North x Northwest
Chapter 164

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{ “…By any chance… Do you love me?…” }

Suddenly, the storm hit the Bell Rock on the cheek, causing the hull to heave from left to right. Mother Ocean held the ship in her grasp and shook it wildly. All kinds of bottles poured down, cracked open on top furniture and scattered across the floor. The sculpture, still caught between the cracks in the wood, shook its head madly. While laughing, it pointed its finger at her when the flashes of lighting beamed.

{ “…Your heart knows the truth so well that it shows you everything. So why can’t you say it out loud? Are you afraid that it will all disappear once you open your mouth?..” }

Lil struggled to twist her body. Despite the ropes scuffing on her sore skin, she wanted to get away from the sculpture’s gaze somehow…

{ “…You want me to see you for your true self…” }

…Glass bottles clattered sharply, and the wooden boards squeaked…

{ “…What’s this if not deception?..” }

… The entire world seems to be shaking…

{ “…I’ll ask you one last time, don’t you feel like you’re overlooking something really, really important?..” }

– Kung! –

Ed’s leather bag crashed into the window frame and spewed out its contents. Amidst various medicines and tools pouring out, one object caught Lil’s eye. That one white bead. Somehow, it looked a bit strange like it didn’t belong there, like a child who innocently wandered onto a battlefield.

Lil stared blankly at it.

‘Peloris cor.*’

In her memory, the voice of Bellus, who was holding up the pearl, rang vividly, as well as Ed’s voice and face shining brightly in Bellus’ blue light.

{ “…She’s decorating your hair…” }

Lightning broke her out of her flashback. Startled by the thunder, Lil’s eyes widened before she anxiously looked back at the lingering pearl. All alone in this lightning-striking hell, that innocent little grain appeared lost. She wanted to pick it up, but she couldn’t even stretch her arms, let alone move her feet.

‘I know it all too well…’

When the floor bounced like it was at the verge of breaking and all sorts of things sprang up in front of her, a world-like shock hit Lil.

‘…I won’t be able to replace a little treasure like that ever again… and… I’ll never meet someone like Ed ever again…’

In his eyes, she became a completely different person. Those beautifully sparkling green ores of his not only reflected wonder and respect, but also Liloa… Lil had never faced someone as full of life as him.

“…I’m sorry…”

The frustration and emptiness of losing Ed were suddenly hard to overcome.

“…I’m so sorry…”

‘Again, that deserted road…’

A terrible sense of loneliness grabbed Lil. It bit and tore her entire body apart with its sharp teeth. Like an endless stream of piranhas enjoying their prey all at once. And her audience, who survived the storm that turned the cabin into chaos, booed the fool who killed the only person who understood her.

“…Don’t pretend to be all pitiful. The guy you feel so guilty about is already dead anyway…”

She felt like she was going to be chewed on until there was nothing of her left. In the agony of her body being crushed, Lil let her consciousness die too…

***

Feeling dulled, Lil slowly opened her eyes. As the sun had already risen, it was bright in the cabin. However, the light wasn’t the reason for her to open her eyes. It was the sounds of several voices and footsteps drawing closer. Lil held her breath while wondering if something major might have happened.

The door of the cabin slammed open.

“…Fucking bastards. They are determined to die, I tell you…”

“…I’m just a watchman, I can’t just take over all their tasks at once…”

“…Are you complaining? They didn’t manage to do anything about it anyway…”

“…Well, in the end we did stop sailing, didn’t we? Is it their plan to make us run out of food here?..”

“…Let them try, it doesn’t matter anyway. Since it rained, there’s enough water. So it’s all good for now…”

Lil tried to turn her head, but her vision didn’t go beyond her shoulder. Whimpering, she tried hard to turn her face either left or right, till someone grabbed her chin.

“Captain.”

“Who…”

Lil recognized the face that popped in front of her. Joe, the helmsman, pushed a cup against her jaw that he was still holding. Lil managed to swallow half of the water that was suddenly pouring into her mouth, however the rest of it trickled down her chin. As Lil started to cough, Joe pretended to tap her on the back while whispering.

“…Four sailors died in the storm last night, so the rest of the crew refuses to set sail. It’s becoming a bit of a nuisance now that they’re starting to beat people up… I even saw some getting dragged away… But don’t worry too much. Those who remained on the Bell Rock are much tougher than those who retired, and Julio can’t do anything to Alain anyway…”

“Get off!”

“..!”

A sailor jumped out from the side and kicked Joe.

“I told you to give him water, but it seems you’re feeding him something else instead.”

Joe tried to stand up but hesitated when his opponent’s gun stabbed him in the stomach. Julio’s subordinate laughed and poked Joe again.

‘Seeing the sailor threaten Joe with his gun, gives me a pretty good impression of the situation on deck… apparently fighting with mere fists isn’t enough anymore.’

Lil’s eyes rolled back, writhing unseemly.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

Once more, Lil was reminded of the fact that being tied up was a ridiculous hindrance. So instead, she spat on the sailor’s approaching face, however he retaliated quickly by swinging his gun at Lil. When the gun hit the pit of her stomach, her eyes flashed white, and the water she had just drank came back up again. As Lil bent over, the sailor dragged Joe out.

“…Come on, tie him up…”

Another voice was heard.

Even when she was about to lose her mind, questions kept filling it.

‘…Who are they tying up? …Are they leaving me like this? …What are they going to do with Joe?’

“…I never liked this guy’s pale skin either. It’s like these two imperial bastards got bored on land and tried out their luck on water…”

“…Get your hands off. I walk…”

Lil immediately recognized the answering voice.

“…Those bastards…”

The clear sound of fists hitting someone’s face was heard.

‘Unbelievably. They’re even beating Cesar.’

Lil tightened her grip anxiously. A shard of glass she got during yesterday’s mess sharply stung her palm, nonetheless she had been holding on to it just in case she got a use for it.

‘Getting tied up myself was kinda expected, but I can’t believe Cesar got caught too.’

Lil shouted to stop the fists from beating Cesar up.

“Stop it, you crazy bastards! Do you think a navigator who was treated like this will cooperate with you guys?”

“If not, we’ll just cut off his ears. Just like you did to us.”

“Imbeciles. You can’t make people move like that.”

“You think we can’t? My brother crawled like a dog because he didn’t want his ears to be cut off… With an imperial on his back.”

Cesar was tied to the other side of the pillar to which Lil was tied. When they were done, the sound of spitting was heard. Lil, having a hunch about what just happened, twisted her head to the side.

‘Don’t tell me they just spit Cesar in the face…’

Lil didn’t know what to do and waited for them to disappear from the cabin. As soon as the room became quiet, Lil took out the piece of glass.

‘If I want to do anything, I first have to loosen the ropes on my wrists.’

It was a very slow task compared to how easily her finger was cut, but Lil was determined to do it. Not long after, it suddenly hit her that Cesar remained too quiet. Lil tried to look back at Cesar. Of course, in reality, she only twisted her neck a bit.

“Cesar?”

“…”

“Cesar, it’s you, right?”

Feeling the warmth behind her back, she heard the man sigh. Lil confirmed that the sound of breath was without a doubt Cesar’s. Relieved, Lil scratched the glass blade again and muttered.

“…I’m sorry. Wait a minute. I’ll untie you soon…”

“I was detained for refusing to change my testimony.”

Her fingers stopped abruptly. Cesar’s voice alone already gave an awful lot of information. Lil chewed over the sentence. She felt a combination of remorse, resignation, and resentment even though she didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Because, in the end, it felt like everything had failed…

– – – – –

Footnote:

“Peloris cor.” = “Clam’s heart.” Or in other words; pearl.