"So, you're saying someone ordered you to do this too?"
"Y-yes... that's correct."
The captain, now docile, spoke with his spirit broken from the very start.
Listening to him, it was a more complicated affair than I had thought.
Originally, these guys were third-rate gangsters who ran around the back alleys of the city fencing stolen goods, when one day a stranger wearing a robe suddenly came looking for them.
The man had his face thoroughly hidden, but together with a heavy purse of gold in his hand, he presented a request.
The conditions were simple.
Pretend to be a trustworthy ship by usurping a merchant guild's signboard, pick only useful people among those seeking passage, and hand them over to a pirate ship waiting at sea.
Sometimes, they would even send people directly to load onto the ship.
"...And you bit on such an obviously shady request?"
When I asked sarcastically, the captain flinched and coughed.
"Y-yes, well... they paid... a lot of money..."
His voice had already dwindled as if crawling into a mouse hole, and his gaze seemed to be staring a hole into a nail embedded in the floor.
Even so, there was a hint of bewilderment, as if he didn't quite understand why that was wrong.
'Well, it's precisely because they're such idiots that someone entrusted them with this kind of job.'
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
"You don't know who they are at all?"
"Yes... at most, I remember their jawline... but even that is hazy."
At those words, I furrowed my brow.
This meant that behind this wasn't some simple delinquent, but someone moving systematically.
Moreover, to be running human trafficking on this scale took unusual nerve.
'I'll need to hear what the pirates have to say too.'
I glanced beyond the railing.
I could see the mast of the pirate ship, shattered and tilted, with men hanging off it and climbing up and down busily.
On the deck, a few men were still bustling about, moving something.
"Tell those idiots over there to prepare to depart. Can you sail with the remaining crew?"
"Yes!"
The captain glanced at me and moved his feet as if fleeing, as though something terrible would happen if he stayed any longer.
Shortly after, commands burst out one after another along with his shouts.
At the same time, the sailors on the deck moved like mad, grabbing ropes and preparing equipment.
As our ship drew closer to the pirate ship, chaos erupted on the pirate ship as if they were convulsing.
A few men threw planks onto the water and tried to climb onto them and row like oars, but...
'A ship that big isn't going to move with just that.'
Their ship wasn't a rowboat.
Judging by how much they'd earned through their misdeeds, it was large enough to easily surpass a building in size.
Now, despite that bulk, it was merely drifting along with the waves.
Thud! Screech! Squeeeeak-!
With a rough collision sound, our ship crashed into the pirate ship.
The pirate ship tilted from the impact, and the ropes near the railing pulled taut.
It seemed they had already given up on fleeing, as they stood on the deck gripping swords and trembling.
"Hey, who's the captain over there."
When I lowered my voice, the pirates glanced at each other and held their breath.
Soon, their gazes began to gather strangely to one side.
At the end of their gazes, a skinny man took hesitant steps backward.
However, soon his subordinates pushed him forward as if urging him on, and he was dragged out, biting his teeth.
"I-I'm the captain!"
"Really? Then come over here. Including the people you took earlier."
"Wh-what?"
The man froze on the deck.
His broad shoulders rose and fell needlessly, and he turned his head this way and that, stealing glances at his subordinates' faces.
It was as if he were begging with his eyes for them to come with him, but...
"Hurry up and get lost, you bastard!"
"If it weren't for you, would we be in this mess?"
There was no trace of sympathy in the subordinates' expressions.
Only sharp glares and curses spat out like chewing came back.
'Pirates never had any loyalty to begin with.'
The man's Adam's apple bobbed greatly once.
Perhaps realizing that if he held out any longer, he'd be stabbed and pushed out right here, he eventually trudged over, dragging his feet toward the railing of our ship.
Accompanied by the clanking of chains, his steps crossing the plank between the pirate ship and our ship felt especially slow.
Once he had completely crossed over, I stepped forward.
Seen up close, half his face was scarred by a blade, and a rusty earring dangled from his earlobe.
The fishy stench pouring out from between his hair, tangled by the sea wind, pierced my nose.
"Name."
"...Gerol."
"Occupation?"
"...A pirate, what else."
I let out a brief laugh.
