"Oh, thank the seas. You’ve got to help me! As you can see, I’m in a shitty situation here."

The Redflower slowly approached the wrecked ship that sailed no flag.

Atop the mast, they were able to get a better look at the man calling for help. He was a middle-aged man with a crown of silver hair, whilst bald at the top of his head. His face was slightly wrinkled, and he was dressed in a fine grey suit that hardly seemed appropriate for the sea.

He was clinging to the mast desperately whilst his ship slowly began to sink around him.

In the water surrounding his ship, there were no signs of wreckage. Any part of the ship that broke away from the main vessel was inevitably swallowed by the sea.

This was another sign that they were on the outskirts of the Maze Sea.

Roseus stepped up to the railing and looked up at the man.

"What happened to you?" he shouted curiously. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The silver-haired man’s face screwed up.

"Can’t we discuss this once I’m saved? I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’m kind of stranded here!"

The way the man spoke made Roseus want to spit into the ocean and continue sailing past him, leaving him to drown with the rest of his ship.

It was only when Dawn came up beside him that he decided otherwise.

"Rose, I don’t think he’s a pirate. This looks more like a merchant ship."

Only after she said that did Roseus take a closer look at the ship and realise that it indeed did not look like a pirate ship. That was mainly because there were no cannons on the ship at all.

Of course, the Redflower Pirates were also lacking cannons, but that was due to their lack of funds before departure. Whereas the ship in front of them seemed modern in design, which meant that it had likely discarded weaponry in order to use their funds elsewhere.

"She’s right," Blodwen added. "And besides, that man carries no presence with him. He’s no pirate."

Hearing this, Roseus felt confident that even if they did save the man, if he proved to be trouble, they could just throw him overboard.

So, he decided to save him. After all, he could question him to gain knowledge.

...

After a few manoeuvres involving rope, Kruger and Blodwen successfully hoisted the man onto the ship.

He landed on the deck, panting and out of breath. By the time he had recovered, he looked up to find a bunch of eyes staring at him.

The man scratched at the bald part of his head.

"Ahh, pirates. Although you don’t all look like pirates... Eh, anyways, you won’t kill me, right? Just drop me off at the nearest island and I’ll be on my way. My destination was Kefi Island, so that would be ideal."

When the man noticed that all the pirates around him remained silent, he started to become more nervous.

"Ahh yes, introductions. Apologies. I am Sir Lloyd, Captain... well, ex-captain of this merchant ship."

So they were merchants. That explained a lot.

"What happened to your ship? Are there any treasures aboard?" Roseus asked, being the first of his crew to speak.

Instead of answering, Lloyd furrowed a brow.

"Are you the captain of this ship? I must say, you are quite young. I was expecting the green-haired fellow to be—"

The man’s words were cut off as one of Jackson’s heavy hands clobbered him in the jaw. He fell over and slid across the deck, blood immediately flying from his mouth.

To everyone’s surprise, he wasn’t knocked out. He did spit out a tooth though.

"I-I’m sorry, please, no more!" Lloyd begged.

Roseus sighed. He didn’t want to hurt the pathetic man.

"Just make things easier for us and answer my questions," he said.

"Alright, alright!" Lloyd sat himself up, a hand covering his bloody mouth. "No, there are no treasures on this ship. They either sank, or were plundered by them."

When he said "them", the merchant captain nodded into the distance. It was in the same direction where Blodwen had noticed the sailing ship heading deeper into the Maze Sea.

"Who are they?" Roseus asked.

He noticed that whilst on the ship, the others left questions up to him. It was a sign of respect.

The question made Lloyd shiver, as he seemed to be recounting the events in his mind.

After a while, he gulped and said...

"The Templars."

After hearing these words, a mixture of expressions spread across the crew’s faces.

Those who recognised the name had wide eyes, whilst those who didn’t looked confused.

"The Templars?" Pip repeated, being young and lacking in knowledge.

Sir Lloyd continued.

"Yes, young lady, the Templars. The most devout pirates who worship the God of Knowledge."

Pip looked confused. "But isn’t the God of Knowledge one of the Orthodox Gods? Why does a pirate crew worship the Orthodox Gods?"

"That’s because they didn’t used to be pirates." Lavender entered the conversation, being knowledgeable on the crew who worshipped the same god as her. "They were a church of legend that supposedly existed on an island located in the Third Ocean. I did not know they were real."

Pip’s black eyes went wide as she learned the new information.

This left Roseus scratching his chin. "The question is, what are they doing here in the First Ocean? They shouldn’t even be in the Second Ocean, if the legends are true."

Sir Lloyd looked at the captain of the Redflowers as though he had never been more confused in his life. Then he looked at all the others, sharing that same confusion.

"Hmm, don’t any of you know of the current situation in the Second Ocean?"

Everyone remained quiet, even Blodwen.

Seeing this, Lloyd sighed and continued.

"The Admiral of the Templars and his captains have sailed into the Second Ocean on his flagship with a new religious mission in mind. He sends out his captain’s ships to spread his message to other ships that dare sail into the sea: Praise God, or drown."