92 SWORN ENEMY (1/2)

The weather around Exvo seemed pleasant, and Stussy was appreciating the time under the sun. Gerret came to her in a hurry and said, ”Chief! A report from the first deck says that a monster is coming up. From what they've noticed, it's a nanari, so they said they weren't gonna attack it.”

Nanaris, also known as Ninetooths, were sea monsters that looked like a humongous snake with two fins running along the spine, all the way to the rear and beyond. They had no eyes or nose but only a mouth with nine sickle-like teeth inside. The myth about them was that they ate only dead, rotting, or toxic beings and rarely attacked a living being, so they came to be known as Oceanmaids. While most part of that myth might be considered real, nanaris not attacking living beings was generally believed to be false because, in the past century itself, there were countless cases of nanaris attacking ships, especially those of pirates, so much so that the marines gave these beasts the nickname 'Piratemaids.'

”Nanari, huh…” Stussy sighed and got up from the floor. ”Death is uncommon on this ship, but still, people eat all sorts of creatures, and there's plenty of rotten food lying all around on many decks. I guess the scent this ship gives off must be enticing to a nanari.”

”This isn't the first time, Chief!” said Gerett, looking visibly tense. ”Since I've been working here, nanaris attacked our ship a few dozen times. I never understood why they aggressively attacked our ship when they could probably tell that there were living beings aboard.”

”I've fought nanaris before. They usually don't attack the living, but if you go and hug a corpse and expect them to ignore you, then you're just fooling yourself.”

Gerett was startled. ”S-Sorry, Chief.”

”If you can connect the dots,” Stussy continued, ”it's easy to notice that whenever they attacked the living beings, they chose those who would smell rotten, be it from not bathing or whatever. That's why they often targeted pirate ships and scared the pirates to the point that they didn't dare to sleep without bathing, even if it's with the chilling water of the sea. Keeping dead fish lying around on the ship was also just as dangerous. It was because they forced sea travelers, especially the pirates, to take regular baths and keep their ships clean in the past, the marines mocked pirates by giving nanaris the name 'Piratemaids.'”

”A-Ah, I see.”

The nanari forthwith sprayed a rain of greenish acid onto the ship, but the air barrier around the ship blocked all of it. As the acid fell into the waters, lots of escaping fish, sharks, and other sea creatures floated to the surface, while some still struggled to cling onto life as their bodies melted.

”That's some amount of acid! Trying to tenderize flesh and bones, is it?” Gerett wondered.

The nanari drew air into its mouth, and the pulling force was so strong that all the floating fish were sucked into its mouth. However, it still couldn't sway the ship's course.

”It's cleaning up after its own mess,” Stussy murmured.

Upon swallowing thousands of fish, the nanari whooshed through the air at a blistering speed, creating ripples in the waters underneath, and there was a drumming sound in the air.

”I-It's coming!” the workers in the open space assumed defensive stances, but their hearts undeniably pounded against their chest. ”W-Will it break through the barrier?”

Gerett was able to see better than the other workers. ”Are those…” he swallowed the saliva once. ”Hexagonal patterns on its horn?” His face lost a significant amount of color. ”I-It's a brillbeast, Chief. You should be careful—”

SHWOOOOHMM~!

A ray of brown light shot out of Stussy's palm and pierced through the nanari's chin and came out from above and soared into the sky and blasted the white clouds away in the twinkling of an eye. The nanari pulled its tongue out as it screamed in pain. Its tongue also had a hole in it. It soon rushed back into the waters, creating large ripples.

A few seconds passed. The ripples died out, but there was no trace of nanari.

”I-It's gone! It's finally gone!” the workers began to exclaim in joy. ”It got scared and ran away, haha! It got what it deserved!”

While the workers were relieving their stress through celebration filled with speaking in gibberish, Gerett looked at Stussy. ”Is it dead?”

”Of course not. I only put a hole in one of its brains. It got spooked and left is all.”

”I-It has multiple brains?” Gerett was startled.

”Cool off. That thing came here alone, so it probably won't resurface, but if it did, taking it down will require much more effort, though. Their kind is hard to kill. To our ease, they can't fly for long, or they'd have also likely gained the title of Humanmaids. Robbing graves, killing those who don't regularly bath, and you know how it goes. Anyway, we'll be entering the Byinshi river soon, so get the fishnets ready.”

”Yes, Chief,” Gerett quickly replied. The Byinshi river was home for many tasty fishes, and it was a prosperous river that stayed well over a hundred kilometers wide even in summers and grew much broader during the rainy reasons. It was thousands of miles long and was also too deep for sunlight to penetrate its bottom, making it possible for all kinds of creatures to dwell.

Stussy started walking toward a tree and was slightly yawning. (That nanari had a golden hook stuck in its mouth. I helped remove it, so it must've felt grateful, or it probably wouldn't have left just like that.) She put her hand gently on her abdomen. ”I'm feeling a bit hungry, but I'm tired of eating the same sweet food again and again. I want to eat something spicy, but I'm not carrying any spicy food. What should I do?” as she was in a bit of a bother, a flash of memory reminded her of the food that Lirzod had left for her. ”Let's see what he's packed in the bag,” she felt a teeny bit excited.

