Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Making the Bed
The astonished sailors, once again filled with awe, sadly watched as George meticulously stacked their hard-earned money.
Seeing the sorrowful expressions of the sailors, Ji Ma felt inexplicably pleased.
But after a moment, she snapped back to reality. What am I happy about? It doesn’t even involve my money.
Little Bug’s expression was dim as he said with a pained smile:
“Sir Paladin, you see, it’s not easy for us sailors to earn a bit of money. We all know you are a good person and you don’t lack money. If you could return the money to us, we would certainly pray daily to your god and thank you for your grace.”
George glanced around at the cramped space where the bedding was laid on the floor and said:
“I know that you sailors work hard and that you get sick easily.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” A bald sailor perked up, “Just pity us a bit, it’s not easy for us either.”
Ji Ma caught the scent of moral coercion and frowned slightly, thinking that this virgin really was the kind of fool who easily gives away money.
The sailors looked at George with hopeful eyes.
George said, “So from the start, you shouldn’t have set your sights on my money and gambled so big with me.”
One by one, the sailors deflated like punctured balloons. Little Bug’s lips trembled, but in the end, he said nothing.
After saying that, he turned to Ji Ma and said:
“Help me collect the cards.”
“Sure.”
Ji Ma quickly organized the chaotic stack of cards. She inexplicably recalled the time when she was still in the harem, feeling bored playing Gwent with the maids, always picking the prettiest, long-legged ones to shuffle the cards.
This sense of déjà vu…
Her mood soured again, and she thought of herself holding a Gwent ranking tournament in the harem. At that time, she was out of her mind and promised the first-place maid a day off from all duties to motivate them. The maids, full of the spirit of professional players, gave it their all.
And Ji Ma was ready to give these mortal maids a taste of defeat. In the end, as a mighty Demon Lord, she consistently ranked in the middle, always losing to a few maids and never earning the first place.
If George were to come, casually study it, he would surely get first place easily, making thirty maids line up for a good time. Ah no, he wouldn’t even need to study; the maids would rush to lose to him.
Ji Ma felt a bit sour in her heart as she handed the cards to George and said:
“I knew you are very smart.”
George smiled slightly and said, “Thank you for the compliment.”
Forgot it, his wooden brain couldn’t recognize the sarcasm at all.
Ji Ma addressed the sailors: “Let me introduce you to this Paladin named George, a once-in-a-millennium genius of the Holy Hall. Naturally gifted and exceptionally talented, even cardinals compete to adopt him as their son. Before he was of age, he single-handedly defeated the most terrifying and cunning of the Four Demon Lords.”
George said, “Ji Ma, stop lying.”
“I was just exaggerating a bit,” Ji Ma said, “And I forgot to mention, George has been popular with women since childhood, having received hundreds of confessions. According to reliable gossip, even the elven queen, princess, and matriarch, who barely met him, have been missing him, wanting to see him again. But due to elven pride, they can’t openly seek him out.”
George asked, “Where did you hear that gossip from?”
Little Bug looked astonished: “So it figures that three generations of three people had their sights on him.”
“Right,” Ji Ma said, “Not just three, but six people?”
“Six people?!”
The sailors exclaimed in surprise, drowning out George’s attempts at explanations.
“You forgot there’s also the elven queen and her sisters, and she gave birth to twins.”
“But how old would the elven queen’s mother be?”
“Only five or six centuries old, but her age doesn’t really matter since elves always appear young and don’t age.” Ji Ma continued, “So from the elven little princess to the elven matriarch, both young and mature women—uh, uh, uh.”
George covered Ji Ma’s mouth and said, “Don’t slander me.”
“Oh~~.”
The sailors all went “oh” and looked at George with envious eyes.
George seriously said:
“She is just talking nonsense, do you all know that?”
The sailors, intimidated by George’s authority, stopped their teasing and said, “Got it.”
Ji Ma had been trying to pry George’s hand away from her mouth, but he was too strong; that hand was like an iron lid and wouldn’t budge.
George said to Ji Ma, “Promise me you won’t slander me anymore, and I’ll let go.”
Ji Ma nodded. George released her, and she immediately shouted, “Four generations under one roof! Right—”
The hand George had let go of immediately covered Ji Ma’s cherry lips again, and her head tilted back, but George caught her other horn to hold her steady.
The sailors were momentarily stunned, understanding the implication of Ji Ma’s words, and erupted into laughter.
In the end, Ji Ma had her mouth covered for ten minutes before George sent her off to have breakfast.
Ji Ma pretended to huff with anger and said, “You violated my freedom of speech.”
She scampered away just in time to avoid making George mad, disappearing around the corner in the blink of an eye.
George sighed in relief and spoke to the sailors, who were trying not to laugh:
“Now, about this money…”
The sailors immediately perked up, eagerly watching the neatly stacked coins in front of George.
“It’s impossible to just give it to you,” George said, “However, the light of my lord can also shine upon the mercurial believers of the Sea God. As long as one of you can recite the words from the ‘Eighth Edition of the Holy Hall’s Brief Doctrine,’ I will give you one percent of this money.”
