Outside the familiar shell craft shop in Coral Hill...
Buck once again stood before the display window, tightly clutching a freshly purchased bouquet of glowing seagrass flowers—flowers said to symbolize eternal pursuit in the deep sea.
He took several deep breaths, rehearsing his expression countless times in the reflection of the glass before finally gathering his courage and pushing open the door.
Jingle—
The shell wind chime above the entrance rang crisply.
"Welcome..."
Behind the counter, the elderly octopus fish-man shopkeeper, who always wore a cheerful smile, looked up.
Seeing Buck, he instinctively revealed a somewhat helpless grin.
"Oh, it's you again, young man."
"Back once more?"
"So this time..."
"I'm looking for Keliya!"
Buck blurted out before the old man could finish, his voice dry with nervousness.
"Is she here?"
"I... I have something I want to tell her!"
The old shopkeeper set down the coral carving in his hands and shook his head.
"Keliya?"
"She hasn't come to work today."
"I've been wondering about that myself."
"She's usually very punctual."
"She hasn't come?"
Buck froze.
He looked up at the timing coral that simulated daylight inside the shop.
It was already well past the usual opening hour.
"Could she be... feeling unwell?"
"Is she sick?"
"Sick?"
The old octopus scratched his head with one of his tentacles.
"She never mentioned anything."
"She was perfectly fine yesterday."
"Then... did she ask for leave?"
Buck pressed, an inexplicable sense of unease beginning to grow.
Fish-Man Island had only just suffered the mass disappearance in Fish-Man District.
Now, any unexplained absence felt especially ominous.
"Leave?"
The old shopkeeper looked even more puzzled.
Turning around, he rummaged through a cabinet built into the coral wall.
"No leave request."
"That girl has always been responsible."
"If she couldn't come, she'd definitely have asked someone to pass along a message."
"Strange..."
"No leave?"
"No message?"
Buck's heart sank.
"Boss, do you know where she lives?"
"I have to go check on her!"
Seeing the genuine worry on Buck's face, the old shopkeeper hesitated before pulling out a ledger from beneath the counter.
After flipping through several pages, he found the address.
"She lives at Radiant Coral Apartments."
"Lower District."
"Bubble Room Number Seven."
"Young man, remember your manners."
"Don't frighten the girl or her roommate..."
"Thank you!"
Before the shopkeeper could finish speaking, Buck grabbed the bouquet and rushed out the door like a gust of wind.
Watching his hurried retreating figure before glancing at the unusually empty shop, the old octopus unconsciously curled several of his tentacles.
"...Please don't let anything have happened..."
Radiant Coral Apartments stood on the outskirts of Coral Hill, its main structure extending deep into the sea.
Just as its name suggested, the upper floors still received a little of the sunlight scattered through Eve's roots and the giant bubble membrane, making them considerably more expensive.
The lower floors, however, were much darker and served as affordable housing for young fish-men and mermaids with modest incomes.
Using a small Bubble Coral, Buck formed a barely functional diving bubble around himself before following the address to the aging coral building.
He found the entrance marked with the number seven.
It was a fan-shaped shell door set into the coral wall.
A moment later...
The door opened.
A sleepy-looking female mermaid with pale green scales peeked out, staring curiously at the unfamiliar human standing outside.
"Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Keliya!"
"The blue-scaled mermaid who works at the shell craft shop!"
Buck hurriedly gestured as he spoke.
"She lives here, right?"
"I'm a friend."
"She didn't show up for work today, and she never asked for leave."
"I got worried, so I came to check."
The green-scaled mermaid's drowsiness instantly vanished.
Surprise spread across her face.
"Keliya?"
"She left early this morning."
"She said she was going to work."
"Actually, she left even earlier than usual because she wanted to avoid..."
She glanced at Buck before swallowing the latter half of her sentence.
"...avoid the morning fish traffic."
"How could she not have made it to the shop?"
"The shopkeeper said she never arrived!"
Buck's voice rose involuntarily.
"And no one's heard anything from her!"
The green-scaled mermaid's expression immediately changed as well.
