Chapter 21: Chatterbox

‘Did they find a new sea route?’

‘If so, it would certainly save time.’

‘I should ask a crew member once we set sail.’

Paul glanced at Khan, who was looking around beside him.

It seemed that all of this was simply fascinating to him.

Khan stared blankly at the dark blue sea, then turned his gaze to watch the busy people on the wharf, and then looked up at the seagulls flying in the sky.

‘So cute!’

He was like a child seeing the world for the first time.

The feeling was even stronger as he held Paul’s hand tightly.

Paul smiled inside his mask.

He promised himself that he would show him many more things in the future.

Paul took Khan’s hand and made him turn his gaze from the seagulls to him.

“…?”

Meeting his puzzled gaze, Paul whispered in a voice tinged with laughter.

“Now we’re going to take this to where I live. Once we get there, it would be best to learn to write first, right? You can understand my words, so you’ll learn quickly!”

When Khan hesitated to answer, Paul explained.

“In times like this, you can say things like ‘yes’, ‘okay’, or ‘I understand’!”

“…Yes.”

At Khan’s reply, Paul jumped up and down in place.

As Khan watched Paul laugh and say “That’s it!”, he awkwardly fixed the hood that had slipped off due to his excited movements and slowly nodded.

Khan also wanted Paul to understand his words.

The most important thing between Paul and him right now was language.

As he said, it wouldn’t be difficult to learn.

He didn’t know why, but he could understand his words.

If he learned the words, learned the sentences, and learned the pronunciation, they would be able to have a conversation in no time.

“I want to have a proper conversation with you as soon as possible.”

Paul chuckled as he received Khan’s awkward touch.

The soft whispers were truly ticklish.

“A one-sided conversation where only I talk is a little disappointing. I’m curious about everything, what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling right now. I want you to have fun when you’re with me.”

[■■ ■■■.]

Paul felt his ears perk up at the strange voice and language.

Reflexively grabbing the tips of both his ears, Paul was startled and quickly removed his hands, pressing down on where Khan’s mouth was as if to cover it.

Then he looked around.

Fortunately, none of the busy people were looking this way.

“Shh! You can’t!”

At that, Khan blinked his eyes as if he didn’t understand.

Paul only noticed now, but when Khan spoke the same language as him and when he spoke his original language, not only the accent but also the atmosphere he exuded was different.

Besides, the language he originally used was clearly not a human language…

There was a high possibility that Khan’s identity could be deduced from just one word.

‘It seems like it could be passed off somehow if he’s careful with the atmosphere. Since he doesn’t seem to know himself, it would be best to hold his tongue until we reach a safe place. After all, monsters here are just targets for disposal.’

Paul stepped closer to Khan.

Then he lowered his voice so that others couldn’t hear.

“You can’t do that. It’s fine when it’s just the two of us… but you can’t use that language when other people are around! You’ll get into big trouble… Understood?”

He didn’t know for sure, but since he was told not to, Khan quickly nodded his head slowly, agreeing to do so.

Paul looked at Khan’s nod, but feeling uneasy, he took Khan’s right hand.

Then he hooked his pinky finger with Khan’s and shook it up and down.

“Promise~”

“Pro, mise?”

“It’s just how we make a promise. We hook our pinky fingers like this… and if you break it, your pinky finger gets cut off.”

“…?”

Khan momentarily paused, wondering if he had misheard.

Nicholas, who was watching this situation from behind Khan, was the same.

…Among the casually spoken words, there seemed to be something that shouldn’t have been overlooked?

“Huh?”

But seeing Paul tilt his head with a smile as if asking what the problem was, it seemed he had indeed misheard.

“…Yes.”

As Paul was making a ‘promise~’ by hooking their pinky fingers like a child’s game, a notification window soon popped up in front of him.

[System: 3 minutes until ‘Pamp No. 4’ departs.]

“Wow! It looks like we’re about to leave! Oh right, there was something I wanted to ask before we leave…! Khan, stay right here. Okay? Don’t go anywhere. If anyone asks you anything, ignore them! Don’t kill anyone! Be good, okay? I’ll be right back!”

After rattling off a stream of words, Paul quickly ran down to the first-floor deck to find the captain who had taken his fare earlier.

