By Zephyria =======
“So, all the pirates here are addicts?”
“As you can see.”
Silver’s cheek stung. Stuffy Field Mouse was staring intently at him.
“What is it, kid?”
“I was wondering if you were on drugs too, brother.”
“I quit.”
He had done it occasionally in the past. On boring nights. When memories of the past pierced through him.
“I quit once I got here. You don’t need me to tell you why, right?”
“That couldn’t have been easy. Impressive. By the way, brother, your name…”
“I am a bird! A sea bird! I’m heading for the sky!”
Stuffy Field Mouse’s words were cut off by some guy suddenly jumping up and shouting. In the meantime, they had drawn closer to the galley. The scent carried by the wind leaked the dinner menu: salted grilled fish, turnip stew, and a porridge made by simmering goat milk and grains together.
The alley was coming to an end. They walked further until they reached the hill where the recruits’ quarters were visible.
“See that small place at the bottom of the slope? That’s the dorm where they shove the newcomers. Fill your belly and come back on your own.”
“What about you, brother?”
“I already ate.”
Silver gave a flick of his hand and headed toward the quarters. The annoying sound of following footsteps finally faded away. Starry eyes’ voice leaked out from the belt pouch.
〔Purrr. How mean.〕
“It’s nothing.”
Silver let out a sneer and kicked the dirt ground. The only things welcoming a recruit in the dining hall were a meager meal and a mountain of dishes piled up in the galley, along with an army of grease-stained pots. There was no way to pretend he wasn’t a rookie. The human-skin mask was a sign of a ‘newly arrived idiot’ that could be spotted from a distance.
At sunset, the door to the quarters flew open with a loud bang.
“Hey! You bastard! You send someone who’s starving to death to the labor camp—! I can’t take this any lo…!”
Stuffy Field Mouse froze exactly as he had kicked the door open. He was drenched in sweat, likely from a great deal of hardship. His stomach continued to rumble incessantly.
“What are you doing, not coming in?”
Silver asked, lying on the bed with his arm as a pillow. Stuffy Field Mouse slowly lowered his leg, his eyes darting up, down, left, and right. It was only natural. The roof of the quarters, having endured several days of heavy rain, was riddled with holes like pockmarks. The light of the sunset pierced through the blackened, soaked wooden planks.
On the floor, the cloth they had spread to block the rain lay drenched and sprawled. There were buckets and puddles of rainwater everywhere. The bed, which was just a bed in name only and could barely fit two people side-by-side, was merely a stack of several wooden boards.
“Is this… a place… where people live…?”
“You said you wanted to wash off the grains of sand clinging to your body even if it was a puddle of rainwater, right? Those buckets over there are full of rain. Hurry up and wash.”
“Brother. Please tell me this is pirate training.”
“No. This is the dorm where you and I will stay.”
“Ha…”
Stuffy Field Mouse leaned weakly against the doorframe and looked up at the ceiling. The sunset shone through the gaping holes.
“The lighting is great. The stars will be clearly visible at night.”
“Want me to send you to the slave quarters?”
“It’s a wonderful house! Dammit, it’s luxurious!”
Stuffy Field Mouse lingered at the threshold for a while longer before stepping inside.
“Don’t tell me I have to sleep on those boards with you?”
“If your hobby is swimming, sleep on the floor. I’d appreciate it; I’ll have more space.”
“Ugh.”
Stuffy Field Mouse walked toward the bed. He looked as if steam might start hissing out of the human-skin mask.
“Damn bastards. I wondered why they made us wear these things on our faces.”
Stuffy Field Mouse ripped off the human-skin mask, threw it aside, and sat on the edge of the bed. Silver took some jerky out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
“The facilities and discipline of this pirate crew are more systematic than they look. The current members are all out of it, but the first generation who first settled on this pirate island must have been something else.”
At those words, Stuffy Field Mouse looked at Silver.
“The facilities here are systematic? Really?”
“Yeah. If you don’t believe me, go look around yourself.”
Starting from the Bone Flute Tower, it was a meticulously constructed defensive facility. To the point that Starry eyes had said, ‘There must have been an engineer among the early members of the Shark Tooth Gang.’
