Sea Monster Stew Chapter 51

But the familiar, indifferent to the chilled atmosphere, tightened its tentacles around Kisa, binding him. 

 

Then it turned and swam out to sea.

In the direction the Kraken was heading, Imperial Navy ships were displaying their formidable majesty. 

 

The captain, standing on the deck with his hands behind his back, was taken aback when he saw the young man delivered by the Kraken’s tentacles.

 

“This isn’t the ‘Live-Skinner Kisa.’ You must have made some mistake.”

 

Nevertheless, the Kraken stubbornly set the man down on the deck and then vanished leisurely into the depths of the sea. 

 

The Imperial soldiers buzzed with conversation, forming a circle around the helplessly slumped Kisa.

Kisa’s consciousness returned faintly. But his body felt utterly crushed, and he couldn’t move a muscle. 

 

In his blurred vision, Imperial soldiers in red uniforms swayed in and out of focus.

“You there. Send a messenger hawk to Hildert.”

 

“Understood.”

Feeling his body growing cold, Kisa took a deep breath of the sea air. Even then, a faint sense of relief washed over him.

‘…See. I did… the right thing… sending her away.’

Finally, amidst the murmuring, he slowly lost consciousness once more.

And so, the night of betrayal and defeat deepened.

 

* * *

 

His consciousness, which had drifted far away, gradually returned. 

 

Kisa slowly pushed his eyelids open amidst the cold pain spreading through his entire body. 

 

After blinking for a while, a moss-covered stone ceiling came dimly into view.

He was locked in a narrow, stone cell. 

 

The smell of mold and stagnant water stabbed his nose with every breath. 

 

Old puddles had collected on the floor, and traces of rats and insects were left everywhere.

 

Rusted iron rings and chains hung on the walls, with a long, thick chain stretching towards him. 

 

Kisa blankly lowered his gaze. Manacles were clamped around both his wrists. 

 

A strange energy emanated from the massive shackles to which the chain was connected.

He stared vacantly at the manacles caked with dried black blood, then his eyes widened.

“…Damn it, don’t tell me…”

He flicked his trembling hand slowly, but no hides appeared in the air. 

 

It was the same no matter how many times he tried. 

 

The magical energy that had always restlessly stirred his veins was now completely undetectable.

‘Magic-suppressing… manacles…’

Kisa listened to the distant sound of dripping water. 

 

Occasionally, he could hear groans and sniffles. It seemed someone was on the other side of the wall.

 

Then, a low, whispering voice came from beyond the wall.

 

“…Who’s there? Someone new?”

Startled, Kisa turned his head towards the wall. 

 

He could sense presence from the opposite wall as well. 

 

It seemed this was a prison with solitary cells lined up in a row.

“…It’s me.”

As he muttered, rubbing his aching shoulder, he heard a scrambling sound from beyond the wall, followed by the clanking of chains being pulled.

 

“Could it be… Admiral Kisa?”

“…Who’s there? What the hell happened?”

“Admiral!”

“Admiral! You’re safe!”

Then, familiar voices called out one after another from further away.

“Admiral Kisa, can you hear us? We’ve all been locked up here too.”

“Ah, damn it—I can’t even straighten my back!”

“…Moose? Admiral Chaitan?”

A shudder ran through Kisa’s entire body, and his eyes flew open. It seemed several Admirals were locked in these damp solitary cells.

“What in the world happened… Can someone explain?”

Kisa asked with difficulty, clearing his tight throat. Someone from beyond the wall answered painfully.

“Vice-Captain Hildert started a mutiny.”

“…I knew it…”

“He bribed the crew who stayed on the main island in an instant, and set up familiars and traps on every approach to the island. Most of the officers were captured… and the Isle of Ire you governed has also been taken over.”

Kisa shut his eyes tightly and gripped the chains. 

 

The Isle of Ire—the island into which he had poured everything after becoming a Admiral… had it fallen to Hildert too?

“…And the Godfather? What happened to Captain Hawk?”

The moment he threw out the question, the entire prison fell into a strange silence. 

 

No one readily opened their mouths. Unable to bear the prolonged silence, Kisa shouted angrily.

“Tell me! What happened to the Godfather… to Captain Hawk?!”

