Chapter 31
I had a dream.
Tiana was biting into an octopus leg and said, “This is really delicious, you should try some too,” as she handed me a still-living octopus.
“…?”
I snapped my eyes open, waking from sleep.
Faint moonlight slipped through the crack of the window, illuminating the cabin. The soft sound of waves mixed with the faint metallic clinking of ropes swaying against the sails.
The sea was calm. The cabin was just as quiet. Everyone seemed to be fast asleep.
I shut my eyes again, tossing and turning a few times before sitting up. Thanks to that strange dream, I couldn’t get back to sleep.
Creak.
I wrapped myself in a blanket and quietly slipped outside. The cool night breeze from the sea felt refreshing. Beneath the moonlight, the gently shimmering waves rocked the ship.
Pulling the blanket up to my chin, I slumped onto the deck. As I leaned against the railing with a sigh, I heard something odd.
Thud… thud…
I couldn’t tell if it was something the waves carried in, or if it was the wind, but it sounded like a faint knocking against the bottom of the ship.
Probably just seaweed tangled underneath. Thinking little of it, I lifted my head.
“At night, if you’re alone…”
A chilling voice drifted slowly from behind me. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
“…The Silent Sea takes those who are left by themselves.”
“Ah, damn—!”
I barely swallowed back the curse as I whipped my head around. Somehow, without me noticing, Ian was standing silently behind me.
A mug in one hand, the other tucked lazily into his pocket.
He scares the life out of me and then just stands there looking calm…
I narrowed my eyes. The smug look on his face made my chest prickle with irritation.
“…Ian. Was that fun for you, in the middle of the night?”
I gripped the blanket tighter. Ian only raised his brows briefly, then slowly brought the mug to his lips.
“A little.”
After a short pause, he added with a faint smile that played at his lips, the moonlight glinting in his eyes.
“Would it be rude to say it was… cute?”
The teasing lilt in his voice made it obvious he was deliberately provoking me.
“…I’ll remember this.”
I clenched my teeth and forced a smile. One day, I swore, I would truly startle Ian Frederic.
Ian leaned casually against the railing, sipping again from his mug, as though nothing had happened. Then he spoke.
“Apologies if I startled you. I wasn’t really trying to play a prank.”
I crossed my arms and tilted my chin at him, silently granting him a chance to explain himself.
“Do you know why this sea is called the Silent Sea?”
“Because it looks quiet on the surface?”
Silent and still on the outside, but underneath it’s a sea that’s always ready to swallow people whole. If you tried sailing through, the fast current would sweep the ship away.
“Of course, that’s one way to think of it. But the truth is a bit different.”
He lifted his mug and turned his gaze outward.
“Shall I tell you a rumor I once heard?”
A sailor’s legend, then.
I gave him a look that said, go ahead, since sleep was already out of the question. Ian stared out over the calm sea for a moment before beginning slowly.
“It’s a story every sailor hears at least once. They say that anyone who enters this sea never returns alive.”
Right. That was exactly why we’d chosen this place as a refuge.
Because I could leave whenever I wanted—and return if I wished.
Ian continued, voice quiet, like one reciting an old tale.
“They say the water below is filled with floating skeletons. The dead, unable to rise, pressed down under the crushing weight of the deep.”
I hugged the blanket tighter. My knees suddenly felt cold.
“Even the final screams they let out as they died are said to have sunk into the sea.”
He slowly raised his mug again and added,
“That is why they call it the Silent Sea. Because even the screams of the dead cannot be heard.”
“….”
…So that was why he’d been making those weird knocking noises earlier?
The mystery of the thud, thud beneath the ship was suddenly clear. I relaxed my tense shoulders.
“What the heck! At least make some normal noise when you walk around!”
“I noticed the cabin had grown cold, so I came out. Nights are rather chilly.”
He chuckled softly. I grumbled under my breath.
“Still, there was no need for creepy noises.”
Thud… thud…
The sound started again. From beneath the ship—those same dull knocks.
“The creepy noise… you mean this one?”
I blinked.
“…That wasn’t you making it?”
Even Ian froze mid-sip, lowering his mug as his eyes shifted carefully to the water.
“It wasn’t me.”
“…What?”
A silence fell. Beneath the pale moonlight, our gazes both dropped to the water.
Thud, thud. The sound came again.
“Maybe something’s snagged under the ship?”
I forced a sheepish laugh. This whole eerie atmosphere was just making me jumpy.
“Right? A plank of wood, or seaweed or something…?”
I glanced sideways at Ian, but he said nothing. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the water.
“…Why? Is there really something down there?”
He didn’t answer right away, only studied the waves with a furrowed brow. Then, at last, he spoke in a low voice.
“It’s here.”
Ian turned to me, his eyes glinting seriously in the moonlight. I squinted at him, then snorted.
“Ian. Come on, I’m not falling for it twice.”
But his gaze shifted back to the waves.
“…A deep-sea monster has appeared.”
“Oh, no, you’re not fooling me th—”
I reached to tap his arm in mock scolding—
But Ian suddenly caught my wrist.
“So this is how the shepherd boy felt.”
CRAAASH!
The entire deck jolted violently. The ship heaved sideways, and I stumbled forward, nearly losing my balance.
Before I could steady myself, Ian yanked me into his arms.
Another booming crash followed—
Something black lashed up over the deck, wrapping and coiling. Dozens of suckers writhed, dripping with seawater as they gripped the ship’s hull.
A gigantic octopus’s tentacle.
Its blood-red eyes gleamed menacingly.
What lies beneath the sea?
If someone were to ask me, I could kindly answer: a view no different from any ordinary ocean.
That is, until you descend into the deep.
Down there, no light reaches. You can’t see what exists below, or where the end might be. You only sink endlessly into darkness.
In that pitch-black abyss, I could never discern what truly lay below.
Back when I had awakened the power of water, swimming freely through the ocean—
The only thing I ever encountered… was a single, chilling, glowing red eye.
“Seeing the same eyes now… so it’s been lurking here all along, huh?”
This damn octopus had been hiding in this sea.
I bit my lip. The side of the ship was in shambles. The deck was torn in places, the railing half-broken and dangling. Water leaked from cracks in the hull.
“Master! Why’d you go and wake a sleeping octopus?!”
Jelly bounded onto my shoulder in a panic.
“Am I… still dreaming?”
Lucas rubbed his eyes groggily, half-asleep.
BANG!
The colossal octopus writhed, preparing to lunge. Of course, if Ian and I combined our powers, we could handle a monster like this.
But fighting while protecting something is always harder. Even the smallest slip could put others at risk.
We had too much to protect. I could shield Lucas and Jelly, sure…
But our ship—already caught in its grip—would be ripped apart.
“Kanoe. If I use my power like last time, you’ll be upset, won’t you?”
Still holding me, Ian loosened his grip slightly as he asked.
The memory of the day he clashed with Rev flashed in my mind, and I paled.
“…You’ll have to hold back.”
He smiled faintly, lowering his head, his tousled black hair falling into his eyes.
“Then help me.”
His hand slid gently over mine.
“So we don’t drag the others into the storm.”
I glanced down at our hands, startled—then remembered Lucas was awake. Meeting Ian’s gaze, I nodded.
“That sort of thing… is my specialty.”
I flung off the half-draped blanket, gathering the power of water at my fingertips.
