Chapter 41: Jade Town

 

The docking process of the caravel inside the Jade Town went smoothly, and to Vlad's surprise, there were workers that went to assist him in the process. This eagerness to help him, conflicted Vlad, who first thought those people wanted to ask him money for their service.

"Don't bother, Dracul, that's how it goes inside Jade Town. Those are workers of the Harbor, it is their job to assist people dock their ships."

"So those are not scammers? Good to know."

In this way, along with the assistance received from the Harbor workers, things went smoothly, and once stepping out of the ship, he still expected those guys to ask him for money, instead, it was once again something conflicting for the seasoned soldier.

"Welcome to Jade Town, travelers."

"Mhm, how much do I have to give you for docking in the harbor?" asked Vlad who appeared before those workers, looking calmly at them.

"What do you mean, sir?" inquired a worker, before someone among them, stepped forward, having his hands at Vlad, as if to decline any of such ideas.

"Sir, sir, you don't have to pay us anything even for docking at the harbor. These are the laws of the High Elder, to allow any traveler free right of passage inside the Town, and not ask any penny of them.

Sir, this means you aren't required to pay us."

Nodding his head, Vlad turned his head at Charles who still struggled a bit to get out from the ship, still having a hard time adjusting to the crutches, yet, his stare was felt by the pirate who scoffed, as if knowing already what the look was for.

'Give me a break. I had to make money for my devil fruit. Still, I need to take my money back from Bulge.'

'Phew, so glad I had the insight to place my treasure on a safe spot inside the island.'

'However, now that I am inside Jade Town, I have to be careful and not attract anyones attention. The Elder inside the Temple is a person no one wants to mess around with.'

Charles had his own ideas for his journey, and also held a decent amount of information that Vlad had no idea about.

Making his way on the ground using the pair of crutches he build for himself, the pirate, who was already slightly familiar with this new place, knowing about the Skyfruit Temple, which made his approach about this island, mellowed down, having some of his arrogance vanishing as he stepped out of the ship.

Still, there was something new about Charles, he was sporting a new look to himself, and with one of his hands, he moved his hands around his short hair, as if it was a habit of someone with longer hair.

'Right, I have short hair now. Still, shocking to think that Fairy had such an ability. Also, from what I've seen on this journey to Athkatla, that bastard's weapon is dangerous.'

Walking slowly toward Vlad who was talking with the citizens, something he didn't bother to care about, his eyes went on the beautiful woman sitting on the young man's shoulder, watching with curious eyes those citizens of Jade Town.

Seeing her beautiful face, it made Charles remember some of his interactions with the Fairy, in particular remembering the recent one where Titania used Vlad's magic sword, making it turn into a small pair of scissors to fit her delicate hands.

That's when she began using those scissors to cut his hair shorter so it would make it harder for people to recognize him.

She also took out his earrings and using some of her make-up she began to hide some of Charles face scars, making him look totally different then his old self.

It even gave the pirate a weird sensation as if he didn't recognize himself in the mirror, having initially a hard time adjusting to this new look of his, but with a couple of hours since that incident, he didn't mind it.

.

Stepping out of Vlad's ship and experiencing the stability of the ground, it made him breathe out in relief, and seeing Vlad finish his talk with the Harbor workers who distanced from them, only one question remained on his tongue.

"I guess this is where we part ways, Dracul."

"Mhm, you can say so. Don't get killed by acting like a fool. Also, your fighting technique, as I mentioned to you, is way too flawed. A fist will never win against a blade."

"Fuck you, don't nag me about that." remarked Charles, who was still frustrated about a small chat he had with Vlad, where he mentioned everything wrong about the "Boxing" he learned.

"Vane-boy, I told you what I view as flawed. You can take my advice and improve. I've told you some paths you can maybe improve, the rest is up to you if you want to grow stronger and meet me at the pinnacle of the summit."

"Damn it, leave my boxing alone for once. Anyway, you've done plenty in stitching me up. My leg began itching around constantly."

"Better not use it to support your weight on the leg, or mess up with my bandages. You can slowly check it after a month, and replace the bandages with sterile one and spread out that ointment I gave you."

