Curse of the Kat – ch 74

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Chapter 74 – The cat and mouse game

There are thirteen people on this ship.
Me, Mable, Ignis, Cana, the idiot twins, the ship’s captain and six crew members.
Is that enough to overthrow a bunch of pirates and rescue the hostages?
Well, unless there is an army of reincarnators waiting for us, I alone should be enough.
…
By the way, it seems like we left Kent behind.
…
What an unreliable brother.
Getting left behind while we go on a rescue mission.
How did someone like him become a mafia boss?
Seriously…

Well, anyway…
I can’t see anything other than water right now.
And there’s no guarantee we’ll run into those pirates.
They might just hide in their cove or whatever.
If that happens, I’m not sure what to do…

“Hey Nina… are you alright?”

“I feel great.”
I’m not sure why you guys keep asking.
Sure, this lion soul probably has some drawbacks as well, but I don’t feel anything weird right now.
Meaning, something will probably happen after it’s turned off.
That’s why, I’ll keep it on for now until this matter is settled.
I can’t risk falling unconscious for three days or something similar.
And as for my mana reserves…
I thought there was a danger of running out and having lion soul turn off.
But I figured out a trick ragarding my sword.
Even with so many layers of protection, it still leaks a tiny amount of mana.
And since that mana was originally mine anyway, I can reabsorb it even if I’m not in panther soul form.
And so, if I don’t actively use my mana, I won’t run out.

…

Well, other than keeping an eye out for any potential pirates, there wasn’t much to do.
And it turns out that doing the mana absorption from the sword leaves me with a bit surplus.
So, I decided to experiment.
With aura magic.
The magic that comes with lion soul.
Just like shadow and blaze, it’s quite unique and probably really strong if I can use it correctly.
So, what does it do?
Well…
It radiates ‘something’ from me and affects my surroundings.
If I don’t pay attention to it, it seems to radiate ‘fear’ or ‘respect’.
That’s the reason why everyone acted the way they did at the guild.
But that’s not where its capabilities end.
I can change its effect and do all sorts of things.
Freeze the water around me, and make the nearby people shiver.
A chilling aura.
Or I can radiate pressure, which prevents anyone from getting close to me while pushing away nearby objects.
A pressure aura.
…
Though…
When I say, people shivering or not being able to get close to me, it’s not quite as you might think.
It’s in the physical sense, yes.
But also in a psychological sense.
Pressure aura only gently pushes objects aside, so people should have an easy time overcoming that.
But they can’t.
Their body refuses to move any closer…
Or so everyone said.
Hmm…
So it’s a magic to make literal metaphors?
‘Pressure’ and ‘chilling feeling’?
Interesting…
Though, I’m a little concerned.
What if I try to make everyone ‘fired up’?
Will they literally catch on fire and burn alive?
I better be careful with this…

…

Stop.
A few hours of sailing, we finally discovered something.
Tiny island covering about the same area as an average house in Kalamas.
And since no trees or plants grow on it, it only appeared as a sand mound sticking out of the sea.
Clearly, there are no pirates to be found there.
…
Or so we are meant to think.

“Can you dock at that island?”

“Ay, we can. But why there?”

“I can smell humans from over there.”

“… ya can smell ’em? Aight’ then. BOYS WE ARE DOCKING AT THAT ISLAND!”

“””ROGER!”””

Somehow, my eardrums didn’t burst from him yelling right next to me.
Aren’t I supposed to have enhanced hearing?
Or is it enhanced in other ways in this form?
Well, I won’t complain.

We disembarked on the island and I put my nose to work.
It didn’t take long until I located the source.
Several pieces of cloth buried a few centimeters underground.
No actual humans here.

“It’s a miss, huh…”
That’s not neccessarily the case, Mable.
Even something like this can be a clue.

“Are there any other small island around here?”

“Ay, there’s bunch of ’em, but we usually avoid these, cuz it’s a pain to sail ‘roun em.”
Hmm, I see.
A bunch of islands sailors tend to avoid.
Now doesn’t that sound like the perfect base for pirates?

