Sea Monster Stew Chapter 39 - Gills and Schemes

“Camilla. Where did you find this woman?”

A strange man’s voice struck her ears. 

 

Biche awoke vaguely from sleep. 

 

The conversation between a man and a woman seeped through her tightly closed eyelids.

 

“W-well, you see. I found her by chance. Collapsed on the beach…”

“Lie to me one more time and I’ll throw you into the sea.”

“I’m sorry! Admiral Kisa left her in my care.”

 

At the woman’s immediate correction, Biche unconsciously swallowed a nervous breath.

 

‘What in the world does that mean? Admiral Kisa left me? Why would that man…?’

 

“Kisa? Why would that old man entrust a Duke’s daughter to us?”

Behind the man’s voice, which sounded incredulous, the woman’s shrill cry overlapped.

“What?! A Duke’s daughter, what do you mean…?”

“This necklace.”

A cold hand approached and fumbled at Biche’s neck. 

 

As the locket chain was pulled taut, Biche’s eyelids twitched instinctively.

“This belongs to the Duke of Akstain.”

The man whispered lowly, pulling the locket even tighter.

“The very item the Duke was said to have given to his only granddaughter.”

“His granddaughter… You mean the one who disappeared years ago, that…?”

“Yes. Who would have thought the Duke’s granddaughter would end up in Karabas.”

 

Under the sharp gaze that seemed to see right through her face, Biche carefully regulated her breathing, desperately pretending to be asleep.

‘Where is this? And who are these people…? Admiral Kisa sent me here? When…?’

Her mind was a tangled mess. Her body lay on a soft bed, and the sound of crashing waves echoed faintly from afar. 

 

She was definitely inside a ship.

Had she possibly left the Karabas pirate archipelago? If so, what about Hildert…?

 

Just as her thoughts were spiraling, the taut necklace chain went slack. 

 

The cold locket dropped onto her collarbone with a soft thud.

“You’re awake.”

The man whispered lowly and traced Biche’s cheek with his cold fingertips. 

 

Biche flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. 

 

A woman nearby cried out in exasperation.

“Stop tormenting her, Commander Orca!”

“What did I do?”

The moment the man called “Orca” grumbled and withdrew his hand—BOOM! A thunderous explosion shook the entire ship. 

 

The woman shrieked.

“W-what? What’s happening?!”

“Damn it.”

Following the man’s short curse came the sound of a door being shoved open violently. Soon, the sound of heavy footsteps quickly faded away outside the door.

“Come with me!”

The woman’s frantic voice followed him out. 

 

From the distance, the rough shouts and screams of men echoed faintly.

 

Biche hesitated for a moment, then cautiously opened her eyelids. 

 

She was in a wide sickbay lit by an oil lamp. She lay alone on one of the rows of white beds.

The wide-open wooden door creaked as if swaying with the waves. 

 

Biche stared blankly at the door, then rose from the bed as if possessed. 

 

Barefoot, without even time to put on shoes, she crossed the sickbay floor.

Each time the ship listed heavily, she barely kept her balance and stepped outside. 

 

No presence could be felt anywhere in the long corridor. Instead, frantic footsteps echoed from beyond the ceiling.

 

Biche went straight up to the deck. 

 

The scene unfolding before her was unfamiliar and overwhelming.

 

Ashen clouds covered the sky, and the horizon heaved in the storm. 

 

A massive ship was plowing straight through the fierce wind and waves.

Thick raindrops poured down, soaking her body in an instant. 

 

As black waves crashed onto the deck, crewmen screamed and tumbled in all directions.

At that moment, the ship listed sharply to the left. 

 

iche swallowed a scream and barely regained her balance.

 

As she crawled up the slanted deck as if climbing a hill, she felt a strange sensation from somewhere. 

 

Biche slowly turned her head.

Through the driving rain and the busy crew, a man came into view.

A young man was issuing commands in a gruff voice, directing the crew.

“You idiots! What are you standing around for? Furl the sails now!”

It was the voice of the man called Commander Orca. 

