Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Recruiting Party Members
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A neatly folded white piece of paper lay at the bottom of the reception desk.
"Yo ho ho. It's mine!"
— Viewer Whoa~ Got it! — Viewer Need to find four more lol "Congratulations, miss."
*clap clap clap clap* "Grandpa, stop..."
— Viewer Our leader's embarrassed, stop! — Viewer lololol Leader's so cute "Kuhahat."
Dennis's boisterous laughter kept booming from beside me, and with Grandpa Kamar clapping like he was praising a child, my face started heating up.
"Whew, let's unfold the treasure map."
I unfolded the neatly folded paper, and there was a single phrase written on it.
『The owner of the eagle's eye rising above the mast』
"What does 'the owner of the eagle's eye rising above the mast' even mean?"
— Viewer No idea? — Viewer Riddle? As I shared the cryptic note with the viewers, a donation message popped up from someone who seemed to know a lot about ships.
*Cha-ching!* ⭐ Donation — North-North-East The mast is the tall pole on a ship. Old sailing ships had sails on it, these days it's radars. "Thanks, ship nerd."
"Oh, really? Thanks, Shippy."
— Viewer Damn, jealous of ship otakus lol — Viewer ㅗㅜㅑ reward — Viewer Oh, so is there an eagle on the mast? "You think there's one? These days they install radars."
— Viewer lol dumbass — Viewer Real smooth lololol Thanks to the viewers' help, the riddle was unraveling faster than expected.
"So, eagle's eye above the mast probably means the radar, but what about its owner?"
As wild guesses flew around, Grandpa Kamar's voice came from beside me.
"If we take it literally, wouldn't it be the ship's captain? Since ancient times, the eagle's eye has often been used as a message pointing toward treasure."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"The captain of the Insomnia will be in the wheelhouse."
With our direction set, we quickly left the grand party hall under Grandpa Kamar's guidance.
The long corridor we entered next was empty of people, lit only by white lights, giving off an eerie chill.
"Just take the elevator."
— Viewer First time going to the captain's quarters — Viewer Seen it in movies lol "Me too."
*Ding!* As we chattered, the elevator arrival chime blared, and the doors opened to reveal crowded equipment and several people.
"This is the wheelhouse of the Insomnia. What brings you here?"
A man in a crisp uniform greeted us.
"Hello. We came to see the captain."
"Please wait a moment."
I thought we'd have to wait a while after the uniformed man left, but soon another person approached, perhaps having overheard our conversation.
"I'm the captain of the Insomnia. Do you have business with me?"
The captain had a rugged face that screamed seasoned sailor.
But he spoke more kindly than expected.
"Nice to meet you, Captain! We came for treasure."
"Treasure? Ah! Haha. Here you go."
I'd half-expected a Sphinx-like quiz, but the captain rummaged in his pocket and handed over the note without issue.
"The host told me to pass this to whoever came looking. But the passengers on board aren't interested in this sort of thing, so I'd completely forgotten."
"Oh! Second treasure map! Thank you."
"No trouble at all. I hope you achieve what you're after."
The captain, busy even at night, vanished after a few words.
"Guys, treasure map."
— Viewer Open it quick — Viewer Smooth sailing — Viewer Treasure map lol ocean vibes are insane, so fun We hopped into the elevator and hurriedly unfolded the note. Like the first one, it had a phrase written on it.
『Find the path beneath the most shining starlight』
Even as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out, I kept staring at the note, but I had no idea what it meant.
"Guys, anyone know a star expert? Where's our star nerd?"
— Viewer Star teacher, come out! — Viewer Maybe chant a spell at the stars and a path appears? "Spells my ass. Craving a knuckle sandwich. Let's go smoke."
No matter how hard we racked our brains together, no answer came, so in frustration, I headed back to the deck from earlier and lit a cigarette.
"Phew—. Nice."
As I gazed at the night sky and exhaled smoke, I heard voices of people gathered and chatting a short distance away.
"It's Art."
"Arthur? Wasn't he inside earlier?"
"That guy's not a fan of stuffy places. He's always out here stargazing."
Tall Dennis had spotted Arthur surrounded by people.
"Let's go rescue Art. He's probably about to snap from the crowd. Kuhuhuhu."
As we approached the group per Dennis's words, we saw Arthur, who looked like a scholar, fielding a barrage of questions.
⭐ Top Comment — Viewer Ultimate star otaku spotted "Huh? Yeah, it's really Arthur."
