I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

Victor Shieldman was a man of few words when it came to his past and although Franky and Victor had known each other for thirty years and had traveled together for a long time, Franky felt that there was a barrier between them that he would probably never be able to break down. However, in the past Franky met someone who managed to break through this barrier that Victor had in all his relationships.

This person managed to penetrate deep into Victor’s heart, or at least Franky thought this was what had happened. However, since they met again, Victor hasn’t mentioned this person once.

"You really don’t remember her? The woman who almost became your wife?" asked Franky, almost angrily.

Victor paused for a moment, his serious expression contrasting with the bustle of the streets. He looked down and said:

"Were you talking about HER? Ah... Of course I remember... I remember her very well."

Franky could see the sincerity in Victor’s eyes. It was clear that his old friend bore invisible scars, memories that haunted him on silent nights. So Franky calmed down before continuing.

"In those three days, you haven’t spoken about her. Why?"

Victor sighed deeply, adjusting the weight of Captain Demetrius on his back. "Because there are things we prefer to leave buried in the back of our minds, Franky. Remembering her... It’s like opening an old wound."

Victor’s words went deep into Franky’s mind as they walked back. "This has something to do with you leaving without saying goodbye back then, doesn’t it?" asked Franky.

"Leaving like that... It was the only choice I had at the time. And Aluella, well, I think I’d rather not talk about it."

Franky saw the anguish in his old friend’s eyes. He knew there was more to the story than Victor was willing to reveal at that moment.

For the last twenty years, Franky had thought that Victor had gone away with Aluella and didn’t want anyone to know about it, so they hadn’t told him, but it seems that this wasn’t the case. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"I understand, Victor... Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, even if it’s hard," said Franky, trying to convey his silent support even though he had long hated the fact that Victor had never said goodbye. They were practically best friends.

Silence reigned between them for a moment as they continued walking towards the ship.

It was only when they reached the beach of the hidden bay that the silence was finally broken, for when Victor looked up, he saw that a medium-sized ship was anchored next to the "Traveling Mermaid". As the bay was silent and inhospitable even Victor and Franky could hear a loud voice say:

"Quickly! Quickly! Get everything!"

There was a plank connecting the decks of the two ships and men in dirty clothes were crossing it with the boxes that should have been in the "Traveling Mermaid’s" internal storeroom.

"Pirates..." muttered Franky, surprised.

Franky was in a very visible place for anyone on either of them looking at the beach, so they quickly hid behind a rock on the beach, watching the pirates in action.

"Let’s go! There’s no time to lose!" The same harsh voice as before echoed again.

Franky raised his head a little to take a furtive glance and try to recognize the pirate ship’s flag. The flag was tattered, but still recognizable: a skull with two crossed swords and one of the eyes bore Claw marks. Immediately, Franky knew which crew it was.

"It’s Captain Claw’s ship," Franky whispered to Victor. "Natural-born marauders and the worst kind of pirates on this island."

Victor frowned, his eyes staring at the enemy ship as the pirates continued to plunder.

"What do you want to do, Victor?" asked Franky calmly.

"Let’s split up."

"What? What are you thinking? We’ll have a better chance of winning if we fight together."

"Yes, that’s true, but they’ve probably taken the crew of the ’Traveling Mermaid’ hostage. If we attack them directly without a distraction, they’ll put their swords to the hostages’ throats and start killing."

"Shit, you’re right."

"You’re the best swimmer I know, Franky, and you’re more agile at sneaking up behind the ship. You’ll need to find a way to free the hostages without attracting too much attention from the pirates. Meanwhile, I’ll appear on the beach and distract those on deck. We need to act quickly and coordinate our movements," said Victor.

"Fine by me, but what about him?" Franky pointed to Captain Demetrius, who was lying next to them.

Demetrius was so drunk that he was snoring in his deep sleep.

"I don’t think he’ll wake up until tomorrow. Then we’ll come back for him."

Franky agreed. Then the Iizardman ran towards the sea quickly and dived fearlessly into the cold water with the naturalness of one who was used to it.

At the same time, Victor stepped out from behind the rock and walked towards the edge of the beach, where the waves touched his feet, and one of the pirates on deck spotted his silhouette walking along the shore and didn’t hesitate to call Captain Claw’s attention.

"Boss, who’s that? Is he one of ours?"

Claw, an imposing man with striking scars on his face and a gleaming metal claw in one hand, turned quickly to see who was approaching from the beach.

A small and thin man, called Mouse, climbed onto the helm of the "Traveling Mermaid" at that moment, looked at Victor and replied:

"It’s dark and I can’t say for sure, but you look like that white-haired man who was stowing this boat."

Claw frowned, his eyes fixed on Victor. He knew there was no way that man on the waterfront could stop what they were doing, so he shouted:

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, pointing his Claw in Victor’s direction.

Victor raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Just someone passing through. What are you doing?"

"Liar! I know you’re one of the crew of this merchant ship!"

Victor sighed, seeing that his lie didn’t stick. "All right, all right! I think we can negotiate, what do you think?"

"Argh! Negotiate?! You’re alone and away from your ship, you’re not really in a position to negotiate anything with us! Everything that’s here now is ours!"

"I don’t care about supplies! Drinks, food and cloth, it doesn’t matter, we’ve just been paid to bring them, they’re not ours!"

"So, what do you want?!"

"The ship, just the ship. If you don’t break the ship anymore or sink it, I can pay you for your generosity!"

At that moment, Captain Claw looked back at the Traveling Mermaid and commented in a normal tone to Mouse:

"Does he really want to pay us not to sink that thing? Even our ship is better..."

"Captain, he must have some emotional attachment to that ship. Take advantage of it, you should demand a huge reward." Mouse said, rubbing his palms together.

"All right, let’s negotiate, stranger!" shouted Claw to Victor, who smiled with satisfaction because there was nothing more time-consuming to do in a situation like this than a negotiation. This guaranteed that he would buy Franky some time.