Sea Monster Stew Chapter 56

Disguised in servant’s attire, Orca carefully descended the underground staircase of the Ducal estate. 

 

The stench of rotten blood vibrated throughout the entire basement.

As he went down the dark stairs, he occasionally stooped low to avoid the guards’ line of sight. 

 

The moment he finally stepped off the stairs, having not relaxed his tension for a second, a cry, close to a scream, came from somewhere.

Orca stopped and turned his gaze down the dim corridor.

 

A cold chill was flowing from inside a slightly ajar iron door.

He cautiously approached and peered through the crack into the room. 

 

It was a place that appeared to be both an underground prison and a slaughterhouse.

A thin layer of seawater and red blood was spread over the stone floor, and a disgusting, fishy stench vibrated from all directions. 

 

Hooks, saws, and kitchen knives hanging on the walls were all soaked in blood, and in the corner lay scattered pieces of slaughtered sea creature carcasses.

Fins, scales, severed tails, and bones were piled together, emitting a rotten smell. 

 

Orca frowned as he saw a servant trimming meat at a large wooden table.

 

‘Don’t tell me… the Duke also partakes of sea creature meat?’

He had heard that nobles who sought sea creature dishes as delicacies were not uncommon. 

 

‘Was the Duke of Akstain one of those eccentrics?’

Covering his mouth and nose, Orca entered the slaughterhouse. 

 

Two large tanks dominated the center of the room. He frowned at the sight of the empty tanks.

‘In the water tanks in the main castle’s underground dungeon, there should be a merman and a creature that looks like a sea lion.’

Arcobicche Akstain’s words flashed through his mind. 

 

‘Could it be?’ His eyes widened as he examined the carcass pieces scattered under the table.

As he approached the table to look for mermaid tail scales, the servant trimming meat with a large cleaver suddenly looked up.

“Huh? What is it? Was the delivery insufficient?”

The servant glanced at Orca’s attire and made a dismissive expression.

“The kitchen staff took a bunch of meat just a while ago. Was it not enough?”

“No. I’m here to help with the cleaning.”

 

Orca shook his head and picked up a broom hanging on the wall. 

 

As he began gently sweeping the carcass pieces and scales scattered on the stone floor, the servant shrugged and turned away.

“The Duke, really… Who does he think eats stew made from sea creature meat, ordering a whole pot to be made every day…”

 

“…Every day?”

“Yeah. I’m the only one suffering, scraping the flesh off these disgusting monsters.”

The servant grumbled, scraping flesh from a large bone with his knife.

“Anyway, I can’t understand the tastes of high-born folks. Isn’t monster meat something even the slum dwellers eat?”

“…Who knows. Many nobles seek out delicacies to restore their vitality,” Orca replied, scanning the surroundings with confused eyes. 

 

The two empty tanks bothered him. 

 

He hoped Arcobicche’s friends hadn’t already met the fate of becoming meat stew.

“By the way, I heard among the hostages was a male sea creature…” he ventured, glancing at the servant diligently preparing the meat. “Where is he? I wanted to see a male sea creature.”

His heart was uneasy. 

 

He was worried the servant might say, “They’ve already been sent to the kitchen.”

“Ah, that one.”

The servant clicked his tongue, pointing at the empty tank with the tip of his cleaver.

“Too late. He was taken somewhere else early this morning.”

“Taken? Where to…?”

“That privateer who destroyed a pirate fleet and joined the royal family. His name was Hilder… or Hilte…”

 

“You mean Hildert?”

“Yeah. I heard that guy took the two who were locked up in those tanks.”

His mind became complicated instantly. ‘Hildert took Arcobicche’s hostages? Why? That means there was some kind of deal between Hildert and the Duke…’

 

An alliance between Hildert, who now stood tall as a rising power in the imperial capital as a privateer, and the House of Akstain. 

 

This was not welcome news for the Resistance, whose goal was to overthrow the Empire.

‘Well, it’s a relief they didn’t end up as stew meat… but the situation has become more complicated.’

 

Just then, a faint presence was felt outside the door. 

