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chapter 3
…Pirates?
“…Excuse me?”
“You said the navy was chasing you. Then you’re a pirate, aren’t you? Where are you from? Zagor? If you settled in Cader, then maybe from Velder?”
Zagor? Velder? What on earth are those?
Rinka blinked, then quickly shook her head.
“No! I’m not a pirate. I’m just—just a resident of Cader.”
“Then why would an ordinary Cader resident be riding a pirate ship?”
“I, I…”
The man fell silent and simply stared at her again.
The murderous aura that had surrounded her only moments ago had vanished as if it had never been.
Rinka clasped her hands and shut her eyes.
Fine. If there’s no other way, I’ll just beg him to throw me into the sea to die. What’s the difference between dying at this man’s hands or in the belly of a sea monster?
“I want to go to the mainland! Please, just take me there once!”
Boom!
Booom!
The thunder of cannons outside roared on like background music.
“…What?”
The man asked again, sounding incredulous.
But it didn’t seem like too bad a reaction.
Cautiously opening her eyes, Rinka studied his face, then began spilling out her desperate plea.
“Anywhere but Cader will do… Just let me ride along for a while, then drop me off on land. I can’t go back to Cader.”
“Hm. If you’re not a pirate, you probably can’t fight. What good is there in taking you aboard?”
But that was… unexpectedly positive!
Not a full agreement, of course, but to Rinka it was enough. She grabbed the hand still resting on her cheek, pushed it down, and fell to her knees before him—not just a man, but the captain himself.
“I’ll do anything you tell me to. Please take me!”
“Anything?”
“Yes!”
“Well, let’s see… Do you know how to cook?”
“Eh? Not very well, but I can manage.”
“Laundry? Sewing clothes?”
“I can do that!”
“Do you get seasick?”
“No!”
He tapped her cheek lightly again. His manner suggested he was weighing the last bit of hesitation, and Rinka’s whole body tensed.
Please, please, just say yes!
Perhaps her desperate prayer reached him, because a beautiful smile curved across the captain’s face.
“All right. From now on, you’re the kitchen assistant and general hand.”
“Kitchen assistant and… general hand…!”
…And they still didn’t have one on a ship this big?
Rinka bit back the urge to blurt something sarcastic and nodded. Anything would do. As long as she could get on this ship, she could cook, sew, row, whatever it took!
The hand on her cheek slid gently across her face, but she barely had time to notice the touch.
“You won’t get much food.”
“I don’t eat much anyway!”
“Good, good. So, what’s your name?”
“Rinka. Rinka Meribel.”
“Rinka Meribel.”
He rolled her name on his tongue, then gave a light compliment—“Nice name”—before rising to his feet.
Though the ship rocked endlessly beneath them, he stood as comfortably as if on solid ground.
“My name is Ananta.”
“…”
“And the ship you stowed away on is our Ghost Ship. Welcome aboard as one of its crew.”
The Ghost Ship’s crew.
It was a name she’d heard somewhere before. The sort of thing you’d expect in an old legend, full of strange and uncanny tales.
Pirates were said to always name their ships to sound intimidating and unique. Was this just one of those?
Rinka placed her hand into Captain Ananta’s outstretched palm.
“P-pleased to be aboard.”
“Good. Call me Captain, or just Anan if you like.”
“Yes… Captain.”
Was that really it?
Pirates were supposed to be ruthless, caring for nothing but profit. They raided merchant ships, and sometimes didn’t even bother killing the survivors—just tossed them overboard to drown.
And this man—this Ananta—wasn’t just any pirate, but the captain himself.
Then why…?
Why would he take her aboard without asking for more?
As if reading her thoughts, his dark lips curved in a smooth, dangerous smile.
“I agreed to take you, but don’t try any tricks. Otherwise you’ll be getting off this ship very quickly.”
“…Understood.”
And by “getting off,” he didn’t mean at a port…
But still, her goal was achieved.
Rinka was leaving Cader.
She was leaving behind the port city where one person who knew her secret was buried, and another hunted her. She would sail away, to some place where the sea could never reach her.
Even as the cannon fire rumbled outside, the captain casually withdrew his hand and tapped her cheek again.
