Free Web NovelChapter 115: Chapter 115: JACOBS POV.
Chapter 115: JACOBS POV.
He bowed his upper body deeply, his hands shaking as they pressed against his trousers.
He looked absolutely terrified that I might decide to shatter Flounder’s hands next, just like I had shattered the iron blade.
"It’s alright, mistakes tend to happen from time to time," I said smoothly.
Not wanting to give the old man a hard time, I accepted the apology without making a massive fuss.
Rudwig was a good man who was simply trying to keep his group alive under terrible conditions, and he didn’t deserve to suffer just because his companion was an absolute blockhead.
I let the dark scales on my right hand recede, the skin returning to its normal appearance in a brief blur.
I then clapped my hands, brushing off a few tiny flecks of broken iron that had stuck to my palm, letting them fall onto the floorboards with a series of quiet clicks.
"Regarding why I came in the first place," I continued, adjusting the collar of my shirt and looking past Flounder’s stiff shoulder toward the thick oak door. "I was wondering if the young one has eaten. If not, I’d be glad to prepare something for you and your party. I mean, if that’s okay with you. Our galley is fully stocked, and we have fresh supplies."
"W-What?" Rudwig had a surprised look on his face as if he never expected to hear this from me.
His jaw slacked open a tiny bit, and he looked at me as if I had suddenly grown a second head.
He had clearly expected a harsh interrogation, a demand for money, or at least a stern lecture about his companions actions, Instead, I was offering to play the role of a personal chef for them.
"That... Umm... why not just give us the ingredients? We’ll be sure to prep them ourselves," he said with a forced, highly nervous smile.
He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes shifting toward the floor. It was obvious he didn’t want to owe me any more favors than he already did, and he was likely still terrified that I might try to poison their food now that I knew their true royal identity.
Gosh we’re this people skeptical, but I guess it came with the territory when you worked for a royal households.
"Oh? If that’s what you want," I replied, tilting my head slightly. "I just didn’t think anyone from your group could do so."
" Forgive me, but regarding your devastating loss and the state your servants are in, I just presumed none of you were in any condition to."
Honestly I only wanted to set their minds at ease, after all, stress was a horrible thing.
"Well, you presumed wrong," Flounder interjected coldly, his voice like an icy wind.
"Flounder!" Rudwig shot him an unhappy glare, his round face twisting with a mix of anger and absolute embarrassment.
How could this brat be so rude to their benefactor? He reached out and swatted at the back of Flounder’s arm, but the younger man didn’t even flinch.
The lad merely glanced in a different direction, feigning ignorance as he stared intently at the wooden rivets in the opposite wall.
He looked completely unbothered by the old attendant’s scolding, keeping his chin tilted up in a stubborn show of defiance.
"Forgive him, Sir. He has had a very difficult few days, and his manners have suffered for it," Rudwig pleaded, turning back to me with a desperate look in his eyes.
"Once more, you needn’t do such. It’s quite alright. It’s completely normal for boys his age to behave as such when they are under a lot of stress," I said with a breezy wave of my hand, deliberately choosing my words to poke at the kid’s pride.
"Boy?! Who are you calling a boy?!" This time around, Flounder couldn’t hide his vexation.
His head snapped back toward me so fast I thought his neck might crack.
The cool, unbothered mask he had been trying so hard to wear completely shattered, revealing a red, furious face.
His chests puffed out, and he glared at me with a heat that could have melted ice.
"Pardon?" This time, it was my turn to feign ignorance. I blinked my eyes slowly, putting on the most innocent, confused expression I could manage.
"Forgive me, I guess I must’ve misunderstood," I continued, letting a slight tone of pity creep into my voice.
"Your stature and appearance looked like one around fourteen, so I’m afraid I made a terrible mistake. You’re quite short, and you have a very smooth face, so I just naturally assumed you were a young squire or a stable boy."
I leaned in just an inch closer, a look of polite curiosity on my face. "Might I ask how old you are then? Sixteen? Eighteen? Surely you can’t be much older than that."
"Twenty-three!" the guy said through gritted teeth, his voice vibrating with pure rage.
He practically spat the numbers out at me, his hands curling into tight fists at his sides as if he wanted nothing more than to punch the smug look right off my face.
