After Takumi reacted, he hurriedly wiped his slightly moist eyes with his tattered sleeves.
He didn't want to be seen shedding tears out of reluctance in front of so many people; otherwise, they would definitely tease him like they laughed at Bessie.
After drawing, Drake tossed the used paintbrush to Bessie beside her.
Bessie, who was completely unprepared, had to scramble to catch the paintbrush.
Then Drake ignored Bessie's resentful gaze, holding the flag with both hands and spreading the painted flag surface.
Holding her masterpiece high, Drake nodded in satisfaction.
"Perfect! Mimi, come and see how I drew it!"
Drake said while rotating the flag, turning the patterned side towards Takumi's direction.
Takumi looked intently.
On the upper left corner of the flag, which originally had gold, red, and white complementing each other, a slanted black skull had appeared.
It wore a hat similar in style to the one Drake wore, with a pirate cutlass and a flintlock pistol crossed underneath.
It was exactly the symbol on the Golden Wild Hunt's pirate flag!
"Very nice, better than I imagined!"
Takumi gave Drake a thumbs up without hesitation.
This wasn't Takumi flattering her; Drake really drew well.
Although a symbol like a skull didn't quite match the flag, under Drake's reasonable placement and unrestrained drawing skills, it had a unique flavor.
It was that feeling of clearly mismatched elements, yet inexplicably harmonious.
"Hehe, I told you I draw very well!"
Drake put her hands on her hips, triumphantly rubbing her nose with her thumb.
"But a normal pirate flag should have white paint on a black background like the one above. Your flag is mainly white, so I could only find another way and draw with black paint."
"How is it? Do you like it?"
Saying this, Drake handed the flag to Takumi.
"Of course!"
Takumi took the flag and flicked it casually, letting it flutter in the sea breeze.
Looking at the pirate symbol dancing on it, Takumi's eyes showed a hint of delight.
However, after all, this wasn't a substantial gift, feeling a bit like borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha. So Drake, feeling something was missing, searched in her pockets again.
Finally, she fished out a black eyepatch from her pocket.
"Here, take this too!"
Drake threw the eyepatch to Takumi.
Takumi retracted the flag, hurriedly catching the thrown eyepatch with both hands.
"Actually, I've felt for a long time that the scar on your face, Mimi, has a particularly pirate-like style, so I prepared this long ago. Just didn't expect to drag it out until now..."
"But it's not too late! At least it's delivered, and you look more like a pirate wearing it!"
Drake grinned, patting Takumi on the shoulder and giving a thumbs up at the same time.
Takumi shook his head and laughed, then very cooperatively put on this pirate-standard single-eyed black eyepatch.
After Takumi put on the eyepatch.
"Hmm..."
Drake touched her chin, looking at him wearing the eyepatch thoughtfully.
Takumi looked rather young, and the burn scar on his face made him look a bit rugged, which was why Drake thought Takumi was suitable to be a pirate.
Now wearing the eyepatch, blocking the right eye with the scar, suddenly he wasn't so rugged anymore.
Instead, there was a nondescript weirdness—especially since it was Takumi's first time wearing this thing, and it was a bit crooked.
"Feels like something is missing... Got it!"
Drake pondered for a few seconds, a big light bulb suddenly flashing over her head; the feeling came instantly.
So she backhandedly took off her own hat and slammed it onto Takumi's head.
"This makes it perfect! Doesn't it feel quite like a big pirate?"
Looking at Takumi's new look, Drake nodded repeatedly, turning her head to look at her crew.
"Absolutely!"
"Indeed matured a lot."
"Mimi, handsome!"
"More than a big pirate! If you said he's directly taking office as the new Captain of the Golden Wild Hunt now, I'd believe it!"
...
Listening to the pirates' teasing voices, Takumi coughed twice, looking away embarrassedly, his fair face slightly tinged with red.
Truly shy from being praised.
"Hey! Are you asking for a beating? The eternal Captain of the Golden Wild Hunt is still here!"
Drake precisely found the guy who wanted to usurp her Captain position, shaking her fist at him, which could punch him into bed rest.
