“The Kraken is weakened! Now’s our chance!”

The sailors indeed showed bravery. They quickly grabbed their lost weapons and climbed up the Kraken’s tentacles.

“It’s dangerous…”

Holly looked worried as she watched the sailors ascend the Kraken’s body. Soon after, a loud explosion came from the Kraken’s overinflated body.

“Uwaack!”

“No!”

As the Kraken’s body burst, the sailors who had climbed on it were also thrown into the air. Pieces of its body slid close to Holly. Those entwined in its tentacles fell to the deck as the Kraken lost consciousness.

Raki, whom Holly had intended to rescue, was tumbling across the deck.

“Adam! Bring Raki here.”

Without realizing it, Holly ordered Adam in a commanding tone.

“Yes!”

The unfazed Adam obeyed her command as readily as he would Cahill’s.

“Th, thank you for saving me…”

Raki, who was dragged over by Adam, thanked the group with a pale face before he collapsed in exhaustion afterwards.

“What should we do?”

“Do we need to move him? This ship is practically his home. He’ll go inside once he regains consciousness.”

Adam coolly responded to her puzzled look.

“Doesn’t this look like it could be delicious if cooked properly?”

Holly flinched at the voice coming from beside her. Turning her head, she saw an unexpected figure.

“Badin? When did you come out?”

Unlike the trio, Badin had spent his time in bed, except for meals and bathroom breaks. Despite the commotion caused by the Kraken, he was the type to stay put unless directly affected.

“Just now.”

Badin was drooling over a piece of Kraken flesh. Adam twisted his mouth, seeing Badin.

“The insides of a Kraken contain poison. Eating it could knock you out for days, if not worse.”

At his words, Badin’s face fell, and he tossed aside the chunk of meat he was holding. He wasn’t the only one to react that way.

“Don’t worry. There’s plenty of food right there.”

The group followed Cahill’s pointing hand. Fish were frozen in place as they jumped from the water taller than a person. It seemed that he had caught fish that washed up when the waves hit.

“What’s this?”

“Are these real fish?”

Several onlookers had gathered below.

“Look, Holly. I can even melt things now.”

Cahill called out to Holly with a face eager to show off. He stared intently at the frozen fish, straining as if it wasn’t as easy as summoning a snowstorm with his will.

Extending his arms forward, he clenched his fists lightly before spreading his fingers as if bursting something open. At that moment, the eyes of the frozen fish began to move. Their fins fluttered, and finally, the fish regained their full vitality.

“Aack!”

The fish, previously suspended in the air, fell onto the heads of the onlookers below.

“Ah, it’s cold!”

The melting ice drenched some of the spectators, who shivered from the temperature far colder than seawater.

“But can we start a fire on the ship?”

Holly, who was fascinated by the scene, looked sympathetically at the fate of those gathered around the fish as she asked.

“The freshest fish should be eaten sashimi!”

An unfamiliar voice interjected. It was the elder who had taught Cahill to fish. He had fled first when the Kraken appeared but had somehow returned to the deck. He drooled over a fish he had held.

“Sashimi?”

“It’s thinly sliced raw fish.”

“Eating it without cooking?”

Holly asked the old man, puzzled. To her, fish was something to be grilled or boiled.

“The taste of sashimi can vary greatly depending on how it’s sliced. Let’s replace the fishing we couldn’t do earlier with slicing sashimi. How about it?”

As the elder licked his lips with sparkling eyes, Holly quickly tugged on Cahill’s arm, poised to agree.

‘Thinking of taking advantage of us…’

The fish for slicing sashimi had been caught by Cahill, and they had already paid a gold coin to do fishing.

“What if you say you’ll allow us to fish for the entire journey?”

Holly’s suggestion made the elder’s eyes narrow.

“You’re quite the tough negotiator.”

The old man laughed and nodded in agreement.

* * *

Fishing turned out to be unbearably tedious. Holly let out a long yawn and turned to look at Cahill seated next to her. He was staring at the end of his fishing line with persistence as if casting a spell to attract fish.

‘Maybe I should take a walk.’

Holly secured her fishing rod on the stand and quietly stood up to avoid making any noise.

“Where are you going?”

Somehow noticing, Cahill swiftly turned his head to look at her. Holly, thinking he was too absorbed in fishing to notice, was startled by his quick reaction.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously at her.

“Just tired of sitting still. Thought I’d walk around a bit and come back.”

Hearing her words, he immediately let go of his fishing rod and got up.

“Let’s go together.”

Holly quickly shook her head. Though holding a fishing rod and staring into space was all there was to it, he seemed genuinely interested in fishing, unlike her.

“I’ll go by myself. It’s not like I’m going far…”

Holly didn’t want to interrupt his newfound hobby.

“Shiver is here, so it’s fine.”

Shiver, who was at her feet, seemed to think she was talking about it and rubbed its face against her pants.

She had stopped carrying Shiver in her arms because Cahill disliked it too much.

In the meanwhile, Cahill glared at Shiver with a sulky expression. It seemed he was displeased that she was relying on Shiver and not him.

“I’ll be back soon, so keep an eye on my fishing rod as well.”

Cahill’s brows furrowed, torn between following her request or acting on his own wishes. Holly gave him a deciding smile.

“We’ll get to taste fresh sashimi again today, right?”

Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. It was not a lie to appease Cahill. She had tasted ‘sashimi’ for the first time the day before, and the flavor had captivated her with its chewy texture and rich taste, distinct from grilled fish.

At Holly’s excited voice, Cahill resolved to catch fish for delicious sashimi for her.

“I’ll make sure you have enough to get sick of it today!”

‘That might be unnecessary…’

Holly hid her true thoughts behind a smile.

The reinvigorated Cahill gazed back at the sea with fiery determination. If he had the power to set things ablaze instead of freezing them, he might have burned all the water in front of him with that intense look.

She quickly looked around.

People tired from the long voyage were scattered across the deck. Initially, everyone’s attention had been on Cahill, but gradually, they began to lose interest, treating him like just another beautiful statue on the ship.

Once Holly was sure no one was watching, she quickly crouched down. With a soft sound, she pressed her lips against Cahill’s cheek and then pulled away.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

With a whisper, she quickly left before the stunned Cahill could regain his composure.

Soon, Shiver, equally bored of staying in one place, cheerfully led the way.

Holly followed, watching its back. Shiver’s backside wiggled amusingly with each short step due to the short legs.

—There’s a dead person over there!

Startled from fixating on Shiver’s wiggling backside, she lifted her head at the voice echoing in her mind.

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