245 Off the Shore

The ocean wind blew strongly, dampening the young man's voice. The bright sunlight hit his face gently while the salty air stuck to his skin. The seabirds hovering above them were cawing occasionally, using the wind to help them glide around.

Luuk and Graham were currently on a passenger ship, sailing in the middle of the ocean. The tiny islands in the distance to their right seemed to be calling them, while the open ocean on the other side looked desolate and empty.

"To Texel, and then we'll try to find a boat that can take us to Raas. It says in your ticket, doesn't it?" the detective explained shortly. His eyes were locked into the biggest island that he could see far ahead of him. His eyes were brimming with expectation while his mind was wandering.

His neighbor scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. He admitted that he hadn't bothered reading his ticket and just followed the detective.

It was a Sunday morning, one day after their business with Derrick Damreau. The man had paid Graham fully for his services and was now no longer living in fear of the gang members, for the time being. The aged gang members wouldn't be able to hurt him in their conditions, after all, while the rest should be too scared after Valentine had shown them his serpent form.

"And why are we going there?" the young man's tone was curious, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice. He enjoyed new experiences, it would appear.

"My divination told me that's where I can get one of the materials for my ritual. I'm not sure what we'll find on that island, however, since the divination didn't give me any detail since it was too far away," Graham explained.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" the young man made sure.

Graham shook his head.

"There is going to be some danger, according to my divination, but it shouldn't be mortal at least," his voice was serious, but the tone was calming.

"So we don't know yet what kind of place it is?"

"I've asked that man Derrick. It seems that Raas is an uninhabited island off the shore of Texel. You know what kind of place Texel is, right?" Graham checked his neighbor's knowledge.

Luuk seemed to be thinking for a while.

"Isn't it a port island?" he finally responded, "That's a tourism hub for people who want to explore the many smaller islands around it, right? It's also close enough to our neighbor, Rodin, so the island sees a lot of visitors every day. That's what I remember about it, at least."

Graham smiled and nodded.

"That's correct. The small islands around Texel are famous tourist spots, but the one we're going to, Raas, is much farther than the rest, and Derrick said not a lot of people dare to go there because the sea route to the island is prone to pirate attacks, unlike the closer islands which are protected by the Navy."

"From Rijssen to Texel, it would take us four hours by ship, and from Texel to Raas, we will need to sail for four more hours South. That's why we will rest first on Texel today and go to Raas first thing in the morning tomorrow. We'll also make use of the black market on the island to resupply," Graham explained.

Luuk nodded.

The two men then looked at the sunny sky above them. Although they were still in the same country, it was hard to believe that it was actually already late autumn and winter was just around the corner. The temperature there was still relatively warm and the islands in the distance were still green. It felt like they were in summer, or even in the tropic.

The passenger ship that they were on had seats inside and some cabins with beds for those who wouldn't mind paying extra. There were currently a lot of people in the seating area, that was why Graham and Luuk chose to stand outside and enjoy the view instead.

"Texel is a part of our country, right? And the language there is Tulpese, right?" asked Luuk suddenly.

Graham smiled and nodded before replying, "Yes. Why? Don't you speak Rodinian?"

The young medical student smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

"To be honest, no. Do you?"

"Yes, I do. Although, it's mostly passive. I can understand people perfectly, but my speaking skill is trash at best. But people should still understand me at least," he replied casually.

Luuk shrugged, "Well then you do the talking if needed."

Graham wanted to facepalm, but he held back. Instead, he just replied sarcastically, "So, basically, as like always?"

The young man shrugged again, more nonchalantly this time.

It had been three hours since they left the port of Rijssen, so they should be arriving soon enough. In the first three hours, the two men had tried waiting in the seating area, but the crowd of people there was too noisy. They then began exploring the ship before finally finding themselves standing on the front deck.

"I'm tired of standing up. I'll go in and have a rest, I guess. What are you going to do, Mr. Hymes?" Luuk said, suddenly.

Graham rubbed his chin and thought. He didn't really want to go back to the crowded part of the ship, and he didn't want to spend money on a cabin that he would use only for an hour or so.

"I think I'll just go around some more. I'll meet you at the seating area later," the detective answered and then waved his hand.

He picked up the briefcase that he had left on the floor and walked away with his cane, heading towards the back of the passenger ship. Luuk also picked up his backpack and entered the passenger area through the door on the side.

"Val, let's explore this ship more thoroughly this time. The curious people who were exploring when the ship first departed should be all gone, right?" he muttered while making his way through the side deck. His boots tapped loudly on the metal panels beneath him.

On his right, there were railings to prevent people from falling down. Although, if someone decided to jump overboard, the railings would only do so much to prevent them. There were rescue buoys attached to the walls and railings, within the reach of anyone nearby in case someone actually accidentally fell.

Graham walked past the side deck and arrived at the back terrace, where he could see Rijssen far away in the distance. The mountain range behind Rijssen was shrouded in thick clouds, almost covering them completely while the coastal city remained sunshiny.

"Val, let's try that door near the stern that we saw earlier. But before that, I'll need a disguise," muttered Graham.

He hid behind an air vent tower and checked his surrounding. Currently, the sun was shining brightly and most of the passengers were copped up inside. There were a few people still standing outside, but from their position, Graham's location should be obstructed.

Concentrating on the identity he wanted to use, the detective began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby change my whole being into that of Derrick Damreau!"

