[Hijikata put up quite the fight against the pirates before they took him out and tossed him in here, but despite looking a little worse for the wear he manages to crack a wry grin.]

Well, I'm glad it's not just in my head.

[He gets up from the floorboards with a groan and follows Phoenix, likewise touching the wall as they slowly move along.]

It's probably a demon or some shit. Or else some rare creature they're smuggling, because hey, can't live on making abductees dive for treasure alone in this economy, right?