 

He roughly pushed back his wet, silver hair and turned.

For a moment, Biche and the man’s eyes met directly. 

 

The moment the Commander spotted Biche, his eyes widened sharply.

“You there!”

The moment the man shouted in a booming voice, Biche instinctively turned and ran towards the high railing.

As she scrambled up the railing, groaning with effort, the nearby crew, busy battling the storm, didn’t notice her at all.

The Commander immediately shoved his subordinates aside and approached the railing.

“Grab that woman now!”

His booming shout echoed like lightning. Only then did some of the crewmen turn their heads.

Biche, barely balancing on the railing, looked back. 

 

At that moment, a huge wave crashed over the deck, engulfing her entire body.

 

Amidst her fluttering skirt, green scales flashed. With each wave that crashed over her white calves, the scales spread more distinctly.

“A sea monster! A monster has come aboard!”

One crewman spotted Biche and screamed. 

 

As several drew guns and aimed at her, the Commander shouted again in a loud voice.

“No! Don’t shoot!”

“Get away!”

Biche waved her hands at the approaching crewman. 

 

Green webbing was visible between her spread fingers. Among her wet golden locks, pointed, jade-green ears protruded.

She could no longer be seen as an ordinary human. Yet, she didn’t have the form of a complete sea monster either.

“That’s… a ‘half-breed’?”

Half-breed. At the word muttered lowly by one of the crewmen, Biche instinctively knew. She could no longer stay here.

She unconsciously turned her body towards the sea. Behind her, the Commander’s shout erupted again.

“No!”

 

Was it okay to throw herself into the stormy sea, even without gills? Could she survive leaping into the raging ocean?

As various questions flashed through her mind, another command came from behind.

“Grab that woman now!”

But a high wave had already washed over the railing and deck. Even the crewmen trying to jump onto the railing were swept away by the surge.

The deck splintered as if bitten apart by a monster. Seawater fiercely poured through the gaps.

Biche could no longer hold on to the railing. 

 

She instantly plummeted into the sea, writhing fiercely like a dark blue serpent.

 

The sound of violent waves assaulted her ears. 

 

*Splash!* 

 

The sound of friction, sending up a white spray, was swallowed by the roar of the waves.

Icy seawater enveloped her entire body in an instant. 

 

She tried to hold her breath as long as possible, but the cold water had already filled her nostrils.

“Ghak…!”

She desperately spat out the water that had rushed into her throat. 

 

But before she could even finish spitting it out, more seawater roughly poured into her mouth.

 

She sank slowly into the dark blue depths, then her eyes snapped open. 

 

She saw her two hands, covered in green scales.

Transparent webbing shimmered between her fingers. Her nails, which had instantly grown long and sharp, had also turned a dark green.

Biche blinked blankly, then slowly raised her head. 

 

The unknown ship where she had opened her eyes was moving away.

‘Why was I on that ship…? And what was that about Admiral Kisa?’

No matter how hard she racked her memory, she couldn’t recall the circumstances that led to her waking up on that huge ship. 

 

Even her last memory was blurry.

She vividly remembered the terrible pain of being forcibly stripped and the hot brand searing her back because Hildert was furious.

But it was strange. She couldn’t recall at all why she had angered Hildert, or why that terrible brand had been placed on her back.

All memories after that were cleanly erased, as if they had never existed. 

 

Only the memory of lying in Hildert’s bed, resenting him, came to mind clearly.

Biche sank slowly into the deep sea, clutching her head with both hands. 

 

It felt as if a precious piece of her memory was missing, but she couldn’t even tell what she had lost.

The void in her memory spread like a cold, empty darkness.

 

‘…I have to remember…’

The moment she buried her face in her hands and curled up, Biche jerked her head up in surprise at an alien sensation.

Something was strange. At some point, she was no longer suffocating. 

 

No, she was actually comfortable. As if breathing in warm air on land.

“What the…?”

She spoke without thinking, but her voice only echoed in her ears. 

 

Biche sniffled, then ran a hand over her shoulder line.