North x Northwest
Chapter 24

The red jewel around Lil’s neck belongs to Duke Mireille. She had no idea what kind of powers the necklace possessed at first. It was purely coincidental that she discovered that it gave her the ability to change gender. As she was planning to sell it, she tried it on once. While wearing it, Cesar was unable to recognize her. Lil had no idea what was going on and assumed that Cesar was just making an awkward joke till Cesar drew his sword, suspicious about the man claiming to be Liloa. When the jewel fell from her body, Cesar instantly became pale and threw his sword to the ground.

Following that, Lil and Cesar speculated that the jewel could be an ancient relic. It is said that in ancient times when gods and humans coexisted, a transcendental power known as magic existed. It was hard to imagine but not impossible, as a child, Lil had read about all kinds of myths and fairy tales.

The gods’ wrath destroyed the ancient kingdom. However, magnificent historical records such as murals and relics survived. As a result, people in the present age have knowledge about those myths. There were also tales about some rare artefacts possessing strange abilities. Most people have never seen magic, making it difficult to believe in that ‘power,’ and they also had no interest in such fantasies. Consequently, a regular person couldn’t identify the necklace.

‘For now, let’s assume the worst. What if I’m indeed so damn unlucky. What if Ed is one of those ‘believers’ and he somehow saw Lil Schweiz coming out of a door where Lil the prostitute had entered? They wore different clothes, but did they look similar? Could he think, “Oh, that woman must be in possession of a magic artefact, that’s probably why her gender changed.”? In the 2,000-year history of the present world, there is no one known to be capable of performing magic.’

Lil concluded that Ed is shrewd, meaning that Ed has no reason to believe that the prostitute he met, and Lil Schweiz, were the same person.

Next is ‘Liloa’.

‘The current Lil is a person who has absolutely no connections with Liloa. While the prostitute Lil and Liloa may look alike, wearing heavy makeup can change a person’s face. But still, even if Ed found out that the prostitute and Liloa were the same person, there’s no reason to associate Liloa with Lil Schweiz. Unless Cesar leaked the necklace’s ability, which is unlikely.

Ed wouldn’t think of me as Liloa.

And what about Cesar? The Lemoine family could have asked him to track down Cesar, but didn’t they already reach an agreement with Cesar on the issue of succession? There are other miscellaneous possibilities, but most of them are unthreatening. The only possible explanation left is that Ed is a spy for the Navy.’

‘Fleet spy?’ Lil shook her head.

‘There was, of course, a significant possibility of him being a spy. But that man was, far from embarrassed that he was from the navy, rather dignified as if he had prepared all excuses in advance.‘

Lil recognized the look in his eyes that said she’d never replace a loophole.

‘On a different note, he managed himself quite well in a sword battle against the skilled Cesar. And that for a mere doctor. So, is he really just a doctor? Or a spy disguised as a doctor?’

Even if he was truly a spy, she didn’t get it. If Lil were the admiral, she wouldn’t have assigned a spy who stood out like that.

‘Still, let’s go with that for now. As a spy, he boarded the Bell Rock and was tasked with leaking information… but the timing is a bit odd.’

When Lil infiltrated the count’s mansion, Ed remained calm as he waited for her. Only asking why she was interested in the navy’s power.

‘If all of this is true, wouldn’t that be an absurd coincidence? And at the same time making me the luckiest woman on earth, seeing that I already know the identity of the spy assigned to the Bell Rock? What are the odds that two strangers on a boat had already met each other?

If I want to check this theory, it’s necessary to know whether or not there are spies aboard other ships from the League. It’s crazy, no matter how much a genius the Admiral is, to dispatch only one spy and thereby track only one pirate ship. Calling the Admiral a lunatic means that he’s capable of covering his tracks, not that he is a moron. In this case, the other ships must have at least one spy.’

Following this speculation, all Lil had to do was monitor Ed and tell the League’s captains to watch out and search for moles.

Lil let out a sigh of resignation.

‘Ed can’t know that the Captain before him and the prostitute he met are the same person. So, this is a fear only I have. Yes, they happened to meet three times by sheer chance. The only plausible explanation is that Ed is indeed a spy.’

“How did you know about the Bell Rock?”

“Doctor Pons is someone I know from Varese Street. I assisted him for a few days while I looked around Amiaeng for a place to stay. On one of those days, I noticed your crew. It appeared to be a good pirate ship. Distribution and profits were quite reasonable, and I predicted that my survival rate would be much higher if it was the ship of the famous Lil Schweiz.”

“You’re wearing a sword. Why does a doctor feel the need to learn sword fighting?”

“I have learned it since I was young.”

“Are you from a noble family?”

“Hm, Captain, isn’t that too much?”

Lil nodded. It was indeed too much to ask further. There was no reason for her to ask about his childhood.

‘He’s obviously from a noble family, and he’s probably got some sad sob story. Plenty of noble families went bankrupt ever since capital started flowing towards the centre of the empire. It shouldn’t be too surprising anymore, seeing as it has been more than a hundred years since the kingdoms were combined into an empire.’

“…Apologies…” Lil muttered tiredly.

“Well, I’ll take you in, but only because I pity you for having to see the Count’s junk.”

“And because the Black Whale is merciful?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“But how did you know I was from the Navy?”

“It was just a hunch.”

“As expected, not everyone can be a pirate Captain.”

Lil gave him a look of disapproval.

Whether her expression was sour or not, Ed kept his innocent smile and reached out his hand for her to shake. Instead of accepting it, she completely ignored him and bumped against his shoulder as she made her way toward the bow.

While smiling Ed raised his head and moved his gaze over the rest of the deck. The clearly satisfied green eyes came to a halt, aiming at the stern. His smile brightened as he looked at Cesar, who was standing next to the steering wheel. It was a creepy smile that flashed through the darkness. Uncomfortable, Cesar felt goosebumps rising on the nape of his neck. At the same time, Ed’s smile faded.

Neither Cesar nor Ed looked away.

Cesar grounded his teeth.

‘That’s right. This is what the Admiral does best. He may appear childish at times, but his power is vicious.’

Cesar was well aware of the rumours about Ed. Even if there were none, he was able to tell what Ed’s personality is like. This is due to the impression he had from their meeting in Lebrun, still vivid years later.

‘Did he mature? Nonsense. The concept of maturity is inappropriate for him. Edgar simply lacks maturity. Of course, he could give his respect to people in certain circles. But it’s obvious Lil isn’t part of any of those circles.’

Also, Cesar had seen that look in Ed’s eyes before. On that particular day in Amiaeng.

It was a face half covered by the sunset.

{ “I will kill her.”}

Lil’s disguise was discovered sooner than expected. The fact that Ed entered the storehouse that day, wasn’t a coincidence. Certainly, Ed came there knowing that the Black Whale, Lil Schweiz, was Liloa. Cesar was surprised to see that the man who was clueless just a few days ago, was now standing in front of him. At that moment, he froze, completely stunned.

In the twilight of the setting sun, Ed declared that he would kill Lil if Cesar doesn’t bring him on board the Bell Rock.

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