The gym, cafe lounge, and swimming pool.

Before we knew it, evening had arrived as we enjoyed the hotel's amenities.

Around that time, Han Yeoreum returned to the hotel after finishing preparations to catch the pirates.

"Well, shall we have dinner first?"

"Let's do that."

We started a barbecue party at the hotel's private terrace, with food prepared by the hotel.

The main dish was the mansaegi that Bom had caught.

"..."

Saebyeok was staring intently at the mansaegi cooking on the grill.

Her pupils were dilated, showing her high expectations for the mansaegi steak.

I was also curious about the taste of this fish species I'd never seen before.

"I hope it's delicious."

"Yeah."

I swallowed as I looked down at the cooking mansaegi.

The fish had been cut into several pieces, and there was a bite mark on the back portion.

"Saebyeok, did you eat the mansaegi raw?"

"Yes. I started chewing it but spat it out because it tasted bad."

"Huh?"

For Saebyeok, who loved fish, to say it tasted bad was surprising.

My tail drooped along with my expectations.

It would have been nice if it tasted good.

Seeing my dejected look, Han Yeoreum tapped her tongs.

"I checked, and mansaegi tastes like dirt when eaten raw. You're supposed to eat it as a steak."

"Ah."

"I learned how to cook it properly, so would you mind waiting a bit?"

"Sure."

I wondered if it would taste different as a steak.

My tail began wagging again.

While waiting for the mansaegi to cook, I looked at the adjacent grill.

It was for cooking meat rather than fish.

I thought Gaeul would like the meat best.

I was picturing Gaeul wagging her tail, but surprisingly, she wasn't looking at the meat.

Snip- snip-

Gaeul was walking around near the grill with scissors in both hands.

The way she was walking only sideways made it seem like she was imitating a crab.

"Gaeul, are you being a crab?"

"Nyeng...!"

Snip- snip-

While walking sideways and snipping, Gaeul cut off the end of a lettuce leaf on the table.

She puffed out her chest with an "ahem," and Sophia poked her cheek.

"Little one, put those scissors down, they're dangerous."

"Aeng..."

Though Gaeul looked disappointed, she placed the scissors on the table.

Sophia handed her tongs for grilling meat instead.

"Here, these are pincers too."

"...!"

Gaeul's previously still tail began wagging.

She tapped the tongs together with a happy smile, then used them to place some lettuce on Sophia's plate.

"Thank you."

"Huk...!"

Pleased with Sophia's praise, Gaeul started distributing food to everyone.

She gave Levinas a carrot, Saebyeok and me some sesame leaves, and Bom a long, snake-like sausage.

"Gaeul, aren't you going to give any to big sister?"

Han Yeoreum asked while grilling the mansaegi.

After thinking for a moment, Gaeul picked up a raw garlic clove and handed it to Han Yeoreum.

"Eat."

"Raw garlic for me...?"

"Nyeng! Owner!"

Gaeul pointed at Han Yeoreum with gleaming eyes.

She seemed to have the mistaken idea that adults enjoy eating raw garlic.

"Unfortunately, big sister doesn't handle raw garlic well."

"Eeky?"

"Yeah. Big sister is actually a baby."

"...?"

Gaeul sat down on the chair with round eyes.

She even dropped the tongs she'd been holding for her crab imitation.

Was Han Yeoreum's playful comment that shocking?

I tilted my head and placed a piece of well-cooked meat in Gaeul's mouth.

She chewed it well with her eyes still wide open.

"I'm just kidding. Big sister is an adult but can't eat raw garlic. Would you grill some garlic for big sister, Gaeul?"

"Heuk..."

Gaeul picked up the tongs again and placed the raw garlic on the grill.

She diligently turned it over, cooking it thoroughly.

"Hehe."

I was so happy spending this peaceful evening with everyone.

I just hoped tomorrow would be just as happy.

**

The next day.

We were waiting on a boat at the nearby harbor rather than at the beach.

This was so we could move immediately when Jjakjjak spotted the pirate ship.

After waiting on the boat for about an hour...

"Peeee!"

At scout Jjakjjak's signal, we quickly set sail.

The boat's pilot was none other than a local fisherman.

"Sir, we need to chase them right away or they'll disappear."

"Got it."

The fisherman must have held a strong grudge against the pirates too, as he sped off fast enough to make our hair flutter.

"Gyeoul, is it this way?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Han Yeoreum pulled an item out of her pocket.

Even I didn't know exactly what this item was for.

"There, over there...!"

After sailing far enough that land was no longer visible, we spotted an old wooden vessel in the distance.

The skull mark painted on the sail.

The weathered wood all over.

Anyone could tell it was a pirate ship.

