“What?”

Shiver dashed off with its short legs and stopped in front of a pillar. In front of Shiver was a man, seemingly a sailor, leaning against the mast, sitting down. Though faint, the ship was indeed rocking gently.

Holly, who rushed over in alarm, let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, are you okay?”

As the man lifted his pale face to look at her, she could see his limbs trembling.

“Do you feel unwell somewhere?”

Holly took another step closer, her voice filled with concern.

‘Could it be seasickness?’

As she contemplated fetching some seasickness medicine for him, the man removed his hand from his mouth. Inside his cracked lips, red blood was visible.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“I…”

As Holly bent down for a closer look at the man’s condition,

“Don’t go any closer.”

Adam stepped in front of Holly, pushing her back, and looked at the man with a sharp gaze.

“I’ve seen someone like him in the desert.”

She stepped back even without Adam pushing her, feeling scared by his serious expression. Yet, she couldn’t help but glance at the man who was bleeding.

“Those who became so weak they couldn’t stand or sit and eventually all died.”

“…They died?”

Holly, raising her voice unintentionally, covered her mouth and looked apprehensively at the sick man. He had dropped his head to the floor, seemingly drained of energy.

“Not just that. Soon after, several of his family and neighbors fell ill with the same disease and died.”

According to Adam, the disease the man had was contagious and had a high mortality rate.

“Isn’t there any medicine?”

“How would we know what disease it is?”

At her question, Adam frowned and shook his head. Holly looked at the man with pity, but she no longer thought of approaching him.

“We should leave this ship immediately.”

She nodded since there was no reason to argue against it. Turning around to inform Cahill and Badin of the change in plans, Holly froze for a moment.

“But we’re in the middle of the ocean?”

The ship was still surrounded by sea, and land was nowhere in sight.

“There should be at least a lifeboat on this old ship.”

Adam glanced around the ship, suggesting they search for a lifeboat.

“That’s why I told you to take good care of it.”

As someone chided, sitting in front of the sick man, Holly flinched and shifted her gaze. From the tone of voice, it was clear it was Raki who had guided them to their room.

“Raki? Is that person…”

She called out to Raki, worried that the disease might spread to him.

“No need to worry. This isn’t a contagious disease.”

Raki, examining the sick man’s condition, responded. When he contradicted what Adam had spoken, Adam frowned.

‘…Did Adam get it wrong?’

Holly looked at Adam in disbelief. Although Adam didn’t know everything, the information he provided had never been wrong until now.

Raki rummaged through a square wooden basket he had set down.

“And with this, I can make everything better.”

Then, he turned to Holly and Adam, waving something in his hand. It was a glass bottle with a yellow substance inside. After opening the bottle, Raki reached in to pull out its contents and shoved it into the man’s mouth.

“Chew.”

Following Raki’s instruction, the man grimaced and slowly chewed.

“Is that lemon?”

Holly, examining the bottle, asked upon seeing the thinly sliced lemon. Raki kept his eyes on the man, making sure he properly chewed and swallowed the lemon, then nodded.

“Yes.”

Raki took another lemon slice from the bottle, gave it to the man, and then closed the bottle.

“The disease this man has is common among those who spend a long time at sea. In the past, it was fatal, but now it’s different.”

He stood up, picking up the basket.

“Just keep taking this preserved lemon, and it can be cured in a few weeks.”

Raki looked at Adam and smiled, clearly having heard their entire conversation.

“Sorry.”

Holly, feeling embarrassed on behalf of Adam, apologized.

‘After all, Adam was just trying to be cautious for my sake…’

Adam’s pale face flushed red as if he was struggling to hold back his anger.

“I apologize.”

However, what came out of Adam’s mouth was an apology. Raki, acting as if it didn’t bother him, continued.

“I’ve heard that many sailors died in the past because they didn’t know this treatment. So, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong.”

Raki lifted the cloth covering the square wooden basket. Inside were bottles of various shapes and sizes.

“Here, I’ll give you this.”

He then took out a bottle from the basket and handed it to Holly. It seemed to be the largest bottle among those in the basket.

“As this guest mentioned, it’s still not entirely clear why people contract this disease, but it’s certain that it mostly affects those who travel long distances.”

Raki slightly raised and then lowered the hand holding the bottle, indicating for her to take it.

As Holly reached out to take it, Adam extended his arm and took the bottle instead. Raki shifted his gaze to him as he took the bottle, and he continued.

“It seems you’re quite familiar with the symptoms of this disease, so I guess there’s no need to explain further. Consuming this will ensure recovery from the disease in as short as two weeks to as long as a month.”

“But is it okay to give this to us? It seems like something essential for those traveling by sea…”

Holly looked at the glass bottle with a complex expression.

“This is a token of my gratitude for saving my life. It’s far from sufficient, but…”

Raki scratched his neck, looking embarrassed.

“Can we take this as a preventive measure before getting sick?”

Adam asked as he had been intently staring at the lemon preserve. It seemed he had decided to trust Raki’s words that the lemon preserve could cure the disease.

“It appears so. Among those who regularly consume lemon preserve, including myself, none have fallen ill.”

Raki nodded in affirmation.

“Shall we try one now? I’ve been wanting to taste it since earlier.”

Holly spoke up with a smile, and Adam immediately opened the bottle. Even though she reached out eagerly, once again, Adam intervened.

“There’s no need to dirty Holly’s hands.”

He extended a piece of lemon preserve towards her, who was bewildered.

‘…Is he trying to feed me?’

This unusual kindness from him left her blinking in confusion.

‘Should I accept it…?’

While Holly was deep in thought, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist, swallowing not just the preserve but his fingers as well. Adam, with his face turning pale with the unpleasant wetness, glanced up to find Badin holding his wrist.

“What on earth are you doing…”

His voice trembled with anger, having identified the source of the discomfort.

“What’s with the act?”

It was Cahill who spoke up, his voice cold and severe.

Adam looked at Cahill with a face full of tension. Holly, too, felt uncomfortable with Adam’s overeagerness but didn’t intervene, stepping back to watch the scene unfold.

“I should go now. I have a lot to do…”

Caught in the tense atmosphere, Raki muttered his excuse to leave. It was then that Holly realized they weren’t the only ones present.

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