The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 9

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

Episode 9
The port city of Primanu.
“Beautiful weather today~”
Beneath a cloudless sky, I walked down streets that were chaotic yet brimming with life.
It had already been a week since I arrived here.
And still, the protagonists hadn’t shown. Our paths hadn’t crossed.
“Welcome back, Tatiana.”
The moment I stepped into the harbor office, a staff member recognized me. I’d been coming in daily, and by now all the employees knew my face.
“Good morning. My friends’ ship hasn’t arrived while I’ve been away, has it?”
“No, ma’am. They do seem to be taking quite a while. When they do arrive, I’ll let them know you’re staying at the inn, so rest easy.”
“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
I had to admit it now.
They had abandoned me.
They weren’t coming to this place—our original destination—out of mere hope that I might somehow still be alive.
But I couldn’t bring myself to believe it, and my anxiety was too much; I had no choice but to keep coming back.
“Don’t mind me. Just go about your work. I’ll be quiet.”
I settled comfortably into the harbor office staff chair, as I’d done many times now, and unfolded today’s newspaper.
Kraken Re-emerges!
A Kraken appeared and sank a small fishing vessel.
All six crew members aboard perished.
The second consecutive attack by the Kraken—what measures can be taken?
The Demons, having seized control of the Empire, would soon begin expanding their territory in earnest. Timing-wise, they likely weren’t even prepared to infiltrate society yet.
But the world had already begun to crumble, step by step, since Lucas fell.
I turned the page. The article went on to discuss countermeasures, but could anyone really escape the Kraken without knights or mages?
I had to catch up with the protagonists, join them, and continue the voyage—and now this business with the Kraken.
‘In the original story, they never encountered a monster.’
Meeting monsters was extraordinarily rare to begin with.
Continuous culling had reduced their numbers so severely that they were now nearly extinct.
Truth be told, the Female Lead alone could dispatch the Kraken even without the male leads. She was among the Empire’s most powerful mages.
‘But I’d be in danger.’
If Lucas hadn’t spared my life, I would have been finished.
In any case, without magical ability, those men would struggle against the Demons, so the Female Lead absolutely had to come with them.
I wished the male leads would arrive before I had to visit the Female Lead.
“Ah, what a fate.”
“Hey, wait! Secure the ship first! You can’t just jump overboard!”
While I was lamenting, a harbor office staff member suddenly shouted loudly.
What madman was trying to leap from the ship?
“Tatiana!”
I turned to find the source of the outburst, and a familiar voice pierced my ear.
“Kiis?”
The moment our eyes met, he shook off Perian, who’d been restraining him, and launched himself through the air.
Before I could react, he landed safely and rushed toward me, sweeping me into his arms.
His broad shoulders filled the space beneath my chin. His grip was so tight I thought he’d crush me, and my breath came shallow.
At the same time, through our bodies pressed flush together, I felt unmistakably the frantic thundering of his heart—as if pleading to be recognized.
“W-wait a moment…”
His ragged breathing tickled my ear again and again, making me oddly self-conscious.
As I squirmed against the unyielding Kiis, I caught sight of Berto and Perian rushing over.
I let my hands drop from where they’d gripped his shirt.
‘Why do they have that look?’
The two exhaled deeply, as if they’d finally found peace.
It was all an act.
I knew that. But Berto…?
There was no way that bear of a man would pretend to worry. And Kiis either…
A strange, uneasy feeling stirred in my chest, so I buried my face in Kiis’s shoulder.
Did they think they’d conveniently rid themselves of a nuisance? Then why the performance?
“This is really frustrating…”
My eyes stung as if tears might come, so I pressed them hard against his shoulder—but suddenly Kiis pulled away.
“Frustrated?”
“You look frustrated? Why did you take so long to arrive!”
“I found you! You have no idea how worried I’ve been…”
Kiis trailed off, trying to sound angry. His face had grown sharper in the week, more gaunt than before.
I’d been eating myself sick the entire time.
My eyes stung again, and I was opening them to glare at Kiis when—
