The pirate averted her stoney yet chilling gaze and studied the surroundings. It was quiet. No sound escaped from this place besides our breaths creating a disarray tune. By the time the pirate was done with his personal quest, she then returned her glare back at me. She then followed her look with footsteps trundling towards me. Each uneven step pounded the floor as if the pirate before was a wolf behind sheep’s clothing. She was a human, and yet felt more monstrous than Mayor Gustavo or the Great Kraken combined! When the pirate arrived near me, she knelt down and touched my face. The woman lifted my cheeks and returned my broken leer.As soon as the pirate was within centimetres away from, she revealed her gun and rested the barrel on my face… With her gun within point-blank range, the bullet from the pistol will surely hit me. And if that happened, I would be free from my suffering.I wasn’t afraid. My hands never quivered, and my heart refused to beat a craggy song pumping throu
I didn’t know why, but a really long flashback, which wasn’t for me, entered my vision. There was no telling if it was for me or for another person… for some reason. I believed it was a girl who took my spotlight, and the first letter of her name started with M… Monalisa? Who the fuck is Monalisa, anyway? I mean, I know her but… Bullshit. It didn’t matter. Because right now, the battle between the Kraken, the megalodon, and the small-fries swarm was against me! And the plan where I had to copy the lightning spell… or another spell of some sort just to make our plans work. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but I vowed to make a change. We were this close in getting through the kraken. If I could somehow manipulate the thunder from the clouds, maybe I could turn the tides around.It still bothered me, though, that Captain Israel… was so weak compared to what others had described her. Was it just me or was she struggling against these monsters? Or was she doing it on purpose? Tr
The thing that was missing was… No clue about it. If it didn’t reveal itself to me, why would I even try to think about it? I didn’t want to die, but… what choice did I have? The only thing I could do now was to act whatever I had planned and if something happened, I had to adapt to my surroundings. And if I somehow stumbled upon a mysterious force that wanted me dead, then so be it. But I wouldn’t die that easily. It would take me a million bullets to go through this thick skull of mine before accepting my surrender.But before I could formally and properly initiate my plan, for the last time, Kirameki pulled the ends of my clothing and grabbed my attention. She was my sister, so I listened carefully about what she wanted to say. Although I was running with a ticking time-bomb with this scheme, it would never hurt to hear what my sister had to say about me or this idea.“About earlier… I don’t want you… to die… Please come back… brother… okay? You’re… the only one… I have…” I nodded
“COVER YOUR EARS!” I commanded, but had no idea when I shouted those words. I had a feeling that if the blast came out and if we were still alive, we had to protect our ears and prevent any damage in our organs as much as possible. There was no telling if these pirates would follow me or not, but I knew Kirameki would. She was my sister, after all. From the beginning, I couldn’t imagine how stupid it was to have some sort of rubber powers. But it turned out to be the most powerful one to save us in this trouble. It was absurd, but this motherfucker did it. According to Margarette, her powers were awakened after Captain Israel had saved her and some sort of intense feeling enveloped inside her. However, Margarette still couldn’t control and comprehend her abilities. So whatever we could see here was something raw out of her experience. And that sounded weird.Anyhow, I devised my plan and went for the rubber play. Instead of copying the powers of the girl who could manipulate electri
“I didn’t think that would work!” I commented, but got carried away by the wind… literally and metaphorically. When the monsters got hit by the thunder, they created waves strong enough to push both towards the island and disrupt our balance. Our pace became faster. And the sails were on steroids as the wind came slapping in our faces like the little bitch we were. We finally evaded the monsters and arrived on the land - The Dead Man’s Chest - and remained alive without losing anyone. Magically, we still had our limbs intact. I thought we were goners when we fought and tried to slip by the creatures of the ocean. But we pulled a miracle off. As we washed up towards the shore, the ship crashed and gave up. It became unusable. But the vessel did its job and managed to deliver us away from kingdom come. The parts were still there and never swam apart from us but close to the beach-like coast. And the monsters from afar chose not to come for our tail, considering that the island itself
“How are the rest doing?” Captain Israel asked. “Did we… lose anyone? Are there anyone injured? Do we have potions we could use for them or herbs, Francoise?”Francoise nursed the last pirate patient she had and answered, “A few injuries right here and there, but we’re good to go. Maybe it would take a couple of days or weeks, but I’m sure these girls could toughen out. They’re strong, just like you, Captain.”While I was at it, I came towards Kirameki and evaluated her body. I wanted to know if her muscles were still intact and her bones still worked the same as before. As soon as I was beside my sister, Kirameki was still napping in the arms of Sally and the others. I also asked the five pirates if they noticed something different about Kirameki. But when they answered me, Sally shook her head and was then followed by the four of her friends. “Thank you… for taking care of my sister, even after all that.”I never had anything against them, but these five pirates were genuine enough
“We’re going to stay here for a month. I assume our barrels loaded with preserved meat would last us long enough for four weeks. So until then, we had to evenly distribute the food, and no excess shall be wasted or consumed. Do I make myself clear?” The moment Captain Israel said that to the two official leaders of her crew, I received a notification and it popped up in front of my system. After reading its contents, I couldn’t hide my expressions. Even Captain Israel noticed my worries as I finally read the meaning behind the text. [Map] [Warning! Multiple enemies are approaching the area - The Dead Man’s Chest!] [Warning! Time of arrival of these enemies is approximately 336 hours! The time of arrival will depend on the enemies! Be sure to keep track of the time, and the system will also try its best to update Player Arata Kazuto.] It was my map. As luck would have it, my system alarmed me about the dangers that could be found in the near future as we stayed longer on this isl
So I stepped up and cut off Captain Israel’s words. In spite of not caring about these pirates, my body moved on its own and my mind reminded me of the words Kirameki always told me… to help someone just like I had helped her. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to remind Captain Israel she had the responsibility to lead these people. She was the Captain of the ship. And if these pirates knew nothing of what was about to happen, they might lose their trust in their leaders. To avoid that, it was better to be…”“Do you think it’s better if we tell them what’s going to happen? If I’m a pirate… or part of the team and realise that the leader is hiding something from me, I… will feel betrayed. And if there’s an activity that will be done soon, it’s going to be hard for me to trust that leader again. And the same thing could be applied to you,” I uttered, and afterward desperately tried to summarise the words I wanted to say. “Look. The thing is, when Kirameki and I live together, we’re like