Chapter 165: To the East!(5)

Luke gripped the mop and bucket tighter, he made sure that he won't break it but he made sure it is tight enough so that the mop and bucket will leave marks of his rage. Luke sighed and heard Nash growl in his head.

• Did they just tell you to clean the floor?! Do they want to die?!

Luke sighed, his jaw clenched.

"Forget it; let's just do their bidding for the time being. Nash, I'll mop the floor while you look after the lookout and Songbird."

• But, Dad! They are clearly looking down-!

"Then that is good, I intend for them to look down on me in the first place. I came here only to see the princess, not to impress them. It will also be easier for me to leave if they look at me like that."

Nash frowned and pouted. He clearly doesn't like how these pirates are treating his dad, but because his dad is in the middle of an act, he can't risk ruining anything for him. Nash just decided to sit angrily on the ledge of the deck and looked at the sea with Songbird beside him. Luke positioned Songbird next to him so that he could mop the floor.

Luke grabbed the mop and dipped it into the bucket, then twisted it a bit to release excess water and began mopping the floor. He then felt as if he had returned to the past, where he was once again a janitor. It is not really a good memory to remember to be honest, but he cannot help but remember.

'I should really get a large sum of money from the Empress after this... I'll take whatever money I can get... Because if I don't get paid for this stupid mission, I'm going to riot and blow this damn ship up.'

While mopping the floor, Luke kept those sinister thoughts in mind, and while doing so, he didn't notice the observant stares of Paris and the other crewmates directed at him, but Nash noticed and glared at them. The pirates were unaffected by Nash's glare and continued to stare, but there is another group of people staring from a distance, and they are all looking at Luke with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What... What on earth is he doing?"

"Is he... mopping?"

"And he appears to be skilled while doing it; I am impressed."

"Yeah- wait, that is not the point! Why is he mopping the damn floor?!"

Mira frowned and pointed to Luke, who was peacefully mopping the floor on the deck's top. Erdene frowned.

"I knew it; I should've just sunk that ship..."

"I am with you on this one, grandpa."

Erdene and Mira turned around to see Liam and Snow glaring at the ship as they prepared their aura and powers. They appear to be preparing to sever that ship into pieces. Erdene simply sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Calm down, you two. We're here to keep an eye on him, not to interfere."

However, it appears that the two did not hear him and continued to stare at the ship.

"I'll get the head of the guy who ordered brother to mop the floor..."

"I'm going to freeze their blood and feed it to the sharks..."

Marina and Trent approached the two, concerned, and attempted to calm them down.

"Please take a deep breath."

"Let's just put our trust in the young master on this one..."

Liam creases his brow and lowers his sword; Snow does the same with her hands and then simply sighs. Liam and Snow then looked down at their feet, where they could see the ocean water. That's right; with Mira's help, they're currently standing on water. They are also undetected due to Erdene's invisible barrier, which covers all of them and prevents the pirates from seeing them. They decided to temporarily leave Klein to the care of the other mermaids there and decided to check on Luke's condition.

Mira simply scratched her brow in frustration.

"I can't believe I get to see that guy mopping the floor. It's a strange sight to see."

Erdene rubbed his face with the palm of his hand.

"That brat always throws surprises at you, you should get used to it."

Mira then looked pityingly at Erdene.

"Dene, you've been through a lot."

"I did, I certainly did..."

Liam and Snow agreed with Erdene's words, but they all came to a halt when they heard something beep.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ah!"

Snow exclaimed and rummaged through Luke's coat pockets. She is currently wearing his coat to look after it. Snow then grabbed the thing that was beeping and yanked it out. She then observed the communication device in her hand beeping. Snow then looked at Mira, Erdene, and the others, and Erdene simply nodded before Snow answered the call. Lance's face then appeared.

• How is the mission- oh, hello there Snow.

Snow smiled and waved at Lance on the screen, while Marina and the others moved away from the communication device so that Lance wouldn't see them or the Spirits.

"Hello papa, why did you call?"

• Oh, I'm just checking in on the mission's progress, how's it going?

Snow remained silent for a moment before slowly turning her gaze to Liam, who was unable to speak. Lance looked perplexed at this.

• Did something happen again?

Snow scratched her cheeks.

"You can say that..."

• Can you show me?

Snow sighed and rotated the device. Lance then concentrated his vision to see what was going on. It didn't take long for Lance's eyes to widen.

• Is that... Luke?

Snow then responded slowly.

"Yes..."

• Oh my god... What the hell is he doing up there?

Liam then responded.

"He's been told to mop the floor..."

• Are you serious? And why would he even obey such a command?!

"He went in there as undercover so he has no choice but to follow their orders. He didn't even complain, and he appears to be used to doing such things..."

Lance remained silent as he frowned at Luke, who was quietly mopping the floor. For some reason, he was irritated while looking at Luke's calm face mopping the floor. Perhaps it's because what Luke is doing is completely unexpected.