She swam out a little farther and carefully studied Buck's frantic face.
He clearly wasn't pretending.
"That... that's impossible."
"I watched her leave."
Silence fell between them.
Within that silence, a terrifying possibility gradually surfaced in both of their minds.
"Could it be..."
The green-scaled mermaid's voice trembled.
She instinctively looked toward the dim waters outside the apartment.
"Recently... haven't they been saying..."
"...what happened in Fish-Man District..."
"A slaving crew..."
Buck finished the horrifying sentence for her.
The words slaving crew struck Buck's mind like a bolt of lightning, instantly clearing away the confusion clouding his thoughts.
He suddenly remembered the ship he had seen yesterday at the docks.
A ship that should never have been there.
"The Golden Dice...!"
The words escaped his mouth.
"What?"
"N-Nothing!"
Buck's heart pounded violently.
If...
If that ship truly was suspicious...
And if Keliya's disappearance had happened at exactly the same time...
"I have to go!"
Buck hurriedly said to the mermaid roommate.
"Lock your door!"
"And whatever you do, don't go out alone for the next few days!"
"I'm going to find help!"
Without another word, he turned and swam toward shore as fast as he possibly could.
His bubble left a chaotic trail through the water behind him.
As for the carefully prepared bouquet of glowing seagrass flowers...
He had no idea when or where he had dropped it.
Buck burst onto dry land, dripping wet.
Without even shaking the water from his clothes, he sprinted toward the auxiliary dock he remembered.
"Hey! Buck!"
A familiar voice suddenly called from the side.
Buck slammed to a stop and turned around.
He saw Gade walking out of a shop that sold preserved deep-sea foods with two other crewmen, each carrying several packages from what appeared to be a recent shopping trip.
At that moment, Gade's sturdy build and honest-looking face appeared to Buck like a savior.
"Hey."
"Why're you running around in such a hurry?"
One of the crewmen grinned mischievously as he looked Buck up and down, taking in his soaked appearance and empty hands.
"What happened?"
"Rejected again?"
"And how'd you end up drenched this time?"
"Or..."
The other crewman deliberately dragged out his words, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Did you finally succeed?"
"Rushing back to share the good news with us?"
Normally, Buck would have argued with them for several rounds.
But now...
He had no such mood.
"Gade!"
Ignoring all the teasing, Buck rushed straight to him and grabbed both of his arms tightly.
"Perfect timing!"
"Hurry!"
"Go notify the captain and every officer!"
Gade was startled by Buck's sudden excitement and the force of his grip.
The easygoing smile vanished from his face almost instantly.
He realized something serious had happened.
"What happened, Buck?"
"Calm down."
"Tell me clearly."
"I... I think I found the slaving crew!"
"There's a ship docked at the auxiliary harbor west of Coral Hill!"
"It's the Golden Dice!"
"It's Gillian's ship!"
"Gillian?!"
Gade's pupils suddenly contracted.
As one of the newly promoted officers, he was among the few who knew Gillian might have betrayed them.
And now...
A slave trader like Gillian had appeared on Fish-Man Island during a series of kidnappings.
The implication couldn't have been clearer.
"Are you certain?!"
Gade grabbed Buck's arms in return.
His grip was so strong that Buck winced in pain.
But neither of them cared.
"Absolutely!"
"I'd never mistake that figurehead!"
Buck nodded forcefully.
"I didn't think much of it yesterday..."
"But now..."
"...it's too much of a coincidence!"
"Gade!"
"You've got to tell the captain!"
"There's definitely something wrong with that ship!"
"It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
"I'll come with you."
Making his decision immediately, Gade stuffed the packages he was carrying into the hands of the two still-stunned crewmen beside him.
"You two listen carefully."
"One of you head to the Pearl Shell Tavern and notify every brother still there to gather at the auxiliary dock."
"The other goes straight to the Blazing Fang and informs the captain and the officers."
"Tell them Gillian is at the auxiliary harbor right now."
"Y-Yes!"
The two crewmen finally realized the gravity of the situation.
The playful smiles disappeared from their faces as they grabbed the packages and ran in opposite directions.
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