Pirates: Invincible from the Start

The man hunched over and looked up, fawning over the little boy on the burly man's back. "The king saved this mount especially for you. They say he used to be the guard captain of a Town!"

As he spoke, the butler kicked the burly man. He lowered his head and eyed the man's bulging muscles with a flicker of disgust.

He disliked strong men. To him, anyone who built muscle was a brute.

"A guard captain?"

The little boy grew interested. He stopped swinging his whip and turned to the butler. "Tell me more. If he was a guard captain, there should've been more slaves in his village. Why is he the only one?"

The burly man stiffened slightly. A ripple passed through his dead eyes, stirring a faint glimmer. Then he seemed to remember something, and both vanished as though they had never been there.

The butler looked down at him and kicked him again.

"His village was hiding a wanted criminal. When the king found out, he made everyone there a slave. Naturally, everyone but this man was sold!"

The butler looked up at the boy and sneered. "Your Highness, you should've seen him. He actually tried to resist. The king had to teach him a long, hard lesson after he was caught before he finally behaved."

"Oh..."

The boy's interest faded as quickly as it had appeared. Slaves were all he cared about, and once he heard there were no others, he lost interest.

He turned away and resumed swinging his whip.

Crack!

The butler watched the boy's back, then looked down at the burly man. An unreadable smile flashed in his eyes.

Of course they hadn't sold all the slaves!

His Highness was still too young for certain matters. Without the king's permission, the