Chapter Nineteen: Where Is the Treasure?

“These words are best reserved for fools. Perhaps they’ll believe you if they hear them.” Nami had no faith in these explanations, nor in the deliberately gentlemanly gesture Roland had made earlier.

To her, everything Roland did now was simply another method to get what he wanted. As a girl who had spent years stealing and swindling, Nami had encountered countless wealthy and powerful men who wore the mask of respectability. Roland's approach was hardly novel; some men found no interest in women who were indifferent, so they used this kind of trick to gain trust, then acted as they pleased.

As for the talk about the navy, Nami believed even less. If your father truly was a navy officer, why would you appear on a pirate ship and command pirates? She’d never seen such a thing. And anyway, even if he were the son of a navy man, what difference would it make? Even the navy itself held little appeal for her. She’d spent hard-earned money to hire the navy to go out and hunt pirates, but when the fighting began, they merely made a show of it, exchanged pleasantries, and parted ways. Nami had witnessed such scenes too many times.

“Is that so?” Roland smiled, not bothering to argue further. He knew Nami’s past, and understood she wouldn’t trust anyone so easily. He’d expected this outcome from the start. But likewise, once Nami truly trusted someone, she would give them her very life.

“There’s a bathing room in here. If you’re uncomfortable after soaking in seawater, you can wash off. As for clean clothes, I assume you know how to handle that; besides, no one else will enter this room but me, so even if you don’t wear anything, it’s fine.” With these instructions, Roland turned and left the room, not lingering any longer.

Now that Nami had been found, there was no need to head for Cocoa Village just yet. He felt a pang of guilt—for ten years since crossing into this world, he had lived on Floating Island, never once returning to his village, never visiting his father’s grave. This time, now back in the East Sea, Roland planned to return home and pay his respects at his father’s grave.

As for the villagers, Roland no longer cared; he was not the child he had been ten years ago, helpless as he was driven out.

On the deck, the survivors looked much better, wrapped in towels and sipping hot soup.

“Mr. Roland, the miso soup is freshly made. Would you care to try some?” a cook called out upon seeing him.

“No, thank you.” Roland shook his head. Soup simply failed to interest him, now as ever; he’d always kept his distance from such fare.

Passing the cook, Roland entered the navigation room and glanced at the navigator who had detected the storm earlier. “How’s the weather now? There won’t be another storm like that, will there?”

“If it’s not one of those sudden squalls, we should be clear,” the navigator replied confidently.

“Good. Then give the order—change course. Set our destination for Rosia Island. That’s my homeland; I intend to visit.”

“Yes, sir.” The navigators quickly found Rosia Island on the map and adjusted the ship's course toward it.

Meanwhile, in the cabin, Nami sprang from the bed as soon as she was certain Roland had left. She couldn’t guess why he’d left her alone, but to her, this was a rare and golden opportunity.

Normally, if the captain was a pirate, his cabin would be packed with treasure, since after every raid the captain claimed most of the loot, hiding it in his own quarters for safety. Nami favored such selfish captains, as she didn’t have to search the whole ship—stealing from the captain’s room alone could yield a fortune.

She searched cautiously: wardrobe, under the bed, even the bathroom—she turned everything upside down. But no matter how hard she looked, there was no treasure to be found.

Disappointment crept in. Could he really be as he claimed—a kind soul uninterested in treasure, returning it all? Impossible, impossible. Nami shook her head vigorously, banishing this strange notion. How could such a person exist in this world?

Lying on the bed, Nami felt miserable and uneasy. Was she really going to have to wait until nightfall to search the rest of the ship for loot? She’d come all this way, and wasn’t about to leave empty-handed.

Little did Nami know that there existed things like system spaces in this world, utterly illogical to her. When Roland had taken over the cabin, he’d already, with the pirates’ help, found Creek’s stash and tossed it straight into his system space. For security, he’d laughed—where could be safer than his system space?

She lay there for some time, until suddenly she was jolted awake by the sounds of fighting.

“What’s happening?”

Nami’s face paled; she hurried to the window and looked out.

Her face grew even whiter. On the vast deck, she saw only Roland, surrounded by corpses sliced in half, blood flowing everywhere. The bodies belonged to those who, like her, had been rescued.

Watching the bloody scene, Nami covered her mouth in horror. She had known all along that the handsome man wasn’t a good person. Even among incompetent navy officers, she’d never seen anyone kill so brutally.

Nami understood that the others rescued were pirates, and deserved their fate, but the spectacle still sickened her.

Clutching her mouth, Nami retreated to the bed, desperately trying to erase the memory from her mind. Yet memory is a strange thing—the more you try to forget, the deeper it lodges within you.

...

“Mr. Roland, are you alright?” The pirates aboard quickly ignored the mutilated corpses and gathered around Roland, concern in their voices.

“I’m fine.” Roland shook his head. He felt no sympathy for those he’d rescued, who then tried to betray him during training. Compared to ruthless pirates, Roland despised traitors even more.

“That man—tie him up and throw him in with Creek. When we reach the navy base, hand them over together,” Roland said, pointing at the only survivor on deck, his expression cold.

“Yes, sir.” The pirates moved swiftly, binding the terrified self-styled captain and hauling him below. The others began cleaning the deck, disposing of bodies and mopping up blood.