HEO 138

By the time the ferry entered the river port, the western sky had turned a shade of purple. The docks were a scene of absolute chaos. A crowd of riffraff had once again swarmed the visitors like a cloud of blowflies, creating a ruckus.

“Lucky teeth! Not animal teeth, real human teeth! One coin!”

“Hair to ward off misfortune! One coin!”

“Lucky nails that bring in money! Twenty for just one coin!”

Wolf shook his head in disbelief. The riffraff, who had been completely stripped of their hallucination herbs by the Shark Tooth Gang, had come up with new products in the meantime. In a way, their ingenuity was almost admirable.

Silver threw himself over the railing before the ferry had even come to a complete stop. A loud thud echoed the moment his feet hit the dock planks. It was a miracle the planks didn’t split in two. Wolf hesitated for a moment as he jumped onto the dock.

In the distance, beyond the high piles of fish stalls and tarred rope bundles, lay a moored ship. It was a warship under the direct command of the Stohl royal family. Warriors were descending the gangplank in groups. Black robes, axes at their waists. Their gait was leisurely.

Silver cast a glance in that direction. He looked over as if casually noticing a passing donkey, then quickly turned his head away. Wolf pulled his robe hood down low. He did so nonchalantly, making sure it didn’t look like he was trying to hide his face. He didn’t forget to shiver slightly, as if to say, ‘I’m only wearing the hood because the autumn evening breeze is chilly.’ That was natural enough, right?

“Fuck, I’m starving.”

Silver stretched both arms wide.

“Let’s hurry up and eat. Any later and I might just eat your parrot. There wouldn’t be much meat, but it should at least make a bowl of broth.”

“Don’t even joke about that. There are birds everywhere here,” Wolf retorted with a serious expression.

Red Eagle also blocked Silver’s path and protested.

“Do you have any idea how much my ransom is worth? You ignorant brute! You couldn’t buy a single one of my feathers even if you worked your whole life!”

“That just means I’m that hungry, you noisy parrot brat. If you keep squawking in my ear, I’ll actually sprinkle salt on you. Pepper and garlic, too.”

“Silver! That’s too specific! Don’t scare the Prince!”

“You’re the one who’s scared.”

By the time they finished their bickering, they were already in front of the inn. The tavern looked exactly as it had when they [stolen content]left. The [unauthorized copy]corpses were steadfastly holding their positions. Sprawled across tables, wedged under chairs, or with their heads shoved into liquor barrels—every single one of them was snoring loudly. The smell of alcohol, sweat, human secretions, and spilled stew threatened the nasal cavity with catastrophic intensity.

“Impressive. Twelve hours have passed, and not a single one has changed position. By tomorrow morning, mushrooms will probably be growing on them,” Wolf muttered, scanning the crowd.

The innkeeper came running from the kitchen, tears and snot streaming down his face, arms wide open.

“You’ve returned! You returned just as promised!”

“Stop making a scene. Lower your voice, or you’ll wake them up.”

Wolf gestured toward the pirates. The innkeeper’s face immediately turned pale, and he clamped one hand over his mouth.

“I’m joking. Those guys won’t wake up until I beat them with a club. You can sleep soundly until tomorrow morning.”

Wolf leaped over one of the sprawled pirates.

“However, bring us dinner before we go to bed. Make it hearty. And some fruit for my parrot. Fresh and sweet. If you bring bruised ones, your eyeballs will end up in my parrot’s stomach.”

“Do not worry. Please prepare yourselves to die of fullness tonight.”

The innkeeper’s threat was not empty. Roasted lamb sprinkled with rosemary. Steaming hot freshly baked bread. A thick vegetable stew. River trout fried crispy with oat flour. Soft goat cheese. Sweet honey wine. And a plate of fresh figs for Red Eagle.

Wolf filleted the river trout and pushed the plate toward Silver. Absurdly, Silver ate the entire fish himself without a single word of thanks. At least he shared the roasted lamb in half. After polishing off the feast, they moved on to a game of cards.

