Looking at the playful glint in Jack's eyes, the innkeeper knew that today he could only spend money to avert disaster.
Although the inn had guards, in front of Jack they were clearly not worth mentioning.
Reluctantly handing over four gold coins, the innkeeper finally saw Jack put away Hai Xiao and leave, satisfied.
However, just as Jack passed by the little girl, she suddenly grabbed the corner of his clothes.
Jack frowned. This little slave couldn't be sold, and she couldn't be eaten either.
She was filthy and not good-looking—don't tell me she planned to cling to him?
The little girl's voice was hoarse, like a smoker's rasp."My father said that whoever kills him will become my new master."
She looked at Jack with firm eyes. The "him" she spoke of was clearly the slave owner.
Jack curled his lips. That old man of yours was really good at calculating.
"Listen carefully, girl. I killed that old bastard only because he was an ignorant idiot, not because I wanted to be your master. As for whatever your father told you, I'm not interested at all."
After saying that, Jack slapped her hand away and turned to leave.
Once Jack was gone, the girl stood there blankly, not knowing what she was thinking.
Another outsider merchant suddenly had crooked thoughts. A little girl like this—if sold in Yunkai, she could fetch more than five silver coins.
The merchant got up and walked over to her."That man doesn't want you. Now that your master is dead, if you go back you'll definitely be killed. How about I find you a place where you can at least get food?"
As he spoke, he reached out, intending to check the girl's just-beginning-to-develop chest.
The moment the girl saw his hand reach out, the dull look in her eyes instantly turned sharp.
She drew the greatsword at her waist and, using her waist as the axis, swung it in a single slash—cutting the merchant clean in half.
Then, dragging the greatsword behind her, she ran in the direction Jack had left. She firmly believed that what her father had said must be right!
The innkeeper, meanwhile, happily stepped forward and stripped the merchant of everything he had, gaining at least ten gold coins.
"Everyone eat and drink well—today's drinks are on me!" the innkeeper said "boldly."
Only then did everyone stop staring at the money pouch in the innkeeper's hand and start loudly discussing what had just happened.
Things like this were common in Slaver's Bay, but someone as capable as Jack was rare.
On the other side, Jack soon noticed the girl following him. He helplessly tried several times to drive her away, but all attempts ended in failure.
Jack genuinely didn't want a little girl slave. Once they went out to sea, a little girl like this would be even more tempting than Evelynn.
Not to mention how much work she could do—Jack simply didn't want to raise someone useless.
Especially a girl. After setting sail, that could easily cause unnecessary trouble.
However, the little girl took the initiative to speak."My parents were both slaves. My mother was violated to death by the slave owner in front of my father. After that, my father told me that whoever could kill the slave owner would be my master."
At this point, Newgate leaned close to Jack's ear and whispered,"This little girl looks a bit foolish. What her father probably meant was for her to sell herself to a big slave master, then have that big slave master kill the old man."
After speaking, Newgate glanced at the greatsword on the girl's body and continued,"This girl must have something extraordinary about her. Otherwise, her father wouldn't have had such thoughts, and the slave owner wouldn't have chained her up and paraded her around."
Newgate had been a slave for fifty years and understood some things very clearly.
A slave owner would never be so bored as to drag around an ordinary slave everywhere.
Unless that slave had something exceptional that made the slave owner feel proud.
Only then did Jack begin to carefully observe the little girl. Her body wasn't skinny like most slaves; instead, it was very well-proportioned, showing that the slave owner hadn't let her go hungry.
She wore coarse linen clothes. Around her neck was a leather collar, connected to a finger-thick iron chain.
And in her hands, she carried a giant sword nearly as tall as herself.
Hmm?Bloodstains on the sword?
"You killed someone just now?" Jack suddenly asked.
The little girl nodded and, without hiding anything, told him exactly what had just happened.
Jack's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected the little girl's greatsword to be anything other than decoration.
With Newgate's explanation, Jack decided to let the little girl follow him. This little brat seemed to have quite a bit of talent with heavy swords.
If properly trained, she might even become his right-hand support in the future—though she did look a bit slow.
"Alright then. You can follow me. What's your name?"
"Xiao mu gou."
"Xiao mu gou?" Jack repeated in surprise.
"Yeah! Everyone says that once I get my first monthly bleeding, I'll become a real little mu gou!"
"That's disgusting. Listen carefully—starting today, your name is Viteeriel. It's a very nice name. As for that previous title, don't ever say it again."
Newgate looked at Viteeriel with a kindly expression."Well? Aren't you going to thank the captain?"
"Thank you, Master!" Viteeriel said. Though she was a bit slow, she could still tell that the name sounded very nice.
Jack pulled out the dagger at his waist and cut off the collar around Viteeriel's neck.
"No need to call me Master. Like everyone else, call me Captain."
Newgate chimed in,"The captain once said that under a red flag, there should be no slaves. Even though I still don't understand what that sentence means, from today on, you are no longer a slave."
Jack hadn't expected that an offhand joke of his would be remembered by Newgate.
Viteeriel stared blankly at the collar lying on the ground, then said,"You opened the collar on my neck. Am I… free now?"
"That's right. You're free. How does it feel? If you want to leave, I won't stop you," Jack said.
To his surprise, Viteeriel shook her head."They all say I'm stupid, but I'm actually not stupid at all. Most of the time, I'm very smart. If I leave… how am I supposed to eat?"
"…"
Jack felt that this plain and unadorned reason was solid to the core.
Even Newgate was surprised by such a straightforward answer. Slaves like this usually didn't live very long—unless they happened to meet a good master.
(End of Chapter)