A hidden dock.

Certainly, Ryouta was not expecting to see something like this.

A lone ship was parked at the dock.

Though the ship itself was inconspicuous, the crudely-drawn skull-shaped symbol against a black background of the sail showed that the ship was not a simple one.

Clearly, it was a pirate ship?

Was what Ryouta thought. He found it rather ridiculous. Are pirates usually so blatantly obvious in showing who they were? He felt incredulous at the notion. It was as if the owner of the ship wanted to be noticed and get caught. Like, hey, come and catch me (lol)!

Though he had never seen a pirate ship all his life, he didn’t think they’d be so… reckless. After all, if one was a thief, would they really incriminate themselves like that? But of course, this was just his thoughts. Maybe the pirates were really that brave and reckless.

“Shiro… are you sure we should be here?”

Ryouta visibly gulped. He could see rough-looking burly men loading goods into the ship.

“Hey, you!” Suddenly a voice shouted from behind Ryouta. “What are you doing here?! Who are you?!”

Ryouta’s head immediately whipped towards the owner of the voice.

A girl stood behind him, sword pointed towards him.

“Speak! Who are you?” The girl cautiously watched Ryouta’s every move.

“Ship~” As if unconcerned with the weapon pointed at them, Shiro, from Ryouta’s back, popped her head up and straightened her back, pointing towards the ship.

The girl’s eyes widened at Shiro’s appearance. The hand that was holding the sword slackened as her eyes were wide in a daze. Pearly white skin, matched with snow-coloured hair and azure eyes; she had never seen such a beautiful girl!

“Hey, do you know anything about that ship and where it’s headed?” Ryouta spoke. Thought he girl was distracted, he was still eyeing the sword cautiously.

The girl’s attention was snapped back towards the man in front of her. That was bad, the girl thought. It was an amateur’s mistake to be distracted during a confrontation.

“You still haven’t answered my question; who are you and what are you doing here!”

Seeing the girl grasping her sword tighter, Ryouta took a step back. “I’m Ryouta, and this is Shiro. We’re looking for a way to get to the Republic, and somehow stumbled to this place! We mean no harm, I promise.”

The girl’s gaze went back and forth from Ryouta to Shiro, seeking to see if what he said was the truth. Seeing the honest looks in both of their eyes, the girl lowered her sword, but did not drop her guard.

They could be lying, she told herself. There had been cases where enemy spies had infiltrated their ranks in the same way previously, after all.

“Fine. Follow me.” The girl nodded, keeping her eyes on them. She walked towards the ship, motioning them to follow her. “Don’t try anything stupid,” she warned the boy.

Ryouta and Shiro exchanged glances. Seeing the eager look on Shiro’s face, Ryouta could only follow along.

Hehehe, did Shiro do well~?

Shiro smiled happily, from ear to ear, with the aura of someone asking for praise emanating from her.

Praise me~ praise me~