"That I understand." mentioned Charles, who watched the city from a distance, while Vlad from the looks of it, was preparing to depart on his own path.

Sighing, while gritting his teeth, Charles Vane looked at Vlad, and without referring to him with any insults, he opened about something he wanted to tell him.

"Dracul, I don't know what your journey might be, but I am sure we will meet again and cross our fists against one another. You spared my life, but I will make sure this will be the biggest mistake that will come to haunt you down.

So, you better don't die to some insignificant shit on the sea, especially now that you have an opponent in me."

Such remarks had Vlad chuckle a bit, yet Titania could only agree with all of Charles's words.

"Tell him more, so he will stop thinking about all sorts of crazy things."

When the pirate heard this beautiful woman resting on Vlad's shoulder, he looked at her with a calm expression, and bowed his head a bit, showing his appreciation for everything she had done for him in this journey.

"Miss Titania, if not for you, I would be dead by now. Thank you for the kind treatment you've shown to me, even though I intended on killing your partner.

Your treatment was selfless, to which I can only bow down, compared to that crazy guy who didn't care about my pain tolerance."

"For nothing, besides, I was bored while on the way to Athkatla." replied Titania, brushing off these respectful words coming from the pirate Captain.

Charles's remarks made Vlad scoff a little bit, opening his mouth, to say in a cold voice while beginning to walk off.

"I will remember those words of yours for the next time, kid. Once we meet again, you'll receive better treatment from me."

Charles shuts his mouth for a bit, but he doesn't back away from this staredown.

"You have my word Dracul, you will eat your words soon. We'll see who will treat who in the future. Also, I will promise Miss Titania that I will not kill you, and give you a new chance of defeating me."

With such promising words from Charles, it made Vlad laugh casually, not minding his words, but while departing his laugh cracked into something sinister, which began lingering inside Charles's mind.

Then with their paths diverging Vlad decided to explore around the town with Titania, having a small goal of wanting to find a possible Library of this Jade Town, which seeing how he was welcomed by those citizens, boosted his small expectation range.

Walking around the town, while leaving Charles to his own, he experiences a new feeling which he shares along with Titania.

"This place looks really nice Vlad. Also the people here are different from Fiddler City. I can feel it, there's a brighter aura to them."

"Mhm, indeed, this is a better welcoming greeting. This time I don't have to attend a public execution, so I take it as a good point already for the city.

The atmosphere, truly, isn't half-bad." responded Vlad, while walking using his cane, slowly, and step by step, without anyone pushing him around, or rushing him.

Getting deeper in the city, he began eavesdropping on the conversations the citizens would have, and from all the discussion subjects he overheard with his keen hearing, there wasn't one to be speaking something with hidden fears.

A fear that he began discerning from the vocal ranges of the people, being something new that he wasn't able to fully comprehend or understand in his former life.

Like this Vlad went around Jade Town, exploring the main streets, until he followed the trail of some kids that rushed toward a place, brimming with life and excitement.

It was a feeling Vlad didn't want to get adjusted to, because all his life was subjected to suffering and hardships, yet he knew to appreciate this peacefulness, especially now with a new life.

On the other hand, Titania who was staying on Vlad's shoulder, was looking left and right like a cat, exploring her surroundings while making herself comfortable on one of the best spots on this tall young man.

.

.

.

People left and right passing past him weren't concerned with him at all, and getting to sit on a bench close to a fountain, well ordered with flowered trees in its surroundings.

"Little Titania, you know what. I don't really feel any perilous sensation from those people living in this place. None whatsoever which shocks me a bit."

"Yea, only Picodras was like this. Is this the feeling of being home?"

"I doubt this place can compare to Picodras, but it isn't bad. There is that pure, undisturbed voice of those children playing around."

"Hmm, yes. It makes me smile just by looking at the kids around." mentioned Titania who was resting on Vlad's shoulder, taking in this serene atmosphere.

"That's why you can fly around and play around. Just go mess around with those kids, maybe play some pranks on them." said Vlad, while crossing his legs, feeling the water vapors coming from the fountain touch his neck.

Titania turned her head in a shocked manner, not believing what Vlad just said, and to double check if he wasn't playing around with her, she asked him.

