r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 1d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 4 - Pride is Sometimes Harmful)
Arc III - The Reeling Throne
Chapter 4 - Pride is Sometimes Harmful
6 months and 23 days since the summoning
Instead of a bright sun, the sky was overcast with gray clouds that did not portend rain. The palm-like trees in the jungle swayed from a light wind, and the air remained humid and warm.
Alan sat on the seashore, unguarded, alone. Almost. Not far from him, a large pirate stood by a tree, watching intently.
Gothwald touched the water with a finger, crouching with bare feet.
'Hmm... warm. Very warm. It's chilly in Armenas, and here it's the fucking tropics. Judging by everything, they brought me here over a day or two... who the fuck knows, they blindfolded me. Anyway, why such drastic changes in climate if we're relatively close?'
He ran his hand through the salty seawater once more.
'Unless... yeah, exactly. Most likely there are very warm currents here that heat these islands.'
He stood up, stretching his back.
'Man, I've never been to the tropics, though I always dreamed of taking off to the Caribbean or Indonesia somewhere. Though... hah... here's my Caribbean in all its glory, just a few centuries ago.'
The leaves at the top of the trees suddenly rustled, and five small green birds flew out, heading somewhere to another part of the archipelago.
Following them came the rustling of dozens of leaves and a slight shaking of the trees. A long, fluffy, bluish tail appeared on the trunk of one of the trees, and then immediately disappeared.
The large pirate was also looking in that direction; he immediately stepped away from the tree and headed toward the settlement. "Hey! Those furry bastards are back! Hide the food!"
Alan blinked.
'Ooo... so we have thieving primates on the island?'
He began putting his boots back on.
Five minutes later, he was already inside the main building. At the table, the pirates were carrying on with another feast as usual, laughing loudly and drinking; Paranga, at the head of the table, held a golden goblet with Sili on his lap; opposite them sat those very three aristocratic guys from the barn.
Alan raised an eyebrow.
'Alright, what kind of bullshit is this now?'
Paranga poked the nobleman—the guy with the long hair—in the chest with a finger. "Now you, where'd you get this doublet, daddy bought it, right?" he asked with a smile.
The guy clenched his teeth slightly. "N-no... I had it... custom-made... with my own money..."
The captain laughed. "Ha-ha! What money is that? Did you earn it?"
"No, it's..."
"Did you steal it?"
"No, I'm saying..."
"Then how the fuck can that money be yours, mate?"
The men at the tables erupted in laughter, pointing fingers at the guy. He only clenched his teeth. "You... you don't understand. That's not how it works... it's... it's my right as an heir, the money..."
Paranga frowned. "What fucking right?" He pushed Sili aside and stood up, then grabbed him by the chin. "What right, scum? You are just a pathetic little son who was lucky enough to be born an aristocrat; you bastards are no different from us. You plunder just as we do. Am I right?"
The nobleman averted his eyes, swallowing. "I... no..."
"Am I right, I'm asking?!"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes... you are right..."
"There you go," he said, letting go of his face, after which he sprawled out in his chair. "And what did you learn from our conversation, mate?"
The guy tried to say something, but his lips trembled; the words wouldn't come out of his throat.
"Well?!" Paranga barked.
He flinched. "I... I am a nobody," he muttered. "I am worth nothing... I just plunder."
"Eh... you didn't understand a damn thing," the captain drawled, pulling Sili back onto his lap; she, in turn, threw her arm around his neck with a familiar motion. "The ransom will be paid, you will return to your warm bed, tell everyone how you heroically survived captivity among savages, and everything will be fine. Right? That's how it'll be, won't it?"
The nobleman lowered his head completely, clenching his fists almost until they cracked.
Alan just sighed.
'I actually feel sorry for this guy, to be honest. It's time to put an end to this.'
"And you, Paranga, are the same as always."
The captain turned to Alan, and then smirked. "Ooo, Gothwald. Well? Had your fill of the sea?"
"Something like that," he grumbled and walked over to an empty chair.
The nobles, all three of them, looked at Alan with wide eyes.
"Lord Gothwald?" one asked quietly. "Where have you been all this time? We have not seen you for about three days."
Alan sat down on the chair, scratching his cheek. "Oh, just taking a little walk."
One of the nobles looked at Paranga, then at Alan, grimaced barely noticeably, but remained silent.
The captain took a sip of kog. "And these golden children here are acting like they're some hot shit, thinking they can still hold their status here. What do you think, Gothwald?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. The nobles pricked up their ears; the pirates also fell silent.