"To be honest, this favorite hat of mine isn't a gift, ow. After all, this is exclusive to the Pirate Captain!"
Glaring threateningly at a certain pirate, Drake turned back and took the hat she just put on Takumi's head, putting it back on her own head.
"Of course, if you beg me, Mimi, I can also give it to you~"
Before Takumi could speak, Drake changed the topic, winking at Takumi.
Takumi laughed dumbly, not thinking much, shaking his head and saying:
"No need. Being able to have one or two gifts, I'm already very satisfied."
"Besides, I haven't even given you parting gifts yet."
Saying this, Takumi was also a bit embarrassed.
The things he could bring here were really limited. Noble Phantasms didn't take up inventory space, but even so, he only had a few Black Keys all over his body, and the equipment to transport himself back to Chaldea.
This time he didn't even bring food; there wasn't a single thing he could take out.
"Hey, gifts or whatever don't matter. We are all bros!"
"If you really feel bad, make it up next time we meet. After all, our gifts were also quite hasty, hahaha!"
The pirates laughed nonchalantly.
Takumi also laughed along, but his smile was slightly forced.
'Is there really a chance to meet again?'
Takumi asked himself honestly.
Drake was fine; her achievements were enough to elevate her into a Heroic Spirit. But these pirate seniors in front of him were just ordinary people following Drake, not even leaving a name behind.
Once out of this Singularity, there probably wouldn't be a chance to meet again...
"By the way, Mimi, how long until you leave?"
Drake asked suddenly.
Takumi then nonchalantly operated the device on his wrist, asking Chaldea to bring him back.
At the same time, pretending to be relaxed, he said:
"About three minutes. Will disappear into thin air like Euryale and the others. Why?"
"Three minutes... that's enough!"
Drake backhandedly took out the Holy Grail that originally belonged to her in this time.
"Fought for so long to finally win; how can we not have a celebration banquet at a time like this?"
"Even if the time is short, we have to drink a couple of mouthfuls!"
Drake raised her eyebrows, her face full of smiles.
The pirates cheered directly. Some pirates even trotted all the way into the cabin to get cups for drinking.
In no time.
Everyone had their own wine cups, and Takumi was no exception.
"Wine, come!"
Drake jumped theatrically to the place where she just drew the pirate symbol, roaring in a muffled voice. Seemingly endless rum instantly poured out from the Holy Grail in her hand.
Then Drake tilted the hand holding the Holy Grail forward, and wine poured down like a stream from the Holy Grail.
Seeing this, the pirates screamed like ghosts, taking their wine cups to catch the wine.
Clearly there weren't many people, yet they swarmed up, squeezing against each other, afraid of being a step slower than others.
Takumi, knowing they just liked to make noise like this, rarely joined in at this final moment, laughing loudly and squeezing in to grab wine.
The sun appeared completely above the sea level. Sunlight poured onto the Golden Wild Hunt, draping everyone in a golden gauze, also making the transparent liquor show a crystal-clear brilliance.
After a burst of playing around, everyone stood on the deck of the Golden Wild Hunt holding cups overflowing with wine. Drake, for convenience, directly used the Holy Grail as a wine cup.
"Cheers!".
Everyone looked at each other and smiled. After confirming everyone had wine to drink, they raised their cups in unison.
The crystal-clear liquor left the cups due to inertia, shining like gems under the rising sun.
Facing the sunlight, everyone poured the wine into their mouths without hesitation.
Gulping sounds rose one after another on the ship.
Clang!
Suddenly, a different sound broke the orderly team.
In the crowd, a wine cup fell from mid-air, along with a small half cup of transparent liquor.
...
Takumi's Status Update:
Strength: B → A
Endurance: C → A
Skills Acquired:
[Monstrous Strength (B)]: Temporarily increases own Strength.
[Hero's Vessel (C)]: Even as a monster, one wishes to become a hero capable of protecting others. A skill evolved from Asterios's strong wish and his Personal Skill [Natural Demon], combined with Takumi's own characteristics. It allows the possessor's various stats to break through the limits achievable by humans.