Two winters before the chaos of the churches arrogance fell on Empire's capital.

  Jean and Siene stood before the black sheep of the Cesped house.

  Media Cesped, a noble who was exiled to the archipelago with his subjects, because he dared to speak up against the way matters should be handled.

  His mind was still filled with exhaustion and frustration, forced to bend the knee to those he considered family, just because he was far away.

  Media was tired, he wanted to throw everything away and give up.

  But his greed and pride would not let him, nothing would except for victory.

  As he saw the two guests that arrive, his focus turned to them, after all keeping guests waiting is very rude.

  "Good morning my dearest guest" Media bowed to Siene "It is an honor to house archmage's pupil."

  "I am glad to share this honor." Siene bowed while forcing Jean to bow as well. "I apologize for my bodyguard, he has not been taught in matters of etiquette."

  Media looked Jean up and down, observing his gear, stature and overall way he stood. "No need to apologize, I believe he was just doing his job."

  "That is correct sir Media." Siene answered for him.

  As for Jean, he may not be as smart as Siene but he sure knows when to keep his mouth closed.

  "Now that the greetings are out of the way, I ask that you sit down." He waved at his guards and they left the room. "Does your bodyguard know of your name, madam?"

  "He does."

  "Then it would be honor to invite him." he gestured at Jean to sit "Sadly I only her public name, so I am not as close to miss Siene as I would wish to be." he sipped on his tea, for his horizontal size, his movements were refined like sanded marble. "The reason I have called for you madam Siene is to investigate two islands. One is an island that was filled with all sorts of botanical life, however no animals, birds or even insects were there."

  Jean thought that this story must be a bluff and in no way true.

  "And the second island." Siene was dead serious compared to Jean who thought of this as a waste of time.

  "I got a report just now, I am sure you have heard, about increase in product transfer, this request is my own interest and as such it is optional, but I would ask you to investigate an Imperial Island enclave, where all the items are stored and transferred." Media put down his cup. "of course you will be given a ship and some money for the investigation, however-" He stood up. "While investigating the islands you will be under my protection but that does not mean you are immune to laws and rules of these lands, understood?" Seems like someone has angered Media in the past.

  "Understood." Siene answered while Jean kept his mouth shut.

  "I am glad to hear it, everything has been prepared, I made sure that you will get the newest ship, however the crew has not been hired, mostly out of fear for my personal safety." Another way for him to say, there are spies and hates to waste money. "I will await good news from you soon."

  With the conversation ended the duo left the mansion in silence and with directions to their new ship.

  Entering the docks, both of them saw the ship they will now "own".

  It was small, but the hull was tall, not to mention the masts were much larger than a ship of this size would normally have, it also had five guns on each side, just enough to fire and escape.

  Another curious thing was the mostly felt.

  Ship was completely stable, to the point where if you did not know better you would think you weren't on a ship to begin with.

  Luckily, Media was kind enough to provide the duo with engineers that will not only fix the ship up but hopefully make it better in the future.

  There were three of them, and they were taking care of the ship while waiting for Siene to arrive.

  The trio of the engineers was weird to say the least, mostly silent unless spoken to, always hiding around the ship but always there when needed, walking so silently that you wouldn't know they were there and they all belong to a race native to the archipelago.

  Small like dwarves and skinny like elves, full of fur like catpeople yet their faces looked more like ferrets.

  So the merchants and later settlers started calling them Ferfolk.

  Their names were Bir, Fir and Mir.

  All of them were indistinguishable between each other, except for the color of their eyes.

  Bir had green eyes.

  Fir had brown eyes.

  And Mir had yellow eyes.

  The three of them guided Jean and Siene in silence while the duo talked between each other.

  It was mostly Jean observing the structure of the ship and a certain thing was noticed by him.

  The "ribs" of the ship were made from steel and the reason for the tall hull was also surprising.

  Ship used heavy metal swings that moved in an opposite direction to the waves combing that with a skeleton made from steel, allowed it to have the stability it has.

  Jean was impressed, in fact he was in love.

  But he also knew that the ship was not the best.

  It is big but compared to ships that usually trade with between the oceans, it is small.

  Also it lacks space for cargo, doesn't have much space for cannons, not a lot of crew space and is extremely expensive to repair due to the fact that it is one of a kind ship using technology and equipment not often used due to it's size and the price of it.

  The ship could store up to 15 000 liters of water in the main tank, and it could be connected to other water tanks or barrels if needs be, however usually those were in a separate system where used water was connected, which would be used either for a greenhouse or recycling.

  Entire water system was connected using pipes made from iron, that transported it to a greenhouse, kitchen, infirmary, boiler room and a bathroom.

