~4770 words
The door to Flying Fish and Wine flew open as a tall figure that dwarfed all others sitting here entered. He was dressed in the same clothes as yesterday and the smell of death and blood clung to him, causing the people around him to instantly recoil at every heavy step he took.
Hyde had a revolver in one hand and a heavy sack in the other. The bag was super-saturated with blood and was dripping crimson every now and then in huge amounts.
Strapped to his hip was a double edged sword with two batwings serving as its guard and a bat face on its pommel. It was currently sheathed inside a brown leather scabbard and was locked with a thin strap in place.
The entire pub was fully quiet as no one dared to say a word. Some watched from the corners of their eyes while others kept their heads low. News had travelled quite fast, but what forced this strong reaction was the eerie air of madness that surrounded him.
Before it looked just as if Hyde had a few screws loose. But now, the aura around him seemed to have metamorphosed into something else entirely. Even the bartenders and the waitresses seemed to falter while they walked and one of them almost spilled the entire tray full of beer mugs on the floor.
All of the ones seated in the pub at this moment were non-Beyonders. All except two, of course.
Hyde himself and—
Before he could approach the bartender, three bouncers suddenly sprang to action. One of them held him by the shoulder and stopped him. This bouncer had dark skin and was about as muscular as Hyde.
Slowly, patiently, Hyde turned around and took his features in from the corner of his eyes. "This should be the first and last time you put a hand on me. Do it again, and I'll take the hand first, then the head that told it to do so."
The roughness in Hyde's voice and the eerie madness in his eyes suddenly caused his fingers to twitch and the grip on Hyde's shoulders loosened. However, this was his job and he was not just going to back away that easily.
Before the bouncer could say anything, the sound of a wooden mug striking the counter reached his ears. The man behind it sighed and shook his head. "Take your hand off of the crazy bastard."
The man's eyes shifted toward Hamilton. "Boss—"
"Now."
The bouncer's grip reluctantly loosened as Hyde looked down at the hand retreating from his shoulder before raising his eyes back to the man's face. For another two seconds, he said nothing before exhaling through his nose.
"Good."
With that said, Hyde turned away and the blood-soaked sack landed on Hamilton's counter with a wet and heavy thud.
Hamilton stared at the sack for several seconds before looking back up at Hyde while a single drop of blood began crawling down the side of the counter. Another drop followed shortly after as he said: "You couldn't have wrapped them?"
Hyde glanced at the sack. "I did."
"Properly, I meant."
Hamilton stayed silent while the others continued with their food. Eventually, he reached beneath the counter and pulled out a thick piece of cloth before spreading it over the wood. He grabbed the sack by its upper end and dragged it onto the covering, causing another wet sound to travel through the otherwise silent pub.
Even the three bouncers who had approached Hyde no longer seemed particularly eager to remain close to this lunatic.
Hamilton untied the mouth of the sack and pulled it open, instantly causing the smell to worsen.
Grimacing, he saw two severed heads inside, packed together with a rope. Their faces were stained by blood, hair, dirt and whatever else Hyde had subjected them to before separating them from their bodies.
Hamilton grabbed the bag and went into the room behind the counter as Hyde followed close-by. He had no intention of killing the appetite of people who were lounging at his pub.
Once the door behind them closed, Hamilton dropped the sack on top of a makeshift table that was made out of several crates stacked against the walls while the smell of alcohol was strong enough to somewhat suppress the metallic stench that came from the bag.
Hyde closed the door behind himself and leaned against it and Hamilton glanced at him briefly before opening the sack again.
This time, with no patrons around whose meals could be ruined, he pulled both heads out and placed them beside each other on the table.
The first was easy enough to recognize. It was that of Salt Hound Ferrick.
Even after dying, the man's broad face and unusually wide jaw remained distinctive enough for Hamilton to quickly recognize him without checking twice.
The second, however, took him slightly longer. He pushed some blood-soaked hair away from the dead man's forehead and tilted the head toward the dim light coming from the oil lamp hanging above them.
"Jason...? Trickmaster Jason?"
