The Undead Captain Takes No Living - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

When we crashed back onto South Seven Pier, it was just dawn.

The fishmonger auntie was holding up a basin of fish-washing water, unable to decide whether to throw it or not.

I lay on the wooden planks of the pier, soaked from head to toe.

Leon was sprawled on top of Victor.

Gloria was sitting in a fish basket.

Cedric was half-kneeling beside me, his hand still tightly clutching that length of Red Cord.

For a moment, the entire pier went silent.

Then the fishmonger auntie screamed.

“A corpse came back to life!”

Leon lifted his head.

“Auntie, it’s me.”

Once she saw his face clearly, tears sprang to her eyes.

Then she picked up the fish basin and smashed it over him.

“So you still know how to come back!”

Leon didn’t dodge.

The basin hit him square on the forehead with a loud clang.

It hurt just hearing it.

But all he did was smile.

“I’m back.”

Soon, the entire pier had gathered around us.

Some people cried, some people cursed, and some ran off to fetch a doctor.

The old coroner squeezed his way through the crowd, looked at me, then looked at Cedric.

“That face is painted pretty well.”

I said, “You painted it.”

He fell silent for a moment.

“No wonder.”

Victor was taken away by the Navy.

Not under arrest.

He walked back with them himself.

Before he left, he handed Auguste’s Blue Fire Lantern to me.

“I will present the evidence from the counting room to the Royal Court.”

Leon leaned against the doorpost.

“And if your Royal Court refuses to acknowledge it?”

Victor looked at him.

“Then I will make them acknowledge it.”

Leon gave a short laugh.

“Now you’re starting to look the part.”

Victor said coldly, “I don’t need your praise.”

“Who was praising you?”

The two of them started arguing again.

I couldn’t be bothered to intervene.

Gloria stood behind me, hugging that piece of red cloth.

She looked a little uneasy.

Everyone on the pier could see her.

That meant she had come back too.

She asked me, “Where can I go?”

I said, “Come to my house for now.”

“Doesn’t your family sell salted fish?”

“Yeah.”

She frowned.

“I don’t like the fishy smell.”

“Then you can sleep in the front courtyard.”

“That works.”

She agreed very quickly.

As if she were afraid I might take it back.

House Melowen’s shop had been closed for three years.

The lock on the door had already rusted over.

Leon stood in the doorway for a long time without moving.

I handed him the key.

He looked at it.

“You kept it all this time?”

“What else was I supposed to do?”

He took it, his hand trembling slightly.

When the lock opened, dust scattered all over the floor.

The shop looked just the way it used to.

The counter, the salt jars, the fish-drying racks.

Dad’s old abacus still sat on the table.

My mother had died of illness years ago, and then Dad left under such murky circumstances.

After this shop was emptied, I never dared to properly clean it up.

It always felt like if I did, then no one would ever really come back.

Now the door was open.

A group of dripping-wet people stood in the entrance.

Leon said, “I’ll sweep the floor first.”

I said, “Sit down first.”

“I’m not tired.”

“There’s still a hole in your shoulder.”

He looked down at it.

“Small injury.”

Cedric suddenly spoke. “You will die.”

Leon looked at him.

“You’re not the Undead Captain anymore. Don’t curse me.”

Cedric said seriously, “I mean you will die if it isn’t treated.”

Leon: “…”

I burst out laughing.

That day, we cleaned until dusk.

The old coroner brought medicine.

The fishmonger auntie brought food.

The kid from next door peeked in through the doorway at Cedric and asked if he was a sea ghost.

Cedric thought about it.

“I used to be.”

The kid let out a wow.

“Then do you eat people?”

Cedric looked at me.

As if asking how he should answer.

I said, “Tell the truth.”

He said, “No.”

The child left in disappointment.

I nearly laughed myself to death.

That night, Leon slept in the back room.

Gloria claimed the front courtyard, saying the smell of fish was even stronger than Ghost Port and that she needed time to get used to it.

Cedric sat at the shop entrance.

He wasn’t very used to going indoors.

I carried the medicine out to him.

“Drink.”

He took the bowl.

And drank it all in one go.

I was a little surprised.

“Isn’t it bitter?”

“It is.”

“Then why aren’t you frowning?”

He looked at the bowl.

“I couldn’t taste anything before.”

My heart softened.

Now he could taste bitterness, feel pain, and squint when the morning sun shone on him.

These tiny things were all new to him.

I sat down beside him.

“What are you planning to do from now on?”

He was silent.

I added, “You’re not the Captain anymore.”

“Mm.”

“And you don’t have to be anyone’s anchor.”

“Mm.”

“No mm-ing.”

He looked at me.

“All right.”

I couldn’t help laughing.

His lips curved very faintly too.

Really, very faintly.

But I saw it.

He took that length of Red Cord from his sleeve.

The Red Cord had already snapped.

The strip of cloth I had tied on later had also been soaked pale by seawater.

He asked, “Can you tie it for me again?”

I took it.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting lost?”

“I am.”

He answered too directly.

My fingers paused.

Cedric looked at the lights on the pier.

“I didn’t use to be.”

“Because I didn’t know someone would come looking.”

I lowered my head and tied the knot.

This time, it was a little better than it had been seven years ago.

But not by much.

I tied the Red Cord back around his wrist.

“Now you know?”

He looked at me.

“Now I know.”

The night wind blew in from the sea.

South Seven Pier was bustling and noisy. Some people were closing their stalls, some were scolding their children, and some were shouting that fish prices had dropped.

Cedric sat amid all those sounds, and at last, he no longer looked like someone who had walked out of the fog.

He looked as if he had truly come ashore.