Chapter 221: Don't Argue with a Lunatic
Steven didn't dare take the risk.
After all, that fish-brained girl clearly wasn't right in the head. You should never try to understand what goes on inside the mind of someone like that—when a person snaps, they're capable of doing literally anything.
Steven liked to think he was a bit unhinged himself, but even he wasn't about to gamble with the life of Specter.
No matter how crazy she acted, she was still Gladiia's most trusted companion. And Steven knew just how much that girl valued her. If something happened to Specter because of him, there was no way his adopted daughter would just let it slide.
What's worse, judging by the way she was falling, Specter wasn't doing what Skadi usually did—adjusting her posture midair to brace for the landing. If anything, her form looked downright suicidal. From where Steven was, it seemed like she was heading for a full-on headfirst crash into the ground.
And considering how little functional brain matter she probably had to begin with, slamming it into the dirt like that might just knock out what little she had left.
Sure, there was always the one-in-a-million chance that a blow to the head might somehow fix her brain—but like he said, Steven wasn't the type to bet on miracles.
"…Tch. What a pain in the ass."
He shook his head. This all happened in a matter of seconds. Specter was falling much faster than he was gliding—at this rate, all he could do was watch her crash headfirst into the earth. He shouldn't have been able to do anything.
But the thing about Steven was—he was far from normal.
From his inventory, he pulled out a fishing rod and, without hesitation, whipped it toward the plummeting girl.
Like he was deep-sea fishing—and the girl just so happened to be a little shark—the hook caught on her clothes, the line went taut, and with a sharp pull, he yanked her through the air and toward him.
Naturally, the glider wings on his back weren't built to carry the weight of two people. The moment he hooked her, they gave out entirely. Steven's graceful glide instantly turned into a straight drop.
Worse still, his sudden tug had added momentum to his own descent, sending him falling even faster than Specter.
One accelerated, the other decelerated—and just like that, Steven closed the distance between them.
By the time he reached her, she was still upside down, eyes wild and full of glee like a maniac having the time of her life. Steven rolled his eyes.
Of course she was enjoying this.
He didn't bother scolding her. There was no point in trying to reason with a lunatic. She probably didn't even realize what was happening. All he could do was reach out, wrap his arms around her slender waist, adjust her posture midair, and cradle her into a princess carry.
And just as he finished doing so—
The ground was right there, waiting for them.
He curled his body to shield her from the impact. A little irritated, he gave the troublesome maniac in his arms a small pinch for ruining his gliding session—and together, they hit the ground.
Well—not the ground, technically.
They landed in what could only be described as a pool of water that had appeared out of thin air. From several hundred meters up, they plunged straight into it—and yet, unbelievably, all it did was splash a little water and soak their clothes.
That absurdly soft landing left even Skadi, who had rushed forward to try and catch them, completely frozen in place, staring in disbelief.
Never mind where the water had come from—how the hell had Steven managed to fall from that kind of height and make barely a splash?
But at that moment, Skadi didn't care about any of that.
She hurried over, rushing straight to Steven's side. Her first concern wasn't the absurd landing, but the girl curled up safely in his arms.
Thankfully, Specter seemed perfectly fine. In fact, she looked even happier than before, her soaking-wet clothes clinging tightly to her body and outlining every curve—but instead of looking bothered, her smile only grew brighter.
Snuggling deeper into Steven's embrace, her body subtly shifted and pressed closer to him, all while wearing that devilish grin—the kind you'd expect from someone who knew exactly what kind of trouble they'd just caused.
Steven, however, was in no mood to enjoy the view.
Sure, her body felt great in his arms—but given the situation, he couldn't enjoy it in the slightest.
Annoyed, he reached up and gave her smiling face a firm pinch. A red mark bloomed on her pale, delicate cheek before he finally turned to Skadi and offered the troublesome girl over to her.
"Your little lunatic—could you keep a better leash on her next time?"
Of course, he couldn't resist throwing in a complaint. But as it turned out, handing her over wasn't going to be that easy.
The girl in his arms had absolutely no intention of leaving.
Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung tight, resting her head against his shoulder like some kind of affectionate little bird. She looked for all the world like she'd found her safe haven and had no plans of letting go.
"I don't even know how she woke up, let alone how she followed us here," Skadi said, face filled with helplessness.
It wasn't like she had wanted to bring Specter along. She'd done her best to leave her behind at Rhodes Island. But if Specter wanted to tag along, there wasn't much anyone could do to stop her. She is an Abyssal Hunter, after all—keeping tabs on her was nearly impossible.
