“Don’t let anyone touch that trace.” Commander Veyra’s voice still came through the communicator.
“I know.”
“Ed.”
“Hm?”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
The communication link cut out. I was still standing where I was, my gaze fixed on the communicator as it slowly returned to normal. Symbol. Trace. For some reason, that one word kept circling through my head.
I rubbed my temple. “Damn...”
Rin, standing beside me, immediately turned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head.
“I think I’m still dizzy.”
Rin stared at me for a few seconds.
“After a fight like that, it’s only natural to feel dizzy.”
Then she glanced toward Erhan, who was lying down. “What matters more right now is Erhan.”
I nodded. “Right.”
I had just started to walk out toward where the Captain and Commander Veyra were when I saw them approaching Rin and me. Both their expressions were still serious.
Kaynan slipped both hands into his coat pockets. “For now, everyone stays on the ship.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“The Alliance forces are still inspecting the area.” Kaynan pointed toward the parking lot.
“And I don’t want anyone wandering around until they’ve confirmed this place is safe.” The Captain looked at Commander Veyra.
Commander Veyra nodded. “That’s right. We found several station officers injured.”
Rin frowned. “Officers?”
“They were attacked before the fight began,” Veyra answered briefly.
“Looks like they were deliberately taken out first so no one could provide assistance.” I sighed.
“So they really did plan this.”
“Looks that way.” Veyra looked toward the battlefield.
“And that means they weren’t just some group that happened to find your ship.”
I fell silent. Those words made the atmosphere heavy again.
But Kaynan simply raised a hand. “That’s enough.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “For tonight, don’t think too much.”
I looked at him. “Captain...”
“Hm?”
“This is all because of that thing you picked up.”
Kaynan fell silent.
I folded my arms. “It is, right?”
Kaynan looked away. “...Coincidence.”
“Captain.”
“Yes?”
“If I’d died back there, I would’ve haunted you.”
Kaynan chuckled. “If you died, who would pay off your food tab?”
I fell silent. “...I don’t have a tab.”
“Exactly. You’d die without paying.”
“You cheapskate.”
Commander Veyra sighed. “You two can really joke around in a situation like this?”
Kaynan smiled. “If we didn’t joke around, we’d be stressed out.”
I nodded. “You’ve got a point.”
Commander Veyra simply massaged her head. “Why do I always run into people like you...”
A little while later, things began to calm down. The Alliance forces were still busy clearing the area. Some soldiers carried magical equipment to remove the remaining ice from the ground. Others inspected the damaged vehicles and helped the injured station officers. Emergency lights illuminated the parking lot. The sound of magical cleaning equipment drifted from the distance.
I finally left the ship. Rin walked beside me. We sat near the ship, watching the cleanup and repair teams at work while several members of the crew were busy with their own tasks. From there, we had a fairly clear view of the entire parking lot.
I leaned against the side of the ship’s door. “Hah...” I let out a sigh.
“Tired.” Rin sat down beside me.
“Just realizing that?” I turned to her.
“When did you become so wise?”
“Ever since I had to take care of all of you.”
“Poor you.” Rin immediately smacked my arm.
“Don’t make fun of me... Ow.” I rubbed my arm.
“Why does everyone on this caravan like hitting me?”
Rin shrugged. “Maybe because you’re annoying.”
I fell silent. “...This is all because of the Captain’s bad influence.”
We looked ahead again. Several soldiers were lifting rubble. One of them used earth magic to level a cracked section of ground. On the other side, medics were carrying an injured station officer toward a vehicle. I watched everything in silence. It was hard to believe this place had been filled with explosions just a few hours ago. Now, all that remained were the scars of destruction. I glanced at our ship. Its shields were badly damaged, and several sections of the hull had also been hit.
“Looks like our ship won’t be able to leave tomorrow.”
Rin chuckled. “Obviously.”
“The Captain’s going to be mad.”
“Why?”
“Because his schedule’s been thrown off.”
Rin smiled. “Then blame that mage from earlier.”
I nodded. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”
Whack!
Rin hit me again.
“Ow! I’m a patient, you know.”
“Huh? Patients don’t go wandering around like you do.”
