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chapter 9
It had already been five days since Rinka started living in the captain’s quarters.
During those days, she began learning self-defense from the captain in her spare time.
Pearl was still asleep, having turned back into a pale blue seashell, and this left Rinka anxious in many ways. She had asked to be taught something to ease her worries, and that was how the lessons began.
But to call it just self-defense…
She was actually learning how to wield a strangely patterned sword. When she asked what it was, the captain explained that it was imbued with an enchantment capable of wounding sea monsters.
“An enchantment? Like magic?”
“It’s different from magic. Long before magic came into the world, when people didn’t even know how to manipulate mana, they would infuse objects with power and use them… that was enchantment.”
The captain trailed off, smiling faintly at the corners of his lips.
“No one uses it anymore.”
“No one?”
“They’re all dead. So don’t drop it in the sea. It would be hard to ever replace it.”
The captain’s relaxed smile was endlessly beautiful, but he looked as if he was longing for something.
Still, even Rinka knew well enough that you shouldn’t ask such a person the reason for that kind of expression. She only tightened her grip on the sword in silence.
The ship sailed swiftly and without issue, soon entering the boundary of the Western Sea. Digory, the navigator and magician, announced their entry into the waters and cast a protective barrier over the entire ship.
Judging by how not a single pirate was unarmed, the danger must have been very real.
“Back near the waters of Cather, they only carried short daggers or pistols for show.”
Seeing their reactions made Rinka tense as well.
The Western Sea.
She quickly understood why people called this place a “boundary.”
It was as though a line had been drawn across the water—one moment, the sea sparkled with emerald light, and the next, it had turned a dark, heavy violet.
There were no islands, no seaweed, nothing in sight.
The sky was clear and beautiful, yet the sea below looked as dark as midnight.
Gripping the edge of the railing, Rinka quietly peered down into the water.
This was the path to her father’s homeland.
Could mermaids really be living in this dark, strange violet sea?
“Careful.”
Digory, making his rounds to check the barrier, lightly took hold of Rinka’s wrist. She must have been leaning out farther than she realized.
“Navigator…”
His skin was dark—he had been born much farther from Rinka’s homeland. He said he had first boarded a ship when he was only five, and by eleven, he was already a pirate.
Rinka had wondered how anyone could become a pirate at such a young age, but people all had their circumstances.
After all, wasn’t her own situation strange too? A half-mermaid who grew scales and gained the power of tongues when touched by seawater.
“If you fall into this sea, no one can save you. So be careful, Meribel.”
Digory, who had been aboard almost as long as the captain himself, was the only one who called her Meribel.
The crew, meanwhile, called her whatever they liked.
The captain and most others simply used her name, Rinka. Others called her “seamstress,” “cook,” or “the newbie,” whatever rolled off their tongue.
But Digory had asked her directly if he could call her Meribel. Pirates often had no surnames—or if they did, they didn’t bother revealing them, instead choosing nicknames or aliases.
Rinka had been glad. After leaving everything behind in her home in Cather, the only thing that still reminded her of her mother was her name.
Sonia Meribel.
Rinka Meribel.
Maybe it was because Digory’s hand didn’t let go of hers right away, as if holding some unspoken concern, but Rinka gave him a bright smile and stepped back from the railing.
“It’s just so strange. I’ve never seen a sea like this before—I can’t stop staring.”
“You’d be better off never seeing it in your life.”
“Well, yes… you said it’s extremely dangerous.”
He nodded.
He wasn’t a painting-perfect beauty like the captain, but his face reminded her of the warriors from desert kingdoms she’d read about in fairy tales. A brief smile crossed it.
“You’ve been learning self-defense from the captain, haven’t you?”
“Ah—yes. Just a little sword work.”
Digory’s hand brushed lightly over her hair.
“Meribel.”
“Yes?”
“If something feels strange… stab.”
“…What?”
“Even if it’s me. Even if it’s another sailor. Even if it’s the captain himself.”
It was a cryptic warning.
Stab… if something feels strange?
Even someone aboard this ship?
Her sunset-colored eyes lifted to him, following the hand that had fallen away.
“Be back in the captain’s quarters before the sun sets.”
“Wait—!”
She called after him, wanting to ask more, but he only waved a hand as if there was nothing more to explain.
The incident happened that night.
BOOM!
CRASH, CRACK!
The last traces of sunset were gone, and under a violet-drenched sky, night fell.
Inside the captain’s quarters, in the small bedroom she had grown used to, Rinka awoke from her curled-up sleep on the cot to feel the entire ship shudder violently.
A big wave?
The thought barely formed before another massive BOOM erupted from beneath the ship.
No—
Through the doorway, she caught glimpses of pirates holding weapons, standing guard.
Should she go out too?
She hesitated, when suddenly someone knocked lightly at the bedroom door.
Knock, knock.
As though this chaos didn’t exist at all—it was such a casual act. Only one person would do something like that…
“Captain?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Wha—no! What’s going on?!”
“A monster attack. You stay here.”
“What?”
Stay here?
Outside, pirates were shouting, waves were crashing violently onto the deck, and something was pounding at the ship’s hull.
Perhaps her unease showed on her face, because the captain strode inside, lifted her chin gently, and spoke.
“Rinka Meribel.”
“…”
“The creature battering us is massive, but it’s nothing to worry about. Digory’s magic is powerful, and my sailors are strong.”
“…Really?”
“Just watch quietly from here. I’ll show you why the navy fears pirates so much.”
He smiled handsomely.
It was the same calm, leisurely expression he had worn the day she first saw him fight the navy.
Even with the ship tossing violently, Rinka felt her heart settle, and she nodded slowly.
“Ah… alright.”
“Good. Then, open the curtain.”
Shhhk.
The curtain drew back, and right before her eyes, a massive suction cup like that of an octopus slowly rose into view.
“Eek!”
“Ah, I forgot to mention—it’s big.”
“You didn’t forget! You left that out on purpose!”
“Correct.”
His hand brushed lazily over her head as though it really was nothing serious.
Those deep blue eyes seemed almost inhuman in their calm, but a flicker of mischief glinted in them—and somehow, that eased Rinka’s heart.
“…It really is nothing, right?”
“Of course. I don’t lie.”
Through the window, she saw sailors hacking at the enormous suction cups with their weapons.
The beast rumbled, raising giant limbs that churned up wave after wave, as though it wanted to capsize the ship. The splashing grew louder and louder.
“Rinka, have you ever seen fireworks?”
“…Fireworks? Now?”
“Yes.”
The captain tied back the curtain and stepped onto the doorframe, turning back to ask her.
It was a strange question for the situation, but seeing the pitch-black sky beyond him, Rinka nodded, almost entranced.
He smiled brightly.
“Normally, we wouldn’t use this kind of show against such a low-class monster—”
With a single step back from the frame, the captain spread both arms wide.
What is he doing…?
Rinka couldn’t take her eyes off him. Every step, every motion seemed to slow before her.
“But since Rinka has become my crewmate, I should at least give you a little fireworks.”
The words had barely left his mouth when from his hands, dozens—hundreds—of fine blue threads streamed out, like strings woven of glowing jewels.