“Excuse me! Captain!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I wanted to ask something. Did you happen to find a new sea route to Batols? If not, I don’t understand how you can go directly without stopping over.”

At that question, the captain’s eyes widened.

And then he smiled slyly and stroked his beard, and for some reason, Paul felt a subtle sense of foreboding.

Ding!

[System: The favorability of ‘Roland Pamp’, the captain of ‘Pamp No. 4’, has increased!]

[System: A quest has arrived.]

…Along with the notification that the NPC’s favorability had increased, a quest suddenly appeared.

□ [Roland Pamp is Itching to Talk!] [F]

▼ Did you know? Roland Pamp, the captain of Pamp No. 4, is a well-known chatterbox. You’ve just mentioned a topic that Roland Pamp is currently very interested in!

As it happens, he was just itching to spread the word about this amazing fact he just learned. And you, who appeared at just the right time, brought up the topic with an amazing coincidence. My, is this good luck or bad luck?

From now on, it will be easier for you to obtain information related to [ships] and [the sea] from him. How about taking this opportunity to gather the information you were curious about?

P.s. However, the ship will not depart until the story is over, and you will not be able to get away from Roland Pamp.

Reward: Information acquisition, Roland Pamp’s favorability +10

It was before Paul had even finished reading the quest content.

(TN: Belowtext doesn’t mean much to the story and is pretty much just yapping feel free to skip)

“That’s right. That’s right! Is that why you came looking for me, because you were curious about that? Then you’ve come to the right place! Yes, was your question about whether I found a new sea route? Oh, that’s right. You’re a sharp young man, aren’t you? Are you a young man? I distinguished you by your voice since you’re wearing a mask… If not, I apologize. More importantly, about that sea route. I, you see, a little while ago. I had to go to ‘Hwion’. Well, it wasn’t anything special, but do you know a tavern there called <The Red Bison’s Rest>? It’s famous for having such good liquor, isn’t it? So I went there once. And there, I met a group of explorers. Guess what they were talking about? You’ll be surprised when you hear it! I was too! They said they had discovered a new sea route connecting Batols and Flora! I was so surprised that I spat out the beer I was drinking. Ah, don’t say it’s too dirty… I really couldn’t help it at the time. As a captain of a ship, I had to hear that story. I gladly bought them the drinks they were drinking. It was well worth it! That story was really interesting! Oh, my goodness! This is a truly amazing discovery! The distance between the two regions takes at least a week! But with this newly discovered route, it’s said to be much shorter due to the strong currents and sea breeze! A week? What’s a week? It’s become possible to cross the distance in the time it usually takes to stop over! We’re heading there today. The explorers who told us about that route are on this ship, and we have an excellent navigator, and look. Look! I have a map in my hand! Besides, we’ve already passed through that route once. It was really amazing! We loaded enough food for two weeks just in case, but we didn’t even use half of it! If we arrive in Batols using that route once more this time…”

At the endless stream of words, Paul felt dizzy for a moment.

‘Is blood coming out of my ears?’

It wasn’t for nothing that it came out as such a quest.

The captain was truly a chatterbox!

And he wasn’t just saying what was necessary; there was too much unnecessary content in his story!

Paul knew that tavern too.

The smoked barbecue there was more exquisite than the liquor.

Of course, he wasn’t going to tell him that!

All Paul wanted to know was whether they had really found a new sea route and if this ship could get to Batols in a short time…

‘I shouldn’t have asked.’

Sigh.

Paul managed to hold back a sigh by pressing his lips together.

If he upset the captain’s mood, he could be kicked off, no matter how much fare he had paid.

Still, he had learned what he wanted to know, so… he thought that was enough.

But he didn’t want to delay here any longer.

He was a little worried about leaving Khan alone, so he had to cut the conversation short.

The captain was now talking about what he had for dinner yesterday.

Paul wondered if he should cover the captain’s mouth with his own hand right now.

If he left him like this, he felt like he would be held captive and talked to all day.

‘What should I do, should I call a crew member over?’

But there was no need for Paul to step in.

Suddenly, the captain’s gaze shifted slightly upwards, and his busily moving mouth gradually slowed down and then stopped completely.