Finally, they had reached Isulon.

From a distance, Kawao could see the island’s port city nestled along the coast.

Never in his life had he seen so many buildings.

Once they docked at the harbor, he wanted to explore the city as quickly as possible, but John held him back.

"Hold your horses, young man!" he said.

"I know you want to explore the city right away, but I need you to promise me something first!"

"Depends on what you want me to promise," Kawao replied.

The tension was palpable.

"I want you to promise me not to mess with the pirates! Their base is on the other side of the island, and I know how much you hate them, but even with your Nyd... if you go there alone, you'll only get yourself killed. You seem like a good guy, and I’d hate to see you rush to your death if I could prevent it. So please... promise me!"

Kawao paused for a moment before answering.

"I promise! I won’t mess with the pirates!"

,Besides, they weren’t the ones who attacked my village. I’ve seen them sail past our island before. They never showed any interest in us.´

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John sighed in relief.

"Good. That's a load off my mind. It’s been bothering me the entire journey."

"Not just you, Captain," called one of the crew.

He smiled at his crew.

"Now that that's settled. Do you even know where you'll be staying tonight?"

,Ugh! I haven’t thought about that!´

"No, I don’t know yet!"

"I thought so! Here, take this."

He handed him a small pouch with some coins in it.

"There’s a good inn here, very popular on the island. It’s called ‘The Great Crab.’ We’ll be staying there tonight too. This should cover one or two nights."

"I can’t accept this."

"Yes, you can! You’ve earned it! I don’t know what your plans are, but if you want to get to the mainland, you need to find out when the next ship leaves. Of course, you can also sail with us if you want. You’ve earned a place in our crew!"

Kawao didn’t know what to say. He had never expected to meet people outside his island who were as kind as John and his crew.

"Thank you!" he managed to say hesitantly before heading towards the city.

He didn’t know how he could ever repay them for their kindness, but he knew he would find a way.

----------------------------------------

He walked through the streets with eager anticipation, hoping to see things he had never dreamed of.

But soon, he noticed that something was wrong.

The streets looked grim and decayed. There were hardly any people outside, and those who were seemed sick and intimidated.

Was he scaring them?

Sure, his appearance set him apart from the people here, but he didn’t expect it to be this extreme.

Suddenly, he bumped into a man.

"Oh, sorry!" he said quickly.

The man looked at him, and Kawao was startled.

The man's face was swollen and disfigured as if his fear had manifested physically.

The man chose to ignore him and quickly ran away.

Now he saw it!

All the people outside had disfigured faces.

What was going on here? Was this a disease?