Voyage Of The Villainess

"Hm well." Oliver remained calm as the smoke started to clear. And as he expected that man with glasses was no longer there.

"Milord we heard a splash of water. We suspected that he must have jumped in the water." The first cloaked person said.

"Then we must get him before he can swim farther from us."

Oliver raised his right hand to stop the two. "There is no need for doing that."

"Milord?" The two expressed their confusion. 

"He will not dare to jump from this ship." Oliver said calmly as he walked to the railings of the ship. "He is still here on the ship. Go find him."

"Yes, Milord!" The two cloaked bow their heads to Oliver and they hurried to go inside the chambers of the ship. 

When the two left, Oliver glanced at the misty island. 'That snake guy, I do hope he already finds her when I return. But...'

He turned around and looked at the whole exterior of the ship. 'From the mast to the bow of this ship, it was high quality and quite well-made. She must have invested a lot for this for a long time to build this ship.'

["Can't you believe this, she finished everything. She was the first one who graduated this early in the history of the Academy Hahaha!"]

Oliver remembered when the Academy's Dean and his grandfather asked him to deliver that diploma. 

'Everything from her banishment to this, it was like she already foresaw everything that would transpire in advance.'

'I'm really curious as to why she was on this island. However...' Black mist erupted from Oliver's hand. "I can't let her live either since she already found out about me. I can't let anyone ruin our plans."

The mist started to crept on the ship's railing, but it soon dissipated.

"Hmm?" Oliver was quite surprised when he noticed that his magic disappeared. He tried to burn the ship once again but the fire failed again to spread.

'It seems my magic is not working on this ship?' He looked closer to the railings of the ship. And that's when he noticed something strange in the wood of the ship when he drummed his fingers into it.

Instead of the sound that woods should produce when hammered, it strangely produced a metallic sound.

'This! Don't tell me...' Oliver glanced back at the entire deck of the ship. 'This exterior is completely just an illusion and I didn't even notice it at first. It seems the materials used for this ship are not ordinary as well."

"Hahaha!" He clutched his head completely amused and laughed. "Now I feel that it would be bad to just kill you." Something sinister glinted on Oliver's eyes as he stopped himself from laughing. 

"That will be a waste of my time and energy if I kill you right away without knowing all the secrets you are hiding."

"Milord!" 

Oliver composed himself when he heard his men approaching.

"Milord, we want to apologize. We couldn't find him. But..." Both of them shove another man in front of Oliver.

The man although had a neat grey attire but his long hair was in shambles and he had an unshaved long beard. He also had a tan brown skin color.

'Someone from the North?'

But then Oliver noticed his dull brown eyes. It was blank as if he was not aware of his surroundings. He was not even making any noise or struggled when two of Oliver's men brought him here.

"Hey! Where's your other companion?!" The first hooded cloaked person on the right shouted as he kicked Maru. 

Maru just fell on the ground not making any noise. 

"Stop." Oliver said when the other one was going to kick Maru again. "It seems he is not in his right mind. Stop wasting your energy on that old useless man. Whatever we tell him, he will not talk..."

"Hihihi..." They all turned to Maru when he started giggling all of the sudden. He suddenly stood up and walked towards Oliver.

"This insolent fool!" The two cloaked people wanted to stop Maru from approaching Oliver but Oliver raised his hand as a sign to stop them. 

Maru stopped just three inch in front of Oliver. " You! I know you." Maru pointed out his finger to Oliver while smiling weirdly.

Oliver maintained his calm. "You know me?" 

"That green hair, I remember it. During the time when we are trapped."

"..." Everyone was silenced.

"You are that witch who cursed us with that ring!" Maru suddenly became aggressive. He attacked with a knife that he was hiding inside his clothes.

His knife slashed Oliver's right shoulder. And before he could attack once again, Maru was subdued by the two other cloaked guys.

Oliver touched his bleeding shoulder. A more sinister smile escaped his lips. And his golden eyes were dead cold.

He slowly walked towards Maru who was now struggling between the hold of the two cloaked people.

"Let go of me! I will kill you As*hole."

"You seem to know something about me." 

Maru who was struggling stopped as his heart thump louder. He felt incredible fear surging inside him as he heard Oliver's steady approaching footsteps. The aggression he felt before was turning into fear. 

"And it was my mistake to assume that you are not in your right mind. Or if you are really not..." 

Maru could feel the pressure intensified as Oliver's footsteps stopped in front of him. 

Oliver lowered to his level, with one knee bent in front of Maru. He gripped Maru's bearded chin and forced Maru to face him.

"I will do everything to make you sane again and tell me more of what you know about me. Alright?" 

Maru felt great fear as Oliver's left golden eye changed into a mix of red and black. "I really enjoy the company of people who know a lot of things about me."

Rhyme who was hiding covered his mouth. He came out from his hiding when he remembered about Maru. 'I'm too late, they already got him.'

"I will return now." 

Rhyme looked back when Oliver stood up. He was dragging Maru like a dog with his left hand. 

"Go guard this ship and when the people aboard here return, signal me all at once."

"Yes, Milord."

Both of the cloaked men chanted and bowed down. Rhyme looked away. 'I'm so sorry. I'm too late to save you.'

"You should have remained in hiding." Rhyme's eyes widened as he heard a cold and dark voice. He tried to run but Oliver suddenly grabbed the collar of his clothes.

Rhyme wasn't even able to struggle when the next thing he knew darkness consumed his consciousness.