A sigh escaped from the mouth of one of the family elders as they looked at the two swords in the centre of the room and the additional b.u.t.t load of gold and silver.

"Hehe… with this we stand a chance of actually making something out of the entire messy affair. We may even be able to come out on top!" Armand exclaimed happily before sitting down on the head- chair and seriously looking around the room.

"The auction is the day after and we must prepare! The hall has been set and the invitations have been sent, now we can only wait, hoping that ignoramus Alferdo has not found a way to procure any devil fruits or exquisite slaves.." Elder A said as he stroked his white beard.

"Aye, we have no choice but to wait over this. We have done all we can do, the rest can only be left to those guests of ours" Armand seconded, before commanding the elders to double check the condition of the slaves that they had on hand.

"Chief, we have a wolf kin boy and a fishman on the board as of now, they were just checked and have been administered the slave collar. I have also looked through their habits and behavioral patterns, there are no problems" Elder B remarked as he gave his report.

"How are the Guests? have they complained about anything at all? Do they seem to have any problems?" Armand asked as he came to the last part of his invisible to-do list.

"There seems to be no problem on that end. The captain has asked for nothing but some fine sake and a secluded courtyard. The other older man has only asked that the courtyard has a kitchen facility, but chose to compromise when he saw that we had nothing of the sort by being allowed into the kitchen when he wished. The final one, though, has been a slight problem. He has eaten away at what would have fed the family for a month in the past day! Luckily, the auction is to be held tomorrow after which we will be rid of them." The elder summarized as he solemnly looked through a notebook.

"Uhm! good, make sure all their needs are met so they have no reason to hold it against us. They are probably the strongest people on the island right now, and I want them to have no reason to hold a grudge against me and my family" Armand remarked, before dismissing all the elders to their respective stations.

Another chuckle rang through the room as the elders exited. Most of them could swear that they caught a glimpse of the stoic family chief take a dive into the loot with a goofy grin on his face….

{ Terrick Pov }

Terrick groaned for the umpteenth time as he crawled stealthily on the roof of the building, wincing at every sway at the uncomfortable-ness of the clothing that he had 'borrowed' from one of the pa.s.serby's.

He wore a deep green s.h.i.+rt with dirty brown pants that seemed to have been dipped into a hefty canister of s.h.i.+t. The s.h.i.+rt felt like something a certain Robin Hood would wear, with the same coa.r.s.e st.i.tching and the same uncomfortable grit to it.

Luckily he had escaped from the s.h.i.+p at nightfall, jumping off the brig window into the expansive green ocean. He had then laboriously negotiated among the schools of fish that frequented the harbor, against approaching his privates, which he had jealously guarded with both hands. He was not embarra.s.sed to confess that this had decreased his swimming speed by a hefty margin.

Could they not have left him with the pants he had worn during the escapade? Why had they stripped him so cruelly..? Now Terrick no longer felt pure…

The only thing he felt, was worse than this, was the thought of being forced to sleep with the sister of Alferdo San Juan, upon which he had already previously ranted.

A dull echo rung through the roof as person who had previously been minding their own business caught sight of the unfortunate Terrick, immediately a loud screech rang through the air as people rushed to the young girl looking alertly around to see what had caused her to go into such an obvious bout of anxiety.

She instantaneously pointed them in the direction that Terrick had been futilely crawling towards at the fastest speed he knew to crawl in.

People immediately took to the roofs chasing Terrick who by now had thrown all stealth to the wind, gotten up and taken off in a flurry. Running as if the devil was himself was behind him. (which now if you look at it, he was.)

"Get back here you creep! I'll teach you how to stalk right!!" a voice rose through the mob, the first part put him on guard, but the second part immediately caused him to sweat with a vigor with which he had never a.s.sociated anything else.

"Sod off ol' pervert!" a stocky women said as she brandished baking implement (he did not know which) threateningly. Surprisingly this women was athletic enough to chase him, a hardened a.s.sa.s.sin!

"Miss I can explain!" Terrick began, still not stopping. "It's not what you are thinking!!" "Tell that to the FBI!" she reb.u.t.ted, not stopping at all.

Now that the initial shock of the entire matter had worn off one could see the mob visibly thinning, which encouraged Terrick to immediately jump into the shadow of a thatched roof, slip between two buildings and jump into a cart of hey.

"Where did that pervert go..?" a voice echoed from the left before seemingly ending completely.

Terrick breathed in slowly slowing down the beat of his heart, before pulling out some hay and making it into a makes.h.i.+ft cap that he used to cover his face.

He sighed tiredly as he twitched into the shadows moving quickly toward the San Juan family home. He had a report to give and a person to talk to, he hoped nothing had happened to her as he flitted silently away…