Playing cards with Silver every night for nearly ten days, Wolf had learned one thing: Silver was a tyrant at the gambling table. Rules were mere decorations, other people’s stakes were his own money, and his own stakes were sacrosanct. During this game, Wolf even witnessed him sneakily sliding a Knight card into his sleeve. Tonight, too, Wolf ended up losing all ten silver coins he had wagered.

“Ah, I made a killing! Let’s sleep!”

Silver flopped onto the bed. Wolf, resting his head on his arm, turned his head and blew out the candle on the nightstand. Darkness descended.

Before long, Silver began to snore loudly. Wolf counted five hundred sheep and silently rose on five hundred and one. Red Eagle was fast asleep on the headboard.

Wolf lightly pressed Red Eagle’s head with his fingertip. The white parrot flinched and snapped its black eyes open. Wolf quickly put a finger to his lips and then pointed to his shoulder with his chin. Red Eagle promptly perched on Wolf’s shoulder.

Wolf crossed the room with a cat-like tread. The tavern downstairs was still like a ransacked cemetery. The area in front of the counter was empty. As Wolf had suggested, the innkeeper had stepped away to enjoy a peaceful sleep. He seemed like the kind of child who would have been adored by his parents for being a good, obedient boy.

Outside the inn, a thick darkness had settled. A cold wind carried the scent of campfire smoke and alcohol here and there. The docks were boisterous visit our sitewith the Read on Read BL Novelsdrunken ramblings and singing of the riffraff. Below the docks, the black river surged. The masts of the ships moored at the pier swayed with the wind.

Wolf continued walking with his robe hood up. Like a man just getting some fresh air, or perhaps a man who couldn’t sleep and had gone out in search of a woman. His steps were steady, moving in only one direction. Passing the high piles of fish stalls and crossing over the tarred rope bundles, his destination finally appeared. The warship under the direct command of the Stohl royal family.

Even under the moonlight, the peculiar figurehead of the ship left a repulsive impression. The hull was so black it was indistinguishable from the black river, and because a single lantern on a nearby foreign object was swaying, the warship looked like a beast with a gleaming one eye.

No one was visible near the gangplank leading to the hull. Wolf stepped onto the plank and walked up. The wood creaked beneath his feet.

The deck of the warship was a mess. Warriors were gathered here and there in small groups, drinking, gambling, and singing. The sound of clinking glasses, the rolling of dice, and ambiguous screams—whether they were songs or the death rattles of cats—shook the darkness. The smell of pine resin rising with white smoke from the brazier in front of the mast, the heavy body odor characteristic of people who had done nothing but drink all day, and the scent of honey wine permeated the air.

Upon stepping onto the deck, Wolf pushed back his robe hood. As the unwelcome guest appeared with a white parrot on his shoulder, the commotion on the deck gradually died down. First, the sound of rolling dice stopped, followed by the fading of the singing. Slurred speech cut off abruptly, as if tripping over its own feet.

“…Prince? You’re Prince Red Eagle, right?”

A man sitting in front of the mast stood up hastily and staggered. Somehow managing not to drop the glass in his hand, he stumbled across the deck toward them. It was the steersman, Quick-to-Die Rat.

“Took you long enough to recognize me, Quick-to-Die Rat!” Red Eagle bellowed.

Wolf lightly raised a hand.

“Why have you arrived here already? I’m certain I told you to follow at a two-day interval.”

Wolf poked Quick-to-Die Rat’s forehead with his finger.

“One. Two. I even held up my fingers in case you got confused. But is this the secret pursuit I ordered? Wonderful. If it weren’t for that disgusting figurehead, even the riffraff on the docks would have mistaken this place for a floating pub full of noisy pigs.”

“Ah… that is.”

Quick-to-Die Rat rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

“The wind was favorable, Prince. The southwest wind blew like crazy from dawn until sunset. In weather like that, it’s not easy to intentionally lag behind. You know how it is, the wind…”

“If the wind wills it, humans have no choice but to follow?”

Wolf snatched the glass from Quick-to-Die Rat’s hand and drained it.

“It seems the superior you serve was not me, but the wind. Fine, from now on, [stolen content]give your unauthorized copyorders to the wind. Now, get lost.”

“Give me a break just once. My limbs are still perfectly attached.”

“You damn brat. If you make another mistake, your head is really going to roll.”