Insistent Assistant 16 (Patreon)

Insistent Assistant

Chapter 16

-VB-

Jacobe

It became quickly obvious to everyone, including Jacobe, that their captain was a very enthusiastic pirate hunter when the opportunity presented itself.

Worse, hunting pirates became part of their training while the regular sailors who opted to not receive training just remained aboard the two ships, obeying every order given by the First Mate Sparrow. A mere one week after they left their latest port of call, they had ran into yet another pirate ship. And then a month after that. And then another week after that. Finally, today, they ran into another pirate ship after only three days.

Jacobe didn’t know whether the captain had the best or worst luck. On one hand, many of these pirates’s ships were fat with loot. On the other hand, it felt like each fight with these pirates were not only getting harder but longer.

As for him?

He was in the thick of the fighting with the captain, wielding a pistol he’s already spent and a saber.

And he never felt more alive.

His training kicked in, and he ducked under a horizontal slash from a pirate. The attack was far too slow to catch him, especially after the ordeal he and his other crazy went through at his captain’s hands.

As the pirate realized his mistake and tried to backpedal, Jacobe rushed toward the man and stabbed forward with his saber. He winced as the tip of the blade dug into the tattered shirt, the soft flesh, and then the squishy organs underneath it all. He ignored the scream of the pirate that now had his intestines punctured and slashed, and gave the man mercy by slicing up toward his solar plexus.

With a swift backpedal and pull away, the blade came free, and the pirate collapsed clutching at his stomach.

Jacobe let out a shuddering breath as he looked around frantically. Was he being targeted? Was he under any more attack?

He was, and had been diligent enough to see it coming.

He hissed as he pulled his head and neck away from the path of a vertical slash. Barely seeing his attacker and with his blade on the other side of the body and attacker, he instead kicked at the man’s somewhat straightened knee as hard as he could. He felt the sole of the boot connecting with the knee and then the knee snapping backward.

The second pirate cried out in pain but didn’t relent completely. He tried to attack again but with his knee ruined and in extreme pain, his aim and balance were off. When he stumbled, Jacobe stepped in and gave his saber one good swing to slice open the man’s neck.

He winced when the blade struck flesh and sliced all the way through and came out of the other end. Blood sprayed from the gaping wound and Jacobe squinted his eyes as he got a faceful of that spray.

Quickly wiping at his eyes with his mostly untouched left forearm, he again looked around.

Again, there was another pirate ready to kill him. In fact, there were two of them!

He reacted instantly, diving in under the swing of the first of the pair, and then swung up. His saber had a longer reach than he expected and dug into the pirate’s arm instead of his chest. That’s when the other pirate attacked with a short spear of all things. Jacobe let go of the saber and jumped away from the flurry of spear thrusts. He grabbed an axe dropped by one of the dead pirates. He waited for another strike and timed it just right!

And grabbed the spear.

The pirate looked surprised but let go almost instantly.

Big mistake.

Jacobe pulled the spear back and then thrust it into … the other pirate, the one still recovering from a saber digging halfway through his elbow. The blunt butt of the spear knocked the wind out of him, sending him tumbling backward. Unfortunately for him, Jacobe’s comrades joined in on the fight and stabbed the downed pirate without any mercy.

The formerly spearman pirate winced when he saw his partner die and didn’t see another of Jacobe’s comrade stalk up and stab him. He screamed as the dagger tore into his spine and sides and went down gurgling.

Jacobe looked around again, and this time, didn’t see any more pirates fighting back.

“Finally,” he sighed as his shoulders dropped in relief.

He grumbled as the relentless sunlight baked his back and quickly moved to be under the shade, seeing as the rest of the crew already had the pirates under control.

As for their captain…

He sat on top of a pile of fifty or so pirates, which was quite the number of pirates for a merchant brig this size. Combined with another two dozen the rest of the crew killed, it made for quite the haul.

Each pirate was worth ten thousand or so beris, which wasn’t much but it was better than regular wage. On top of that, their captain only took a small share for being both the captain and the owner of the ship. Jacobe remembered hearing about how some captains and their officers would take every single piece of the rewards.

“Oh, are we done already?” the captain asked when he looked around after his last victim fell dead. “Bummer. I could have practiced my sword style a little more.” The captain remained nonchalant about the violence and death he brought in his wake.

Another thing that he noticed was the number of slaves aboard this ship. Unlike other pirates, this ship had carried slaving pirates and thus slaves that they were obviously going to sell to ports of disrepute.

The captain noticed them too as Jacobe’s crewmates brought the slaves out to be taken aboard their ship.

One of the slaves, a young woman, suddenly dashed out from the group, grabbed one of the discarded swords on the deck, and lunged at the few surviving but bound pirates.

Bad stance, weak arms, and slow but fueled by rage evident in her trembling and face, the girl lashed out and cut into the pirates.

Jacobe was tempted to step in but the captain didn’t so he didn’t. Everyone watched as the last of the pirates got butchered by a waif of a girl.

When the girl finally stopped, she screamed out at the sky and just collapsed to her knees. It was only then that the captain walked up to the girl.

“Girl, do you want to kill more pirates?”

‘You’re merciless, captain.’