“Shh— Stay still. Your baby hairs are sticking out.”
“That just means Dad isn’t good with his hands.”
“What? You little rascal!”
Nereus had me sit down as he tied my hair. Strangely enough, after my regression, he had become the one in charge of doing my hair.
‘Was it Clara who used to do it before my regression?’
I think it was, at least until the middle of my past life. But Clara eventually disembarked, and after that, no one was specifically assigned to do it.
‘Oh, Ethan used to tie my hair quite often too.’
Unlike the other crew members, Ethan was always careful not to hurt me. Thinking back to the first time Nereus tied my hair—he pulled so hard that my eyes welled up with tears—I realized just how considerate Ethan was.
‘But Nereus only started tying my hair after my regression.’
Before my regression, I found Nereus intimidating during my time with the pirate crew. But now, looking back, all of that felt like a distant dream. These days, he was the person I relied on the most aboard the ship.
‘And then there’s that conversation we had a few days ago…’
Despite everything we talked about, nothing had really changed between us. In fact, it almost felt like that conversation had never happened—as if it had all been a lie.
‘Honestly, it would make more sense if it had just been a dream.’
But everything had been real. Nereus was an even more enigmatic man than I had thought.
Despite being capable of speaking so seriously, he always acted so childishly…
‘Which one is his true self?’
I shot a sharp glance at Nereus, but he only grinned widely and declared,
“Alright, all done! Hey, I did pretty well today, didn’t I?”
“…It’s a mess.”
“Next time, it’ll be perfect! Don’t worry.”
He had gathered my long hair into two round buns, leaving some strands loose, but stray hairs stuck out in all directions.
Did he think just sticking a jeweled pin in the center would fix everything? Anyone could see that my hair was an absolute mess.
‘Fine. Since I’m the mature one here, I’ll let it slide.’
I sighed, lowering my gaze from him. Maybe that serious demeanor he showed the other day had been a fluke.
“I think twin tails suit you, Lala.”
“And nothing else does?”
“No way~ My princess looks good in anything!”
Nereus laughed out loud and suddenly lifted me into his arms. His stubble rubbed against my cheek, feeling rough against my skin.
“We’re almost there. Aren’t you excited?”
“I am.”
The Western Continent was a vast land formed by the unification of many kingdoms. Some were fully absorbed into one empire, while others remained as duchies under the emperor’s authority. However, there were still a few independent kingdoms that governed themselves without any ties to the empire.
One of those places was where we were heading—Tenus.
‘Technically, it’s called the Tenus Territory, but it doesn’t belong to the emperor, nor is it considered a vassal state.’
Among the Six Houses, House Terminus was known as The Border. That was because they were responsible for preventing the expansion of the Dead Lands in the Western Continent.
‘And soon, they’ll be consumed by darkness and perish.’
The only remaining member of House Terminus was its current head, Ekati Terminus. Since she was the last of her lineage, if she were to lose control even once, everything would be over.
‘But her breakdown is still far off, so we’re safe for now.’
Still, knowing the exact day she would die left me feeling uneasy. But there was no cure for the darkness.
In the end, all I could do was focus on what was within my reach.
“What’s always going on in that head of yours, my dear?”
Nereus playfully pinched my cheek, careful not to hurt me.
“Lala, thinking deeply is good and all, but at least look around once in a while.”
“……….!”
A bird’s cry rang from above, and at the same time, I saw it—the port of Tenus.
‘So this is Tenus.’
I stared at it, my mouth slightly open.
Before my regression, by the time I had arrived at Tenus, it had already been swallowed by the Dead Lands.
After Ekati Terminus lost control, all of Tenus had turned to ashes, and the boundary had crumbled. If it weren’t for the efforts of the remaining Six Houses, a third of the Western Continent would have become a wasteland.
‘The surviving members of the Six Houses came together to protect the continent.’
As a result, their influence grew stronger than ever. Even now, their power was immense—how much higher could they possibly climb?
“Shall we get ready to disembark?”
At some point, the Jolly Roger of the Caelum Pirates had been lowered. Since Tenus was directly managed by House Terminus, their vigilance against pirates was strong.
‘Well, being wary of pirates is only natural.’
Maybe it was because I had seen so many pirate-friendly towns while serving in the navy, but my mind felt strangely numb to it all.
‘Even that maritime city we visited a couple of weeks ago was like this.’
Leaning against the railing, I let out a deep sigh.
Now that I was living as a pirate, the more of these places there were, the better it was for me. But from a navy officer’s perspective, wasn’t this all terribly wrong?
“Orders from the higher-ups are absolute. No matter the reason, pirates can never be in the right.”
“Ugh…”
“Are you doubting a superior officer’s command right now, Mare Akera?”
A sharp pain shot through my head as echoes of the past rang in my ears. I must never disobey their orders. Questioning them was wrong. My duty was to protect innocent civilians…
“Lala! Are you getting off or not?”
Suddenly, Nereus’ rough voice broke through the memories in my mind.
‘This has happened before, hasn’t it?’
For some reason, Nereus always managed to snap me out of these thoughts—like he was cutting them off entirely.
Logically, it should have felt unsettling to stray from the teachings ingrained in me for so long.
