“Tails. Guess I go first.”

Joe shrugged. He didn’t mind.

“How many?”

“Twelve, for each round, I’d say. Had around sixty in there, should be enough for both of us!”

They were standing as far from the front edge as they could. Joe was holding four bottles in his hands, with the sack right underneath his feet. Ralf nodded.

“I’m ready. Toss them all, at the same time, don’t stop!”

Joseph did just that. Four bottles flew into the air.

Ralf pulled out both pistols, and shot every single one of them in rapid succession, without missing a beat.

“Faster, kid! No time to waste!”

Joe was borderline juggling bottles, sending them as high as he could. The sounds of glass raining down on the deck and rhythmic thunder-loud gunfire were creating weird music, accompanying their sudden outing together.

Twelve bottles, twelve bullets in both pistols. Ralf missed only one.

“Eh, I should go to the ground more… getting rusty in the Arsenal…”

“Eleven out of twelve is rusty now?”

Ralf twirled the gun in his hand like a cowboy, and smirked.

“Back in my days, kid, I’d hit all of them, and at the further distance at that! This ship made me lazy… Oh, I know! I need to find someone for a Gunner!”

He looked at the island, with impatience showing in his expression.

“You are both Armsmaster and Gunner?”

Ralf nodded.

“Right. I had to, because nobody was competent enough, except for me, Zan and Alchie.”

He scratched his short beard, then leaned closer to Joe, and whispered.

“Honestly, I am not that good at fixing guns, or cannons - but keep it a secret! I just have the most experience with handling them and shooting them, and that’s the problem.”

Joe smiled. He could relate to his situation. While he was working, he had seen plenty of similar problems.

“I see, and I understand. I will use all of my Resolve to keep it hidden forever.”

The 'armsmaster' laughed.

“I hope your Resolve is high enough for that, kid. Just don’t embarrass me in front of the crew, alright?”

He reached his fist out. Joe nodded and bumped it.

“Your turn, kid! Show me, how good you are now!”

Joe stood in the position, concentrated, placed his hands closer to holsters, and nodded.

“Go!”

His fingers were pulling triggers as fast as they could. He was shooting on borderline instinct, predicting where bottles would fall, rather than aiming directly.

The last bottle exploded into glass shards, covering the deck.

“Nine out of twelve! Not too bad, but needs some work!”

Joe reloaded his guns.

“Could be better…”

“Could be, but take what you get for now! Just don’t forget to hone yourself. I expect you getting at least eleven at the end of the week!”

“I will do my best. Unless we get another island on the way again.”

Ralf chuckled.

“Then you get to train on some living targets, what’s so bad about that? And I can see that you are more used to rifles and such. Your left arm is not well trained to use a pistol, something I can always help with in a meantime. But let’s change things up a bit. You have your new toys with you, how about trying them out?”

Joseph took the sniper rifle out of the scabbard.

“I would like to, but I have no idea how to calculate distance and wind speed.”

The cook laughed.

“Oh, just that? Well, I have one trick that can help with the distance, at least. Got it from an old friend. Hold your right arm straight with a thumb up. Like that. Then, align the thing you are trying to measure with the thumb. Let’s say, this sword I put at the front gunwale… aye, like that. Close the left eye, remember the position of the thumb. Now, switch eyes! How far was the distance between both thumbs? Now, multiply by ten, and you’ll get a rough number.”

“How does that even work?”

Ralf shrugged.

“Something about geometry, and length of an arm. I can count and multiply, read and write, my head is big enough for that, but not for all those figures and angles. I work my magic by experience and instinct!”

“Any tips for a wind?”

His eyes lowered.

“Sorry kid, there is not much here… The best advice I can give is to look at leaves, branches, flags, and weather vanes. Just anything that helps you see the speed and direction. And then, well… I just use my experience. At this point, I can practically sympathize with the wind inside of me.”

Ralf chuckled, but without his usual energy.

“So there you have it. Good ol’ Uncle Ralf doesn’t have any more advice for you. Disappointing, isn’t it?”

“No, not at all. You are still way better marksman than me.”

“Well, that may be. Anyway, we got some time, let’s not waste it! Test out your new friend, kid, I want to see it too!”

Joe nodded, and took aim, using the spyglass sight.

Ralf picked up a bottle from the sack.

“Think you can hit it?”

Joe shrugged in response.

“I will try. Toss it!”

The armsmaster tossed the bottle up. Joe waited for a bit, and when it went down, pulled the trigger.

One more glass rain for the ship, more shards for him to clean. The recoil on the rifle was strong, but not much worse than what his previous weapon had.

“Not bad! How was it?”

Joe lowered the weapon.

“Feels nice. I think I found a new lover.”

Cook grinned.

“Oh, Zan did tell me that story. Cheating on your girl is not very nice, Joseph.”

“Wasn’t it you, who loves all and any women around him?”

Now he was laughing out loud, shaking and holding his stomach.

“Got me there!” He was still chuckling, after calming down a bit. “Well, what about your second fiance?”

“You are already calling us a couple? I haven’t even tried her yet!”

“Well, better now, than never! Go for it, tiger, use her to your heart’s content!”