“But a promise made only by words isn’t very reassuring, is it?”
Did he always carry contracts around like that?
From his coat, Ananta pulled a piece of soft-looking parchment, glowing faintly with its own light.
Thankfully, Rinka could read and write. And so, on the rocking ship, she signed a peculiar contract with Captain Ananta.
The paper itself moved as if alive…
[Contract]
-
Rinka Meribel shall leave the Ghost Ship once it reaches land. (At Rinka Meribel’s discretion.)
-
Until then, Rinka Meribel will serve as a crew member of the Ghost Ship.
-
Ananta, as captain, will ensure the safety of his crew.
All she had to do was place her hand on the paper and recite the words of the contract, and the letters appeared.
The captain smiled kindly, warning her not to even think of trickery—it was a pirate’s item after all.
“Oh, I nearly forgot one thing.”
Grinning, he moved his hand again.
[Clause Added]
-
However, if Rinka betrays the captain or the crew, she will be… disposed of.
How brutal.
The word disposed seemed etched in harsher, more threatening strokes than the others. Rinka squeezed her eyes shut.
Once complete, the paper folded itself neatly and flew into her arms.
As the ship steadied and began to turn its prow, Ananta dressed her in sturdy leather clothes, then opened the storeroom door.
Several crew members were there, putting weapons back in place. Rinka gasped, then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Has the navy retreated?”
“Yes, Captain. Looks like Cader’s cannons aren’t very effective. And no mages showed up either.”
“Good. Now, everyone, look over here.”
Wait, were they really discussing battle reports so openly?
Before she could question it, Rinka found herself pushed to the front.
Huh?
As she blinked twice, the captain announced,
“New crew member. Temporary.”
“Never seen her before.”
“Of course you haven’t. She was hiding in the storeroom. Honestly, how do you lot do your jobs?”
“There’s only meat in there though…”
“Regardless. She’s new, so introduce yourselves. Name’s Rinka Meribel. Kitchen assistant and sewing hand.”
Would they really accept someone who wasn’t a proper pirate, who could only do chores?
Faces fierce and scarred, massive men and small ones alike—every sort of pirate—stared down at her.
Too scary!
What if they refused to accept her and just threw her into the sea?
Would the captain stop them?
In that silence—less than a minute, maybe even just thirty seconds—Rinka imagined drowning and surfacing at least ten times.
“Kitchen assistant…?”
“Sewing…?”
“Not someone who chops up people and monsters, but who chops ingredients?”
“Not one who stitches limbs back on, but stitches clothes?”
But as with the captain, their reactions weren’t what she expected.
Cooking instead of butchering? Sewing clothes instead of body parts?
Just what kind of life did these pirates live?
“She’ll cook meals, mend our clothes, toss old rags. Right, Rinka?”
“Uh—yes!”
“Good. Introduce yourself.”
“Yes… My name is Rinka Meribel.”
She bowed.
And in the brief moment her head dipped, the once-fearsome pirates’ faces softened with emotion.
“We’ll finally get real food!”
“No more of the Captain’s trash stew with salt instead of sugar.”
“No more wearing clothes full of holes forever!”
“Next time we go to Rabanto, we can brag to Captain Zagor’s crew—tell ’em we eat proper meals and wear sewn clothes now!”
Rinka had no idea what they’d been eating or wearing up until now, but just hearing her job description seemed enough for them to welcome her.
No one objected that she was a stowaway, or that she’d be useless in battle.
No one even cared.
“…Then, what have you been eating and wearing until now?”
But Rinka, born with a curiosity she could never restrain, couldn’t help asking.
“I cooked,” Ananta said.
“You didn’t cook. You made garbage.”
Behind the grinning captain—so proud of himself as the “cook”—came mutters of “trash,” “dog food,” and “even dogs wouldn’t eat that.”
Ananta seemed utterly unfazed.
The crew, clutching their chests, crowded around Rinka, pouring out complaints about how awful the captain’s meals were, how they’d begged him to recruit someone who could actually sew.
Weren’t pirates supposed to throw stowaways straight overboard?
But on this ship, filled with nothing but relief and joy at her presence, Rinka officially became a temporary member of the Ghost Ship’s crew.
