"Phew! That was close…"
Jake let out a sigh of relief after escaping that vixen.
He couldn't help but lament.
"Ah… I was regretting not losing my v, but now that there's finally a chance, it has to be with a woman full of danger."
"Danger? You mean Lady Scarlet?"
Just then, a familiar voice was heard from beside him, and Jake jumped in fright.
But when he saw that it was Captain Henry, who was the nicest of the bunch here, Jake smiled sheepishly.
"Ah, Captain, you scared me."
Captain Henry smiled at the fellow.
"Hah, I assume you met Lady Scarlet down there, right? It seems like she's truly doing her duty earnestly… maybe a bit too earnestly."
Jake nodded awkwardly at this.
He had also heard from the other pirates that Lady Scarlet was one of the high-ranking prostitutes that this pirate group had managed to buy the services of.
Apparently, this kind of high-ranking service was usually only reserved for rich and powerful nobles.
Which was why he was wondering how this group had managed to buy her service.
'Are these pirates richer and more capable than I thought?'
Jake couldn't help but think as he remembered all the painful memories of being beaten up by these people.
Heck, even the cook on this ship who was fat and short could beat him.
It was to the point where he couldn't help but doubt himself, wondering if he was really that weak a few days ago before he learned about the existence of Classes.
But then Captain Henry smacked his shoulder, waking him from his thoughts.
"Haha, actually I was looking for you. Why don't we go back to my room and chat a bit?"
Jake blinked, wondering what he wanted to talk about, but he nodded.
"Aye, Captain."
Captain Henry looked a little strangely at Jake's crude imitation, but then the two of them walked back together.
_
_
_
Soon they arrived at Captain Henry's room.
It looked more like a study than a captain's quarters, with many bookshelves and a simple table.
There was a single bed behind it as well.
Jake couldn't help but feel a little surprised at how tidy the place was.
He had expected the captain of such a rough pirate group to be more… wild.
"Have a seat."
Henry then walked toward a cabinet and took out some booze.
"I don't have anything fancy, so I hope you don't mind."
He placed one bottle on the table for Jake while popping the lid off his own and starting to drink.
Jake didn't drink immediately. He stared at the bottle before looking back at Henry.
He couldn't help but feel that this man was being nice to him for some reason, and that made him uneasy.
His father had always taught him to be suspicious when someone he had just met started acting all chummy and friendly.
It usually meant they wanted something from you.
But Jake pretended not to notice. He picked up the bottle and began to drink it himself.
Almost immediately, Jake spat it all back out.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Hmm? You don't find it good? As expected of a noble, huh."
Henry laughed heartily at the sight and began to chug the rest of his drink.
"Cough! S-So what do you want to t-talk about, Captain?"
Henry shrugged and replied casually,
"Just call me Henry. And it's nothing much. I just want to get to know you... like bonding with a crewmate and stuff, you know."
Jake gave him a strange look and couldn't help but shudder at a sudden thought.
'There's no way he's interested in men… right?'
Henry continued making small talk with Jake, completely unaware that Jake's strange gaze was growing more suspicious by the second.
Just then, Captain Henry suddenly sounded more serious as he placed the bottle on the table.
"So, Jake… tell me, what is your Class?" he asked, looking Jake straight in the eye.
Jake felt a bit awkward when he heard the question.
From the pirates, he had already learned that apparently everyone in this world had a Class.
That was also why he hadn't even been able to defeat the scrawniest among them despite his larger size.
And now that he was being asked about it, he didn't know how to answer.
Seeing Jake's awkward expression, Captain Henry smiled and continued,
"There's no need to hide it. As the captain of this ship, I need to know my crew's Classes so I can assign the right tasks."
After saying that, he took another mouthful of booze.
To be honest, he had already been fairly sincere with Jake.
After all… that shirt and those jeans alone looked like they could fetch quite a lot of gold coins.
"Actually… I don't have a Class."
SPURT!
Now it was Captain Henry's turn to be shocked as he spat the entire mouthful straight onto Jake.
"Cough! Cough! W-What?!"
Captain Henry hadn't expected that answer at all.
The reason he found it so surprising... almost unbelievable was because everyone in this world had a Class, whether it was a weak one or a powerful one.
Take his ship for example.
Dan the cook had the Chef Class.
Even though it wasn't powerful, at least it wasn't considered a trash-tier Class.
"W-Wait, that's not possible. If you don't have one… it can only mean you haven't awakened it yet…"
Captain Henry tried to rationalize the situation, but the thought only made him look at Jake even more strangely.
'Why would a noble's son his age still not have awakened his Class yet?'
After all, he had originally thought of Jake as an unlucky noble's son who had been sailing the sea for fun and had gotten unlucky enough to be swallowed by a ship eater.
With Jake wearing such high-quality clothes, along with his cleanliness and the way he acted disgusted on the ship, both Captain Henry and Lady Scarlet had failed to find any flaw in his expression despite their long experience.
Because of that, they concluded he truly was a noble.
Which was why Henry had been so polite and sincere with him, hoping to build some kind of connection with his noble background.
Other pirates might call him a licking dog for this, but what did those fools know?
Living on the sea required connections too.
Otherwise, you wouldn't last long.
Just look at those pirates who used to call Henry a coward and a noble's dog... where were they now?
Probably sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Jake wiped his face with his hand and looked at Captain Henry before asking calmly,
"Then Captain, do you have a way for me to awaken a Class?"
Since it seemed Henry was treating him well, he decided to solve this major problem first.
It was too embarrassing to not even be able to beat a random low-level pirate.
Captain Henry blinked for a moment at the rather obvious question, then shook his head.
"Actually, it isn't that hard. You just have to—"
Suddenly he paused when he heard a familiar set of footsteps approaching.
His eyes glinted slightly as he looked at Jake and suddenly grabbed him.
"Quick! Hide under my bed!"
"Eh?"
Jake was dumbfounded as his vision blurred, and the next moment he found himself under the bed.
'Such speed and strength…!' Jake was in disbelief, but then another thought struck him.
'Wait… why am I hiding?'
Just as he was wondering about that, he saw the door open.
A pair of white, seductive legs slowly walked into the room.
And he immediately recognized them.
They belonged to Lady Scarlet.