“Hic.”
Hearing Nereus’ nonsense, Hyperion’s face turned red, and he hiccuped.
See? How unpredictable must that nonsense have been for him to be so flustered like that?
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“I do think this kid is really cute, but I’m not thinking about romance. It’s too early for me.”
“Hic, hic! Hic!”
It’s about 100 years too early, in fact. If you date, you have to consider marriage. And if you get married, you’ll have to come ashore, right? I can never accept that.
In my previous life, I was forced to part ways with Caelum, but this time, I will stay here until the Jolly Roger decays and disappears.
“And he’s just 8 years old. I don’t feel any romantic emotions for a child.”
“………..”
Who in their right mind would feel excitement from looking at a child? That’s insane.
“Hey, Lala. How old are you again?”
“Huh? Uh…”
I was speechless at Nereus’ remark. Right, I’m 6 years old now, aren’t I?
“I like older people.”
“But he’s 8 years old.”
“Yeah.”
“So, since you’re 6, doesn’t that make him older?”
“……..…”
Nereus was unusually sharp today.
“Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know. Six-year-olds don’t understand such complicated things!”
What’s the point of having such useless conversations? Anyway, I don’t like Hyperion, and he doesn’t like me either. And it’ll stay that way.
‘Hyperion didn’t like me before my regression, so nothing’s changed.’
Romantic feelings are a luxury for those in the navy. Since they can be a significant obstacle to upholding justice, it’s even said during training that they shouldn’t form romantic relationships.
In other words, there was no chance that Hyperion would like me in the future once he returned to the navy.
On the contrary, I’d have to use every possible means to ensure he wouldn’t hate me once he found out I was a pirate, and I had no time to humor Nereus’s nonsense.
I took Hyperion’s hand and headed towards the dining table. Unlike a moment ago, everyone was quietly seated and eating, but the food was still piled high.
It seemed no one in Caelum felt uncomfortable about the mountain of food in front of them.
There was a neatly empty seat without needing to look around.
“Let’s sit here.”
I carefully examined the types of food piled up on each plate and chose a few to place in front of Hyperion.
“……..!”
Hyperion’s eyes widened, and his cheeks twitched as he took a bite, carefully inspecting each dish.
It was only natural. I remembered exactly what flavors Hyperion liked. Since he rarely showed strong preferences, it wasn’t hard to remember the few things he did enjoy.
“Tasty, right? Gilbert’s Dad cooking skills are the best in the world, even beyond our ship.”
“Of course, of course. Once you try Gil’s cooking, you get addicted. I even thought he put something illegal in it. That’s why our crew stays away from drugs.”
“More like, didn’t they say they’d throw us overboard if we even touched that stuff?”
“Exactly!”
“Quiet down, you brats! If you’re going to die, drown in booze instead, but don’t touch drugs!”
Nereus, making a lame pirate joke, dragged a chair over and sat between me and Hyperion.
“Eat something too, or people will think I’m starving you. You’re so skinny.”
Even with two strong men tackling the food, the pile in front of me was still huge.
“Dad. I can’t eat all of this.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? When I was your age, if I could eat like this even once, I would’ve had no regrets.”
“Do you really think you and I are the same?”
Without even hiding my annoyance, I snapped back, causing Nereus to pout a bit and start eating from my plate.
“My princess is so picky…”
“Dad, you’re being way too lax!”
As I kept pushing away Nereus, who kept trying to shove an omelet into my mouth, I felt a murderous glare from afar.
Gilbert was staring daggers at Nereus’ back through the half-open kitchen door.
‘Wow, he looks like he could kill someone with just his eyes.’
“What are you staring at like that, oh my.”
Nereus, realizing that my gaze was focused behind him, turned around and sighed. It was quite a spectacle to see the pirate captain being intimidated by the First Mate.
“Lala, dad’s going to visit the kitchen for a moment.”
With that, Nereus headed for the kitchen, and shortly after, I heard a loud clanging sound as if someone was struck with a metal pan.
“Ouch.”
“Ouch indeed.”
“This time, it’s the captain’s fault. The First Mate has every right to be mad.”
“Well, yeah.”
“But honestly, the captain’s always the one at fault. The First Mate tends to get angry no matter what he does.”
Despite the loud noise, everyone remained calm, except for Hyperion, who was left startled and confused.
“Rion, what’s wrong?”
“Uh, didn’t that person just get hit?”
“Yeah, but it happens all the time. My dad gets scolded by First Mate Gilbert almost every day.”
“Sc-scolded?”
“Well, yeah… he’s always getting told off like that.”
“That’s not just getting told off, it seems way more intense…”
Why is he so surprised by this? If he lived in the navy, he’d see far worse. Anyway, no one on our ship ever considered Gilbert scolding Nereus a big deal.
