The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 8
It was a tail.
A dark, enormous tail shot up toward the sky. It wasn’t difficult to predict what came next.
That tail was about to come crashing down on the ship.
But my body wouldn’t move.
“Tatiana!”
Bang!
Someone called my name and embraced me just as the tail smashed into the ship.
Swallowed by the waves, I fell into the sea. The noise vanished, my ears went mute, and silence descended.
Before I could even open my eyes properly to process what had happened, a force stronger than the churning water pulled me down.
“Tatiana, snap out of it!”
Gasp!
At the shaking of my shoulders, I gasped sharply and my eyes flew open. Seawater stung my nose.
“Ugh, huh. What on earth—”
The wave had passed, but the surface still heaved violently, as if to confirm that what had just happened was no dream.
“Relax your body and hold onto me. We need to get you back on the ship.”
Even as he told me to relax, Kiiis’s arms wrapped around my waist with a force that made breathing difficult.
He finished speaking urgently, as though fleeing from something, and kicked hard toward the ship.
“Wait!”
I stopped him and forced his arms away, then plunged back into the water.
With my body floating buoyantly, I kicked my legs gently and looked around. Searching for the creature that had attacked us, I spotted Perian far in the distance—sinking.
His face was twisted in pain as he struggled, clearly unable to breathe.
But hands kept pulling at me insistently, and I raised my head above the surface.
“There!”
“We have to go now!”
Kiiis snapped at me and dragged me forward. The force sent water cascading across my face.
“Ugh! Ptoo—I can swim, you know. Save Perian. He’s over there!”
At my words, Kiiis dove to check, surfaced, and ground his teeth together so hard they clicked audibly.
A moment ago he’d been in such a rush, but now he hesitated, gripping my shoulders.
‘Wait—he’s hesitating?’
That didn’t make sense.
Shaking off the strange thought, Kiiis finally spoke.
“…Swim to the ship as fast as you can.”
“Be careful.”
“…I’ll be back soon.”
As I nodded, Kiiis sank beneath the waves.
I pushed the fear-stricken expression from his face out of my mind and headed toward the ship.
‘Berto swims well, so he should be fine.’
At least the ship didn’t seem too badly damaged from the impact.
‘Once I get aboard, there has to be a way.’
With that thought, I kicked my legs so hard my thighs burned—and then the water churned around me, wrapping around my body.
“Gah—cough!”
Seawater flooded my mouth.
Just as panic was about to overtake my flailing body—
“What is that…?”
A humpback whale appeared in front of me.
A humpback whale the size of a house, massive enough to easily blot out the ship.
My body went limp. The fear I felt was primal.
Faced with a situation I couldn’t possibly escape by my own strength, I was helpless.
Its dark eyes stared directly at me.
And then—
Creak—
Its mouth opened as if stretching into a chilling smile, and in an instant a shadow fell over my head.
As I slowly looked up, I saw the roof of its mouth, covered in dark baleen.
Before my mind could even process what was happening, I was swallowed whole.
* * *
Kiiis barely caught up to Perian as he sank through the water. But the moment he grasped him firmly and turned back, he sensed something was wrong.
Tatiana was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the receding silhouette of a humpback whale speeding away was all that remained.
“Tatiana!”
Kiiis thrashed desperately through the water. But his frantic strokes couldn’t match her speed.
“Damn it!”
He had no choice but to head for the ship.
Berto, who had returned first, lowered a ladder and helped pull Perian aboard.
“Turn the ship toward ten o’clock. Tatiana has been taken.”
“Your Highness.”
Berto began in a calm voice. Its meaning was so clear that rage clawed through Kiiis’s chest.
“I said turn the ship! Now!”
Though his voice cracked with fury, Berto stood unmoved, as placid as ever.
“The hull is damaged. If we don’t find the leak and make repairs, she’ll sink within the hour. And if the ship goes down, neither we nor Tatiana will survive.”
Kiiis spat a curse and swung his fists wildly in frustration, shattering the railing.
Despair born of helplessness. Fear as if the world itself had been stolen away.
Consumed by emotion, Kiiis plunged into an abyss.
