Chapter 222 – 216 – Apologies Take One Step at a Time
“Ring?”
“Ring!”
It’s a really special ring. It’s a substance that doesn’t exist in the world. It is a gift from the gods to us as gratitude, made from metal taken from An-Anu’s own body.
That’s what I was going to say. However, the wave hit at just the right time. Cold seawater entered my open mouth, blocking my speech.
So, while Morgan was yelling, I wasted no time making excuses because I was nauseous.
“Just a ring gift? Are you crazy? I spent a whole year underwater not knowing if I was dead or alive, and you think throwing me something like that will relieve my anger?!”
“Kolok, kehek, I know! I was wrong! Let’s make a truce first!”
Even when I listen to it, my voice is pathetic. It’s like begging while hanging on a main mast that’s about to break.
It is fortunate that most of the crew members of this ship, which is about to sink, are battle golems lent by Villena’s father.
There are some things that are not so fortunate. As the captain, I am a human, not a golem. If it sinks like this, it will receive a lot of attention and love from the sharks near Tobetan.
They’ll probably all like my meat more than the tough, hard golem. What’s happening now…
“You’re not angry. Keep firing!”
“Ugh, sleep!”
I am experiencing a naval battle for the first time in my life.
Oh, of course, the last time I fought with the handgun party against Adamantone’s mercenaries came first. I mean, from the perspective of the losing side.
The ‘Hanged Julian’, a privateer that has won every battle, moves smoothly like a shark and tramples enemy ships. The name of the unfortunate ship that was crunching under Julian’s cannon was… ‘Forgive Me Morgan’.
I attached it myself. They even had it written in large letters on each sail. Because of this, the crew of the Julian can’t help but laugh. Morgan’s face turned red.
Right now, the ship is on fire, so much so that it’s hard to see any good letters. I may soon become unable to see with my eyes.
‘Forgive me Morgan’ had already become a piece of shit that couldn’t even be sold as firewood, let alone on the used market, but Julian’s merciless gunfire didn’t stop. This is because Morgan’s order to stop shooting has not yet been given.
Shit. I thought Morgan was the quieter one among us. I never thought his life would really be in danger.
There was a time when Morgan threatened me. He said he would shoot you if you ran away from him. But maybe I’m keeping my promise too thoroughly.
There is no time. I wanted to add a little more romantic rhetoric before saying this, but if I don’t save it, I’m going to be buried in the sea together.
I threw the trump card.
“Get engaged-!”
“… Stop fucking with me! I forgot about you! If you think about it, the time we were apart was much longer than the time we knew each other! I wasn’t the only one you liked in the first place!”
“I don’t care if you blow a hole in my head. At least let me get down on my knees and hold out the ring in front of you!”
“Fuck you, you playboy! You said there was no man in the world you could trust except my dad, and he was right! Just stay here and become a ghost! Don’t worry about me. I’ll live well when I meet a guy who’s more handsome than you and bigger than you!”
Morgan, who was roaring with her body on the gunwale, realized what she had said in anger and her face turned even redder.
The crew members of the handgun party laughed and then looked at each other and shouted one by one as if they were screaming.
“All I heard was the cannons!” “I didn’t hear anything!” “I was born deaf!”
I’m deaf, so I don’t know how they managed to tell me that at the right time. Let’s just focus on my business.
“Morgan, I love you-!”
“I don’t believe it!
“It’s okay if you don’t believe it. Even if my fate was destined to end today, I will sink to the bottom resolutely, remembering that I loved you! Holding this ring made after the color of your beautiful hair-!”
“Damn it, stop shooting!”
Morgan quickly climbed up the Julian’s mast and threw her hook rope to this mast and secured it. She then jumped this way in a parabola.
The flames that had engulfed the ship soared up to the mast I was holding. I took a deep breath and jumped into the sea.
And at that moment, a pirate with beautiful flowing blue hair flies in. Then he grabbed my collar and snatched me.
I was mesmerized by the ecstasy flying across the sky. Just for a little while.
