HEO 82

The moment the door opened, the pirate captain’s spirit exploded. Wicked moans buzzed through the hallway.

“Oh, ah—! D-darling…! I love it so much! Nghhh!”

With the bedroom door left open and the curtains thrown wide open, the couple was engrossed in intense physical labor. The iron bed creaked. The pirates who had entered the room shouted along with it.

“Charcoal Bear!”

“What! What is this! I’m in the middle of conquering! Spread your legs wider, you bastard!”

“Hggh! Aaaang!”

Multiple voices mingled. Silver plugged his ears with his fingers.

“It’s not that–there is a recruit. He’s a guy who washed ashore on the beach today. He’s a good-looking guy, so even though we offered to sell him as a slave to a rich widow, he’s stubbornly refusing. He says he wants to meet you in person to show off his passion. Just take a look and see if he’s worth taking on as a new recruit.”

“Let him do as he pleases! If he wants to, let him do it!”

“Hng…! Ow, ow-ow—! Oh! Ugh…!”

“He’s expensive! At least look at his face!”

“Why bother looking at him! Just use him as a crew member and then sell him later, you idiot!”

“Ah! That’s a good idea!”

The pirate, who had just smacked his own head, turned to look at Stuffy-Nosed Mouse.

“Did you hear that? Your admission is confirmed.”

“W-Wow…!”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse cheered, though he looked like he’d stepped in poop after going out in his new shoes.

“I’ve finally achieved my life’s dream…! Thank you for accepting me as a member…!”

“Get lost, you bastards! I’m busy!”

“Oh! Haaah!”

They stepped out of the room, leaving behind the lewd moans. The pirates opened a chest placed in the corridor.

“Take it.”

A pirate took something out of the chest and hurled it at Stuffy-Nosed Mouse. The latter gasped after catching it.

“This! This…!”

“Stop being such a crybaby. That guy wears one on his face every day too.”

The pirate gestured toward Silver with his chin. Stuffy-Nosed Mouse sweated profusely as he looked back and forth between the human skin mask in his hand and Silver’s.

“All new recruits in our Shark Teeth Gang must wear this mask for one year, no matter what. Don’t ask why; I don’t know either. Anyway, wear it.”

“Do I really have to wear it?”

“It’ll be better that way. If you go around with that face exposed, you’ll be summoned to the captain’s room.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Stuffy-Nosed Mouse slapped the human skin mask onto his face. With his massive, muscular physique half-naked and wearing the human skin mask, he looked like an executioner from hell. The pirates who stepped outside patted Silver on the shoulder.

“You are a month ahead of him, make sure you train that guy properly. We’re off now.”

The pirates chattered boisterously as they left the two new recruits behind. Silver cast his gaze toward Stuffy-Nosed Mouse.

“Idiot.”

Silver flatly muttered

“Why didn’t you just become a rich widow’s stud instead of buying yourself trouble?”

“I never imagined I’d have to wear something like this on my face…”

“Tch.”

Silver turned around. Stuffy-Nosed Mouse followed him and held out his hands, which were tightly bound with ropes.

“Brother! Please untie me.”

“I’m an only child.”

“Um… I mean, since we’re in the same crew, we’re brothers… Anyway, these ropes…”

“Solve it with your own strength. You can do it.”

“That’s true.”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse looked down at the ropes wrapped around his wrists. It was a rope that looked thick on the outside but was completely rotten on the inside. Even the way it was tied was sloppy.

“Alright. I’ll untie it.”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse spread his hands wide, and the rope snapped with a loud sound.

“Ah, damn it. This is going to leave a mark on my wrists. My skin is sensitive.”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse grinned as he shook his sturdy wrists. Silver suppressed his irritation. Look at this guy?

He sucks the ass off his superiors with utmost care, yet flaunts his strength in front of fellow newbie. His tone of voice changed in an instant, too. His behavior was that of a typical Stoll warrior. The type who bows down to the strong and acts arrogantly toward those he considers easy targets. His personality was completely different from Wolf’s, but he was actually even more obnoxious.

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse approached while rubbing his shoulder with one hand.

“Brother, let’s go to the dining hall now. My stomach is writhing in agony, saying it’s starving to death.”

“Get lost.”

Silver shoved Stuffy-Nosed Mouse away with his shoulder and walked on.

“Brother! Food!”

