The Pirates Beloved Princess

TPBP 30

Posted by louyve, Released on December 21, 2024

I had never actually visited an onboard auction house before, but I had seen the ship’s internal blueprint. I had seen the layout of three different auction houses located in different places, and while each had slight differences, they had more similarities than differences.

One common feature among them was that there was no space designated for individual use by the employees. It seemed to be a deliberate structure to prevent any possibility of embezzlement from within.

“Here, have a drink.”

‘Thanks to that, I was able to get here without any problems.’

As expected, the old man was a herbal dealer at the onboard auction house. The difference between him and other herbal dealers was… perhaps that he operated in the underworld and mostly dealt in illegal items?

The old man, with a friendly smile, slid a cup of tea toward me.

“…Bitter!”

I stuck my tongue out with a grimace. When I refused to drink any more tea, the old man furrowed his brows slightly.

“Give me something sweet. My dad always gave me sweet things.”

I acted like a spoiled child, throwing a small tantrum. It would have been understandable if the old man had gotten annoyed, but he didn’t show any signs of irritation at all.

“Haha, just wait a moment.”

“Okay!”

I smiled brightly. But as soon as the old man turned his back to bring out the snacks, I acted faster than anyone else, quieter than anyone else, and switched the teacups on the table.

‘Whew.’

The reason for doing this was simple.

Clatter—

A plate of ginger cookies was placed in front of me.

“This is the only thing I have that you can eat right away.”

“It’s fine. I love cookies of all kinds!”

“Alright, alright. Then, have some tea with it.”

When I lifted my teacup and took a small sip, the old man smiled warmly and also lifted the cup in front of him.

And then…

Thud—!

“Urgh.”

Not long after putting the switched tea to his lips, he slammed his head onto the desk. He had passed out.

“Stubborn old geezer.”

The moment I tasted the tea, I knew. There was a sleeping drug mixed into it. If it weren’t for my sharpened taste buds, it could have been a disaster.

This particular sleeping drug had a bitter taste and worked instantly. There were many ways to mask a bitter taste, but one of the most commonly used methods was to mix it with tea.

‘But I can always tell.’

The training I underwent as a naval officer before my return to the past proved useful. Despite time reversing, the experiences I had gained did not disappear.

The reason why the navy trained us in ‘Pralet Adaptation’ was to ensure that we wouldn’t be affected by any type of delicacy or luxury in taste. This training allowed us to only absorb the necessary nutrients from food in a controlled manner.

‘Of course, after a certain period, they would give us an antidote.’

During off-duty periods, we would detox, but once back on duty, we would return to ingesting it. Repeating this cycle over time dulled our taste buds to the point where, even without consuming ‘Pralet,’ we would not react strongly to most foods. The only time the taste felt strong was right after taking the antidote.

Even outside of the controlled ‘Pralet’ consumption, navy personnel were always at risk of being poisoned, so we had to undergo separate training to build tolerance to various poisons. And as a military doctor, I had to go through stricter training than others.

To sum it up, thanks to all these experiences, I was able to recognize most poisons and drugs just by tasting or smelling them briefly. Even if it was mixed into food, I could detect it through subtle differences.

Moreover, since my current body had never been exposed to ‘Pralet’ before, my taste and sense of smell were even more sensitive than before.

“Ugh, so bitter.”

The bitter taste lingered in my mouth, so I shoved a ginger cookie into my mouth and winced. For someone dealing with dangerous items, that old man seemed to have a poor understanding of drugs.

‘The dosage for a child and an adult should be different.’

He had used enough to knock out an adult in one shot. If a six-year-old child like me had consumed it, I wouldn’t have just fainted—I might have suffered something far worse.

“You brought this on yourself.”

I took the keys hanging from the old man’s waist and opened every locked medicine cabinet. As expected, it was filled with all sorts of toxic ingredients.

‘Dried Grade-A Rumbot, Pralet, Calle mushrooms, Judia extract…’

Everything of value was there. I whistled softly and carefully packed the items into my spare pouch, tucking it into my clothes.

“Well, well, what’s this?”

While organizing the place to cover my tracks, I found something that shouldn’t have been there.

‘He has this?’

It was ‘Dipers’, a deadly poisonous plant that caused people to vomit blood from every orifice upon ingestion, leading to a painful death. Not only did it have immediate effects with no antidote, but when slowly steeped in cold water, it produced neither taste nor scent, making it perfect for assassination. It was even called ‘The Silent Reaper.’

Its danger was so well-known that all naval bases had standing orders to ‘eradicate Dipers on sight.’ I had also learned about it back in my pirate days through one of Ethan’s books.

So…

‘It’s supposed to be extinct worldwide.’

Touching it a little wouldn’t activate its toxicity. I carefully observed it and took a few of the Dipers seeds that were stored along with it. On the black market, just one Dipers seed could sell for 50,000 Wetten, the common currency of the Western Continent. But who cares?

