NIMBUS AND THE KNIGHTS OF CENFERUM

Capítulo 24 part 3

The next day, Nimbus woke up and realized that real life wasn't as glorious as the old Ether traveler used to say. He had many bruises and a lot of pain throughout his body, and he was still hungover. His head felt like it was going to explode. Jim hadn't even woken up yet and was snoring in the upper bunk bed. After breakfast, Nimbus found out that Corporal Ari, his superior in the cleaning team, had even spoken to the captain, and Lonios had a lot of work to clear up the misunderstanding.

After having his coffee in the restaurant, Nimbus met Valeros, and they both laughed a lot about the previous night's events. Valeros mentioned that Captain Jones, Lonios, and Adon had gone out, along with the officers of the Peregrino, to negotiate the sale of the ships' cargo and then buy essential supplies for the return journey. They had lunch, and Jim appeared for the first time after the fight. Now, in the daylight, it was noticeable how injured he was – both eyes were purple, his eyebrow was cut, and judging by his expression while eating, his inner mouth was bruised. He didn't talk much that day.

Elisis also showed up around lunchtime, but she didn't eat with them. Instead, she had lunch with Nurse Cris, and they talked a lot. In the afternoon, she called four guards and went out with them and Cris to the city. Initially, it was thought that she took them for protection, but by the end of the afternoon, when she returned, it was discovered that it was to carry the things they had bought. The poor guards were loaded with boxes and bags, and the two women were very happy and chatty when they arrived back at the ship.

Nimbus and Jim did what was agreed upon and went to see the ships that were docked in the port. However, Jim didn't talk about the ships; according to him, his mouth was hurting, and he had mouth sores from the punches he took in the fight. They limited themselves to looking at the ships, and occasionally Jim spoke with difficulty about some important characteristic of each one. When they returned to the Brand in the late afternoon, there was a lot of confusion at the entrance. The captain, Lonios, and Adon were waiting for someone, but the captain seemed angry.

— Where is that irresponsible one? Curse it! They gave me the worst professionals in all of Cenferum. — When referring to the worst professionals, the captain meant Lonios, who was a wandering knight, Adon, an old man almost retired, and Elisis, a newly proclaimed Amazon.

— Don't worry; Dr. Henry will be here soon. He's always like this when arriving in cities. — Adon tried to reassure the captain, but it seemed not very successful.

— Let's wait just five more minutes. I'm sure Alferes Ari has full capacity to command the engineering. — The reason the captain was making such a fuss was explained; his plans were to appoint his sycophant as the head of engineering. However, this was a problem as the boy was utterly incompetent, knew nothing about mechanics, and no one liked him inside because he used to treat everyone like trash.

— There he is, captain. — Lonios pointed to Dr. Henry turning the corner and heading towards the ship.

When he approached, it was possible to notice his true state. The night before, he was wearing new clothes, and now they were completely torn and dirty, and he smelled a lot, probably having woken up in the gutter with the sun on his face, as he had said the day before. But as he approached the boys, he pulled down the collar of his shirt and showed lipstick marks on his neck; perhaps he met a beautiful lady and also slept in the gutter; only he would know the truth. Approaching everyone, he said, "Memorable night!" and smiled.

— Night? It's already late afternoon. Where were you, you irresponsible? We're about to leave. — The captain spat at everyone while yelling.

— You were quite clear and said we would only leave tomorrow morning — replied the doctor.

— It seems he managed to convince the Peregrino crew to leave today to take advantage of the sun and return more quickly — explained Lonios.

— We will arrive more quickly — added the captain.

— Did you know I would only arrive in the early evening? I had warned you, captain, and I even arrived earlier — Henry replied.

— I don't remember having that conversation with you — said the captain.

— That's a lie; I went to your cabin to inform you that I would arrive in the early evening.

— How can you accuse me of being a liar? Do you have witnesses who saw you talking to me about this? Do you? — The captain spoke sarcastically.

— How am I going to have witnesses if I talked to you inside your cabin! — Henry was starting to get irritated.

— Go to your quarters, Dr. Henry; Alferes Ari is organizing engineering for our departure.

— I'm not going to my quarters, not at all; I have work to do in engineering.

— This is an order; go to your quarters, clean up this filth covering your body — he pointed to Henry's clothes. — And, Dr. Henry, for irresponsibility and disrespect for authority by accusing me of lying in front of my officers, you are relieved of the position of Lieutenant Commander of Engineering. Now you are a Lieutenant and in charge of the mechanics team. Sir Adon and Lonios, it is up to you to notify everyone that Alferes Ari has been promoted to Lieutenant Commander of Engineering, and you can call him Dr. Ari from now on.

— He can't have the title of Dr. It takes many years of study in Victorius — said Lonios, indignantly.

— These details don't matter to me; Ari is one of my trusted men here on the ship. This is an order; everyone must call Lieutenant Commander Ari Doctor. Is that understood?

— This was your plan, wasn't it, captain? It's all you wanted, to put that boy in charge of engineering — Lonios accused the captain.

— Just so you know, Sir Lonios — the captain was sarcastic when saying Lonios's name — I'm only not dismissing you from your position because we're already leaving, and I haven't found any knight to replace you. If we were going to another port, your days and those of your kind on this ship would be numbered. Consider yourself lucky. — The captain turned his back on Lonios and went to the command bridge.

Everyone was emotionally stirred by the conversation and the captain's schemes to appoint his lackey Ari as the head of engineering.

After saying their goodbyes, they accompanied Dr. Henry to his quarters and felt the ship begin to move to leave the port. Looking out the quarters' window, they noticed Peregrino sailing alongside Brand and starting to retract its two docking balloons before entering cruise speed.

The situation worsened even more when they remembered the need to skirt the other end of the storm, the same stretch where the fleet was attacked on the last expedition. Moreover, if they followed the same return path, the ships would take twice as long to return due to navigation against the storm's rotation. Undoubtedly, this would be the most dangerous part of the journey, sailing through ether infested with pirates, where not even the outlaws dared to navigate.

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