As he said this, George pushed aside one column of coins from the pile.
Little Bug keenly noticed that the pile of money was precisely arranged in a square, ten columns long and ten columns wide, making a perfect hundred columns.
The neatly stacked coins radiated endless allure, especially since they had once lay honestly in their pockets.
The sailors were antsy and nearly agreed.
Little Bug swallowed hard and said, “Sir, but the Sea God will be angry and summon storms to punish us.”
“I’m aware.” George said, “I don’t ask you to change your faith, I just hope you can understand a bit.”
All the sailors let out a sigh of relief.
“However, you don’t have a hundred people, so what about the remaining money?” George looked at the dirty bedding laying on the floor, “There are some wooden materials on the ship; I will buy them from the captain and help you make wooden beds. We can all work together, so there’s no labor cost, and I’ll help too since I’m strong, making it easier. This way, you won’t have to sleep on the wet and cold floor.”
“Sir…”
“Don’t worry, when I was bored earlier, I learned from the carpenter how to make furniture.”
“No.” Little Bug gathered his courage and said, “Does your god accept conversion?”
Most of the other sailors looked at George with eager eyes, their eyes shining.
“Accepted,” George said, “But think carefully, after all, you are fishing for food on the sea; come find me in three days.”
…
…
Afternoon.
Ji Ma, curled up in her blanket, was having a nice dream when she was abruptly awakened by a jarring sawing sound.
She rolled halfway over, pressed her ears down, and tried to get back to her dream.
But another chopping sound drove away the sleep she had worked so hard to build.
Ji Ma placed a soft pillow over her other ear, but the sawing noise was penetrating and relentlessly drove away her drowsiness.
Damn! These sailors who ought to be blown into the sea to feed the fish by the Sea God’s storm are disturbing my afternoon nap in broad daylight!
Fuming, Ji Ma crawled out of bed, planning to speak to the captain and teach those sailors a lesson. She tidied her long black hair, put on her dress, strapped on her boots, and walked towards the door. Upon opening the door,
the piercing sawing sound hit her like a wave.
On the swaying deck, the sailors were tying down several boards. A log was being rapidly cut by a saw, and it was George holding the saw, the log in his hands was as fragile as dried bread.
“George?” Ji Ma walked over in confusion, “Are you sawing wood?”
George didn’t look up and said, “Yes.”
“Your way of passing time is a bit hardcore, isn’t it?”
“What does hardcore mean?”
“I’ve never seen a powerful transcendental being doing this.”
“I am a Paladin.”
“I’ve never seen a Paladin who does carpentry either.”
“There are quite a few who do, and now you have seen one.” After finishing the sawing, George said, “Besides, I’m not just passing time.”
One sailor beside him chuckled and said, “Sir Paladin, he is helping us make beds.”
So annoying, does he love to help others that much?
“Ji Ma, if you have nothing to do, just stay inside, or you could go find someone to play cards with.” George said, “I’m busy now.”
Ji Ma raised an eyebrow, put her hands on her hips and said:
“Why are you making beds? I mean, what’s the purpose of a bed?”
“The floor is wet and cold.”
“Does it really need a bed?”
George finally lifted his head, sweat covering his face, wood chips stuck all over, and said:
“Do you have any better ideas?”
“Of course,” Ji Ma said, “This ship is light and doesn’t carry much wood. With this little log, how many beds can we make? But the rope is not lacking.”
“Rope? Are you going to make a bed with it? Go ahead, the sailors will surely be grateful.”
Ji Ma waved her hand and said, “No need. You woke me up, and to protect my beautiful dream, I have to tell you.”
Then Ji Ma briefly explained this rope bed concept to George. On Earth, during the Age of Exploration, sailors learned about rope beds from the Native Americans and widely used them on their ships.
After listening carefully, George was happy and said, “It’s very suitable for a ship, takes up little space, and can be used in many places. Ji Ma, you really know a lot.”
“What did you expect?” Ji Ma yawned and said, “So don’t disturb my sleep.”
After saying this, Ji Ma turned around and left, but after this episode, she felt much more awake and couldn’t sleep. So she took out the Gwent cards and started playing with herself.
Half an hour later, she heard a cheer coming from outside the door.
She turned her head to look at the empty captain’s cabin.
“Hmph, boring.”
Ji Ma put away the Gwent cards. Propping her chin up with both hands, she stared out the square window at the unchanging sea, her tail hanging down listlessly to the ground.
She started to ponder her own scheme.
Those rumors should reach George’s ears today. I wonder if he will be affected? If he believes the rumors and really is foolish enough to think I’m virtuous, maybe the Holy Hall’s detection system could be fooled by me.
If I were detected as virtuous…
The Holy Hall would surely treasure me, and to set an example, they would give me whatever I want.
Just thinking of the busty holy maiden and the pile of rare treasures in the Holy Hall, and how, in the end, everyone would have that look of being duped when I betray them.
Ji Ma couldn’t help but smile at the window.
——————
Before one o’clock, there would probably indeed be a second update.