Footsteps followed.

“I said let’s eat!”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse stuck close to Silver.

“My stomach is full of nothing but saltwater! Is this pirate training? It is effective, though. If you give me just one loaf of bread right now, I could chop anyone down with an axe.”

Ignored.

“Where am I going to sleep tonight? Is there a hot spring here? I’m not greedy; I’d welcome even a puddle of rainwater. As long as I can wash away all these damn grains of sand stuck to my body.”

Ignored.

“If we’re both new recruits, do we share a room? What’s your name? Damn it, hey—! Is there some rule that new recruits aren’t supposed to talk to each other?! The seniors entrusted me to you, and if you keep acting like this…!”

Ignor…

Silver stopped walking and looked at Stuffy-Nosed Mouse. His face was hidden by the human skin mask. His expression couldn’t be read either.

“What did you just call me? ‘Hey’?”

“Yes.”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse answered shamelessly.

“I called you that to be friendly. Brother, don’t you feel sorry for me? I lost my parents and siblings and barely managed to survive, drifting all the way to Pirate Island. The only person I can rely on here is you, my fellow new recruit, Brother… sob…”

The executioner from hell sniffled while pretending to wipe away tears with the back of his hand. Silver hurriedly averted his gaze. Ugh!

You bastard, making me feel nauseous? I’ll get my revenge.

“Follow me or don’t. Do as you please.”

“I’m following! Let’s go to the dining hall! Food! Food!”

Indeed, a loud gurgling sound echoed from the guy’s stomach. Stuffy-Nosed Mouse continued to talk.

“Brother, how did you end up becoming a pirate? Did you get washed ashore here like me?”

Silver just nodded.

“But you didn’t volunteer like me, am I right? The seniors took the initiative to recruit you, right?”

He just nodded again.

“What did you do before? When you drew your dagger earlier, the direction of the blade was different from the start. A bad fighter wouldn’t be able to draw it like that. You’re pretty good at fighting, brother?”

“No.”

This time, he answered.

“I can’t fight. I’m just a nobody.”

“Huh?”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse tilted his head toward him. His slightly furrowed brow was cast in shadow by the backlight.

“A nobody? Brother, weren’t you recruited for your fighting skills?”

“Did you forget already? The senior told you the Shark Teeth Gang only takes in bastards who don’t pay a penny. I’m one of those bastards.”

“But the way you hold the dagger… No, never mind.”

Stuffy-Nosed Mouse shut his mouth. To judge skill by body language, he was a guy with a sharp eye for it, but Silver ignored him.

Showing off superior skills in a group only made things a nuisance. Challengers challenging you to a fight were a given, and if push came to shove, you would likely be pushed to the front lines. This lesson was something he had learned from his biological father.

‘I knew it when I was nine. That I possessed monstrous strength that could only be explained as thunder. But I didn’t tell anyone and hid my power. Why? Because back then, I was well-fed and living comfortably in the tribe. In a group, the talented ones only end up exhausted.”

They entered the alley of the pirate village. A thick smoke filled the air. Pirates were sprawled here and there along the path like discarded blankets. Some were swimming on the ground, while others were licking broken pottery shards lying on the roadside with the utmost care, as if they were gold coins. They also saw one engrossed in kissing and hugging a broken oar.

“For you… I could even shatter the ocean…”

“More, more! A shark is chasing you from behind, you idiot!”

One of them leaned against the wall and desperately pretended to row. Before he realized it, Stuffy-Nosed Mouse had moved right beside Silver. Unlike his noticeably slower pace, his eyes wandered around. It was understandable that he was surprised. Even Silver, who had been to the lair of an evil spirit, had been shocked when he first saw this.

“Hey, brother. Are those people seriously dating pottery? Or is it just rehearsal?”

“This place doubles as a drug island. They don’t just grow vegetables for soup in the garden. If you stay here, you’ll end up making love with a jar too.”

“Ahh, now I understand. I knew something was wrong from the moment the seniors tied my wrists with those rotten ropes…”

“To them, they must have looked like iron chains.”

The reason the Shark Teeth Gang members were particularly bizarre was drugs. In Silver’s eyes, all the pirates here were brain-damaged. A prime example was when the seniors clumsily bound the obviously dangerous Stuffy-Nosed Mouse and willingly brought him to Charcoal Bear.