Chapter 226: 2. Second Mate
Isabel’s mind was blank. After all, from noon yesterday to this afternoon, she had only eaten a simple meal and had a drink of water; for the rest of the time, she had basically resigned herself to lying on the ship and sleeping.
In her drowsy dreams, she constantly recalled the scenes from that day. Sometimes she even saw in the darkness her brother, whose only head was looking at her while blood flowed from his seven orifices.
That terrifying scene made her nauseous. Under the immense psychological pressure of fear, she hardly wanted to eat or do anything, but her body was still just a mortal one, and the pain from hunger was unbearable.
Once too hungry, her mind was filled with the simple thought of eating. But once she had eaten a bit, her mind would fill with chaotic thoughts again.
Isabel had thought about ending her life by starving herself, but she ultimately did not have the courage. She was a thorough coward; without her sister’s protection, she could do nothing.
“Are you looking for something to eat?”
Standing in front of the captain’s room on the second deck, Isabel’s lips, which had not had a drink for a while, were dry and cracked. After hearing Fisher’s voice, she turned around and blankly saw Fisher’s stern expression. Then she quickly averted her gaze slightly and nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Master Fisher, I—”
“Come with me.”
Fisher did not heed her words and directly walked to her side, roughly pulling her toward the room behind the captain’s cabin, where there were hardly any people.
After some time of self-destruction, her body had weakened considerably and had almost no weight. Even if she wanted to resist Fisher’s actions, she could not.
“Master Fisher, it hurts—”
Her pale little face was partly covered by her golden hair. Watching as Fisher dragged her away and unable to resist, her legs went weak and she knelt on the ground, attempting to stop Fisher’s actions this way.
But Fisher didn’t care about her feelings and dragged her to the edge of the ship.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, a pitch-black sword handle appeared in his palm, and the mercury-like fluid sword blade transformed into a long spoon that fell into the sea below. Then Fisher gently pulled it up and splashed that seawater directly on her face.
“Splash!”
“Cough, cough.”
After doing this, Fisher released her hand, allowing the seawater to wet her golden hair, sticking it to her cheek. Having been thirsty for a long time, she instinctively licked the dripping water; however, the seawater was too salty, causing her to cough from nausea.
“Look at what you’ve become, you’re like a walking corpse. Since you’re so weak, you shouldn’t have impulsively left Saint Nali. Have you ever thought about what would have happened to you if you hadn’t met me and hadn’t been brought onto this ship?”
Isabel lowered her head, gently covering her face with her hands, rubbing the salty seawater and tears from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, I… just thinking of my sister makes me…”
“I don’t care what you’re thinking, but since you’ve left Saint Nali, you can no longer live as you did in the Golden Palace. Or do you want to go back to the Golden Palace? If that’s the case, as soon as we reach our destination, I will immediately find a ship to send you back.”
Hearing that she would be sent back to the Golden Palace, Isabel absolutely refused to comply. She hurriedly shook her head, crying and grabbing Fisher’s hand, pleading without looking up.
“No, no, Master Fisher, please don’t send me back. I don’t want to go back; I’ll do anything as long as I don’t have to return.”
Sitting on Fisher’s shoulder, Emhart secretly glanced at him, fearing this beast might do something terrible again. Having only been together for a few days, Emhart had already developed a trust issue with Fisher, especially regarding the lady situation.
“You still know I’m your teacher? You will train with me and those crew members tomorrow, keeping the same schedule as them. And right now, there’s nothing to eat here. First, go wash yourself in the cabin, then have dinner with everyone.”
Before Isabel could respond, Fisher yanked her up and forced her to walk in that direction.
In the distance, Captain Alagina leaned against the back of the captain’s cabin and waved, casually directing Isabel.
“The bathroom for washing is on the third deck below the main deck. Go there; someone will tell you where it is.”
“…Thank you.”
Isabel still kept her head down, biting her lip. When Fisher released her arm, she softly thanked Alagina and slowly dragged her fatigued body toward the deck.
Her damp and disheveled appearance caught the attention of the training crew members. Many only glanced at her and looked away, but the gazes of others were not so friendly.
The customs of Sardinia were very strict regarding women. In the icy Northern Region, women there esteemed tenacity and resilience. Although they respected women from other nations, it did not prevent them from mocking the now weak Isabel.
Alagina observed everything happening on the deck. When Fisher walked over, rubbing his wrist, she kindly reminded him, “That girl doesn’t seem ordinary; she should be a member of the Saint Nali aristocracy. However, given her weakness, she’s probably not from the faction that suffered in the coup, and she has no clear or steadfast goals. Who exactly is she?”
Fisher did not answer the question, merely stating, “Once she leaves Saint Nali, she is nothing. On your ship, she’s even less. There’s no need to indulge her; it would be bad for her.”
“I’m just worried that if she trains with my crew, the pressure on her will be enormous. Correction is a good thing, but if you push too hard, it can ruin a good material.”
Fisher shook his head, his gaze fixed on Isabel as she endured the crew’s stares while walking down the deck. He then said, “Don’t worry; there isn’t a single normal person in her family, and she is no exception.”
“Hey, the drinks are here!”
“Make some room over there!”
As evening approached, the Iceberg Queen became lively again.
The crew members brought all the usable wooden tables up from the cabin and surrounded them in a large circle on the deck. All the crew members busied themselves preparing for a sumptuous dinner.
People from the Northern Region enjoyed holding feasts in the three months leading up to winter. Many festivals occurred at this time because the Northern Region’s winters were too cold. In ancient times, people rarely went out during winter. If they wanted to do something, they had to finish it before winter arrived; otherwise, they had to wait until early spring the following year.
