.jpg)
IBP 114
I was flustered to find myself turned into a puppy, but I quickly remembered what I had to do.
I had to check the pitch-black box inside the boiler room, which I had momentarily lost sight of while picking up the cufflinks.
“Guys, actually, this place was originally a rotten ship, and it's so collapsed that it wouldn't be strange if it started leaking water any second.”
“Really? Then why does it look so fine?”
I murmured, recalling my goal for coming here.
“That's because there's a ‘black magic box’ here that creates an illusion for the entire ship.”
“Dangerous black magic? How—how are you going to handle that?”
“It's okay.”
I wagged my tail toward the <cloak of saint mars> spread across the floor.
“This cloak can neutralize black magic. Just once, though!”
I added an explanation that if I covered that box—the core of the evil magic—with the cloak, the black magic would surely be neutralized.
“The black magic supporting this ship will collapse.”
Since the ship was already on land, people wouldn't be hurt. Once they realized the ship was rotten, they would evacuate quickly.
‘As long as the three of us at the very bottom escape safely.’
But just as I was pondering a way to escape, Jjek-jjeki bit the back of my hand.
“Wait! Coco. Listen to me. Why don't you take that box to the high-ranking people?”
“No. This box cannot be moved.”
“Why!”
“They said if it's moved, or if someone other than the owner touches it, it immediately returns to its original owner.”
“Then, how about calling all the ability users and shaming them? It's too dangerous for you alone...”
“Two or more humans cannot discover the identity of the box. If they do, the box will explode and everyone there will die. There were no exceptions.”
That was why people in the future called that box a cursed time bomb.
‘There is only one way I can use this box.’
And that was to reveal the true nature of this ship to the people and cast suspicion on Gillen.
Since I had become a puppy and couldn't use my hands, I gripped the <cloak of saint mars> with my teeth.
Then, through clumsy footwork, I wrapped the box tightly with the cloak.
How many seconds passed?
A vivid light radiated from the cloak.
The luxurious and antique fixtures of the boiler room vanished, transforming into a decayed space.
Simultaneously, the magnificent cruise ship began to shrink as if it were a mere rowboat.
“Guys, don't be surprised. The ship is about to burst.”
One, two, three.
K-boom!
With a massive noise, the sound of the giant ship shattering echoed.
Finally, the deceptive black magic had been broken.
From the distant chart room, I heard the sound of the captain, who had been dozing off, bolting upright.
“What is happening!”
“I-I don't know either! The ship is tilting downwards!”
The third officer, who seemed to have just woken up, shouted loudly.
Perhaps there had been a hole in the floor of the rotten ship. At the same time, the sound of water filling the ship could be heard.
I took a deep breath and placed the mouse on top of my ear.
“Mouse, hold onto my fur!”
“Got it!”
“Jjek-jjeki, are you ready to fly?”
“Yes!”
Since I had become a puppy, I had to find my sister quickly while staying as inconspicuous as possible.
I moved my body rapidly across the floor, which was already half-filled with water.
However.
It happened just as I approached the basement door.
Thump!
The worn-out door slammed shut with a loud bang. I was suddenly trapped in the boiler room.
As a panicked me, Jjek-jjeki, and the mouse rolled our eyes and tried to push the door, the loud voice of the navigator echoed from the other side.
“Block off that boiler room first and evacuate immediately! It looks like water is leaking from there.”
“Set up a barricade!”
In an instant, all sorts of objects were piled up in front of the door.
There was no immediate breakthrough in sight. A stream of water leaking from somewhere was splashing and rising across the cabin floor.
Watching the water rise and ripple around my small legs, I thought:
‘In times like this, you have to pivot your strategy quickly!’
I quickly turned around and shouted loudly, like a general.
“Then we'll go through where the water is trickling in, instead of that door! If water is flowing, it means there's a passage!”
The Emperor of Mouse muttered in a very tiny voice.
“Coco, you're smart.”
“Yep!”
“I think we're fucked.”
I was about to run bravely when I slammed on the brakes.
I saw the hinges of another door in front of me dangling precariously.
And...
Jjek-jjeki muttered.
“Are... are you sure we can go out through th-that door?”
“I... I'll jump up first! We have to avoid the water. Hold onto my head tightly!”
I quickly pushed off the cabin floor and leaped onto a box.
With a few hops, I managed to climb onto the highest box in the cabin.
And that was the best choice.
Because...
K-BOOOOM-!
After the door shattered, water began to pour in like crazy!
* * *
Chloe snapped her eyes open.
Having had a short but deep sleep, her lethargic body felt instantly refreshed.
