"This-" Danitz's Adam's apple bobbed, and his face flushed slightly.
He stiffened his neck and stubbornly insisted, "We're here to seek the treasures of the sea! The captain is just... just the navigator guiding us toward our dreams!"
Seemingly feeling that his words lacked conviction, he added gruffly, "That's right, just our navigator!"
"Heh, really?" Watching his expression, Lorne curled his lips into an amused smile.
Damn it! Why does it feel like he's the Provoker? Danitz cursed inwardly.
Seeing Danitz's flushed face, Lorne suddenly found, for some reason, that teasing him was quite enjoyable. His nerves, taut ever since he had transmigrated, actually found a strange measure of relief in teasing this famous pirate.
Logically speaking, Danitz's Sequence was higher than his own. Doing this was no different from playing with fire, especially on someone else's turf.
Fortunately, he had leverage over Danitz, so he had no fear of the man turning hostile. On the Golden Dream, that leverage was twice as effective.
"By the way, the food on your ship is pretty good!" Lorne forked a glistening sausage into his mouth, smoothly changing the subject. "Everything's quite fresh, too."
"Of course." Danitz chose to follow his lead. "Our captain specifically developed a ritual magic that can preserve food for a long time."
"Even fresh vegetables can keep for several months."
A mystical refrigerator? No, this is even better than a refrigerator. Ritual magic can actually be used like this... Lorne marveled inwardly at Vice Admiral Iceberg's extensive knowledge.
That afternoon, Vice Admiral Iceberg came to the storeroom to test Lorne privately.
"All correct." She tapped her fingertips lightly against the table. "Your memory is impressive, Mr. Brando."
Lorne smiled modestly. The memory granted by Robot proved particularly useful at that moment.
Just as everything was going smoothly,