Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Harmless New Crew Member

The Vanished was large, startlingly large. As a ship driven by sails, its size in Duncan’s eyes had almost gone beyond what was necessary.

Such a size meant larger holds, more cannons, a sturdier structure, and a more stable posture when facing wind and waves. All of this meant it was more than enough to face the harshest challenges of long voyages.

But at the moment, Duncan had no plans for any so-called long voyage. This oversized ghost ship only brought him a sense of loneliness. So if there could be one more “crew member” on board that he could talk to, it would be no bad thing at all.

In any case, this big ship had plenty of vacant “guest rooms”.

Footsteps broke the silence in the corridor. Duncan led that gothic doll down the wooden stairs and came to the cabins on the lower level beneath the aft deck. This place lay directly under the captain’s cabin. From the layout, it should count as the “upper-class quarters” on this big ship. Compared with the darker, gloomier areas farther below, where a faint eerie air lingered, this place at least seemed bright and tidy.

Duncan stopped in front of a crew cabin, then casually pushed open the half-closed wooden door.

Inside was a small single room with simple furnishings.

There were several such single cabins on the ship, but they had all been vacant for a long time. There was no trace that anyone had ever used them.

When he first explored the upper levels of the Vanished, Duncan had already noticed these empty rooms. He had not thought much of them at the time. But now that he personally held command of this ghost ship and knew the secret of its ability to sail on its own, a question had surfaced in his mind.

Since this ship did not need any crew members at all… then who were these crew cabins prepared for?

The single cabins in the upper deck were clearly prepared for officers such as the first mate, second mate, and boatswain. In the lower levels there were also crowded bunk rooms prepared for ordinary crew members. Besides that, the ship even had a dining hall and a game room meant for many people to use. Unlike the sails and ropes that needed no human hands to control them, the presence of these facilities themselves meant they had been prepared for “people”.

Yet this ship did not need any crew members.

Duncan frowned slightly. He had already realized that, at some point in its history, this ghost ship that now sailed alone on the sea… must have had a crew.

At least when this ship was first built, it had been designed with proper living quarters for seafarers.

So what had actually happened to make the ship end up like this? Where had the original crew gone? Had the real “Captain Duncan” always been the master of this vessel? And how much inside knowledge did that strange Goathead know?

“Captain?” a puzzled voice suddenly came from behind him.

Duncan’s thoughts were cut off at once, and he jumped. The next moment he realized that it was the voice of that doll girl—he had actually forgotten about Alice’s presence for a moment.

Over these past days, Duncan had grown used to being the only living person on this ship. He had also grown used to the chatter of that noisy Goathead. Now that an extra person, Alice, had suddenly appeared, he actually felt a little unaccustomed.

“My name is Duncan. You can call me Captain Duncan—of course, just calling me Captain is also up to you,” Duncan quickly adjusted his expression, then turned to look at the doll girl following behind him. “From now on this empty room is yours. Go in and take a look.”

“Ah, all right!” Alice nodded. She first craned her neck to peek over Duncan’s shoulder at the room, then turned around to grab the wooden box that had been floating behind her the whole time. She hoisted it up onto her shoulder and carefully carried it into the room.

The sight of the “coffin” that never left Alice’s side made the corner of Duncan’s mouth twitch. He watched the doll girl set the “coffin” carefully beside the bunk, then check the velvet lining inside with extra care before she finally began to look around at the furnishings. At last he could not help but speak: “Are you going to carry that box with you all the time?”

“Yes,” Alice answered as if it were only natural. “Otherwise where would I put it?”

“This box used to be your seal. I thought you would mind that,” Duncan frowned. “But it seems you can’t leave it now.”

“It was those people who sealed me, not the box’s fault,” Alice sat down on the box as she spoke and patted the lid. “Would you like to come in and sit for a while?”

Duncan shook his head. “No need. How do you feel about this room?”

“Ah, it’s very nice.” Alice looked quite happy. She looked around at the simple furnishings as if she were standing in a splendid palace. “Is that a wardrobe? I don’t have any clothes to change into, so I probably won’t use it… but having a cabinet is nice. Oh, and a table. I can put things on it in the future, though I don’t think I have anything to put on it… maybe I can use it for my head? It would be more convenient when I comb my hair…”

“So long as you are satisfied.” Watching a gothic doll sit on a coffin and plan out her life was a very strange sight, especially when that plan already included some very suspicious details. Even so, a faint smile slowly appeared on Duncan’s face. He stepped back half a pace, his expression returning to normal. “You can rest here for a while and get used to the environment.

“Other than the stairs going down, you can move freely on this level and on the deck above. The layout here is not complicated. You should be able to learn where everything is soon.

“I will be in the captain’s cabin. If you need anything, you can come find me there. If I am not inside, there is a talking Goathead on the chart table. He is my first mate.”

Alice had been listening and nodding along. When she heard the last two sentences, her eyes suddenly widened. “Goathead?! That black wooden carving?!”

“So you have already noticed it.”

“I did notice it… but you say it can talk?! And it is your first mate?” Alice’s face was full of amazement. “I thought it was just… that is unbelievable!”

“…You are a doll that can walk and talk,” Duncan looked at Alice with a straight face. “And you still think a talking Goathead is unbelievable?”

Alice froze for a second. She lowered her head and looked at her own hands, then muttered as if she had just realized something: “Ah… I suppose so?”

Duncan shook his head and turned to leave. “That’s it then. Rest here. Come find me if you need anything.”

Alice’s voice came from behind him: “All right, Captain.”

After leaving, Duncan did not go anywhere else. He went straight back to his own captain’s cabin and sat down beside the wide chart table. The wooden Goathead on the table immediately stirred and creaked as it turned its head toward Duncan.

“Ah! The Captain has returned! It seems you have settled that young lady in! You see, just as I said, she is a gentle and harmless young lady. She will not hinder your voyage in the least and can help keep you company so you do not feel bored. I see you have already decided to keep her on the ship. Are you planning to assign her any duties? The Vanished does not need many hands. The deck cleans the deck, the cannons polish the cannons, the water tanks tend to the water tanks… perhaps she could manage the galley? You never seemed very satisfied with the food on board… Ah, speaking of food, we should first replenish some provisions. The salted meat and hard cheese in the storeroom may be a little too old by now. Rough seafarers will not be picky about what they eat at sea, but the great Captain Duncan certainly-”

Duncan felt as if his brain were about to boil. In that moment he once again became certain of one thing: with this noisy Goathead around, he really did need a “normal person to talk to” like Alice!

“Quiet,” he snapped, glaring at the Goathead. Only after the latter fell silent did he go on: “You stayed very quiet while Alice was here. I thought you had finally learned how to hold your tongue.”

“One must not interrupt when the Captain is interviewing a new crew member. That is the rule at sea, even for your loyal first mate and second mate and boatswain and-”

Duncan did not wait for Goathead to finish. In fact, if he did not interrupt, this Goathead would never finish. “Keep an eye on that doll these next few days.”

“Ah… ah? Keep an eye on that young lady? You still do not trust her? Oh, oh, that is true. A necessary degree of caution is what a captain-”

“She has many secrets, and she did not tell them all. Perhaps it is because she truly does not know some of them. Or perhaps… she is hiding things on purpose,” Duncan said calmly. “Whatever the case, she is still a ‘cursed Doll’, and she bears the label ‘Anomaly 099’. On that ship before, they used layer after layer of seals to keep Alice from ever leaving that wooden box. Now the sealed doll is strolling about quite freely on my ship. I need to take a little time to make sure that Alice really is a harmless doll… at least harmless while she is on the Vanished.”