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chapter 15
The sailors’ eyes widened at the sight.
“What is that…?”
“Could that be… a Leviathan’s inverse scale? No way.”
“Impossible. Doesn’t that thing only live in the deep sea?”
Shouts of confusion rose around her. The captain narrowed his eyes, glancing back and forth between Rinka—tangled in the net—and the shards of the Leviathan’s scales. Then he gave a hand signal.
“Magicians, pull Rinka and those shards up first.”
“Aye.”
The ship’s magicians lifted her and the silver fragments into the air.
The dozens of broken pieces of scale were mixed in size, some large and some small, but every single one of them gleamed beautifully—like sunlit ripples on the sea.
Thankfully, the spell she had spoken over herself seemed to still be working. Her hair remained its usual orange, and her body wasn’t glowing.
Out of habit, she touched her neck when the captain raised her up and wrapped a large towel around her.
Where did that towel even come from?
It was warm. Only then did Rinka realize her body had grown cold.
And she also noticed—the captain’s expression was very grave.
“Rinka, just what… happened here?”
He wasn’t someone she could lie to, but she couldn’t tell him everything either.
Even if she had grown closer to the ghost ship’s crew, the bitter memory of betrayal after she had first begun to use her power still lingered too strongly.
“Rinka Meribel.”
His stern voice carried weight. The captain’s gaze was deep and sharp.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Well… in my dream, I kept hearing a voice. It told me to jump into the sea.”
“In a dream? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought it was just a nightmare… It kept saying it would sink the ship, that everything would be fine if only I came into the sea. Before I knew it, I was already jumping into the water.”
Rinka steadied her breath and continued.
“At first, it said it would protect the ship if I came into the sea. But really… it just seemed like it wanted to eat a human.”
She didn’t actually know whether the Leviathan ate people. She just hoped the crew would believe it, so she squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to be frightened.
“The sea was deep, I couldn’t breathe. I saw these terrifying, blood-red eyes in the water. Then, all of a sudden, something shot out and struck that… thing.…”
Her mouth kept going dry as she spoke slowly.
She wasn’t sure if these men were buying her story or not.
“Then the monster suddenly sank, and I floated back up…”
When she finished, a strange silence fell.
Their unreadable expressions made her nervous, but Rinka didn’t speak further.
After a moment, the captain sighed softly and reached out. His thumb gently rubbed at her cheek where blood had smeared, and only then did she feel the sting.
“Ow.”
“It should hurt. We’ll need to treat that.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You didn’t see who attacked the creature that attacked you, did you?”
Of course she had seen. It was her.
But Rinka only nodded heavily. Even if she had seen, she couldn’t have.
The captain thought for a moment, then rose from his seat.
“It’s too late now to find out what was nearby. Strengthen the ship’s defenses and treat Rinka.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“And don’t forget to confirm whether those really are Leviathan inverse scales.”
“Aye. Should we sell them this time?”
“Not all of them. Keep the larger shards. They’ll be useful.”
The sailors moved at once. Some came to examine Rinka’s wounds and apply medicine.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
The captain turned back just as he was about to go inside.
Moonlight scattered over his silver hair. He smiled brightly.
“Since Rinka brought up something so valuable, why don’t we throw a feast once we sell it at Lavanto?”
Was that a radical suggestion?
The sailors cheered loudly. Rinka, startled, joined in and asked,
“W-wow… It’s worth that much?”
“Of course it is. Say you like the idea, Rinka.”
“I like it.”
“That’s better. Then maybe you’ll get to buy some expensive things too, eh?”
“What can you even do with those shards?”
“You can do a lot. Store magic inside them, enchant them into artifacts… But for now, just finish your treatment.”
The captain didn’t seem inclined to explain further. Instead, he drew out a thin thread of mana from his fingertips, encircling the ship in a protective barrier.
The fine strands shimmered blue.
A few days later, the ship arrived at Lavanto Island.
Until now, the islands Rinka had seen only had three or four families living on them—tiny places with barely enough room to tie up a little fishing boat, let alone a large ship.
“Wow…”
This was supposed to be an island?
Lavanto completely overturned her idea of what an island was.
One whole side of it was a harbor.
Her hometown, Cader, was a fairly large port city, but—
“How many ships is that?”
“You mean those? Quite a lot. Most of the visitors here are pirates, after all.”
Quite a lot was an understatement.
There were dozens—maybe even over a hundred.
Rinka watched the ships anchoring smoothly and the crew preparing to disembark, then hurried into the captain’s quarters.
“Captain!”
“Whoa—what’s wrong?”
“Can I go ashore too?”
“Of course. Why, do you want to stay on the ship instead?”
“No, that’s not it…”
I’m not a pirate, she almost said, but bit her tongue and hesitated.
The other crew members were used to this place, talking about what they’d do or where they’d stay once they got off. She knew nothing. Going down on her own… might be a problem.
“Then… can I go with you, Captain?”
“You want to go with me? Why not just say so, hm?”
“No, that’s not it at all!”
“There you go again. Denying it won’t help. What a shame… this time it’s hard for me to take you with me.”
I just said you don’t have to take me!
But before she could protest again, he tapped lightly on the table with his fingers and stood up.
Then he draped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the cabin.
Outside, the crew was still bustling about—gathering supplies, securing the ship.
The captain called out to the navigator.
“Diggory.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Take Rinka with you to the market. She should get some experience.”
“Hm. Since she hasn’t decided what she’ll do after getting off the ship, that’s not a bad idea.”
“We’ve got things to sell this time, and things to buy. Oh—and let Rinka pick out whatever provisions she wants.”
“Understood. Then, Rinka, take this.”
Diggory handed her a round pouch.
“Pack what you need to carry and meet me here.”
“Yes, sir.”
It seemed prepared for her, since she didn’t even have a bag.
She didn’t really have much to bring, but Rinka carefully gathered her few belongings and the shell necklace that held Pearl.
Carrying her small bundle, she stepped outside and saw the sailors gathered together.
“Meribel, over here.”
“Ah, yes!”
Her body moved toward Diggory, but her gaze was fixed at the center of the sailors.
She couldn’t help it. Normally, the captain only wore a plain shirt, dressing no differently from the rest of the crew. But now, in such a short span…
“What… what is that?”
“Oh, it’s your first time seeing it, huh? That’s what the captain wears when he goes ashore.”
Over his black shirt he now wore a black cloak adorned with crimson embroidery, trimmed with white fur and golden patterns.
His silver hair was tied neatly with a silk cord, cascading smoothly down behind the cloak.
And his sharp features—already striking—shone even brighter against the ornate clothing, not overshadowed in the least. If anything, the contrast made him dazzling.
At this level, he wouldn’t look out of place standing before a king…
Unable to take her eyes off him, Rinka stared until the captain—fastening his cufflinks—noticed her gaze and looked back.
And then—
“Why… why are you coming over here?”
