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Chapter 71 - Chap.68 - Clemens' request

Bonus Chapter [1] - 160 Power Stones

 

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The stop in Tortuga was supposed to be quick, the crew moved quickly to get supplies, but this time the pirates had money and the desire to spend it. After a simple request from Marty, who was pushed forward by the other pirates, Rigel sighed and allowed them to stay there for three days.

Rigel acted like a construction foreman with a tight deadline, these workers/pirates continued to work because of the promised "bonus", but this time they had already earned the bonus, and they were eager to spend it.

So, as soon as they received permission, the group of pirates docked the Ragnarok some distance from the coast and soon took some boats to go to the island to have some fun. Rigel felt that the prostitutes and bar owners would be very satisfied for a while.

Furthermore, with Rigel's crew talking about their adventures, the legend of Rigel would be spread even further, although few would believe most of it, but knowing that Rigel had obtained John Flint's treasure and killed Blackbeard would be very good for his reputation.

Of course, not all pirates were blinded by skirts and rum.

Elizabeth dragged Anamaria and Anna along to buy clothes and any other interesting women's products. The fact that this place was a den for pirates didn't mean there was a lack of good things, on the contrary, it was precisely because this place was like that that it had all sorts of good things, after all, pirates needed to sell what they looted.

Dalma invited herself in when she saw the trio leaving. Elizabeth looked at Rigel with pity, as if asking him to do something, unfortunately, Rigel pretended not to see.

Will ended up going with them to protect Elizabeth, after all, this wasn't a place for "ladies" to be, although with Anamaria, who had lived among pirates for a good part of her life, nearby, it was unlikely they would be the ones on the losing side.

Besides Dalma.

The pirates also wanted to take the children along for the fun, but Rigel wouldn't let Jonas and George get involved, they were still too young, although there was no such thing as a legal "age" for drinking and having sex back then.

Knowing about the diseases that were spreading at that time, even though Rigel didn't want to impose his values on the people of that era, he could still act in those moments when he knew that the children would be harmed.

Thus, Rigel directly appointed Will as the babysitter, causing Elizabeth's group to grow even larger.

In the end, the only ones who remained on the ship were Rigel and Clemens, in addition to Salazar, still lying in the count's coffin.

Even Jack, the monkey, followed the pirates for a bit of fun.

As for the ship's safety? Jormungandr wasn't there by chance, Rigel himself was there.

In the kitchen, Rigel was eating eggs and bacon that Clemens had made for him while explaining what the doctor wanted to hear.

"To summarize, everyone's blood is different. I don't know the exact classification, but where I come from, it's separated by AB, A, B, and O. Furthermore, it can be negative or positive. If I'm not mistaken, being positive indicates the presence of something else in the blood, while negative indicates its absence. AB+ is a universal recipient, it can receive blood from all other types, while O- is a universal donor, able to donate blood to all other types." Rigel explained while eating.

Clemens' eyes shone as he listened, forgetting about his own food, as if he had just discovered a new world.

"And how do we know? How do we know what type of blood we have?" Clemens asked, utterly fascinated.

Unfortunately for him, Rigel wasn't a doctor, he barely knew the basics that were common sense. Even wizards might not know about blood types, if they needed blood, they simply drank potions to replenish it.

Of course, Rigel could be wrong, he hadn't focused on the medical side of magic and had never even needed to go to a hospital. Along with the fact that Bellatrix was a Death Eater at the time she was pregnant, she probably had a home birth.

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor." Rigel shrugged. "But you could probably mix the blood of two people and see what happens. I have no idea if that would work, but it's all I can think of."

This left Clemens speechless, for a moment he didn't know what to say, but Rigel's idea wasn't bad.

"You... you're still going back to your homeland?" Clemens asked. He had heard Rigel say many things about his homeland, and he wanted to know where it was, but whenever he asked, Rigel would answer 'far away'.

"Yes, eventually." Rigel nodded.

"When?" Clemens asked hopefully.

Rigel looked at him, practically seeing the desire in the man's eyes.

"In the future, when my adventure is over." Rigel continued, pretending not to notice.

Clemens remained silent for a while, staring at his plate without actually eating. He clenched his fists and asked what was on his mind, afraid he would lose the courage to ask. "When you go... can you take me with you?"

Rigel stopped eating, he sighed lightly, putting his cutlery aside, he wiped his mouth while looking at Clemens, who was nervous.

Rigel was thoughtful, but Clemens didn't really mean much to him, so why would he take him back?

Except for his courage and "Muggle" medical skills from almost 300 years earlier, Clemens didn't have much else to offer.

Spending a magic passport on him wasn't worth it, according to Rigel's calculations.

He already had nine passports: one for the compass, one for the sword, one for Jack, and the rest still depended on what he found in this world, perhaps Poseidon's trident and the fountain of youth, if it could be taken with him.

There were vacancies, but the adventure wasn't over, promising to take Clemens now might leave him with one less space that would be useful in the future.

Rigel sighed and spoke. "Perhaps, my land is not easy to reach, it involves magic, I don't know if I can take you with me, Clemens, nor will I promise that, but if I can, what are you willing to offer?"

Clemens blinked, confused for a moment, unaware that going to this "land" would be so complicated. Clemens clenched his fists, he didn't know what he could offer.

"I... what do you want?" Clemens, in the end, had nothing but his briefcase with medical equipment and the money Rigel had given him. He doubted that this would attract Rigel in any way, as he didn't know what he could offer, he could only ask.

Rigel didn't answer at first, lost in thought. He didn't know whether or not to take Clemens, the possibility of having a spare passport to take him was low, but Clemens could be a qualified subordinate for things he couldn't yet do.

What? Rigel didn't know, but having something and not needing it was better than needing it and not having it.

Sighing, he spoke. "I'll be honest with you, Mr. Clemens, the chance of taking you isn't high, not because I don't want to, but because there are certain limits that even I can't cross. Besides, we'd probably never come back after leaving, even if we wanted to. So I ask again, is that what you want? To abandon everything you know for a place you've only heard about?"

Clemens didn't speak at first, but eventually his eyes hardened. "Yes, I don't belong here, Rigel. I just want to understand this world, and I can't do that in this place."

Rigel blinked, then nodded. "I want loyalty, Clemens, loyalty that means no questions asked, loyalty that means acting on my behalf without betraying me. Don't tell me your answer yet, it's worthless before the time comes to leave. If there's a place for you, then you can give me your answer."

Clemens swallowed hard, lowering his head slowly, his thoughts wandering and his eyes confused, only the sound of the cutlery scraping against Rigel's plate continued to be heard for a long time.

[A/N: To be honest, I like Clemens' character and I have some plans for the future that involve transforming Muggles into magical beings, even so I'm not sure about bringing him along or not, for now it's just a possible prelude that could be dropped in the future.]

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