  Ship had enough room and to house upwards of 30 - 35 people comfortably.

  However it has enough space for double that but that would make the ship very crowded and uncomfortable to be on.

  Basically this ship was the most well equipment and most structurally complicated ship known to the seas.

  This in turn made it a pain in the ass to fix, repair and maintain.

  Combining all of this and what could be only considered as marvel of naval engineering, made Jean wonder.

  "Why in the world do you need all of this, the pipes, greenhouse, boiler room, heating and other amenities?"

  Jean's theory was that it was a way to show off.

  The trio of Ferfolk had their mouth silent and ran off before Jean could pose this question.

  And Siene was of the opinion that this was supposed to be Media's private ship or it was a way to test some theories in a practical environment.

  Either way, free ship is a free ship, as long as it sails, nothing really matters.

  While having a ship is nice and all, it won't sail without a crew.

  Currently the crew consists of:

  Jean as a helmsman and defacto acting captain

  Fir, Mir and Bir as technicians

  And Siene as the lead scientist

  There is no secondary helmsman, cook, doctor, quartermaster or hell even regular sailors.

  Luckily the gread Media gave some funding to hire some crew and fill the ship with food, water and coal.

  Before Jean could ask Siene if she wanted to help him out she already started to "move in" as she called it.

  In short, unpacking everything and setting up her lab, equipment and what not.

  Wouldn't be a surprise if she pulled out a couch and used the greenhouse to make herbs for potions.

  This entire shtick, made Jean realize that he might have to go alone.

  Maybe it's not as bad as he thinks it is.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Taking his share of the money from the fund provided by Media he ended up with upwards of around 10 gold.

  A pretty sum, a family of four can live comfortably for ten to twelve years with this kind of money.

  Issue is, Jean had no idea where to hire crew.

  Easiest would be an adventurers guild but that is out of the question, they usually work for a short term and are not particularly skilled.

  Second option is to go and hire mercenaries, while skilled, they aren't really attached to their employer.

  Third would be to simply post a hire poster, cheap and effective however who knows when you will get an answer.

  There was a fourth option, while Media said that he did not hire any crew.

  But that doesn't mean he can't recommend someone, at the very least a quartermaster.

  A skilled quartermaster will be able to find anyone the ship needs and get enough resources to last any voyage.

  The goal was set, go back to the manor and hopefully get someone who will help deal with all the issues.

  However going back there right after being there is honestly one of the most akward experiences ever, so maybe he could go around town and post up the work notice.

  As if any skill would join but it is still better than nothing honestly.

  Going to town alone was quite a different feeling, usually he would talk with Siene, but being alone made him feel strangely lonely.

  It is also worth mentioning that Jean did not really have a good look around town as a whole, he mostly visited areas where markets and people moved the most.

  But there was one place he got curious about, even before leaving for the new ship, he got a recommendation from Media if he needs any crew.

  He did not really guarantee their skill but it is still better than no crew.

  The place was called Boattown, truly original I know, but it's name was very accurate.

  The town was built on boats that were connected with small bridges and ramps.

  And the naming scheme also told you who resided there, pirates and privateers.

  Famously known for having amazing naming skills.

  Overall the town appeared mostly as a reaction from the previous lord of the city that disallowed them to settle due to being akin to criminals.

  However the Lord had no defenses, let alone navy so what did they do?

  Quite literally settling on the coast of the city, right in front of the lords manor as if to taunt him.

  With this the Boattown was born.

  Media mostly doesn't care, as long as they pay taxes, which they surprisingly do, and don't cause too much trouble, they were good.

  Arriving to what could be called on of the entrances to Boattown, Jean realized the overall vibe and feeling of the place.

  It was a zone with no clear laws, anything goes, prostitution, gambling, moonshining and other services.

  Want to buy drugs, nearest stall has them.

  Maybe some counterfeit paintings, well good thing that two decks below there is an art gallery.

  Or maybe you need to send something to the mainland without tax services noticing, well the Privateer guild has you covered.

  There was one thing NOT being sold here, people.

  Say what you will but, while this town is filled with criminals, they at the very least follow "some" laws of the Empire.

  With Jean browsing the stalls and shops he found scattered around all the ships that this town is built on.

  He found a lot of interesting knick knacks, some of the merchants even told that they possessed magical power.

  Of course absolute lie, since Siene did "try" to teach Jean some magical glyphs, it was partially successful, since Jean quickly realized that non of these were magical in nature.

  They were however, very pretty.

  From bracelets that gilded in gold and silver being sold as "bracelets of greed" to a cigar box being sold as a... cigar box.

  And as Jean continued his window shopping and some actual shopping (he bought the cigar box), he heard a commotion happening in what seemed like a bar.

