Within the cozy-looking sleeping quarters, Otto was enjoying his night of sleep in the comfort of his own bed.
At that moment, the door creaked open, bringing in the cold air of the night and then the light, soft footsteps of someone entering the room.
The guard flicked on the light switch, enveloping the room with a light, and Otto immediately woke up groggily with a look of annoyance on his face.
"What the hell is the meaning of this?!" Otto roared, and as he stood up, he saw the guard standing in his room.
"You have a guest waiting downstairs, master," the guard said.
"A guest?" Otto's eyebrow twitched. "I don't care who the hell it is. It's fucking late, and I haven't had proper sleep for the past week!"
"I-It's Galahad Mariner…" the guard gulped. "He is apparently here to collect his favor."
Otto blinked blankly before he uttered. "G-Galahad? I thought that bastard was dead? What the hell does he want?!"
"I-I don't exactly know, sir."
After putting on some night garments, he walked down the stairs and found Galahad sitting on a sofa, his legs pressing heavily on the floor.
It was like he owned this place!
"Galahad…" Otto said while standing some distance away. "What a nice surprise."
"Is it?" Galahad turned around and looked at him. "You've turned old, but still ugly as ever."
"…" Otto's eyebrow twitched. "It is quite late, so I would like to know why you've come."
"I've come to collect my favor," Galahad stood up and cleaned the dirt off from his boots by rubbing it against the sofa.
"Oh, and what do you want?" Otto asked. "Money? Slaves?"
"I heard that you've come into possession of two new slaves." Galahad said. "I want to meet them."
"Those two?" Otto looked surprised. "Why? They're nobodies."
"It's none of your concern. I just want to speak to them privately, if I may."
"I-I'll tell a guard to bring them," Otto waved to one of the guards and whispered to him to bring the two slaves.
Galahad crossed his arms as he waited.
After about four minutes, the guard came back with two sleepy-looking slaves. One was Julian, and another was Kiernan.
When they saw Galahad, they didn't recognize him and just stood still by the side.
"Why the fuck were we woken up so late?" Julian muttered under his breath.
"…" Kiernan didn't speak, but he looked suspiciously at Galahad.
"Well, here they are!" Otto said.
"Leave us alone." Galahad waved his hand. "I wish to speak to them privately."
"B-but…" Otto didn't want to leave.
"Leave, now!" Galahad ordered with a roar.
With a quick nod, Otto and his guard left with their tails between their legs. They didn't want to anger Galahad any further.
"…" Galahad walked over to the two young men and looked intensely at their eyes.
He wanted to see whether they were the two thieves he'd been looking for. However, after just one glance, he could tell they were exactly who he was looking for.
The level of strength of the two was also exactly the same as the two thieves.
"Well, hello, you thieving rats," Galahad said. "Where have you hidden my money?"
"What money?" Julian asked. "I don't know of any money."
"Hehe, you might know me by my alias…" Galahad looked at them coldly and said, "Count Sander."
"Never heard of that," Julian said with such confidence that it would make anyone doubt their claims.
However, Galahad just scoffed, quite impressed at their ability to fool others.
'He is Count Sander? He looks so different.' Kiernan thought. 'I guess Julian was right about him changing appearances with the help of Martial King.'
"I know it was you two." Galahad said coldly. "I give you one more chance to tell me where my money is. If not, I will kill you two."
"We don't know what you're talking about," Kiernan said. "We're just two measly slaves. Do you want us to clean your boots? They seem to have been dirtied from walking these shitty, dirty streets."
Julian looked down at Galahad's boots. They were caked in mud and grime.
"…" Galahad narrowed his eyes and then stabbed his finger into Kiernan's chest.
The blood spewed, and his finger dripped with red.
"You're dead." Galahad said with a cold expression.
"Kie… Tobias!" Julian screamed.
"…" Kiernan looked indifferent and said. "Am I dead?"
"?!" Galahad frowned. 'I could swear that this is where his heart should be. The wound should have been fatal.'
He pulled back his blood-stained finger.
"What happened?!" Otto and his guard came after hearing a shout.
They saw Kiernan's chest bleeding because of the small hole in his chest.
"What the hell are you doing, Galahad?" Otto asked angrily. "You're not allowed to kill them. That is beyond what our favor is worth!"
"You moved your heart out of the way, didn't you?" Galahad asked as he looked at Kiernan. "What a masterful usage of your body. You're definitely the thief I fought back in my castle."
"Tight Binding…" Kiernan whispered, and the hole in his chest began to slowly close up.
He compressed his chest muscles, which closed the wound and stopped the dangerous bleeding.
"If you don't stop right now, I'll go to the Emperor Happy!" Otto screamed. "We, pirates, follow the pirate code, and it states that the favors must be respected. However, the favors must be of equal value!"
"…" Galahad frowned. 'I can't allow him to go to the Emperor Happy. It would be obvious that I came to the Pirate Kingdom for these two slaves and not for him. He would kill me.'
"That's true, and I agree," Galahad said. "However, I can make it so that the favor will be equal. I want to fight these two in the fighting pit."
"What?!" Otto screamed.
"A nice spectacle, isn't it?" Galahad asked. "It will sure bring more eyes to your barracks. Two slaves from your barrack will be facing a pirate captain of Emperor Happy's fleet."
"Y-you would still be killing them!"
"Yes, but their death will at least give something," Galahad said. "If I kill them here in obscurity, sure, the favor isn't of equal weight. However, if we fight in the fighting pit, your barracks, even if they lose, will gain from it."
"Shit…" Otto paled. 'Are these two slaves really worth angering Galahad? Definitely not!'
"A-alright then, shit…" Otto said with an ugly expression. "I'll offer my two slaves for your return ceremony. The return of Galahad Mariner, it will surely be a good party!"
"Thank you," Galahad said. "I don't want to wait for too long, so let's have the match in 20 hours, alright?"
"That soon…" Otto nodded briefly. "Alright then…"
"Shit…" Julian whispered. "Tobias, you wouldn't happen to have a plan?"
"Yeah… we must kill that fucker." Kiernan said with a cold expression. "Kill or get killed."
"Kill Martial Grandmaster? Well, shit…" Julian scratched the back of his head.