Food

“……”

“……”

Our gazes collided.

Just as I was reflecting while watching them clean up the scene, that woman’s eyes looked over.

Why did she notice my gaze… as soon as I raised that question, I realized that the prisoners in the surrounding cages were basically all busy eating. Even those watching the excitement prioritized eating.

I see… I’ve been exposed.

I had no intention of hiding my gaze anyway; no matter how I looked at it, she was the captain, the leader of this group, and she couldn’t be that stupid.

Stupid people are the most terrifying.

The woman—the captain—asked the kelp-headed warrior beside her something, then led several crew members straight toward me.

“……”

“……”

Across the iron bars, we still stared at each other in silence.

This seemed to be the first time I had scrutinized her so seriously. A pitch-black vest and a long coat, with crimson scales covering her snake body; yet even so, it was impossible not to have one’s eyes drawn to the two robust fruits on her chest. Her wheat-colored skin radiated an aura of health, and her slender features had a unique kind of bewitching beauty from a human aesthetic perspective. But those deep green eyes under that pirate hat… she really is a snake.

Her gaze was as if she were looking at a treasure vault… or so it felt. However, there was also a hint of anger within it, though it didn’t seem directed at me.

“Balanonda?”

This sentence was not directed at me, as she tilted her head slightly.

Immediately following that question, a crew member stepped forward, raising his hand tremblingly.

“—Oukha!”

Without even sparing a glance, and before that crew member could react, she death-gripped him by the throat. Her eyes revealed an icy coldness amidst the anger; after leaning close to the crew member’s ear and saying something cold, she threw him to the ground with a single toss. Even after being treated so cruelly, the crew member continued to bow and scrape; even without knowing the language, one could see his absolute obedience to her.

After that crew member stood up, he shouted a few words to the others standing in the distance. It seemed that although his status appeared low in front of the captain, he still held a certain rank on this pirate ship. Several crew members immediately ran off upon hearing his voice, but my gaze—which wanted to follow them—was blocked by the female snake-man’s voluminous che—ahem, no, was blocked by her figure.

A smile.

Looking at me, stripped of my freedom and trapped in a cage… she had no such personal feelings; her expression was more like she was simply looking at a priceless piece of merchandise.

“Kachang!”

After taking something from a crew member who appeared to be a subordinate, the snake-man who had just been scolded saluted solemnly and handed the object to her.

…A bowl?

A large wooden bowl, big enough to hold more than enough soup for three people. Ordering her subordinates to open the cage door, she slithered inside and bowed, placing the large bowl in front of me.

Then, she meaningfully stroked my head, her face still wearing that smile.

—Stay here obediently, okay?

Though it was an exotic language coming from her mouth, for some reason, I could hear that kind of meaning.

Splosh, splosh, splosh…

“…!”

Scooped from the bucket held by the crew member behind her and poured into the wooden bowl before my eyes… was actually grain porridge.

It wasn’t sour slop, nor was it expired grain; it was warm rice soup, the color of fresh paddy.

The wooden bowl was filled with a large amount of grain porridge. Completely different from yesterday’s fishy stench, that faint fragrance could be considered a total anomaly in this place.

Gurgle gurgle…

My stomach let out an ungraceful cry.