What the heck did they teach this kid at that Academy? Or maybe it was the Captain’s brutal influence.
I then pointed toward the Captain, who was gathered with several people on the left side of our ship. “Or blame the Captain.”
Rin laughed. “That’s more accurate.”
We fell silent again.
A little while later, I remembered something. “By the way...”
Rin turned to me. “What?”
“I just realized something.”
“What?”
“Where did you and the Captain go yesterday?”
Rin fell silent. I looked at her.
“Before all this happened.”
Rin raised an eyebrow. “Why are you suddenly asking?”
“Because Erhan and I were out looking for food at the time.”
I pointed toward the spot where we had been grilling food earlier.
“I saw the Captain leave with you.”
Rin nodded. “Oh.”
I looked at her. “Well?”
Rin smiled faintly. “Curious?”
“Of course.”
“Even though you didn’t ask back then.”
“I was looking for food, and I was too lazy to ask.”
Rin held her forehead. “What an excuse.”
She took a breath. “All right.” Rin began to tell the story.
“After the Captain said he had some work to take care of...” Rin looked toward the road.
“...we went to the old part of Ozgur.”
I listened. “The old part?”
“Yeah.”
“There are lots of old shops there. Most of them sell used goods, artifacts, magical items, or old technology.”
I nodded. “And then?”
“The Captain brought that thing.”
I immediately fell silent. “The thing found in the overseer’s office?”
Rin nodded. “The one wrapped in black cloth?”
“Yeah.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“The Captain wanted to find out what it really was.”
I figured the Captain wanted to know how valuable it was. “Typical Captain.”
“Unfortunately...” Rin sighed.
“...the Captain’s methods of finding things out are never normal.”
I grinned and laughed. “Hahaha... What else would you expect from the Captain?”
Rin looked annoyed and ignored me.
“We eventually found a used-goods shop that also sold artifacts.”
“What was it called?”
Rin thought for a moment. “I forgot.”
I stared at her. “Seriously? Someone like you forgot?”
“All I remember is that the shop was old and practically falling apart.”
I laughed. “Then it was a perfect match for the Captain.”
Rin sighed. “The Captain asked the shop owner about the item.”
“And?”
“The shop owner couldn’t identify it for sure.”
I raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t know?”
“He’d seen something with a similar shape.”
Rin paused briefly.
“But it wasn’t the same thing.”
I looked at her more seriously. “What did the Captain do?”
“He asked whether the item had any resale value.”
I burst out laughing. “HAHAHA!”
Rin chuckled too. “That’s exactly what he did.”
I shook my head. “I knew it. Even in a situation like this, he still manages to think about money.”
“That’s the Captain.” Rin looked ahead again.
“But there was one thing.”
“What?”
“The shop owner said something interesting.”
I waited.
“He said the item didn’t look like an ordinary artifact.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because it didn’t have any clear magical energy patterns.”
I fell silent. “Even though there was a blue light?”
Rin immediately turned to me. “You know about that?”
I shook my head. “No.”
I pointed at her. “You’re the one who just told me.”
Rin sighed. “Right.”
She continued. “That blue light appeared several times.”
“The shop owner saw it?”
“Yeah.”
“And then?”
“He tried examining it with a detection device.”
I began to take interest. “And the result?”
Rin shook her head. “Nothing clear.”
“Huh?”
“The device wasn’t broken.”
“Then what was the problem?”
“It couldn’t read the source of the energy.”
I fell silent. “So...”
I looked at the ship. “...that thing has energy ordinary devices can’t read?”
“More or less.”
I leaned back. “What kind of thing did our Captain pick up this time?”
Rin smiled faintly. “The Captain doesn’t care about things like that. Remember, he once picked up a dragon egg.”
I laughed as I remembered what happened before. “Yeah, and we almost got dragged into a huge mess with the Dragonkin.”
“So the Captain tried to sell it?”
Rin immediately looked at me.
“He tried.”
I laughed. “Don’t tell me—”
“The shop owner refused.”
I burst out laughing even harder. “HAHAHA!”
Rin laughed too. “The Captain even offered a huge discount.”