After a moment, Chaitan, the oldest of the Admirals, spoke in a trembling voice.

“…Early this morning, Hildert… executed Captain Hawk by hanging… in the main island square, Admiral Kisa.”

A deep silence fell, as if time itself had stopped. 

 

Kisa just stared blankly at the wall where darkness pooled thickly. 

 

It felt as if blood was rushing backward in his head. 

 

A sensation of his heart shattering spread throughout his body.

“A lie… It’s a lie…”

He muttered through bitten lips, but no one answered his denial. 

 

Kisa covered his face with his bloodied hands. Hot tears soaked his hands.

He couldn’t believe that Captain Hawk, who had been like a father to him, was gone from the world.

Tears poured forth without giving him a chance to breathe. 

 

His sobs spread through the darkness, washing over the walls like waves.

“I should’ve… I should have been there…”

Uncontrollable grief wrenched his insides. 

 

He resented himself for having impulsively set off on an expedition, thinking he could sort out his complicated feelings after sending Biche away.

“Even if all the Admirals ganged up, we couldn’t have won. What difference would you being there have made? Don’t blame yourself so much.”

The gruff consolation from Moose came from beyond the wall. But her comfort offered him no solace.

 

In this endless despair, one name surfaced as if seeking escape. Arcobicche.

‘…I really did the right thing sending her to her family.’

If he had been greedy and kept her by his side, he would have dragged her into all this despair, into this pit of fire. 

 

Or worse, Hildert, who was searching for Biche with furious determination, might have taken her from him.

Imagining what would have happened next sent shivers down his spine. 

 

Hildert was not the kind of man to grant a traitor who left his side a peaceful death.

 

Despair, carrying darkness and chill, swallowed him whole. 

 

Kisa lay on the cold stone floor in his wounded body, clutching his seemingly shattered heart, and quietly endured the night.

 

* * *

 

Commander Orca entered the old inn and sat down silently at a crudely carved wooden table. 

 

Camilla, who had been cautiously eating the stew brought by the innkeeper, looked up.

 

“You’re back?”

“It’s a mess.”

“I wasn’t asking about your mood…”

 

“Not my mood. The whole situation is a mess.”

He clicked his tongue shortly and dropped a bundle of newspapers onto the table with a thud. 

 

With a bewildered expression, Camilla set down her spoon and unfolded the newspaper. 

 

The front page featured portraits of the anti-pirate Hawk and his vice-captain, Hildert, side by side.

 

Crocus Pirate Fleet Annihilated. Captain Hawk Dead. Hildert Gains Privateer Status.

 

Camilla’s eyes widened as she read the headline.

“Is this true…? Captain Hawk is dead?”

“I never thought the mighty Crocus fleet would fall to an internal mutiny.”

Orca sighed, plucking the newspaper from Camilla’s hands. He spread the damp newspaper out wide on the table.

 

The article, written in a cold tone, detailed how the pirate fleet’s Admirals and key officers had been arrested en masse and transferred to the Helio Empire’s prison island.

“Hawk too… to end up like this.”

“A prison island…? You’d be better off dead. Sending his former comrades there… Is Hildert completely insane?”

“Are you expecting mercy from a man who killed the captain who took him in?”

Orca took a sip of the liquor the innkeeper hurriedly brought him. 

 

Even the sharp ale couldn’t cool his troubled mind. Camilla’s face flushed with indignation as she read the article carefully.

“That Hildert… he dared to secretly join hands with the Helio Empire behind the Captain’s back… This is a disgrace to Whecoca!”

“Should’ve raised him better, I suppose.”

Orca shrugged and pulled the newspaper back to his side. 

 

The article stated that the pirate Admirals would soon be taken to the Helio Empire’s imperial capital and executed. It was a kind of public example.

He tapped the word ‘execution’ printed on the paper with his fingertip, then turned the page. 

 

The next page featured large illustrations, like portraits, of the captured Admirals and officers.

Among the faces drawn with rough brushstrokes, Orca’s gaze lingered on one spot for a long time. 

 

Inside the box labeled ‘Live-Skinner Kisa’ was a portrait of an unfamiliar man.

The fierce giant with a jaw covered in black beard was nowhere to be seen; instead, it was the portrait of a handsome young man with sharp, intense features.