No matter how you looked at it, that key was part of the mission Kal'tsit had given Skadi. Steven had no intention of snatching it for himself.
After all, to him, sothing like a key wasn't exactly a valuable item.
What door could possibly stand in the way of an invincible button—or a bit of redstone wizardry? And if all else failed, well… there was always the tried-and-true thod of kicking the door down.
All he needed was to rember the na Stultifera Navis. That alone was more than enough for him to keep an eye on. The rest? Details.
He handed the key back to Skadi, who accepted it with a soft thank you, then went back to sipping her coffee—small, careful sips, her eyes clouded with thought.
That in itself was rare.
What kind of thing could make this carefree, blunt girl look so unusually pensive? The only possibility Steven could think of was sothing related to her fellow Abyssal Hunters.
"What's wrong?" he asked casually. "You've already finished the mission Kal'tsit gave you, right? Why the long face? Don't tell there's still sothing left undone?"
He leaned back in his chair, genuinely curious. Skadi might be simple and straightforward, but that was part of what made her easy to be around. With people like her, you didn't have to guess what they were thinking—everything was right there on their face.
"…I'm not upset," Skadi said after a mont, shaking her head slightly. "It's just… compared to the Second Company Captain, I still feel like I'm not doing enough. Even retrieving a single key took so much ti and effort. If I can barely manage this, then… how much more would it take for to truly help Laurentina recover her mories?"
Her voice grew quieter near the end, tinged with guilt.
Steven couldn't help but chuckle, a hint of surprise slipping through his grin. "Heh. Never thought I'd see the day you started overthinking things. If you put it like that, it makes a certain soone who used to call you a blockhead sound kinda heartless, doesn't it?"
He turned toward Specter, who had just snapped out of her own daze.
The look she gave him was half exasperation, half amusent. She let out a small laugh before turning to the worried Skadi.
"Yes," she said softly, "but I know Little Shark would never hold it against . So don't worry about it, okay? I'm doing just fine like this. You don't need to burden yourself for my sake."
Her voice carried a warmth that was almost out of place for soone like her.
She gently took Skadi's hands in her own—her expression open, sincere—and smiled.
Because she knew very well who had been looking after her all this ti.
Even back when she'd been completely insane, raving and uncontrollable, it had been Skadi who'd stayed behind, working for Rhodes Island just to make sure she was cared for.
And now, even when sent on dangerous, grave-robbing errands, Skadi still did it all for her.
"…Really?" Skadi's voice trembled just a little as she looked up, her eyes softening.
Skadi hadn't expected Specter to respond to her so earnestly, and for a mont, her face lit up with the kind of pure, satisfied smile one might see on a child being praised. Her thoughts were simple—if her companions were happy and well, then everything she'd done had been worth it.
Steven, watching her, couldn't help but grin. "She wouldn't lie to you. And think about it—if it weren't for you, would she have ever t ? Would I have been able to extract all that concentrated Originium fluid from her spine?"
He wasn't exaggerating. If Skadi hadn't been there, Specter might still be strapped to a table sowhere in a laboratory of the Church of the Deep, another naless experint. Even if Rhodes Island had rescued her, her life now wouldn't be anywhere near as peaceful and comfortable as it was.
"Th-That's too much credit…" Skadi stamred, cheeks turning pink from the praise. "Instead of talking about , we should talk about the Second Company Captain. After she got her mories back, she just… left. Didn't even tell us what she was planning."
The blush on her face gave her away completely—Skadi had never been good at hiding what she was thinking. Compared to her, Specter and Gladiia were like foxes; sharp, composed, and unreadable.
But her question wasn't just on her mind—it was on Specter's too.
When Gladiia had regained her full consciousness, she'd departed without much of a word. Whatever she was doing now, Steven probably knew more than anyone.
After all, it was hard not to notice the subtle closeness between those two—it wasn't sothing that could be mistaken for re acquaintance anymore.
"She should've dug up a few leads by now," Steven said after a mont's thought. "Didn't tell much, but I can guess—it probably involves the Church of the Deep, the Seaborn, or both. When she's ready, she'll reach out. You'll hear from her soon enough."
He hadn't been keeping close contact with Gladiia—not because he didn't want to, but because she was never one to reach out first. Her personality made it hard for her to bother others unless absolutely necessary.
He'd already given her a communicator; if she hadn't called, that ant she didn't want to be disturbed. Still, with new intel that might connect to the Abyssal Hunters' past—especially sothing that had triggered Specter's lost mories—it was probably ti to send her a ssage.
He glanced up at the two Abyssal Hunters watching him, both clearly worried about their swordfish captain, and gave them a reassuring smile.
Honestly, if they weren't the companions of his "adopted daughter," he probably wouldn't be getting involved in any of this ss at all.
"So," Skadi said after a short pause, "should we go back to Rhodes Island now? Kal'tsit's mission is done, and… what about you? Are you finished with your work?"
Steven chuckled at her straightforwardness, but before he could answer, Skadi continued, turning to Specter with a faint crease of worry between her brows.
"If possible, I think we should have Specter's condition checked first. It's hard to explain, but…" She hesitated, searching for the right words. "She feels like her old self—the Abyssal Hunter—but at the sa ti… she doesn't. Sothing's changed, and I can't quite tell what."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
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