Chapter 15.1

“Hello!”

Milona smiled warmly at the old man and greeted him, while Shanoa and Gagaf had felt a chill run down their backs; one-eyed, wine-drenched nose, messy cheeks with sideburns, and iron hook in his right hand—he looks anything but nice.

Watching the cheerful Milona, the old man climbed down making conversation with her. Shanoa pulled Gagaf to a corner, whispering to him, “Do you think he might be a pirate?”

“It’s hard to say…” Gagaf, who was also blue in the face, replied very quietly in fear of being heard by the subject of their conversation. Despite their efforts, however, Milona still managed to hear it and turned her head to Shanoa and Gagaf, shouting, “Don’t say that about my friend! Mr. Ruka just looks mean, that’s all!”

“What?! You’ve become friends?!” Overlooking the fact that Milona had heard them from afar, Shanoa was very shocked.

“But Milona…”

Gagaf was about to say something else when Milona had angrily interrupted him, “I know what you want to say, Ruka-san’s looked suspicious right? But in reality his eye was blinded by accidentally slipping and falling while helping a neighbor kid with his chores, he’s a good guy!”

Wasn’t that just to deceive you?! Shanoa growled inwardly. Even though Milona had deviated so far from her original character, her brain still didn’t work well.

“But his hand…” Shanoa felt very powerless facing Milona, she looked at Mr. Ruka’s hand and wanted to say something, but Milona cut her off. Milona looked at her sternly, and said, “That’s from when Mr. Ruka helped his neighbor’s child. He accidentally chopped his hand off while helping the child chop wood. Mr. Ruka is a nice man!”

That was definitely a lie! Who would accidentally cut their own hand while chopping wood? How would that even happen?

Hearing Milona’s explanation, the old man who looked very much a pirate captain, grinned showing his gold teeth. Seeing his smile, both Shanoa and Gagaf shivered, unable to speak anymore. On the other hand, Milona continued happily chatting with the old man. She said that they would travel for a long time, so it’s better to play Bolu. [1]

After seeing that there was no longer any hope for Milona, Shanoa and Gagaf secretly agreed to watch out for the man; the two were afraid that Ruka would steal their money bags while they were asleep or grab the money bags of every guest on this ship and escape.

“Haha, you’re so humorous, Miss…”

“What is Mr. Ruka going to do in Port Rosette?”

“To earn some money, I have some men I need to take care of.”

“Wow, Mr. Ruka has a crew?”

“Hehe, yes, although they are a group of rice buckets…” [2]

That is a pirate captain, right? That was definitely a hint that they were ready to do a job, right?

While Milona was intently listening and chatting with the creepy old man with no intention of listening to anyone else, Shanoa and Gagaf felt goosebumps on their skin and sat silently in the corner. Milona, not listening to them at all, insisted that she wanted to care for the poor uncle, even asking both of them to join their conversation.

“No, we’re tired and need to take a break.”

“Thanks, but I’ll excuse myself.”

Milona showed her disappointment when they rejected her invitation, but it didn’t affect her mood, so she turned her head and continued chatting with Mr. Ruka in high spirits.

Not long after, a whistle was heard and the ship started to move slowly. When the ship moved, the monkey was so shocked, it squeaked and climbed onto Shanoa’s neck, grabbing it in a deathly grip.

“Let go!” Shanoa forcefully pulled the monkey off her head and threw it to Gagaf, ignoring the monkey’s squeaky protest. Peeking into Milona’s direction, Shanoa saw that the old man was also overwhelmed by Milona’s energy, so she took advantage of the situation and said, “Our journey will be very long and difficult. Little sister, you must be tired so let’s go and take a good rest.”

T/N:

1. An entertainment similar to mahjong that’s popular in the Fahros Continent

2. Rice buckets: good-for-nothing