Chapter 1742 - 242 - Shredica and Leon (1)

I was finally done having sex with Madeline, and when I left her room, she was lying comfortably on her hammock with an expression that made it pretty obvious she was satisfied as hell with how things had gone.

She was even puffing on a cigarette now, looking completely relaxed as she swung gently on the hammock like she hadn't just spent the last while exhausting herself.

Before I left, she told me that she would cooperate with me, as long as I provided her with the one thing she needed, which, to put it as simply as possible, meant that I had to try getting her pregnant.

I honestly had no idea whether that would actually happen, but if she was willing to cooperate and follow through with what I asked of her, then I figured there wasn't much reason for me to complain about it.

While I was making my way out of the room, however, I found Shredica leaning against the wall beside the railing of our ship.

Judging by the look she gave me when she noticed me, she had apparently been waiting there for quite some time.

"Took you long enough," she said while glaring at me. "And you smell like another woman, too."

The moment she said that, I immediately felt like a husband who had just been caught cheating by his wife and had absolutely no reasonable explanation prepared for what had happened.

I wasn't even sure why that comparison came to mind so quickly, but considering the circumstances, it was unfortunately pretty accurate.

"Seems like you can't help yourself, huh?" she asked, her expression carrying a noticeable amount of disappointment.

She looked genuinely disappointed.

Seeing her act like that was unusual enough to make me stop and wonder what exactly was bothering her.

It wasn't often that Shredica showed that kind of expression, especially toward me, so I couldn't help wondering whether there was something deeper behind her reaction.

"Well, more than anything, I think you've gained the trust of the Pirate Queen," she eventually said. "Good for you."

Her tone sounded strangely flat compared to what I expected.

After saying that, she simply turned around and started walking away from me without giving me any opportunity tosay anything.

I watched her for a moment, but I couldn't figure out what exactly was going through her mind.

Something about the way she acted felt strangely familiar, almost like I had seen the same kind of reaction from someone else before.

Then I remembered Akane.

Chihara Akane was the kind of person who would say something like that before casually walking away, leaving me standing there and wondering what the hell she was actually thinking.

The similarity was starting to become difficult for me to ignore.

The more I thought about it, the more it genuinely felt like Shredica and Akane might actually be the same person.

But how could that even be possible?

If I thought about it carefully, there was certainly a possibility, even if it sounded completely ridiculous at first.

If Akane had somehow come to this world and eventually became Shredica, then...

No... that was impossible. No, wait, actually, wasn't it actually possible now?

After all, I had experienced something similar myself, so I couldn't exactly dismiss the possibility simply because it sounded strange.

Their faces were similar enough to make me suspicious, although their hair were somewhat different.

Still, hair wasn't exactly reliable evidence.

People could change their hairstyles, cut their hair, grow it out, dye it, or simply look different after spending years in another world.

Trying to identify someone based entirely on their hair would have been pretty ridiculous.

I still had no solid proof.

Or perhaps I did have the proof right in front of me, and I was simply refusing to acknowledge what it could mean.

I didn't want to believe that Shredica and Akane were the same person.

The Akane I knew had some similarities with Shredica in terms of personality, but the two of them still felt completely different to me.

Shredica wasn't merely stronger than Akane.

She was operating on an entirely different level.

Thinking that the Akane I knew had somehow become someone like Shredica was something I couldn't comfortably accept.

I didn't even want to imagine what could have happened to her during those years.

Whatever circumstances had turned Akane into Shredica, I wasn't sure I could handle hearing the story behind it.

For now, I had to treat the whole thing as nothing more than an assumption.

Until I found something undeniable, I couldn't allow myself to jump to conclusions.

***

Later, I was resting on my bed inside the ship, although calling what I was doing proper rest would have been giving the situation far too much credit.

The ship had been rocking constantly, and while I wasn't actually suffering from motion sickness, I still couldn't say that I was feeling particularly comfortable.

The movement wasn't enough to make me sick, but it was more than enough to keep me from properly relaxing.

I had never been particularly fond of spending long periods aboard ships, and this trip was doing absolutely nothing to change my opinion.

It would still take at least three days before we reached the next island, which was where we planned to go first before traveling around it and continuing toward the Mermaid Kingdom.

Three days didn't sound especially long when I thought about it normally.

Being stuck on a moving ship for three days, however, made the amount of time feel considerably longer.

After lying there for a while, I eventually decided that staying inside my room wasn't going to accomplish anything, so I got up and stepped outside for some fresh air.

I left my room and made my way onto the deck, where I immediately noticed Shredica standing near the railing.

She was looking out toward the sea, apparently lost in thought.

From the way she stood there, she looked like someone who had something weighing heavily on her mind.

I had no intention of interfering with whatever she was thinking about, so I decided that it would probably be better to leave her alone.

I was just about to turn around and head back inside when something unexpected happened.

For some reason, Shredica suddenly started removing her clothes.

I probably should have looked away immediately.

I could have stopped myself from staring, and under normal circumstances, I probably would have.

For some reason, though, I couldn't bring myself to look away.

My attention remained fixed on her as she slowly pulled her clothes from her body.

At first, I wasn't entirely sure why I was staring.

Then I remembered the suspicion that had been bothering me.

This moment could potentially confirm whether Shredica and Akane were actually the same person.

I remembered something very specific about Akane.

She had a mole on her back, close to her shoulder.

Back in my previous life, when Akane had visited my apartment, I had noticed it.

At the time, it had been nothing more than a tiny detail that I happened to remember.

I never would have imagined that such an insignificant little mole could eventually become something I would use to determine whether the woman standing in front of me was actually the same person I had known in my previous life.

If Shredica had that exact same mole in exactly the same place, then the possibility wouldn't be something I could casually dismiss anymore.

Shredica continued removing her clothes, completely unaware that I was watching her from behind.

The lighting on the deck was relatively dim, but there was still enough light for me to see her back clearly.

Then I noticed it.

A small mole was visible near her shoulder.

It was in precisely the same place where Akane's mole had been.

My body froze for a moment as soon as I recognized it.

After all the excuses I had made about their similar appearances and personalities, I finally had something concrete that I couldn't simply explain away.

Shredica had Akane's mole.

Exactly where Akane's had been.

And suddenly, the possibility I had been desperately trying to avoid became much harder to ignore.