  "YOU GODDAMN RAT!" a bottle flew from a person who looked like unwashed version of Media, hitting a woman straight in the head "YOU DARE STEAL FROM ME! I SHOULD HAVE YOU MAROONED!"

  "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! KING OF ALL PIRATES, I TOOK MY FAIR SHARE." The woman reacted almost as violently.

  Jean could guess where this would lead so he was prepared to leave, however.

  "YOU BITCH, I WILL HAVE YOU KILLED!" The now ex-captain of the woman and most of his crew pulled out their weapons, readying to actually kill her.

  She seemed quite startled, maybe she did not expect this at all. "IS IT WRONG TO TAKE MY SHARE, YOU FAT BASTARD!?" She took a chair and prepared to fight with it.

  "YES IT IS, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT I OWN YOU!"

  A switch was flipped in Jean's head, before the woman could even react or say anything, he already had his sword out pointed at the neck of the captain. "What, exactly do you mean by, own?"

  "AND WHO THE-"

  "ANSWER THE QUESTION." he moved the sword closer to his neck. "Before you still can."

  "SHE IS MY SLAVE, SO SHE MUST WORK FOR FR-" a large thump was heard, captain was beheaded on the spot.

  The sword given to Jean by his teacher, finally took it's first sip of blood. "All those who are part of his crew and are slaves, put down your weapons, otherwise I will not spare you." no one put down their weapons, shame.

  What followed was a one sided massacre, Jean did not spare even one person who dared to fight him.

  At first the patros of the bar were sure that the fight would end with Jean's fall.

  However the opposite has happened.

  "I am betting on the crew" on the patrons yelled out

  "And I am betting on the kid!" another yelled back.

  Before anyone knew it betting has began, with even the owner joining in.

  And Jean?

  He fought, with so much anger that was build up.

  Each slash cut off arms and legs, it was as if he WANTED to make it as brutal as possible.

  The numbers dwindled, from 35 to 30 then 28 and then even less.

  Jean was not even tired, he was stabbed and slashed, and there was no care whatsoever.

  With this going, those who put their bets on Jean started to yell out "SEA KNIGHT, SEA KNIGHT, SEA KNIGHT!" guess even now the stories of knights saving people still live on.

  Last crew member stood before Jean, a swing followed suit.

  The bar fell into silence. "HELL YEAH!" one of the people screamed out.

  "THAT SERVES THEM RIGHT!" "BASTARDS DESERVED IT"

  "Goddammit my cash, should've betted on the kid." one of the patrons said.

  Reactions were not negative, in fact they were quite positive.

  Jean was shocked, he thought that he would land himself in trouble, but instead he was being praised.

  As Jean calmed down, he saw the woman who was bleeding out and crying.

  He steeled his mind and proclaimed "MY NAME IS JEAN VANE, AND THIS WOMAN IS UNDER MY PROTECTION AND SO IS ANYONE WHO'S SOUL AND LIFE WAS TAKEN AWAY!"

  While it was in a heat of a moment, it was also a proclamation that would live on forever.

  Because it just so happened that he proclaimed this at the place which was the home of all pirates.

  Leaving the Boattown, Jean felt tired and the weirdest of all, the woman he saved was following him.

  "Why exactly are you following me?"

  "Well your statement was that I would be under your protection."

  "yeah but, I did not mean it- you know nevermind" he sighed "what have I gotten myself into."

  The two of them finally arrived to Jean's ship and as he entered the hold he saw it.

  A couch, he could not resist and went to it before being stopped by Siene.

  "Wash yourself of the blood first, hm?" Siene looked at the woman "Jean?"

  "Yeah?"

  "My heart, it, it hurts so much, to think you would cheat on me." Siene was overreacting "Oh what HORROR"

  "aha, yeah are you gonna also tell me that I am a bastard, and that I should die."

  "how did you know!, yeah no I won't." Siene stopped the charade "but seriously, who is she?"

  "An ex-slave of a captain that tried to kill her."

  "...so instead of getting us a crew, you decided to play a hero?"

  "yes, also could you look at her, I think she is hurt." Jean went to take a shower

  "WHAT AM I A DOCTOR." Siene yelled at Jean

  "UNTIL WE FIND ONE, YES YOU ARE."

  Siene sighed. "alright come here lemme take a look."

  the woman got closer to Siene "umm, what was that about-"

  "I was joking, don't worry" Siene started treating the wound the woman had "You should be fine in a day or two, oh right. Name is Siene nice to meet you." Siene offered her hand for a handshake

  "Nice to meet you, my name is Truce." She accepted her handshake.

  A new page has been started and soon New Star will be born.