HEO 77

Several rafts were scattered across the beach where the funeral was being held.

Damn bastards. Silver flipped his middle finger inwardly and turned away. If Black Weasel were alive to see this scene, he would glare in shock, but there was a reason behind this submission.

Article 3 of the ‘Shark Tooth Gang’s’ regulations. If caught slacking off, one must pull out their own teeth. For some reason, all the pirates strictly observed this rule. From the senior pirates to even Charcoal Bear, there was not a single person in the Shark Tooth Gang with intact teeth.

I want to live as a slave…!

The Bone Flute Tower stood on a cape far from the breakwater. It was a tube-shaped structure made by weaving together whale rock bones, auditory bones, ribs, and vertebrae. Although it appeared on the outside to be a pile of animal bones, this tower was actually a defensive weapon.

When wind seeps through the crack in the tower, the thick periosteum of the whale’s ear bone vibrates, sending an extremely low and unstable vibration in various directions. The effect is powerful. People near the tower lose their sense of direction and cannot maintain their balance. Vomiting. Fainting. If an intruder approaches in a boat, they will lose control of the steering and crash the hull into a reef.

Even if you plug your ears with beeswax and wrap them tightly in cloth, you cannot avoid the sound. That said, it wasn’t a completely impenetrable fortress. There were three or four methods. One of them.

‘The sound sometimes weakens depending on the wind direction and speed.’

When showing Silver around the pirate island, the senior said,

‘The sound weakens between the third and fourth notes of an easterly wind. In westerly and strong winds, the tone becomes muffled. It makes you dizzy and nauseous, but it is bearable enough. Of course, it is best when there is no wind.’

In other words, he had to seize that brief moment when the sea fog broke and the wind axis twisted. Silver slumped down on the sandy ground and spread his hands. In the distance, the Bone Flute Tower was shining silver in the moonlight.

The night breeze brushed against his hand. Silver took a deep breath. The saltiness of the sea and the smell of fish rushed into his body. Soon, a small voice escaped from his exhaling lips.

“From the southwest…… note 3?”

If the air axis twisted just a little more, the sound would disappear. Silver closed his eyes and concentrated all his senses on his palm. Just as it took him about time to drink a sip of water, the air axis shifted slightly. From 3 to 2.5.

Now.

Silver stood up immediately. He didn’t have time to dust off his bottom. If he ran as fast as he could, he would reach the Bone Flute Tower in exactly fifteen breaths.

He took a deep breath and ran at the same time. The stone path leading to the cape was wet. Silver, without the robe that was practically iron armor, was as light as a butterfly.

Fourteen. Twelve.

In an instant, the Bone Flute Tower drew near. He didn’t feel nauseous. The wind had stopped.

Nine.

The Bone Flute Tower looked as if several giant orcas had been captured, their flesh stripped off, and their bones left behind. Two scarecrows hung from the top of the tower. They were meant to serve as flags, but no pirate had ever properly explained why scarecrows were chosen. With no wind blowing, the two scarecrows hung limply like condemned prisoners being strangled.

Seven. Six.

Four!

He arrived sooner than expected. Silver climbed up, stepping effortlessly on the protruding bones. This was a piece of cake compared to climbing cave walls. The problem was the wind. Getting hit directly by the wind here would be like being gored in the body by a bull.

More. Just a little more.

Silver’s hand snatched the two scarecrows. He jumped forward just like that. He landed halfway up the tower, and jumped from there to the ground. He immediately pressed himself against the earth and rolled along. After a while, he spun around, straightened his posture, and jumped to his feet. In that moment, the Bone Flute Tower started making a sound! A surge of nausea announced the return of the wind. Fuck!

Silver covered his ears with the scarecrows and ran for his life.

“Aaaah! Fuck! Fuck!”

He didn’t know how long he’d been running, but he felt his stomach settle. Silver slowed down and gently took the scarecrows off his ear.

Oh! I feel fine!

When he looked back, he saw a long line of footprints imprinted in the sand. The Bone Flute Tower looked as small as a seed. Silver let out a sigh as he slung the scarecrows over his shoulder.

He ended up thinking of it for the first time in a long while. The skeletal evil spirit with the face of an innocent girl.

