After a long walk along the coast, I finally arrived at the port.
Victoria’s gaze repeatedly shifted towards the mountaintop, indicating she was trying to grasp the port’s location in relation to her surroundings.
The port was quite chaotic.
There were remnants of burned buildings and debris, and bloodstains were scattered everywhere.
But soldiers in heavy armor were tidying up the area.
With brass-colored exoskeletons and winding gears whirring, occasionally emitting a shimmering blue fog, the medium armor functioned as a reinforced exoskeleton that granted them power.
Victoria must have learned this technology at school.
Because of that, her eyes seemed glued to the scene.
Since I was holding her hand, I followed her gaze and watched the soldiers. When one of them effortlessly lifted part of a half-collapsed building, it looked just like a small crane. As the armored soldiers cleared heavy objects, others in uniforms entered buildings to search.
I sometimes saw soldiers bringing something out of the houses.
Sometimes it was the corpse of a Sahaquin, and other times, it was a human corpse.
The Sahaquin corpses were thrown into a pit on the outskirts of the port, while the human corpses were laid out in the center of the square and covered with white cloths. Looking around, it seemed they were displaying the bodies for identification.
Elderly people could be seen weeping as they confirmed the faces of the corpses under the white cloths.
I wondered why they needed to cover the bodies to check the faces, but then I noticed the bugs buzzing around and realized.
I mean, it’s not exactly pleasant to check a face when bugs are swarming over it.
Yet Victoria didn’t spare a glance at that and was absorbed in admiring the medium armor.
After wandering around the village and enjoying the sight of the armor, Victoria awkwardly smiled and dragged me somewhere.
Accommodation.
It was a cheap place resembling a hostel more than a hotel.
It had two floors, a long corridor, and the doors leading into the rooms opened onto that corridor.
I entered a room after Victoria, opening a door with a muddy handle.
In my faded memories, the structure looked like a random lodge standing alone in the middle of the wilderness, kind of like in an American movie. Although in reality, the last time I saw the inside of such a place wasn’t in a movie but in a zombie game.
Except for the absence of a TV, the inside of the accommodation was just like that memory.
Surprisingly, each room having washing and toilet facilities was quite remarkable.
With technological advancements, washing areas came first, followed by toilets.
According to my faded memory, it hadn’t been long since cheap places like this actually had toilets installed inside.
Considering the brass-lit civilization, it indicated they had unexpectedly advanced technology.
And that it was widespread even among ordinary people.
The open door and the footprints stuck to the floor captured my attention first.
Looking at the footprints, it seemed no one else had been bothered; they simply grabbed Victoria and left.
Victoria confidently walked into the room, surveyed the surroundings, and sighed in relief. Then she quickly stuffed her belongings into her travel bag.
“Hey! What are you doing in there? You’re not here to steal someone’s belongings, are you?”
Suddenly, a loud voice called out from outside the door. Turning my head, I saw an old man with a cane shouting.
“Are you the owner? I’m just here to pick up my stuff.”
Victoria nonchalantly replied, paying no mind, and quickly packed her things, regardless of whether the old man was watching or not.
Thud!
After slamming her rather hefty travel bag shut with a loud sound, Victoria marched out with it in hand.
“You’re definitely the girl who disappeared last night…”
The old man’s expression was filled with astonishment and confusion as he looked at Victoria. When someone thought to be dead suddenly reappeared, the reaction isn’t quite the same as you’d think. Instead, there was a strange sense of unease.
It was the look of someone who’s committed an offense and feared being caught.
However, seemingly oblivious to this, Victoria went straight out.
Thump!
She then dropped her bag roughly in front of the old man.
“I’ve really been through a lot. It’s tough, but I need to catch the boat at noon. Thankfully, the monsters didn’t touch my stuff. Since I’m leaving before noon, I won’t need to pay any extra charges, right?”
The old man nodded hesitantly, looking almost intimidated by Victoria’s demeanor. Then he noticed me inside the room and exclaimed in surprise.
“No, wait, who’s that kid? Isn’t he supposed to be charged for an extra night if he didn’t sleep alone?”
“That kid was rescued when he was kidnapped.”
With a calm expression, Victoria answered, and the old man immediately shut his mouth. His face was filled with discontent and suspicion.
It didn’t seem like he was trying to pick a fight over just the money.
But Victoria shoved the key she’d taken near the entrance against the old man’s chest and glanced at me.
“Let’s go.”
“Sure thing.”
I followed Victoria out.
Then, noticing a look of disdain and disgust on her face directed at the old man, I asked her once we had moved far enough from the accommodation.
