The captain was a trim man, looking in his early 50s. He had the tanned and weathered skin typical of a career sailor, accompanied by heavy sideburns and short-cropped salt-and-pepper hair. Everything about the man screamed controlled and measured. Even now, there was only the slightest hint of a frown on his face. Darren couldn’t imagine him ever spitting the dummy.
He inspected the captain.
<<<<>>>>
Edmund Montague
-
Level: 25
-
HP: 1200
-
Class: Officer (Prestige: Captain)
-
Status: Local
You are insufficient level to see more information on Edmund Montague.
<<<<>>>>
Darren gawked at the level. This man had to have seen an insane amount of action in his career to be level 25. The Inspect didn’t seem to bother Captain Montague. At least, no more than he already was bothered by Darren.
Darren was tempted to scowl, but schooled his expression, trying to match the captain’s energy. “Well, I think you know why you can’t keelhaul me—yet. And regarding Vane, yes. We ended up marooned on the same island a few days ago. It’s far easier to sail the ocean with two people, so we worked together.”
“Shame,” Captain Montague said, a touch of wistfulness in his educated, British accent. “I’d have liked to have seen her drowned. Or hanged. Just dead in general would be smashing.”
Well, okay then…
Captain Montague picked up a piece of paper from the edge of the table in front of him. “It appears you have the location to, and I quote, ‘An island of coconuts who know how to make grenades’. Is that correct?”
Darren nodded.
The Captain waited a beat, and when Darren didn’t elaborate, he sighed. “It’s going to be like this, is it?”
“Like what?” Darren asked.
Instead of answering, Captain Montague glanced at his officers, and they filed out in silence. While they didn’t offer objections to their captain, they made their displeasure at being dismissed known in the glares Darren received as they went out of their way to shoulder past him.
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Darren just rolled his eyes.
Once they were gone and the door was shut, Captain Montague swiped his hand, and the hologram of the map zoomed out. Then he walked to one cabinet beneath the rear windows. He opened a door and fished a bottle and a glass from it. He splashed some of the amber liquid into the glass and strolled over to Darren, handing him the glass. Then he turned his back to Darren and walked to the holographic map while taking a swig from the bottle.
“So,” Montague said, “the Countess is infatuated with new weapons. You, my boy, are the key to one such weapon. Since the… passing of the previous Count, there has been a strong focus on increasing our military might. The Countess has invested significant resources in training and equipping troops these past few days, as well as building new ships.”
Montague faced Darren and leaned against the table, crossing his ankles. “It’s a new world out there, with the coming of Interlopers such as the Countess and yourself.”
A chill raced up Darren’s spine. How? He couldn’t know I’m a player.
“‘How?’ you’re asking yourself,” Montague said, “‘how could he know I’m an Interloper?’ It is simple, really—though I don’t know what kind of artifact or skill you’re using to disguise yourself as a Local even to me. There’s a look in your eyes, one that says that this world is not real. That it is all just some kind of”—he waved his hand—“game to you.”
Darren tried to swallow, his mouth dry. This was bad. Sure, he was safe so long as he held the location to the island and the captain didn’t, but what about beyond that? Had Rod given any orders to keep him alive? Doubtful.
He remembered the drink in his hand and skulled it. The burn of its journey down taking his mind off his impending death. The drink was a rye whiskey of some description by the taste. Interesting that it wasn’t rum.
Captain Montague took another pull of the whiskey, then waved his hand again, and a ripple of magic shimmered through the room, coating the walls in a translucent aqua. “Privacy skill,” he said on seeing Darren’s confused expression. “What we’re about to discuss will get us both hanged if the Countess’s spies overhear us.”
Wait what?
“So,” Captain Montague continued, “if you mention any of this conversation to another living soul, I will have the surgeon give you a rapid recovery potion and a water-breathing potion, and I will keelhaul you until you go insane from the pain. By the time the Countess’s spies make it back to her, you’ll be an empty husk. But you won’t be dead. I’ll leave that to her.”
“Yes, sir,” Darren said in a whisper. While he’d suffered some horrific injuries in games, ones that hurt like hell in virtual reality games such as this, he’d managed to evade torture thus far, and he really wanted to keep it that way. Even with the way the game so swiftly dampened pain and the memory of it, he wasn’t keen to see how that played out in torture.
Captain Montague ran a tired hand over his face, his controlled expression morphing to one of a man haunted. “You’re no doubt wondering why I am about to tell you something that could get me executed if you run and play rat to the right parties. That is a simple question to answer. I have a skill that allows me to read people. It’s not mind-reading, but it’s close. It’s a very powerful skill for a captain.”
That explained a bit. Darren rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble that was quickly turning into a beard.
“But the primary reason I am telling you anything,” Montague said, “is that Poseidon gave me a quest. You may have heard that those are rare for Locals, so when you receive one, you damn well better do what it says.”
Huh, Darren thought, so the man upstairs is looking out for me after all… “So, Poseidon gave you a quest about me?”
“Precisely.”
“What’d he ask you to do?”
The naval captain studied Darren for a long moment before finally saying, “The quest says he has chosen you to lead this world in the war against the Interlopers”—
Great, so I’m the chosen one.
—“The quest wants me to assist you in acquiring a rare class. I am willing to do that, but given the risk to myself, I require something in return.”
“Go ahead,” Darren said slowly.
“I will see that you get a rare class on the condition that once you do, you remove the Countess.”
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