“You got my shoes dirty! You disgusting bastard!” Andrew Carter saw Jeffrey Howard vomiting and seemed to find it amusing, letting out a snort of laughter through his nose as if he’d found some psychological balance. He then kicked Jeffrey Howard again, and after wiping the negligible grease from his own shoe onto Jeffrey Howard’s pants, Andrew Carter added, “But I don’t bother with useless trash who can’t fight back. It’s clean now, so get lost.”

　　Lucy Carter helped the dizzy and disoriented Jeffrey Howard up. She shouted hysterically at Andrew Carter, “Enough, Andrew Carter! You’ve gone too far with Jeffrey Howard!”

　　Liam White ignored the two arguing people. His gaze was fixed on Jeffrey Howard’s vomit: the fish fillet, golden on the outside, after being chewed and spat out by Jeffrey Howard, revealed a cross-section as dark and bluish as a dead fish, with things that looked like wriggling saprophytic worms still moving on it.

　　This kind of rotten dead fish is completely inedible. Liam White remembered that fishmongers at the market would use such dead fish to feed large fish. Liam White recalled a fishmonger telling him that the bigger the saprophytic fish, the more they liked to eat dead fish.

　　The driver came to pick up Liam White and the others right after Liam White’s breakfast.

　　[Main Quest: Tour the Siren Museum, reward: 50 points]

　　[Main Quest: Participate in the Mermaid Fishing Festival, reward: 50 points]

　　The Siren Museum and the Mermaid Fishing Festival—these sounded like two attractions.

　　Liam White pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to ask the driver what exactly these two things were—since this driver was not only Liam White’s driver but also doubled as their local tour guide in Siren Town—Jeffrey Howard suddenly darted over to block the space between Liam White and the driver. He kept his head down, silent, his pale, thin cheeks sunken, blood at the corner of his mouth from Andrew Carter’s blow, his jaw clenched and trembling slightly.

　　Liam White raised an eyebrow. From yesterday until now, Jeffrey Howard seemed to be doing his utmost to prevent him from interacting with the driver.

　　This wasn’t normal.

　　Liam White’s fingers unconsciously spun the coin at his chest, flipping it back and forth across the back of his hand. This was a habitual gesture when Liam White was thinking—feeling money under his control, even just a single coin, always made him calm and content.

　　With no other information, Liam White speculated that Jeffrey Howard’s target was probably Andrew Carter. It was normal for Andrew Carter to interact with the driver, since the driver needed opportunities to make his move. Lucy Carter was easy to fool, so there was no need to deliberately isolate her.

　　There had to be a reason why Jeffrey Howard was keeping Liam White and the driver apart. After thinking it over, Liam White figured it was about money. Judging by Jeffrey Howard’s clothes and the way he was bullied by Andrew Carter at school, he clearly didn’t seem like someone with money. Andrew Carter also bullied the weak and feared the strong—though he was sharp-tongued with the wealthy Liam White, he never actually did anything, but with Jeffrey Howard, he was quick to hit and curse. From this, Jeffrey Howard’s family situation was probably worse than Liam White’s, maybe even worse than Andrew Carter’s.

　　And last night, Jeffrey Howard gave the driver what looked like a considerable sum. Liam White could reasonably suspect that Jeffrey Howard had taken the money Liam White gave him to hire the driver and pay for the tour, and instead used it to hire the driver to get back at Andrew Carter. That’s why he was so guilty and kept the driver away from Liam White.

　　But since Jeffrey Howard had already paid the driver last night, the deal should be more or less done. On the surface, the driver and the tourists were doing their jobs well, and Liam White hadn’t shown any suspicion. Normally, Jeffrey Howard should be relieved by now, and there’d be no need to go to such lengths to keep him and the driver apart. In fact, this would only make Liam White suspicious.

　　Such guilty, cautious behavior didn’t seem like the matter was already settled.

　　But maybe Jeffrey Howard was just cautious and timid, never letting his guard down until things were done. After all, Jeffrey Howard’s side plot was called [Bloody Conspiracy]—just hearing the name, you’d expect a murder plot, so Liam White could completely understand being careful.

　　He just didn’t know when Jeffrey Howard would choose to make his move against Andrew Carter. For now, though, Liam White still wanted to focus mainly on the main quest.

　　Liam White spoke to the driver: “Driver, are there any attractions in Siren Town?”

　　“Tourist spots?” The driver thought for a moment and said, “For visitors here, the must-sees are night fishing and the museum.”

　　Hearing this, Liam White thought, as expected. He raised his eyebrows: “Fishing and the museum? What’s special about them?”

　　“Of course there is! This is Siren Town, after all.” The driver turned his head, and for the first time, Liam White saw the driver’s face up close in the car. Even someone as resistant to horror as Liam White couldn’t help but catch his breath.

　　It wasn’t out of fear, but out of astonishment.

　　This driver looked extremely strange.

　　The whites of his eyes were enormous, so much so that his pupils were only the size of a fly. As he spoke, his tiny pupils darted restlessly around in the sea of white, as if he couldn’t control them and they might disappear from his eyes at any moment. The driver’s skin was also so pale it was almost opaque.