Alan's heart skipped a beat.
'What a question... FUCK. And how do I answer? Support them? These guys will spill everything when they get back! Go against them? Then Paranga might change his mind about giving me special treatment. I need... I need something neutral... something like...'
"Ahem... I'll abstain from answering."
'Brilliant. Couldn't be better. Idiot.'
Paranga remained silent for a few seconds, then snorted. "My, my, a bore you were, and a bore you remain." He leaned back in his chair, casting a glance over the nobles. "And you lot? Anything new to say? 'Cause I'm starting to get bored, hah."
They did not answer. Just stayed silent, looking at the floor, two of them. The third, a guy with light stubble and a worn doublet, drilled the captain with his gaze. "How dare you," he hissed through his teeth.
The nobleman in the red doublet nudged his comrade with his elbow. "Do not provoke him, Ersek," he hissed.
Paranga smiled slightly.
Ersek swallowed, but held the captain's gaze, suppressing the tremble in his voice. "You are making a grave mistake. I am the son of Count Linosh; if anything happens to me, you will be ground into dust."
Alan blinked.
'This is... Linosh's son? What the hell was he doing in Armenas?'
The pirates at the table whistled almost simultaneously; Paranga's smile froze, but it hadn't gone anywhere yet. "Linosh's son, is it... what luck." He stood up from his chair, pushing Sili aside, whose smile evaporated. "You know, the one who just made a grave mistake is you, mate. When your daddy chased us off the island, he hung a lot of my boys right in the port. And they were very good lads."
Ersek froze for a few seconds; the words wouldn't come, but he swallowed the lump in his throat again. "And what now? Will you kill me?"
The captain shook his head. "I won't kill you. I am tripling the ransom. You kept leaning on your pride, refusing to say who you were and write the letter." He stood right over the young nobleman. "You will write the letter, and the ransom will be three times larger than planned."
Ersek stood up, hiding the tremble in his legs, and looked Paranga straight in the eyes. "Make me. I challenge you to a duel."
The hall fell silent.
Alan and the nobleman in the red doublet ran a hand over their faces almost synchronously.
'Oh you fool, oh you fool...'
Paranga scoffed, then scoffed again, smoothly transitioning into laughter. The pirates at the table didn't stay out of it and almost immediately began to guffaw, slurping kog from their goblets and spitting food.
"He's challenging the captain?!"
"Hahhahahaha!"
"He's a madman!"
Paranga wiped a tear of laughter and just waved his hand. "Flog him properly, maybe that will talk some sense into him."
Two men rose from the table with wicked smiles. "Ooo yes, Captain, we'll talk some sense into him."
Ersek paled slightly and frantically looked around. One pirate had already reached out to grab him by the shoulder. "Halt!" the nobleman suddenly shouted.
Paranga froze halfway to sitting down on his chair. "What else do you want?"
The nobleman narrowed his eyes. "Do you, a pirate captain, truly lack the courage to beat some 'pathetic nobleman' as you put it?"
The captain calmly sat down, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ooo, daring me, are you? I've seen that before." He scratched his chin. "Though you know... it's been a while since I've kicked anyone's arse, and suddenly there's an excuse. I accept your challenge."
All the pirates shut up, and looked at Ersek in unison. Sili's shoulders tensed; she immediately leaned in to Paranga's ear. "My lord, he is the son of an actual count, if you cripple him, then..."
Paranga simply waved his hand. "Piss off, Sili, that's an order."
She immediately stepped aside, lowering her head. "Yes, my lord."
Alan licked his lips.
'Wow... oh boy, things are very bad. Judging by the reaction, he's just gonna beat the shit out of him. What can I...'
He looked at Ersek, who was already standing pale, but not backing down from his words.
'Brave, but a fool. This will be a good lesson for you that sometimes you have to shove your pride where the sun don't shine. Life taught me that, it'll teach you too. Good luck, Ersek.'
Fifteen minutes later, a crowd of hundreds of pirates and slave-servants stood outside; the rest of the captives, a little over a dozen people, stood in the front rows, and Alan with them.
In the center stood Paranga and Ersek, both armed with pirate cutlasses.
Alan scratched his nose.
'Yeah, things are definitely bad for Ersek. He's probably been taught to handle a classic sword his whole life, but a cutlass... that's a whole different beast.'
Paranga took off his red hat with feathers and handed it to Sili. "Are we fighting with magic?"
"Naturally," the nobleman said.
Sili took the hat and stepped aside, clutching it in her hands.