“Aren’t you going to criticize him?”
“You’re pretty perceptive.”
Victoria, holding the bag confidently, replied.
“I can’t tell how deep the connections are. I don’t know if they just opened the door for survival, whether someone was supposed to be handed over, or if there was some kind of deal going on.”
The leather shoes, stiff from dried blood, stepped into a puddle.
Splash!
There was anger in that step.
She must have known the old man had some dealings with the Sahaquin.
“But since the ship is just around the corner, there’s no time to dwell on that. If we miss it, we won’t get a room and will have to sit around all day.”
With the holidays starting, a large influx of people was moving, so there was no other option. According to Victoria’s memory, if you didn’t buy a ticket two or three weeks in advance, the prices would shoot up and good spots would be gone.
“And now the old man has no one left to trade with, right? Just let it go; it won’t be a big deal.”
It sounded like a joke when a schoolgirl transformed into a Sahaquin butcher wielding a crowbar said this.
I nodded.
“But, what should I call you?”
I had explained earlier that I didn’t have a name. But it’s hard to interact with someone without a way to address them. At times like this, there’s a simple way.
“Please give me one.”
“Are you asking someone else to name you?”
Even with my bewildered stare,
“A name is just a symbol. Think of it as giving me a nickname and just come up with something.”
“Just a moment, just a moment.”
Victoria wore an expression that showed she was confronted with a significant issue and decided to put the problem on hold.
I nodded.
After all, a name isn’t that crucial.
What mattered more was that I had to walk quite a bit since this body is much shorter than Choseol.
I wonder if this body is tall? I hope so. It was more comfortable when I was Rebecca than it was as Choseol.
As I pondered this, Victoria and I arrived at the port.
In front of us was a gigantic ship adorned with massive wheels and gears.
It looked like one of the battleships from the memories of the Sahaquin. Instead of cannons, a mechanical device that fired beams was attached, and when it hit, it would vaporize both the Sahaquin and bio-machines.
“Insane…”
Victoria seemed to have forgotten about naming me as she gazed at the ship with a blank stare. From her perspective, gears and mechanical devices were glistening together.
Victoria really enjoys learning about this stuff.
Boom!
“Ouch! The ship! Hey, hurry!”
As a small boat honked from a distance, Victoria snapped back into reality, hugging her bag tightly and sprinting towards it like an office worker rushing to work.
I chased after her and barely made it to the front of the boat.
“Tickets, please.”
Panting, Victoria pulled out the ticket, but when the crew pointed at me and asked for another ticket, she freaked out.
“Can’t you make an exception for just one child!”
“Absolutely not.”
There was a tussle with the person collecting the tickets.
I mean, it was one ticket per person, so it couldn’t be helped.
Just when it felt like we might get separated, after a long negotiation, the man collecting tickets slipped a few coins into his pocket, and suddenly, just like magic, all issues were resolved!
And just like that, I was allowed on board.
“Phew. Glad he’s flexible.”
“You call bribing flexible?”
“Don’t you ever learn to do stuff like this.”
Treating me like a child, Victoria led me onto the ship.
To my surprise, the ship was larger than I expected.
Well, strictly speaking, it was a considerable ship, but standing next to the battleship made it appear small.
Recovering from her exhaustion, Victoria held the ticket as she walked inside. Then, confirming the room number on the ticket, she soon arrived at a small private room.
Once inside, she tossed her things inside and collapsed onto the small bed. She didn’t rise again.
“Ahhh, I’m dying. Seriously. I’m sorry. I’m going to sleep. I’m really tired.”
The sound of departure echoed loudly as she buried her head in the pillow and began deep, heavy breaths, indicating just how exhausted she was.
The night began, and the chaos from the city of Sahaquin continued.
In the beginning, with the presence of Sahaquin around, she would sneak around or lure them in to strike quietly.
But after acquiring dedicated weapons, she started rampaging without hiding.
Victoria might not have noticed, but they didn’t actively hunt her down, either.
Why? Because the expression of the Fishman was like that of seeing a fellow kin.
They weren’t technically kin yet, but they were looking forward to the day they would be.
Having the additional factor that Victoria was a girl exacerbated the situation, too.
A creature as strong as her could give birth to exceptional offspring if she were to become kin.
Intermingling several intentions, this high school girl, fortunate enough to butcher them all, eventually wiped out all the Sahaquin.
She almost failed at the end but survived due to my unfortunate summoning.
In conclusion, it meant fatigue and sleep that had been pending finally crashed upon her.
I casually changed Victoria into pajamas from her bag and sat beside her until she woke up.