However, when she looked up, the luxurious ceiling of the cabin had already vanished.
‘What on earth happened?’
And...
“Coco?”
No matter how many times she called Coco's name, there was no answer.
It was just as she hurriedly opened the rotten wooden door.
At that moment, Grand Duke Rivera and Caligo appeared.
Chloe looked at them with an urgent expression and spoke.
“Have you seen Coco by any chance?”
“Was Lady Coco not with you?”
She hurriedly looked around and then opened the note left by the bedside.
[Sister!
I'm going out for a bit.
I'll be back in 5 mins.]
“Where on earth did she go? The ship has become such a mess...”
Her heart burned with instant worry.
She grabbed Grand Duke Rivera and asked,
“Why did the ship suddenly become like this?”
“I'm not entirely sure, but it seems a rotten ship was disguised using magic. Lady Chloe, let us leave this place quickly. It's not dangerous, but the ship is rotten. Most people will be evacuating, so it's only right that you move as well.”
“No. I'm not going anywhere without Coco.”
Caligo intervened and spoke.
“Don't worry, My Lady. I will deploy people to find Coco. I'll assist with my shadow arts.”
“While we search, it would be best for the Lady to exit the ship.”
Chloe replied, rubbing her face with her hand.
“Grand Duke, Young Grand Duke. I appreciate the concern, but I am not a child who needs your protection.”
At Chloe's firm words, Grand Duke Rivera frowned.
“I am aware of that. But you are my fiancée.”
Chloe was usually quick-witted.
She could tell that the word 'fiancée' carried emotions beyond mere indifference. However, she turned her gaze away, ignoring his concern.
“I will go find Coco, so please capture the owner of the ship and then help me. We must hand the owner over to the investigators before they escape.”
“If that is the Lady's wish, it cannot be helped. Then, I shall go capture my rival.”
With a characteristic expression of interest, Grand Duke Rivera left the scene.
* * *
Chloe Ardos thought as she walked quickly through the corridor.
The cruise ship that had carried numerous nobles had instantly become a rotten shipwreck.
And Coco had disappeared.
‘The reason Coco disappeared must be related to this ship.’
Coco probably tried to uncover the suspicious identity of this ship. Alone.
‘The reason this naughty puppy moved on her own must be because she judged that something on this ship was dangerous for me.’
She felt she could understand the reason.
‘As I got closer to the stern and the lower parts of the ship, my body felt heavy and my mood turned foul.’
It had been such a subtle discomfort that she had been annoyed with herself for dismissing it as mere sensitivity at the time.
Sighing, she decided to walk toward the darkest part of the ship.
In other words, that little brat would be in the place she dreaded most.
The darkest and most gloomy place.
The most unpleasant and uncomfortable space.
As she walked over the water through the darkness, she felt a sensation as if cold water had been splashed over her.
“...What?”
Naturally, she expected to find a tearful child Coco waiting for her help.
But in the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible...
The chart room was already filled with water up to her chest.
Then what had happened to Coco?
Just as a chill ran down her spine, she heard a small dog-like sound.
“Whine... whine...”
Specifically, the sound of a puppy.
And in the direction the sound came from, she saw it.
“Woof, woof...”
“Sputter, sputter!”
Coco, the mouse, and the bird were barely swimming on the water, shivering and splashing.
This puppy, floating atop a small box, looking as if it might sink to the bottom at any moment.
This small puppy, carrying a bird and a mouse on its head.
‘It really is Coco.’
In the rippling, rising water.
Coco hurriedly paddled, then tilted precariously toward the floor.
“Coco!”
She swiftly scooped up the warm, squishy puppy.
Coco, whose body was shivering from being soaked, rolled her eyes.
“Coco, why did you become a puppy?”
“Woof...”
“You little troublemaker, who told you to come to such a dangerous place alone?”
But perhaps because it had been a while since she'd scolded her...
“Grrrr...”
The flustered Coco, along with the mouse on her head, actually bared her teeth.
“Why are you getting angry? What did you do right to be angry? Hmm?”
Though she tucked her teeth back in, from the tilting round head to the prim expression...
It was obvious what this little puppy was thinking.
She was clearly using a shallow trick to avoid being scolded.
“Woof.”
“...Ah, really? You're not Coco?”
“Woof woof.”
Despite wagging her tail vigorously and fluttering her ears...
What was with the way she nodded her head firmly, as if she weren't Coco, as if she had never caused any trouble?
No matter how she thought about it, her Coco really was a fool.
And Chloe knew exactly how to handle this tiny, cute, foolish puppy.
“That's a shame. I brought some sweet potatoes to give you.”
.jpg)