Captain – Chapter 9 – You Can’t Catch a Wolf Without Sacrificing Some Bait

The nights on the solitary island were cold, but fortunately, there was still some black gunpowder in the short pistol that had belonged to Caine but now was Roy’s, which hadn’t been completely soaked. Using it along with her knowledge from years of living on islands, she successfully started a roaring fire, preventing the naval officer’s condition from worsening.

When the first ray of dawn illuminated the sea and fell upon Caine’s pale face, it didn’t wake this weakened commander from his deep slumber. What truly brought him back to the real world was the sound of quarreling from not far in front of him.

“Let go, you stupid bird!”

The first scene Caine saw upon opening his eyes was the captain struggling with her raven over a light gray small fish most common in the sea. Roy was tightly gripping the fish’s head, trying to pull its tail out of Alfie’s black beak.

What are they doing…

Caine didn’t understand the behavior of this person and bird. After watching for a while, he shifted his gaze to several new items beside him.

There were some half-damaged glass bottles, pure silver cutlery, and a small, exquisite cast iron pot. Most of the glass bottles contained slightly cloudy fresh water, presumably collected by Roy with great difficulty over these days.

Glancing over several familiar pieces of cutlery, Caine easily recognized their origin.

They were provisions from the Auran Empire Navy, which should have been floating in the boundless ocean along with the wreckage of the warships. Their presence here could only mean that during the time he was unconscious, Roy had swum to those wreckages to search for supplies that could help them survive.

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The battle between the captain and her beloved pet finally came to an end. The ever-victorious Captain Roy remained the ultimate winner. She clutched the small fish in her hand and made a face at the raven, which was flapping its wings and loudly calling “robber,” saying: “I’m a pirate to begin with, and in these times when even I have to go hungry, you still want to eat fish? Go eat your insects.”

Seeing no more chance to reclaim the small fish it had worked hard to catch, Alfie lowered its head dejectedly and, in a few jumps, disappeared from Roy’s sight, plunging into the dense forest.

Caine watched the captain approach, preparing to set up a stove with stones to cook the fish, and curiously asked her: “This was caught by it, right? You just snatched it away. Aren’t you afraid it won’t come back?”

“It wouldn’t dare.” Roy glanced at him, continuing to process the small fish barely larger than a finger, then said: “It’s somewhat sad to say, but the affection I’ve invested in Alfie is actually more than I’ve given to anyone on the Mermaid. That’s why, even after suffering such harm, it still sought me out following the traces in its memory.”

The grayish-white fish had already died from dehydration during Roy’s struggle with Alfie, and now it was floating up and down in the continuously bubbling, not-so-clean water, with its snow-white belly constantly turning up. After a not-so-long silence, Roy gave an explanation about emotions.

“I never trust anyone. Even Richi, whom I watched grow up with my own eyes and guided with my own hands—I’m unwilling to trust him. In my eyes, no matter what kind of person, they are far more dangerous than beasts, because you can never hope to clearly see the ever-changing human heart.”

“Alright, eat up.”

Scooping the small fish from the cast iron pot, along with some broth into the pure silver cutlery, Roy handed this incredibly precious meal on the solitary island to the naval officer still immersed in her narrative, while displaying a mischievous smile.

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“Of course, if you want, this captain can give you some valuable trust, provided you join me in being a pirate.”

The incessant persuasion once again reached his ears, and Caine sighed helplessly.

“Dream on.”

Luck rarely descends upon the fallen, while misfortune often travels in pairs.

After arduously going through a period of calm seas and pleasant weather, seeing the naval officer’s injuries gradually improving, able to help with some simple tasks, the increasingly gloomy sky and the faint sound of thunder shattered all their hopes for improvement.

Five days later.

A sudden downpour extinguished the fire that hadn’t been preserved in time. During the process of relocating, Caine, who had been exposed to too much cold rain, fell ill. His body was cold as ice, and even the small fire Roy painstakingly started provided no help to him.

This was a narrow stone cave far from the coast, with a very solid structure, so there was no need to worry about collapse or being submerged by seawater. However, the water splashing in from outside the cave and the dampness that filled the entire small cave along the stone walls could not be driven away.

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Withdrawing her hand that had been checking Caine’s temperature on his forehead, Roy confirmed that he was indeed suffering only from a common cold. The problem was that on this isolated island, she couldn’t find even hot water and warm clothes to alleviate the situation, let alone ephedra to ease his illness.

So whether he could overcome this cold, whether he could survive, all depended on this commander’s own resistance and willpower.

Roy pursed her lips, looking at Caine with his slightly furrowed brows and tightly closed eyes. Honestly, from any perspective, this naval commander of the Auran Empire could be called a handsome man, though not as attractive as herself.

Besides, he didn’t look very old, perhaps just a year or two over the empire’s age of majority. To have become an officer of the First Fleet at this age, even if only participating in the hunt for her as a lieutenant, there could only be two possibilities.

The first possibility was that he had a powerful family standing behind him.

From the story he had told a few days ago, there was no doubt that behind him stood the Howard family, currently rising like the morning sun in the Auran Empire.

Although the Howard family was a family of military officers, and Governor Naren had unquestionable authority in the military, the Auran Empire had always been strict in controlling its army, not to mention the navy, which was the most powerful force dividing the world’s power and wealth today.

So to secure a position in the First Fleet, having a good background was far from enough. This led to the second possibility: his military talent was exceptionally outstanding.

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And these two possibilities, with one already confirmed, became the most compelling reasons for Roy’s determination to save him and bring him under her command.

Captain Roy never did foolish things that would leave her at a disadvantage.

Her every word and action, every step of her plan was meticulously considered. Like her various behaviors in front of Caine earlier, though nine-tenths were genuine, one-tenth was adjustments made according to his temperament and reactions. And it was precisely this one-tenth that caused a drastic change in the frightening Golden-Eyed Roy from this naval commander’s stereotype.

If things continued along this path, under careful care and gradual persuasion, Roy was confident she could convince him. But who could have imagined that before she completed her plan to win his heart, the young man she targeted would fall ill first.

“Ah, never mind. For the sake of a capable right-hand man, I’ll take a small loss. After all, you can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing some bait…”

The captain’s complaint gradually spread throughout the cave. In Alfie’s widened eyes, the two figures grew closer and closer, finally leaning completely against each other.

“Bed! Bed! Captain and man…”

“Shh, no one will take you for a mute if you don’t speak.”