"Oh? So it’s you, the visitor from Nali this morning... What a coincidence, we’ve met again."
Fisher hadn’t yet asked the Book Knight what he was doing here when he suddenly smelled a strong scent of alcohol coming from the alley before him. Following the dim moonlight, he saw an old man with the appearance of a beggar, clutching an iron liquor flask in his hand.
He was leaning against the side of the alley, periodically lifting the flask to his mouth to take a swig of strong liquor. Drops of clear liquid fell from the corner of his mouth, landing precisely on the compass he held in his lap—the one made in Nali.
It was Captain Jesse, the old captain he had encountered at the Magic Market that morning. Fisher still remembered his name.
"Captain Jesse, right?"
"Absolutely, absolutely, it’s rare for anyone to remember my name. Thanks for what you bought this morning; that’s kept my flask from running dry... I forgot to ask your name, though. You are the, uh, ’little brother’ of this book?"
Fisher glanced at the Book Knight who was hiding on his shoulder, looking away, not saying a word, and even trying to whistle nonchalantly as if playing possum. He fought the urge to punch him and after a silence of a second or two, shook his head and said,
"No... What did he just tell you?"
"Ah, I figured as much. Your bookish friend here boasts even more wildly than a drunk old man like me, claiming he fought the Demon in the Abyss for three hundred rounds and emerged victorious... Thinking he was so capable, I wanted to ask him to take back my ship for me, but then he suggested asking his ’little brother,’ which means you, to handle the matter..."
"Yes, it’s docked over there... Beautiful, isn’t it?"
Following his gaze, Fisher looked towards the end of the alley and saw a wooden ship resting by the sea, bathed in moonlight. Although it was a wooden ship, Fisher saw distinct steam-powered structures, seemingly made during the early stages of the technological revolution.
"’Pioneer class,’ the Flying Fish, the fastest ship in her day; she still seems as formidable as ever... But now she’s been taken by the damned pirates on this island, just because I owed their boss money. I only owed them a few thousand Narliou, who knew that over a few years it would become tenfold! These damn locusts..."
"Anyway, there’s no treasure onboard, just some books I’ve collected during my travels around the world, and an engine heart that’s always waiting for me to start it up. I was just joking with your bookish friend. Even if you help me get the ship back, I won’t be able to give you any reward..."
As he spoke, Jesse took another swig from his flask and waved his hand nonchalantly towards Fisher and the others.
"Fisher! I can sense it, there’s an enticing book up there, one I’ve never recorded... Please, let me see what is recorded in that book. If you help me this time, I won’t hold it against you for throwing me out of the room this afternoon... Oh, and afterwards, I won’t tell any other ladies about your embarrassing incident either."
Fisher couldn’t bother with him, but then again, looking at the wooden ship swaying with the waves on the sea, there was a flicker in his eyes, and he suddenly asked,
"Could your ship make it to the Northern Realm?"