Chapter 190: Lost at sea?

 I had a crude potion on me but the pirates also had crude potions on them. So I had to make it seem like my potion was much rarer and that their boss couldn't possibly live without me.

Which was why, I quickly gulped half of the potion's content to heal the cut on my face and formed pure water inside the vial to somewhat make the cloudy potion a little more clear. "This is an elixir," I said.

"Yar lying!" One of them yelled.

"Kill him!"

"Get away from ze boss!"

"Okay then I won't give it to him," I said, pocketing my potion. "Feel free to treat his wound and give him potions. But if he dies on you, well, I suppose that'll be on you, right."

Some of them grit their teeth hard. Was I always such a great actor? Smirking I kept walking down the plank. The muscle girl was with me and she was the reason I wasn't skewered by arrows yet. Then again, if they'd made the pleasant decision to attack me, Alustur was going to cook them so-

Anyway, I got on board the pirate ship. The flooring and ship quality was miles better than our makeshift piece of… ahem. "Stop staring and do something!" The girl urged me.

Let's see, well he's breathing so that's nice. I used to get all faintish whenever I saw blood. Yet, in this body, I didn't feel jackshit. Maybe the only time I felt a little bit queasy was when I saw Mom and that nightmare.

I cleaned the open wound and made sure whether the lungs were punctured or not- they were not as far as I was concerned. Otherwise, this person would have drowned in his own blood at this point. I knew little of medical science but I did know decent first aid, and right now that was all I needed.

I drowsed some potion on him afterwards and made him drank some more. This won't work… if I had my actual elixir, I wouldn't have had to do much of anything or remotely worry but… do I?

If I searched through my bags maybe I had a vial or two but I sure wasn't going to waste it on this guy.

"Argh…." The guy groaned and regained consciousness.

"If you move too much, you're going to die," I spoke out loud. "Go bring your potions," I said addressing the others.

 The pirates hurried.

They don't have a doctor, huh.

I fed the guy a new potion. Worked. His wounds mostly healed but we knew it'd open up if he moved too much.

If there was a puncture in his lungs, the potion wouldn't have done much of anything. It was apparently a much watered-down version of the healing elixir. It worked but only sort of.

"Captain!" The girl dropped on her knees, tried hugging the pirate man but obviously dealt with awkwardness cause she didn't know if it'd hurt or something. The man didn't care though and hugged her despite groaning mildly.

Pirates were crying and some were rejoicing. Suffice to say, I was still pretty damn confused.

"Are we like going through mass hysteria or something?" I said.

"What is that?" Alustur said.

"Never mind." I relaxed and approached the girl. "Hey, don't forget our dea-"

Huh?

My feet sunk in.

No, the world turned black?

Oh?

No?

Oh.

I fainted.

Fuck.

***

So I might or might not have underestimated the pirates and their intent of killing me. That arrow, that fucking arrow was poisoned.

"Argh…" My head throbbed and the squeaking room wasn't helping. It swayed occasionally and though I'd sort of gotten used to this crap, it was really getting on my nerves.

"You're lucky," Alustur said. "Usually, people use limbs."

Meanwhile, I only had a mild necrosis on my cheek, which he showed me with a mirror. There was something under the necrosis. Namely… scales.

Not just on my cheek tho, the scales on my body had grown a bit too. "This is getting sort of worse."

"It is," Alustur said. "Are you aware… of what used to happen to special children like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I see."

"Dude, just tell me."

"I will, or wanted to but it is not my place to. It is something you must confront yourself; the final meaning of your life."

If he wasn't such a powerful dude, I'd have yelled the ever so pleasant 'fuck you'.

Alustur sighed. "It's fine. You can hate me if you want to."

"Seriously, what are you… a mind reader?"

"It is actually a skill, being able to tell emotions and maybe some crude thoughts. I… I can teach you if you want."

"Why not. Not like we have something better to do."

"You do. Recover first." He stood and went out. "I'll come back with breakfast later."

Breakfast?

It's already been a day?

Hmmm….

I spent about an hour just lying in bed. But when I got sort of bored, I went out and found some pirates in the hallway. Just two guys. They looked at me, nodded, but said nothing. I walked past the wooden corridor, made way for the starboard and well… the ship was moving and there was no other ship nearby. A bit of a shadow stretched far just below the ship.

Bright blue sky with barely any clouds. Sunny.

"What happened afterwards?" I said, noticing one of the crewmembers.

He gave me a glance and sighed. "The pirates forcefully took over our small ship and then forced us to board this ship and travel with them."

Hmm… "Where are we going?"

"The thing is… we don't know."

"What do you mean we don't know? They haven't told any of you?"

"No… it's just that… the navigator… is dead."

Hmmm…. The fuck? "But that guy was always hiding in the bathroom!"

"Exactly!" The sailor said. "But he somehow ended up dead. The pirates don't tell us anything and well… we might actually be lost."

"What makes you say that?" I said.

"That," he said, pointing at the helm. I actually didn't think much of the helmsman or rather, the helmswoman. "Do you see the uncertainty in her face?"

As a matter of fact… I did.