World of Hearts: Linked as One (Book 1)

3-3: Risky Biz

Izuku and Ruby made it to the harbor and started to head for the ship.

"There it is," Izuku said. "That's our ship, the Seiryumaru."

Ruby and Izuku looked at the ship from a distance.

"The ship comes into port, only for the crew to not return home afterward..." Izuku said. "Add the fact that the ship was reported missing for days..."

"Do you think the ship is haunted?" Ruby asked.

"What? N-No," Izuku shook his head. "It's most likely that the "crew" of the ship aren't who they claim to be and that the ship could have been hijacked."

"A boat-jacking..." Ruby said. "Got it."

Izuku and Ruby went over to where the ship was docked. As soon as they arrived, some dockworkers were working on the ship's cargo containers. One of the dockworkers stopped them. "Hey, you kids aren't supposed to be here, scram." Izuku pulled out a badge holding Daybreak Academy's symbol. The dockworker recognized the badge immediately. The man sighed. "Alright, let me guess, you're interested in the crew."

"Absolutely~!" Ruby said. "Would you happen to know what the crew looked like?"

"Well... most of them looked pretty normal, well, maybe except for this odd couple," The dockworker said.

"An odd couple?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, a guy whose about... 6'3" (191 cm) and a girl who was 4'10" (147 cm)," The man said. "The girl was kind of clinging onto the guy pretty nicely. She seemed like she was really into him or something. She had these nice hazel colored eyes and--"

"And the man who was with her, what about him?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, uh..." He cleared his throat. "The guy was a foreigner. A ginger with green eyes. He was wearing a bowler hat on his head, walking around with a cane."

"Hmm..." Izuku looked at the man. "What happened after the crew came ashore? We know that none of them went home back to their families, but we'd like to know where some members of the crew were last seen."

The dockworker thought about it. Izuku looked at Ruby, who looked... stumped.

"Say... the girl, did she say anything?" Ruby asked.

"The girl? No. She didn't say anything. Her boyfriend, that tall guy, said that she is a mute," The man said. "She lost her voice when she saw her parents getting killed by some pirates. It was some pretty nasty stuff. That's what he told me."

"I see..." Ruby said. "Where did the couple go?"

"I dunno," The dockworker said. "I was too busy with the cargo. One of the other dockworkers might know something. One of them said that they might have gone to a club."

--

Yoh was talking to some ghosts in the harbor, hoping they would have some information on the ship. So far, the ones he was able to talk to haven't been much help. However, some of them did note some strange happenings from after the ship came in, but it wasn't enough to go on. Amidamaru appeared beside Yoh. The white-haired samurai spirit floated alongside him.

"So the dockworkers were just unloading machine parts for some heavy lifting construction equipment," Yoh said. "But there were some people who were staking the place out, wearing nothing but clown masks. What does that tell you, Amidamaru?"

"Well, Master Yoh, these clown-masked people must have been there for some reason," Amidamaru said. "From what those ghosts were talking about, these "Clowns" as they are called a group of Ghouls. Maybe we should ask those ghoul investigators about these Clowns."