Swish-

The pirate ship must have spotted us too, as it gradually started becoming transparent and disappearing.

At this rate, it would completely vanish before we could reach it.

"Gyeoul, can you fire one strong shot?"

"Yes."

I nocked an explosive arrow to my bow and applied the enlargement effect.

As I drew the bowstring, Han Yeoreum activated the item she was holding.

Swoosh-!

The giant explosive arrow, imbued with the item's energy, struck the pirate ship.

Boom-!

With a massive explosion, part of the pirate ship's deck was blown away, and its transparency vanished.

"Now!"

We rushed at full speed to approach the pirate ship.

Han Yeoreum jumped onto the pirate ship, while Marin created waves to lift the rest of us up.

"Levinas Pirates, attack!"

Levinas raised her staff high after climbing onto the deck.

And the pirates we confronted...

"...!"

Skulls visible through rotten, torn skin.

Some didn't even have eyes, resembling zombie pirates.

Levinas's ears, which had been perked up as she raised her staff, dropped down to cover her eyes.

Gaeul was so frightened that she tucked her head into my clothes.

Although we'd recently faced ghouls and built up some mental fortitude, these zombie pirates looked even more horrifying.

Ghost pirates indeed.

They looked quite grotesque.

The good thing was that even if we were too scared to fight, we had people who could fight for us.

"Grrrk..."

As the ghost zombie pirates approached us, Han Yeoreum appeared behind them.

Whoosh-!

With one massive horizontal swing, she sliced the pirates in her path in half.

Splat-!

Water bombs flying from the sea struck the pirates, and Saebyeok seemed unafraid as she fought well.

I should stop hesitating and fight hard too.

Just as I was drawing my bow, Bom's black mana engulfed the nearby pirates.

"I made them not scary! Let's fight together!"

At Bom's call, Levinas and Gaeul peeked out.

The pirates touched by Bom's black mana now looked like goblins.

"Huok! Goblins aren't scary at all!"

"Right!"

Thanks to Bom's support, Levinas and Gaeul could overcome their fear and join the battle.

Flying lemons and white flames, vines growing through the deck.

It had only been difficult to catch them because they could appear and disappear at will; winning the fight wasn't particularly challenging.

"Got him!"

With Han Yeoreum's shout, the zombie pirates turned to dust and scattered.

The zombie pirates had kept appearing, but it seemed there was a trigger where defeating the boss would make the subordinate pirates disappear.

"Thanks to our little ones handling the trash mobs, I could defeat the boss more easily."

"Trash mobs? What's that?"

"Oh, the underlings."

Han Yeoreum held the pirate captain's hat as a trophy.

Seeing this, Levinas's eyes brightened, and she put the pirate captain's hat on her head.

"Captain Levinas."

"Yeah! This ship belongs to Levinas now!"

The ship bore traces of battle everywhere, but that only made it feel more like a proper pirate ship.

"Now we just need to return the stolen valuables to complete the mission."

"Yes, I found the valuables in the cabin."

At the conversation between Han Yeoreum and Sophia, Levinas's ears drooped.

She seemed hesitant about something.

"Levinas, what's wrong?"

"Levinas wants to play pirates more..."

Ah.

She wanted to play on the pirate ship a bit longer.

Han Yeoreum seemed to understand Levinas's feelings and looked around before speaking.

"How about you play here for a while? I'll go report in and come back."

"Huok! Is that okay?!"

"Yes. We've defeated the boss, so it shouldn't be dangerous to play here."

At Han Yeoreum's words, Levinas jumped up excitedly.

Gaeul and Bom were also secretly anticipating it, wagging their tails gently.

"Then I'll be back shortly. Sophia and Marin, would you wait here with them?"

"That I shall."

"Yes. I'll stay close by."

Han Yeoreum returned to the hotel on the fishing boat that had been waiting at a distance.

We remained on the pirate ship to play pirates for a while.

"Cannons! There are cannons here!"

We ran all over the pirate ship playing.

We turned the wheel aimlessly and even lowered the sails.

The ship was full of fascinating new things to explore.

"Zhuin, what'z dis?"

"I think it's an anchor."

"Dak? Chicken?"

"No, not a chicken, but..."

Just as I was about to explain anchors to Gaeul...

Boom-!

The ship shook with a powerful impact.

"Nyak!"

"Uik!"

As we tried to maintain our balance on the shaking ship, we looked toward the source of the impact.

The adventurer we'd seen yesterday jumped onto the deck.

"We got them! We got those damn pirates!"

"Don't get too excited, kill the captain first! It's meaningless if the captain's still alive!"

Captain?

I naturally turned to look at Levinas.

Levinas, who had just become the pirate ship's captain, began trembling.