Chapter 107: Duke Is Doing Petty Tasks
[Side Mission: Duke’s Superior Protection!]
[Warning: Due to the sudden separation of the Host from the Main Target, the System is unstable.]
[Objective: To maintain stability, the Host must allow the Target to remain within 10 paces at all times during the night.]
[Penalty: System Crash. If the Target moves beyond 10 paces before sunrise, the System will be at risk to suffer a crash again. This will stop all currently active procedures, including the Ghost Routes map data.]
Evelina’s jaw tightened so hard her teeth ached.
’Is that a joke?’ Evelina felt her head throb.
[System doesn’t have a sense of humor and it is highly sensitive to the Target’s proximity. Host has 60 seconds to comply before the navigation network shuts down permanently. Time remaining: 59 seconds...]
Evelina’s lips twitched.
She looked past the screen at Ace, who was still standing there, completely oblivious to the joke playing out in her vision.
He looked entirely prepared to be kicked out into the freezing sea, his jaw clenched as he waited for her final rejection.
Evelina closed her eyes for a second.
When she opened them, her voice was flat.
"Fine," Evelina muttered, stepping back into her cabin.
Ace blinked, his eyes widening in shock, "What?"
"You want to be a guard?" Evelina snapped, pointing at the cold wooden floor right outside the door,"Then sit down and guard the door. If you take more than ten steps away from this room before sunrise, I will personally sink this entire ship."
Bang!
She slammed the door shut right in his face, locking it from the inside.
Inside the cabin, Evelina leaned her back against the heavy wooden door, her chest heaving wildly beyond her control.
Ping!
[Side Mission Update: Duke’s Superior Protection; Active]
[Current Distance from Target: 2 paces. Status: Stable.]
"Shameless," Evelina grumbled under her breath, "Utterly shameless."
She had literally just successfully executed a strategy to bypass royal backing, cut ties with the Alvarez estate, and secure her own fleet.
She was supposed to be a free woman sailing toward the Jade Dynasty.
And yet, the System was forcing her to keep her toxic ex-husband within ten paces at night just to avoid a catastrophic crash on its own self.
Evelina walked over to her desk and aggressively blew out the oil lamp, plunging the room into darkness. She threw herself onto the narrow cot in the room, pulling the heavy blanket over her shoulders.
Outside the door, she could hear the faint noises from Ace’s armor. The man probably slid down against the wall taking his position as her glorified doormat.
Evelina closed her eyes, silently cursing the system and Ace to the high heavens.
She refused to let his presence ruin her beauty sleep.
Her body was tired, and she needed her rest if she was going to navigate the treacherous outer boundaries of the northern sea.
The first crack of dawn painted the sky in thin streaks of gold and grey.
The morning shift of the merchant crew began to trickle out from the lower decks, yawning and stretching their arms to prepare for a hard day of sailing.
The Captain walked onto the main deck, a half-eaten piece of dried bread in his hand, "Alright, you lazy sea dogs! Check the rigging! We need to make sure the middle mast is completely—"
The man’s voice suddenly died in his throat.
He froze mid-step, his eyes widening to the size of saucers. The piece of bread slipped from his fingers, rolling across the wooden deck.
A few feet away from the main mast, a man was casually pulling a heavy coil of thick anchor rope indifferently.
He was dressed in simple vanguard scout armor. His broad shoulders stretched the fabric tight as he handled the abrasive hemp rope as if it were a piece of delicate sewing thread.
With a single tug of his arm, he tightened a knot that usually required three grown laborers to secure.
The man slowly turned his head, and his dark eyes swept over the frozen deck.
One glance was enough for everyone to know who it was.
Ace Alvarez, the undisputed God of War.
The terrifying military commander who had single-handedly slaughtered entire enemy armies on the northern battlefields.
"D-Duke..." a young sailor stammered, his knees visibly shaking as he accidentally dropped his wooden bucket.
They didn’t have the etiquettes of the high society and they didn’t know how to address him but the reverence that they felt towards him was instinctive.
The entire deck fell into silence.
The sailors who had been loudly joking around second ago instantly went pale. Some of them looked ready to dive straight into the freezing ocean just to escape the crushing pressure radiating from the man.
Ace didn’t acknowledge their feelings, though.
After tying the rope with a flawless military knot, he moved to the next set of rigging, pulling a leather tool from his belt to inspect it closely.
The Captain swallowed hard, forcing his trembling legs to move forward.
He approached the towering commander, keeping his head low.
He had been informed of his presence but he had expected a grand entry, a grand welcome and a grander feast to humor the Duke.
Yet...
"Y-Your Grace. What... what are you doing?"
"Checking the knots," Ace’s voice sent a shiver down the spine of every man within earshot, "The northern wind is shifting. If your men leave the sails at this angle, the left rigging will snap within three hours."
"Right... Of course! Immediately!"The Captain scrambled backward, frantically waving his arms at his crew, "You heard him... Adjust the sails! Move! Move!"
The sailors flew across the deck.
Nobody wanted to be caught slacking in front of a man who could snap their necks with two fingers.
The legend of the North was casually doing basic labor on a commercial merchant ship, and the sheer absurdity of the situation was driving the crew to near-madness.
A few minutes later, the heavy wooden door of the captain’s quarters clicked open.
Comments