Unmoor — Chapter 3 (Part 3)

“Why are you standing there looking so scared? I don’t eat people. Your name was Ente, right?”

Like a child who had found something fascinating, Ivan examined Astric’s features one by one as he muttered,

“Sheniba didn’t introduce you to me, so I had to ask Kinta to find out your name. I almost got offended at my comrade Sheniba. Ente, let’s get along from now on.”

Hearing the faint amusement in Ivan’s voice sent a chill through Astric. He couldn’t explain it, but instinctively, he felt repelled. With that unsettling feeling, Astric gave a vague nod and moved past him to go down the stairs. But he didn’t hear Ivan’s footsteps following.

Once he noticed that, he felt an odd urge to check.

After rounding the corner of the staircase, Astric glanced back up.

“Hm.”

Ivan was resting his chin on the stair railing, looking down at Astric with a shallow smile on his lips. The moment Astric realized he was being observed, goosebumps ran across his entire body.

With a pale face, Astric hurried down the stairs. When he reached the inn’s dining hall, Sheniba, who had already secured a table, waved at him.

“Over here, Ente!”

“…Ah, yes.”

As Astric sat across from him, Sheniba tilted his head.

“Why did you come down so fast? I thought I saw Ivan heading up earlier. Don’t tell me you ran into him?”

After briefly scanning their surroundings, Astric shook his head. Bringing up anything related to Ivan didn’t seem like a good idea.

“…No. I guess I was just really hungry without realizing it.”

“Ah, that makes sense. After walking around all day, anyone would be hungry. They say the meat soup and ham sandwiches here are good. But that’s a bit light for dinner, so maybe we should add…”

Sheniba’s voice listing off dishes reached Astric only faintly as he sank into thought.

“Ente, are you listening to me?”

“…Ah, yes?”

Astric turned his head at Sheniba’s voice. Sheniba was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“You said you were hungry. How about meat soup, sandwiches, and grilled chicken?”

“That sounds good. Let’s order that.”

Sheniba nodded and stood up to place the order with the inn staff. Even then, Astric sat motionless, looking completely out of it. It was bad enough that when Sheniba returned after ordering, he looked genuinely concerned.

“Ente, are you so hungry you’ve lost your mind? Should we order more?”

Astric shook his head vigorously. Up until just now, he really had been hungry, but after his first proper encounter with Ivan, his appetite had vanished completely. At Astric’s refusal, Sheniba shrugged and pointed somewhere.

“Look over there.”

Following Sheniba’s finger, Astric saw Krok eating alone at a separate table from Kinta.

“Just a moment ago, when Ivan was here, the three of them were eating together. The second Ivan left, Krok snapped at Kinta to get lost and blew up at him. Doesn’t it really seem like something happened? Kinta doesn’t look good either, so maybe they both got beaten. But why is Krok taking it out on Kinta?”

Astric looked back and forth between Krok and Kinta, then lowered his gaze. It felt like what he had suspected earlier was being confirmed.

“Your food is here.”

At that moment, the inn staff began placing the ordered dishes on the table one by one. Steam rose from the food as Astric prepared to start eating in earnest, when he noticed Krok awkwardly standing up from his seat. His facial muscles were twisted tight, making it obvious he was in a terrible mood.

“Damn it!”

He muttered curses to himself, then, when his eyes met Kinta’s, he snapped.

“What the hell are you staring at? Can’t you look down? Wanna die? You think I can’t do it, huh?”

After suddenly unloading his irritation on Kinta, Krok headed for the stairs, breathing roughly. Despite his earlier bluster, his condition was clearly still bad, and he spat curses with every step he took up.

“Damn it!”

As the pirates watched Krok’s retreating figure, they began murmuring once he disappeared from view.

“What’s wrong with Krok? Did someone beat him up?”

“Who would beat Krok? Ah, right. Ivan was there.”

“So he really got beaten by Ivan? Even if Krok can’t act tough around Ivan, he actually just takes a beating?”

“He bows his head to someone way stronger than him. You remember how he got wrecked when Ivan first showed up.”

“Oh, right. That was it. Krok looked ridiculous back then too.”

“Exactly!”

