Roy wasn’t wrong.

Kain had grabbed her wrist so tightly earlier not to protect her, but to protect the unprepared soldiers who’d barged into the tavern.

The moment Kain realized just how dangerous this captain was, then saw Todd and his men push through the door, he made his decision. He’d restrain Roy himself. If she really tried to pull free and draw her blade, she’d have to dislocate his hand first.

In his eyes, it was the best way to prevent a conflict. But to the captain, it was an unforgivable act of treason.

“They didn’t recognize you. And even if things had come to that, I could’ve handled it.” Kain uncorked the red wine and filled the glass beside Roy to a third of the way.

“So when it comes to problems involving the Imperial military, I hope you’ll leave them to me, Captain.”

Hearing her first mate’s sincere promise, some of the fire smoldering in Roy’s heart died down. She gestured, and the Jackdaw that had been perched on the young man’s shoulder obediently hopped onto her hand. It gave Kain a look that said there was nothing it could do to help him.

“And what if you can’t handle it?” Roy settled Elfie on her shoulder, cut off a piece of cooked beef for it, and asked the question in her usual sharp tone.

“Then I’ll die before you do. That’ll be my way of repaying the life you saved.”

Kain said it as casually as if it were nothing, but his calm words made the captain’s hand pause for a moment.

“Tch. I don’t want you dying for me. That’s way too cheesy.” Roy sounded a little disdainful, but her anger had clearly almost run its course. Once Elfie had what it needed, she started making up for a whole day of hunger herself.

The captain and her first mate were constantly at odds, but somehow they always made up in the end. It was as if the issues they fought over were no more than the everyday bickering of a couple—argue when they had time, make up afterward, and repeat without end.

With the matter of the Olan military settled, Kain remembered the clash in the tavern and the baron at its center. Recalling that pale face caked in powder, he suddenly found himself with a much smaller appetite.

“By the way, if I hadn’t shown up in time, were you really going to go back to that baron’s estate with him?”

The thought made Kain vaguely uncomfortable, though he couldn’t explain where the feeling came from.

As if… as if someone had nearly let a pig get at his prized cabbage?

“Hm?”

Roy swallowed her food. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

Under the captain’s “innocent” gaze, Kain’s expression darkened. “Those two were obviously no good. With your experience, you must’ve guessed what they were after. So why were you still determined to go?”

Roy blinked. She heard the irritation rising in her first mate’s voice and looked baffled. “I finally hooked a big fish. Why wouldn’t I go?”

“A big fish?” Kain stared at her.

“Of course. I knew what that baron wanted from me, so I planned to play along and find out where his estate was. Then I could hit the place…” Roy picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth, eagerly explaining her plan. Then she suddenly stopped, eyes widening as she stared at the naval officer across from her.

“Wait, why are you mad? Shouldn’t I be the one who’s mad? You’ve ruined my plan yet again—and just when I finally had some hope of getting funds, too! When are you going to be useful for once instead of…”

“It’s all taken care of.” Kain cut off the captain’s complaints, then quietly watched her pale face.

“Huh?” Roy let out a bewildered little cry and looked at Kain, clearly not following. “What’s taken care of?”

Kain pulled a ship’s contract, written on parchment, from inside his coat and handed it to the bewildered captain. He listed it off like he was reading out a menu: “Funds, enough food and fresh water for two months at sea, and a lightly armed two-masted merchant ship. This is the bill of sale. We have everything we need. All we have to do is recruit some crew, and we can set sail.”

Roy took the contract and examined it carefully. She found nothing wrong. It was the most common form of proof of sale for ships in the Orlan Empire, and there was even a stamp on it that hadn’t dried yet. It must’ve just been applied.

“Y-You got all this?” Roy swallowed. Her earlier swagger had vanished. She felt she might have underestimated just how much the Howard name meant in the Orlan Empire.

“That’s right, Captain. Are you still planning to kick me out?” Kain looked at Roy, who was clutching the contract and refusing to let go. For once, there was a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Oh, not at all. I’ve always treated my crew well. Even if one of them lost the ability to work in a fight, I’d give them enough compensation to eat and drink for the rest of their life. You can ask my former crew.”

Roy’s former crew had betrayed her and were now drifting somewhere out on the sea. They obviously couldn’t answer Kain, making this an impossible question.

“Besides, you’re so capable. I’d treasure you before I ever let you go. Isn’t that right, Elfie?”

The captain seemed to realize that what she’d said wasn’t exactly fair, so she awkwardly looked away and turned her gaze to the Jackdaw, who had eaten its fill and was nodding off on her shoulder.

“All right, don’t bother it.” Seeing that the Jackdaw could barely keep its eyes open, Kain reluctantly drew the captain’s attention back to him.

“My plan is for us to spend a day hiring a few sailors, then leave the next day. As for the permanent crew, we can decide once we reach somewhere we can actually recruit pirates. What do you think?”

The place where they could actually recruit pirates was, of course, the Southern Islands. After years in the military, Kain knew that legendary pirates like Roy were each given their own territory by a Great Captain.

Recruiting on her own turf was obviously much better than doing it on Fran Island, which was under the Empire’s control.

There wasn’t much wrong with the first mate’s suggestion. In fact, it was more or less the route Roy had planned all along. The problem was that hiring people in a single day was too rushed. Even if they only needed temporary sailors, it’d be a tight squeeze.

And though Kain sounded calm, Roy’s keen eye caught something off. The way her first mate had arranged things made it seem as if he were avoiding something.

“I’m fine with it. Let’s do what you said. It’s just…” Roy hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t help voicing her suspicion. “It just seems like you’re hiding something from me.”

Kain was quiet for a while, then answered without trying to hide it. “Governor Federo will arrive on Fran Island in three days and hold a ball. Plenty of important people will be coming with him.”

Roy had heard the name Federo, of course. But the deadly viper of the Orlan Empire didn’t intimidate her much, so she asked, confused, “As far as I know, Federo and your father are close. Why are you avoiding him?”

“It’s simple. If you don’t want thousands of sailors chasing after me to bring me back, then it’s best not to let the Empire catch sight of me.” Kain toyed with his glass, watching the blood-red wine sway inside as he calmly explained.

“Uh… If you really are that important, we’d better get out of here as soon as possible.”

Roy didn’t want to let go of the capable man she’d worked so hard to lure into her crew. But then she suddenly remembered an important matter she’d nearly forgotten, and said regretfully, “Still, if we do that, we’ll probably miss quite a show.”