Sea Monster Stew – Chapter 86

Author: Dakku-san

Calante flinched in surprise and looked down at the area of Biche’s chest.

Valen also glanced down at her chest area and added sarcastically.

“It seems Hilde, unlike his mother, is the type to show mercy to escaped slaves.”

“…Enough about Hilde.”

Biche shook her head with a hardened expression.

“Please tell me about my father. What was the reason for mentioning my father’s name earlier?”

“Huh? Did that happen?”

Calante frowned and turned his gaze to Captain Valen.

He stared at Valen silently for a moment, then hardened his expression as if realizing something.

“Captain, don’t tell me…”

“Since the news article about the safe return of Duke Akstain’s granddaughter was published in the newspaper, Axis has been striving to get his daughter back.”

Valen pointed a look at Biche and spoke in his characteristically low, slow voice.

“But not long after, news came that you were to marry Hilde for political reasons. And not long after that, you were kidnapped by pirates again. The kidnapper was none other than Admiral Kisa, known to hate sea creatures more than anyone.”

He tilted his head slightly and stared intently at Biche.

Mockery and pity simultaneously flickered in his eyes.

“In the end, after much agonizing, Axis asked us for help. He made a contract to hand over 40% of his family’s inheritance in exchange for getting his daughter back.”

“Family… inheritance?”

Biche gripped the armrests of the chair tightly in bewilderment.

Her father had a family and wealth? She had never heard such a thing.

Axis was once a monster slave owned by her mother. That is, he was a being who had nothing.

Even when Biche was born and hid with her mother in the Count’s villa, there wasn’t a single item that could be called Axis’s possession.

He was always empty-handed. Like a person trying to leave no trace on the land.

That her father had a family and wealth… It was a fact hard to believe.

Valen stared piercingly at Biche’s shocked face, then let out a low laugh.

“What? Is it so surprising that monsters ‘like us’ also have families and property?”

“I never thought of you as ‘monsters like us.’“

“Hard to believe, but we are also a race that has built a splendid civilization in the deep sea.”

Biche flushed red and shook her head.

“Don’t be sarcastic. I’m just amazed by another aspect of my father I didn’t know about.”

“Sure, excuse yourself.”

Valen clicked his tongue briefly and leaned back comfortably against the chair back.

“You might not know, but Axis’s family is a well-known noble house in the northern seas.”

“I… didn’t know that either…”

“Although the family’s fortunes declined a bit when the sole heir chose to become a human woman’s slave of his own volition, the wealth itself didn’t shrink.”

“Talking so much about swindling a naive noble scion…”

Calante grumbled in a voice just loud enough to hear, but Valen didn’t even glance at him.

“We’ve been chasing you ever since we made the contract with Axis. But you slipped right into the island of sea witches with the remnants of the Crocus pirate crew.”

“If it’s the Ritcher pirate crew, crossing the rough currents around Whecoca should have been easy, right?”

“Who would welcome friction with sea witches? In the end, we had no choice but to hide in the surrounding waters and wait for you to leave the island.”

“Then my father…” Biche cautiously asked in a trembling voice. “Is my father… perhaps on this ship right now?”

Valen lowered his eyes for a moment, then quietly shook his head.

“It seems you know nothing about your father’s condition.”

As soon as Biche heard his muttering, she felt a shock as if her heart had dropped.

“What does that mean? Did something happen to my father…?”

“When your mother was ill, do you think the Duke treated the mermaid slave, who could no longer be protected by your mother, gently?”

He idly rolled the compass on the desk and continued in an eerie voice.

“Axis endured harsh torture and barely escaped the Duke’s castle right after your mother’s funeral ended. That’s all I have to say, so don’t ask further.”

Biche inhaled a frantic breath, gripping the chair arms tightly.

As she hung her head low, tears fell heavily onto her knees.

Her chest tightened painfully. Calante patted her shoulder cautiously.

“Don’t worry, Arcobicche. Your father must have returned safely to his homeland. That’s why he made the contract with the Captain to find you.”

“Well, he’s safe. Although he lost one eye, and his tongue…”

“That’s enough, Captain. What are you doing in front of the daughter?”

Valen shrugged under Calante’s sharp gaze. Biche roughly wiped her heated eyes.

But imagining her father without one eye made tears well up again.

Calante patted her sniffling back and glared at Valen.

“What’s the reason for shackling Arcobicche’s foot?”

“She might run away.”

Valen rolled the compass slowly in his hand again, answering with an indifferent expression.

“Axis’s contract condition was to deliver his daughter to an undersea city in the north. If she runs away before I take her underwater, my position becomes difficult.”

“It’s a journey to meet my father; why would I run away?”

Biche jerked her head up and glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

Then Valen tilted his head slightly and snorted mockingly.

“Your lover might be more important to you than your father, so you could run away.”

“Th-that’s… nonsense…”

“You and Admiral Kisa didn’t seem like just ordinary acquaintances.”

Biche’s breath caught in her throat, and she opened her eyes wide. Her face flushed red instantly.

Before she could offer a proper excuse, Valen continued.

“The crew members who went to scout Whecoca said they clearly saw you sharing a tearful… embrace with Admiral Kisa at the harbor.”

“Ah, Fui and I saw that scene clearly too.”

Calante turned his gaze away awkwardly and sighed.

Biche’s cheeks flushed even redder.

Heat spread to the tips of her ears. Calante hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously.

“The Admiral… still doesn’t know your true nature, right?”

Biche avoided the two men’s gazes and slowly nodded.

The air surrounding her grew heavy again.

“…Axis’s heart would break.” Valen muttered, looking at the back of her flushed red neck.

“His daughter, who lived as Hilde’s slave, is now secretly in love with a pirate Admiral infamous for hating monsters.”

“That’s enough, Captain.” Calante sharply cut him off.

Biche clenched her fist tightly, then let it go limply.

“…I promise. No matter what happens, I will absolutely not run away… So please, take these shackles off right here.”

He stared directly at her pleading weakly for a moment.

Valen slowly reached out and unfolded a map on the desk.

Numerous islands and sea routes were intricately tangled on the map.

He traced the islands one by one with his long, sharp fingernail and said…

“In five days, the ship will reach land. I’ll remove the shackles then.”

“Is there a reason it has to be exactly five days later?”

“We also need time to assess you, don’t we?” Valen retorted, slightly lifting the corner of his mouth. “It would be foolish to simply trust a love-struck fool.”

He raised his head and pointed his chin toward the outside of the captain’s cabin.

“Go outside; the crew will guide you to your cabin.”

Then he immediately raised his hand and waved dismissively. A gesture telling her to leave.

Biche glared at him with eyes full of resentment, then shot up from the chair.

Calante sighed and followed her as she pushed open the captain’s cabin door and left.

* * *

The Ritcher pirate crew’s ship cut roughly through the waves, heading north.

Biche went out on deck, feeling the humid sea breeze.

Leaning against the stern railing and looking down, she saw Fui chasing the pirate ship desperately, cutting through the waves.

White spray rose fiercely, covering his body, but Fui chased the ship, wagging his tail fin diligently like a child who wouldn’t give up.

Biche leaned against the railing, watching Fui, then turned her gaze to Calante, who had approached her side.

“What on earth happened? I thought you and Fui were captured in Hilde’s grasp.”