By Zephyria =======
That was how it was. Silver scanned his own body with a glance. He looked exactly as he had in his teens. The only difference was that the baby fat had completely vanished. He still lacked any sexual desire. No matter whether he looked at a man or a woman, he couldn’t get an erection, nor could he find any interest in sexual acts.
How did I end up born as a mutant?
It was a foolish question. Just as no one chooses to be born, one cannot choose their misfortunes. He had simply been unlucky. Of all the people in the world, it had to be him.
During the eleven years he spent wandering all over Stohl with Black Weasel, living as a bottom-feeding beast, Silver had learned a few tricks. Conform to absolute misfortune. Give up quickly on things that cannot be overturned, no matter how hard one tries. Do not even glance at tasks that yield no profit. Do not put in effort to begin with.
I have to conform. It’s an absolute misfortune that won’t change an inch even if I fight it. This is as good as it gets. At least I wasn’t identified as a mutant and killed the moment I was born. Thanks to a quick-witted biological father and a competent doctor, I even got medicine.
Silver’s eyes slowly closed. His cluttered thoughts vanished one by one.
Darkness.
* * *
The next day.
As soon as Silver woke up, he headed for the harbor. At the pier where pirate ships were moored in a row, he grabbed the first pirate that caught his eye and asked.
“When are you heading out to pirate?”
“Pirate? What’s that?”
The pirate replied blankly, white drug powder sparkling in his snot. Silver grabbed the man by the ankle, held him upside down, and shook him vigorously.
“Are you conscious now? Your job is a pirate. You’re my senior, you bastard.”
“Oh, really? I see, I’m a pirate…”
“When are you heading out to pirate? Do you really not know?”
“Ah, um… That’s right!”
The pirate slapped his own forehead.
“Thanks to the storm, we got plenty of gold and treasures while just sitting around. They said there are no plans to set sail for the time being.”
“How long is this ‘time being’?”
“For now, they said they won’t do anything for a week. After that, it depends on the Captain’s mood.”
“God damn it.”
Silver let go of the pirate’s ankle. The pirate, who flopped onto the ground, began to hum happily while pretending to swim.
How dare you delay the departure? When I escape, I’ll throw that precious fur of yours, Charcoal Fire Bear, into the sea.
He considered going back to the recruits’ quarters but changed his mind. He would rather sleep rough than look at a face that resembled that Attendant bastard.
He headed for the mountains. Even before joining the Shark Tooth Gang, all the mountains and beaches in the world had been Silver’s bed. He spent two days roaming the mountains and beaches. Thanks to Starry eyes, his meals were always delicious, and he was never bored. At night, he slept soundly under rocks or trees, using the sound of waves, the wind, and the chirping of insects as lullabies. Under the full moon, he even performed a ritual, praying to the long-snouted frog god to remove the mole on his elbow.
On the fourth day, a torrential rain poured from the sky.
“Damn it.”
He waited, praying it was just a passing shower, but the rain only grew heavier. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single cave on this island to shelter from the rain. The mountains and beaches that had felt like a cradle became nothing more than a dangerous battlefield in the face of a downpour. A house with a roof was the only refuge.
Shit. I have to see that bastard’s face again.
Eventually, he trudged down the mountain path. As the recruits’ quarters came into view, Silver stopped instinctively.
Huh?
The roof of the quarters, which had been riddled with holes before he left, had been completely changed, looking like a garment meticulously patched up. To put it simply, it had been neatly repaired. New planks had been added to every hole, the gaps filled with wood chips, and a thick layer of resin and mud applied on top to block everything thoroughly. Short stakes, which had been protruding from the edges of the roof, were driven back in. Thanks to this, the planks tied with rope held the roof firmly down, preventing them from shifting in the wind and rain.
Silver couldn’t close his gaping mouth. He almost stretched his arms toward the sky and shouted, “It’s a miracle!” The rainwater dripped only from the edges of the eaves. It didn’t charge violently through the holes; it flowed orderly only from the eaves!
There was no way the drug-addicted seniors would show such warm consideration. Was this Stuffy Field Mouse’s handiwork?
It seemed he had put effort into fixing the house, thinking it was where he himself would stay. The entrance door, which had collapsed under Stuffy Field Mouse’s kicking, was also back in place. Silver opened the door with a much softened mood. The hinges, which had always creaked annoyingly, were now silent.
