A Distant Reverie

Chapter 2

"I give up," Vesper groaned as he massaged the front of his forehead. His patience was wearing thin from the accumulated mental fatigue.

"Well, I'm ready to drop this whole topic as well," Marine replied, equally as exhausted. The two of them have been locked in discussion for the past twenty minutes, trying to make sense of what the other person was saying.

"With all due respect..." Vesper started as politely as he could, eyeing nervously at the swords dangling from the pirate's hips, "...are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"Mr. Noir, I'm the leader of a pirate crew. We live on the sea. Sailing and navigation is our forte. Questioning my knowledge of the world's geography is unbelievably insulting." Marine narrowed her eyes, her voice growing intense. Vesper instinctively shot a glance at her hands—thankfully, they didn't inch towards the scabbards yet. She might have been offended, but she wasn't mad enough to want to cut off his head again.

"If anything, it's the validity of your knowledge that I should be questioning."

"...I'm a librarian and researcher. Acquiring knowledge and verifying truths are my job."

"Staying cooped up in a library hardly gives your knowledge credibility, don't you think?"

"I—" Vesper wanted to protest, but Marine's statement had a little too much truth behind it. Especially when he glanced at his own pasty white arms that hadn't seem nearly enough sunlight.

The two of them were at an impasse, having spent the latter hour trying to get their bearings by sharing geographic knowledge. But their discussions went nowhere as nothing they knew seemed to align.

It's strange. It's almost as if the two of us lived in different worlds. As he was deep in thought, Vesper's stomach suddenly rumbled. He quickly shot a glance at Marine, trying to gauge if the pirate had noticed.

"...Hungry?" She asked, smiling. Her smile was annoyingly smug, but at least the smile reached her eyes this time.

"...Yes." Dammit, stomach...stop embarrassing me!

"I suppose it's a good time to eat. Care to explore with me? I don't see anything edible around here." They were deep in some woods. Vesper looked around, trying to see if he recognized any of the flora nearby. Strangely enough, none of the trees and foliage resembled any of the illustrations in the botany texts.

Ugh, I'm not in the mood to explore new cuisine. Vesper was never a fan of the meals served at the Grand Library of Alexandria. He found the taste bland and the food options uninspiring. But now, he found himself missing the comfort and familiarity. More importantly, he missed the convenience of the meals being directly delivered to his desk without him needing to think or do anything.

"Have you done any foraging before, Mr. Noir?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then allow me to take the lead," Marine said as she started to walk around, "I had my fair share of being chased onto unexplored islands to escape the royal navies. I know a thing or two about surviving in the wilds."

Right...I'm associating with a dangerous criminal. He had to remind himself that he had a sword pressed against his throat just an hour earlier. The pirate lady's graceful beauty and tender speech made him almost forget that important fact. She was no longer hostile towards him, but that made him more uneasy with how abrupt her personality seemed to have changed. The woman in front of him felt like a loose cannon, unpredictable, and ready to change on a whim's notice.

...Whatever. As long as that sword of hers isn't pointed towards me. At the end of the day, survival was key, he decided. As soon as he made that realization, Vesper fought the urge to sigh as he re-evaluated himself. He always thought himself as a moral man of conviction, but as he quickly noticed, his beliefs became loose the moment his life was at stake. While he was busy wallowing in self-hate, Marine suddenly stopped.