“That’s our Captain.”
“And the shop owner still wouldn’t take it.”
“Then what?”
“The Captain finally left, saying...”
Rin stopped.
I waited.
“One day, you’ll regret this!”
I smiled. “What a guy.”
Rin added, “I mean, who would want to buy something that shady?”
I grew serious again. “So the Captain still doesn’t know what the thing is?”
“Not as far as I know.”
I nodded slowly. “Then we still don’t know anything.”
“Right.” I looked up at the night sky.
For some reason, the mage’s words from earlier echoed in my mind again. You took something you never should have taken.
I clenched my fist. “But they know.”
Rin turned to me. “What do you mean?”
“The attackers from earlier... They knew the thing was important.”
Rin fell silent.
I continued. “And they even attacked our ship to get it.”
We fell silent again. This time, though, the atmosphere wasn’t quite as heavy. Rin instead pulled something from her pocket: a packet of candy.
I looked at it. “What’s that?”
“Candy.”
“Give me one.”
“No.”
I stared at her. “Hey, you cheapskate.”
“You already ate with Erhan earlier.”
“I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“I used up all my energy fighting those mages earlier. That’s why I’m hungry.”
Rin finally handed me one.
I smiled.
“That’s more like it. See? You’re pretty when you’re nice.”
“So if I don’t give you any, I’m ugly? Hmmm...” Rin looked annoyed and went inside the ship.
I chuckled.
Not long afterward, Mary walked over to me.
“Zen.”
I turned. “Yeah?”
“Erhan’s still asleep.”
I nodded.
“How is he?”
“He’s more stable now.”
Mary sighed in relief. “Thank goodness.”
Mary sat down beside me. Why was everyone sitting here? I just wanted to clear my head.
“Erhan really pushed himself too hard.”
I smiled faintly.
“That’s just how he is.”
Mary looked at me. “And so are you.”
I pointed at myself. “Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Looking at the state your body’s in after that fight...”
Mary shook her head. “...you’re no different.”
I fell silent.
I looked at her.
“My powers keep me from getting hurt, so it’s not a problem.”
Mary laughed.
“You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, Zen.”
I snorted. “At least I didn’t end up bleeding from the nose.”
Mary looked at me. “But you almost died too.”
I fell silent.
“Don’t bring it up again. I was just a little careless.”
Mary smiled faintly. “All right, hero.”
The three of us looked out over the parking lot again. For several minutes, no one spoke. The night felt much more peaceful. I could even hear the wind. But then Mary spoke.
“Zen.”
“Hm?”
“If something’s bothering you, you can talk to us. Me... my father... Rin... or Erhan and the rest of the crew you like.”
I fell silent.
“Don’t keep it all bottled up. We’re ready to help and listen to you vent.” She chuckled softly, patted my head, and walked toward the rest of the Alliance forces.
“Jeez, what was that about?”
I watched her leave for her unit. I remained sitting there, trying to clear my head.
Not long afterward, Captain Kaynan appeared from the direction of the overseer’s office. His face had returned to its usual relaxed expression, though his steps were a little slower.
He saw me lounging around there.
“You’re still relaxing here?” Kaynan approached.
“Erhan?”
“Still asleep.”
“Good.”
He sighed in relief.
I looked at him. “Captain.”
“Hm?”
“Are we still leaving tomorrow?”
Kaynan fell silent.
He looked at the damaged ship, then at the parking lot, which had nearly been transformed into a crater.
“What do you think?”
I looked around. “...No.”
“Yeah, this situation is seriously annoying. I hope we won’t be late for the Oceanid Festival.”
Kaynan patted me on the shoulder.
I brushed his hand away.
“You’re the one who said we were leaving tomorrow.”
“Plans can change.”
“Because the ship is damaged?”
“Because of a lot of things.”
I eyed him suspiciously.
“Captain.”
“What?”
“What’s really going on?”
Kaynan smiled faintly. “I told you.”
He slipped both hands into his pockets. “Let’s get some rest tonight.”
I stared at him. He hadn’t given me an answer. But this time, I didn’t press him. I knew the Captain was hiding something. And maybe... it wasn’t time for me to know yet.