Setting Sail

Middle-school dropout, born loser, unemployed — that was me. An orphan, too. But I was going to change.

"Heheh!! If I join the Navy, I'll become a real man, right?"

I'd originally meant to join the Marines, but, well. After reading Marine Literature, I couldn't even bring myself to try. And so I became a sailor.

I put on my Navy cap and boarded the ship.

"Navy~ Navy~ man of the sea~"

"What's got you so excited?"

"It's cool!!"

My fellow recruit watched me bouncing around the deck, then shoved a news article in my face.

"Unlike the Marines, the Navy hunts sea monsters and pirates. You know that, right?"

"?"

Sea monsters? Th-that's what hunters do, isn't it?

"Why would hunters bother with that? They sign up for the national reclamation ops that actually pay."

"I'm so fucking screwed."

No wonder the pay was good and the treatment was decent!!

"I-I'd like to leave."

"Yeah, that deal's already dead."

And that was how my shitty Navy life began.

And so I was forced onto the ship.

"This is hell this is hell."

The moment I boarded, I understood. I was truly, thoroughly fucked. I hadn't even known I got seasick.

"U-uweeegh!!"

Every single day I vomited into the sea. Everything I'd eaten came right back up. And even as I threw up day after day, the seniors just went,

"Hmm? That'll go away in a month or two anyway~"

Irresponsible crap like that, while they treated me like a problem recruit.

"I really wanna desert."

I sank into that thought every single day.

Then one day, I was slacking off in the bathroom browsing the Jobless Gallery when a tremendous noise hit and I went down. Or rather — the ship flipped over.

"Ghk!!"

I tumbled around inside the overturned hull.

"Kyaah!!"

I fought with everything I had to get outside. I tried a door jammed by cargo, then punched at a window to smash it. The door, blocked by supplies on the other side, would not budge, and the glass would not break. Then a falling lightbulb caught me in the head, and I blacked out.

"Ghk."

When I came to, my eye level was a lot lower than before. And a blue window floated in front of my face.

"A-awakening?"

But something was off. Had my voice always been this cute?

I ran to a mirror. There stood a cute girl with very long hair and drowsy, half-lidded eyes.

"This is… watashi?"

I looked myself over. A soft body that smelled nice. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Smooth, swaying hair, and a figure criminals would absolutely love… I was a complete woman.

"Ha."

Fortunately, I adapted very quickly. For the first few minutes I despaired and screamed, but my old body had been a cursed physique anyway… so I decided to roll with it.

The body issue was settled. The bigger problem was that I had no idea where I was. Luckily a door had opened while I was out, so I went outside — but there was no one on the ship, no one on the deck. All that remained were octopus tentacle marks stamped into the hull.

At least it didn't look like anyone had died. Every emergency boat and life vest on board was gone. Everyone escaped, right?

Wait. That wasn't fortunate at all!! How was I supposed to get off!?

The navigation system was shot. The helm was smashed to pieces. Still, I decided to look on the bright side.

"Heheh. I am a captain!!"

I pulled on the coat and hat left in the captain's quarters — both absurdly large for my body. And as the finishing touch, I took the pipe our captain (that bastard) used to smoke. The picture of a perfect captain.

I was still playing the bit when—

THUD—!!

A sound rang out. I rushed outside. A ship several times larger than our Navy vessel loomed off the side.

"R-rescue at last!?"

So firing those distress signals over and over had actually paid off?

Then I saw something that froze me solid. The flag on that ship wasn't the Korean flag, and it wasn't the American flag either. It was a pirate flag — a skull and two guns on a black field.

Worse, grappling hooks already connected my ship to theirs. Riding those lines, or throwing ladders up from below, terrifying-looking pirates were coming aboard.

"Ah."

I headed for the railing to throw myself into the sea. Then a voice sounded in my head.

That's right. I was a captain. A captain goes down with the ship.

I stepped down from the railing and grabbed a gun. I loaded it and walked out onto the deck. The deck was already packed with pirates.

"What's with that brat?"

"Whoa~ cute. Did she follow Daddy here?"

I aimed the gun at them.

"What's this? You shouldn't play with toy guns, kid~"

"Boss, don't tease the kid. What if she starts crying?"

I picked up a megaphone and pressed the button.

"Haha!! What's that brat saying?"

"Just copying Daddy, I guess."

I fired at the feet of the pirates who were ignoring me and starting to move.

"Leave."

"W-what? That's a real gun?"

The moment I fired, every pirate froze. Real guns really were scary, I guess. Nobody came near me.

Then someone appeared through the frozen crowd. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was bald, with an eyepatch over one eye, dragon tattoos on his exposed arms and legs, and a scar across his head.

"Tsk tsk. Our pirate crew, scared of a brat like this? And you call yourselves pirates?"

"C-Captain!!"

I aimed the gun at the approaching captain.

"Kid. You don't have it in you to shoot, do you?"

"What?"

"I've met a lot of people. The ones who actually know how to pull the trigger don't shake like you."

I looked at my hands. They were shaking badly, and my legs were trembling. I bit my lip and glared at him.

"Still got guts, though?"

"Shut up."

"Little kids shouldn't use bad words~"

"I said shut up!! Don't you move!!"

The captain took one slow step after another. Cold sweat ran down my body. My hands shook.

Could I actually shoot a person? Me, the bottom-of-the-barrel washout even in the Navy? I couldn't even aim. I shot beside the target every single day. Even with a new body — could I really do it?

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Damn it."

In the end, I dropped the gun. The instant it hit the deck, the wind snatched my hat and sent it flying. The moment the gun fell, the captain came at me.

"Get the rope ready!! We've got a hostage!!"

Goddamn it. I couldn't do a thing.

"Hands above your head."

He ordered it with the barrel aimed at me. I raised both hands high. He rummaged through my pockets and pulled out the pipe I'd taken from the captain's quarters, packed the bowl, lit it, and stuck it in my mouth. I took a drag.

"Cough!! Cough!!"

Tobacco really didn't agree with me. Coughing, I dropped the pipe.

"A kid's a kid after all."

They brought rope and tied me up with it. I was so small they wrapped it around me five, maybe seven times. Bound, I toppled onto the floor. The captain scooped me up in a princess carry.

"Well, since you're a captain, I'll personally escort you."

There was nothing I could do but be dragged onto the pirate ship.

The vessel I entered with the captain was enormous, and lavish besides.

"Nice, right? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We converted a cruise ship."

Five decks. A casino, a pool, even restaurants. A moving fortress, basically.

"Hey, you know Mikhail? We took his hunter ship, you know~"

The captain kept chattering away beside me.

"The rush when I shot that bastard dead, man~"

Guns? Killing? These people were insane.

"You pieces of trash."

"Huh? Our little one's got a mouth on her. Forget this isn't your ship, little captain? This is our pirate vessel."

I closed one eye and stuck my tongue out.

"Even teasing us? That's some serious guts~"

And so I was put in a room on the topmost deck. Once I was inside, they cut the ropes. The cabin at the top of the cruise ship was bigger than my old room. The captain who'd cut me free left without even locking the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠door.

"See you tomorrow, kid."

This was a pirate ship, so he was sure I couldn't leave. The unfortunate part was that he was right.

And so I was trapped in that room.