Networms don't like the sea breeze, especially the one in Heartless Bay. She always felt that she could smell the rotten smell of corpses in the wind, and today, she felt right.

"What crime did they commit?" the spider tamer asked, looking up at what hung from the towering wooden shelves by the sea, to the witch beside him. Hela, wrapped in a loose garment, carefully lowered the brim of her hood with her hand and looked up at the corpses, but before she could speak, another voice interjected with a somewhat rough and visibly disgruntled voice.

"Do you see the bloodletting on their bodies? These people were bled alive before they were hung up. Here, this means that they are touching the rights of the witches. They sell alcohol without permission. Captain Halfdan's expression was a little gloomy. The owner of the Black Arrow has been so busy missing for the past month that both Networm and Lothar have almost forgotten about his existence. But in fact, over the course of a month, the influence of the name Havedan was spreading rapidly throughout the city, and the honor of the first to return was only a stepping stone, and when the smugglers and raiders who monopolized most of the flow of money in Heartless Bay actually got to know the captain of the Black Arrow, the latter's shrewdness and cunning made them start to think more highly of him.

"I've heard that people don't die soon after bloodletting. The networm frowned, it was not that she had never seen a dead person, let alone a tortured person, but she felt an instinctive disgust at the cruel punishment. It is also normal to think that for the life that exists in this world, what sin is not enough to pay for in death, but the fact is that in many cases, death is not enough to satisfy, and what the executioner wants is more distorted, brutal, and chilling torture.

"Three days, to be exact. It's just that those guys had been tortured before, and they couldn't do it at noon the next day. Die there. The captain said, pointing in a direction with his chin, and looking in that direction, he could see several improvised crosses erected on the pier, which were still stained with shocking blood to prove their usefulness.

Such a brutal punishment reminds the networm of the corpses of the nezumi at the gates of some towns after the rat-man plague. But that is a punishment for inhuman monsters, at least in the eyes of the executioner, and not for one's own kind. Not only does this make the mercenary wonder if she has been deceived by the witch's appearance, but the personalities of Hela and Peg make her almost forget how different and crazy the witch is from humans. Apparently aware of the dangers of witnessing such a scenario to get the webworm to grant her request, Hela immediately tried to justify herself and her own kind, "The punishment in Heartless Bay was negotiated between the original captains and the witches, most of whom were not witches. ”

The captain glanced at the woman who was walking beside the webworm, and because of the hood, he did not recognize the identity of the witch, "You know a lot, but do you know the situation of the captains at the time of these punishments? They were not sitting at the same table as the witches, and each of them had a knife behind their backs. The poor fellows had to search their stomachs and write down the horrible punishments they knew of into so-called special cases. Ironically, in the end, many of them were tortured to death by what they had written. There are very few rules here, but only for those of us. Once you've touched the interests of the Black Cat and the Raven Daughters, the laws here are harsher than any country you know. ”

"Otherwise, what kind of place do you expect Heartbreaker Bay to become, a country with strict laws and stable order? It's not because you sailors never want to be bound by any rules. Hela's voice was raised a little, but quickly lowered when she realized it.

Hafdan raised his eyebrows and looked at the woman with her head and tail exposed, laughed, and said to the webworm, "I didn't believe it when they told me that like gathers like things, but now it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. You're the most peculiar woman I've ever seen, and now you can only be one of them. ”

The mercenary curled the corners of her mouth slightly, "And I don't regret that, Mr. Captain." It's just that you've met too few women before, or you don't want to get to know them, so in your eyes, women are all the same. If you really want to hear from them, you'll find that we're not special. ”

"Whatever, I've been tired of dealing with the sea all my life, and those poets always like to compare you to the sea, and a sailor can't control two bodies of water at the same time. With a wave of his hand, Hafdan pulled something from the inside pocket of his jacket that looked like a human finger wrapped in dark brown paper-like material and put it in his mouth. Then he pulled out a small metal box from the other pocket and opened it at the end of what looked like a finger. With a crisp sound, cyan flames ignited the object in the captain's mouth, sending gray-white smoke up.

The captain took a deep breath and exhaled two plumes of smoke through his nose, "This thing is much more powerful than a pipe, but the price is not much cheaper than blubber." By the way, since I saw you, what about the tarantula boy? The fat man who worked with him said that he hadn't seen him for two days, and you can tell me if you have any troubles. ”

Networm nodded slightly, she was still somewhat grateful for Halfdan's words, in all fairness, if she had picked up two unknown fellows on her trip, she would not have been as helpful as the captain. And this may be a habit peculiar to sailors, on the sea, you can only rely on your companions on the same ship, so the relationship between the crew members on ships with less sparse crew mobility is not inferior to that of brothers, if not as good as family.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Just to help get some wood into the mountains. "The demand for timber in Heartless Bay is endless, and at any given time, a large number of logging teams enter the nearby mountains in search of usable timber. It's just that the mountains surrounding the bay are severe and steep, and they are destined to not harvest much each time. Therefore, once entering the mountain, a logging team often does not rush to start, but considers several promising logs, and the length of time to enter the mountain varies.

"Really, then he has a really big heart, and he is not afraid of anything that will happen to you alone on the dock. Even if you can fight again, there are always a lot of revenge hunts on the docks, so you'd better be careful. "The captain's words are not unreasonable. Although the networm is also famous for fighting on the docks, it is difficult to beat four hands with two fists, and if someone really gangs up and intends to hurt her, the safety of the female mercenary is really a bad thing, especially if she is still pregnant.

"Thank you again for your concern, but you see, I'm not going out too? This lady hired me to do something for her, and when that was done, he should be back too. ”

The captain nodded, and said no more. He didn't need to remind the networm to be careful or anything like that, here, everyone is responsible for their own lives, and no one else is to blame if something goes wrong. Since the webworm thinks the woman next to her can be trusted, Halfdan has no other ideas.

The two ladies said goodbye to the captain of the Black Arrow, and gradually left the dock area, heading towards the interior of Heartless Bay. At this time, Hela asked the webworm in a somewhat curious tone, "Aren't you worried about the safety of the tarantula? ”

The mercenary glanced at her employer, "Nothing to worry about. What that person has done before will not be safe compared to what he is doing now. Since ghouls, demons, and nezumi can't take his life, what can a hole do? Besides, is this kind of thing a thing that can change the outcome by worrying?"