By Zephyria =======
“Strip what?”
The man flinched. Silver drew a dagger from inside his robe.
“You were going to ask where this is, weren’t you? Answer: Pirate Island.”
“Ah. I see.”
The man’s tone immediately became polite. Silver pointed the dagger at him.
“You. What’s your name?”
“I, uh…”
The man trailed off. Silver narrowed his eyes.
This bastard, is he racking his brain to make up a fake name?
Something was up.
“My name is, Cute Field Mouse of the Seashore…”
“Give me your real name. Before I cut off your fingers one by one with this knife.”
Silver’s voice cracked sharply. The man’s face stiffened.
“It’s… actually, my name is very bizarre… really, truly strange, so I couldn’t even get a nickname. My life was ruined because of my name…”
“Let me tell you again: this is Pirate Island. It’s a place swarming with pirates who will skin your hide before they strip your pants if you don’t behave.”
A blunt answer came back.
“DieQuickieRat. It’s not an insult to a pirate. This is actually my real name.”
“…”
It was the first time Silver had ever doubted his own ears after hearing someone’s name.
“I told you… give me your real name.”
“This is my real name.”
DieQuickieRat dropped his head low.
“I was born from my mother’s adultery… I heard my father took his anger out on my name.”
“You have a father?”
“Yes. Well… he hated me, but he still raised me until I was sixteen.”
Silver didn’t speak further. He remembered Wolf, who once spoke while tracing the air with eyes full of laughter.
‘My fathers were on the streets. The neighborhood hyung who was a legend in the alleys. The bookstore uncle who turned a blind eye when I secretly pulled out anatomy books. The grandfather at the antique shop who nagged me whenever he saw me. They were all good fathers.’
“Rookie! What are you doing!”
A shout flew in from a distance.
“That guy was alive? Wow! To survive that storm, he’s amazing!”
Three pirates came running, rolling liquor barrels like balls, each trying to outdo the other. Silver clicked his tongue and sheathed his dagger.
DieQuickieRat’s eyes darted left and right.
“Rookie? Not the pirate crew leader?”
“Why. Disappointed?”
“I thought you were the leader… you looked incredibly strong…”
“I understand. Anyone would mistake me for one just by looking. Actually, I mistake myself sometimes.”
Silver tapped the human-skin mask on his face with his fingertip. Just then, the pirates arrived. The smell of drugs stung the nose, as if they had just come from a heavy session. Silver held his breath and stepped back a few paces.
The pirates’ eyes widened as they saw DieQuickieRat.
“Whoa! This is top-grade merchandise!”
“Storm has an eye for people. He left a guy like this alive.”
“If we sell him as a slave, gold coins will pile up like a mountain. Hey, stand up!”
The pirates scanned DieQuickieRat with eyes like butchers weighing meat. They tapped his shoulder with the back of their hands, kicked his calves, and pressed his ribs one by one.
“Wow, look at the size of this bastard’s cock.”
“The muscles are… and all his fingers and toes are intact?”
“Are you the son of some tribal chief? What’s your name?”
One pirate punched DieQuickieRat in the abdomen. DieQuickieRat stepped back and spoke.
“DieQuickieRat. It’s not an insult to the pirates. This is actually my real name.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
The pirates froze simultaneously with expressions of disbelief. They had likely expected something grandiose, like ‘Blood-Soaked Raven.’
“This is my real name.”
DieQuickieRat repeated exactly what he had told Silver earlier. A gloomy resignation, characteristic of someone who had been asked the same question countless times, seeped through his voice.
“I was born from my mother’s adultery… I heard my father took his anger out on my name.”
“That’s… your real name…?”
The pirates, who had been gaping, soon clutched their stomachs and rolled on the ground.
“Puhaha! He says it’s his real name! That shitty name is his real name!”
“I think I’ll remember that guy’s name even when I’m dying!”
“Hey, I like you! I’ll specially sell you to a rich widow in Atania!”
One pirate slapped DieQuickieRat on the back.
“You’re a warrior, right? Looking at your body, you seem like you can handle yourself?”
“I’m a slave now. I was being sold to Atania after losing a tribal conflict… whether I die this way or that way…”
DieQuickieRat paused, a calculating look appearing in his eyes. Then, he straightened his back and spoke.