Rapidly, his body began changing. His hair turned light blonde and his eyes brown. There were black circles formed around his eyes, as it was how the man was inside Luuk's memory. No more than thirty seconds later, Graham had completely turned into the perfect copy of his previous client.

With his fake identity, Graham was now ready to do some trespassing if necessary to satisfy his curiosity.

"Let's go now, Val," he smiled mischievously.

Walking casually, he climbed down the metal stairs at the end of the terrace carefully. The ship was old and some of the steps had rusty edges, and Graham didn't want to cut himself on some sharp rusted metal.

At the bottom of the stairs was the place where all the giant ropes for docking were. There was a door with a restricted area sign on it at the bottom as well, and that was where Graham was heading.

Grabbing the handle, he gave it a turn and tried pulling the metal door. However, the door wouldn't budge.

"I order you to unlock yourself!"

Click!

With his Order, the door was unlocked and Graham repeated his action. This time, the heavy door was pulled open and he could see the inside of the restricted area. Graham took a step inside carefully; it was his first time being inside a private area of a ship.

Silence came once he closed the door behind him. The sounds of water broken by the ship and the air vents outside were no longer heard there. There was only a faint sound of people talking in the distance, on the other side of the narrow corridor where he was standing.

On each side, there were doors with circular windows. For some reason, the windows were blocked off from the inside with curtains. That fact only piqued his curiosity even more.

After making sure that there was no sound coming from inside the room to his right, Graham tried opening the door only to find out it was locked.

"I order you to unlock yourself..." he whispered.

Click!

The door was unlocked and the detective took the liberty of coming in. It turned out to be just a cabin for the ship's crew, and the stench repelled him from walking deeper into the room. It smelled like cheese that had been left unclosed in a storage room for years.

Closing the door, Graham left the cabin that had clothes lying around and continued on. He walked down the narrow corridor carefully, getting closer to the source of the talking sound.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps coming towards Graham, who was still behind the door at the end of the corridor. The footsteps were uneven like the person they belonged to was running and stumbling at the same time.

Hiding behind the door, Graham waited silently for the person to enter.

Thud...

The metal door was opened and closed quickly. A person came into view along with the opening of the door. It was a man who looked rather uncanny to Graham. He was wearing a beastlike, ferocious expression on his face and his body was all sweaty despite the interior of the ship being air-conditioned. The man's red eyes looked like he was in his own world, but at the same time eyeing everything around him intently.

Before the man caught wind of him being there, Graham quickly activated his ability.

"I order you to fall asleep!"

Although he kept his voice low, in the quiet corridor it should be loud enough to alarm the man. However, he didn't seem to have heard Graham and continued looking at the space in front of him as if searching for something.

Staying completely silent, Graham hid near the door in the man's blind spot, undetected.

Slowly, the man finally began showing signs of sleepiness and began stumbling. He fell down on the floor as the sounds of snoring escaped his mouth.

"That is strange, isn't it, Val? It took my ability longer to make him fall asleep than usual. Is he a Contractbound, I wonder?" he muttered curiously.

Graham conjured an illusory flame in front of him and began to use divination on the man. However, the result came out to be negative; the man was just a normal human being. He then quickly got rid of the flame.

With his chin resting on his hand, he mumbled, "Does it have to do with the abnormal state that he is in, or is he just mentally strong enough to resist my Order?"

Leaving the sleeping man behind, Graham exited the corridor through the door and closed it very carefully not to cause too much noise.

He was now in a different corridor, a little wider than the previous one. The doors on both sides looked different from the cabin doors before and through the open one, he could see that he was in some kind of storage area.

"He must have just come out of this room here. But where are the other people he was talking with?" he muttered.

Curiously, he sneaked into the room while keeping an eye on his surrounding. It was a bit dark, so he had to focus so that he could see clearly.

There were a lot of crates inside the storage room that was a little bigger than the cabin. However, there was something that caught Graham's attention hiding behind all of the crates. There was something like a white plastic bag sticking out from the spot.

"I wonder what that is?"

Approaching the plastic bag, Graham walked around the stacks of crates and boxes, and finally, the object was revealed to him. It was a bag containing white powder that was still left open.

"Don't tell me..."

The moment Graham saw the object, he had quickly retreated. He left the storage room and went back to where he came from, walking past the sleeping man on the floor.

Only after exiting the restricted area and returning outside could he finally breathe in relief. He then walked back upstairs and found a secluded spot to do his divination; he needed to confirm his suspicion.

Conjuring an illusory flame in front of him, he began focusing on the question that he wanted to ask.

'Was that white powder illegal drugs?'

An image of a piece of paper being burned appeared on the flame. The fire in the image consumed the paper quickly, indicating a positive response. After that, the image disappeared and Graham quickly got rid of the illusory flame, which was strangely unaffected by the strong sea breeze.

"So it was indeed drugs. Luckily no one saw us there; otherwise, we would be accused to be the one using it..." he rested his chin on his right hand and began rubbing it, "So I think it goes like this, Val. The ship is transporting illegal drugs to somewhere, probably Texel, and some of the crews decided to use some of it for themselves. Although it's none of our business what they do, it won't hurt to just be careful with the crews. We saw the effect of the drugs earlier, didn't we?"

Graham then returned to his original appearance shortly after and walked back to the passenger seating area, acting as nothing had happened.