Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Offering
Le’an Port is a commercial port. The nominal owner of this port, a knight aristocrat, lives far away in a castle outside the city.
After the Siren docked at the port, George originally planned to head directly to the chapel, but Jima persuaded him to take a day’s rest in this foreign city and also fulfill a promise to buy some cattle and sheep as offerings to the sea god.
George agreed.
However, Jima actually intended to do her primary task—spreading her kind lies in preparation for deceiving the chapel’s detection system.
The next morning.
After Jima used the silver ring given to her by George to hide her horns and tail, she went alone to a noisy tavern at the docks.
The tavern was a white brick building with a blue roof. As soon as Jima pushed open the door, a sour smell of spilled alcohol hit her face. Wrinkling her nose, she stepped over the high threshold and saw the sailors of the Siren sprawled on a long table in the dim light of the tavern, with overturned cups and wooden plates full of leftover food.
A prostitute sitting next to a crew member half-openly reached into the arms of a drunken sailor, searching before pulling out an empty, crumpled purse. She cursed softly, stuffing the purse back.
Jima pinched her hood and approached a sailor who was barely awake.
He lay on the table, blinking his blurry eyes at Jima and said, “Heavens, did I dream of the lake goddess? So beautiful.”
With that, he raised his hand slowly toward Jima.
Jima dodged his hand and said, “Aren’t you afraid the knight will drag you away and hang you?”
The sailor became clearer-headed: “Miss Jima? Kind lady, what are you doing in this filthy place?”
“Little Bug?”
The Little Bug seemed quite surprised, a smile creeping across his somewhat repulsive and skinny face. “Hehe, do you remember my nickname?”
“I’ll answer your previous question,” Jima said, “I came to look for you about a matter.”
“What matter? Just leave it to us,” Little Bug said, puffing out his chest and running his fingers over his bulging stomach, burping.
“Are you ready to buy the cattle and sheep?”
“What?”
“Cattle and sheep.”
“What do you want to buy them for?”
Jima paused for a few seconds, pretending to show concern and surprise: “Have you forgotten the promise you made to the sea god in the storm? That if you returned to shore, you would surely offer a bull and a ram.”
“Oh, I forgot.”
Little Bug jumped up as if poked in the backside and shouted, “Everyone, everyone wake up, we have to offer sacrifices to the sea god!”
Jima reminded, “Luckily, we arrived at the port last night. If the sea god waits a whole day without getting your sacrifices, what do you think He will do to you next time?”
Little Bug was frightened and began to pound the table hard, causing several cups to roll off.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s still early…”
“Do you want to die?”
One by one, dazed heads lifted.
Little Bug shouted, “Brothers! We forgot to offer sacrifices to the sea god! Hurry, or if we delay the sea god, He will surely be furious and split the ship in two!”
One sailor brushed off the vomit from the corner of his mouth and said nonchalantly, “Let’s pool our money. You can go buy an old bull and a cow like we usually do.”
Jima lied, “This time it’s different. You angered the sea god. I heard you holding onto the mast during the storm, shouting: ‘As long as we can survive and reach shore, everyone must at least offer a bull and a ram.’ Remarkably, not a single one of you died when the storm calmed.”
“Everyone?!” Little Bug gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing. He turned to another sailor who seemed more sober and said, “Did anyone say that? You have the best memory, even remembered the names of the port’s prostitutes from ages ago. Think, was there…?”
A sailor with a good memory attempted to recall but seemed to remember no one having said that, just as he was about to say no. Suddenly, a vague memory surfaced in his mind, and he said:
“Uh, I think there might have been someone, but who shouted it, I can’t remember, the noise was too loud then.”
“I remember there was.”
“There was!”
“How could we forget this?”
The sailors each patted their slightly aching heads. Even if someone didn’t actually recall it, they all felt it was their own fault for forgetting.
Jima concluded, “Sure enough, I planned to take offerings to the sea god this morning but remembered you might be careless and forget about this.”
In reality, she was worried the livestock sellers might bully a small girl from out of town.
Little Bug gratefully said, “Miss Jima, thank you so much.”
“Then let’s go buy them together.”
Ten minutes later, a group of somewhat washed-up sailors, under Jima’s lead, swarmed into the market to find the livestock dealer.
The merchant wore a smile, but his eyes remained wary. Jima was too beautiful, and there were too many people behind her, which felt unsettling.
“Miss, what are you looking to buy here?”
“My father wants— I just want to buy some cattle and sheep.”
As he spoke, the merchant’s cunning gaze searched for any details on her that could betray her identity.
He asked, “May I have the honor of knowing your father’s name?”
Jima feigned the nervous demeanor of a noble young lady on a secert incognito visit, revealing her delicate and uncalloused little hand, saying:
“No.”
The merchant’s gaze was drawn to the “lucky ring” at the base of her pinky finger, a gold ring engraved with exquisite patterns.
Not just wealthy but of noble status.
The merchant’s smile became even more enthusiastic as he asked, “How many cattle and sheep do you plan to buy? Our cattle and sheep are the finest, just herded in from the countryside.”
“How much for a bull and a ram?”
“Ten gold coins for the bull, just three gold coins for the sheep.”
