He's not a Merman

Chapter 10 The Red Haired Pirate

Chapter 10 

They say that meeting a pirate is rare and the ones who get to tell stories about them are just lucky survivors. They enslave women and kill men for their own benefit, leaving nothing for the villages and ships that they cross.

Right now, I am facing one of the most famous pirates in this generation, so it is a given what my reaction was.

"GAAAAH!" I started throwing whatever I could find towards him—bottles, wood, clothes, you name it. I believe I threw a crab at him at one point in the midst of my hysteria.

"Hey, wha—" Zen, the infamous pirate captain, was flabbergasted with the things I was throwing at him. He caught the crab I threw at them and openly glared in my direction. "What a violent woman! I just want to talk!"

Yeah, right. As if I'd believe that.

"I don't!"

The pirate started to come at me so I quickly moved behind the larger crates so that there would be something between us. The red haired pirate raises a scarred brow before moving around to get to me. I moved as well, trying to keep the crate in the middle and keeping up our awkward dance.

"Why are ya movin' away?" He speaks with that weird accent of theirs that nearly couldn't understand him.

"I don't!"

Zen smiles so irritably that it looks more like he is sneering at me. "Ya'r a stubborn woman, aren't ya'? Relax. I am not going to hurt attack."

Now, it is my turn to raise a brow. My gaze moved towards the dagger that I briefly saw him hiding behind his back.

"Oh? So ya' noticed." Instead of looking quickly, Zen looked rather pleased. Now, he openly shows me the dagger that he was hiding behind his back, displaying it for me to see. "Ya' can't blame me. I am carrying this as a safety precaution."

A safety precaution? That bit of confession got me to ponder over the state of the young pirate in front of me. Zen has a pretty face for a pirate, which boosts his reputation among young females. I have seen that face numerous times among the wanted posters in newspapers. However, the charming image of the pirate captain in the pictures is far different from reality. He still possesses the same charming face, but he looks a little too rugged compared to his boisterous outfits in the posters that he seems to be treating as a modeling gig. His shirt is torn and in tatters, leaving sluggish red stains that I am pretty sure are blood. The bare skin that I can see under the ragged shirt is covered clumsily in what looked to be old clothes that he stitched up to make a bandage.

I won't deny the whispers of curiosity that I have on what could have made a famous pirate to be in this state. But I knew better than to ponder over those thoughts when I am currently the one in danger.

"Even if I hadn't seen the dagger, it still would not change the fact that I would run away from a pirate." I tell him, bracing myself to make a run if I have to.

Zen gasps delightfully at my words before he starts beaming. "So you know me, is that right?"

"You're Zen, the red haired pirate."

"Marvelous." He laughs and stabs the dagger that he is holding on the crate in front of us. His demeanor starts to change. Now, he is giving me a friendly smile. "You must have seen posters of my great looks and fell in love with me, right?"

Huh?

What's this fool talking about?

I could not say anything out of shock so it left Zen to assume things out of my silence.