167 The Things We Do for the Greater Good... (1/2)
Far Harbor, Dockside Pier
Specialist Sergeant Tyrier with the rest of the Claymore One on tow looked at the two lines of colorful stalls, lining alongside the dockside, all filled with goods and different types of food. He adjusted his stiff uniform collar, feeling slightly uncomfortable in uniform as he hasn't worn it in months.
”Look!” Hitsu exclaimed while excitedly pointing at one of the stalls, ”I heard that stall serves good 'bu-girls'! I'm hungry!”
”Yea, let's grab something to eat,” Tavel agreed as he wiped the sweat off his cap, ”Don't know why they sent us here for.”
Tyrier looked around, seeing large groups of Islanders gawking at the wares displayed and sampling food offered from the stalls and nodded, ”Alright,” He looked at the large clock tower on the roof of the Civic Center and said, ”Buy what you want to eat and drink and meet up here again in half an hour's time.”
”Yes!” Hitsu grinned and looped his arm around Young's shoulder, dragging him along, ”Come on! Let's go! FOOD!”
The stalls lining around the streets where specially set up for the Islander's visit, like a special bazaar with all manner of products and food currently being produced by the city. In a way, this allows the Islanders to see what goods are tradable and also allows the sailors from the Isles to unwind and spend some of their money.
Glassware, metalware, even what appeared to be toilet rolls were on display from various stalls. So far the most crowded stalls were those selling weapons, as large groups of Islander sailors, hanging around the stalls were the weapon and armor samples while anxious looking police officers hovered at the side, trying to act normal but were clearly worried that some fights might break out.
Hitsu ordered a few sticks of barbecued meat, and a couple of hot dogs from one of the barbecue food stands, adding a generous amount of ketchup and mustard sauce. He briefly wondered why buns with sausages were called hot dogs, does that means the hoomans use dog meat for the sausages? He gestured with his elbow to Young who had a cheeseburger and they went to join in the commotion at the weapon stalls.
The group of sailors was interested with a repeating crossbow, that uses a crank mechanism to load and reload, allowing a user to rapidly fire off dozens of crossbow bolts in a minute. They gathered around a fenced off area, where a straw dummy was the target, wearing a battered Empire chest plate and helmet. The sailor testing the crossbow looked slightly uncertain at the seller who gestured how to fire and load the crossbow before he pointed the crossbow at the straw target and worked the crank as instructed.
The first shot went wild, hitting the boarded up wall and the rest of the sailors jeered. The red faced sailor appeared to want to give up, but the seller encouraged him to try again and to hold on to the crossbow more firmly. The sailor gave a shrug and gripped the crossbow tightly, pointing at the dummy set at fifty meters away.
The second shot fared better and hit the 'leg' portion of the dummy, making the others laugh and cheer. Soon there was a bet ongoing on whether if the next shot would hit the chest plate. The embarrassed sailor looked like he was about to walk away, and suddenly someone pushed through the crowd, and everyone hushed up.
Hitsu swallowed a large mouthful of hot dog and saw a female sailor clad in tight leathers and silks. She yanked the repeating crossbow off from the other sailor and tilted the weapon left and right, admiring its workmanship and design. She suddenly snapped the crossbow against her shoulder and cranked it repeatedly, sending bolt after bolt towards the straw target till the bulky box magazine on the top of the crossbow ran dry.
She tossed the crossbow back to the seller who looked at her with awe on his face, and the crowd went wild. ”ANNA! ANNA! ANNA!” They chanted as she swept her tri-cone hat off and a thick mop of luscious golden red locks spilled out over her shoulders and she gave a bow to the men who laughed and whooped before she walked up to the straw target and examined the results of her work.
Hitsu mouth remained wide open as he stared at the golden red hair sailor strut her way down the range. He suddenly choked when Young slapped his back, as he saw Hitsu glazing at the female and piece of a hot dog stuck in his throat making his cough.
”Hahaha,” Young laughed as he watched Hitsu's antics. ”Hey, I thought you have two girls already? Why are you ogling at another one here?”
”AAH.. wh-what?” Hitsu thumped his chest, forcing the piece of hot dog down his throat, ”What girls?”
”Heh, that Billy and that crazy mage girl?” Young winked at Hitu.
”WHAT?” Hitsu nearly dropped all his food as he started to deny any involvement with those two girls. ”Serious?”
”Hahaha,” Young laughed as he finished his burger. ”Everyone knows you like little girls..”
”...” Hitsu wiped the ketchup and mustard sauce from his mouth. ”You got to be kidding me...”
”Hahahahhaa,” Young laughed, ”Anyway, that chick, she looks way out of your league.”
Hitsu sighed and finished up his food but as they were about to leave, a clear and boisterous voice called out to them. Turning around, they saw the earlier female sailor standing there with her arms on her hips and walking towards them with a few other sailors in tow.
”You two!” The female sailor gestured to them both with a jerk of her head. ”Your uniforms look different from the rest. Who are you?”
”M-me?” Hitsu stammered as he stared at the heart-shaped face covered by a golden red crown of hair. ”Ah-hh.. I-I am H-Hitsu!”
Young on the other hand, nearly face palmed himself at the sad display Hitsu was giving. ”We are part of the Hundred and First.
”Hundred and First?” The female sailor frowned and looked at the rest of her sailors with a confused expression. ”You carry yourselves different from the rest of those black shirts and those grey shirts!”
Young looked down at his grey dress uniform, similar to the Marines, except their pants were trimmed in gold instead of red. He gave a shrug, ”We are just simple soldiers.”
”Soldiers, eh?” The female raised one of her eyebrows up, ”Than care to explain how that 'repeating crossbow' works to this poor sailor?” The rest of the sailors laughed and giggle among themselves.
”Eh, you are?” Hitsu shyly asked.
”My name is Anna, Anna Boony. First mate of the Man 'o' war, Talon.” She proudly raised her chin up, ”So tell me, how does those crossbow work, soldier boy?”
”Erm,” Young looked at Hitsu and scratched his head, ”Well, you work the crank, it drops a bolt down from the box and at the same time, it pulls the string back and locks the arms into place. When you pull all the way to the back, the string is released and the bolt is thrown out and you crank it again to repeat.”
”Hmmm, such an ingenious way of firing rapidly. It that how you defeated the Empire?” Anna asked, her eyes boring deep into Young who coughed uncomfortably.
”Yes, 20 men armed with a repeating crossbow is as powerful as a regiment of crossbowmen!” Young explained, ”But of course, compared to a regular crossbow, it has a weaker penetrating strength and range.”
”Interesting, soldier boy,” Anna gave a wink and walked off, ”Be seeing you again.”
”Wow, did she wink at me?” Hitsu sighed, ”My poor heart can't handle it!”