The other square-faced big-headed warrior glared at him discontentedly.
“Creak creak…”
They looked up; Ragna gritted her teeth turning the horizontal capstan, veins bulging, the hull shuddered and began drifting toward the anchor chain.
The big-headed warrior immediately stepped up to help; the young man sighed helplessly and also dropped his bundle to run over.
‘If they were all elite professionals, it wouldn’t be unwinnable; just swim over and fight.’ Anse focused on the other two.
【Matthew）, human, level 4 warrior（Champion）】
【Canisa）, human, level 4 rogue（Thief）】
‘Uh… better to leave safely.’
Fair enough; elite professionals weren’t that easy to find. With only two elite professionals, and Tich’s casting ability limited, their combat strength might not even match Ragna’s.
The slavers daring to rescue meant not only vigilance but also real strength.
At this point, the bow lifted, then the hull trembled and pitched, posture shifting.
“Anchor’s free! Go drop the sails!” Tich shouted to Canisa.
The distant sailing ship’s outline was now clearly visible, no more than a few hundred meters away; they had at most minutes left.
“Anse?” Tich looked to Anse, gaze intense.
“I knew it.” Anse had known from Tich’s plan that he was part of it; otherwise, how to delay with just those tattered sails.
Tich knew him more deeply than expected.
He went to the middle of the ship, back against the main mast sitting on deck, gently raising the wand in his hand.
“
Control Winds! His daily spell-like ability was used up, but he could expend mana to cast Control Winds.
The mild sea breeze suddenly turned violent, gusts growing stronger, whipping the sails to snap, nearly blowing Canisa down while raising them.
A linear strong wind nearly thirty meters long and four or five meters wide quickly formed, blowing from stern to bow; mast and ropes creaked, as if about to snap any moment.
Tich had long reached the helm to steer, quickly adjusting course.
“Wind direction’s wrong, right front twenty degrees…”
Before he finished, the wind direction shifted accordingly; no need for him to explain compass degrees.
The sailing ship arced across the sea surface, heading straight for the dock.
