North x Northwest
Chapter 136

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Headnote: The following scene may be distressing for some readers, warning for excessive violence.

Ed didn’t see Courant’s hostility as he was too busy figuring out why it was Courant that came down and not Alain. Seeing that a kid with no combat skills was sent to guard him, Ed concluded that it must be because a meeting between the four involved officers was about to start.

‘Well, at best, I will be thrown on some deserted island…’

However, this very thought scared him more than it should. Rather than being afraid of drifting around the sea endlessly, he was terrified of the fact that Lil was about to abandon him. To Ed, the possibility of being erased from Lil’s life was definitely the most frightening.

In his wavering delusion, a presiding judge suddenly rose high and covered his eyes in darkness. With the feeling of becoming a convict kneeling beneath a high platform, Ed’s head filled itself with thoughts a prisoner awaiting his sentence would have; he wished for a miracle. And in his case, the miracle would be Lil.

On the ship, only Lil was in a position to help Ed and the only way to reverse this situation was to make her aware of it.

‘As things already turned out like this, she needs to come to the realisation that she can’t just abandon me like this. I’m not sure about affection, respect, trust, or whatever reason she holds dear, but I need to make her realise that she doesn’t need her necklace whenever she’s with me, that will be my best bet…’

A hoarse voice came from somewhere.

“Tell… me…”

“…”

Ed didn’t hear it, he was too absorbed in his own life-or-death situation and couldn’t afford to pay any attention to Courant.

“Tell me…”

“…”

‘If I knew this was going to happen, I would’ve told her everything… I should’ve come clean regardless of the possibility of revealing my identity. My attempt to stir the conversation in a particular direction and urge Liloa to finally be aware was useless from the beginning. I remained vague throughout all of it and was only beating around the bush… I should’ve taken a different turn when she repeated again and again that she didn’t understand a thing I was saying…’

“Tell me!”

– Tung! –

Something thrown by Courant hit his head and bounced off the wall. This action made Ed finally look at him, but instead of being in pain, he was only feeling annoyed. After approaching, Courant reached down and removed the gag, scratching Ed’s cheek with his rough fingernails in the process.

“What are you doing?”

“Tell me what you’re up to!”

‘What’s with this kid?! I don’t have time for this…’

Thinking so, the sitting Ed lowered his head again…

– Keok! –

His neck was bent sharply by Courant’s surprise attack on the back of his head and Ed fell forward from the bed till he eventually collided with the floor. With his hands tied on his back and his legs wrapped in ropes from his shins to his ankles, it was only natural for his body to lose its balance. His face, buried in the floor, heated up. Ed’s disorientated state made it hard for him to comprehend how he already bled that much with only one hit.

‘Is that even possible?’

While Ed was thinking of an answer, Courant grabbed the distracted navy by the collar and threw him on his back. Ed still had a hard time understanding the situation, when a flushed face suddenly shouted in front of his nose.

“Tell me now! Where is the fleet? From where is it tracking us?!”

His mouth gagged as a punch to the stomach wasn’t easy to endure. Ed spat a mix of blood and saliva over Courant’s forearm.

“…Your Captain won’t tolerate this.”

“…”

The bridge of Courant’s freckled nose twitched.

Ed found Courant irritating, so he was determined to get over this immature stroke quickly. He was in a situation where he couldn’t even spare a second of his time.

“There’s no tracking or anything of the sort. I told Alain that I was innocent. Didn’t you hear that?”

“Don’t lie!”

Ed was beaten once more. Instead of his stomach, this time his head began to ring.

“You filthy traitor…”

“…”

“You bastard!”

“…”

Courant climbed on top of Ed and swung his fists without a break. At the same time as the heavy weight landed on his chest, Ed’s head twisted and bent mercilessly.

“How dare you lie!”

“…”

Ed, whose limbs were bound, had no chance to defend himself. Therefore, absorbing Courant’s incoming fists was all he could do.

“You psychopathic bastard! Take this! This is what you guys love to do, right? Agghh!”

Blood that burst from Ed’s mouth and nose began to flow back and accumulate in his throat. However, instead of the immediate pain, the fact that his breathing was being obstructed became more concerning. With an instinctive cough, Ed spewed out blood. The red liquid gushed from his nasal cavity and throat in haemoptysis several times, followed by a crackling sound that pierced through his airways. Perhaps because of the graphic scene before him, the boy’s punching came to a halt. Instantly, Ed twisted his body without missing a beat.

His upper body rolled under the bed and convulsed due to shock. Only then did the reality of being tied up come as a serious threat.