•....I'll call later; I'm going to deal with something for a little while.

Snow then cocked her head, her gaze fixed on Lance's serious expression.

"Hmm? So soon, Papa?"

• Unfortunately, yes. If I can, I'll call you later.

Lance then ended the call and silence fell in the surroundings. Mira just sighed, and Erdene just stared at Luke. They've been stuck staring at him like that all day.

-------

As night falls, Luke has completed the majority of the errands assigned to him by Paris throughout the day. The more orders Paris gives him, the more enraged Luke becomes; the same is true for Nash.

"Songbird, here you go, eat up."

Songbird's tray was then filled with food and water by Luke. Luke sighed and stood up when he saw her begin to eat it. He desperately needs to rest now that he has completed all of his chores.

"Smiley."

Luke came to a halt and turned his head towards the voice; he then noticed Valerie smiling at him and smiled back instinctively.

"Hello, my friend. Who is 'Smiley'?"

"Who else? It's you!"

Luke gave a puzzled look and pointed to himself.

"Me?"

"Yep! I decided to give you a name because you don't have one!"

"Ah... But why, Smiley?"

"Because you always smile when someone tries to talk to you."

"Ahh! I see!"

'I only smiled to stay in character, because if I don't, I feel like I can throw someone overboard.'

Luke resisted the urge to say anything and smiled at Valerie. He then poses a question to her.

"Smiley... I like it. Thank you, my friend. What is your name, by the way?"

Valerie exclaimed.

"Oh, yes! I almost forgot to tell you! "

"Yes, that is why I've been calling you 'my friend' the whole time."

Valerie was deafeningly quiet for a moment before opening her mouth.

"My name is... Val."

Luke immediately covered his suspecting eyes and replaced them with a soft look.

"Val, what a lovely name. I'm sure whoever named you thought long and hard about it. It's ideal for you."

"Haha... Yes, my mother named me."

Luke smiled innocently, trying to hide his smirk.

"I'm envious of you having a mother. I've never met or heard of my mother in my life; you're very fortunate."

"You think so?"

Luke gave a nod.

"Yes, I heard that mothers are very caring of their children and would do everything for them. I've never known such care in my life, so I can only rely on other people's definitions of mothers."

Valerie rubbed her shoulders after a few seconds of staring at Luke's face. Luke gave it a quick glance and was about to say something when they were interrupted.

"What are you doing here?"

Valerie and Luke turned their heads to the side and noticed Paris frowning at them. Paris then fixed his gaze on Luke.

"Are you going to sleep now, or do you want to join us for the night shift?"

Luke was silent for a moment before smiling.

"I had just finished feeding Songbird, and I was about to rest. Speaking of rest, I don't know where I will sleep yet."

"Ah!"

Valerie exclaimed, clicking her fingers.

"Oh yeah! Your room! Come with me, Smiley, and I'll take you there!"

Valerie grabbed Luke's arms and dragged him past Paris. Paris was about to stop them, but Luke and Valerie both ignored him.

"Hey! Wait for a second-!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, captain!"

"Have a nice night!"

Valerie and Luke then waved to Paris as they moved down the corridors, leaving Paris behind. Luke then gave a slight grin.

'Suits you right, asshole.'

Luke then let Valerie drag him into the corridors, where he soon arrived in the darkest part of the ship. Luke looked around and saw Valerie opening a dusty door. As soon as she opened it, clouds of dust came out of the door. Luke and Valerie then covered their noses to avoid inhaling the dust.

"Cough! Cough! Haa! Smiley, here you go! Your very own room!"

Luke, in contrast to Valerie's cheerfulness, simply stared at the old and dusty room. He then began to look over the furniture in the room, which wasn't much to begin with.

It has an old bed and clearly lacks another footing, making it appear unbalanced... Is that even safe to sleep on? It also has a dusty cabinet with a lamp sitting above it, as well as a decorative pot with an almost-dead plant sitting on it by the window sill. Aside from those, the only thing visible in the room is dust and webs.

Luke regarded this with deadpan eyes. He worked all day only to sleep in this room that hardly qualifies as a room... Just thinking about it makes him want to bomb the entire ship in rage. Luke then clenched his fists tightly while still smiling.

"Wow... I finally have my own room! Awesome."

Valerie beamingly smiled.

"Right? All you have to do now is clean it and you'll be able to sleep. Smiley, I'll see you later!"

"Haha... See you later."

Valerie had completely left the area, leaving only Luke. Luke looked around his room again, wishing he could riot.

"Dad... Can I... Explode a part of the ship?"

When he heard Nash's suggestion, Luke pursed his lips. He is tempted to say 'yes,' but he stops himself. He simply clenched his teeth and spoke.

"Let's just... Clean this..."