Praise God...

Captain Roseus, who had only just recently abandoned his god and battled with it, wasn’t keen on the message.

Lloyd spat blood onto the deck, along with another tooth. He cursed before continuing.

"I am a pious believer in the God of War. I used to attend church at the Polemos Cathedral, home to the God of War himself. As such, my crew were composed of followers of the same religion. When I expressed this to the Templars, well... you can see what happened."

Lavender shook her head in disappointment. "That is wrong. The five Orthodox religions are supposed to be allied."

"Pfft, there are no alliances out at sea, lass," Kruger laughed. "Anyways, why did the Templars let you live?"

"Why, to spread the word of God, of course."

After hearing all of this, Roseus created a picture in his mind of what the current state of the Second Ocean might look like.

Depending on who the leader of this organisation was, they might truly have full control over the ocean, sending their different ships and consorts to each sea located within it, and punishing those who didn’t believe in their god.

A stray thought entered his head then.

"Tell me about the ship that attacked you. Specifically their numbers, and any skills used."

As he said this, he noticed Blodwen and Dawn looking at him through the corners of their eyes.

Lloyd thought for a few moments as he recalled their short battle.

"They sail on a brig, so they were able to carry roughly fifty crew members. I didn’t see their captain, as we were far too weak to be any real threat to them. Their men just used bullets and cannons to wreck us from range."

Roseus knew what a brig was. If a sloop was a first-tier ship, which was what both he and his brother Aeros sailed on during their battle, then a brig was a pirate’s version of a Navy Warship, the direct step up above.

In other words, for pirates, a tier-one ship was a sloop, and a tier-two ship was a brig. For the navy, a tier-one ship was a patrol ship, and a tier-two ship was a warship.

The fact that a consort ship of the Templars was a brig carrying over fifty men made him wonder what the flagship of the Templars would be like.

That was where the Admiral would stand, which was the title directly above Captain.

...

Roseus stepped away from the merchant for a moment and called his First and Second Mates over to him. He told Kruger and Petyr to keep an eye on the merchant in the meantime.

The three stood in a group away from the others, out of earshot.

"I have an idea, but I wanted to consult you both first," Roseus started. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Dawn folded her arms. She wore a knowing expression on her face.

"You want to chase down and hunt the Templars, don’t you?" she guessed correctly.

Before he could even respond, Blodwen shook his head.

"Foolish. They outnumber us, most likely outpower us, and we don’t know enough about their ship. How do you think that will go for us?"

But Roseus didn’t back down.

He reached over his shoulder and drew the weapon tied to his back with a makeshift scabbard. The Greycloud Longsword appeared in his hand, shining golden with all of its brilliance.

From the sidelines, Sir Lloyd looked at the sword and mumbled to himself, praying to his god.

Both Dawn and Blodwen looked at the blade, and they both couldn’t help but step back a little bit.

They had seen what the weapon could do firsthand.

Roseus rested the point on the deck.

"We are not worshippers of the God of Knowledge. We’re going to run into them eventually, whether that be in the Maze Sea or in the Second Ocean. They will try to sink us then, so why not strike first?"

For a moment, Blodwen seemed to be considering it deeply. He knew that if he also gave aid, with the help of Rai’zac’s thunder, they might just be able to take down a Templar brig.

However, Dawn had a different idea.

"We might not be worshippers of the God of Knowledge, but Lavender is. If we run into the Templars, can’t we claim that Lavender is slowly attempting to convert us? Through this, we could form a temporary alliance with the Templars, which would aid us greatly in the Second Ocean. Since none of us have a permanent pact with any sea gods, this won’t create conflicts with our beliefs."

At first, Roseus wanted to reject the idea. Not because he didn’t think it would work, but rather because he was against the idea of teaming up with religious zealots.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realised just how wise the plan was.

With the Templars backing them, there would be many opportunities. They might be able to safely visit second ocean islands, negotiate trades for treasures, whilst also learning more about the state, knowledge, and history of the Sea Gods.

The most important thing to a pirate was his own crew, but sometimes the greatest benefits came from creating alliances with other crews.

Roseus slapped Dawn’s back three times before nodding his head vigorously. "A good idea... No, an excellent idea."

Dawn smiled, and her cheeks flushed slightly. She felt a warmth spread throughout her body.

Even Blodwen nodded his head and rubbed his green beard. "A dangerous idea, but one that will come with great rewards if we play our cards right. We just need to think of a way to execute it."

...

Following this, Captain Roseus brought the crew together to discuss their plans. Whilst they discussed, they told Lloyd to wait below deck.

They wouldn’t throw the man overboard, but they didn’t trust him. He couldn’t hear what they were planning.

They made sure to raise their sails so that they didn’t sail deeper into the Maze Sea without noticing and end up wrecked.

As they drifted atop the waters, the sun soon set and the moonlight provided light for those out at sea.

By the time they had finished discussing their plans, they lowered their sails again and set out for the Maze Sea, chasing the backs of the Templars’ consort ship.