Chapter 16
“What do you mean, a big deal!”
I set down the glass and looked out the window.
The view of Muiya Island from the third floor was nothing but peaceful. White sands sparkling under the sun, emerald waves breaking gently against the shore.
Well, I guess this is exactly the kind of drink you need on such a sweltering day.
I took a sip of the mango iced tea Lloyd had made such a fuss about bringing over. The tart juiciness of mango spread across my tongue.
“…It is tasty, though.”
“Master, humans are strange. Drinking water that tastes like it’s contaminated with pufferfish poison.”
“Would you believe me if I told you they paid money for that poison?”
“Why would anyone pay for that? You don’t even have enough to buy a boat!”
“That’s because it isn’t poison. It’s made from fruit.”
Slurp. I poured a bit into an empty cup for Jelly. This little gluttonous jellyfish really ate anything without complaint.
“This… this is human civilization…?”
Smiling, I glanced back out the window.
As soon as the drinks had arrived, Lloyd handed me mine and then left for the next room—saying he had something to discuss with Ian.
It seemed his real purpose from the start had been talking to Ian. The fact that he still bothered to get me a drink so I wouldn’t get bored being left alone… maybe he was actually pretty thoughtful.
It was an unrealistically peaceful day. The kind of day where everything flowed exactly the way you wanted—a day of sheer luck.
“Master. You’re curious, aren’t you?”
“Curious about what?”
With mango juice smeared all over its mouth, Jelly bounced over in front of me. Raising one tentacle like a finger, it continued.
“Our new companion went off to another human, didn’t he?”
“Lloyd is just helping us.”
“Nonsense! Master, if you’re that soft, how are you supposed to survive these treacherous seas?”
Seriously, that’s not it at all.
“That Lloyd fellow is suspicious. Giving away food this delicious without asking for anything in return?!”
“…That’s what you’re worried about?”
“No, that’s not the biggest reason.”
The small Jelly hopped onto my hand. Lifting it up to eye level, I found its two beady little eyes staring straight at me.
“It’s because you look uneasy, Master.”
“……”
Damn, this jellyfish is way too perceptive.
When it first claimed it could feed on emotions, I half-doubted it. But now, it was like it could see straight through me.
“No matter how amazing a new ally is, I’ll always be on your side, Master.”
“…Jelly, you—”
“So don’t you worry about anything. This is when I’m supposed to be useful.”
Fwip!
I reached out with both hands to grab Jelly—or at least I tried to.
“Jelly, where do you think you’re going!”
Slipping out of my hands, the little jellyfish shrugged nonexistent shoulders. Then it sprang off the furniture again, bouncing upward.
“I’ll go spy on what kind of conspiracy they’re hatching next door!”
“Don’t you dare cause trouble! Be quick!”
Shrinking down, Jelly floated like a drifting dandelion seed. Somehow, with that odd little body, it hopped its way to the vent connected to the next room.
“Then, wish me luck.”
Before I could stop it, it slipped inside. All that lingered was the faint afterimage of Jelly disappearing into the vent.
“Ha… that brat, seriously.”
You’re getting your human food privileges revoked for a while.
Sighing, I gulped down the iced tea. Unintentionally, I’d ended up with some time entirely to myself.
“…I can’t waste this chance.”
On Muiya Island, there was still one more thing we had to prepare.
“Are you really Ian Frederick? Not something wearing Ian’s skin?”
Streeeetch.
Lloyd, studying Ian’s face with suspicious seriousness, tugged at his cheek. If patience had a visible gauge, Ian’s would have been maxed out by now.
“…Cut it out. Creepy bastard.”
Ian gave Lloyd a weary look. He’d known him for years, but still—what a nuisance.
“Oh, could it be? Has the god Therion finally answered my desperate prayers? Otherwise, I can’t explain why you’ve changed.”
Muttering seriously, Lloyd earned a sharp narrowing of Ian’s brows.
His head throbbed. That unpleasant sensation he’d managed to forget for a while came flooding back.
“I’m fine. Stop saying weird things.”
“So you’re not broken, huh?”
No need to spell out what “broken” meant. Ian shoved Lloyd away, looking utterly fed up, and sat down on the chair.
“You already know. Don’t make me say it. My head’s pounding.”
Seeing his touchy demeanor, Lloyd raised his hands in surrender.
“Alright, alright. I just thought maybe your condition had gotten fixed.”
He really had thought so. The perfect yet hypersensitive Admiral Ian Frederick—was nowhere to be seen right now.
Even if you disguise yourself to avoid the navy’s surveillance, a person’s essence doesn’t just change.
Habits when irritated. Subtle inflections. Where the gaze lingers.
Lloyd considered himself fairly talented at observing people.
And when it came to Ian—whom he’d known since their cadet days—he had plenty of information.
But today…
All that knowledge about Ian’s essence had been shattered.
“That would be… cute, actually.”
…That’s Ian Frederick?
Lloyd was dumbfounded. It seemed more plausible that some shapeshifter was impersonating Ian than this being the real him.
Lloyd was one of the few who knew about Ian’s ability. Which only made this harder to believe.
Because Ian Frederick’s condition… was something he could never control.
That was why Lloyd had wanted to confirm it with his own eyes—even if it had irritated Ian.
“You always wore gloves. And now you’re holding Miss Kanoe’s hand without hesitation. How could I not be shocked?”
At those words, Ian looked down at his bare hands. He simply rubbed them, as if something was missing.
“I can’t use them anymore. They got ruined in salt.”
“…Salt?”
“…I fell into the sea.”
Lloyd’s face grew more and more bewildered. He’d heard the story—that Ian had faced off against Admiral Markello, and blown up an entire ship.
After that, Ian had disappeared. Search parties found nothing. He only managed to get in touch using an emergency pelican code.
The coordinates? The middle of the Silent Sea. Lloyd had thought it must have been a tracking error—or else Ian had deliberately thrown them off.
“You can’t even swim, and you fell into the sea…?”
Even Lloyd found his own words hard to believe. But all the strange pieces were starting to fit together.
“No way… you threw yourself into the Silent Sea just to meet Kanoe…?”
He’d leapt into a place where survival was virtually impossible?
“Insane. Do you seriously love Kanoe Bluebell?”
Clatter.
The moment the question left his lips, something stirred above in the ceiling.
Lloyd instinctively looked up. They’d already confirmed no naval pursuit was nearby. If there had been suspicious traces, he would’ve noticed first.
“Wait. I’ll check it out.”
With a snap of his fingers, Ian loosened the vent cover overhead.
“Yeah, that’s probably better.”
The duct was far too small. Not even a child could fit through it—there was no way an assassin could be inside.
At most, maybe a rat?
“Anything in there?”
“…Hm.”
Ian’s golden eyes flickered as he swept the vent with a gust of air.
And there it was, covered in gray dust…
“Nothing. Just a mouse.”
Turning his back, Ian reached out and plucked the ashen Jelly from the vent. The stiffened little blob relaxed under his careful touch.
And then—
Squeak.
It made a noise and slipped into Ian’s sleeve.
“…You even spare mice? You really are impossible. You probably can’t even kill bugs.”
“…Yeah. I’ll let it go outside later.”
Why Jelly was here, he had no idea…
But with a wry little smile, Ian tossed out his words almost casually.
“You asked me, didn’t you. If I liked Kanoe.”
“Well, yeah. But why bring that up all of a sudden—”
And then, his voice carried warmth, like a spring breeze drifting in.
“You’re right. I like Kanoe.”