Stuffy Field Mouse looked down at the floor and interlaced his fingers. His knees, where his elbows rested, looked as hard as rock even though they were wrapped in cloth. His profile caught Silver’s eye slightly. Even from this angle, Wolf’s features were subtly visible. This guy—as Starry eyes said, is he a relative of that Attendant bastard? Or maybe they know each other?
“Hey.”
Silver spoke impulsively and sat up.
“Do you have something going on with the Stohl royal family? Are you a relative or something?”
“Huh?”
Stuffy Field Mouse unlocked his fingers and looked back immediately. That excessively fast reaction made Silver’s entire body go cold. Was Starry eyes right?
“You’re a big shot, aren’t you? A relative of the royal family.”
“Wait. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
Stuffy Field Mouse raised a hand.
“We don’t share blood. However, my tribe was close to the capital. So, it’s possible my grandmother or father spent some pleasant time in secret with someone from the royal family. Everyone in Stohl is like that, aren’t they?”
Silver stared silently at Stuffy Field Mouse. He was blinking, brushing his golden hair, which reached down to his chest, over his shoulder. For some reason, a superficial smile lingered on his lips.
“Your expression is awkward.”
“Of course it is. This is the first time anyone has investigated my family tree. And…”
Stuffy Field Mouse gave a light shrug.
“To be honest, brother has been a bit difficult since the first time we met. It’s already difficult enough, and then getting a family tree investigation—of course I’m flustered.”
Silver found himself strangely persuaded. In the first place, Silver lacked the talent for reading a person’s inner thoughts through their face.
“Have you never heard that you look like someone from the royal family?”
“My grandfather said he heard it until his ears bled. Me? Not really.”
Stuffy Field Mouse paused and asked back.
“But brother, why do you ask? Do you know someone from the royal family who looks like me?”
Silver looked at Stuffy Field Mouse in silence. Except for Wolf’s features that lingered on his face like a trace, he was clearly a different person. Wolf wasn’t stupid enough to throw away the practical option of being a stud for a wealthy widow to dive into dangerous piracy. He didn’t spit out curses as if eating them, nor did he act so brazenly and slyly.
However, a memory suddenly surfaced—the time they spent playing role-playing games together in the cave. Wolf was a guy with outstanding acting skills. A guy who usually seemed like a docile puppy could brilliantly pull off different roles: a stupid captain, a cunning strategist, a violent warrior.
After Black Weasel was slaughtered, Silver realized one thing. He had known too little about Wolf. He had looked at Wolf through the frame of a ‘naive Atania idiot.’ In reality, Wolf was a wolf pretending to be a tamed dog. One who hid dangerous fangs behind lips that always held a smile like the southern sun. The greatsword that severed Black Weasel’s neck in one blow was the deep murderous intent that Wolf had cleverly hidden for a long time.
That guy was a cunning actor, and I was completely fooled.
Maybe even now.
Absurd thoughts surged wildly. That this arrogant warrior in front of him was actually Wolf. That he had somehow drifted to the pirate island and was hiding his identity and acting in order to survive among the pirates.
“You.”
Silver spoke without realizing it.
“Do you not know me?”
Wolf was speechless. This bastard, did he actually recognize me?
That’s impossible. I was wearing a helmet and a top back then.
The madman repeated the same thing.
“You. Do you not know me?”
I’ll just deny it.
“I didn’t know you until I washed up on the shores of this pirate island.”
Wolf smiled and waved both hands.
“Of course I know you now. Even if we don’t share blood, we’re brothers.”
“Not that.”
The madman pointed his finger at his own face wearing the human-skin mask.
“Can’t you recognize me? Don’t you remember?”
“…”
Is this guy sure he quit the drugs?
“Brother. You should ask a question like that with your face uncovered.”
“Can’t you recognize me by my voice?”
“Nope. Unfortunately.”
At those words, the madman lowered his hand and sat back. Inside the gaping eye holes, cold pupils stared silently this way. Wolf barely managed to hold onto the smile that was about to leave his lips. He was starting to get angry at the barrage of unpredictable questions.
What is with this guy, seriously? Does he have a hobby of testing people’s patience?
“If you uncover your face and tell me your name, I’ll recognize you, brother. Despite how I look, my memory is quite good.”
Wolf tapped his temple with his finger. No answer returned. In the silence, only the scent of wet wood drifted on the breeze.
84 – Hell Execution Order