As they talked, the pirates glanced sideways at Kinta. He bit his lower lip, poked at his omelet for a bit, then suddenly stood up and ran upstairs. He moved so fast that the rush of air from his passing nearly knocked a pirate’s hat off.

After Kinta completely disappeared, the pirates fell silent for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.

“Kinta’s fine though, huh!”

“Guess Krok did something that got him beat up.”

They couldn’t hold back their laughter, sounding genuinely satisfied. Amid the noisy dining hall, Astric quietly continued eating. Sheniba, too, seemed focused solely on filling his hungry stomach, clearly enjoying the food.

Just as the two were nearly finished eating, someone entered, and the bustling dining hall briefly grew quiet. Astric lifted his head after finishing the last of his soup and saw Valerius and Resh.

Valerius and Resh spoke with serious expressions, then ordered their meal. Come to think of it, Valerius seemed to discuss important matters mostly with Resh or with men of considerable age. Did that make those two likely confidants?

While Astric was turning that thought over and nearly finishing his sandwich, the food for Valerius and Resh arrived. Chewing his sandwich, Astric stole a glance at Valerius.

Just then, his eyes briefly met Valerius’s as he was spooning up stew. Astric tried to look away as if he hadn’t noticed, but Valerius set down his spoon and crooked a finger.

‘Like he’s calling a hunting dog…’

It was absurd. Not only did he beckon with his finger as if summoning an animal, but with Resh and Sheniba, his closest aides, right there, why was he calling Astric?

When those two were present, there shouldn’t have been any need for Astric to act as an errand runner. Swallowing his irritation, Astric finished his meal, stood up, and headed over to Valerius.

As he approached the table, he felt Resh looking up at him with a puzzled gaze. Astric stood there awkwardly, waiting for Valerius to speak. After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Valerius looked at Astric and said,

“We’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so make sure you’re up on time.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“That’s all. You may go.”

Valerius waved his hand as if his business was finished, and Astric hurried upstairs as though he had been granted his freedom. Watching Valerius’s gaze remain fixed on Astric’s retreating figure, Resh propped his chin on his hand and asked in a puzzled voice,

“What was that?”

“What do you mean.”

“Why are you suddenly talking to a newbie like that? And what’s with telling him to wake up early tomorrow?”

“I’m planning to give him an errand.”

“Then why does it have to be a newbie of all people? There are plenty of others.”

“He was the only one I saw while walking. Is that a problem?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Resh stared steadily at Valerius, whose responses were oddly out of sync, then let out a sigh.

“What kind of conversation did you have with old man Lewin, anyway? Don’t you think it’s unfair that I’m the only one who doesn’t know what you talked about? I have a right to know too.”

“Stop talking.”

“And why exactly am I the one who doesn’t get to know? Captain, are you really going to start keeping secrets from me? Is that how it’s going to be?”

Despite his persistent pestering, Valerius did not budge. Instead, he merely narrowed his brows and scolded him.

“Shut up and focus on your meal.”

“Valerius, you’re way too stingy with me. One day you’re going to regret this. These grudges pile up and pile up, and that’s how revenge gets born, you know? Even now, you’re still not going to tell me?”

That last remark was completely ignored. Resh glared at Valerius, who had already returned his attention to his meal without sparing him even a glance.

It really did seem like something Lewin had said changed Valerius. But what was it? The fact that I, who know Valerius inside and out, didn’t know this one thing made me angry.

And on top of that, I felt hurt that Valerius was deliberately keeping it from me. How could he have secrets from me? Sure, I have secrets Valerius doesn’t know about too, but that’s different, isn’t it.

If he’s the captain, shouldn’t his personal matters be public property to some extent? Valerius, who had always been indifferent and dry about everything, had changed somehow.

What was strange was that even Valerius himself didn’t seem to know exactly where or how he had changed. Almost as if it wasn’t a change he chose himself. Could it be that Valerius, like anyone else, had been changed by someone?

And that someone was old man Lewin?

That couldn’t be right. Valerius wasn’t like ordinary people at all. Could someone like him really change just from hearing a few words?

Resh stared at Valerius with a complicated expression, then lowered his head and poked at his omelet.