A Big Fish.
After tossing the completely exhausted witch onto a bed, Woojin immediately set out to understand the situation.
"What task did you give Rachel?"
Cindy had said earlier that she sent Rachel to handle something outside. What kind of job could leave such a powerful witch half-dead?
Cindy answered readily.
"I told her to go to the harbor and gather some information."
"What information?"
"Well… this happened recently. Some fishermen said they saw something strange."
Among fishermen who had sailed to the northern sea recently, odd sightings had begun to surface from time to time.
While sailing as usual and watching the waves…
Suddenly, a massive shadow darted beneath the boat at incredible speed.
The shadow was far too large to be an ordinary fish. Even experienced fishermen had never encountered something that size before. For a moment, it almost felt as if a dark cloud had covered the sun.
Because the situation seemed so unrealistic, the fisherman assumed he had imagined it. Still, the uneasy feeling wouldn't go away, so he eventually turned the boat around and returned.
It was just a story mentioned during a fishermen's drinking gathering.
But Cindy took the rumor seriously.
'It might be a magical beast.'
Until recently, the northern sea had been a forbidden zone where humans could not set foot.
Perhaps some marine magical beast that had left the region had returned.
With that thought, Cindy consulted the fishermen and temporarily halted pearl harvesting while investigating the waters.
"I told Rachel to go to the fishermen's guild and ask about the progress of the investigation… but it ended up like this."
Cindy muttered bitterly while looking at Rachel lying on the bed.
The witch, meanwhile, was snoring peacefully.
She was deeply asleep, so it would take some time before she woke up.
Sitting around and waiting until then would be boring and frustrating.
'I should take a look myself.'
Having decided that, Woojin spoke.
"Everyone stay here. I'll go check the harbor and come back."
"Then I should prepare to go out."
Arwen said while fiddling with her sleeve, apparently checking whether the dagger hidden there was secure.
She looked reliable, but Woojin shook his head.
"I'll go alone."
"Wouldn't it be better if we went together?"
"I'll just take a quick look and come back. You stay here and protect the people in the mansion."
Rachel might have been followed.
When he said that, Arwen nodded in understanding.
It was a clear conclusion.
Claire, who had been about to stand up as well, awkwardly sat back down.
"I was about to follow too… but if that's what Jin wants, I'll wait here."
"I'll be back soon."
"Please be careful."
After receiving their farewells, Woojin walked out of the mansion.
Although it was his first time in this city, finding the way wasn't difficult.
Cindy's summer villa had been built close to the sea.
When he turned his head slightly, he could see the ocean.
The night sea shimmered faintly under the light of the full moon.
Running along the coastline as if jogging, he soon arrived at the large harbor.
Fishing boats rocked gently in the water where they were moored.
Perhaps because the sun had set, there were no workers around.
However, bright lights and loud laughter spilled out from the tavern windows nearby.
The atmosphere was completely peaceful.
Woojin withdrew the hand he had been resting on his machete.
'It doesn't seem like anything serious happened here.'
Since Rachel had returned gravely injured, he had thought the harbor might be in chaos.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
Woojin walked along the street, occasionally glancing into shops as he passed.
After walking for about twenty minutes and passing several restaurants and stores…
One particularly noisy tavern caught his attention.
'Are they having some kind of gathering?'
He walked closer.
Peering through the window, he saw customers loudly chatting as if they had rented out the whole place.
Several tables had been pushed together, and a group of men were drinking heavily.
He examined their appearance closely.
Their skin was dark from constant sun exposure, and their muscles were hardened from hauling fishing nets.
The marks of a life at sea.
'Fishermen.'
What were they talking about?
Their voices were loud enough that he could hear everything even from outside.
But standing there and eavesdropping felt awkward, so Woojin entered the tavern.
He quietly took a seat in a corner and pretended to yawn.
A female server approached him.
"Have you decided on your order?"
Woojin looked around.
There wasn't even a menu in sight.
He ordered vaguely.
"Please bring me your best-selling dish and a drink."
"Please wait a moment~"
Apparently used to situations like this, the server walked toward the kitchen without further questions.
Woojin felt slightly uneasy.
'…They won't bring something strange, will they?'
The sardine pie from earlier dinner suddenly flashed through his mind.
But he hadn't come here to eat anyway.
Even if something weird showed up, it didn't matter.
His goal was gathering information.
He focused his ears on the fishermen's conversation.
"Drinking is fine and all, but it's been six days since we made any money. I'm getting restless… when do you think we can go pearl harvesting again?"
"At least a month, probably. If you're bored, go catch sardines near the coast."
Sailing to the far northern sea had been prohibited.
But fishing near the harbor was still allowed.
It was the same work they had always done.
A young man laughed and replied,
"Come on, hyung. Why would we waste time catching sardines when they barely make money? I'd rather just drink."
"Hahaha!"
Loud laughter erupted around the table.
A middle-aged fisherman clicked his tongue.
"I might sound like an old man, but you shouldn't get addicted to chasing big scores. Diving in the northern sea is madness."
Some fishermen were diving directly into the northern waters to retrieve pearl oysters.