“Brothers! I have a great idea!”
“A great idea?”
The pirates glanced at each other.
“Please let me join the pirate crew! As you can see, my body is sturdy. I can fight as much as I’m fed, and I’m confident I can destroy everything you tell me to break! I’ll become a brutal pirate and run wild so that you brothers will never regret taking me in—!”
DieQuickieRat raised a clenched fist. However, the answer that came back was: “No.”
“You’re confident. But you’re too expensive, so no.”
“Our Shark Tooth Gang only takes in guys whose bounty isn’t worth a single penny. So, you’re a no.”
“No. Just be a stud for a rich widow.”
The pirates waved him off as if they had agreed. DieQuickieRat hurriedly added, “Please let me meet the Captain! If the Captain rejects me too, then I’ll gladly throw myself into a rich widow’s arms. Until then, I want to swing an axe!”
“No.”
“Please…! Being a pirate is my life’s dream! Really, really! Since I was a kid, I hoped to be a pirate captain!”
“Any Stohl child dreams of being a pirate captain.”
“Even as an adult! Even now, being a pirate is my life’s dream! So please, an interview in front of the Captain! I beg you, brothers!”
“Ah, this guy is persistent.”
One pirate scratched his head and shrugged.
“Fine, that’s not hard. Let’s take a walk to the Captain’s house.”
“Let’s tie his hands for a bit.”
With his hands tied, DieQuickieRat crossed the beach with the pirates. Silver followed, keeping a distance of about ten paces.
“If your face were uglier, we would’ve just let you in. We went to slit some bellies recently and lost several of our own heads. We’re so short on manpower we might have to tell the seagulls to row the oars.”
“I’m confident in my strength. I can do the work of five people.”
“We know that without you saying it.”
“I want to change my name while I’m at it! I want to throw that name away now.”
“No. It’s funny, so keep the name.”
“Even if it’s not as much as my real name, I’ll change it to something consistently funny. For example, how about ‘Stuffy Field Mouse’?”
“Stuffy… Uhaha! Puhahaha!”
“This bastard gets better the more I look at him!”
“Alright, go with Stuffy Field Mouse! We’ll introduce you to the Captain like that!”
The seniors bent over laughing. Watching them, Silver removed all remaining doubt. That handsome man who had just renamed himself Stuffy Field Mouse was not Wolf.
His Stohl language skills were at the level of a native. No, he was clearly a Stohl native. No matter how great a linguistic genius, one couldn’t reach that level in three years. Perhaps he was a distant relative, as Starry eyes had said.
Moreover, he seemed a bit lacking…
He was getting along quite well with those bizarre pirates that even Silver found repulsive. Was his head filled with sawdust instead of a brain?
They approached the entrance of the pirate village. A narrow dirt road led into a village vibrating with the smell of pine resin and fish oil. Shabby wooden houses lined both sides of the road. Ropes and bundles of nets hung from every porch. Oars, planks, and open chests were scattered haphazardly across the dirt ground. Pirates were sitting anywhere, gulping down liquor or engrossed in gambling.
Stuffy Field Mouse, who had been looking around continuously, pointed toward the back of an alley.
“Is that a restaurant?”
“This bastard has a dog’s nose. Correct, if you turn the alley, you’ll find the communal dining hall and kitchen. There’s a vegetable garden behind it.”
“The guys and girls to be sold as slaves are shoved in that warehouse over there.”
From the warehouse the pirate pointed to, desperate wailing and the sound of oinking erupted.
“Ah, that warehouse also doubles as a pigsty. If you don’t catch the Captain’s eye, that’s where you’ll sleep tonight.”
At the pirate’s explanation, Stuffy Field Mouse gulped.
“We’re here.”
The pirate leader’s house stood crookedly at the top of the hill with its back to the sea. It was a blackened log cabin. Instead of glass, planks were roughly nailed over the windows, and red lanterns were hung at night, making it look from afar as if a skull’s eye sockets were flashing. If it were an ordinary tribe, it would have served as a test of courage for children.
“How wonderful!”
Stuffy Field Mouse exclaimed loudly. He had the face of a pedestrian who had just discovered a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign on a wall.
“Wow! Everyone would recognize it even without a sign saying ‘Pirate Captain’s House’! The exterior is just so intense!”
82 – Hell Execution Order