Hyde gave a small nod as Hamilton looked from one head to the other before turning his attention toward Hyde. "You really went after both of them in a single night."
"It was daytime, but yes, I get what you mean."
Hamilton stared at him for another moment, then looked back at Ferrick. Of the two, Ferrick was the one who interested him more.
Not only because his bounty was considerably higher, but because there had always been something strange about the man. People who fought him often described coincidences that seemed just a little too convenient to be ordinary.
Most ordinary sailors dismissed those stories as excuses made by men who had lost fights but Hamilton knew better. He was a Beyonder himself, so he knew that Ferrick was one too. And since he was brutalized in such a manner on such short notice, he could infer that Hyde was too.
And a considerably high-Sequence one at that. His fingers briefly pressed against Ferrick's cheek before he frowned. "What do you want from me now?"
Hyde did not answer for a long while, causing Hamilton to shift uncomfortably. "I want you to claim these. For me."
Hamilton shrugged and began wrapping Ferrick's head separately. "You'll need to wait."
"How long?"
"Depends. Ferrick's bounty won't be handed over just because I walk into an office carrying his head and tell them some lunatic killed him. They'll have to verify the identity."
Hyde's gaze lowered toward the corpse fragment. "How?"
Hamilton looked up. "What how? How will they verify the identity? Why are you asking anyway? Aren't you just after the money?"
Hyde shrugged. "Curiosity."
"That word is going to get you killed someday."
"It hasn't yet."
Hamilton resumed wrapping the head. "Anyways, they'll compare the face, scars, whatever records they have. Ferrick's recognizable enough and Jason as well. There might be questions about how they died, where they were found and who actually killed them."
"You can lie to the officials, or not. I don't particularly care whose name appears on whatever document they write."
Most bounty hunters wanted recognition almost as badly as they wanted money. A reputation made future work easier, intimidated weaker criminals and, in the case of pirates, sometimes became valuable enough to attract followers on its own.
However, Hamilton was surprised when Hyde seemed almost completely uninterested. Which, somehow, made him more suspicious. "You're not planning to stay here long, are you?"
"No."
"Where are you going?"
Hyde answered without hesitation or a pause. "To the sea."
"You're serious?"
"Yes."
"You have a ship? Crew?"
"I have enough." Hyde answered in an indifferent manner.
Hamilton looked down and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're going to drown." Then, after seeing him shrug, he added: "You're either the most arrogant bastard I've met this month or genuinely insane."
"Those aren't mutually exclusive." Hyde answered with the slightest of smirk.
Hamilton couldn't argue with that. He finished wrapping the two heads and placed them back inside the sack, this time making sure the cloth around them was thick enough that blood would not immediately leak through.
"What exactly are you planning to do out there anyways?"
Hyde crossed his arms as if deep in thought, then answered. "Build a reputation as... let's see, a pirate, I think. Bounty hunter, perhaps. You needn't know."
"A pirate?"
Hamilton's movements slowed. Unlike the absurdity of Hyde attempting to sail without experience, this answer did not amuse him. There was something different in Hamilton's expressions.
"You disapprove?" Hyde tilted his head.
"I didn't say that. Just remember half the men whose names I sell you or you find at my pub also buy information from me. Start killing everyone who walks through my door and I'll run out of customers. So let's come to an agreement."
"You are not qualified enough to give me a suggestion."
Hamilton scrunched his nose but dared not to say anything that could provoke him. "I need twenty percent."
Hyde raised his brow. "How about I kill you and turn you into a Mystical Item, hm? Technically you'll be a part of everything I own then. Technically, of course."
"That doesn't make sense at all!" Hamilton raised his voice and huffed. "Okay, five percent. Give me at least five percent. I am taking a risk here."
Hyde smiled and patted his shoulder. "Good."
Hamilton's eyes drifted toward the hand resting on his shoulder before going back to Hyde's face. There was something particularly irritating about being praised after being threatened into lowering his price by fifteen percent, but considering the two severed heads sitting less than an arm's length away, he decided that complaining about it would probably result in something else entirely.
