99.

Ro quickly lowered the pistol, afraid she might accidentally shoot Calypso. As Calypso sat across the table, the innkeeper approached and placed two glasses of milk mixed with alcohol before them, then vanished. Ro burst into loud laughter.

“Ah… now it makes sense.”

Since Calypso could glimpse brief fragments of the future, of course she would have known that Kyrgos’s legacy lay dormant in her vault.

“So naturally, you knew I’d come here too…”

“Of course. Calypso knows everything.”

Calypso replied with a chuckle. Ro noticed that the old woman’s presence had subtly changed in that moment—more precisely, it had become slightly less human.

The pirates of Vilbron firmly believed in superstitions, because they lived so closely with mystical daily practices. While magic and sorcery across the mainland had been gradually fading for centuries, islanders isolated by the sea still sought out rituals almost like faith.

Fueling these beliefs were sea witches who had preserved their lineage since ancient times. True sea witches could brew genuine magical potions—ones that changed appearances or voices, allowed prolonged diving, or filled sails with wind. Of course, they demanded exorbitant prices for such services…

When Ro first met Calypso, she had seemed like just another ordinary sea witch, albeit with a slightly unusual voice. Her skills were exceptional, certainly, but nothing more. Yet after Ro rescued the reclusive elder from drifting on a deserted island, Calypso became unusually lenient toward her—though she never lowered her prices by a single copper. Still, now Ro wasn’t even sure whether Calypso was truly human anymore.

“…Just what exactly are you?”

“Calypso is everything. All things are Calypso.”

So she was going to play it like this, huh? Ro narrowed her eyes, thick with suspicion.

“Anyway, good timing meeting you. I had so many questions I wanted to ask.”

“Ask them.”

“That insignia hanging at your waist—last time I saw it, it belonged to the Crown Prince…”

Calypso raised a hand, cutting off Ro’s rapid-fire questions.

“I cannot answer that one. Even Calypso has a few trivial matters she cannot disclose.”

Ro grinned savagely, baring her teeth.

“…Damn it. I knew you’d say that.”

“Don’t despair. The reason Calypso sought you out, Rose, is to propose a deal.”

“A deal?”

“There are always two sides. Calypso recommends you hear it out.”

Ro twisted her lips sourly. She seemed to have been swept up by the old woman’s rhetoric, but listening to the terms wouldn’t cause any real harm. If she didn’t like them, she could simply refuse. Ro crossed her arms defensively and leaned back against the chair.

“Go on.”

“To Calypso’s eyes, it is clear: someone will soon appear seeking Kyrgos’s insignia.”

“…”

“Yes, the one your suspicions point to—the enemy in your heart. That is Calypso’s first request: eliminate him.”

Ro clenched her teeth hard. Rage flared so intensely it felt like white sparks burst before her eyes.

“Damn that bastard Nick! If I ever see him, bullets to the jaw wouldn’t be enough! But do I look like I have time for that right now? Haven’t you, the mighty Calypso, heard that I’m searching for a missing person?”

“Calm yourself, Rosetta. Calypso’s words are worth hearing to the end.”

“Speak. It won’t calm me a bit.”

“It’s not a call to stray from your path. Rather, as you walk it, a moment of choice will come. Calypso advises you to wait for that moment.”

“…And the second?”

“Calypso will lend you something.”

The old woman loosened one side of her ragged robe. Ro realized the inside was thickly adorned with all manner of superstitious, ritualistic, and even seemingly sinister trinkets—one of which resembled a dried human hand. Calmly, the old woman reached inside and placed a worn compass on the table.

“…What is this?”

Perhaps because of the horrifying sight she’d just seen, Ro found it hard to believe this was simply a compass. Touching it felt even more unsettling. As if anticipating Ro’s reaction, Calypso giggled.

“A compass. Calypso says this will fulfill your deepest desire.”

“My desire?”

“It will point you toward whatever you seek. Whatever it may be.”

Whatever it may be? At that moment, Ro nearly understood how the foolish characters in legends felt when completely bewitched by wicked demons.

“This…”

Ro swallowed hard, breath shallow.

“Let’s say I believe you. You said it’s a deal? What’s the price?”

Calypso gazed at her silently, smiling quietly. Without moving her lips, she answered:

It might have been a hallucination, or auditory delusion. But the goosebumps rising all over her body were real. Ro almost kicked the table and stood up—except that, at that moment, the compass on the table shimmered strangely with a golden glow. As absurd as it sounded, if this thing were real, it could tell her where Cardier was.

“Why… my hair?”

“That flesh gives us power.”

“…Power? Us?”

“Exactly. A dead corpse would lose value, but as long as one lives, hair can grow endlessly.”

Calypso continued with a snicker. Now her voice resembled that of a seductive man.

“Truly, we find it most tempting.”

A chilling coldness crept up her spine. Ro had seen that gaze, that look, before. Not long ago, from Lady Audrey.

Precisely because of that, she could now believe Calypso’s insane words were true. Ro twisted her lips bitterly.

“You show up out of nowhere, give no explanation, order me to kill Nick, and claim this… piece of junk is real.”

“It’s hard to believe. Still, Calypso advises you to trust.”

“Bullshit.”

Ro pulled out the dagger she had tightly secured in her waist strap. Without hesitation, she gathered her hair and sliced it clean off. The long locks that had reached her hips were suddenly cut short, tickling her cheeks and shoulders.

“Take it.”

The moment she tossed her hair onto the table, Calypso’s glowing eyes flashed as she swept it away with claw-like fingers. Cackling, Calypso declared in multiple overlapping voices:

“The deal is sealed.”

Ro noticed Calypso’s form had become blurrier than before. Her silhouette began to resemble smoke mingling with darkness—a sight astonishing even when seen with one’s own eyes.

Ro glanced around, but no one else seemed to notice the strange phenomenon. Damn you, Calypso. You weren’t this bizarre when I first met you. Ro snapped back to her senses just as Calypso was about to vanish completely into the dark.

“Wait! Calypso!”

Calypso didn’t answer, but her pale, blank eyes floated in midair, half-disappeared. A horrifying sight Ro never wanted to see again, even if her brain were pickled in salt—but she forced her lips to move.

“One more thing before you go. Answer this. Just what is this body—Rea’s body—that restores your power?”

Calypso remained silent for a while. Only after a brief pause did Ro realize the old woman had been retrieving her lips from the darkness once more. Shriveled lips protruded from the dark and grinned.

“Ah… Calypso thinks the weight of hair is slightly heavier than that of a compass. So this much wouldn’t violate our rules. Since you’re so curious, let Calypso tell you: seek out the temple.”

“The temple?”

The temple? The Temple of Temer? Or the temple of Pontus, the sea god, crawling with half-baked shamans in the east? When Ro looked up to ask further, the mysterious aura surrounding her had completely vanished.

Calypso was gone.

* * *

Damn it.

Ro sank down at the docks, dazed. She had shouted at Bahamut’s tavern keeper to tell her everything he knew about Calypso, but it was useless. The man merely wore a vacant, dazed expression, as if snapped out of a trance.

Ro reached into her coat and pulled out the compass. She placed it in her palm, feeling its solid, heavy weight.

Had it not been for this compass, she might have dismissed the entire encounter as a dream or hallucination brought on by exhaustion. Yet the compass remained real even after the fog had cleared, and it had been pointing steadily in the same direction ever since.

“Captain! Time to board! We’re about to set sail!”