Soon, our contact led us to a stop in the middle of a winding canal, where a chained steel gate appeared before us. Elegant tunes could vaguely be heard from within, building lingering echoes within our ears. Glimpses of people could also be seen from the ever-changing lights shining out from within, and I couldn’t help recalling various scenes of medieval nobles indulging themselves.However, I know very well what sort of place this was—drugs were ever present, and there were also filthy human traffickers. Though I was now reduced to a wanted criminal, I still refused to mingle with them, and the reason I did not hesitate to refuse David when he asked me to get further involved in his illicit businesses.Meanwhile, the contact had flashed some sort of identification, and the gates slowly started to open. Another gondola rowed out just then, with David and several other crew members leaving on it.As for Mike and I, we would be staying outside to keep watch for any rival of the Mo
“Linda, you’re not saving yourself for the merman you dreamed about, are you? You should know that there’s a few in the crew who are interested in you,” Mike joked, the scent of alcohol strong in his mouth as he chugged his beer. After the doctor who cared for me insisted that I was delusional and had been constantly daydreaming, the crew believed the doctor’s diagnosis wholeheartedly. “Yes, he’s the only one for me and I can’t live without him. Even now, I don’t think about anything else—all I want is enough money to buy myself a boat, and travel across the world to find him,” I replied, playing along while mixing fact and fiction.I was not bothered to explain everything to the crew anyway, though they would all be wetting their pants if said merman appeared before them.Still, thinking about Dicken left me miserably having a few sips of beer, before picking up the pebble beside me and throwing it into the water.It skipped over the surface, kicking up multiple splashes even a
Be that as it may, the dark silhouette was already gone when I swiftly hurried past several bars and finally arrived at the edge of the bridge. It was no different from when I had looked at the edge of the canal while I was onboard the gondola not too long ago—there was no one there.Was that you, Dicken? Where are you? Just now, was that really you?I stood on one end of the bridge, my soul seemingly disembodied even as I stretched my eyes wide, searching. I did not care as the downpour pelted me, soaking through my clothes.Even so, I could no longer see that dark silhouette, and I had to lean on the scaffolding as I gasped for breath. Looking upon the surface of the river, I found my reflection robbing and left in pieces from the pouring rain.The alcohol that I had just drunk was burning my nerves, and my mind was an utter mess. I had to wonder if I was drunk right then, and was actually seeing things. To tell the truth, I wanted to cry—but I laughed instead, because I found
An iron gate blocked by steel bars was in my way. Though I could see through the gaps into the darkness inside, I saw several turns heading towards the left side, but there was no way of telling where it connected to. I also saw wall sculptings over the walls on both sides—the aqueduct may have been a tourist spot before, though it was now closed down for some reason.I saw the gap between the iron gates then and tried to push myself inside, standing on my sides so that I could squeeze my way in. Despite being skinny, however, I realized that I just wouldn’t make it through.If I couldn’t make it through when I was this slim, then someone as burly as Dicken would certainly not get through, not to mention that there was a long, thick tail hidden beneath his wide trench coat. Even if he had some method to turn himself human, he would never get through that narrow entrance.But how did he disappear from here? Could he be underwater like I was?I promptly jumped back into the nearby
I promptly sat up in reflex and jumped into the water, searching around crazily. Even so, all I found was the vague illumination of the lights from both sides of the canal, and no glimpse of a fishtail.Realizing that the glimpse I had a moment ago could be an illusion, I was crumbling inside and started to flail my arms wildly against the water like a child throwing a tantrum, but I just couldn't care about the weird looks pedestrians nearby were throwing at me.“Dicken! Get out here, you bastard!” I yelled maniacally. “I know it’s you! It has to be! Are you punishing me? Did you want me to see me lose my mind thinking about you? Or did you just want to see how much I yearn for you? Well, let me tell you this—you’ve totally won! I’ve been searching for you for over a year… A whole year! If I can’t see you again… Fuck, I’ve really gone crazy…”I lowered my head in despair and buried my face in the water, feeling as if something was stuck in my chest as despair overcame me. But sud
Dicken wasn’t baring his upper body like he used to. His black trench coat was soaked and sticking to his body, while his collar was opened and exposed his chest that was as hard as stone. At the same time, his skin was as pale as an ancient, noble vampire.He was staring at me from behind a black mask that covered the upper half of his face. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel the fire from his magical eyes, even as he admired my naked body with burgeoning lust in his gaze without constraint.Fuck! I had finally forced this pervert out of hiding! Complex emotions filled my heart as myriad feelings erupted like a typhoon in my chest, and a surging stream of heat rushed up my head.My eyes turned red in a split second, but I pretended to lie down again and looked smugly at him as if I was the victor—despite being naked and looking as if I was trying to seduce him.“Dicken, you bastard!” I cursed quietly, my tears welling even as my eyes couldn’t resist the urge to look at hi
Dicken did not answer me, but his arms tightened over my waist while his lips slid down to my neck. He nestled my neck from behind the mask, inhaling my scent deeply. He then put a webbed claw over my head, petting me like one would a child, before tucking the hair that was covering my forehead behind my ear.“Dicken…” I looked longingly into his enrapturing gaze, and reached out to touch his cheek when a woman shrieked, “Hey, what are you doing?!”I flinched in surprise and turned to find a girl, holding a bucket of laundry on the shore. She had probably come down for a wash, but was startled by Dicken and me.I was left stammering awkwardly, unsure of how to explain what was going on right then, just as I heard a loud splash behind me—Dicken had dived into the water, and was gone without a trace before I could catch him.“Where are you going?!” I was more angry than surprised, and slammed at the iron gate furiously, but my response was the banging and the splashing in the night
I slipped my hands into my trouser pockets as if it was natural, and hunched my back to pretend to be a gambling addict even as I looked around for Dicken. However, I was going up the second floor when I saw a crewmate from the Seeker. It was Luna—a Russian girl with whom I was quite close to, and she appeared to be in panic even as she tried to hide from someone, and was hurrying down the stairs. I realized immediately that this was the casino where David had come to make his deal, and a foreboding sensation grew in my head when I saw how flustered Luna was. I rushed up to her and grabbed her by her wrist, and clasped my hand over her mouth before she could scream, all while dragging her to the dark corner behind the stairs. “Calm down, Luna—it’s me. What happened?” I asked with a hushed voice.“T-The mafia…” Luna’s shoulders were shaking and her breaths were ragged even as she cried, “They cut off one of David’s hands!”“What?!” I was dumbfounded. Luna’s tears began to roll d