He slapped Hyde's hand away gently and finished tying the sack. A faint smile appeared on Hyde's face before disappearing almost as quickly as it came.
Hamilton picked up the sack and placed it beneath the makeshift table before wiping both hands on an old rag hanging from one of the crates. "Pray whoever is sitting behind the desk today isn't a lazy bastard. Otherwise, the latest you can receive the money is in a few days."
Hyde frowned slightly and Hamilton immediately noticed it. "What...?"
"Nothing."
"No, no, tell me."
"I dislike waiting."
"Then you're going to hate the sea." Hamilton snorted and was about to leave when Hyde called him out again.
"I need an Artisan."
The casual manner in which Hyde said it was enough to make Hamilton suspicious. However, he had been in this line of work for quite a long time. And he knew that when one was dealing with a lunatic such as him, it was better off if one didn't ask unnecessary questions.
"There is one man. He lives near the eastern side of the harbor, close to the workshops. His name is Bennet. Just Bennet. He was an orphan so he doesn't have a last name. He's good but stays low most of the time and does jobs at a slight premium."
"Give me his full address?"
Hamilton opened a drawer and began rummaging through it until he found an old piece of paper with several names and locations scribbled across it. He tore off the bottom corner, picked up a pencil and wrote something before holding it out.
As Hyde held it, Hamilton tightened his grip and did not let it go. "One thing."
Hyde huffed through his nose. "What?"
"Don't kill him."
Hyde looked at the paper, then at Hamilton. "He does not have a bounty."
White Shark Hamilton scoffed. "That is reassuring. Anyways, take this as a precaution. There are a lot of other influential pirates that come to him for wor—ah fuck..."
Hyde smirked. "That so, huh? Well thanks for ratting out your clients, little shark."
"You're a nightmare." Hamilton groaned under his breath.
Hyde smirked and opened the door.
The noise from the pub immediately became clearer as the smell of roasted meat, beer and smoke replaced the mixture of blood and alcohol inside the storage room.
Hamilton carefully followed him out, carrying neither head with him, which immediately allowed several patrons who had been watching the door to relax.
Hyde walked back toward the counter while Hamilton returned behind it.
A few seconds later, just as Hyde was about to leave, his stomach suddenly growled. It was not particularly loud, but the silence around his immediate vicinity made it considerably more noticeable than it should have been.
Hyde turned around, pulled out one of the stools and sat down. "Feed me."
Hamilton stared at him and crossed his arms. "No. If you want to eat something, buy it. If you want to kill me over something so petty, then go ahead. I can't be bothered anymore..."
Hyde remained silent for a moment and then he looked around and Hamilton immediately realized what was going to happen. "No... No, don't do it. Not again..."
Hyde's gaze passed over several sailors including two men who looked like dockworkers, a group playing cards near the wall and eventually stopped on someone sitting alone near one of the windows.
The man's clothes were noticeably better than those of everyone around him as Hamilton leaned forward. "Whatever you're thinking, I want it known that I didn't encourage it."
"I didn't ask."
Before Hamilton could say anything, Hyde walked across the pub. Conversation did not completely die this time, but it thinned as more and more people noticed where he was going.
The well-dressed man noticed too and his spoon slowed halfway toward his mouth as Hyde stopped beside his table.
Hyde pointed toward the plate in front of him. "How much was that?"
The well-dressed man, seeing a giant shadow loom over him, gulped some saliva and murmured. "Eight pence."
Hyde nodded in a half-satisfied manner. "Buy me one."
"A-And why should I waste my money to buy lunch for y-you?" The man was a shivering mess, but held his ground regardless. "Go bother somebody else."
Hyde did not move and the man nervously returned to his food. That was when Hyde reached forward, grabbed him by the front of his coat and lifted him completely out of his chair as the spoon fell from his hand and struck the plate with a loud clatter.
"Fucking hell..." White Shark Hamilton cursed and with a wave of his hand stopped the bouncers.
"What the fuck—" The well-dressed man's legs kicked uselessly several inches above the floor while Hamilton and the bouncers persuaded the others to continue their food, waving it off as a personal matter.