(Did she just yawn?) Gerett's eyebrows raised in a convex shape as he watched her leave. (It would have taken an entire country of hollows to defeat that beast, but she bullied that brillbeast while she's still in a sleepy mood? For heaven's sake, just how far is she ahead of me?) He snorted in helplessness. (I'm a martial like her and am climbing the ladder at my own pace, but it feels like there are infinite steps between us.)

Meanwhile, on the twelfth deck, a particular fellow had grabbed some attention over the past hour or so.

Wearing an old, broken armor he had picked off from the roadside, Lirzod was running around in the streets, sweating profusely and breathing audibly. He got fleeting attention from people, but that was all he got as he looked for Sariyu. Their murmurs didn't interest him anyway. ”Just where is she? If she's not on this deck, then…” as he was thinking, he just crossed a junction, but then came back to the center. Even though he was going in any direction, his feet were still in running motion, striking the same spot on the floor. His nose was also at work. ”It's faint, but it's definitely her scent. So it's this way.” He picked up his pace and ran with haste.

After running for about four hundred meters, he slowed down and brought his breath back under control. ”It's getting hard to breathe with this heavy armor even though it's quite loose. But this is the discomfort I'm looking for. Time to improve my endurance and respiratory capability!” he increased his pace again. ”I feel like I'm growing stronger, but so does the wolf in my belly.” After going for about two hundred meters, he slowed down once more. ”Haha, I'm glad I found this armor. It's quite heavy. It must weigh at least thirty kilos. Since it's going to help me with training, let's give you a name. Let's call you 'Mentor' Solid. Let's see how many steps I can cover in one run.”

About a hundred and seventy minutes later.

Lirzod's breath was no longer under his control, and his running form was all over the place. Sometimes his speed was so slow that even those who were hurriedly walking beside him overtook him, and some people even giggled at him, wondering what he was up to. Sometimes he was fast enough that people who followed him eventually gave up at some point.

”24, 914.”

”24,915.”

Even though his lungs were hurting, Lirzod kept going, while counting the steps aloud, trying to pronounce the number clearly. Though he didn't look like he was focusing on his run, his body seemed to be running on its own, given how tired yet casual of an expression he made.

”28,145.”

”Not yet. My limbs can still move. I can't give up yet!” Lirzod was trying to squeeze out the last bits of strength, but with every step, he was leaning forward. After a few more steps, he felt used up the rest of his energy. His head leaned forward even more.

”What's that kid doing? Trying to lick his own feet while running or what?” a fat bypasser regarded.

”Pfft,” the fat man's companions couldn't control themselves from bursting out into laughter.

”Not yet,” Lirzod took a deep breath through the nose. (Not yet!) His chest and stomach expanded to their max and supplied the much-needed gas to all his muscles in a jiffy. Even though his head was tilted, his eyes were on the path. And he felt a surge of energy coursing through his body, starting with the heart. He gained strength in his footsteps, and his speed suddenly picked up. It seemed as if a translucent wind-shield formed before him. He went fast enough that a fat man's wig flew off.

”My wig!” the fat man ran after his wig, whereas his companions now laughed at him.

”W-Who was that? He's running like a horse!” some people could only wonder in astonishment as Lirzod whooshed past them.

However, Lirzod's speed slowed down after he covered about half-a-mile. Even though he was spent and his body was faintly giving-off vapors, he kept going to finish the goal that was so close. Thanks to his persistence, he was able to get into a touching distance to his goal.

”29, 998. 29, 999. 30,000.” Before taking another step, he collapsed headlong; however, as he was falling, he saw some yellowish thing on the floor. ”Eek! Don't tell me that's…” he suddenly brought his arms out and landed on his palms, then with a great effort rolled to the side and avoided crashing in cat poop. ”Ah! That was close. I almost smelled a cat's ass.”

Even while running, he had come across this trouble, especially at the corners, but thanks to those recent experiences, he managed to finish the run without falling prey to the open traps.

Currently, after such a long run, his body was burning hot, and sweat was on every inch of his body. His eyes slowly shut, wanting to take a long rest. Even though his eyes were closed, there was a pleased smile on his face. ”That was a solid run. The ending sprint felt really great this time.”

”There he is!”

”Thank Goodness. I thought we lost him!”

Suddenly, a group of ten men of all sizes and shapes, with veils covering their faces, came running to him. Some held Lirzod down while the other searched him, still panting. Clearly, they had been following him for some time. Lirzod's mouth was forced shut, and he felt so lacking in energy that he couldn't fight back. One of them kept punching in his face, to knock him unconscious, while the others kept doing what they've come for.

”He isn't carrying anything.”

”Look carefully.”

”The pockets are empty.”

”He's not wearing any jewelry, either.”

”Looking under the armor, and there's nothing.”

”How can this be? If the information is correct, didn't this fellow win a lot of money through bettings? How come he doesn't have a single coin on him?”

”Did you check the underwear?”

”Uh, this guy doesn't have one.”

”What?”

”What a waste of time!”