Chapter 39

Later that day, Alvin received his captain uniform. Although only the simplest of epaulets were added to it, it was a qualitative change from the uniforms of warrant officers and ordinary soldiers.

At the urging of Gary and a couple of sailors who knew him well from the ship, the group went to a decent tavern in the city of Gabred to celebrate with Alvin.

If not for Gull’s temporary departure from Gabred the day before, a celebratory banquet involving the entirety of the Silver Wing’s crew would have been held tonight.

“Cheers!”

“Boss, you can’t drink butterbeer anymore, there’s actually no alcohol in it at all. It’s for kids.”

“Yes, yes, drink this Bacchanal, my father says only the strongest rum is worthy of the bravest man on the sea.”

“Hahaha—!”

Those at the celebration were all young people who had performed exceptionally on the Silver Wing. Being around the same age, they let loose on the beer table and there was no obvious hierarchical barrier. This was also partly because Alvin had never been overbearing.

If Gull or First Mate Perry were here, it would be impossible to have such an atmosphere.

At the same time, in another inland city tens of kilometers away from Gabred, a grand reception was also being held.

The gleaming manor, illuminated by countless gas lamps, seemed to be under daylight. Wine, food, and aromas from all over the world were gathered there. On the dance floor, noblewomen and guests swayed and danced and enjoyed themselves.

Such a lavish cocktail party was certainly not held for trivial matters.

“Pleasure working with you, Colonel!” The host of the party, Earl Stuart Jacques, lifted his glass and clinked it with the tall, gray-haired officer, obviously in a very happy mood.

“Pleasure working with you, Lord Courtesy!” The gray-haired officer smiled back, very satisfied that the transaction had gone smoothly and that everyone had gotten what they wanted.

After a round of necessary social niceties, Gull stood in front of the manor’s tall, floor-to-ceiling windows with his glass of wine, looking quietly in Gabred’s direction.

“The things I ordered from the logistics department should have arrived by now, right? The young eagle is still a little young, but it has already shown the ability to soar… Your son is very outstanding, Freeman, and it’s time to take a step further on the Extraordinary Path…. I hope all will go well.”

…

The celebratory party on Alvin’s side, although simple, was clearly more sincere, and everyone was clearly much closer after they left the tavern.

After drinking the concentrated Bacchanal, the slightly intoxicated sailors hooked shoulders and walked shakily towards the harbor.

At this time, whether it was because of admiration for Alvin’s ability or because of the influence of his officer status, they clustered around Alvin and he naturally got pushed to the middle.

The admiration of everyone made this guy, who had only been a class monitor before in his previous life, a little smug.

“Heh, I’m probably just a commoner too.”

“Eh?”

As soon as the group returned to the naval base, Gary, who was somewhat drunk and had wandering eyes, pointed to the supply ship in the distance and shouted, “Boss, I’m not seeing things, right? I think I just saw a figure jump off the supply ship.”

Hearing that, the sailors looked in the direction he was pointing at.

There was indeed a supply ship that had just arrived at the port when they left. Probably because it was not safe to operate at night, it was parked there without unloading its cargo.

A furtive figure with a black cloth wrapped around his back was slipping down a rope tying the ship to the dock’s bollard quietly. Probably because it was too late, there were few people still active on the dock, and the guards on shift did not notice him at all.

“It’s a thief!”

“Go! We’ll catch him together!”

Someone shouted out from the crowd, then seven or eight people charged up in unison.

The sneaky figure was shocked to find that a group of people was suddenly rushing over, and, no longer able to take cover, jumped down from the rope and ran.

“Don’t run!”

“Stop right there, thief…”

Paying no heed to the shouts of the sailors, the agile and fast figure slipped to the outskirts of the harbor area and plunged headlong into the complicated residential area. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the winding alleys.

“Weird guy!”

Alvin, who had already activated his Data Vision, saw part of the shadow’s attributes. With his agility attribute clearly showing 0.76, it proved that this guy was also an experienced apprentice-level Extraordinary.

But such an apprentice knight had not only ran to the supply ship to steal things, but also chose to run away instead of taking action in the face of a group of ordinary sailors chasing him, which was really intriguing.

Because for Alvin himself, he was confident that he could take care of the drunken sailors before the patrol arrived, and then leave with a swagger.

Whoosh!

Now was not the time to try to figure out what the thief was thinking. Alvin also accelerated instantly and rushed up to him. The low walls and houses in the residential area were no obstacle to him.

The chase entered the second half.

Most of the sailors, who were physically strong but still ordinary humans, had been gradually overtaken, and Gary, who was a little drunk and not a speedy runner to begin with, fell behind and got lost in the alleys.

In the end, Alvin was the only one left who could keep up with the thief.

