After Rogel left, everyone turned their gaze towards the pirates.
And... the tavern owner who wanted to sneak away.
With a bang, a man knocked the tavern owner to the ground with a club.
[Ouch!]
The tavern owner fell to the ground in pain.
No one was courteous to him, they tied him up and threw him into the pile with the pirates.
[You bastard, making dirty money usually is one thing, but today you even colluded with pirates. You're a despicable man!]
[Hang this guy with the pirates!]
[No, he should be thrown into the sea!]
The islanders, ignoring the tavern owner's wailing and begging for mercy, beat him severely and threw him into the pirate pile to be executed together.
The group of bound pirates could only despairingly watch their necks being looped with ropes.
The tavern owner also cried out and begged for mercy.
Hang them.
This was the villagers' return affront to this vicious gang of pirates.
After dealing with the pirates, some couldn't help but discuss Rogel.
[If it weren't for that young man named Rogel today, we would probably have been in danger.]
[He single-handedly captured the pirate leader. How did he do it?]
[I think I saw him turn into a mist. Was that some magical trick...]
Old Nelson said nothing at this, just silently dazed.
...
Afternoon.
[Since it's a ready-made ship, modifying it won't take much time.]
[With the requirements you gave, it can be finished in a week.]
Felik said to Rogel after inspecting the pirate ship.
After eliminating the pirate gang, their ship naturally became Rogel's spoils.
This pirate ship was quite large, at least bigger than the ship Rogel planned to build, and it was ready to use.
Rogel just needed to modify it a bit to use it.
[Perhaps the only contribution these poor pirates made is this ship.]
Rogel said with a smile.
At first, he thought this group of pirates would be wealthy because vicious pirate gangs usually have treasures.
But it turned out this gang was perhaps only vicious because they were desperately poor.
Rogel searched around and, with the loot handed over by the villagers after dealing with the pirates, only found about a dozen gold coins and dozens of silver coins.
Nine-tenths of which was the personal wealth of the pirate leader.
The rest was just some small amounts of jewelry, pearls, and food supplies.
Though it was a fair amount, for a pirate gang, it was far too little.
They seemed truly desperate, which is why they came to plunder the small islands within the Thousand Islands Kingdom.
However, these pirates did provide quite a few weapons.
But most were ordinary knives; Rogel kept a few decent ones, handing the rest to Chad.
[Then I'll leave my ship to you, Mr. Felik.]
[I'll come by later to help.]
Felik waved his hand upon hearing this.
[No need, you have your things to do. I can handle it alone.]
[If people in the town find out I'm using the benefactor of Sea Serpent Island to help me build a ship, they'd probably chop me with a knife.]
Felik took a puff of his cigarette, his words carrying a little tease, yet it showed he had grown closer to Rogel.
Rogel smiled at this but didn't say much.
He would certainly come by since his Artisan Skills were yet to be learned.
After saying his goodbye, Rogel headed to the clinic.
At this moment, Lina was sitting on a bench, watching the Little Elf on the table.
[Eeya eeya...]
The Gardener Elf waved its hands at Lina, gesturing, its demeanor a bit anxious, seemingly eager to say something to Lina.
Its injuries seemed much better, at least it didn't appear to have any issues moving.
[What's it saying? Is it hungry?]
Rogel opened the door and came in, a bit puzzled as he glanced at the Gardener Elf.
Lina shook her head. She had already found a lot of food for the Gardener Elf, but it didn't seem to be hungry; rather, it wanted to say something else.
[Eeya eeya...]
The Gardener Elf babbled, and at some point seemed to recall something sad, causing tears to spill down.
Lina and Rogel exchanged glances, both a bit puzzled.
They couldn't understand the Gardener Elf's language, and the Gardener Elf couldn't understand theirs.
Unable to communicate, in their eyes, the Gardener Elf seemed to be miming a silent drama.
[By the way, did you get the seeds?]
Lina, unable to comprehend what the Gardener Elf was saying, could only discuss other matters with Rogel.
[What seeds?]
Rogel was puzzled.
At this, Lina facepalmed; this captain truly seemed unreliable.
[Fruit and vegetable seeds!]
[Do you not know how important fruits and vegetables are on the high seas?]
At this, Rogel was enlightened.
He remembered that at sea, lack of fruits and vegetables over long periods could easily lead to illness.
[When I asked you to install a planting area, it wasn't for growing flowers.]
Lina attached great importance to having a planting area among the ship's installations.
Though starting from scratch to plant a fruit tree on a ship was unrealistic, they could transplant or substitute with other plants.
After attentively listening, Rogel nodded, promising to buy them later.
Lina was just about to share some other precautions with Rogel.
But the Gardener Elf had new movements.
It suddenly flew up with a series of eager chirps.
Rogel and Lina shared a glance but didn't stop it. They had no intention of keeping or imprisoning the Gardener Elf.
However, the Gardener Elf didn't fly away.
Instead, it flitted gently around Lina, then lingered by her cheek, affectionately nuzzling her face.
[Eeya eeya...]
It seemed to be thanking Lina for her help.
[Oh? It seems quite grateful to you.]
[Looks like your garden will have a gardener now.]
Seeing this, Rogel chuckled.
But Lina wasn't buying it.
[I don't want it chirping all around my ears all day, it's too noisy.]
She gently moved the Gardener Elf away with a finger.
Though Lina was dismissive, the Gardener Elf didn't seem disappointed. Rather, it cheerfully flew into the garden.
After circling around the garden, it laid down on a blooming flower, comfortably closing its eyes.
After finishing jotting down Lina's reminders, Rogel was about to leave.
[...Aren't you going to tell me a bit about your story?]
From behind, Lina suddenly chuckled.
Rogel was a bit puzzled by the question, but quickly realized what Lina was referring to.
[...Actually, I attained the Extraordinary Power after I caught something magical while fishing.]
Rogel rubbed his nose, even he found his words hard to believe.
After all, it sounded utterly ridiculous.
But indeed, it was while fishing that he hooked a bottle of Extraordinary Magic Potion.
As expected, after he said it, Lina showcased a "Do you think I believe you" look.
She rolled her eyes but didn't pursue the matter further.
In her view, if Rogel didn't want to talk, he must have his reasons.