MTFBMP Chapter 13

 

Stroking the crinkly quilt in my hand, I pondered. Years of inn keeping had made it easy for me to recognize this. This one felt like it hadn’t been used more than a few times.

 

“Is this, by any chance, your first voyage, Captain?”

 

“As Captain, yes.”

 

Dion confessed as if he had nothing to hide anymore. I could see his face stiffen.

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

I said firmly, as if to cut through Dion’s worry.

 

“You’ll get where you want to go.”

 

Whether that be the Empire, or the position of Heir.

 

Our gazes crossed for a moment. The other thing I noticed was that Dion was breathing a little freer.

 

Dion dropped his commanding demeanor and spoke hesitantly.

 

“I apologize for hurting you.”

 

It dawned on me that I hadn’t yet received an apology for my fall. I hadn’t realized that he’d had this on his mind…

 

“It’s not a big deal, really.”

 

“And… I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

 

Perhaps he just wanted to talk about it, and though Dion was older than he should be based on his years here, he felt like a younger brother to me due to the memories of my previous life.

 

“I wish you well in the future, Captain.”

 

I held out my hand, as I had done with every sailor I’d ever met. A handshake meant a promise.

 

Dion looked back and forth between my face and my hand a few times.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to shake hands?”

 

“Of course not. Unless you have information, I have nowhere else to turn.”

 

Contrary to my expectations, Dion had calluses all over his palms. His hands weren’t just holding pens.

 

Dion was desperate. I felt a little sorry for him.

 

I shook his hand, sneaking my gaze up to look at the top of his head.

 

‘We need to get to know each other better.’

 

His name didn’t appear above his head yet.

 

Still, I felt like we’d gotten to know each other a little. It was a perfunctory handshake, but it was a step-up, and I felt a slight tickle in my chest.

 

Chirp. Crackle!

 

It wasn’t until I heard a loud seagull cry through the window that I realized we’d both been greeting each other for too long.

 

“Well, I’ll leave the sailing to talk to Jade after we eat, and it’s almost breakfast time, so I’d better get going.”

 

“Okay. See you later then…”

 

Dion shook my hand and gave me a firm tug to help me to my feet, and I stepped out from the bed and tried to stand as well.

 

When my center of gravity tilted.

 

“Yikes!”

 

The boat tilted like a boat hit by a big wave.

 

‘Why is this damn boat tilting so much?’

 

Trying to steady myself, I reflexively braced myself. I held on to his hand, but then tumbled over the bed.

 

Oops…

 

As expected, the bed was too fluffy. It was also wide enough for two people to lie down.

 

‘Oh, dear.’

 

And there was Dion on top of me, his face buried in the nape of my neck, his hand on my chest.

 

As I turned my head to one shoulder, I could see Dion on top of me, and to the other, I could see my hair, sprawled out, flowing.

 

And then it hit me, none of it mattered.

 

‘Boobs! There’s a hand on my boobs now!’

 

My heart was beating like crazy. I was too startled to scream.

 

Dion must have been surprised too, because he tried to push himself up. But he ended up clutching my chest.

 

“Hmph.”

 

At the sound of my voice, Dion’s body went rigid. If anything, it made it more awkward.

 

‘Calm down, I need to be calm!’

 

I had already taken measures before boarding. But touching it directly?

 

“Uh, hey. Dion?”

 

“Um, I’m sorry.”

 

Dion jerked upright in his bunk at the sound of the strained voice.

 

“Anthele?”

 

At the voice calling her name, Anthele rolled onto one side and out of bed.

 

“I’m fine, let’s get out of here!”

 

With that, she stormed out of the room, not even giving Dion a chance to say something.

 

Before I closed the door behind me, I thought Dion was holding up his hand, which I realized was the hand that had been on my chest, but…

 

Thud—!

 

I slammed the door shut, dismissing reality.

 

💫

 

I dived straight into my cabin bed.

 

It was nowhere near as hard as the captain’s cabin bed, but it brought me back to my senses.

 

‘I hope he didn’t notice.’