At first glance, it might seem like a mutiny from the First Mate, but everyone on the ship knows Gilbert has no such intentions.
In the end, it’s something that happens out of affection and trust.
“Dad is strong and healthy, so don’t worry. He won’t die from something like that.”
“Really?”
“But if you see something like this happening elsewhere, it probably won’t be under the same circumstances, so don’t take it the same way.”
“…Oh, I see.”
I said it just in case, but my suspicion was correct.
He grew up in a household where he was constantly mistreated, so seeing how Gilbert treated Nereus, he might mistake all the abuse he received as affection.
Sigh.
I sighed.
Imagine being this young and having to take care of both children and adults. Still, it’s better than when I didn’t have a family. I handed Hyperion a glass of cranberry juice and headed toward the kitchen.
“Dad.”
Gilbert was holding a large pasta pot in one hand while gripping Nereus by the collar.
“………”
“Oh, Lala’s here?”
“Polaris, this isn’t something good for you to see. Go back and eat your meal.”
“First Mate, could you please let go of my dad?”
Feeling that I should be polite to Gilbert, I made an effort to ask courteously, though his face still looked displeased. Meanwhile, Nereus, who was being grabbed by the collar, had a mischievous smile on his face.
‘Wow, he’s really annoying.’
Bang! Gilbert smacked Nereus on the head with the pot.
“You said it wasn’t something good for the kid to see, didn’t you?”
“…It’s called early education.”
It was so surprising to hear Gilbert, who was always violent or cynical in my memory, speak like that. I used to think he was the complete opposite of Nereus, but now that I looked at it, they had a lot of similarities.
‘Maybe it’s because they’ve been friends since before they became pirates?’
“It’s mealtime, not class time right now. Why are you scolding dad so much that he can’t even eat?”
Despite my question, Gilbert didn’t respond, only glaring at me with a cold stare. When I was younger, I found both Nereus and Gilbert intimidating, though I don’t remember why I was scared of Nereus. With Gilbert, it was clear.
That cold stare of his was frightening and intimidating. He was as thin as winter branches, but he was the most violent person on our ship.
‘I guess since I was just a kid Nereus picked up randomly, it’s understandable that the First Mate didn’t like me.’
It was always the case that Nereus caused trouble and Gilbert cleaned up the mess, or Nereus messed up, and Gilbert got angry―so it was only natural that Gilbert didn’t like me, who was just a burden before the regression.
That’s what I thought.
“Why don’t you call me ‘Dad’?”
…At least, that’s what I thought until I heard that.
“Huh?”
“Pfft, hahahaha―!”
To be honest, I couldn’t help but react dumbfoundedly to Gilbert’s question. Nereus, still hanging by his collar, laughed out loud.
“Does the First Mate want to be called dad too?”
“I’m the only one who feels distant. It’s quite unpleasant.”
Even though I’m mentally an adult, having gone through regression, it was hard to accept this with composure. It was more shocking than realizing Isaac was secretly a mischievous adult.
“G-Gilbert… Dad?”
“Hmph.”
After being called dad, Gilbert paused for a moment, then threw Nereus, whom he was holding, into the corner of the kitchen.
Crash! Bang! All sorts of loud noises echoed through the room.
“Oww…”
“I don’t like the fact that Nereus is just ‘Dad’ and I’m ‘Gilbert Dad,’ but I guess it’s fine.”
Gradually, I began to accept the fact that the people in our Caelum pirate crew were all childish fools.
“So, Gilbert Dad, why are you so mad?”
“He picked up another kid without permission, like when he brings back stray dogs.”
“But if he didn’t, the kid could’ve died…”
“He should’ve handed the kid over to the authorities or the navy instead of bringing them here. And not just any kid, but one from Pharus.”
Apparently, the kid joined the navy recently. I finally understood why Gilbert was so angry.
Even if he’s just 8 years old, a navy member is a navy member, and for the increasingly notorious Caelum pirate crew, having someone like that around would be troubling.
“Well, dad didn’t know either.”
“Sure, he might not have known at first. But once he found out, he should’ve reported it to me right away. Instead, he just smiled and ate his meal.”
“Hmm…”
He wasn’t wrong, so I just nodded in agreement.
“So, do you want to kick the kid out? Right now?”
But Gilbert didn’t seem too thrilled by that idea. Even though Hyperion was from the navy and Pharus, it seemed like kicking him out wasn’t an easy decision.
Gilbert must have heard about Hyperion’s situation, and if they threw him out, it was clear he’d be mistreated outside.
“…So, about that―.”
I decided to offer Gilbert a small suggestion.
“Your daughter, Lala, has an idea.”