Probably because Alvin was the only one left chasing him, the shadow slowly stopped. As he passed a small, stone bridge, he leapt lightly and landed on the riverbed that had dried up during the dry season.

Pitter-patter—

“Is the remuneration of the navy much better now? Was it worth chasing me halfway across town, young Mr. Captain?”

When Alvin followed him and jumped off the stone bridge, he found the shadow standing there with perfect composure and no self-consciousness as a thief.

It was only then that Alvin had a chance to see the guy’s face.

He was wearing a long, black cloak; had a big, black, round hat on his head; and a black eye patch covered his eye. With a rapier at his waist, he looked like the chivalrous thief “Zoro”.

“It would be great if Mr. Thief could understand my hardship. Please return the item. It’s so late already. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all go home to wash up and sleep?”

Alvin did not think that this secretive guy was a match for him, and his tone was very relaxed. Considering he had not harmed the ordinary sailors despite having exceptional power, as long as he could return the stolen goods, it was not impossible to let him go.

Not expecting to hear such words from Alvin, “Zoro” was stunned for a moment before displaying a smile of interest on his face. “Hahaha, funny! When did the navy recruit such an interesting guy like you?”

“You want it? Simple! Although I don’t have much use for this thing, it’s very precious to some people.

“As long as you can beat me, I’ll give it to you. You can do whatever you want with it, how about it?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw his package to the ground, unsheathed the rapier at his waist in a lightning-fast motion, and pounced on Alvin.

The black cloak flew up, and in the night, he looked like a huge bat swooping in the air. His moves were fierce and swift, and he was obviously not bad in swordsmanship!

Alvin’s body constitution foundation had been thoroughly solidified and polished to the extreme through successive battles. It could be said that with just a potion, Alvin was 100% sure that he could successfully break through to the Official Knight level.

Having met an experienced Apprentice Knight who also specialised in agility before breaking through, Alvin did not mind playing with him for a while.

Faced with “Zoro”, who was pouncing at him, a cold glint flashed at Alvin’s waist as he gripped his exquisite bastard sword.

For the average person, there was a huge difference between the bastard sword and the rapier. Their weights, usage, and suitable sword techniques were all different. The bastard sword was thick and heavy and mostly used on the battlefield, while the rapier was light and mostly used in sparring.

But in the hands of people who were almost inhuman like them, the type of sword had little effect on their usage of sword techniques.

Alvin’s sword glint became a bolt of silver lightning as he met “Zoro” head-on, reluctant to show weakness.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

As if blending into the night wind, the two men transformed into shadows at nearly the same time, chasing each other through the bridge’s opening.

It took only a moment for the battle to heat up, but in the heat of battle, the blades of the two swords magically did not touch once. It was as if they were waltzing on the dance floor, as if they had an amazing synchronization rate.

“Arcane: Circle Step!”

“Sword Art: Pontoon!”

In the next moment, the two of them coincidentally used the secret arcane techniques of their sword techniques, attacking and defending quickly. The onlookers could only see two silhouettes, they could not even keep up with their footsteps, let alone their swords, which had become a patch of pure white light as they clashed.

The high-intensity sword fight had been going on for a minute, and Alvin had almost figured out Mr. “Zoro’s” tricks. The stalemate was instantly broken.

Clang!

At the cost of taking a half-step forward to put himself in harm’s way under the opponent’s sword, Alvin used his strong sword body to block Zoro’s weak sword body, turned his sword around, and thrust!

One hundred years ago, the Sword Sage Daniel created an entirely new concept of swordsmanship, in which swordsmen no longer attacked with one move and defended with another, but attacked and defended with the same move. As they parried the move, they would have already cleverly countered the opponent’s attack and taken their life.

That was also a sword technique ideology that the White Sail Sword Technique had adopted.

Swoosh—!

Alvin stabbed rapidly, and when the duo’s silhouettes could be seen clearly again, the two men were already separated, with one to the left and one to the right. Unlike Alvin, who was standing at ease, “Zoro” turned around and accelerated, swiftly disappearing into the darkness.

“I’ll remember you! I’ll give the thing to you and challenge you again next time…”

As “Zoro’s” words sounded from the distance, Alvin curled his lip and ignored them.

How was that different from a villain’s standard quote “I’ll be back!”

Alvin sheathed his sword and picked up the package “Zoro” had left behind. Since he had recovered the stolen “loot”, Alvin had no interest in chasing “Zoro” again.

That was not only because of his initial mercy towards the navy soldiers, but also because after fighting him, Alvin found out that this guy was using the Rose Sword Technique and was pretty exceptional at it.

Heck, the Rose Sword Technique did not sound like much, but in the Kingdom of Phaletis, it had a much more resounding name. It was the famous… Palace Sword Technique!