North x Northwest
Chapter 172

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Julio glanced to his right. Because he could no longer see their enemy’s mast, Julio gnashed his teeth and grabbed the wheel again. In the meantime, he had cast Cesar to the left, leaving him to the rest of his men.

As time passed, the shape of the battleship appeared and disappeared twice more while constantly hiding its eternal presence. Lil was still on her knees, anxiously waiting for it to reappear, not knowing what kind of route their enemy was taking.

The feeling of missing an important detail tightened her heart, so Lil calmly reviewed the situation.

‘I’m sure the fleet saw the Bell Rock too. Still, it doesn’t make sense for them to keep the same distance as their last position. They’re obviously hiding.’

Lil felt strongly that they were trying to close the gap.

‘But how? At some point, the thick wooden poles, like their masts, should be seen even with the naked eye. No matter how strong the sea fog is, if they can see us from their side, we should be able to see them too…’

Lil had been immersed in her thoughts for a while now and belatedly realised that the muzzle that had been pressed against the back of her head had disappeared long ago. When she looked up, she witnessed that even Julio’s men were terrified, paying close attention to the movements on the sea.

Slowly getting up, Lil watched her surroundings.

A white hand rubbed across her elevated field of vision.

The mist was getting thicker and thicker.

…And then, it faded…

***

The Visha could move silently, without a single rattle, because the sailors only exchanged hand signals while pulling the rigging and rolling up the sails.

The shadow of a ship could be seen not far away and for an extended period of time, the Visha had been slowly approaching its target.

Ed turned the wheel slightly to the left and then kept it as it is. The impatience made his fingertips tingle, a feeling he highly enjoyed.

The Bell Rock’s shadow slowly faded away again. It became visible in areas where the sea fog was light, then faded again in thicker areas. Ed took a pocket watch out of his uniform and pressed it.

‘It has been two hours since Clida last appeared… But I already know where the Bell Rock will turn. So, there’s no need to rush…’

***

Lil’s field of vision was completely blocked by white mist.

It was quiet on deck.

She listened attentively. She was certain. There was definitely another sound that blended with the crashing of the waves and the screeching of the Bell Rock’s masts. A bird’s cry was heard in the distance, but that wasn’t the source of the persisting sound.

Lil focused desperately.

– Clap, shoot… –

Shallow waves whined at the hull.

Still, nobody dared to move.

As the mist ran over her cheeks, the tightly clumped white mass flowed coolly…

***

Ed carefully relaxed his hand and gently fixed the wheel according to the all too familiar movement. Even though the Visha was considered a medium-sized battleship, it was still much bigger than the Bell Rock. Knowing that, the image of his feet casting a shadow over the Bell Rock entertained his mind.

Ed put his left arm across the wheel and looked down at the opponent’s deck approaching at their starboard side…

***

The haze of sea mist obscured everyone’s vision, while the tension of the sailors on board tightened to the point it could burst at any moment now.

Lil lifted her arm and swung it in front of her, trying to focus her vision in the midst of the hazy sight. She knew it was a futile attempt, but her rising anxiety would reach an unbearable height if she didn’t try to do anything about it.

The ripples went on as the Bell Rock creaked…

…Rattled…

…Screeched…

‘There’s definitely something in between the fog. Light, quite colourful, and somehow familiar… Some wind… Huh, the sound of wind?’

As soon as she realised it, the wind blew. Starting from the bow, it swept the sea mist away as if cleaning whatever has been stagnant. Immediately after, the view that was revealed by the wind grew darker and darker. However, such darkness wasn’t coming from the sea’s dark blue colour. It was an artificial colour close to jet black.

A shadow fell over their heads. The source of the shadow was a deck that was much higher than the Bell Rock’s. It was so high that it looked like it was topped by one full floor.

Lil slowly raised her head and witnessed how the shadow of a huge hull leaned toward the Bell Rock, thereby engulfing her face. One of the ship’s jet-black gun barrels pointed directly at her, causing her frozen gaze to stutter along the opponent ship’s hull.

Above the uniformly protruding gun barrels, a noble golden band crossed its streamlined body. The engraving of the ship’s name in elegant handwriting on that golden background exhibited the fine taste of its designer.

“Vi…”

When the remaining fog was pushed away, the name of the ship was revealed. The crystal clear nameplate flashed before her eyes. Her knees began to shake even before she could read it aloud. Lil couldn’t control her quivering lips nor her uncontrollably trembling body.

With a groan, Lil pushed out the words she refused to believe.

[ Visha ]

“…Visha…”

Blood drained from her face when she mumbled the name.

“…Oh… how did they… we couldn’t even see…”

It felt so unrealistic that she wondered if she was looking at a hallucination. Lil wished for the fog to obscure her vision again. But cruelly, the fog was gradually dissipating even further. As her vision grew much clearer, the terrifying reality weighed on her, causing her to roll her immovable eyes to check the ship’s name plate once more.

With it being the same, she was left with no choice but to admit their situation.

“…Admiral Retiro… why is he here…”

The admiral’s flagship was close enough to engage in hand-to-hand battle at any time. That feeling of intimidation made Lil instinctively take a step back.

Then, a scream pierced through the silence.

That single scream triggered dozens of shouts to fill the air. The sound of panic-stricken sailors loading irons invaded Lil’s ears. Finally coming to her senses, Lil grabbed her waist…

But, the captain’s horn was missing…

She had no choice but to shout towards the foredeck.

“Calm down!”

However, Lil was in the middle of the main deck, a place where she wasn’t able to grab anyone’s attention the way she could on the rear deck. Chaos began to spread and a group of shift workers hit her on the shoulder as they rushed forward. Lil stumbled onto the railing and raised her head to the deck behind her. Julio was busily pacing around. However, Cesar couldn’t be seen.

‘He probably took advantage of the gap and escaped.’

Lil closed her eyes tightly to think.

‘Stay focused. Please think… Under the guise of refusing to conduct inspection, the Navy will demand our immediate surrender… If worse comes to worst, I will have to take off my necklace…’

Lil tried hard to suppress the thoughts about the rumours surrounding the admiral. However, all the evil deeds she had heard about cut through her efforts.

‘I can’t let my sailors fall prey to his man-eating fish. Nor let their heads be skinned… Ugh!’

Lil banged her head in an attempt to erase the terrible image from her mind. Needing to prevent her crew from falling into the admiral’s insane inclinations, she even deemed that revealing her identity would be nothing compared to her crew’s demise. In fact, she was prepared to be dragged away like a dog…

Suddenly, the captain’s horn sounded overhead.

“…All units to battle position!…”

Julio planted his foot on the railing and blew the horn again. Lil doubted her ears for a moment but subsequently let out a stunned groan when the floor beneath her shook. Vibrations reverberated through her feet.

– Drruckk… Kung! Drruckk… Kung! –

The guns on her left side pierced through the gun gates one after another.

Lil looked ahead again. On the deck, half of the crew was arranging their positions in perfect order, while the other half was mindlessly wandering around. She slowly backed away and settled in a blind spot just below the railing. From there, it was impossible for Julio to see her. Lil then made eye contact with one of the sailors wandering the deck before shaking her head and quietly pointing down. When the sailor looked toward the entrance of the lower deck, Lil nodded her head.

‘The cabin deck will be the safest place. Even if things escalate to a full-scale battle, at least they can defend themselves down there while waiting for everyone else to surrender…’