Sea Monster Stew Chapter 24

Kisa unconsciously gripped the armrest of his chair. He hadn’t expected Captain Hawk to bring up Biche so abruptly.

 

“…No. She never told me her name.”

 

“Oh my, it seems she hasn’t confided her past in you? I thought my foster son had gotten quite close to that young lady.”

Hawk looked at the flinching Kisa and smiled faintly.

“Isn’t that right? The kind and gentlemanly “Muir”, who took the young lady to the southern pleasure beach twice?”

 

“Damn it, were you watching me?”

“Hey, you haven’t been reporting on the situation at all, so what choice did I have?”

His voice was full of playfulness, but the look in his eyes was sharp. 

 

Kisa bit his lip hard and met that gaze head-on.

It was clear Hawk cared for his foster son, but he wasn’t the type to tolerate a subordinate’s secrets under the pretext of that affection.

 

“…Why are you bringing her up all of a sudden?”

“My foster son… I never even dreamed you would take a mission this seriously.”

 

Hawk’s bitter smile vanished like the wind. After a brief silence, he continued in a low voice.

“For your own sake, you need to rein in your feelings for that young lady now, Kiki.”

 

Kisa quietly clenched his fist. He couldn’t understand Captain Hawk’s sudden change of heart.

“Why now? You were the one who ordered me to get close to the Vice-Captain’s assistant.”

 

Hawk quietly cast his gaze out the window. Darkness was seeping through the glass into the bedroom.

“…I looked into that young lady in a bit more detail. She’s a woman with many secrets.”

He let out a sigh and met Kisa’s eyes again.

“I’m asking you. Someday… you might come to horribly hate yourself for having held her in your heart.”

 

“What are her secrets that would make you say that?”

 

Captain Hawk just shrugged his shoulders silently. 

 

It meant he shouldn’t ask further.

Kisa pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. 

 

He was suspicious of the Captain evading the answer.

 

“I command you as your Captain, Admiral Kisa.”

Hawk leaned back in his chair and let out the words like a sigh.

“Kill her.”

 

“…What did you say?”

Kisa jumped to his feet without thinking and strode right up to Hawk’s chair.

“What did you just say? Kill who?”

 

“I said kill Hildert’s assistant.”

“…Are you serious?”

 

Kisa desperately sealed his lips shut, trying to hide his pounding heart. 

 

He struggled to maintain a blank expression, but his heart was racing helplessly.

Hawk had already noticed his foster son’s agitation. 

 

He smiled bitterly, stood up, and met Kisa’s gaze directly.

 

“It’s a simple matter. While I’ve sent Hildert on an expedition to a distant sea area, you just need to dispose of the girl, make it look like an accident.”

 

“Then, the plan to use her to pressure the Vice-Captain…”

“Let’s consider that null and void.”

“…Why, suddenly…”

“Because it’s more important that my foster son’s heart doesn’t get broken than keeping Hildert in check.”

 

Kisa bowed his head and slowly clenched his trembling fist.

“You must kill her with your own hands. That will cleanly cover your tracks.”

Hawk patted Kisa’s shoulder one last time and left the bedroom. 

 

Kisa stood there, grabbing the Captain’s chair, and staggered.

He tried to remain calm, but the shock and misery dug deep into his bones.

 

“All… for my sake?”

How can killing the first woman I’ve ever cared for be for my sake?

 

There was a fatal contradiction in Hawk’s words. 

 

If he truly cared for his foster son, he should have just had Biche assassinated in secret.

But he ordered her blood to be on Kisa’s hands. As if that were some kind of absolution for him…

 

The memory of her soft body and warmth, hugging him shyly, came to mind. 

 

Imagining a future where he would break that fragile neck sent a shiver down his spine.

 

‘Then… let’s leave as soon as possible. Before Hildert returns… Okay? I want to go home soon…’

 

Her desperate voice slowly echoed in his mind.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Biche, who had been humming and tidying Hildert’s desk, felt a gaze on her back and turned around.

 

“Singing nicely.”

 

Muir was leaning against the laboratory doorway, arms crossed, watching her. Happy to see him, Biche smiled brightly and approached him.

 

“Muir. Are you done with work… Huh? You’re not in your assistant clothes today…”

 

He, who usually wore the assistant trousers even while going around bare-chested, was dressed in a robe today.

It was the same attire he wore when going out. 

 

The moment she realized that, her expression gradually changed from surprise to anticipation.

 

“By any chance… are we leaving now?”

“Yes.”

“But you said we had to find out about the brand on my back first…”

“You said you wanted to escape as soon as possible. Come with me, now.”

 

Biche looked at his stiff, hardened face with puzzled eyes, then cautiously nodded. 

 

He seemed thoroughly angry about something, but she assumed it was just due to nerves.

“No time to dawdle. Hurry up.”

“Wait, am I walking on my own… Ah!”

 

He strode over, scooped her up, and slung her over his shoulder.

“Your feet are too slow. If we’re found out, it’ll be a hassle, so stay quiet.”