Ed struggled to open his eyes. He felt a dull pain around them, which was probably due to the swelling from the beating moments ago. In addition, blood had permeated his eyes, making it hard for him to see. Despite his blurry vision, Ed looked around in search of any kind of tool that could help him untie the rope, but instead of seeing something useful a foot in boots stepped down into his view.

Ed struggled to move his mouth.

“Don’t… let me live… didn’t betray the Captain…!”

In an instant, Ed’s stomach churned violently. Excruciating pain radiated from the lower part of his torso that wasn’t shielded by the bed. Ed swallowed his groans after losing his breath. Seeing Ed react more violently than expected, Courant took a step back in embarrassment. However, his hesitation didn’t last long and was quickly followed by more powerful kicks.

“You bastard! Tell me! Tell me!”

“…”

‘Any type of internal damage Courant might inflict can render me into a dead man. Clearly, the boy has never beaten anyone up before, so he isn’t aware of the ways to inflict pain without the risk of killing his opponent. Clumsy attempts to counterattack on my part can result in a fatal blow, so I have no choice but to stay still and crouch as much as possible.’

It seemed that something inside Courant was about to snap as he started to swing his fists and feet like a madman, while shouting from the top of his lungs. Reason clearly faded away from the boy who also just shook off the last bit of guilt he felt. In the meantime, Ed was barely holding out, but when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, the movement abruptly stopped. To get the most out of this opportunity, Ed needed to crawl somewhere quickly, but his body didn’t cooperate.

For a moment, only Courant’s heavy breathing could be heard in the quiet cabin. The sound, fluctuating through Ed’s flickering consciousness, rendered him dizzy.

“You tenacious… cut off each of your fingers…”

As if that comment struck him like lightning, Ed jolted awake and instinctively clenched his fists. He became extremely aware of his fingers that were rolled into balls. All his remaining strength was extracted from his droopy body and concentrated into his two hands. Nonetheless, he was afraid. He feared the loss more than the pain. The fact that he would lose one or more fingers was much more terrifying than any harsh beating. His closed eyes opened desperately, and his field of vision filled with the tightly closed door. He wanted to crawl further under the bed, but his knees were unable to move. The knot tied by Alain, a seasoned sailor, didn’t loosen, not even for a moment. So the only option Ed had left was to relentlessly twist his shoulders. Finally, when he pushed his shoulder away with difficulty, his body moved like a crunching bug.

Courant gripped one of his fists and persistently tried to open his fingers. Ed’s heart began to beat so fast that it felt like it was about to pop out of his chest. After dragging him from under the bed, Courant held Ed down by pressing his knee in the Navy’s shoulder. The cramp that followed caused Ed to unravel his fingers slightly, but it wasn’t enough to completely lessen the death grip he held. But then a cold blade suddenly touched his skin. Ed squeezed his eyes shut and moved his lips, which were heavily crushed into the floor.

“Really… I’m not…”

“Fuck it! I’m going to do the same as what you guys do during interrogations. I’m going to cut off your fingers, one by one! I’m going to cut them!”

“There’s… no fleet…”

“Don’t fuck with me! Uh, confess now! Or this… this!”

It was then that Courant managed to fumble his way into Ed’s fist and pried it open. Even though Ed hadn’t let go of his resistance, his fingers were helplessly spread out.

“Lilo… Liloa…”

“..?”

The name he called with difficulty scattered between the floor and his lips.

In the next moment, some of his fingers were bent backwards far enough to break them.

‘This is my last chance…’

Ed flipped his body by retracting his knees and suddenly gave them strength. Courant ended up falling backwards and landed on the floor. After the short scuffle, gasping breaths, cries and sniffles were the only sounds heard for a while.

But then, Ed started to scream like a madman.

“Liloa!”

“Shut up!”

“Liloa! Lil…”

Courant came to his senses and rushed at him. Ed’s upper body, which he had been struggling to get up, fell back again. Through his swollen eyes, he could see the doorstop in Courant’s hand.

“Shut up! A bastard like you…”

“..!”

The thought that he might actually die struck him. Ironically, it felt like this wasn;t the right time nor place for his life to end. Nonetheless, fear rushed in and gnawed at his entire body. Courant took hold of Ed’s hair and lifted his head. The boy’s face, which was consumed by anger and revenge, flashed before Ed’s eyes.

“A man like you deserves to die!”

“…”

Courant extended his arm. Ed’s green eyes which had fallen helplessly to the side came to a halt at the door.

– Smash! –

A bone-throbbing roar vibrated through Ed’s head…