Captain – Chapter 465 – Dreams and Reality

“I’m not asking you, first because you’ve deceived me before, nearly trapping me forever in that abyss, and second, because after that parting, we essentially said our eternal goodbyes in a certain sense.”

No longer letting the devil hold her hand, not even accepting his small gesture of shelter from the rain, Roy walked with her hands behind her back, allowing the summer rain to soak through her hair and short blouse as she spoke without looking back.

“Since then, you’ve had difficulty influencing me, and conversely, I naturally couldn’t see you again. Since we can’t meet, how could I ask you anything? Besides, what makes you think…”

As she spoke, Roy turned gracefully, retreating while smiling: “That you’re definitely right?”

Hearing this, the man looked down at her like a child and smiled condescendingly, wanting to say that he had walked far along this path, and while perspectives might differ with different lives, there wouldn’t be significant deviations.

But before the devil could speak, his blazing golden eyes suddenly froze, and even the smile at the corners of his mouth faded.

“Look, ancestor, there are always things you can’t anticipate.”

Listening to the murmurs carried by the wind and rain, looking at the devil who had stopped in his tracks, Roy spread her hands and said with a light laugh: “According to you and this dream’s meaning, if I venture deeper along this path, those who know me, and even the world, will gradually forget me.”

“But the problem is, everything you’ve shown me has been from the past.”

“They’re events that have happened, people who know me. No matter how mysterious and forbidden this path is, as long as I’m unwilling, it will only affect me personally. How could it erase the traces of my existence?”

“So…”

Roy stared directly into the man’s eyes, as if to see through his disguise of gentleness and poise, straight to the indifference deep in his soul: “Ancestor, just state your intentions plainly.”

“After all, you know I’m not someone indecisive enough to let illusions affect my judgment.”

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The confrontation didn’t last long.

Even though his mask had been removed so mercilessly, his intentions exposed, the devil still just smiled faintly and shook his head, not trying to do anything, because ultimately, he was just a passerby in this dream.

Or rather, an inconsequential observer.

Everything that was meant to happen would naturally occur.

Silently moving forward, when passing by the captain, the devil didn’t forget to pat her shoulder, gesturing for her to follow.

Following the man with her gaze until his silhouette was gradually obscured by the rain, Roy couldn’t figure out what meaning there was for her in continuing onward.

You still haven’t given up, thinking you can persuade me?

Roy frowned slightly, thinking silently, but in the end, she sighed softly and followed him.

The further forward they went, the deeper the night and the lighter the rain. Gradually, the captain could no longer feel raindrops on her body. Instead, what came from ahead was a moist, slightly salty sea breeze.

Brilliant sunlight fell from the sky, covering the entire deck, shining so brightly that the sailors had no heart to work.

Squinting to adjust to the light, Roy looked around and quickly recognized this as the merchant ship she and Richi had boarded as stowaways when they fled Ilruwin, working as undocumented laborers.

Without needing to search, she immediately spotted the devil leaning against the ship’s railing, gazing out at the sea.

“You’re right, child. The past cannot be changed.”

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Hearing footsteps behind him, the man turned his eyes to look at the child who seemed to have grown taller and darker from the sun, saying softly: “This is an iron law, one that even deities cannot reverse.”

“And as you said, however great and mysterious that path is, it can only affect us.”

“Us, the lost ones.”

Seeing the devil extend his hand toward her, Roy hesitated for a moment but didn’t avoid it, allowing him to gently caress her face. Whether it was an illusion or not, his eyes seemed to contain some…

Pity?

Like a hunter looking at a dying deer.

“Dreams and reality are like two sides of a mirror, completely opposite, yet corresponding in every way.”

As his words fell, the man withdrew his hand and gazed back at the sea. His dark golden eyes reflected a black umbrella floating on the sea surface, drifting farther and farther away, gradually becoming a tiny dot. His face showed no expression.

“Therefore, your traces still exist in this world, and you won’t be erased from the memories of those people. The one who will truly forget everything, who will no longer see the intertwining threads of fate…”

The sea breeze suddenly grew stronger, blowing those golden strands—which had grown longer from neglect—into disarray, nearly getting into her eyes. Roy had to half-close her eyes and shield them with one hand.

Then, the devil’s emotionless words, like a verdict, fell lightly.

“Is you, Elizabeth.”

Like dust settling, the strong wind gradually subsided. Her hair fell limply, and the captain slowly lowered her hand. Just as she was about to look toward the devil to question him about something, she found that there was no one beside her.

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At the farther railing, the child who had once received her teachings was running toward her.

“Brother Roy, the captain said the sun is too harsh today, and we might get sunstroke, so…”

Arriving in front of Roy, the child who was half a head shorter than her, just catching his breath, was about to excitedly relay the “vacation notice,” but after looking up, he involuntarily stopped.

After a long while, he finally spoke with some concern.

“Brother Roy, what’s… wrong with you?”

What’s wrong with me?

Looking at the child from whom she had just parted, who had also grown taller and tanned but hadn’t changed much, Roy silently repeated the question, feeling something flowing down her cheeks.

Was it rain? No, how could there be rain on such a clear day…

So it was tears.

Without feeling sadness, only a sense of emptiness—a loneliness to the point of despair, as if placed in a world without light—the captain moved her lips, wanting to call out the name of the child before her, but no matter how she searched, her memory contained only a blank silhouette.

He wasn’t there.

“You don’t remember… him anymore?”

The devil’s voice sounded in Roy’s ears, gentle and ethereal, making it impossible to tell where it came from.

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“I…”

Not knowing how to respond to the increasingly anxious child before her, Roy looked down dejectedly at her hands, scarred from hard labor, and the tears falling incessantly upon them, whispering in a voice only she could hear: “I don’t remember.”

“What about him?”

The child’s voice gradually faded away, replaced by the pirates’ enthusiastic cheers, the warm breath close at hand, and that declaration she would never forget: “Captain, this is the treasure we wanted. Until we meet again!”

Following that was hearty and uninhibited laughter.

Roy blinked hard, looking at the man who was bending down, preparing to lift her up, at his rugged yet imposing face, and that thick, fire-red beard. Though she wanted so badly to call out to him, she couldn’t utter his name.

“Oh, oh, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you, child.”

Noticing the tears on the captain’s face, the red-bearded man casually wiped them away, and then without regard for her reaction, hoisted her onto his shoulder and walked toward the gangplank. Hearing another child’s shout from behind, he stopped and looked back.

“Bring him along too.”

The man smugly smiled, leaving this command before departing without looking back. But he didn’t hear the child on his shoulder repeatedly murmuring.

Helplessly, anxiously repeating the same phrase.

“Who are you?”