“…There are more gentlemanly ways to carry someone.”

 

Biche stifled the urge to yell and reached inside his robe to pinch his shoulder muscle. But he showed no reaction.

As Muir turned into a secluded corridor, he snapped his fingers, and a heavy footstep echoed from afar. A giant sailor was approaching them.

 

“*Gasp*, we’re caught…”

“We’re not caught.”

 

Muir shook his head briefly as he moved toward the sailor. 

 

Biche looked up at his calm face and whispered in a low voice.

“Really…?”

“Yeah. He’s someone I bribed, so don’t worry.”

“Bribed…? A sailor of the Crocus pirate crew?”

 

The giant sailor, at Muir’s signal, turned around and lowered his stance. 

 

Muir flung back his long cloak and tapped the sailor’s back as if knocking on a door. 

 

The leather split open to both sides like a hatch.

Biche stared blankly at the inside of the sailor’s body, which was completely empty—no organs, flesh, or bones.

 

“What is this…?”

 

The moment she tried to pull back in shock, Muir shoved her inside.

The savory smell unique to well-cured meat filled the air. Thanks to the giant’s massive frame, the interior was surprisingly spacious, and breathing wasn’t too difficult.

She carefully poked her head out through a leather seam and looked up at Muir.

 

“Muir, what about you?”

“Look at this tiny gap. I can’t fit in.”

“But… we agreed to go together.”

“I’ll hide inside a bigger guy and get out of the stronghold.”

 

Muir sighed as he carefully pushed her head back inside the leather.

“These guys will take us to Mint Beach, so rest assured. And take good care of this.”

 

A heavy bag was flung onto her lap.

“What’s this?”

“Your belongings.”

“My belongings? I didn’t have much to call my own in the first place…”

“The ship we need to board departs in five hours.”

 

Muir carefully draped an extra robe over her shoulders and continued explaining.

“If we flew on a bird like last time, we’d get there quickly, but today we have to travel on foot, so it will take a long time.”

“Then, in that time, won’t they organize a pursuit party to chase us…?”

“Probably. Remember this. If one of us doesn’t make it to the beach, we assume that person was caught and captured along the way.”

 

Biche looked at his resolute face with dazed eyes.

“But, Muir…”

“If the pirates catch you, it’s over. Don’t even think about coming back to save me. You must get on that ship no matter what.”

“But…!”

“Even if you’re caught, I won’t look back. I’ll leave. You have to do the same.”

“What? You heartless jerk…”

 

As Biche choked up, Muir chuckled and affectionately stroked her head.

“Sometimes the desire to live wins over personal attachments. Now, keep quiet until this guy opens the “door” again.”

 

He pushed her forehead back with two fingers and ruthlessly closed the leather seam. The giant sailor began to move its heavy body quietly.

Biche sat still in the darkness, listening to the sounds outside. 

 

The giant’s heavy footsteps, the sound of the main gate opening, the sound of crossing the threshold…

But no matter how hard she listened, she couldn’t hear Muir’s footsteps.

 

“Muir…?”

 

Worried, she cautiously mumbled. Someone tapped the giant’s body.

‘It’s Muir!’

 

Biche stifled a laugh and leaned against the giant sailor’s back. 

 

The steps were very gentle, unlike its massive size, giving a sense of stability, as if riding in a carriage.

Aside from the pitch darkness, it was an unexpectedly satisfactory mode of transportation.

 

‘How did he come up with a method like this…’

 

Intoxicated by the joy of finally leaving this hellish pirate den, Biche didn’t question how this giant was moving.

Nor did she question the fact that the only one who could breathe life into a skin was… the “Real Kisa.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Muir…?”

 

Biche, fidgeting anxiously inside the leather, finally called out to him aloud.

‘You fool!’

 

Kisa instantly scanned his surroundings sharply. 

 

Fortunately, no one was paying any attention to this utterly common giant sailor.

No one was watching him either. 

 

Draped in a shabby robe, he was just an ordinary man, not Admiral Kisa of the 2nd Ship.

 

‘I’m right beside you, so relax. Please, just stay still.’

 

He tapped the giant’s back to reassure her. Soon, the tension inside the leather subsided.

He watched the now-quiet leather and moved on without a word. 

 

Past the main gate, across the capital, and into the remote village leading to the lawless zone.

 

It was a rather long journey. 

 

By the time they entered the lone path leading to Mint Beach, it was already the deep of the night.

There had been more than enough time for Hildert to notice his assistant was missing by now.

He might have organized a troop to chase Biche, or perhaps he had already activated the magic circle brand he left on her back.

 

But now, the option of “returning to the stronghold” no longer existed for her.

 

‘…This is the right thing.’

 

Kisa stared at the giant sailor with eyes full of anguish and torment.

Thinking of her, quietly crouching in the darkness beyond the thick leather, he walked toward Mint Beach.

 

He stopped before the low stone wall separating the village from the beach. 

 

But the giant sailor lightly stepped over the wall as he had commanded.

He stayed behind. She moved forward.