"Achoo!" A sneeze came from a small boy who was sitting on the bowsprit of the ship besides Roderick. Jack sniffed as the adult next to him tidied the scarf around his neck.

 

"Want me to go fetch a blanket?" Roderick asked as he pulled the boy closer to him to provide warmth.

 

Jack shook his head and tug on his scarf, "I'm fine, this is warm enough. How long do we have to wait until we get to Ominum?" The small boy leaned his cheek against the adult's arm.

 

"In a day I could say!" A familiar voice came as the small boy and adult turned their head to see Errat walking towards them. He was wearing a thick leather coat to protect himself from the coat - plus his pirate hat.

 

The young boy's eyes sparkled, "Really?!"

 

"Maybe even less than a day, who knows, Jackie?" Errat smiled as he put his hands on his hips as the young boy threw his fists into the air.

 

"Yess!! I can't wait to play with the others there! I have to show them what I got from boarding the ship for the past six months!" Jack said with a grin on his face as his words caught Roderick's attention.

 

"Others?"

 

Errat hummed as he leaned forward and rested his arms on where the bowsprit connects with the ship's body, "There are many kiddos in the town, and Jack's the only one who wants to venture with the crew. Or allowed by their caretakers, but aside from that, it's fun to have them around ya. Hoggin' ya up till you fall backwards~"

 

Roderick glanced at Errat before averting his gaze, "All of them must have looked up to you. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case."

 

Errat wryly smiled at Roderick, "But I tend to tell 'em to go follow their own dreams, pirates like us are the opposite people you want to be in if you wanna be accepted by society." A sly smile then crept on his face, "Buuttt... if they wanna be a pirate then I'm the right mentor to teach 'em! The ship could use more people with ambitions and dreams, like them kids~" He chuckled.

 

"Captain!" A voice called out to him, catching Errat's attention as Lawrence was in between walking and running towards the group.

 

"Oh, Lawry~ Nice to see ya~ Me, Rody and Jackie are just chattin' away. Wanna join in?" Errat offered with a grin on his face.

 

Lawrence's chest was heaving up and down as misty air came out from his mouth, "Would love to, cap. But you have to see this, it's a letter from the Humming Whales. They also sent a newspaper as a bonus... I can say it's worth taking a look at." He said as he held a letter and a bundle of newspaper towards Errat.

 

The captain furrowed his brows for a bit before he took the items. It made Jack and Roderick wonder about the contents of the paper. And the latter also noticed a distressed look on Errat's face, "...The Humming Whales, one of the Cackling Storms' regulars back at the tavern... What do they want now?"

 

Errat read the newspaper and his eyes were focused on the news article on the front page. He wasn't unfazed, but there was a hint of lament on his face. The man closed his eyes and placed his hand on top of his hat before bringing it down to his chest, "...Is this true?"

 

"Absolutely, cap. You know their leader better than anyone else... They hide nothing from us, especially since we're their allies."

 

Roderick covered Jack's ears as he pulled his head closer to his body, "What's going on?"

 

Errat opened his eyes as he kept staring at the letter and the image plastered on the newspaper, "...Another daemon attack... This time, it's on South Damoka, we had just been there a week ago." He then opened the letter sealed in a neat envelope. His eyes rummaged through the writings before he let out a relieved sigh.

 

"What is it, cap?" Lawrence asked.

 

"Thank the stars the group's fine, but the locals lost so many people in the village... Elora even told us to stay far away from the area until the Imperial Army gets rid of them..." Errat's lips frowned a little as he read the last passage of the letter, mentioning the leader of the Humming Whales between his sentences.

 

Roderick quietly listens in and a distant memory passed by his head.

 

"Don't let them through!!"

 

The man grunted as he rubbed his face and took a deep breath.

 

"Then we will have to take that advice with us then. We don't have what it takes to take care of those... monsters. As far as I know, they could only be defeated if they turn against each other... and swords that have been blessed with the Empirial king's blessing." Roderick interrupted, getting straight to the point from hearing the situation.

 

Errat looked at Roderick with a stern expression, "The Blades of Purity... You heard of 'em?"

 

"Known it for years, I read it somewhere but it's a long time ago," Roderick replied as he was holding on to Jack so that he doesn't hear any of this.

 

"Uhmm..." Jack pouted as he couldn't hear nor see what was going on. Since his face was buried on Roderick's body.

 

Errat crossed his arms and held his chin, "...Then we can't take any risks for that, especially if there's a chance that we could meet a half-daemon there."

 

"...Half-daemons..." Roderick muttered as he gazed down at Jack.

