In the captain’s quarters, Molly sat on the bed. The deep purple hue on her face had faded slightly as she listened to her subordinate’s report. When she heard that Baiya had fled to parts unknown while owing a debt of 1,200 gold coins, Molly sighed helplessly. “She really is an idiot.”
A smile she didn’t even notice tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Raymond, increase the guard. We cannot relax our monitoring of the sea for even a second. Proceed toward the Lawless Zone at full speed!”
After thinking about Baiya for a moment, Molly issued several orders to Raymond, who was guarding the door. Raymond nodded and called over his subordinates to relay the arrangements.
Even though the orders had been given, Molly still felt uneasy. She was currently very weak, and even using her racial talent was a struggle. Until her body recovered, she could no longer maintain her protection over the Sea Dragon.
The calm seas they had experienced over the past few days were not due to luck. It was Molly using her racial talent, [Royal Holy Beast of the Sea], to manipulate the ocean and indirectly control the climate. As long as she was there, the Sea Dragon would never encounter a storm and would always have a following wind.
The time when she was at her weakest was also the time when the Sea Dragon was in the most danger. Molly desperately hoped her body would recover quickly.
As the setting sun gradually sank below the horizon, Molly sat up in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She threw back the covers, put on her slippers, and walked quickly toward the bathroom.
— *Hiss sss !!!*
Right then, an eerie buzzing sound rang out in her mind. Molly was now completely awake. Her expression gradually turned hideous because she had realized a terrifying fact.
“ENEMY ATTACK!! ALL HANDS ON DECK!!”
***
Driven awake by hunger, Baiya tapped her head to clear the lingering sleepiness. She instinctively tried to reach up and stretch, but the cramped space forced her to stop.
She had no feeling in her lower body. The stiffness of her limbs was startling, and her blood circulation was blocked. She couldn’t keep going like this. Baiya knew she had to move. She quietly opened the lid a crack, trying to catch as much of a view of the outside as possible.
Everything outside was gray and hazy. She couldn’t see a thing; it was a realm where sight was useless.
Baiya could only concentrate on listening. If she heard footsteps, she would immediately retreat into the barrel. After a long time, there was nothing but the sound of waves hitting the hull and the whistling wind.
‘Oh? Did I sleep until the middle of the night? Is everyone asleep? Lucky, lucky.’ Having confirmed there was no movement, Baiya confidently pushed the lid aside. She braced herself against the edge of the barrel and pulled her body out.
Unable to maintain her balance, Baiya fell onto the deck along with the barrel. After resting for a moment, she crawled out and slowly stood up, rubbing her sore spots.
Baiya raised her head, her eyes widening. She suppressed her urge to cry out in pain as she took in the full view of the world outside.
‘Crap. It really was too early to jump to conclusions. This is my mistake.’ What entered Baiya’s vision was not a night scene on the ship. There was no brilliant, beautiful starry sky. Instead, her eyes reflected a thick, heavy mist. Because her vision was severely obscured, Baiya couldn’t judge what time it was by the sky.
“The fog is so thick. This is definitely not good weather,” Baiya remarked. For the sake of caution and to avoid being caught by patrolling pirates, she massaged her legs. Once she could move freely, she left the shadows of her hiding spot.
After walking for a while, the look of vigilance on Baiya’s face grew more solemn. She finally noticed something unusual and stopped, closing her eyes to think.
Baiya recalled the map of the Sea Dragon. The thickness of the fog was extraordinary. The restriction on her vision had reached its limit; she couldn’t even see her own hands or feet. Her eyes could no longer guide her in any direction. All she had left to rely on was her memory.
She still had a general idea of the map in her mind. Therefore, determining her next move and her destination was crucial.
Baiya didn’t think she could just leisurely return to her room. She was a target the pirates were hunting. If she were caught, she would be stripped naked and hung from the mast. Her current actions were merely to find another safe hiding spot.
The eerie fog hindered her vision, but the other pirates wouldn’t fare any better. Moving through the mist-shrouded areas provided her with a relative sense of security.
Baiya first ruled out areas where the fog couldn’t penetrate. She guessed that no matter how thick the fog was, it would at most cover the deck and the second level. Baiya knew she was currently outside the freshwater warehouse on the second level. She hadn’t forgotten to keep track of her position while fleeing, and that knowledge was coming in handy now.
Since there were only two choices—heading to the deck or staying on the second level—Baiya ultimately decided to take this opportunity to sneak into Molly’s room to check on the pirate girl’s condition.
