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“Yeah… Knowing they drank till late last night and had a battle today, the first watchmen will probably enter their cabins soon.”

“That’s good for us.”

“From now on, it will take four hours until they change shifts. So, it can take us eight hours in total before we can check all the pirates.”

“…”

“The navigation tools are in the Captain’s office. It’s best to get off this ship before they notice the tools are gone. The preferred time for us to steal them will be right before the new watchmen take over. But we need to stay sharp for the right opportunity, we can also rob the office when the Captain and the officers aren’t there, so make sure to always keep a close eye on the stern, got it?”

“I got it.”

“You head toward the stern, I’m going to the cabins. I’ll search for your sword there too.”

That’s what she said, but Lil didn’t care about his sword. All she had in mind was to retrieve her necklace.

“Why is the Captain the one heading to the cabins?”

“Because I stand out less than you do. You have to blend in with the rest of them if you want to search those cabins, but you’re too noticeable.”

Ed doubted his ears. 

‘What kind of ******** reason is this?’

“…What?”

“Think about it. We could both cover our faces with hats. But you’re so tall that nearly all of them will look up at you. On the other hand, they’ll look down on me most of the time. Whose face do you think is safer?”

“…”

“What’s your reason for thinking I’ll stand out more than you?”

“Of course, the Captain…”

‘… is obviously a woman.’ 

Ed managed to swallow his last words. 

‘In fact, she seems to be wearing many layers of outerwear now and with her face obscured by the hat, it’s hard to tell she’s a woman. If I didn’t know any better and only took a casual look, I probably won’t even have the slightest clue. Also, when she came back from the dock and we had our second fight, I never felt like I was fighting a woman… She’s all set.’

“What am I?”

“No. Never mind. But what’s the Captain looking for? The Captain and I both know that the Captain’s not such a great person who cares about finding my sword, and the mother of all things…”

“I do.”

“You’re going to pick up my personal belongings when your life is at stake?”

“There are more than 12 hours left until nightfall anyway. That’s why I said I’d find your sword.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“A short, dirty-faced man with black teeth took it. His front incisors were missing. I’m sure he has it. I saw him walking back and forth with your sword before you woke up in prison.”

“Captain, do you think that’s a distinctive enough description for you to find him?”

“He looks like a little thief. How hard can it be to find a short guy who collects small, shiny things in his front pocket?”

“…”

Ed shook his head as if he knew that further arguing would be useless.

“He was also wearing a bunch of stuff on his ears and neck.”

“Hm, that’s good. But does the Captain know what my sword looks like? If not, how were you going to find it?”

“Yeah. It was long…”

“…And? Do you think there will only be one or two that look like that on this ship?”

“Since the guy was small and nimble, there’s a high possibility that he’ll climb the bow and be in charge of sailing. Therefore, if you look towards the stern and you spot him, tell me immediately.”

“Why do I have to tell the Captain? It’s my sword, I just need to get it back.”

“I just told you, you’ll be in the Captain’s office and I’m going to look for your sword. What were you going to do on deck in broad daylight, anyway?”

“Are you sure he’s the one who stole my sword and not the ship’s Captain?”

“Well, of course, I’m not.”

“Then how were you planning to find the Captain?”

“I’ll take care of that. I have to go to the cabins anyway, so I’ll find yours on the way. You always need an incentive to join this plan. Can’t you just thank me for my generosity? Why are you always trying to get on my nerves, you ungrateful *******.”

Ignoring Lil’s complaints, Ed asked another question.

“Perhaps, is the Captain looking for something else?”

“No.”

“…”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Uh…”

Ed placed a hand on his chest, giving her a wounded expression.

“Get that pathetic look off your face, before I stab you.”

Reeling back coldly, she moved to the stern window. She opened it and saw that the ship was flowing with a gentle ripple as if it had just opened its sails. Lil, who was trying to gauge their speed, suddenly felt as if she’d seen something like a human head in the water, so she squinted her eyes.

“No way…”

It wasn’t an illusion. Bodies were floating in rows. No, not rows, they were being thrown from a moving boat, so they were sparsely lined up. Lil contorted her face in displeasure.

“Don’t Westerners hold funerals?”

“Most of the time they don’t.”

‘In fact, there’s not a big difference between this and a western funeral. The only thing added is that the bodies are put in a sack and there’s a moment of silence to honour the dead. If the mother of all things sees this, this ship would probably be the first one to get abandoned.’ 

“Westerns are such cruel people.”

“That’s right.”

“Seeing this, I can’t even imagine how bad that Admiral of yours must be to say that just hearing his name would make those same pirates pee their pants… Well, only a true madman could collect the skins of dead people’s heads.”

“Why are you suddenly reminded of the Admiral? Out of nowhere?”

“…and even have cannibalistic pets? It feels like an insult to humans. Oh, of course, normal humans have limitations. That madman…”

“…”

“Wait, didn’t you say you hated him too?”

“Well, yes…”

“By his behaviour, I can tell how arrogant he is. I bet that other humans who don’t understand that brilliant brain of his must be considered inferior.”

“…”

“He’s disgusting.”

“…”

“Anyway, it seems that everything has calmed down at this point, so I’m leaving. You should go and check the stern.”

“…”

Lil opened the cabin door, leaving a sullen Ed behind. For a moment she wondered what was wrong with him this time, but soon forgot when she grabbed the handle of the sword she found on her way back. The cabin where various gun ports were put down was much darker than before when the light still came in through the hull’s gaps. It wasn’t that strange as people were trying to sleep. But because the warehouse where she and Ed were hiding was a bit brighter than this, she needed to blink her eyes a few times to get used to the darkness.

While waiting in the doorway, her view got better and better. The first thing she noticed was the densely lined up hammocks swaying like cocoons. As expected from a former merchant ship, the gun deck had no dividers, so it was like using a huge space as one single room. Most of the crew had to stay awake and work hard during the day, so the cabin deck was mostly used as a place to sleep. 

‘Basically, this ship is no different from any other ship.’

Lil moved into the darkness, listening to all the snoring and drooling. 

‘I have to check over a hundred faces in four hours. Just to be safe, let’s quit after three and a half hours.’

She looks calm on the outside, but truthfully she doesn’t know what’s going to happen. So, she has to be on guard all the time. 

She slowly approached the first hammock. As he was too big to fit her description, she quickly skipped over him. She had a hundred faces to check and it wasn’t going to be easy. The hammocks were constantly shaking and sometimes their faces were buried in the nets. Not to mention, the path for her to move was tight, meaning there was hardly any free space between one hammock and the next one. It was only by sheer luck she could check a face in detail in one glance. Most of the time, she had to stand in front of it and wait until the occupier would toss and turn. Occasionally, it became easier when she passed a pole with a lantern, but that was mostly not the case. 

Lil wiped the sweat that was flowing down her forehead like a stream. She was wearing several layers of clothing, so her body was scorching hot. Her hand, holding her sword, kept slipping.

A bugle sounded to announce that half an hour had passed. Anxiety froze her fingertips as she had only seen 15 about men.

At that moment, a familiar face stood out in the dark.

‘Is it him?’

Lil leaned forward to observe her opponent. The figure in the hammock was small. She checked his ears first, where decorations were hanging in droves. Lil took a shallow breath and turned to his sleeping face.

His blue eyes opened and stared at her.

“What?”