I wasn't sure if it was nonsense or a real star quiz, but now we had even more reason to rescue him.
"But how do we break through that?"
I glanced at Dennis as if to say we could just muscle through, but he shook his head with a grin.
"No choice. Guys, cover your ears."
— Viewer Aaah lower the volume — Viewer ???? — Viewer Newbies, what're the question marks for? Turn down the volume! *Huuuup!* *Ding!* "ARRRRTHHHHUUUURRRR!!!!!!"
— Viewer Shit, mic didn't blow did it — Viewer Did leader eat a steam whistle lololol — Viewer Had volume at 1 and my phone speaker blew — Viewer lol gotta go get a repair tomorrow My lion's roar echoed thunderously across the wide deck, instantly silencing the rowdy crowd.
Seizing the moment, we pushed through the human wall, and there was Arthur standing alone in the center, face scrunched up.
"Arthur, came to rescue you."
"...Huh?"
— Viewer Arthur's eardrums gone, can't hear gtfo — Viewer lololololololol I grabbed the dazed Arthur's wrist and shoved through the crowd, but he still hadn't snapped out of it.
"Kuhak. My ears are ringing."
Dennis was rubbing his ears with his palm, tinnitus kicking in.
"Arthur. Wanna hang out?"
"Was that you yelling? Thought thunder struck."
"Yep! I did it!! Let's hang out!!!"
"No... How old do you think I am?"
"Hang out with me, and Snow White comes too."
Snow White's ears perked up at her name.
"W-Well. Fine. The host said this party's about innocence or whatever."
— Viewer Snow White was the clincher lol ⭐ Top Comment — Viewer Acquired ultimate star otaku — Viewer Party's solid support acquired lol After apologizing to the gathered crowd, our party members huddled in a corner of the deck.
"So, Arthur. This is the second note, and the message says this."
"Hmm, 'Find the path beneath the most shining starlight'?"
"Yep."
"And this second note was from a person?"
"Right. We went to the wheelhouse."
Arthur pondered the note I handed him before speaking up.
"To me, it looks like Arcturus."
"Oh, what's that?"
"One of the brightest stars visible in spring. Connect Arcturus, Spica, and Denebola, and it's called the Spring Great Triangle."
I didn't get it, but we'd been stuck, and now something was coming together through Arthur.
"Oho."
— Viewer Leader pretending to get it no — Viewer Oho lolol "And Arcturus is one of those triangle stars, a red giant in Boötes constellation. I think the host made this quiz with his own signature."
"Oho, I totally get it."
— Viewer [Didn't get it] — Viewer lolololol As I failed to understand, relief arrived.
"Miss, this party's host is Wayne Dickens. And his clock workshop symbol is the Herdsman."
"Ah! Now I really get it. 'Find the path' means Wayne Dickens's Herdsman. Right?"
"I suspect that's the answer."
— Viewer Damn brainiac — Viewer Party members are sweet — Viewer Only seen all-power mages so far but this party's sweet fr "Wanna die? How the hell was I supposed to get that."
— Viewer Our leader's eyes are sharp af lol Feeling deprived from the hastily smoked cigarette, I lit another one in quick succession before heading to the grand hall with the party.
The moment we entered the hall, Dennis grabbed a glass of wine.
"Drink too much and Isabelle will get mad."
"This much is fine."
"It ain't. Drink more. Herman and I'll bury you. Your liver's gotta be rock solid."
Arthur's curses flew relentlessly.
"Uhaha. Art, grab a bun."
"Damn it, it's Arthur."
Seemed hard to beat the guy who was laughing.
"Miss, there he is."
After weaving through the crowd for a while, I spotted Wayne Dickens, the one who'd given the opening speech from the podium earlier.
⭐ Top Comment — Viewer Target spotted "Let's approach. Everyone else, wait here. Be right back."
As I slowly neared Wayne Dickens, he finished talking to someone and turned around—perfect timing.
"Excuse me!"
"Hm? Who might the lady be?"
Wayne Dickens's eyes flicked over my outfit, and his face stiffened.
"Came for this."
I pulled out the treasure map and showed it right in front of him. He finally made a gesture of recognition.
"Ah. You solved the quiz, huh. Just threw it in for fun, didn't expect anyone to actually hunt it down."
"Yes! Got a little help, though."
— Viewer A little? — Viewer Not treasure, gotta find leader's conscience first lol "Treasure map, please!"
— Viewer Hand it over buck buck