Morgan, who came around and let go of the rope, threw me onto the deck of the Julian like loot. I rolled over with a loud crashing sound, and with all my might, I came to a halt in a kneeling position.
When I look back, I see the ‘Forgive me Morgan’ gurgling and sinking. The last sail with the apology message still intact was firmly unfolded and lifted.
Even though I purchased the boat less than 3 days ago, I feel like tears are coming out of my eyes. You had a hard time, guy. If I meet someone in the next life, and it becomes my boat, I will use it for a long time instead of treating it harshly.
I took a deep breath and looked back at Morgan. Morgan, covered in tears, looks back and forth between the sail behind me and me.
He said he suffered more than Eshen. It was because I firmly believed that I had thrown myself into the devil’s den and died.
In fact, your case was an exception, and most people believed that. One of the porters was using a guesthouse that wasn’t suitable for use, so he chose a guesthouse because he couldn’t leave his friend alone.
That’s inevitable. Dangerous monsters are still popping up in the World Shrine, although the frequency has become a little less frequent. It is said that Lady Hwaryeon Taiga and the Elven Forest Keeper, who had built a fortress at the site, also declared that an internal search was impossible.
For the first few months after Tan Van Thai disappeared, Morgan, consumed by negative thoughts, had trouble sleeping. She says she almost went to extremes, even though she couldn’t bear to say it. If the crew cleaning the deck had not woken up earlier than usual that day and not gone to work, something terrible would have happened.
Maybe Captain Tomko won’t leave me alone later. This is especially true when I think about what I will do from now on.
I took out a ring that resembled the color of his hair and held it out to Morgan, who had cut off the long hair I loved to his shoulder height.
Morgan said through clenched teeth as she gasped for air.
“Is it an engagement ring? Really?”
“Originally, I wanted to put it on as a wedding ring, but as you said, the time we were apart was longer than the time we were together.”
I smiled faintly and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m sure I need you, but I thought maybe you needed more time to get to know me. But whatever the meaning of the ring, the fact that it contains my love for you will remain the same.”
“My dad, around this time last year, he was working hard to convince me that life would go on even without Tannhäuser. Do you know?”
“Now I know. I won’t talk too loudly. I’m sorry for hurting you and your father so deeply. Furthermore, I won’t do it again.”
“···Not twice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Next time, we’re going to really shoot it. We’re going to tie it to the mast of a derelict ship, take aim with the biggest cannon, and crush it to dust.”
“What do you mean?”
“···Bring your father, deck captain.”
The deck captain glanced at the captain’s hat Morgan was wearing and quickly ran down the stairs below the deck.
And soon it came back up again. With Aleister Tomko, dressed shabby as if he had been dragged out of bed.
The former captain, who had lost his captain’s hat to his daughter and was tied up with rope, looked at Morgan with her warm eyes as if she loved him anyway.
And then he glared at me. He looks like he wants to put his limbs in a stew.
“So, Morgan. Did the story end well?”
“I’m sorry I put you in jail at gunpoint, Dad.”
The story of how things happened is simple.
As usual, I gave the coordinates to Morgan, who was returning to Tobetan after completing his voyage, through Jeonseo-gu. I have something to tell you there, so please come and visit me.
After learning that I had returned alive, Morgan immediately reported to the captain, and Captain Aleister Tomko nodded hesitantly and said.
‘Actually, I already knew he was back. I just didn’t tell you because I didn’t know how you would react. You know, Morgan. In my father’s thoughts.’
‘What do you think, Dad?’
‘I don’t want you to get involved with such a confusing guy.’
Morgan staged a mutiny on board. Then she instructed her crew to steer the ship to the appointed point.
Now, a few days have passed. Aleister Tomko is glaring at me with a menacing smile.
“I’ve apologized. Just tell me that the story ended well. What are you going to do with this guy?”
“I just accepted it.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you back the hat. Please stand officiating, Dad.”
Aleister Tomko looked at his daughter as if he had heard her declaration that he was going to cut off her balls with a knife.
“I want to get married.”
The man, who once again gave his daughter to a libertine before his eyes, succeeded in lowering his ‘resolution to marry’ to ‘resolution to get engaged’ through desperate persuasion.
