"That boy has potential. He's not lying, either."
Whispered a child like female voice, as Eleanor and Lorenzo left Tracy's room.
"Yes, but he's also suspicious."
Tracy replied to her mother, as Katarina Pelle, the Sequence 3 Demoness of Unaging, revealed herself in her pure white, high slit dress, that revealed the sides of porcelain legs and smooth thighs.
"That may be so, but it's simply better for your crew to have someone who has potential like that. Of course, it may be the case that he was well Intune only to sequence specific acting of an Assassin, but even then, he would have learnt a lot from that experience alone. And that boy does seem to have a stable head on his shoulders, a clear sense of his identity as a man, yet also acceptance for the potential future in which he may no longer be a man. He would make for an excellent Witch, if he manages to live that far."
"Hmm, I look forward to that."
"Good, then I shall leave you now."
As the beautiful maiden who looked no older than sixteen finished speaking, she gradually turned invisible and disappeared from Tracy's view.
Tracy sighed, finally relieved that she was free. It wasn't easy to keep up an appearance in front of this Sequence 3 Demoness, but it would be detrimental if she were to show her complete trust over her subordinates to a person like her. It's not like she trusted all of her subordinates like that, but Eleanor, and the boy picked up by her, were up there.
She had to speak against their case, because she knew Katarina would speak in their favour. Of course, she'd simply be gauging Tracy for her true feelings, and even if the Demoness of Unaging did know that Tracy was only keeping up appearances, it was better than her thinking that Tracy was naively trusting her subordinates.
Standing up from her chair, Tracy walked over to the door of her cabin, and locked it. Then, she took off her outer clothes, and slipped into the bed besides Helene.
What an adorable creature.
She couldn't help but think, as she looked at the sleeping face of this girl.
...
The room I'd been given was a small cabin with a few shelves made into the wall, and a bedroll. Considering that it was on the top deck, it made sense for it to have as few loose parts as possible.
As I woke up from sleep, I could see outside from the little window of my room. The morning sun had barely grazed the horizon, and skies in all directions except the East looked dark, like those of the night.
I had already dusted, and rolled off my bedroll, before tying it to the two hangers behind the cabin door. Done with the clean-up, I ventured out onto the deck.
By the time I went out, the sun had fully peeked over the horizon, colouring the Eastern sky red. I walked across the deck while stretching my body, doing motions Lorenzo, and now I, were familiar with.
After stretching my body, I did several sets of pushups, sit-ups, and squats. Once I was done with my daily exercise, I went to the starboard[1] side. There, I could already see a rope hanging down from the ship's side, and a grey haired man with a goatee swimming and bathing in the saline seawater.
It was the Second* Third Mate, James Joyce. This Hunter had the habit of having a bath in the sea every day. His reasoning was that a Hunter needed to be one with the environment of its prey, although considering that it wasn't even his job to fish for the crew, it didn't make much sense.
Irrespective of that though, in the end, he'd managed to rope in Lorenzo to follow his example as well. As such, I had no other choice but to go ahead with this for now, lest he force me to do so. When I would become a Witch, I would naturally stop this, and bath in the ship's bathroom like a normal person.
I wasn't sure why I was so accepting of the idea of becoming a woman, though. Was it me? Or was it Lorenzo? I remembered that Lorenzo wasn't particularly against it, but he wasn't so accepting either. Was it because of me? Who'd come from the modern world, and had occasionally crossdressed for his girlfriend, that the idea of becoming a woman wasn't very problematic to me?
Clearing my head of these thoughts, I unbuttoned my shirt, and tied it to a taut sail rope. Whatever will happen, will happen. It's not like I'll be a woman permanently.
As I stood on the edge of the starboard, I saw the man in the water looking up at me with an excited smile.
"Jump like a dolphin li'l Lorenzo! Three front flips!"
The man shouted, for the whole world to hear.
"What will I get?"
I asked in the same loud fashion.
"Ten pounds! Five if you do two flips!"
As the words reached my ears, I couldn't help but smile. Bending my legs, I jumped away from the side of the ship, into the infinite blue water, and curled my limbs closer to my body. My world started revolving around me as my body rotated while falling downwards. When the sight of water I caught was close enough, I stretch my limbs, and splashed feet-first into the cold medium.
"That's a good boy! Four flips and half! Stupendous! If you do five next time, I'll give you twenty pounds."
The words amidst the loud chuckles of the joyful man reached my ears as my head finally came above the surface of the water.
What a clown, I felt like. It was what it was, though, and I got free money.
...
When I was done with the crazy bath, and received a 10 pound note from the Conspirator, I changed into a new set of clothes, and headed towards the Captain's cabin. It was about 8 in the morning right now.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Who?"
"It's me, captain, Lorenzo."
I replied as I waited for Tracy's response.
"Come in."
It was after waiting for a few moments that I heard the words.
Opening the door, I carefully entered the cabin, and closed the door behind me.
The relatively large suite was the same as it had been the last night, with the exception of a tidied up bed and an absent Helene. And yes, there were several containers kept on the Captain's desk.
"Good morning, Captain."
I said as I bowed to Tracy, who was standing in front of me in her usual clothing.
I wonder how many sets of these shirts and pants she has.
"Good morning. I hope you are mentally prepared for your advancement today?"
The question took me by surprise for a moment. I mean, it was given that now that I'd fully digested the potion, I'd be allowed to advance further.
It was just that, it was unusual for a pirate captain to be like this. Normally, you'd expect them to be a callous bunch, the type to give orders and have their subordinates follow. The fact that Tracy was guiding me through advancement herself, and then had even promised me to teach later in the day, it was starkly different from how most superiors in the world did things. Especially among pirates.
Of course, official beyonder organisations were a different thing. They needed to have as many sane, stable, and strong members to keep their numbers strong, so they often showed mutual care and camaraderie.
"Are you?"
I was jolted out of my thoughts, when I heard this beautiful, charming Captain's ethereal voice. She wasn't even using any of her charm today, having contained it completely. Probably to make sure that nothing contributed to destabilizing me during my advancement, yet she looked the same as ever, the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in both of my lives.
And she used to be a man!
"Y-yes, Captain!"
I answered with some difficulty as I forcefully pushed down the little voice that rose in the depth of my heart, like the protagonist's internal voice in a comedy manga.
"Good. This is the Instigator potion formula, and these are the ingredients you need."
Tracy said, as she pointed at her desk, where several containers, a medium-sized bowl, a cup and a piece of paper were kept.
[1] The right side of a ship.