Drifting Dragons 1-14

Back on board the ship, the stowaways and the ship's "hot pot" discuss the money they've just received from the Japanese government. They're not sure how much they'll be able to spend, but they're sure they can make a lot of money. The hot pot is full of meat, and the men are eating it. The stowaway says he's had it with "chopping up dragon" inside the ship. He's lost count of the number of times he'd made it to the bottom of the ship and eaten the meat. He wants to join them, but the hot pot won't let him. Instead, he tells the men to "pass the booze around" . He also tells them not to eat just the meat, but to "sterilize" the meat with a "fermented bean paste" , which is a kind of yeast-based food. The men are confused, and one of them sees them being eaten by the "drakers," the Japanese term for people who beat up and kick people out of their homes. They don't want to hunt dragons because "anyone orders us to," but they do want to keep a little girl onboard as a "refuge" until they get back to the mainland. They also want to give her one of their spare uniforms so she can throw a little dinner party before they leave for the mainland again.