"Good, you confessed to being a pirate yourself. Who ordered you to do this?"
Gerol bit his lip and averted his gaze.
The moment his gaze turned below deck, Baldic kicked his shin hard from the side.
Thud.
"Answer properly. This isn't a situation where you have a choice."
"Kuk...!"
The man grabbed his leg and jerked his head up.
But his eyes still shook left and right.
"The guys impersonating the merchant guild earlier said a robed man sent people to you too."
When I got straight to the point, Gerol's face twisted for a moment.
Then he cackled and shook his head.
"I can't tell you that."
"You mean you won't, not that you can't."
I raised my fingertip and created a water droplet.
Blue light slowly swirled within it, and a low vibrating sound echoed against the ship's floor.
Gerol's eyes immediately widened, and his steps reflexively retreated by a handspan.
"Y-you're really a mage...?"
"That's right. Keep your mouth shut like that."
I brought the water droplet right in front of Gerol's nape.
As the light dyed his face blue, the man's throat bobbed loudly with a gulp.
While the surrounding sailors and my party watched the situation quietly, Gerol finally gritted his teeth and spat out.
"...He's a guy from the south. He wore a mask on his face, and his voice was... damn, disgustingly low."
"The south? Where in the south?"
"We met him on our ship. He was coming up from the south, so we thought he was a merchant vessel and tried to attack him, but we got beaten badly."
"...And then?"
"He gave us a lot of money. We just had to bring the designated people. He didn't say why or what for."
Gerol's breathing became rough.
I slowly withdrew the water droplet and nodded briefly.
"That's all?"
"I don't know anything more!"
"Then you're no different from that guy earlier."
I couldn't figure out why they were all hiding so much; there was nothing to dig up.
Well, you couldn't exactly walk around proudly after doing this kind of work.
"Where are you taking them?"
"To Limen."
"Limen? The place we departed from?"
Why take them back there?
"Yeah, to Limen. There were guys there who received the people."
Gerol continued, panting.
"We just had to unload them at a warehouse near the docks. They took care of the rest from there."
"'They'?"
"Yeah. They were all guys in black robes with their faces covered. The same guys as the masked man we met on the ship."
I averted my gaze for a moment and looked beyond the sea.
Limen was the port city we'd stopped at when we first departed.
If so... then the destination had never been Cron Island to begin with. The true purpose had been to send the people loaded on this ship back to Limen.
"Limen, huh..."
Baldic muttered lowly with his arms crossed.
"What are they trying to do there, going through all this trouble to come all the way out here?"
"Isn't it obvious."
Ranson replied calmly.
"It must have been a midway transit point to somewhere else. Trading directly would be too conspicuous."
'So they've twisted the route two or three times over.'
Just how secretive a scheme were they plotting, to use such an elaborate method?
I looked at Gerol again.
"Fine. This time I won't ask, so you talk on your own. If there's anything you left out, now would be a good time to say it."
Gerol sweated coldly all over, as if forgetting the rope biting into his wrists.
As the silence stretched, I created another water droplet at my fingertip.
Gerol burst out as if swallowing a scream the moment he saw it.
"A-alright! There's nothing more! It's true! We just had to drop them off at Limen!"
I stared into his eyes for a moment.
Eyes constricted to pinholes from fear, the eyes of a beast that had completely become prey.
There was no way he could lie in this state.
'Seems like it's true.'
If he could act with that expression, it would only be polite to play along.
"Then get lost now."
Gerol breathed roughly as if his life had been returned to him and nodded his head violently.
And he hurried back to his ship. His face was a tangled mess of relief and terror.
"Is it okay to let him go like that?"
"Aren't you being too lenient?"
Sailun and Baldic asked as if bewildered.
Instead of answering, I looked at the pirates struggling to raise their mast.
[Water Bomb]
Shwaaaah-
Kwaaaang!
Along with a spray of water, a large hole was torn in the bottom of the pirate ship.
Seawater rushed in instantly, and the ship began to tilt.
"U-uh! The ship, the ship is tilting!!"
"Shit, get the planks!!"
"Damn, we threw them all down to row earlier!"
The pirates' shouts could be heard.
"...Let's depart."
They were scum who were already pirates and even engaged in human trafficking.