Joe shook his head in response, pulling out the weird fouder-modified weapon.

“Ready? Now!”

The shot rang through the sky.

Accompanied by another sound. The unmistakable sound of electrical discharge.

The destroyed bottle rained down on the ship, while Joseph was consuming the gun with his eyes.

“Kid?”

He brought the hand in the glove close to the wire and touched it.

With a non-rubber part.

“Argh!!!!”

Honey, you are a dumbass.

“Kid?! What did you do?!”

Joseph was shaking his hand, cursing his own monkey brain and lack of self-preservation.

“This thing… it uses electricity…”

Ralf looked over the gun. He raised his eyebrows and scratched his nape.

“Electricity?… I have never seen a weapon like this, even in Capital. Are you sure it’s what it does?”

Joe offered the gun to Ralf.

“You can touch it yourself.”

The big man was flailing his arms in front of himself.

“No, no, I believe you!” Then he put one hand on top of his head, with his face frowning. “But if they made such a big jump in just four years… I see now. I know why Alchfrid wants to reach the Ghastly Wail as soon as possible. Seems like my warnings and your findings have finally pierced through his continuing shield of denials.”

“He didn’t want to accept that Empire has developed?”

“No, he wasn’t denying it… or… I don’t know. He was agreeing with me, but he never acted on it…”

He went silent for a moment. His face was very intense.

“Listen, Joseph. I think you know already, that we have been in the business for four whole years. We have left the skies of the Sumeilien for Lower Reaches and Neutral Frontier because we are not welcome back there. Very, very much not welcome.”

“Is it because of the history of acquiring this ship, about Alchfrid, Xander, Roth, and you?…”

He hit the bullseye. Ralf’s mouth twitched. The cook sighed, smiling without much vigor. His shoulders went down.

“You figured some stuff out, huh?… Well done. I knew you had the ability. Listen, kid, I will make a promise to you, but I want you to make me one as well. When the time comes, I will tell you everything about the ship and our story, without hiding a single detail. That is my word, the word of a man. The word of Ralf Howlung.”

Joe nodded. Ralf Howlung…

“What should I promise in return?”

“That you will not go to Captain, Xander, or Roth with questions relating to things you have figured out. I know, that I didn’t mention anyone else, but if you are an honest man - and I know you are - then promise me, that you will not speak about that subject with anyone on the ship, at least for now.”

Joe opened his mouth, then closed it. Why would Ralf ask such a thing?…

But he couldn’t refuse. He didn’t find the power, nor Resolve within himself to refuse the man, who was standing in front of him, with genuine worry and pleading in his eyes.

His Stats were quiet too, no matter how much he wished for their help at this very moment. Until…

Sorry soldier, but this is only your choice. This is not the place for me, Resolve, to interfere.

Darling, whatever you do, I will support you until the end of our days.

Bredda, this man here is practically your friend now. Would you betray him like that?

This is, like, a very serious moment. He placed his trust into you, dear. Do not ruin it.

Fine, I get it...

“I promise. I promise I will not talk to anyone else about it until you tell me your story, Ralf Howlung.”

He saw a visible relief in his… friend(?)’s face.

Not exactly a friend, but… More like…

“Thank you, Joseph. Hey, why so formal?” The usual grin returned, giving Joe relief as well. “I knew you were a good man!” Then his face became serious once more. ”But let me tell you the rest about the weapons. We have never seen them before in places we usually hunt. You must have seen it yourself - nothing was in the Arsenal, until now. That means, most of them were used within Empire itself, and only there. By sheer luck, we’ve managed to find one - one! - island, that was close to us, and belonged to Lady Edna, the Imperial citizen with enough influence to buy those things.”

“Then they might have been in development for a very long time, but kept from being spread around among the rest of the population…”

“Right! And that points at one thing only - they are ready. Whatever Admiralty or Military wanted to do with those things, they are ready for it. The patrols, the gas, we- the three of you have stumbled upon the diamond mine of information.”

Joseph nodded. So far he understood, what was going on.

“So we can’t fight the Empire, but they might come to us… Which is why you are going to Ghastly Wail… is it a big hideout of some sort?”

Ralf approvingly tapped Joe on the shoulder.

“This is a place, where pirates, mercenaries, and rogues gather. It’s far enough from both countries, that are trying to piss into each other’s pants right now, and it’s nobody’s land. Perfect for rejects of the Glorious Metal Empire..”

“Perfect indeed, huh. But they can still come there, right?”

Ralf nodded.

“Which is why I want you to pick up your training, kid. It seems, you have come to us at the worst time possible. You have to be ready for anything that comes, and I will make sure you are!”

The sudden outburst from Ralf startled Joe, but his words were well appreciated.

“And I will do my best to not disappoint. I did promise to beat you one day.”

Ralf laughed, and Joe joined.

“Damn right, Joe! You show them! But we are getting close to six by now. Let’s get to our heroes of the show, and visit your birthplace one last time!”

“This island is not my birthplace!”

“Is it, now?” Ralf was smirking.

It is. It was, and will always be, my personal place of rebirth in this world.