HEO 106
〔Speculation: This mysterious delay seems to be caused by long-term use of suppressants. Expect an overwhelmingly strong rebound effect! So, the gag and the bib….〕
“Stop it! Stop obsessing over the gag and the bib!”
Silver tore the bib to shreds and scattered the pieces. He hurled the gag with all his might at the crows flying overhead.
“This is the first time I’ve ever lain around doing nothing for more than three days! Damn it, if I’d known this would happen, I should’ve stocked up on a barrel of booze… I want a drink, booze!”
〔Typical symptoms of alcohol dependence.〕
〔Possible remedies include hydration, nutrition, and diverting attention to the environment…….〕
“Booze! Give me booze!”
Silver was punching the air when he suddenly froze. Like a bolt of lightning striking a mast, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Could it be?
“I got it!”
Silver snapped his fingers.
“The reason my heat never came, no matter how long I waited! I wasn’t a mutant to begin with! Fuck, why didn’t I think of this sooner!”
〔I understand the urge to deny reality, but…〕
“Ugh, just listen to me seriously! I’m telling you, I’m really not a mutant! That Bingapsu bastard got it all wrong! He mistook a rabbit for a wolf.”
〔You’re saying your dad was mistaken…?〕
Starry Eyes moved right up close to Silver’s face. Silver nodded.
“I was just unusually reserved for a Stoll. To that idiot, someone like me must’ve looked fucking weird. So he just made up some reason on his own! ‘My son isn’t just well-behaved, he’s a mutant!’”
〔But…〕
“But what?”
Silver waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s been a full six days now. Not a single symptom during that time. No sexual urges, no pheromone surges, no drooling, no thoughts of male genitals, nothing! The only thing that’s been surging is my craving for alcohol!”
〔Just in case, Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ. Let’s wait another week to be on the safe side.〕
“Aaaaaaargh! Stop it! Please, stop it!”
Silver pummeled the air with his fists.
“There’s nothing more to see, I tell you! That Bingapsu bastard took immense pride in the fact that he’d gotten countless married women pregnant. To a beast like that, a son who never even masturbated even as he grew older must have been strange. He probably couldn’t believe that his own son was so chaste! He must have been ashamed!”
〔Did your father’s excessive male display behavior lead him to view his offspring’s sexual inactivity as a threat to his own ego?〕
〔But Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ, even considering your father’s male display behavior, suspecting a Type 2 mutation is a stretch. That’s a huge leap in reasoning, it’s like a squirrel trying to jump over a mountain.〕
“That’s just how Bingapsu is. Never mind that, the key! Bring it here right now!”
〔Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ…….〕
Starry Eyes, who had been whimpering, finally flew off into the bushes. Silver shook off the tiresome shackles and gazed up at the clear autumn sky. Tears welled up in his eyes.
Including the days spent preparing for battle, he’d been wasting his time for a full 12 days. But thanks to that, he was completely freed from a long-standing worry.
I’m not a mutant.
Pregnancy? Heat? Suppressants? Goodbye to all of them. May Bingapsu choke to death on a fishbone in the Underworld. You damn bastard, you just wasted your money for nothing. And you put me through all that emotional turmoil too!
Silver wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and turned away.
“Let’s go! It’s time to say goodbye to this damn forest!”
His steps down the mountain were light. Silver ran swiftly, flapping his arms as if he were about to take flight. The scent of ripe fruit wafted through the air. Unlike yesterday, when his fingers had itched to set the forest ablaze, today he could leisurely enjoy the scent of autumn.
Silver took a deep breath.
Alright, here’s the plan moving forward.
First. On the ship, brand a dagger at Charcoal Bear and threaten, “If you don’t want your nose to be the first to disembark, head for land.”
Second. Graduate from virginity.
Third. Visit Grandma Erem and demand a full refund of all the donations Bingapsu had lavished on her, as well as the cost of the heat-suppressant he paid for. With a hefty interest payment too.
Fourth. Go to Atania and kill the mastermind.
Fifth. Settle past accounts with the servant.
Before he knew it, the mountain path ended, and the pirate village came into view in the distance. Silver tucked Starry Eyes into his belt pouch.
“Starry Eyes. It’s time to head up to the attic.”
〔Lurk mode activated!〕
Starry Eyes slipped right into the pouch. The moment he stepped into the pirate village, Silver hesitated.
Huh…?