 

I wrapped my arms around myself and glared at the wall, too embarrassed to think that Dion could be beyond that thin wall.

 

Muttering as soundlessly as I could, I mumbled, “Dion’s a virgin, for one thing.”

 

This man had never touched a woman before. Still, it didn’t stop the heat from rising in my face.

 

“No. It was an accident, an accident. He didn’t have any idea.”

 

It was just me being self-conscious. After rolling left and right on the bed, I calmed down a bit.

 

“He might think it’s a little weird, but he won’t suspect anything.”

 

I was wearing form-fitting underwear, and the thick vest I’d modified from Simon’s armor made it easy to hide my figure.

 

“It’s just that I don’t have to be the only one who’s awkward.”

 

The fact that I was a woman wasn’t exactly a deadly secret. They hadn’t asked me my gender, so I hadn’t lied.

 

I had information that I was keeping to myself right now, and at least they weren’t going to throw me in the ocean until we reached the Empire’s foreshore.

 

In this world, it’s not unheard of to have women on board. To be fair, most people were reluctant to let women aboard, but Pirate Island was a meritocracy. If a woman was competent enough, she could become a sailor.

 

However, there was never a ship with only one woman on board.

 

Of all the sailors I saw at anchor or on deck, I was the only woman on this ship. 

 

Dion may have been a captain in name only, but that was by design.

 

“What am I going to do about this?”

 

As much as I didn’t want to be thrown overboard, I was terrified of getting into trouble on the ship.

 

At this point, I remembered the vision I’d had at dawn.

 

The vision that came like a premonition when I begged for a quest.

 

I vividly recall Rhodon’s bloodshot eyes. I remembered his glazed eyes and his creepy, snake-like voice. It was all too real.

A vision at dawn came to me as a warning of sorts.

 

The future to cometh if I could not thwart it.

 

Gulp—

 

A dry sob rolled down the back of my throat.

 

“I never want that.”

 

I had to do something to protect myself.

 

“The best part is to get a good name.”

 

It was important to know who posed a threat to me.

 

How could I get names above the heads of the entire crew in a short amount of time?

 

“It doesn’t have to be all of them, does it?”

 

In my vision, I was able to make out the faces of quite a few pirates in detail. Not as vague memories, like something from the distant past, but clearly enough to recognize even from a distance.

 

If they were here, I had to at least recognize them by name, the most significant of which was Rhodon.

 

“Is there anything I could sell here?”

 

There had to be something to offer, but I didn’t know what people here wanted, and I couldn’t sell the pies or cookies Iris had brought, which were more likely to get their names.

 

“All I have now is money.”

 

To anyone else, that would have sounded pretty mean.

 

But money doesn’t buy time, does it? Iris’s advice before we boarded the ship stuck in my bones.

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

Suddenly, I realized I was remembering something I’d forgotten. It was as if my brain had been tweaked.

 

What was it…

 

It was the same feeling I’d had since I started thinking about coins…

 

“Ah!”

 

I left Simon’s coin in the dungeon!

 

“My coin!”

 

A powerful realization flashed through my mind. I jumped out of bed and screamed, forgetting that I’d only been grunting a moment ago.

 

It wasn’t just lost, it was in Adelaine’s hands.

 

“Grandpa!”

 

Calling out to Simon, with no one to blame but myself, I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed down on the bed.

 

Then my stomach rocked gently, in the same rhythm as my bed. The oil lantern on the small desk in the corner flickered slightly.

 

Why was this ship so fragile, despite what it looked like?

 

“That’s how it was yesterday in the basement!”

 

An eerie sense of foreboding struck me.

 

“Oh, no.”

 

I wanted to think otherwise, but my thoughts strangely narrowed to one.

 

The timing was uncanny, always whenever the ship tipped.

 

With a flick of his finger, Adelaine broke the lock.

 

“You’re not manipulating this ship intending to control it, are you?”

 

The question was thrown into the air without clarifying the subject. 

 

Tilt—

 

As if Adelaine were about to answer, a large wave suddenly hit the ship, tipping it over.