Escoffier's heart settled at once.
She still did not know what Flynn was planning, but she trusted him completely.
A moment ago, she had simply been too anxious. She had forgotten that things were no longer as they once were, and by instinct had slipped back into the old state of facing everything alone, carrying every burden by herself.
But that was no longer the reality.
Now, there was someone beside her to share the weight.
She knew better than anyone how dependable Flynn was. She was willing to let him take the lead, and besides...
I'm not who I used to be anymore.
A thought flickered through her mind. Without drawing attention, Escoffier placed a hand over her chest, looking for all the world like an ordinary girl struck with worry, frightened and flustered.
What outsiders could not see was that inside the inner pocket beneath her clothing, a Vision lay hidden. Under her control, it was silently gathering Cryo energy.
Ordinarily, the process would have given off a faint glow. In a place this dark, and with her clothes conservative as they were, that would still have been enough to give something away.
But her hand covered the spot completely.
When traveling, always keep something in reserve. Flynn had said that before. She had thought it made perfect sense, and now it was proving useful.
On the other side, the captain seemed to be getting angry.
"Pretending?"
"What are you talking about, Mr. Flynn? I kindly offered the two of you passage, and when you boarded I reminded you again and again not to wander into other areas and delay our work."
His tone was growing heavier, tinged with grievance, as if he were a good man whose kindness had been repaid with trouble.
"Now, please leave this place and return to your cabin. We should arrive at Romaritime Harbor around three or four in the morning, and then you may disembark. Before that, I won't pursue the matter of you breaking our agreement and trespassing into the hold. I only ask that you stop wandering around..."
Flynn, however, remained unmoved. He tapped the sword in his hand lightly against the crate beside him.
"Kindly?"
He sounded as if he had just heard a joke.
"A smuggler, and one trafficking something like Sinthe at that. Calling you steeped in crime would hardly be unfair, would it? And then you want to tell me you invited us aboard out of kindness? You also expect me to believe you're docking at a proper harbor like Romaritime?"
He let out a faint laugh.
"I really should get out more. A joke this funny, I've never heard in Natlan or Nod-Krai. Have you heard one this good in Fontaine, Escoffier?"
Sinthe!
Escoffier's heart jolted.
This thing had not been around for very long. Ever since the Spina di Rosula publicly exposed its dangers and declared it banned from spreading in Poisson, the whole of Fontaine's official apparatus had quickly followed suit. It had been classified as a high-risk prohibited substance.
Of course she knew of it.
She simply had not expected her first real look at it to come under circumstances like these.
"Smuggling? Then yes, that really is funny."
With the chill of Cryo helping her remain calm, Escoffier played along and layered her own mockery into the exchange.
She had traveled widely. Her experience and judgment were no less than that of a veteran adventurer, and she understood exactly how people like this operated.
Smugglers dealt in extreme risk and extreme profit. Because of that, they craved stability above all else during a run. In some cases, they were even more cautious than ordinary people. If matters grew truly serious, they would put off even a blood feud until after the goods were delivered.
This captain clearly was not some amateur. For a man like that to claim he had acted out of sudden kindness was laughable.
That he had been willing to create unnecessary complications was laughable too.
And the bit about letting them off at Romaritime Harbor was the biggest joke of all.
He was carrying a whole ship full of contraband and planned to stop at a proper port? Was he looking for excitement?
In fact, whether this ship was even headed for Fontaine was questionable.
Other forms of contraband were one thing. Even without using a proper harbor, there were still ways to get them into Fontaine. But this was Sinthe.
No one had found the source yet, but many people in Fontaine already had their suspicions. This substance never seemed able to stir up much trouble abroad, yet within Fontaine it remained stubbornly persistent no matter how often it was banned. Most likely, it was homegrown.
Importing a local specialty from overseas?
Did he really think smuggling had no costs?
"Though I don't go to the Opera Epiclese very often, I'd say... this is every bit as funny as the comedies Lady Furina used to perform in."
The two of them played off each other with smooth coordination, and at the doorway, the captain finally stopped pretending.
The false warmth vanished from his broad, rugged face, replaced by gloom and viciousness.
"You... when did you figure it out?"
He sounded puzzled, perhaps even unwilling to accept it. How had such perfect camouflage been seen through by two youngsters like these?
Perhaps he had sounded sincere enough when asking, or perhaps Flynn was simply in a good mood. Whatever the reason, he actually answered.
"When?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"From the start, I guess."
"The moment you invited us aboard for a free ride."
The captain did not believe him.
"From the start?"
"There was something wrong with my act?"
Flynn fell briefly silent, as if replaying everything since their first meeting. Then he gave a small shake of his head.
"No. Your act was fine. Professional, even. At least, I didn't spot any flaws."
The captain had received confirmation, yet that only deepened his confusion.
"Then how did you figure it out?"
What he did not notice was that as soon as he asked that, the look in Flynn's eyes gained something beyond mere disgust.
There was amusement there now, sharp and mocking.
"You really want to know?"
"Of course."
"All right, then I'll tell you."
Flynn nodded, almost as if he had accepted the situation and decided it was best to be practical.
"Because I have terrible luck."
"Terrible luck?"
The answer was so broad it sounded almost evasive. Naturally, it did nothing to satisfy the captain's curiosity.
Before he could decide how to press further, Flynn continued in the leisurely tone of someone telling a story.
"Don't get me wrong. By 'terrible luck,' I'm not talking about you. I mean myself."
"Let me give you an example. Since you're in this line of work, you should know something about Nod-Krai. You've heard of the Wild Hunt, right? If not, no matter. It's a kind of Abyss disaster unique to Nod-Krai. In theory, it breaks out most often north of Piramida City."
"South of Piramida City, though, especially around Hiisi Island and Lempo Island, it's much rarer by comparison. A normal person could keep traveling around outside and still go ten days or half a month without running into it even once. With decent luck, even more so."
"As for me... let me put it this way. Over two months, I left Nasha Town fewer than twenty times. The number of times I didn't run into the Wild Hunt could be counted on one hand."
He paused, then continued.
"And after that, I wanted to leave Nod-Krai. Thanks to one thing after another, I missed three ferry departures in a row. Then at long last, through personal connections, I managed to get aboard a cargo ship willing to take passengers, only to discover midway through that it was a smuggling vessel..."
"That alone would have been one thing. At the time, I had no interest in meddling. I just wanted to mind my own business. But before long, they started fighting among themselves, and on top of that, we ran into a maritime disaster."
"With luck like that, I miss a passenger ship at the harbor, and then right after, a cargo captain kindly offers me a free ride."
He looked at the captain and smiled.
"Be honest, Captain. If it were you, what would you think?"