 

The captain hummed as he looked at Roderick, "Know anything about them, Rody?" He asked, wanting to know if his crew member knew the certain species.

 

Roderick nodded his head, "They're rarer than your average old daemons, one who gets infected by the Daemon Blood can turn into a half-daemon. They would return being a normal human, but with both power and a curse. Half-daemons are humans like us, but they can control the daemon's power within them." He paused as another distant memory pops into his head.

 

"...They can even shapeshift some of their body parts to look like a daemon's. But the thing is, there's a chance that they wouldn't instantly turn back into their human form. If the victim couldn't control the malicious power, they would simply mutate into average daemons..." Roderick added as he looked back at Errat with emptiness in his eyes.

 

Errat gazed at Roderick's Emerald pupils and nodded, "Good to hear that you know about them. All of us have to be cautious around them after all. But just like ol' daemons, the same method applies to them half-daemons as well, either they end one another or the blessed blades cut 'em down. For the meantime, we need to keep our eyes peeled open, got it?"

 

"Aye, cap!" Lawrence saluted.

 

Roderick's eyes then glanced at his right arm which was wrapping around Jack's body, "...Aye..." His eyes were filled with a lack of life. Just like the time when he had just got on board the ship.

 

"Great! I'm going to write a reply later, go and tell the man to check our supplies. We might be staying at Ominum for a while because of the news." Errat said as he looked at Lawrence while waving the newspaper at him.

 

"Right away, sir." The individual then rushed towards his crewmates to do the task.

 

Errat the scanned the surroundings before taking a glance at Roderick. He then noticed the look on the adult's eyes and approached him. The captain then lifted himself up and sat beside his crewmate, "...Ya okay?" He asked as he put his hand on Roderick's left shoulder.

 

Roderick snapped out of his daydream and flinched out of the sudden touch before swatting Errat's hand by instinct. Errat widened his eyes as Roderick showed a flicker of fear in his expression, "O-Oh... It's just... you." Roderick said as he sighed a relief before his expression turned as stoic as usual.

 

"Don't touch people all of a sudden, you can give them a scare." The Auburn-haired man knitted his brows together as he stared at Errat in the eyes.

 

Errat chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, didn't mean to... Ya look kinda odd for a sec there. Was worried if something had happened..." There was a concerned look on the captain's face as he smiled.

 

Roderick huffed some air from his mouth, causing a puff of air to escape from it, "I'm fine, I'm just processing on the news... that's all." He averted his gaze from Errat as their bodies were literally next to each other.

 

"I want to go to Curtis!" Jack suddenly interrupts as he prised Roderick's arm off his body and stood up on the bowsprit, "I want him to make some warm milk for me!" He then carefully walked past the two adults' laps before jumping on the dock of the ship.

 

"See you later, Roderick! Captain Errat!" The small boy waved as he heads towards the cafeteria area.

 

Errat smiled from ear to ear as he watched Jack fade into the further side of the ship. He then turned towards Roderick and smiled, "Looks like it's just the two of us~"

 

Roderick blankly stared at him before scooting over further from the captain, "Try anything weird and I'm going to knock you off into the sea."

 

"Relax, Rody. It's not like I'm gonna do the same to ya. Taking a break here sure is It's a nice view from here, ya know?" Errat smirked as he gazed at Roderick, "Especially what's in front of me eyes~"

 

The other man suddenly became flustered as he caught up on what Errat was getting at, "...Screw off!" Roderick exclaimed back as he lightly punched Errat's arm, making the individual laugh light-heartedly.

 

The silver-haired man then grabbed Roderick's hand before it could land a hit and held it in place, "Uh, uh, uh~ I'm just saying the truth, Rody~ Do ya wanna knock me off now?"

 

Roderick clicked his mouth and forcefully pulled his arm back, "Fine, but don't try anything funny." He warned as he glared at the captain.

 

Errat chuckled, "I won't~" He then plopped his head lackadaisically on top of Roderick's shoulder. Surprisingly, the latter allowed it, perhaps it's because of the captain's flirty words earlier. Or perhaps it felt that the man's presence had slowly become more comfortable to him over the past six months.

 

There was only silence and a breezy wind surrounding them as the ship moved forward in the endless waters. The colder climate on the northern part of Altia was like none other. Dreading snowstorms and freezing cold air, but it brought the beauty of nature covered in the white blankets of snow.

 

"...Hey, Rody?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

Errats leaned his cheek onto the man's shoulder, "...How did you know that half-daemons wouldn't return back to normal once in a while?"

 

"...I just knew..." Roderick answered.

 

"From where?"

 

"...I just knew..." He repeated.