“Um, you friends there…?”
The harbor office staff approached cautiously.
“The berth fee for a Caravel is five Silver Coins, but you qualify for the fifty-percent traveler’s discount, so two Silver Coins and five Bronze Coins will do. And please, be careful—don’t ever jump from the ship like that again.”
“…Yes, of course. Here you are.”
Kiis fumbled in his pocket and produced the money.
* * *
Once we entered my room at the inn and the door sealed us from the outside, Kiis asked:
“What happened?”
The atmosphere was heavy.
Just moments before, these men had seemed relieved and concerned after seeing me, but now their faces had hardened, demanding explanation.
“Well, honestly, I don’t remember much of it…”
“You don’t remember again?”
Perian cut me off mid-sentence and pressed forward with sharp hostility.
“…”
I bit my lip.
What was the point of being honest when they wouldn’t believe me anyway? They’d just guard me more carefully and tell me not to talk nonsense.
“This isn’t an interrogation, so speak freely. I don’t think you’re controlling a whale monster. I simply want to hear what happened.”
A single glance from Kiis silenced Perian. He spoke in a calm, measured voice.
Three large men questioning me in staccato—there was no way I could speak freely in this.
“I fainted, and when I came to, I was on some island.”
I reluctantly offered the excuse I’d prepared beforehand.
“So I hitched a ride on a passing ship. The crew gave me money, which allowed me to stay at the inn.”
“Do you remember nothing of being swallowed by the monster?”
“You’re talking about the Humpback Whale?”
I asked in return, and Berto nodded.
“I don’t know if it was a monster, but I only remember the moment it was swallowing me.”
“A normal Humpback Whale’s oral structure allows it to swallow only krill and small fish. If it were a monster, you couldn’t possibly have survived. The possibility that it’s a monster is high.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Did you make a pact with a Demon?”
“Berto.”
Kiis stepped in at Berto’s bluntness.
‘As if that matters.’
They’d arrived late because they were searching for me, and this was the conclusion they’d reached.
I couldn’t call it unfounded. Logically, it was the most rational conclusion.
‘I told myself this from the start anyway.’
I’d vowed that even if I so much as breathed heavily, they’d suspect me—and that I’d have to endure it, unfair as it was.
“So now being attacked by monsters is my fault too.”
“I don’t think you made a pact with a Demon, no matter the circumstances.”
At Kiis’s words, Perian interjected with obvious irritation bleeding through:
“Why do you keep dancing around it and leading toward a conclusion when it’s so obvious?”
Perian stepped closer.
I’d thought his expression was gentle, but with his tall frame and muscular build, when he twisted his face like that, it was quite threatening.
“You were planning to use the monster to kill us. When your plan didn’t work, you disappeared. Isn’t that right?”
He pressed ahead without letting me speak a word.
“But since you failed, you came back to try again. You naively thought we’d just overlook your lies this time.”
“…”
How much longer was I supposed to endure this exhausting bickering?
“You asked if I made a pact with a Demon.”
The moment I opened my mouth, the three of them fixed their gaze on me sharply.
“I only have two possible answers, don’t I? Yes or no. But since you’re not interested in hearing ‘no,’ I suppose I should just say ‘yes’?”
“Dodging the question like that won’t help. Explain clearly. Why did you disappear with the monster?”
Perian completely dropped the mask of friendliness he’d been wearing.
“Why? Everything you said is true.”
Exhausted, I sighed and offered up the answer they so desperately wanted.
“Tatiana!”
Kiis cried out as if struck by lightning.
“No matter what I say, you’ll suspect me. So what exactly do you want from me?”
“We’re all tired now. Let’s talk more tomorrow.”
Kiis tried to settle things. I still couldn’t fathom what they wanted from me.
That was when—
“There is a way to confirm whether you made a pact with a Demon.”
Berto’s sharp golden eyes turned to me.
Could they sense Demonic power? If so, the ability Lucas gave me might be judged as a pact with a Demon.
‘Then I’ll really be abandoned.’
No—they’d kill me on the spot. Yet just moments ago, they embraced me like it was a tearful reunion.
“How?”
“We can have you examined through Magic.”

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