"Will you pay for my food?" Hyde asked.
"Put me down!" An orange light appeared between Hyde's fingers and a small flame crawled across his hand, growing just enough to illuminate the underside of the man's chin. "Wait—"
Before he could say anything, Hyde gripped some of his hair and burned them, causing the man to thrash his legs around even more wildly. When he had burned a good quarter of his hair, he gripped them and pulled them away effortlessly. "Now?"
The man's face had become several shades paler. "I-I'll pay! Stop burning my hair! I'll pay! Put me down!"
Hyde lowered him and the moment his boots touched the floor, the man reached toward his scalp in horror.
Hyde released his coat and calmly straightened the wrinkles his grip had left in the coat.
Then he brushed several strands of burnt hair from the man's shoulder.
Hyde reached toward his head once more and the man flinched so hard that his chair scraped backwards. Hyde merely adjusted one of the remaining strands of hair near the side of his head, smoothing it down into something presentable as he smiled in a vicious manner. "There."
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"A number of things but that is not your concern." Then he gave the man a polite nod before taking a seat across from him. "Thank you for the meal."
As he did, Hamilton palmed his face and ordered the cooks to start cooking. He somehow had a feeling that the giant man was not going to stop at just a piece of chicken and some bread.
*****
It took Hyde almost half an hour to reach the eastern side of Damir Harbor after the hearty meal he munched on.
Unlike the areas surrounding Flying Fish and Wine where taverns, gambling dens and cheap lodging houses dominated the area, this part of the harbor was considerably more industrial.
The smell of alcohol gradually disappeared and was replaced by coal, heated metal, salt and grease. Black smoke rose from several chimneys while the constant sound of hammers striking iron rang through the narrow streets.
Men wearing thick leather aprons pushed carts loaded with timber, nails and pieces of machinery while sailors occasionally appeared carrying broken equipment from one of the nearby ships.
Hyde stopped in front of a two-storey building squeezed between a rope-maker's workshop and a small foundry as he looked down at the piece of paper Hamilton had given him.
Hyde looked at it for a moment before folding the paper and slipping it back inside his coat before knocking on the door three times.
He waited several seconds and then knocked again.
His eyes narrowed and his patience suddenly became close to boiling over. As Hyde raised his hand for the third time, the door suddenly opened and a young boy stared up at him.
He was perhaps eleven or twelve years old, with messy brown hair that seemed to have been cut with a knife rather than scissors and grey eyes that immediately traveled from Hyde's face toward the sword strapped to his hip and then toward the revolver.
The boy almost ran back when Hyde asked in a soft manner. "Is Bennett here?"
The boy continued staring at the sword and gulped. "Is that real?"
Hyde looked down at it and then scoffed. "Yes. But don't worry, I won't chop you down like a fish. So worry not."
The boy opened his mouth to say something before a man's voice came from somewhere deeper inside the building. "Owen! Who is it?"
Owen turned his head. "Some giant!"
Hyde's eyebrow twitched as heavy footsteps approached from inside before a man appeared behind the boy and immediately grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him several steps backward.
Bennett looked to be somewhere in his early forties. His dark hair had already begun greying around the temples while several burn marks covered both of his forearms.
Unlike Hamilton, there was nothing particularly imposing about him.
He was shorter than Hyde by almost an entire head, somewhat thin, and had a slight hunch to his back. His eyes, however, were sharp and Hyde could instantly tell that this man was a Beyonder and also the man he was looking for.
"Shop's closed."
Hyde looked inside the house and smiled. "No it's not. As a matter of fact you are in desperate need of work. Did your wife leave you recently?"
The man's face paled as he coughed. "Owen, go inside."
The boy did not argue as he ran inside and disappeared while Bennet turned to face Hyde. "What do you want?"
"Work."
"There are twenty workshops on this street."
Instead of replying, Hyde took out the two Beyonder Characteristics and held them in front of his face. "The Robot characteristic is from Salt Hound Ferrick. I believe you've heard the rumor by now. That should vouch for the fact that I am not with any of the Churches."