It was undeniably dangerous and reckless.
The young fisherman replied,
"I'll do it just four or five more times and quit. I need to save up some serious money for my younger siblings' weddings."
"Haven't you already earned enough?"
"Well… it's kind of complicated."
Even if they harvested pearl oysters, it didn't mean they would make a fortune every time.
Not every oyster contained a pearl.
And even when one did, its value varied greatly depending on size, shape, and flaws.
"If you're lucky, you hit the jackpot. If not, you still make a decent profit. The clam meat and shells sell for a pretty good price too."
"That sounds like gambling."
"Yeah… now that you mention it, it does feel a bit like that."
The young fisherman nodded.
Despite the clear age gap between them, they spoke comfortably like friends.
However, the conversation itself didn't contain much useful information.
'Maybe I should head back to the mansion soon.'
Just as Woojin was thinking that—
"Here's your food."
His order had arrived.
Fried fish and potatoes, along with a large mug of beer.
'I think I asked for a drink… but they brought beer as if it were obvious.'
Did they not even consider beer to be alcohol?
Still, he was relieved it wasn't something bizarre like sardine pie.
Since it was already here, he decided to taste it.
He took a bite of the fried fish.
Crunch!
A satisfying sound.
It had been fried perfectly crisp.
Almost instinctively, Woojin reached for the beer.
'So that's why they served this as the drink.'
Just as he was convincing himself…
"…I heard Charlie disappeared. Does anyone know where that guy went?"
A concerning piece of conversation reached Woojin's ears. He sipped his beer and listened closely.
A young fisherman spoke.
"No idea. Haven't heard anything. He made quite a bit of money, so maybe he left for another city."
"I don't think so."
A young man at the next seat objected.
"I saw Charlie setting sail before dawn."
"He set sail? Why?"
"No idea. How would I know what's going on in his head? Maybe he just went out to catch sardines."
The young man answered uncertainly.
The older fisherman questioned him again.
"Did you report that to the guild?"
"Last night. I mentioned it just in case."
"Good."
Since it had been reported, the guild would handle it properly.
With that, the gloomy conversation was casually wrapped up.
Woojin reflected on what he had just heard.
'So the guild is searching for a missing person.'
Rachel's injury might be connected to that incident.
If he wanted to find clues, visiting the fishermen's guild would probably help…
But it was already very late, and Woojin was just an unrelated outsider.
If he went to the guild building now and knocked on the door, it would only make him look suspicious.
'There's no need to go through that trouble.'
Rachel would likely wake up tomorrow.
The reason Woojin came to the harbor in the first place was simply to check the situation in the city with his own eyes.
Since that was done, it was time to head back.
After paying for his food, Woojin stood up.
***
Rachel slept for quite a long time.
That was only natural, considering the serious injuries she had suffered.
The bite marks looked like they had been left by a massive monster. If things had gone slightly worse, her body might have been torn in half.
'She's surprisingly tough.'
She had been lucky.
If Woojin had arrived even a day later, she probably would have died from excessive blood loss.
Yet somehow this witch always had a strange talent for prolonging her own life.
After waiting for quite some time…
Rachel finally blinked her eyes open.
Cindy brightened immediately.
"Rachel! How do you feel?"
"…My stomach hurts…"
Rachel muttered sluggishly.
The witch coughed repeatedly.
Cindy quickly poured some water from a kettle and handed it to her.
Rachel gulped down the water.
Afterward, seeming to feel better, she licked her palm and washed her face like a cat.
Claire looked startled by the strange behavior.
"Why is she doing that?"
"She thinks she's a leopard."
There was something slightly wrong with her head.
The details could be explained later.
Woojin immediately asked what he wanted to know.
"Tell me what happened before you got injured."
"What was I doing…?"
Rachel mumbled.
"You went to the guild after Cindy asked you to."
Woojin gave her a hint.
As if her mind cleared a little, the witch nodded.
"Ah… right. I went to meet the fishermen… but they said something had happened. What was it again?"
"Was it because someone went missing?"
"That's right! They said they had to find Halls."
"Charlie."
Her memory seemed unstable.
Ever since merging with the black leopard, the witch had become stronger—but her intelligence had declined accordingly.
Still, she seemed to remember the general flow of events.
"The fishermen said they had to find Halls who went out to sea. Everyone looked busy… so I thought I'd help a little."
Rachel suddenly used her transformation ability.
In an instant, she turned into a gray seal covered with black spots.
After demonstrating briefly, the witch canceled the transformation and returned to human form.
"When I transform like that, I can swim really well… so I secretly changed and went into the sea. I wanted to find Halls and tell the people…"
Rachel shuddered.
Just remembering it made her feel sick.
"I couldn't find Halls, but there was a huge fish in the ocean. Big, scary, and its teeth were sharp… it tried to eat me."
Rachel had barely managed to escape with her life.
Even a powerful witch couldn't dare fight that creature.
Of course—
It probably wasn't a fish.
'A magical beast?'
Just as humans had crossed into the northern sea to harvest pearls…
A magical beast might have come down into the southern sea.
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