No matter how much I disliked killing, it would be stranger to just let them go.
After turning their ship into a submarine, we set sail again for Cron Island.
***
As if thick fog had descended from the air, the room was strangely hazy.
There were neither windows nor lights, yet a dark red radiance slowly flowed down along the walls.
The source of that light was a massive stone altar placed in the center of the room.
Carved upon it was the 'Black Blood' insignia, faintly glowing.
In every crack of the insignia, a sticky liquid resembling blood undulated slowly.
In front of that altar, three people sat.
All had their faces covered with masks, but the shapes were each different.
One was a long mask reminiscent of a bird's beak, one was a mask engraved with countless pupils, and the last was a smooth silver mask void of expression.
Though there wasn't even a candle around them, light slid across their mask surfaces as if alive.
"The offerings are insufficient?"
The man in the beak mask opened his mouth first. His voice was damp and low, as if water were pooled deep in his throat.
"Yes."
The one who answered was the figure in the pupil mask. His voice reverberated as if coming from all directions.
"The ones who were supposed to come in on this route... for some reason, they haven't arrived. The signal was cut."
The beak mask tilted his head slightly.
"Hmm... it was the Limen route, wasn't it? It should have been the stage before sending them to Cron Island."
"That's right. We must prepare the offerings and deliver them to Cron Island for the Path of Erosion to be completed."
"Path of Erosion..."
The silver mask muttered lowly. His voice was lifeless, like the sound of formless wind brushing by.
"This is no simple accident."
The pupil mask raised a finger and pointed at the Black Blood insignia on the altar.
"See? The flow has been severed. Someone stole the share that was meant to be consumed."
The beak mask asked slowly.
"...Who?"
"We don't know yet. But if it's someone who can stop a ship at sea and steal offerings... at the very least, they are no ordinary person."
The pupil mask's voice gradually sharpened.
"Which means, they are the highest grade offering."
The silver mask crossed his arms and slowly continued.
"Then they can't be simple pirates. For someone who knows of us to dare intercept our offerings... this is the first time."
The beak mask knelt before the altar. Then he stretched out his hand, scooping up the liquid within the insignia.
The moment his fingertips touched it, the liquid did not flow down like water, but crawled up his fingers on its own.
Soon it covered up to his wrist, squirming like a living snake.
"Hmm... the hunger still hasn't subsided."
The beak mask clicked his tongue.
"The ritual on Cron Island is only days away. If the offerings are not filled... our Master cannot awaken."
At that moment, the silver mask's neck twisted minutely.
"...If the Master awakens, not only this sea, but the continent as well shall sink beneath the waves."
At those words, the air in the room grew noticeably heavy.
The pupil mask leaned toward the altar and whispered lowly.
"Which is why, more than ever, the offerings must not fall short."
While their conversation continued, the empty space in the insignia on the altar grew wider and wider.
As if chased by time, the Black Blood seemed to slowly drain from the altar.
The silver mask muttered upon seeing that change.
"...Someone intentionally interfered with the ritual at sea."
"Rather than interfere, they destroyed it."
The pupil mask bared his teeth.
"If it was intentional... we shall see them soon."
The beak mask slowly raised the corner of his mouth—or rather, the edge of his mask.
"Then for this ritual... filling it with their blood wouldn't be a bad idea either."
But at that moment, the floor beneath the altar shook slightly.
From within the ground, no, from even deeper below, came the sound of something awakening.
Thud, thud... and soon, a vibration like a heavy heartbeat traveled up through the room.
"There is no time."
The silver mask spoke decisively.
"Before the gate of Cron Island opens, we must fill the insufficient offerings. This time, not at sea... we must go hunting directly."
The pupil mask slowly nodded at those words.
"Wherever they have gone, we must find them. And... let us offer their hearts upon the altar."
The beak mask quietly licked and swallowed the Black Blood on his wrist.
"Then the Master... shall finally open his eyes."
Their gazes turned simultaneously toward the altar.
The Black Blood insignia writhed violently for a moment, and a foul stench—a mix of blood and the brine of seawater—filled the room.
And within that smell, a formless voice was heard.
- Offerings... more...
At that voice, the three bowed their heads.