‘Hehe, little girl~’
While visiting, she also wanted to coax information about the ‘Maiden’s Crest’ out of Molly. Baiya wanted to treat that troublesome poison, but she had too little information. Molly’s poisoning was very abnormal; perhaps she knew a way to suppress the severity of the ‘Maiden’s Crest’ outbreaks.
Baiya took a deep breath. Keeping her eyes closed, she lightened her steps and advanced cautiously, gradually approaching the wooden ladder leading to the deck.
The entire process went without a single hitch. If anything, it was too successful.
“It’s so quiet here,” Baiya said aloud. It was a reckless move, and she soon heard her own echo.
Having experienced sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night to steal food, Baiya felt uncomfortable with the current silence. If she had to describe it, it was far too quiet.
The mist and the dead silence sealed off her sight and hearing respectively, and her internal sense of unease grew stronger. After observing for about ten seconds, Baiya decided to make a bold move.
She broke into a run, rushing straight up the wooden ladder. Her boots struck the planks with a loud thumping sound. As she ran, Baiya twitched her ears, but she only captured the sounds she made herself.
After reaching the deck, Baiya waited for a moment, but she didn’t hear the sound of anyone pursuing her.
“My, my. I thought the noise I made was loud enough, but not a single person came after me. Even the patrolling pirates are asleep. How lazy~”
Her body trembled with excitement. After a few soft chuckles, Baiya’s right eye slowly opened, revealing a crimson pupil.
‘This isn’t normal. It’s an anomaly! Baiya, you have to be careful. In this situation, there are many ways to confirm an anomaly. Shouting is the worst one. If you attract danger, you’ve really failed.’
After warning herself, Baiya stopped making noise on purpose. She held her breath and listened to every movement around her while waving her hand to disperse the mist. Even if her vision only returned for a brief moment before being obscured again, a single moment of clarity was enough.
On her way forward, Baiya discovered something shocking, which further confirmed the existence of an anomaly.
The deck was covered with dried blood, severed limbs, and signs of destruction.
“Oh dear.”
She murmured in a low voice, and her pace slowed down. With these clues, Baiya finally understood her situation and confirmed the fact that the Sea Dragon had been attacked.
‘I really slept like the dead!’ Baiya pinched her cheek. To be able to sleep through the commotion of such an attack—she really was a heavy sleeper!
Since the deck was in such a state of ruin, Baiya could imagine the condition of the second level and the other areas. She had to expect the worst.
After examining the destruction on the cabins and the deck, as well as the severed limbs, Baiya noticed that the enemy’s weapons seemed to be uniform long whips. Their destructive power was astonishing.
Based on the level of damage, Baiya judged that the attackers had the power of the Gold Rank, or perhaps even beyond that. Their base strength wouldn’t be lower than 10,000.
‘Did I escape the enemy’s attack just because I was hiding in a barrel? My luck fails occasionally, but it remains an undefeated streak of fortune.’ Baiya narrowed her right eye and stopped, muttering under her breath. She knew that if she encountered an enemy, she would likely be finished in two or three moves given her combat power.
That was assuming the enemy was human, or a Gold Rank powerhouse who knew magic or martial arts. Without being able to use [Choral Theater: Salvation Saint]—which required favorable impressions she couldn’t currently farm—Baiya would indeed be at a dead end.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Baiya had already guessed the general identity of the enemy. To a certain extent, it was obvious.
— *Screech !!!*
An eerie shriek erupted from the mist ahead. The dead silence was finally broken!
The moment she heard the shriek, Baiya felt a creature approaching her at extreme speed!
In that instant, Baiya tilted her head and shifted her stance, immediately twisting her body. A red shadow brushed past the hair on her chest and struck the air with a heavy thud, shattering the wooden planks it hit.
This impact was far stronger than a mere swing of a hand, and it instantly dispersed a large area of the mist!
“That was close!! Bastard!! That was a dirty move!” Baiya stabilized her body, her face turning pale. The dodge just now had been a complete reflex. Her instincts had saved her life!
Taking advantage of the cleared vision, Baiya strained her eyes to look ahead. She saw the enemy’s true form, and it was a disgusting creature!
Was it an eel? Or a tentacle monster? It was likely a combination of both.
Dripping with thick, nauseating slime, it clung to the side of the ship. Its upper body was a deep blue moray eel with massive, clouded eyes. It might have been blind. Its lower body split into six or seven tentacles covered in suckers. One of those tentacles was the red shadow that had attacked Baiya.
“It’s a deep-sea demonic beast, a Sea Beast species… a Sluggish Sea Dragon.” Baiya quickly matched the monster’s appearance with the information in her mind.