But Morgan did not yield just one thing. Aleister still had to recite the officiating address and bless them.
It sounds ridiculous to officiate at an engagement, but the captain’s orders are strict. Even if it was an order from a captain on the third day of his career who took his father’s position through mutiny.
It seems that Morgan wants to make her marriage a sure thing and at the same time force her father to let go of his resentment toward me.
···It could also be the other way around. Aleister Tomko said his heartfelt blessings for our sacred happiness in a tone as if he were imagining my corpse. If the engagement is broken, what Aleister will do to me will be terrible.
No, I’m sure it won’t be that terrible. The whole time he was saying things he didn’t even mean to say, I was smiling and looking at Aleister.
“Thank you for your kind words. Please take good care of me, father-in-law.”
“I’m going to twist your neck… I’m sorry, Morgan. Anyway, please give everyone a shout and applause for this damn beautiful pair.”
The sailors, who had been frozen as they looked at Aleister’s expression, finally applauded when the former captain urged them once more in a quiet voice.
I held Morgan’s hand tightly and put the ring on her.
“I mean it when I say I won’t leave again. I kept my promise to return like this.”
“I understand. I understand.”
Morgan glared at me with her narrowed eyes, as if she was dying of disgust.
“···So, are you going around apologizing to everyone like this? Visiting each person one by one? You’re having a hard time too.”
“You are the first and last person to experience an event that involves harpooning an entire boat.”
“That’s touching. So, who’s next?”
I reported this. Morgan, who seemed sarcastic no matter who she called, shrugged her shoulders and was convinced.
“I have to go.”
“I should go, right?”
————–
“I am the fourth? I came here for the fourth time? Oh my, that’s good.”
Ragnaroka smiled faintly.
“No, I’m just kidding. I wanted to see that cute expression on your face when you don’t know what to do. By the way, come here. I have something to show you.”
The Dragon Lord, who was looking at the red ring I wore with fondness like a girl, seemed to remember something and grabbed my hand and headed toward the elevator.
When the elevator, which had descended to an incredible depth, finally stopped, I felt a tingling heat beneath my feet.
“Is this geothermal heat?”
“It’s the heat of magma. You can rest assured, Tan. It will be tens of thousands of years before lava breaks through the surface in earnest.”
Rod smiled brightly and took the lead. There was something like a large square outside the elevator. And in the middle of it all, in a place where soft cloth is spread tightly…
There are eggs the size of people. I can feel goosebumps rising.
“How many humans are invited here?”
“There are not many. Tan is enjoying a great privilege.”
“That’s definitely true. It’s where the dragons’ most important treasures are kept. There’s a reason they dug it so deep.”
“The purpose of digging this deep is to take advantage of this heat. Even if the mothers are busy and leave for a while, the children will not lose warmth.”
“It’s a natural boiler room.”
“This is what we’ve traditionally done since we lived in groups of twos and threes in the Dragon’s Lair. Would you like to come this way, Tan?”
Rod dragged me among the neatly placed eggs.
I think the dragons would be upset if I said these thoughts out loud, but it’s like a giant plate of eggs. An egg carton filled with special eggs that are so big that they won’t break even if I hit them with my fist.
Rod, who was counting the number tags on each blanket, eventually stopped in front of an egg.
The red pattern on the black background is colorful and pretty. Whose family’s child is this? It’s so cute.
Rod quietly folded his hands and smiled.
“What do you think?”
For just a moment, I thought about giving my honest thoughts on colorful patterns.
And in the next moment, I thought there might be a reason why the question was being asked in a place most mortals wouldn’t even be able to enter.
And the next moment, I was out of breath. I wonder if I’ll feel this way someday when my neck gets cut off by Aleister Tomko’s hands.
“Rod. Maybe.”
“From now on, let’s call it Ragnaroka. It feels distant.”
It felt like all the oxygen had disappeared from the world. And it seems like the ice age arrived at the same time.
Rod looked back at me with narrowed eyes and a smile.
“I’ll ask you again. Am I the fourth?”