If I were really an innocent, naïve child, even if I had woken up after drinking that tea, I would have suffered from side effects.

If I hadn’t woken up?

‘Hmm, I don’t want to think about that.’

I then began searching for the ledger that the old man had hidden. He had probably tucked it away in some deep, secure spot. But for someone like me, it wouldn’t take long to find it.

‘Alright, let’s see. Where could it be?’

Judging by the fact that he went so far as to drug me to steal from a child, this man wasn’t normal. Carefully scanning my surroundings, I noticed an odd gap between the bookshelves.

It was a hidden storage compartment.

Inside, I found a double ledger. As expected, people like him always kept double ledgers to embezzle money.

‘Heh.’

He had altered the item records every few days. Usually, ledgers like this are written with ink, but I knew how to make a solution that could erase ink.

‘That’s why you should use high-quality ink for ledgers instead of this cheap stuff.’

High-quality ink can’t be erased with a hastily made solution like this. Trying to save a little money only to get caught is such a predictable mistake. I adjusted a few of the figures written in the double ledger before putting everything back in place.

After making sure I didn’t leave any traces behind, I raised my voice and shouted out loud.

“Is anyone there?! Please help me!”

My childlike voice echoed loudly, and employees who had been working nearby rushed over. An unexpected child in a place like this naturally drew their attention.

“A little guest? What’s the matter?”

“M-my grandpa suddenly collapsed.”

I sniffled and pretended to wipe away tears while muttering in a small, pitiful voice. As I did so, I made sure to flash just a tiny bit of the gold I had received from Nereus.

“Grandpa said he’d play with me, so I followed him, but after drinking tea, he suddenly went thud…”

Anyone familiar with the underworld scene could easily piece together what had happened. They would assume that the old man had tried to knock out the child and steal the gold she had.

“It must’ve been the tea…”

“Looks like his age is finally catching up to him…”

No one would suspect that a child had switched the tea, taken all the necessary items, and then only called them after everything was done. Besides, the way I was dressed screamed ‘spoiled daughter of a doting father’—a clueless child decked out by a doting parent.

There was no one who would doubt me.

‘They’re probably too scared of getting reported.’

Even if they weren’t as powerful as the mysterious owner of the onboard auction house, the people who visited this place were not ordinary individuals.

If word got out that something had happened to the ‘daughter’ of one of these powerful figures, it would be a serious problem for them.

“Ah, little miss?”

‘Look at that. Even the way they address me has changed.’

“Don’t worry about the old man. We’ll take care of him. Why don’t you head back to your guardian?”

Even though it seemed like they were treating me with respect, I could tell they were just trying to brush off the situation because I was a child.

‘Well, that’s fine by me.’

Did they really think I wouldn’t notice? That’s why I messed with the ledger too. They would have no clue that I was the culprit. Once they eventually discovered the errors in the ledger, everything would be thrown into chaos.

And during the investigation, they would also find the double ledger…

‘Everyone connected to that old man is going to be purged.’

The process of cleaning house would no doubt cause significant financial losses. After all, operations like these are always tangled up in money.

I still didn’t know who owned all the onboard auction houses, but they would definitely be upset. Since this place was one of the closest auction houses to the Western Continent, it had to be one of their more cherished locations, even if revenue was down at the moment.

‘If I recall, in about 10 years, this place becomes the biggest and most luxurious of them all.’

Not that it’s any of my business! Humming cheerfully, I made my way back to where Nereus was waiting.

“Oh my, Lala, did you have fun?”

Clara, who had apparently finished gathering all the information she needed, was sitting next to Nereus, eating pudding drenched in cream and syrup. As I approached, she casually spooned a piece of pudding into my mouth.

Meanwhile, Nereus…

“Hey, you’re back, little seaweed princess.”

“…What’s with that ridiculous look?”

He was a sight to behold.

Sitting there with his elbows propped on two massive bags, Nereus was adorned with gold rings and bracelets hanging from both his hands and arms.

“I made a fortune. Haha! This daddy of yours, you know, is quite the expert when it comes to games like these. You could say I’ve got killer luck. Daddy’s the best, right?”

“……..…?”

“I used to win so often it got boring, so I stopped playing for a while. But playing again after so long, oh, it was thrilling! Back in the day, I even won a ship in a bet.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s how I embarked on my first voyage. Without any real preparation, mind you—barely any food, no compass…”

“Uh-huh, yeah, sure.”

I halfheartedly responded to Nereus’ self-praising story that was tinged with a bit of bravado. That alone seemed to satisfy him.

‘Is he my dad or just a big kid?’

Well, as long as he’s happy, that’s what matters. Hah.

“Captain, it’s time.”

“Oh, is it?”

“Where are you going?”

Hearing Clara’s reminder, Nereus stood up. I watched them closely since I thought we had only come here to gather information.

“Clara, take care of the kid.”

“Okay~”