 

The voices of guards were approaching through the darkness. Orca quietly set down the broom.

“I heard that the privateer and the Duke have gotten quite close… Huh?”

The servant, who had been turning around with a smirk, widened his eyes in shock. 

 

Behind him, only the blood-stained broom remained.

 

* * *

 

The moment dawn broke, it became noisy outside the door. No, it was more accurate to say the whole world had become tumultuous.

“What an unbelievable bastard.”

“Tell me about it. Are all pirates like that?”

“No, this one’s special.”

Biche, who had barely fallen into a light sleep, slowly woke up. 

 

Had the guards gotten absorbed in a card game so early in the morning? It was strange how excited their voices sounded.

 

Rubbing her drowsy face, Biche staggered to the door. 

 

A crumpled newspaper bundle, pushed under the door by the guards, caught her foot.

 

The guards now put the newspaper in her room without her having to ask. 

 

Although she only got the soiled newspaper after all the soldiers had read it, it was still good for tracking Hildert’s movements.

As soon as she picked up the crumpled bundle, something fell to the floor with a thud. 

 

It was a wanted poster tucked inside the newspaper.

 

When her gaze unconsciously turned to the poster, Biche’s eyes widened.

 

The poster featured a large portrait of a handsome man. 

 

It was the same portrait of Live-Skinner Kisa she had seen in the newspaper before.

 

What was astonishing wasn’t his appearance in the portrait, but the bounty amount. 

 

The sum written was comparable to Captain Hawk’s bounty during his prime.

“It wasn’t this high before…?”

Kisa had been among the Crocus Admirals with lower bounties. 

 

This was because he caused minimal harm to civilian homes and the Imperial Navy, and rarely participated in the fleet’s expeditions.

 

If not for his cruel nature of skinning enemies alive, he might not have even earned his infamous reputation as ‘Live-Skinner Kisa.’

 

Yet, an article about this same Live-Skinner Kisa now occupies the front page.

 

Biche couldn’t close her mouth as she read the headline: ‘Remnants of Crocus Pirate Fleet Escape Prison.’

“He… cut off his own left hand?”

Goosebumps rose all over her body as she read the article, her hair standing on end. 

 

To weaken the power of the magic-suppressing manacles, Kisa had severed his own left hand, mercilessly killed all the guards, and helped the Crocus pirate crew escape.

 

Not stopping there, Kisa had also rescued the two Admiral who survived Hildert’s mutiny. 

 

Together, they commandeered Imperial Navy ships and vanished from the prison island.

They said only Kisa’s bloodied left hand remained in his solitary cell. 

 

Biche shuddered at the sheer willpower it took to tighten a chain and sever one’s own wrist.

‘Why on earth did this person help smuggle me out of the pirate island?’

“His reason for escaping… is probably because of Hildert, right?”

Biche tilted her head, reading about the detailed relationship between Kisa and Captain Hawk described in the article. 

 

According to the report, this handsome man, who hid his appearance inside a giant’s hide, was Hawk’s adopted son and heir.

‘Hadn’t he lost everything—his beloved Godfather and his inheritance—to Hildert?’ 

 

She guessed that his desire for revenge against Hildert must have finally made him lose his reason, leading him to go so far as to sever his own wrist to escape.

The Empire, judging Live-Skinner Kisa as a dangerous figure for leading the escape, had placed an unusually high bounty on his head and was pursuing him.

 

Biche stared blankly, blinking at an illustration in the article. 

 

It depicted Kisa’s lone left hand, left behind in the solitary cell.

‘Should I call this incredible, or terrifyingly determined…?’

Still, it was a fortunate thing for Biche. It was good that a force to counter Hildert had emerged.

‘Just how much must he hate Hildert to go as far as cutting off his own wrist?’

 

As she stared vacantly at Kisa’s face on the wanted poster…

‘Can’t you say my name?’

The low voice of the man from her dream echoed in her ears again. 

 

Without realizing it, Biche dropped the newspaper and covered her ears with both hands.

‘Hm? Quickly…’

Nevertheless, the voice of the dream man, ‘Muir,’ echoed in her ears once more.