"Really? You mean it? I can?"

"Yes, you are safe around this place."

"YAAAY." the Fairy celebrated, which made Vlad place his finger on her mouth to sushhh her, which gave off some muffled noises.

"Shhh, don't be noisy. Now go play around, let this old man relax a bit. Journeying on the sea is tiresome at times."

Nodding her head, Titania gave Vlad a kiss on his cheeks, before taking off, beginning to fly around exploring her surroundings, where it happened that some kids in the City Square took notice of the Fairy, and pointed around.

"Mommy, look, a lady bug."

"Haha, sure, darling. Maybe it came from the Temple."

Titania pouted a bit, hearing those comments, but she still had to test the waters and explore her surroundings, getting some height until she landed on a tall building close to the square, landing close to a pigeon who bended his neck as if to think who the newcomer was.

*COOHO*

"Hey, buzz off. I am not in the mood to play around right now. I got to see where the best place is."

Titania reacted in a comical manner when the pigeon next to her moved to poke her with its beak, making the Fairy to dodge the poke, and as if reminiscent of Vlad, kicking the bird in its ass, making it fly away from her.

"That's what you take for being annoying. Hahh, this isn't good. I started sounding more and more just like Vlad."

Arranging her casual clothes, which was a pair of blue jeans, a shirt that allowed her chest to make its presence known, and some shoes that had a decent heel to them, in an attempt to make herself look taller in Vlad's eyes.

Done with her checks on the clothes, she watched from a perfect view the entire City Square, where at the center stood the large fountain with a statue of a giant monkey, while around its radius were patches of land arranged like a playground, with lush greeneries around.

The kids were playing, messing around, while the older people enjoyed their relaxation time, and watching the younger generation, and among them, Titania began looking around for Vlad, and saw him with his mesmerizing black eyes almost glancing at her.

What's more, she saw him smile.

'Wait? But how? There's no way he could know where I landed without being able to see me.'

When this happened she got spooked a bit, until later on calming down, not seeing how Vlad could possibly see her yet.

What she didn't know was that Vlad followed her unique fragrance she was released, just like a Queen Bee, trying to test his smell, and he noticed how it changed, becoming stronger and more accurate.

'There you are my little Fairy. I guess where you are should be a decently tall building giving you a view of everything.'

'Good job, little one. I am proud of you.'

He didn't mind this atmosphere whatsoever, and also granted Titania all the freedom she could possibly wish for inside Jade Town, a place he saw quite hospitable and calm, unlike Fiddler City or Bulge Island for all that counts.

While Titania was having fun, playing around with some pigeons, Vlad got on his feet and walked to sit down closer to someone he sensed being relatively not far.

It was an old person that, from the looks of it, gave the impression he was watching over his grandson.

Sitting there, he remained silent, tapping on the stone pavement with his black ornamented walking cane, which attracted the attention of the old gentleman.

The old man took his time to admire the detailing imprinted on the cane, which gave an overall feeling it was the work of a craftsman, brimming with unique and antique touches.

"Nice cane you got right there, young man. Looks rather fancy in my opinion, if you would ask me.

Besides, I am more into the classic ones."

"Sir, everyone has their tastes. Some like to be humble, while others try to give off their personality." replied Vlad, not minding hitting some conversation with the people of the town.

"Well, you aren't wrong. Those decorations tell a lot about the one wielding it. Mind if I give it a try?"

To which Vlad, without saying a thing, spoiled his ears with the sound of the birds chirping, creating music, a thing that took the citizens of Jade Town by surprise.

Nevertheless, Vlad only smiled when this show was staged, already knowing the naughty culprit that was giving the birds of the Jade Town a surprise.

And now, it seemed as if those birds gathered around to sign for their Queen, welcoming her home.

Vlad, who passed his walking cane to the old man, asked him in a calm, casual voice, his view so far about the city, mentioning how he is a doctor who began traveling in the world to hone his skills.

Now stopping for Ahtkatla to refresh his mind since sailing for days on end would make one's mind start getting flustered.

This made the old man interested, and while handling the cane that had a comfortable touch to it, so well finished that it reminded him of a baby's buttchecks, soft to the touch.