Looking at the crater where Specter had been about to land, Skadi couldn't help but feel a chill.
If Steven hadn't intervened… things could've gone very differently.
Specter wasn't exactly known for her physical durability. She wasn't some steel-bodied superhuman. Falling from that kind of height, head-first and totally unprotected… that could have easily been fatal.
Fortunately, Steven had come through. As always, dependable.
No wonder even the Second Company Captain, after losing her memories, had come to rely on him so much.
But now, Skadi found herself facing another headache.
The Second Company Captain had only just left—and now Laurentina was glued to him like a barnacle?
What was it with this guy? Was he made of bait or something? Why did Abyssal Hunters keep flocking to him?
"Shark, you shouldn't be here," Skadi said quietly, stepping up beside Steven. Her gaze fell on the girl pretending to sleep in his arms. "You still need treatment."
Talking sense to someone like Specter felt like a cruel joke—but Skadi could only hope that, just for a moment, the girl might return to sanity.
But that hope was crushed almost immediately.
"No," came the dreamy, distant reply from Specter. "A fish of the deep sea can't be healed on land. I need blood. I need carnage. I need… to look up and see the sky, with nothing between us."
The girl who'd been silent ever since she started falling finally spoke up—and as soon as she did, Steven couldn't help but roll his eyes.
'Yep, definitely insane.'
The kind of nonsense she spouted… even someone like Kal'tsit would be forced to call her "master" for how cryptic it was.
Steven sometimes wondered: Were all lunatics just unrecognized philosophers in disguise?
Because nine times out of ten, whatever came out of their mouths sounded like riddles wrapped in metaphors—except sometimes, they actually made sense in a weird, philosophical kind of way.
Of course, the more reasonable explanation was that a large number of philosophers probably just had a few screws loose.
Anyway.
"So what now?" Steven asked, rubbing his temples. "Are you taking the little shark back? Or are we just gonna keep dragging her along?"
As he spoke, he let go of Specter's slender, supple waist—but she didn't drop to the ground like any normal person would.
Instead, she slithered up onto his back like a clingy little snake, and without a single word, hooked her arms and legs around him like some overly affectionate koala.
Steven didn't really mind. Taking one Abyssal Hunter along or two—what difference did it make? As long as they didn't get in the way of his journey, having a couple of pretty girls around wasn't exactly something to complain about.
Seriously, who in their right mind would say no to being surrounded by beautiful girls?
"We won't catch up to them now," Skadi said, watching Specter stubbornly cling to Steven's back with a mixture of exasperation and resignation. "All we can do is wait until we reach the next mobile city. Hopefully there's a Rhodes Island contact stationed there."
It wasn't ideal, but they had no other options. Rhodes Island wasn't going to halt their movements just for a little incident like this—Skadi and Specter simply weren't important enough for that.
Well… maybe Steven was. But he didn't seem like someone who cared about that kind of special treatment.
"I mean, if you really want," Steven added, "I could contact Kal'tsit and ask her to send a transport for Specter—but if she doesn't want to go, she'll probably rip the thing apart mid-flight."
He turned his head slightly to glance at the girl who had her face buried against his shoulder. Her crimson eyes met his for a second.
Amidst the madness in those blood-red irises, he saw something else—something hidden deep beneath the surface.
A trace of fear. A flicker of loneliness.
Even with her mind fractured the way it was, she clearly didn't want to be left alone at Rhodes Island. Whether it was solitude she feared, or just the pain of abandonment, Steven couldn't be sure—but one thing was obvious:
She desperately needed someone she could depend on.
It made sense, in a way. That's probably why she'd jumped after them without hesitation. Lunatics didn't think about the consequences. They just acted on instinct—pure, unfiltered emotion.
"Yeah… I get it," Skadi said with a sigh, looking at the girl who refused to let go of Steven.
"There's no helping it. We'll just have to finish this mission as fast as possible, then head back so she can get proper treatment. Until then, I'm counting on you to keep an eye on her."
She offered Steven a small, apologetic smile.
Truthfully, if she didn't already know he was at least half a doctor, she'd have no idea how to handle Specter in her current state.
"No problem," Steven replied with a shrug. "You can toss all those IOUs onto your Second Company Captain's tab. Next time I see her, I'll collect."
He waved it off with a casual grin, as if the weight of another lunatic clinging to him wasn't even worth mentioning.
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