It was now late autumn in October, and today happened to be the Northern Region’s traditional “Family Festival.”
The general meaning of this festival in the Sardinia Kingdom is a day to visit relatives. Although the crew members on the ship didn’t have relatives to visit anymore, it was still necessary to hold a feast for the formality.
Old Jack wore a black robe and brought a large barrel of alcohol onto the deck. However, if you looked closely, you would find that he wore practically nothing underneath his robe, with the sea breeze blowing slightly.
Previously, Fisher had not wanted to wear Alagina’s coat, so when he saw drunken Old Jack gambling dice with the crew, he took the opportunity to participate, and won Old Jack’s bartender shirt. This was why Fisher had a shirt to wear now.
As for the coat Old Jack wore, it was given to him by first mate Paz. Wearing it made him look like a large black top spinning, and the sight of him walking was hard to watch.
Although this outfit was comfortable to wear, Old Jack was often sulking when he sobered up the next day, preferring to hide in the kitchen most of the time.
For him, wearing this was no better than not wearing anything at all. But since this was on a Sardinian ship, if any problems arose from not wearing anything, Old Jack’s reputation would be ruined.
The preparations for the banquet were nearly complete, and all the crew members took their seats.
Having just washed up, Isabel sat with her head down on Fisher’s left. Fisher’s reminder had been effective; after washing up in the afternoon, she had not returned to her room but stayed on the deck. However, she found this rough Sardinian environment uncomfortable and subconsciously sat on Fisher’s left during dinner.
On Fisher’s right, all the crew members tactfully avoided sitting, as if that spot had already been reserved.
Before long, Alagina, now dressed in more casual clothing, gently sat next to Fisher.
Sardinian women do not wear skirts, but they enjoy wearing tighter pants and often adorn their upper clothing with embellishments such as silk scarves and brooches. Right now, Alagina was wearing a small metallic floral accessory on her chest.
At this time, her long white hair was not tied up in a ponytail as usual but flowed freely, giving her some semblance of connection to ladies from other nations. However, with this hairstyle, Fisher could no longer see her ears, which often turned rosy.
She calmly took her seat, glanced at Fisher, and after a moment’s hesitation, reached for her cup on the table, raising it toward Fisher.
“Happy Family Festival, Master Fisher.”
“Happy Festival.”
Fisher clinked his cup with Alagina’s, but after this gentle connection, Alagina did not retract her hand to drink; instead, she continued to look at Fisher, which puzzled him.
“What’s wrong? Is there some Northern tradition I don’t know about?”
Returning to her senses, Alagina lightly shook her head, took a sip of beer, and said, “No, I just think you’re very beautiful. Well, for the men of Nali, should I compliment you on being handsome?”
“In that case, since the customs of the Northern Region differ so much from that of Nali, I thought there might be something I didn’t know about. But you’re also very beautiful. Hold on, according to Northern traditions, should I say you’re handsome?”
She exhaled a breath of warmth caused by the alcohol, a faint smile on her lips as she looked at the lively atmosphere around them.
“You can say whatever you like; I don’t mind.”
At that moment, the table was filled with a variety of splendid dishes, and even the three Mouse Daughters, who had chased Emhart earlier, returned, lured by the aroma of food.
Emhart trailed behind them, looking drained and automatically shrinking into Fisher’s pocket upon returning.
“Time to eat~”
“Grandpa, Grandpa!”
“I’m exhausted; Great Emhart is drained. You’re the only one among those little brats I find tolerable.”
At this time, Emhart’s voice was weak, akin to a duck’s, even though he was a sentient relic. His energy was far less than that of those three mouse people, who resembled perpetual motion machines.
As for why Kalma and the others sought out Emhart instead of continuing to play with Steel Knife that afternoon, it was because Steel Knife had been called up to the mast by Aoxi and hadn’t come down.
Without the fearsome Steel Knife as an opponent, Kalma and the others simply invented another enemy out of thin air, which was the innocent Emhart.
“Food, food!”
At this moment, the colorful parrot Steel Knife was still hopping around on the table, using its beak to nibble at a small bucket and continuously calling out to the crew surrounding it. The crew members seemed to have long been accustomed to this scene, eating and using spoons to load various dishes into that small bucket.
Once the bucket was nearly full, the crew brought over a small cup, pouring some wine into the bucket.
“All set, go!”
“Thank you. Thank you!”
After the crew finished speaking, Steel Knife grasped the small bucket with its beak and, flapping its wings with difficulty, flew toward the mast. At the top of the mast, the second mate Aoxi still sat there, facing away from everyone below. Steel Knife struggled to reach her front and delivered the bucket of food to her.
After receiving the food, her figure, wrapped in a heavy robe, began to tremble slightly, clearly enjoying the contents of the bucket.
However, since she was always facing away from Fisher, he could not see her face clearly. He felt puzzled and glanced at Alagina beside him.
“Isn’t your second mate coming down to enjoy dinner?”
Alagina, while cutting meat with a knife, turned her head to glance at Aoxi, who was bundled up above, appearing somewhat hesitant to speak.
“She usually eats alone up there; the other crew members have grown accustomed to her like this. She was like this since the moment she came to my side. She doesn’t like this atmosphere, but she is very reliable at other times.”
“Is that so?”
Just as Fisher looked up to examine Aoxi again, the parrot named Steel Knife still perched on her shoulder, preening its feathers with its beak. It then tilted its head, looking down at Fisher, locking eyes with him.
Just as Fisher turned his head back, the tilted-headed Steel Knife immediately hopped once on Aoxi’s shoulder, turned around, and teetered its head towards its owner, stopping Aoxi’s action of enjoying her meal.
She silently turned her half-obscured face, looking down at Fisher.
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(End of Chapter)