Bennet stared at the Beyonder Characteristics and then at Hyde before stepping away from the door. Hyde smiled and walked inside while Bennet closed the door immediately.
The interior was much larger than Hyde had expected.
The front half resembled an ordinary workshop, although considerably more cluttered. Tools were hanging from the walls, several half-disassembled mechanical devices were scattered across two large workbenches and shelves containing everything from gears and wires to small glass bottles filled with substances Hyde could not immediately identify.
The back half was different.
A thick curtain separated it from the rest of the room, and Hyde could feel faint spirituality coming from behind it. Owen had returned to his previous position and was pretending to clean a collection of metal instruments.
"Who sent you?"
"Hamilton."
Bennet did not look up and asked: "White Shark?"
"Unless there is another one."
Bennett's expression became slightly more relaxed. "Did he tell you my rules?"
"No."
"Of course he didn't." Bennet walked toward one of the workbenches and pushed several objects aside. "You damage anything, you pay for it. You threaten me while I'm working, I stop working. Fifty percent advance before I start working. Those are the three main rules."
Hyde leaned one hand against the edge of the table. "And if the work is bad?"
Bennett shrugged. "Then don't pay. Fair and simple. I focus on honest exchange. I won't waste your time and effort. If you are unsatisfied and you have paid in advance, I will return it within three months."
"Reasonable." Hyde nodded, satisfied.
"With that out of the way, what do you have?"
Hyde stared at him for a moment before taking out the small metal container and placed it on the workbench.
"Do you know what Pathways they are from? Or do you want me to divine that too? That would be an additional pound."
Hyde waved his hand. "There's no need. The bottom one corresponds to a Sequence 8: Robot from Monster Pathway and the other one corresponds to a Sequence 8: Trickmaster from Apprentice Pathway."
Bennett picked up a pair of thin gloves and carefully removed the characteristic from the container. His eyes narrowed while he turned the characteristic underneath the light, studying its color, texture and the manner in which its spirituality reacted to his touch.
He took out a small silver instrument shaped somewhat like a pair of forceps and brought it close as the characteristics began trembling. "Hm. Ok, it can be done. I will need about a week and it will cost you £500."
"I don't have that much time."
Bennet nodded. "It's ok. In any case, I can have it ready in about 3 days at best. There will be an extra premium, is that okay with you?"
Hyde lifted his chin and scoffed. "Of course."
"Well, then it will cost you about £750, but since you are here for the first time, I will do it for £700. You can pay £350 now, and get your product three days later." He explained as Hyde nodded.
"Ok. When will you start working on the job?"
"As soon as you pay the advance."
Hyde picked up the Beyonder Characteristics and began leaving. "I will be back soon. Get your equipment ready."
*****
About an hour or so later, Hyde left the small bank branch on the northern edge of the island. Before he left for the sea, Kiyotaka had opened a second account using Hyde's identity and had stored some cash and savings in that account which he took as drawings from Prometheus Motors and Janus Engines.
It had a total balance of £12.000 and after Hyde withdrew some cash from it, it was left with £10.500
'I won't notice anyways.' He commented internally before arriving at Artisan Bennet's house.
Once he entered the house, he paid the cash to the Artisan and left immediately. There wasn't much talk between them.
With his business done there, Hyde arrived back at the Morrow. Currently, the previous crew was busy in repairs, none of them daring to do anything. Before he left with Ferrick and Jason's heads, Hyde had made a show by using Ember and that was enough to pull everyone in line.
He arrived with his hand on Reproach's pommel and observed everyone working diligently.
Hyde made his way towards the captain's cabin, the door of which was still not repaired. He sat on Ferrick's seat and placed his feet on the table. However, soon his eyes fell on someone interesting.
The limping man from before was scrubbing the parts of the deck that had lots of dried blood on it.
Hyde smiled and stood up, walking towards the deck as he called out for him. "You there. Yes, the cripple. Come here."
The man looked up and then back at his comrades before gulping a dry lump of saliva. He slowly stood up and limped towards Hyde. As soon as he arrived inside the captain's cabin, Hyde closed the door.