“Lass… you don’t want us t’ sail to every one of ’em, do you?”
Of course I do.
You already got paid, so don’t complain.
Or what?
Are you scared?

“… ah, I’ll be damned! ALRIGHT BOYS! WE’RE SAILING THROUGH THE SATAN’S WARTBED!”
“””ROGER THAT CAPT’AN!”””
…
Satan’s wartbed?
What a name.
…
Also, I didn’t know this world had the concept of satan.
I guess since Nix and Torta are ‘good’ and nobody knows about Kat, the role of an evil god needed to be fulfilled by someone, huh?
Well, anyway.
Let’s go.

…

Second island.
Also has human scents.
This time, a little digging uncovered a box full of bottles of alcohol.
The ship’s crew got really happy, but the captain reminded them they had a job to do before they were allowed to drink.
We sailed on.

Third island.
A golden pendant.
Once again, a layer of sand covering it.

…
Hmm…
I see now…

“T’s already gettin’ late… Ya dogs better be ready to keep sailing all night!”
“””GOT IT CAP’AN!”””

“No. We will spend the night here.”

“””Huh?”””

“If we get attacked while everyone is tired, it won’t end well.”

“Ay… ye’r right. But I thought you’d force us to keep goin’ all night…”
Who do you think I am?
I don’t run a slave business.
…
Sorry Mable.
I get that you want this to proceed as quickly as possible, but…
There’s more to this than I’m letting on.
That’s right.
I’m not planning on sleeping just yet.

A little wink at you.
Surprised?
Confused?
Whatever it may be, I think you understand I’m planning something.
That little nod of yours confirms it.

Well then…
Time to set up camp and then pretend to sleep.

…

Us girls plus the twins are in one tent while the ship’s captain and crew members are in another one.
Naturally.
You wouldn’t want maidens sleeping in the same tent as rowdy sailors, would you?
Anyway…
Cana and Ignis fell asleep pretty quickly.
The twins too.
However, Mable, knowing I’m up to something, stayed awake.
As for me, I’m waiting for the fish to bite.
…
What’s all this about?
Well…
Here’s the thing.
Every time we dug one of those things out of the ground, I sensed a tiny disturbance in my aura.
The first time, I barely even noticed it.
The second time, I decided to ignore it.
But the third time, I figured it couldn’t have just been a coincidence.
These buried objects were rigged to send out some kind of signal once dug up.
Though, a very weak one, that spread out in all directions.
Meaning, I couldn’t simply follow it to find the receiver.
That’s why…
…
Oh, they are here.
Will you look at that.
Criminals work fast, don’t they?

“Mable. Get ready.”
To my whisper, Mable puts on a serious expression and nods.

For a few seconds, I heard silent footsteps outside our tent.
I waited patiently for the perfect chance.
And then finally, a hand grabbed the tent’s entranace cloth and slowly pulled it aside.
At that moment, I shot up out of my sheets and tackled the culprit as well as his buddy.

“Ag…ghh?!”
With my fingers gripping their necks, they could do nothing but let out weak grunts and pointlessly struggle.
Of course, I’m way stronger than them thanks to my gloves.
There’s no way they can tear me off of them.

“There you are, you little rats.”
Upon closer inspection though, the two people don’t really look like pirates.
It’s an adult man and a woman in ragged clothes.
Those two seem more like the prisoners, don’t they?
Hmm…
It might just be a disguise, I can’t let my guard down.

“Nina! Are you-… huh?”
Mable immediately came running and also noticed this oddity.
Yes, they really don’t look like bad guys.
But the fact is, the man had dropped a bottle of something he was carrying when I gripped him.
And I don’t need to even check up close to know that it’s filled with some sort of drug.
Poison, a sleeping pill, muscle numbing serum?
It could be any of those.
But anyway…
If I choke them to death right here, that won’t solve anything, now will it?

I let go of them and they drop down, holding their throats and cough repeatedly.
A moment later, I intensify my aura to make them think twice about trying anything.
…
Though, I might have overdone it.
The woman passed out and the man wet himself.
Eh…
It’s fine.
I can still get information out of him.

I grab his clothes and pull him closer, making his eyes meet mine.

“Who are you and who sent you?”

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