That’s really cheap…
Jima said, “I want one bull and one ram, and also those.”
Jima turned her head to look at the rowdy sailors who were pooling their money together bit by bit.
Little Bug raised his head and asked, “Can it be a bit cheaper since we’re buying so many cattle?”
The merchant smiled and said, “Of course, how much cheaper do you want?”
Little Bug popped his fingers, calculating for a long time.
Jima said, “Let me handle it, how many of you are there?”
Little Bug counted and said, “Sixty-three.”
“What about the money?”
“One hundred ninety-two gold and three silver, and…” Little Bug counted a large number of copper coins and said, “Thirty-five copper.”
Jima calculated in her mind and said, “You need a total of one thousand and nineteen gold coins.”
“So much?”
The sailors were shocked, their remaining drunkenness completely gone.
Of course, it’s that much; I’m deliberately misleading you to make the offering so expensive.
Jima said, “It’s fine. I remember George provided a lot of funds for this voyage.”
“We each only get an extra gold coin at most.”
“What’s your daily wage?”
“Depends on the position.” Little Bug said, “I count as high, two silver coins a day.”
Sailors lived under poor conditions, faced great risks, and worked hard; their wages were generally three to four times that of dock laborers.
Another sailor cautiously suggested, “Why don’t we just switch to sheep?”
Jima lied, “I remember when you made your offering promise, your pleading voices even drowned out the thunder. You surely shouted too loudly, which is why the sea god spared you once; if you shorten the offering on your own, I’m afraid…”
The sailors felt guilty, and someone suggested, “Why don’t I quit? To afford the offerings, we’d have to borrow money at high interest.”
His suggestion received recognition from many sailors.
Jima said, “Then be careful of thunder strikes in your next life.”
The sailors looked at each other. Not to mention being struck by lightning; they did this work to make a living. If they didn’t work as sailors, they might not die from lightning but would starve.
Jima revealed a sympathetic expression: “So pitiful; I have a little savings; perhaps I can help you.”
“Really?!”
Little Bug exclaimed joyfully. The sailors’ eyes brightened, looking at Jima in disbelief.
“Only, I have a request.”
“Speak, kind lady.”
Jima lowered her gaze, sadly speaking softly, “I need to return to the chapel; there’s a cardinal who has been wanting to burn me… Of course, I believe George will protect me well, but I might end up imprisoned in a dungeon for my whole life, or perhaps face execution by fire.”
The sailors fell silent, looking at Jima with sympathy. Little Bug’s eyes were somewhat moist, but he worried that Jima would make a dangerous request, such as opposing the chapel.
“…so please, if you have time, just mention me to others.” Jima lifted her face, smiling, “That way, there will be many who remember that there was once a girl named Jima in the world.”
The sailors’ empathy surged. One sailor, red-eyed, turned away and wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. Little Bug lowered his head in shame for his previous narrow-minded assumptions.
With a choked voice, Little Bug said, “Absolutely, you are the best person I’ve ever met.”
“Right, I will certainly talk about you my whole life. When I drink, I’ll mention you. When I boast, I’ll mention you. If I survive and grow old, I’ll tell my grandchildren.”
Jima said, “Thank you!”
Just like that, the sailors emptied nearly all their money, gathering over two hundred gold coins. Jima took out the one thousand gold coins she had borrowed from George beforehand—when Jima said she was borrowing money for a good cause, George unhesitatingly gave her a thousand gold coins.
With the merchant’s discount, they ultimately spent eight hundred gold coins, leaving Jima with five hundred and eighty gold coins.
That day, over a hundred innocent livestock were sacrificed at the seaside, tied to stones, and thrown into the sea.
After the offering ceremony ended, it was already the afternoon.
Debt-laden Jima said goodbye with a smile to the group of penniless sailors. They were very grateful for Jima’s assistance, entirely unaware that it was the charming demon girl before them who had forced them to spend all their hard-earned money.
Jima also took the opportunity to learn about the rules for publishing books, the prices for printing, and inspected the quality of the printed images, which were very poor, with unclear lines and no color. After silently noting this, she walked back to the inn on foot.
The door opened.
Jima saw George sitting straight at the desk, holding a quill pen, engrossed in writing something. Beside him, there was already a thick stack of neatly piled paper, which looked quite beautiful. Jima closed the door and curiously walked over, noticing the paper was filled with neat writing.
George noticed Jima approaching and slowly set down his pen.
“George, are you writing a novel?”
“No, I have nothing to do, just practicing my handwriting.”
“Wow, what an elegant pursuit,” Jima said. “Did you practice all day today?”
“Yeah.” George picked up the paper and blew gently on the ink.
Jima sincerely said, “That’s impressive.”
“I also copied the content of the book,” George said, picking up the thick stack of neatly arranged paper from the desk and handing it to Jima. “Tonight, you need to memorize at least ten pages.”
Jima asked, somewhat dazed, “What… what book is this?”
“The book washed away by the sea.”
“You actually remember the content?!”
“Yes. I often take notes and have read it no less than ten times.”
What a monster…
Jima lowered her head, looking at the neat, pale yellow pages in her hands, which felt like a pile of joss paper.
