Meal on a Plate

Click, click, click…

The massive doors to the cargo hold slowly groaned open.

“You better have actually found a connection, and don’t you dare mess with me.”

“It is more real than real; if it works, I guarantee you will get your share.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I just told you, next time we are on shore, the drinks are on me.”

Tsk… clicking his tongue, the gatekeeper Siren finally lowered the hand he had used to block the entrance.

“Hehe, thanks, big brother.”

Bowing and scraping with a fawning smile, the second Siren wiggled its serpentine body, eager to get inside.

“Wait.”

“Ah… what is it now, big brother?”

“I am coming in too.”

“Ah…”

The shifty-eyed Siren was a beat slow to respond, but he eventually caught on.

“Of course, of course, I still need you to lead the way, big brother.”

Today was the day they reached land, and the crew members who had been drifting at sea for months were all waiting with bated breath.

Although Sirens were a sea-dwelling race and technically should live in the ocean, that theory clearly did not apply to this group of pirates.

After the Captain had hand-picked her landing party, she left a group of unlucky souls behind to guard the ship while she took the rest of the crew to enjoy themselves.

This was not their first time at this port; thanks to the protection of a certain Earl, they almost never encountered trouble here, and the idea of an attack was unthinkable.

Before long, the crew members left on watch began to sigh and complain at their posts.

Neglect of duty?

No, there was only neglect, and certainly no duty.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Ah?”

The cargo hold.

The gatekeeper Siren’s sharp bark made the other Siren, who had been about to light a lamp, freeze in place.

“Do you not know what kind of things are kept in here, you actually dare to light a lamp?”

The gatekeeper cursed at him while keeping his voice as low as possible.

“This… I just thought if I lit a lamp, I could see things more clearly.”

“Are your sensory organs just for show?”

“Hahaha… my apologies, it is my first time doing this after all, bear with me, old man.”

The gatekeeper Siren had a very short fuse, mainly because he was the one who would ultimately take the blame if things went south.

“Get it done quickly, and do not cause any trouble for me.”

“Yes, yes, of course…”

Even though he was the one who had introduced the smuggling connection, whether he could safely get the goods out depended entirely on the gatekeeper’s mood.

He understood this well, so the Siren followed obediently behind his superior.

‘Find the contact goblin after taking the goods out, remember to hand over the inventory list first, and then…’

Even though he had not even touched the items yet, his mind was already racing through the next steps.

Pure white money was about to be in his hands; naturally, his heart was pounding with excitement.

It was a massive sum of money, and he had never even seen that much in his entire life!

Hehe…

Thinking of this, he could not help but smirk to himself.

‘With this much money, how should I spend it—’

Smack.

Before he could finish his daydream, his body slammed right into the back of the gatekeeper Siren.

“Old man? What happened?”

“…Something is not right.”

While the subordinate was still confused, the gatekeeper Siren’s expression had already shifted.

It was as if he had detected something, turning his head and tracking something with his eyes as if he were chasing a moving target.

“Light your lamp!”

“Ah?”

“Hurry up!”

“Y-Yes!”

The gatekeeper Siren’s voice immediately jumped several decibels in volume.

Before his companion could even get the lamp lit, he had already charged toward a specific corner of the hold.

Even though the environment was pitch black, something with body heat was moving, and that could not escape his biological sensors.

“Who exactly are you! What are you doing here at this hour—”

The Siren’s charge came to a sudden halt the moment the lamp flickered to life.

In the dim environment, as a sliver of light rose, a thin and small figure appeared in the Siren’s vision.

She was draped in a cloak, with a long braid hanging over her shoulder.

She carried a pack on her back and was fully armed.

The intruder’s eyes were filled with shock, as if she found the fact that she had been discovered to be completely unbelievable.

A human!?

The equally astonished Siren recognized her immediately; rumors of such high-grade merchandise had been the talk of the entire ship for weeks.

But why was this human out here, should she not be locked inside a cage… wait, why was she clutching a clump of fur?

Just as the Siren wondered why that fur looked so familiar, the human’s gaze suddenly transformed.

Murderous intent.

With a violent surge of strength, the human yanked the long fur in her hand.

‘Wait! This person!’

The Siren, a beat too slow, finally realized the situation and twisted his body to shout toward the back.

“Draw your weapons!”

That fur was a whisker from the Long-bearded Leopard.

One could only imagine what would happen to a beast after being woken up so rudely from a deep sleep.

The Siren’s reaction speed was fast, but even so, it was already far too late.

ROAARRRR!

A deafening roar erupted from the darkness.

A roar that carried pure, unadulterated rage pierced through their ears and planted terror into every corner of their bodies.

The once silent cargo hold was immediately thrown into a state of total chaos.

The other panicked beasts began to howl and bark incessantly, and the newly awakened slaves were in a state of frenzy.

‘Dammit! What kind of mess is this!’

While cursing his luck, the Siren retreated as fast as his tail would take him.

‘Stay calm… stay calm! Even if it is a behemoth, it is still trapped in a cage.’

‘At this distance, even if it attacks with its claws, there are two of us! We can find a way to handle it!’

“Ah… ah…”

However, the gatekeeper Siren looked over to see his partner shaking uncontrollably.

‘What is this fool doing!’

Just as he was about to bark a command, he realized his partner had not even drawn a weapon, but had instead turned tail to run.

“O-Old man, I am going to get the Captain, you just hold it off for a second!”

“You! Do not run!”

Furious beyond words, the gatekeeper Siren screamed at his cowardly companion who was deserting the fight.

“You damn coward! If you do not come back right now, I will settle the score with you myself—”

His words were cut off halfway; the gatekeeper Siren felt a boundless shadow of darkness descend over his head.

What was happening?

Crash!

Before he could even react, his body was slammed with incredible force into a nearby metal railing.

Gack!?

The intense impact churned his internal organs; as he coughed, a spray of fresh blood erupted from his mouth.

What… just… happened…

“Haa! Haa!”

Why… why!

On the other side of the hold, the Siren who was frantically twisting its body to escape was full of terrified questions.

In his vision, he saw the behemoth that had been startled from its sleep easily smash open the gate of its cage.

It was as if the lock had been nothing more than a cheap decoration.

‘I only came here to make some extra money, I do not want to lose my life like this—’

How much faster could a Siren’s twisting body move compared to a four-legged beast’s full sprint?

Splack!

In less than a few moments, the fleeing Siren was swatted into a red pulp by a massive paw.

“…!?”

What happened?

The gatekeeper Siren, witnessing the death of his comrade, finally understood the gravity of the situation.

The beast was out of the cage; anyone would run at the sight of that.

But… the lock?

The giant lock that was supposed to keep the behemoth inside, where had it gone!

The figure of that human girl flashed through the Siren’s mind, and he finally realized what had truly occurred in the cargo hold.

“I am screwed…”

Having realized the truth, the Siren spoke his final words.

The approaching blood-red maw ground his body into unrecognizable pieces.