Chapter 617: Navigator

The scene in front of him made Joan feel very fresh.

He had never seen such a game in the South, and it must have been what the newspapers often referred to as "billiards"-a club sport that originated in the Old World Kingdom of Feizhen and is now very fashionable in the northern part of the New World.

The two men who were playing billiards looked to be in their thirties or forties. One was stout with a flushed face, while the other was thin and strong with a horned beard.

Joan couldn't recognize which of the two gentlemen he was looking for, so he hesitated. Fortunately, the waiter was very winking, and told him in a low voice that the red-faced burly man was the captain of the "Mercury", McQuay.

When Joan came to the desk, McQuay had just hit a good ball. After hitting the bouquet, the white ball drew an arc against the table, touched the edge of the table and bounced back slightly, just hiding behind the other ball. .

"A perfect defense!"

The people who watched the ball praised in unison.

Captain McQuay laughed, handed the cue to the waiter, grabbed the oak cup on the window sill next to him, and drank the beer in one gulp.

The man with the horned beard on the opposite side frowned, holding the cue club and making gestures on the table several times, trying to find the best path to clear the siege, but the difficulty was too great, two hits failed, and points were deducted He completely lost hope of catching up with his opponent, so he had to put down his cue and admit defeat, took out a handful of gold coins and slapped them on the table, muttered "I'm not lucky today", then turned and walked away resentfully.

McQuay grabbed the winning bet and weighed it, gave one of the gold coins to the waiter, put the rest in his pocket, turned around and smiled at Joan: "Young man, can you play billiards?"

Joan shook his head awkwardly.

"It's okay, I'll teach you."

Qiao An saw that the captain was quite addicted to the game. If he couldn't face himself, he didn't know how many games he would have to play with him, so he quickly interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McQuay, I'm here to apply for the 'Navigation Mage'!"

"Oh, I know that, can't we play ball and talk about business?"

"Sorry, I really won't."

"Okay then." McQuay put down his cue in disappointment, and looked at Joan up and down, "Mr. Mage, how old are you?"

"Fourteen years old." Joan said truthfully.

McQuay frowned, and then asked: "You are too young for this line of business. I don't think you have much sailing experience, do you?"

"I've only been on the ship twice, the 'New World' cruise ship."

"Oh~ That's a luxury cruise ship! A nautical mage who can work on a cruise ship must have two talents. It seems that I underestimated you a bit."

McQuay looked at Joan with a little more respect.

Joan's cheeks flushed slightly. In fact, he is just a passenger on the cruise ship, not a navigator, but in order to get a smooth sailing, it is not easy to correct Captain McQuay's misunderstanding in person.

"Since you have experience as a nautical mage, you should at least be good at 'wind making'?" McQuay asked.

Joan nodded.

"How about the 'cloud mist technique'?"

"no problem."

"And what about 'pyrotechnics'?"

"Of course." Joan replied confidently.

McQuay rubbed his nose and said apologetically, "It's not that I don't trust you, Mr. Mage, but you look too young. Unless you are willing to show your hand in front of me, I can't be sure whether it is worth hiring You pay the full 100 gold duga—not a small sum for a short week's voyage!"

"Your request is very reasonable, Mr. McQuay."

Joan turned and walked to the window and pushed it open. Cold wind blows into the club hall through the open windows, dispelling the lingering smoke and attracting suspicious looks.

Joan stood facing the window, skillfully made a series of spell-casting gestures, and then chanted the activation spell of the 2nd-level "Wind-making Art".

"Súré!"

The moment the spell casting process was completed, Joan raised his finger and pointed out the window. The magic turned into a gust of wind and whizzed towards his finger, causing waves to rise on the calm sea surface of the port, and the ships of all sizes moored at the anchorage also fluctuated with the waves, and the sails that were originally hanging down from the mast were affected by this abnormal airflow , all swelled up, hunting and fluttering in the wind.

"Wonderful, very wonderful!"

Captain McQuay applauded again and again, and walked towards Joan with a smile: "Mr. Mage, welcome to join our team."

Joan shook hands with the captain, made an appointment to board the ship at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and then said goodbye.

"This is a deposit for you. I will pay the remaining half when the 'Mercury' arrives safely at Midgard Port." McQuay counted out 50 gold coins, put them in a purse and handed them to Joan, and specifically instructed Two sentences, "The free port may be too free. There are swarms of pickpockets on the streets and hooligans everywhere. You are new here. For safety reasons, it is best not to stay in the pier area for a long time. Find a clean hotel to stay and have a good rest. Tomorrow See you in the morning."

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Captain, thank you for your care." Joan bowed to McQuay and thanked him, put away the purse, turned and went downstairs.

Walking out of the gate of the Port Authority, Joann remembered Mr. McQuay's advice, and stopped on the side of the road, looking at both sides of the street, looking for a hotel to stay.

At this moment, a man dressed as a sailor walked towards him, staggering, his body reeked of alcohol, and he looked like a drunk.

Seeing the man walking recklessly, Joan ducked to the side of the road to avoid being hit by the drunk. Just at this time, someone behind him tiptoed towards him, reaching out his hand like lightning to take out the money bag in his waist.

The pickpocket thought he was clever, but he didn't know that Qiao An had an eye on the back of his neck. He had already seen his sneaky behavior in his eyes, and he dodged in time to avoid the pickpocket.

The pickpocket lost his hand, his face twitched slightly, and his eyes showed surprise, but he quickly regained his composure. Instead of feeling ashamed, he glared at Qiao An and shouted straightly: "What are you looking at! Brat, you want to find fault ?”

Joan couldn't laugh or cry. There were thieves everywhere, but it was the first time he had seen such an arrogant thief. He thought that Mr. McQuay was right. Freeport is a place that lacks law and discipline, and street pickpockets are as arrogant as robbers.

After all, he is a foreigner, he passed by here and didn't want to cause trouble, so he ignored the pickpocket's provocation, and planned to turn his head and leave.

However, at the moment when his attention was attracted by the arrogant pickpocket in front of him, the drunken man beside him who was stumbling suddenly revealed his eyes, and the drunkenness disappeared from his face. Taking the opportunity of passing by Joan, Suddenly tore off the money bag from his waist, and ran away!

Thanks to the book friend: tce, this week rewarded 600 starting coins