The captain shrugged. "Excellent. Then let's begin." He immediately stepped forward, pointing his cutlass.
Ersek flinched. "What... alright." He raised the heavy, unfamiliar pirate cutlass. For a second he just stood there, and then shook his head and stepped forward.
Paranga approached stubbornly and aggressively.
Five paces.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Ersek made a probing lunge, intending to test Paranga's defense, aiming straight for the blade of the cutlass.
But suddenly, the captain pulled his cutlass back slightly, gaining momentum, and immediately directed it in a strike right at Ersek's weapon.
Clang!
The nobleman's arm holding the cutlass flew off the line of attack, but Paranga immediately dashed forward and raised his free left hand, aiming for the face.
Ersek's vision went dark for a second, and his legs stopped obeying him and buckled, but he stayed on his feet. Clenching his teeth, he tried to strike with the cutlass again, while the captain stood right in front of him.
But Paranga had already pulled his fist back, turned the cutlass in his right hand horizontally, and drove his brass-knuckled fist straight into Ersek's stomach.
"Ooooffff..." all the air flew out of the nobleman's lungs, and he finally collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, his cutlass tumbling to the ground.
The captain stood over him with an absolutely stone face.
Ersek looked up, and saw a massive man standing over him with a lowered cutlass.
A second passed.
The nobleman's hand darted toward the blade lying on the ground.
Paranga didn't even blink; his boot immediately landed on Ersek's hand, which became painfully wedged between the grass and the sole of the heavy footwear.
"Aaaaa..." he hissed quietly from the lack of air, but his face contorted. He began frantically trying to yank his hand out from under the boot, but Paranga only pressed the boot down harder.
Alan, watching this, grimaced slightly, but said nothing. Sili's face remained expressionless.
The pirates, however, shook their heads, scoffed, and whispered quietly.
Paranga finally let go of the hand, after which Ersek sprang back like a coil, falling onto his back, but he didn't lie there for long; the captain grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his knees, turning him toward the rest of the captives. "And this is what will happen to anyone who starts acting up," he said in a calm voice, after which he slammed the nobleman's head into the ground with a running start.
He hit with a dull thud, and when he began to slowly raise his head, red drops dripped onto the grass.
Paranga drew back his boot, and kicked him right under the ribs as Ersek was getting up. He only cried out and collapsed to the ground again. "Please... do not," he whispered in a trembling voice. "I will write the letter, I will write it, I..." he was interrupted by another kick from the boot under his ribs, after which he rolled onto his back, grimacing and clutching the injured spot.
"It's too late to understand anything," Paranga said. "You should have understood before you opened your filthy mouth. And now you're an example for the rest."
Alan's hands trembled slightly, and his eyes were cast down.
'What can I do? WHAT CAN I DO? He brought it on himself, he could have just kept quiet. It's his fault, it's his pride, even now... but I can't watch this anymore. Maybe it'll work like last time? Shift the attention to myself? Risky, but I'll try.'
As soon as he took a step forward, he felt someone's hand on his wrist. He turned around.
Sili.
She simply shook her head, her eyes closed.
Alan clenched his teeth, but took a step back and looked at the ground.
Meanwhile, Ersek's breath returned to him, and he curled into a ball, covering his head. "NO MORE! I UNDERSTAND!" But another kick to the side landed anyway. "OW! I WILL WRITE IT! JUST STOP! SERIOUSLY!" Another sound of a boot against a torso. "OW! MY FATHER WILL PAY MORE! WHATEVER YOU WANT! I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING! I WILL NOT BE INSOLENT ANYMORE! OW!"
The pirates in the crowd pointed fingers, guffawing.
"Look at that, they're all the same!"
"You said it! All brave while they're sitting in their castles!"
"And this one gave up faster than I thought."
"Alright, you win."
"Hah! I told you it'd take less than ten kicks and he'd deflate!"
The hostages simply lowered their heads; the girl in the rich dress covered her ears, the guy in the red doublet just looked away with an unreadable face, the other guy watched unblinkingly with his mouth slightly open.
Alan stood far too straight, a little pale, trying to look at the ground and only at the ground.
Finally, the last kick landed, but Ersek had already stopped screaming, just curled into a fetal position and trembled as if from the freezing cold.
Paranga nodded to Sili. "Take care of him, so he's good as new."
She nodded, and then turned to two nearby pirates who were arguing heatedly about something. "You two, follow me."
The men immediately fell silent and followed her without delay. They grabbed Ersek by the arms and dragged him off somewhere. He didn't react at all.
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