Chapter 496: Volume 11: Misty Cage and Smoke Lock, - 8: Hayreddin
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"Heh, a slacker from Sparta? I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a joke. Spartan men are never cowards or slackers, they bravely face everything that comes their way, no matter the situation, don’t they? Could it be that Captain Portalan’s lifelong aspiration is merely to captain a small passenger vessel?"
Komer searched for his opponent’s emotional weak spot with his sharp words, capable of sensing the hidden wounds deep within the other’s heart. Though they were well-concealed, nothing could escape detection by Komer, whose intuition was extraordinarily keen.
The Bearded Captain’s facial muscles twitched slightly, a sign that he had been pricked in a sensitive spot. His complexion grew somewhat strained as if struggling to find the right words to deflect the conversation. He thought about turning his head away but probably felt it impolite, and his gaze gradually became somber, as if laden with too much regret and pain.
"Captain Portalan, I do not wish to pry into the painful past you might have experienced, but there is one thing I do understand. A true man seeking to regain his self-respect and honor will not achieve it through self-exile or by drowning his sorrows in mellow wine. What a true man should do is reclaim it all with his own hands, repaying those who once looked down upon him and insulted him in every possible way. Only then can he be considered a true man. You might appear calm on the surface, but I believe that, deep inside, you carry an unyielding flame just like mine. Trust that I can offer you the life you desire, help you achieve your wishes!"
Komer did not give the other man a chance to explain or deflect, assaulting him with a cascade of words that lashed cruelly at the wounds he was desperately trying to shield, leaving the Bearded Captain’s face ashen, his stalwart frame swaying slightly.
Closing his eyes in pain, the Bearded Captain seemed unable to endure Komer’s verbal lashes any longer and eventually turned away. Komer, however, remained exceptionally calm, believing that his words could awaken the spirited, and if the other remained numb and indifferent as now, he would lose the value of extending an invitation to him.
Odessa boasted many trout restaurants, but only two or three were renowned, and the Carino Trout House was undoubtedly among the finest. Komer did not repeat his invitation, simply informing the Bearded Captain upon disembarking that he would dine at the Carino Trout House before serenely leaving with Rebry, Solonberg, and Lome.