"Flynn, is this really..."
In the dim corridor, the blonde girl stood behind the handsome young man, helping him keep watch on their surroundings as she spoke.
There was some hesitation in her voice, but not the slightest pause in her movements.
Her name was Escoffier.
At her words, the young man called Flynn did not stop what he was doing. He merely tilted his head a little and gave a brief reply.
"I'll explain later."
That serious, striking profile fell into Escoffier's eyes. Even blurred by the weak light, it still carried enough charm to leave her dazed for an instant.
They had known each other for months already, and their relationship had long since become the closest possible, yet she still found him hard to resist.
Of course, that also had a great deal to do with the fact that she had never really wanted to resist him in the first place. Still, the situation now was a little special.
No, I can't get distracted... we're busy.
Escoffier knew that if she kept staring, she would probably sink right back in, so she hurriedly warned herself in silence. Drawing on the cool clarity of the Cryo element, she steadied her thoughts and forced her focus back.
She gave a quiet "Mm" and resumed standing guard. But after only a few seconds, she could not help lamenting inwardly again.
Ugh... no wonder Mualani and the others looked at me like that when we left Natlan...
That face of his is completely unfair. When we're alone, I really can't hold out at all.
Good thing I gave in early. If I'd kept acting stubborn, only to go looking for him myself later... ugh... I'd have embarrassed myself to death in front of everyone back in Natlan.
Second by second, time slipped away. Escoffier forced herself to focus on watching their surroundings, and with the chill of Cryo helping to clear her mind, the distracting thoughts gradually faded.
But once the distractions were gone, the confusion remained.
While keeping guard, she instinctively began to retrace everything from the port up to this very moment.
The two of them were currently aboard a cargo ship bound for Fontaine.
It was not what it looked like. They had intended to take a passenger ship to Fontaine, but by sheer bad luck they had missed the departure time.
Left with no better option, they had resigned themselves to waiting for the next one. Then, while wandering around, they happened to run into this ship's captain. Flynn had struck up a lively conversation with him, and the captain, being warm and outgoing, had invited them aboard for a free ride to Fontaine.
At the time, Escoffier had felt that something was off. But Flynn had seemed completely set on it. Ignoring the warning looks she kept giving him in secret, he had firmly accepted the captain's invitation.
If this had happened a few months ago, she would have insisted on trusting her own judgment. But after spending several months with him, she believed Flynn would not do something foolish in a matter like this.
So back then, she had suppressed her doubts, thinking he must have his own plans.
What she had not expected was for those plans to be this thrilling.
Once aboard, he had done nothing at first. But the moment he moved, he brought her straight to the cargo hold.
And that was the problem. When they had discussed coming aboard, that hearty, welcoming captain had barely cared about the fare. His only condition had been that they stay within the designated area and absolutely not enter the cargo section.
Thinking back now, Flynn had reassured him again and again at the time, yet in hindsight, he had not given a single real promise. Considering how seriously he usually treated promises, it was obvious he had planned this from the start.
Escoffier knew his temperament well. He was not exactly upright, but he would never scheme against innocent people for no reason.
Which meant one thing.
There really was something wrong with this ship.
But what exactly was so wrong that it had made Flynn act like this?
Could the cargo be contraband?
No. With Flynn's temperament, even if it really were contraband, he would never interfere like this. Reporting it and letting the authorities handle it would be the safest and most appropriate choice.
Then...
Before she could keep following the thought, a faint click sounded in the corridor, followed immediately by Flynn's voice.
"Done. Come with me."
Escoffier turned at once and followed him through the door he had just opened.
After closing it behind her, she took out a small lantern and lit it. By its modest glow, she swept her gaze across the room.
"Much less humidity. The environment here is better than the room they assigned us."
She commented on it casually.
That was hardly surprising. On a cargo ship, it was only natural for the storage conditions for goods to be better than the living conditions for people.
Flynn, who had entered first, did not pause for even a moment. He headed straight for the cargo stacked within the hold.
"Escoffier, here."
"Coming."
In the darkness, the piled-up cargo had seemed like one seamless mass impossible to sort through. Only when Escoffier approached with the lantern did the outlines of the individual crates begin to emerge.
Flynn, however, seemed to have little need for light. Before she even reached him, he had already lifted a crate from the edge of the stack and placed it onto a small patch of open floor with effortless precision. He pinned it in place with one foot, making almost no noise the whole time.
"Sword."
Escoffier brushed her right hand lightly across her chest. Just like when she had taken out the lantern earlier, a faint gleam flashed, and a sheathed sword appeared out of thin air.
Flynn reached out, took it, and used it like a crowbar without even removing the sheath. The crate came open with ease.
Then he shifted slightly aside.
By the lantern's glow, Escoffier finally saw the cargo inside clearly.
"This is... some kind of drink?"
She frowned faintly.
The crate was filled with bottles of liquid. That kind of packaging was common in Fontaine, and the liquid inside looked utterly ordinary. Even after taking one out and inspecting it carefully, she could not see anything unusual about it.
But if Flynn had gone this far, could it really be something so normal?
She instinctively turned toward him, only to hear footsteps coming from outside the door.
The sound was not loud, but in the enclosed silence of the hold it stood out clearly. It drew nearer and nearer, then stopped right outside. A pair of rough, calloused hands pushed open the half-closed door.
It was the captain.
The moment she had heard the footsteps, Escoffier had extinguished the lantern. But the captain himself was carrying one even brighter, its light shining across that bold, friendly face of his.
"Hmph... I knew it. Those little idiots forgot to lock the cargo hold again."
"Oh? Mr. Flynn, Miss Escoffier? Did you get lost? How did you end up here? The cargo hold is such a mess. Please, the two of you should head back to your cabin..."
It was a beautifully delivered speech, the sort that made people want to take the offered way out. Some might even feel they had just been let off lightly and grow grateful for it.
But Escoffier was no greenhorn fresh off the road. Instead, her heart sank.
Friendly?
To her, this looked much more like the prelude to a falling-out. He wanted to trick them outside first, probably to avoid damaging the cargo.
She had not forgotten that this cargo ship was his home ground.
Fortunately, she had confidence of her own as well.
Just as Escoffier was about to respond, a soft chuckle sounded beside her.
"Heh..."
It was Flynn.
He stepped forward, putting himself between her and the captain.
"Captain, at this point, are you still going to keep pretending?"