Immediately, Hyde kicked the man's bad leg so hard that he fell face first into the floor, however, most of the force was absorbed by his hands that broke his fall, minutely. Before the limping man could get an idea of what was happening, the tip of the revolver suddenly found itself inside his mouth until it caused him to gag as Hyde smirked.
"You are no cripple. Your weight distribution on your weak foot is too good. Besides, there are a lot of instances where you are putting weight on the wrong foot. The soles of both of your boots are equally roughed up as well." There was a giant glee on Hyde's face as he spoke. "I thought I was imagining things, but hah! Who are you? And why are you pretending to be a cripple?"
The man whimpered and suddenly tears brimmed on his old features. "Please... please, for the love of God, spare me. I haven't done anything. I swear, I never—"
Hyde's smile disappeared and he pulled the revolver from the man's mouth.
"That wasn't what I asked."
Patrick coughed violently while saliva hung from his lips while Hyde opened the cylinder of the revolver.
Patrick's breathing became uneven as Hyde took out one bullet after another, until there was only one inside the revolver.
The man stared at the revolver and then at Hyde, who suddenly raised the gun to his own temple and spun the cylinder. The metallic clicking echoed strangely inside the cabin as the man recoiled.
"There's something I've learned recently. When people experience what they genuinely fear, they become quite honest. For many, it's the fear of death. What about you, hm?" Hyde pulled the trigger and it echoed emptily in the quiet cabin.
At this point, the man was terrified to his bones, as he knew what was coming for him. Hyde slowly lowered the gun from his own temple and turned the barrel toward him as he let out a frightened squeal.
Hyde smiled. "Your turn."
"No—wait! Wait! I am Patrick! Patrick Hales! My name is Patrick Hales!"
Hyde did not lower his gun and was about to pull the trigger when the man covered his face with his hands. "I-I-I come from Hatherwick. It's a small village in Loen, Awwa County..."
"I..." He hesitated and suddenly all color drained from his face when he saw Hyde about to pull the trigger. "...please stop! Please... that one has the bullet inside it. I will die... no... please stop." At this point, Patrick was a weeping mess as he kept wiping his tears while more and more of them kept flowing.
Hyde almost laughed at his cowardice and had the thought of firing to the man's side to scare him further, however, he decided against it. If the man somehow leaked due to fear, he would not want to stay inside a cabin that smelled of urine.
"So, how did you become a Beyonder, Patrick?" Hyde asked as he began loading bullets back into his revolver.
"I...joined the Aurora Order after my father died as his dying wish. But it was... too bloody and violent for me. They are all lunatics! They forced me to drink this potion... and made me do all this horrible stuff. All I ever wanted was to live a normal life, marry and have children. But I can't... They are always hunting after me because I saw some formulas... Please... I have no bad intentions. I am not involved in anything... I just want to earn enough to retire..."
Patrick suddenly placed his forehead on the floor and prostrated in front of Hyde, eliciting a look of disgust from him.
"That still doesn't answer why you are pretending to act as a cripple. If that is your choice of disguise, it's quite bad." Hyde spoke as his eyes narrowed. There was an extremely dim light dancing behind his eyes, as if breaking information and then dividing them into recognizable chunks.
"I don't know... I just thought... That was a good idea."
"Well, it's not." Hyde sat on the table while Patrick was still on the floor, touching his forehead to the floorboard. "Aurora Order, you said, right?"
"Yes..."
A smile formed on Hyde's face as he nodded. "Well, you are going to tell me everything." He said and crossed his arms. "And lift your head."
Patrick lifted his head as tears and snot stuck to the area where he had bowed his head, causing Hyde's features to scrunch up in repugnance.
"Will you k-kill... me? After that?"
Hyde walked over to the seat and sat down before holding his revolver and pointing it at him in a casual manner. "Depends."
*****
Author's Note: In case some people missed it, we have a new cover. It's updated in illustrations chapter and I am putting it here as well, since it seems like some people are having trouble seeing the updates there. Hit me up on discord if you want the image in high quality on reprobate__