"Oh my," I said, quickly clasping a hand over my mouth
Yet behind my fingers, I was grinning from ear to ear, my shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
’Twenty-three? Is this what one calls the legendary baby man?’ I thought to myself, chuckling thoroughly at the sheer absurdity of it all.
This guy was supposed to be the dark, brooding, terrifying knight of war from the novel, the man whose very name would make enemy kings tremble in their boots.
Yet right now, he looked like an angry high-school student throwing a tantrum because someone called him short.
Flounder noticed my shaking shoulders and the crinkling around my eyes, which only made him look ten times more irritated.
His breathing became shallow, and a small vein started throbbing violently near his temple.
Well, I couldn’t help it.
The boy really was blessed by youth.
Honestly, I thought he was twenty at the very most when I first saw him in the water.
The teasing was just me letting off a bit of steam after dealing with his annoying attitude for the past twenty-four hours.
Who knew he’d actually be twenty-three years old?
That was around my own age, hahaha.
To think the grand protagonist of this world was exactly as old as me, yet he acted like a moody child who had his favorite toy taken away.
"You know what... I think we might need your help after all," Flounder said suddenly.
The furious red on his face slowly faded away, and his lips curled up into a sharp, unpleasant little grin.
It was the look of a man who had just thought of a perfect way to get even.
"Oh? Do tell," I replied, lowering my hand from my face.
I decided to entertain whatever stupid shenanigans this fool had planned for now.
Since we were far out at sea and the daily routine of managing a warship could get a bit repetitive, a little bit of entertainment might do me some good.
It would be fun to watch him try to outsmart me on my own ship.
Rudwig, on the other hand, had a look that said he wasn’t a fan of where this was going at all.
The old man looked between the two of us, letting out a heavy, worried sigh as he realized he had completely lost control of the conversation.
"One of her Highness’s favorite meals is salted fish, especially the green-finned tuna," Flounder said, his voice turning smooth and confident as he stepped away from the door.
He crossed his arms over his chest, his small grin widening. "It’s a very rare delicacy, and she hasn’t had a proper taste of it since the capital fell into chaos."
He tilted his head up, looking down his nose at me. "Luckily for us, it can only be found in the Blueberry Sea, which we are currently sailing through right now. The waters are perfect for them this time of year."
"Why don’t we both try to catch and prep one for her Highness’s favorite dish? After everything she’s been through, I’m sure a fresh, properly cooked green-finned tuna would cheer her up somewhat," Flounder said.
Sure, he was genuinely concerned for Rebecca’s well-being, I could see that much in the slight softening of his eyes when he mentioned her name, but in my eyes, he was just being incredibly spiteful.
He was trying to drag me into a competition, to get back at me by challenging me to something he thought he was really good at.
He probably thought that as a royal guard or a mainland hunter, he had some secret technique that a regular merchant sailor like me couldn’t possibly match.
But what really confused me was where he got his absolute confidence from.
I was literally a hybrid creature with the power of the deep ocean running through my veins.
Yet this regular human wanted to compete against me at catching a fish in the middle of the deep sea. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Moreover, he’d already seen me in my Merfolk form, so where on earth was this confidence coming from.
’Did this guy hit his head or something when the pirate ship sank?’ I wondered to myself, staring at his smug expression with a mix of pity and amusement.
He was walking right into a trap of his own making.
Perhaps he’d win when it came to prepping the actual meal, since as her personal vassal, he was obviously more in tune with what she liked and how she preferred her food salted.
He knew her specific tastes, the exact amount of spices she enjoyed, and how the royal kitchen usually handled the meat.
Though, honestly, my own cooking skills weren’t anything to laugh at either. I had spent enough time surviving on my own back on earth to know how to turn a fresh catch into a masterpiece.
Or what I presumed a masterpiece was.
"Fine," I said, matching his grin with an even wider one of my own. "Let’s see who can bring the best fish to the kitchen."
" Don’t cry when your lines come up empty, boy."
" Why you!" He gnashed his teeth in anger.
" Alright, you’re on." He leaned in closer, glaring into my eyes.
AN: I added a few more words as a show of good faith. Total 1,700+. Also guys, wish me luck on my exam tomorrow. Hopefully I get a good score.