He did not realize that Tatiana’s face had overlapped with the memory of his betrothed.
* * *
“Agh!”
I convulsed and bolted upright.
“Where…?”
A very small rocky island. In the middle of the sea, no less.
I supposed I should be grateful—I’d thought for certain that being swallowed by the whale meant death.
Thanks to the power Lucas gave me, I wouldn’t actually die, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t afraid. I’d feel all the pain regardless.
“So I’m going to starve here instead.”
There were no trees, and the space was too cramped to even pitch a tent.
I collapsed onto the ground and shouted into the empty air.
“Lucas, help me out here.”
But I knew he wouldn’t come. He was recovering his body.
Why did I bother getting this power? I miss our Demon King.
But then the sea quietly stirred with new waves.
“Lucas?”
Something massive erupted from the water at my call. Shallow waves sloshed over the rock, soaking my shoes and pant cuffs.
With nowhere to run, all I could do was stumble backward in alarm.
It was the humpback whale.
“Hell…”
A curse born of despair. Yet unlike before, the whale seemed entirely disinclined to attack.
It simply floated there, like an island itself.
Then a mysterious sound echoed from within the whale—as if drops were forming inside a cave.
「You awake?」
“Ack! What—who is that! A ghost!”
「It’s me. The humpback whale.」
The whale looked at me and blinked slowly.
“A whale can… talk?”
「I’m Popo. As you can see, I’m no ordinary whale.」
So this was what a Divine Beast was?
「What’s your name?」
“Tatiana.”
Now that we could converse, the fear that had gripped me moments ago was gone.
「I’m sorry. I thought you and your friends were demons or demon-worshippers, so I attacked.」
“Me? A demon? Why?”
「A powerful demonic aura radiates from you. I can sense it even now. Have you ever made contact with a demon?」
“I have met one, actually…”
And we’d grown quite close.
“A fairly strong demon gave me a gift, I suppose you’d call it, and that’s probably why. Is that it?”
Three precious lives.
Popo let out an exasperated sigh. The sea around us bubbled and frothed.
「Why on earth would a demon give you something like that?」
“Ha, well, it just… happened.”
「In any case, I can’t remove it, so you’ll need to be careful. There may be other beings drawn to you as I was. But the sea is my domain, so you should be safe now.」
My domain—that sounded rather impressive.
“What exactly are you? A Divine Beast?”
「Some call me that. Others say spirit guardian or spirit.」
“Are you the guardian the people of Hibery Island talked about—the one who watches over sailors? The subject of that Dream Catcher hanging in my room?”
「Perhaps.」
It was astonishing that the legend was real, and yet absurdly strange that this very guardian attacked me the moment I hung the Dream Catcher on my ceiling.
“But hey—could you possibly take me back to where I came from?”
They’d probably already assumed I was dead and departed.
「I checked just now. The ship is already gone.」
“Oh…”
So that was that.
I’d expected it, and it was certainly the sensible thing to do, yet I felt oddly disappointed.
I’d thought I’d become at least a little close to Kiiis and Berto, if not Perian.
「If you tell me your destination, I’ll take you. It’ll be far faster than traveling by ship.」
“Primanu. Ever heard of it?”
「Let’s go now. Hypothermia sets in once night falls—it’s dangerous.」
Popo opened his mouth wide. I felt the texture of his thick tongue against my fingertips.
「Come aboard.」
Suppressing a grimace, I slowly crawled up onto his tongue.
Night had fallen.
It wasn’t until I arrived at the low cliffs along Primanu’s coast that I could finally climb off Popo’s tongue.
“Thank you for the ride.”
「Ptooey.」
I was wondering whether to seek help from the guards when Popo spat something toward me.
A considerable quantity of Gold Coins. I quickly bent down and scooped them up.
“Really, thank you so much. I was at a loss for what to do. But how does a whale even have Gold Coins?”
「A sunken pirate ship.」
“Where? Can you take me?”
My independence fund.
「It’s too dangerous. Hurry before it gets any later.」
What a shame.
“All right, I’ll go. Thank you. I’ll be at sea for about a year, so if you get the chance, let’s meet again sometime.”
「Be careful out there.」

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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