“This bone and that bone are all shitty…….”

* * *

The sandy beach next to the breakwater was littered with driftwood and crab shells. The beach was filled with the smell of grilling meat and an overwhelmingly strong scent of alcohol, as if brewery barrels had exploded all at once. Charcoal Bear was sitting on a wooden chair next to the raft, tilting her glass. Her lover was pouring drinks beside her and acting coquettishly.

The pirates staggered, completely drunk on alcohol and hallucinogenic herbs. It looked as if every member of the Shark Tooth Gang had swarmed in. After all, it would be foolish to run away when they were offering alcohol and entertainment.

“Oh, you already made it? Rookie, you’re really good with your hands!”

When he looked for the seniors and held out the scarecrows, Silver was met with slurred speech.

“Waaah, it looks the same! Rookie, did you work at a tailor shop before you came here?”

“Hey, look at this face, it looks totally like them!”

“Rookie, make me clothes again next time!”

Silver’s mind went completely blank. Right, why didn’t I think of that? I could have gathered the straws scattered everywhere and made the scarecrows! Wait, but more importantly?

“Hey, rookie. Did you hear that? We’ll take care of the rafts, so you bring the scarecrows.”

Now that he thought about it, the seniors didn’t even mention the Bone Flute Tower in the first place. They knew that retrieving the scarecrows from the Bone Flute Tower was a preposterous endeavor. And me, rolling around risking my life and running around while enduring nausea without knowing that… Am I dumber than those bastards?

Silver slumped down. The seniors held up the scarecrows one by one, cheered, and ran toward Charcoal Bear.

“Charcoal Bear! Big brothers are here!”

“Let’s decorate them just like my brothers!”

Charcoal Bear roared loudly. Silver watched the chaos before him with his chin resting on one hand. The pirates’ behavior was so bizarre that, compared to them, Black Weasel seemed like an Atania monk.

Why did I end up here of all places, leaving all those deserted islands behind?

Damn storm. Fucking shipwreck. Uselessly tenacious life.

“Big Brother’s beard was like this, right?”

A fellow missing three fingers and one eye picked up a blackened twig from the bonfire. Soot was smeared on the scarecrow’s face.

“How is it? It looks the same!”

“Not at all. It looks like my dick hair.”

When someone retorted, the pirates burst into laughter.

“You need to put eyes on it, you idiot!”

A female pirate without front teeth pushed her comrades aside and stepped forward. The scarecrow’s face had two mismatched buttons.

“Finished! This is it! I’m the big brother!”

“Big Brother! Big Brother! We respect you!”

The pirates, who had been swinging their fists in the air, rushed at the second scarecrow. A dried starfish was impaled in the scarecrow’s groin.

“It’s the second brother! He’s always bragging about his huge dick!”

“He’s really massive!”

“Brother! You must wake up! A huge warship is passing through our waters!”

Only then did Charcoal Bear stagger to her feet from the chair. With a face red as if smeared with blood, she burped.

“You and I are here…… Ah, why did we come? That’s right, my brothers……. A life like bird droppings, no, like a spark…….”

“Finish it quickly!”

Someone shouted angrily.

“The meat is going to burn! Let’s hurry up and send the brothers off and then play!”

The pirates responded with cheers. The ‘big brothers’ were immediately laid on three-log rafts.

“Light it!”

The pirate held a torch to the scarecrows. With a whooshing sound, the scarecrows instantly turned into a ball of fire.

“Push!”

The pirates pushed the two rafts with all their might into the waves. As a gust of wind blew from the sea, the rafts wobbled back to the shore.

“They’re coming back!”

“It looks like the big brothers don’t want to go!”

“You have to push harder, you one-eyed rascal!”

The pirates jumped into the water and hurled insults at the rafts.

“Go! Get out of here, you bastards!”

“Let us play!”

Finally, the two rafts caught the ocean current. The rafts, now turned into balls of fire, gradually drifted away, but by then, no pirates were paying them any attention. A toast. The smell of burning meat. Laughter. In every respect, it was the epitome of “living only for today.”

Silver lowered his head. It was so disgusting he couldn’t stand it. Giving up on the pirate life after just one month.

Let’s run away.