Stuffy Field Mouse was lying with his back to the door, covered up to his waist with a blanket. He seemed to be fast asleep, as only the sound of his breathing leaked out. Beside him lay another clean, neatly folded blanket.
Is that… a blanket washed and prepared for me?
It seemed he had rashly misunderstood Stuffy Field Mouse. He was the kind of fellow who diligently licked the assholes of not only the strong but also the easy targets. What a polite bastard!
With an overwhelmed heart, Silver looked around the interior. It was completely different from before he left.
Not a single drop of rainwater leaked! The cloths that had been rolling around randomly on the floor were gone. The buckets used to catch rain had been cleared away and stacked in a corner. The wooden floor even had a sheen to it, as if it had been carefully scrubbed. Before, he had to hop over puddles to get around, but now, everywhere his eyes landed, he saw only a clean floor. The miscellaneous items were tidily organized in one corner. On the shelf, dry cloths were stacked neatly.
There was even an old brazier and a jar of charcoal in the room, things that hadn’t been there before. Red-hot charcoal in the brazier burned with a tap, tap sound. Thanks to the heat from the brazier, the interior was warm.
Moreover, a subtle fragrance drifted through every corner. A scent like finely ground sandalwood bark dried in the sun and burned. The subtle yet heavy sweetness filled the room, masking the smell of water.
Silver closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The sandalwood scent penetrated deep into his body. A sweet yet bitter aftertaste lingered in the back of his throat. His body, which had been frozen cold from the rain, instantly became languid.
Silver opened his eyes and looked at Stuffy Field Mouse. He was silent and motionless. He was so quiet that Silver wondered if he had died.
That guy, who only revealed his broad back covered in tattoos, seemed less unlucky now. Honestly, Silver was deeply moved. To repair the house, clean the room, and even burn incense. You should quit pirating right now and throw yourself into the arms of a wealthy widow in Atania. With this kind of sense, you could easily land a job as a butler.
The steadily burning brazier dyed the wooden floor in a pumpkin hue. Silver took off his robe and threw it anywhere. Shaking his damp hair, he headed toward the bed.
Even as Silver approached, Stuffy Field Mouse did not look back. He seemed as motionless as a stone sunk to the bottom of a river, but looking closely, the black tattoos on his broad back moved slowly with every breath he exhaled.
He must be fast asleep.
Silver lay down beside Stuffy Field Mouse and covered himself with the blanket. Drowsiness quickly washed over him. As his body warmed up, his limbs grew heavier.
He was just about to fall asleep. Just as his consciousness was arriving at some dark place, there was a movement beside him. Silver opened his eyes reflexively.
Ah…
Amber-colored pupils were staring this way. At some point, Stuffy Field Mouse had turned his body toward Silver and was watching him. The shadows beneath his eyes were particularly deep.
Silver couldn’t even breathe for a moment. For some reason, he felt as if he had been hit on the back of the head. A deep sickly pallor had settled on that handsome face.
The face of the fellow who, just a few days ago, had been acting sly and calling him ‘brother,’ was flushed with fever. His complexion was as red as a fire poker heated in a stove. The hot breath leaking from his lips reached Silver.
Then again, he had been tossed by the freezing waves all night. He had done the dishes in the kitchen without eating properly and even repaired the quarters. He had essentially stacked up all the conditions necessary to fall ill.
Silver pushed himself up. As he grabbed Stuffy Field Mouse’s shoulder, the heat immediately seeped into his hand. His body temperature was alarmingly hot.
“Hey.”
A rough voice escaped.
“Are you okay? Are you sick?”
What a stupid question to ask someone who looked sick at a single glance. In that moment, a thought pierced through his mind.
Tomorrow, or perhaps in a few hours, this guy might die.
It wasn’t surprising. In this world, more people died of fever than from being hit by an axe. Half the graveyards across Stohl belonged to those who died while sweating. It was the most common death.
Stuffy Field Mouse’s eyes were out of focus. Was this the look a person has when they look up at the surface while sinking into water? A gaze that seemed to vacantly watch the light pouring down from beyond the undulating waves.
Stuffy Field Mouse’s lips quivered. A sound so thin it was hard to call it a voice leaked out.
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
Silver withdrew his hand from his shoulder. He sat back and rested both arms on his knees.
88 – Hell Execution Order