Did my nose suddenly get stuffy?
***
Silver soon realized the truth. His nose was perfectly clear and unobstructed. The problem lay with the pirate village itself.
For one thing, there was no smoke. Not a single wisp of that damn narcotic herb smoke – the one that had always hung over this pirate village like a second sky, bringing tears to his eyes every time he passed a house – was to be seen. The only scents wafting through the clear air were salt, seaweed, and the smell of dried fish.
Silver looked around. Along with the smoke, there were no people either. Not a single pirate was in sight, the very pirates who, except on rainy days, would sprawl on the ground every day, clutching whatever trash they could find and having sex with it. Only the white bone ornaments hanging from the doors of the houses clattered in the breeze.
It was confusing. Even if they’d all set out to sea to make a living, could it really be this quiet and clean?
Just as he tilted his head in confusion…
“O-oneeeeee…… hngh, huhk, twooo…….”
“O-one two…… oooone twooo…….”
From a distance, it sounded like a chant, a series of agonized groans burst forth. There were dozens of them. He didn’t know what was going on, but he immediately felt that if those people noticed him, it would ruin what had been a rare pleasant day. Silver quickly hid around the corner of a nearby house.
Soon, people appeared at the entrance to the alley. Leading the way was Charcoal Bear. Her face was so red it looked like it would spew smoke the moment a piece of meat was placed on it. Behind her, the pirates followed in single file. They were all in a pitiful state. Their belts dangled loosely, their shirts clung tightly to their bodies, and their eyes had already left this world.
“One! Two!”
Charcoal Bear shouted as she gasped for breath. The pirates echoed her in voices on the verge of collapse.
“Oneee… two… ugh…”
At the sight, Silver covered his mouth with one hand.
Exercise.
Are those bastards exercising?
Not looting, gambling, drinking, or drugs, but exercise?!
The pirates passed by the house where Silver was hiding. The pungent smell of sweat wafted over.
“I can see my late grandmother…” came a sorrowful sob from behind them.
Once the pirates were gone, Silver quietly slipped out. He was simply dumbfounded. Was Charcoal Bear really this capable?
At the very least, she was thousands of times more capable than those guys. Was she planning to rehabilitate those junkies now and reorganize the Shark Teeth Gang? He bitterly regretted having dismissed Charcoal Bear as nothing more than a pervert based solely on her hobby of indulging in her boyfriend’s ass.
Sorry, Charcoal Bear. I didn’t realize you were such a progressive reformer…
Anyway, the pirates hadn’t set sail yet. The ship might leave as early as tomorrow. Silver hurried back to his lodgings. As he was walking down the hillside, he suddenly thought of Stuffy-Nosed Mouse.
He wasn’t in the running drill earlier.
Well, that was probably to be expected. He seemed like the type who, just like Silver, would stop at nothing to get out of anything that didn’t pay a penny, so he probably faked an illness to skip.
“Starry Eyes. I’ve been too busy to mention this, but something happened while you were sick that had me laughing my head off.”
〔What was it?〕
“The facial illusion you cast on me back then disappeared. Without realizing it, I took off my skin mask. That Stuffy-Nosed Mouse was so startled…”
In a panic, he had just blurted out that Stuffy-Nosed Mouse was mentally unstable, and to Silver’s surprise, he actually believed him. When he told Starry Eyes this, he doubled over with laughter.
“What an idiot, right? It was pretty fun to trick him. Want to try it again?”
〔No, Ƨᴉɼʌԍʁ. He might not fall for it a second time.〕
“For some reason, I think that guy’ll fall for it.”
Their lodging was right in front of them. The moment Silver opened the door, he flinched.
“Hey! Silver!”
A guy who looked like a piece of cheese someone had spit out jumped up from the bed. Stuffy-Nosed Mouse was nowhere to be seen.
“Where the hell have you been all this time? The Captain’s been looking all over for you! He was pacing back and forth like a wolf with a thorn in its paw, you idiot! I’ve been waiting for you for days in this damn box swarming with fleas!”
“Charcoal Bear was looking for me?”
“No, you moron! Captain Stuffy-Nosed Mouse!”
“…….”
Silver’s eyebrows reflexively knitted together.
“Excuse me? As far as I recall, the captain of the Shark Teeth Gang is Charcoal Bear.”
“What era are you talking about? There was a change in leadership ten days ago!”
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