‘But strangely enough, it doesn’t.’
Every time he pulled me out of those thoughts, rather than feeling uncomfortable, I actually felt relieved and at ease.
“Come on, let’s go. If I keep carrying you around, you’re going to forget how to walk.”
“As if that would ever happen.”
“You never know, Lala. Life is full of surprises.”
Humming a tune, Nereus gave me a gentle push forward. As we walked, passing crew members caught sight of my hair—styled messily by Nereus—and smirked.
“Our little seaweed looks so pretty today~”
“That’s a princess’s hairstyle, alright. Guess that means a prince will be arriving soon?”
“…….….”
Not only were they smirking, but they were outright teasing me now.
Nereus pressed down on the top of my head with a chuckle.
“Alright, quit teasing the little one and go cover up those scary-looking faces of yours.”
“You’re the one teasing me the most right now.”
“We’re a respectable merchant ship, you know? If people mistake us for pirates, that’d be bad.”
“You were about to say ‘pirates’ just now. And besides, that wouldn’t even be a mistake.”
“Shh. Quiet, kid. It’s what you call a little white lie.”
A white lie? Yeah, right. More like the blackest of lies.
Up ahead, Gilbert and Ethan approached the port guards. After exchanging a few words, they motioned for us to come forward.
“What did they say?”
“They showed our sailing permit and explained our purpose here.”
A sailing permit was a document issued by the Maritime Alliance. Since lawless activity on the seas was rampant, ships carrying this permit were recognized as legitimate vessels by the Alliance.
“But if you have a sailing permit, why are you still pirating?”
“Because it’s fake, obviously.”
“…….….”
“Man, it’s a good thing we renewed it last time. Imagine if we hadn’t stopped by Branch 13—things would’ve gotten messy.”
So, this guy had infiltrated a navy intelligence operation, leaked classified military plans to mess with rival pirate crews, made a clean getaway, erased their updated bounty records, and even forged a brand-new sailing permit all in one go?
‘Does he have incredible skills, or is he just completely reckless…?’
It seemed like he was competent, yet at times, he acted so foolishly that I was at a loss for words.
Like how he spent ten whole years believing his long-lost daughter was still alive.
‘Or how he treats me now, for that matter.’
He handled me like a precious treasure one moment, but if I whined even a little about going to a dangerous place, he’d just let me tag along.
Or how he barely scolded me for what happened on Odlo Island.
It was like his sense of caution had dulled entirely.
‘It’s not just Nereus—every member of the Caelum crew is like this.’
The people aboard the Caelum pirate ship all had one thing in common: none of them had a proper childhood.
Because of that, they were unusually soft on me. Yet, at the same time, they didn’t seem to understand what proper protection was, often leaving me in bizarre situations.
If I had to name the most rational ones, I’d say Ethan and Clara. But even they had their odd moments… So, in conclusion—
‘I should take full advantage of this before they come to their senses.’
…That was my plan.
These reckless guardians might eventually wake up and start behaving responsibly. But that definitely wouldn’t happen while we were in Tenus, meaning I could easily get what I wanted.
‘If I want to get near the Terminus Castle, the heart of Tenus, I need to use them.’
The key ingredient for Maddie Disease’s treatment was a mushroom called Desmer. It only grew in the Forest of Darkness, located near the castle walls.
Due to its paralyzing spores, Desmer was initially classified as a poisonous mushroom.
‘But those spores might have their own uses…’
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to have some. The important thing was that I needed to gather them myself.
‘That means—’
I quickly turned my head and called out,
“Dad! I need to grab something from my room real quick.”
“What?”
“A lady’s business is not for you to question.”
“…Ohh, right. Go ahead, my lady.”
Without another word, I dashed into my room and pulled out a box hidden under my bed.
“Let’s see…”
I took a few Mermaid’s Tears, some Oceanis, and a conch shell from the box and put them in my bag. Securing lodging on land meant that I wouldn’t be boarding a ship for a while.
‘Might as well bring this too.’
I grabbed the emergency money Nereus had given me for fun, along with a collection pouch and some herb samples.
“All set.”
Now, all I had to do was find an excuse to visit the Forest of Darkness.
That would be as easy as drinking cold soup.
After securing my bag, I ran over to Nereus and jumped onto him with a cheerful voice.
“Dad!”
“Yes? What is it?”
“I want to buy a notebook! A notebook just for me!”
“A notebook? Why? If you want to draw, there’s plenty of paper on the ship.”
“Not for drawing! I need it to write down my personal recipes. Since I’m a genius, I should start documenting everything now, don’t you think? There’s a bookstore in this town, right? Right?”
“Well… Yeah, there is.”
At that moment, I pulled out a gold coin from my bag and flashed my brightest smile.
“I’ll use this to buy it! Maybe not just one, but a few notebooks!”
A few? With that single gold coin, I could buy every book arriving in that store for the next three months and still have change left.
Nereus knew this, which was why, despite his smiling face, his pupils wavered slightly.
“…Are you planning to go alone?”
Maybe he didn’t want to spoil my good mood, because instead of arguing, he subtly hinted at accompanying me.
‘Just as planned.’
Everything was going exactly as I expected.
