A Captain Always Keeps a Cannon Hidden in His Pocket

He looked at me.

Had he seen me?

No. Maybe he still hadn't noticed.

I kept my head down as far as it would go. All I had to do now was walk out of the elevator, nice and natural. I started to step out as casually as a person possibly could.

That was when a hand settled on my hat.

Thick. Hard.

"Well now, little captain. What might you be doing here?"

He'd caught me!

I abandoned the hat and bolted for the outside, pumping my short little legs as hard as they would go. I burst out of the building and sprinted onto the deck. Behind me, a stampede of footsteps thundered in pursuit.

"Get her!! That's the bitch who pointed a gun at the captain!!"

"She pointed a gun at the captain? Crazy bitch."

"Whoa, she's actually pretty cute though?"

"When I catch that bitch, I'm gonna..."

I ran as fast as I could, but there was no outrunning a grown man's stride. Which meant I needed tools.

I swept the surroundings as I ran. Whether it counted as luck, I couldn't say — but bottles were scattered everywhere. In pirate movies it was always rum. Here, it was beer.

I snatched the beers off a table and hurled them at the deck behind me. A crash, and a sheet of gold liquid splashed across the boards.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Gah!!"

It seemed to work. I flipped every table and chair I passed and dumped beer and water across the deck as I went. I couldn't say how well the whole mess actually performed, but the footsteps behind me had definitely thinned out.

I ran for the railing at the edge of the deck. If I jumped from there into the sea, I could escape. I clung to that hope and kept running.

Then—

Bang—!!

A gunshot cracked. The deck beside my foot had been gouged open.

"I told you not to move..."

If I hadn't flinched at the shot, even for a second, that bullet would have taken me. I turned my head, slowly.

Nobody was running at me anymore. Most of the pirates had stopped in their tracks. A few were staring at the captain, faces gone slack with horror.

"C-Captain, she's still just a kid, isn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she?"

One of the pirates stepped into the captain's path.

"Th-that's right, Captain!! You weren't actually going to kill her, were you? That was a joke, right?"

"Hah..."

I ran while they were still talking back to him.

Another gunshot cracked. This time the bullet wasn't meant for me. I looked back on reflex and saw the pirate who had talked back lying on the deck.

The bald captain set his boot on the fallen man's head.

He bit down on his cigar and swung the barrel toward me.

"I have no intention of killing you, little one. So why don't you come along quietly?"

I spun and ran like hell.

He just shot his own man dead, and he expects me to believe he won't kill me?

Maybe he really wouldn't. He'd just torture me until I wished I was dead.

I ran like I was dying. I went down once in the middle of it and got back up. If they caught me, I was dead.

I ran until the railing swam into view. I grabbed it — it was bigger than I was — and threw everything I had into hauling a foot up onto the rail.

I was almost over when another shot cracked.

Bang—!!

Pain flared. The arm I'd hooked over the railing went limp and dropped. My right arm wouldn't move, and blood began to fall in thick drops. I bit down hard on my lip and caught the top of the rail with my left. I got my foot up again and leaned against it, gathering myself to drop.

The distance to that bastard of a captain was maybe thirty feet. A bullet would kill me — but it was a gamble worth taking.

I dove for the sea.

The ship's hull filled my vision, and I felt myself falling. I raised the middle finger of my left hand.

"Go fuck yourself."

Then I landed on something.

It wasn't the sensation of hitting water. I hadn't plunged in, and I wasn't floating on the surface either. I was hanging in midair.

"What the hell?!"

And then I saw it. The captain, floating in the air.

The Wales Pirates have a lot of Awakeners.

Damn it. How did I forget that?

So he wasn't just some Korean they'd parachuted into a captain's seat?

I tried to twist, to move, but my body wouldn't budge — as if I'd been bound in rope. And all the while, the bald captain kept drifting steadily closer.

"I am Kim Min-chul. An Awakener."

And of course he had to explain it like he'd walked straight out of an anime as the villain.

"My ability is Invisible Hand."

And what the hell is Adam Smith doing here?

He came closer.

Why the hell did his eyes look like that?

"Hmm. Figure's a pass, and that face is excellent."

He'd covered one eye with a patch, but anyone could tell that remaining eye had gone completely unhinged. The captain was right in front of me.

I'm actually a guy. Am I about to get fucked?

The captain hooked an arm around my waist and rose back up onto the ship.

Is there seriously no way out of this?

A chime rang out the moment we landed on the deck.

I raised my hand. Then I closed my eyes. I had no idea how to actually use a skill, but my body moved on instinct.

Nothing happened.

Did I just get scammed?

Something came flying in over the ship as if to slap that thought across the face. It was round and black, with a skull painted on it. At the same time, a deep, thunderous roar rolled across the deck.

"We're under attack!! Battle stations!!"

The cannonball struck the ship. The instant it hit, a massive hole tore open in the hull.

BOOM—!! CRASH—!!

"Gyaaaaah!!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"No enemy in sight!!"

The captain looked rattled.

"Damn it!! You pieces of trash!!"

He flung me onto the deck and strode for the cabin.

My eyes sank shut.

"N-no... not now..."

I dragged my leaden body across the deck, crawling.

Something clamped down and held me fast. I couldn't move.

Sleep took me.

Have you heard the saying? Even in prison, they don't treat child sex offenders like human beings.

And most of the Wales Pirates hadn't become pirates because they'd committed crimes — they'd become pirates because their countries had collapsed. Plenty of the crew had daughters of their own, and plenty more who simply didn't get off on children. Resentment toward the captain was inevitable.

But they had no power, so most of them had no choice but to keep their heads down. Even the ones who wanted to run didn't have the courage. Get caught in this place and it was torture, then execution. Still, there had always been plenty of pirates who wanted out. Men who didn't want to serve under captains who lusted after children. Men who despised piracy itself.

And then, at last, their chance arrived.

Cannonballs were falling from the sky like rain. The ship pitched and rolled like a leaf on the water, and even the captain himself was in danger.

"Jack!! I think this is it!!"

They pulled out the emergency boat they'd been hiding. Most pirate ships didn't even carry emergency boats. A pirate's fate was bound to his ship, after all. They threw the boat into the sea and dropped from the deck.

The pirates who spotted them came chasing after, shouting to be taken along. So they were running — and then something caught the eye that wouldn't let go.

A girl, fleeing the captain.

A tiny girl. If his own daughter had lived, she would have been about that size, wouldn't she?

"Jack!! What are you doing? Run!!"

In the chaos of falling shells, Jack made his call. He sprinted across the bombarded deck toward the fallen girl. His partner was horrified, but there was nothing to be done about it. That was a father who had once had a daughter, after all.

"Jack?!!"

"Sorry, Coulson!!"

Jack, who had once been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a father, gathered her into his arms as if she were something precious.

"Hah... I knew you'd pull this, Jack."

Coulson, as if he'd known Jack would do exactly this, had unfolded the boat and still hadn't left. Jack ran with her in his arms, got off the shell-torn ship, and climbed into the boat. In his arms, a girl slept like an angel.

"Thanks, Coulson."

"Figured you'd do something like this. Hell, you were about to go after the captain a second ago, weren't you? What kind of pirate is this nice?"

"You're the same way, Coulson."

"Hah. Yeah, I guess so."

"We're alive, aren't we?"

They put their oars in the water and rowed the inflatable boat out of that hell.