As he kept touching the cane, a small child about 10 years old came to him, mentioning that he finished playing around.

When the old man heard that comment, he looked at Vlad who kept quiet, however, he still wanted to talk with Vlad instead of taking the brat home, and with a thick skin he told the child to piss off and play more.

"I also found someone to talk with, can't you see grandpa is busy? Why don't you fool around for more in the Square, and give grandpa more time?"

Reluctantly the boy leaves the side of his grandfather, taking a deep look at the man sitting next to his guardian.

He could see that it was a rather handsome man, with milk-white skin, which immediately signaled in his mind that he was a foreigner since the visitors of the island would always look like this.

Compared to Vlad's skin tone, the people of Athkatla have an olive skin tone, clearly looking a bit tropical, with some exotic marks on them.

Such that when the child left, the old man who Vlad found out was named Grabert, began asking various curious questions, to which Vlad responded somehow in a genuine manner, responding to some personal questions about himself.

Yet making sure to navigate around to not give out the whole story.

Like this he told him some things with regard to Picodras and other places he visited thus far.

It was a back and forth between Vlad and Gravert, who felt some respect for this young doctor who traveled from a far distant place, and even found his way to his homeland.

What's more?

The old man, when hearing about Vlad's sight, looked with great respect at him, touching the ground with his cane in a slow manner.

"To be able to do what you've done so far, you can be the protagonist of a great story, only by telling about your journey.

This is the first time, in my 68 years of life, that I've heard of any blind man traveling on the sea alone. Even inside Jade there's no such person to adventure out, alone, most of them carry living with their misfortune.

Still, I know of an old guy, a respected artisan of our Jade Town, who is blind by birth, and yet he made it to the top of his craft. There's also a saying that Harl, can see using magical eyes, since he almost behaves as if he could see."

For Vlad this type of information was more precious than getting directly to King Atlas Tomb, and giving it a raid. It was being able to find such information that made his abyssal eyes to open up, letting the old man to take a closer look

A closer look at his shock.

"I assume you are interested in hearing Harl's story more than mine? Right?"

Vlad recovered rather quickly from his initial shock, but his skin got goosebumps all over, while a slight chill got to his spine.

To clear out this confusion, he remarked in a calm voice.

"My apologies, it just took me off guard, this notion that someone blind by birth, can behave as if nothing happened to him. In fact, I lost my sight at 10 years old, so I can say that I lived knowing colors, but a person who never saw colors in his life, this is different, sir

Now that you responded to my question, we can continue talking. Ask me away, one of your curiosities."

"Right, now it is my turn. Then, let me ask you, young Vlad. You've mentioned that you are a doctor by craft. If I tell you some of my struggles with my body, will you be able to help me out? Or at least tell me what's wrong with my body?"

Hearing such a humble request, Vlad could only push aside his arrogance, since he found talking with the older people rather more pleasing than some brats. Maybe because he in his heart was also something akin to an old man.

A small smile appeared on his serene face, and responds affirmatively to the request. Such that Vlad started listening to Grabert's complaints with his body and after listening to about 15 minutes of ranting from the old man, he nodded his head, as if understanding what was wrong.

It was a common trouble that elderly people started suffering from a certain age, which he learned from Patrick and also his medical books which calls this sickness "Arthritis"

The main symptoms the old man was showing to have were exactly the ones from the big list of symptoms one could expect his patients to have with regard to this sickness. Which was joint pain and stiffness of the body, some swelling of the body parts in pain, and of course redness.

To which the old man shows Vlad his leg after pulling the legs of his orange trousers, giving the young man a sight of what was wrong with him.

"You know I can't see how your knee locks. But, let me have a touch." said Vlad, who extended his hand to touch the old man's calf, and worked his way up to the knee.

"Damn, sorry, young man. I didn't intend to make a fool of you."

The old man quickly apologized, thinking Vlad might be offended, but it wasn't the case whatsoever, receiving a small smile from his handsome face, and later on watching him touch around various parts of his knee which triggered some pain.

"Don't worry about my feelings. I've long passed the age where my feelings would be hurt."