North x Northwest
Chapter 45

Ed, who still had Lil pressed against the wall, raised his ears. His five senses, which were tenser than ever, searched for signs outside the cabin. He judged that Lil’s scream was high-pitched enough that someone might have heard it somewhere on the deck.

Sure enough, he felt the presence of someone coming down to the cabin. Ed looked at Lil, warning her not to move.

‘Oops.’

Ed thought he had only closed her mouth, but Lil’s face was almost completely covered by his hand except for her eyes. So he met with her cold glares.

In the absence of light, her eye colour looked almost grey.

It seemed that she had something to say and it didn’t feel like it would be a complaint. Ed, still gasping for breath, wanted to ask with his eyes, but it didn’t look like she could answer. Bewildered, Ed noticed that her expression was that of someone distorted in pain. He then realised that his other hand was tightly gripping her shoulder, squeezing the place he had bitten earlier. A soft moan was audible through his fingers that covered both corners of her mouth. It struck his nerves strangely. After recalling the time when he bit Lil, he put his lips near her ear with a sinister smile, whispering while desperately trying to ignore the breathing against his palm.

“Captain.”

“…”

“You keep saying I’m the one who fancies lads, but you’re the one who got all handsy during that fight. Oh, and you nearly killed me… twice. So can we call a truce now?”

Ed gently massaged the affected area of Lil’s neck as she was trying to get out of his arms. He could feel her body sagging little by little as she struggled and resisted, so he thought he should let her go soon. As he was, he exerted more force. Suddenly, her lips brushed against the palm of his other hand and the groaning through the gaps possessed him. Ed was so distracted by Lil that he didn’t even notice that the crowd outside was gone.

As soon as Lil was sure the footsteps had disappeared in the distance, she stomped on Ed’s foot, pushed him away and swallowed the rest of her groans.

“Fine.”

Lil, who unintentionally alerted their enemies from the outside, realised that Ed is her only ally. Besides, she felt embarrassed to even think about the sounds she made earlier, so she concluded it would be good to reach an agreement with Ed at this point. Lil tacitly suggested to forget what had happened and fortunately Ed agreed with her.

“Good idea.”

Somehow, it seemed that there was a hint of regret in his voice.

‘Damn it.’

Lil turned her back to hide her flushed face. The nape of Lil’s neck has always been a terribly sensitive area, it was comparable to people who jumped when they got poked in their sides. Her scream earlier was due to the strange sensation mixed with pain.

‘This damn body!’

Lil shook her head violently, trying to erase her memories quickly. She shouldn’t show him a single grain of agitation. Eventually, she turned around again and slumped her tense shoulders.

“I’ll review our escape plan.”

‘Thinking about what that guy might think of me makes my stomach ache terribly.’

Her eyes were teary and her wounds were still throbbing, but she didn’t even dare to touch either of them thinking she might be reminded of their incident from awhile ago. She’d rather put it all behind her, so Lil only rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh.

“Captain, your old plan might still work. You know, to wait until the ship docks in the Majel Islands? Or should we steal a lifeboat and head there on our own?”

‘He’s right, but I gotta replace a way to get my necklace back first.’

“Scratch that. New plan.”

“What? Why?”

“This ship is heading for the ocean. Judging from their docking situation, it doesn’t seem like they will head toward the Majels. We will need supplies to get off the boot, plus you’ll need to retrieve your sword.”

“What?”

“You said it’s special to you, not just any ordinary sword.”

“Well, that’s true, but..”

“Are you complaining?”

‘What are you so wary of, just say you’re going to look for your necklace…’

Ed, who smiled sweetly, replied light-heartedly.

“No.”

After a moment, Lil stuck her head through the crack of the door, Ed did the same. Surprised, Lil cried out when his chin rested on her crown.

“Get off!”

“…”

Ed didn’t even budge. Lil raised her eyes to show him her own glaring stares. But no matter how much she tried to turn her chin toward him, all she could see were his nostrils.

“H… Hey!”

She shook her head violently, but that too was useless. Instead, with one hand holding onto the door, her other hand moved through the air, snatching Ed’s hair.

“Hey!”

Ed’s head fell off upon feeling his hair pulled out while Lil finally freed herself and turned around to face him, closing the cabin door.

“Do you want to die?”

“Oh, it hurts! Why is the Captain of a noble pirate ship without any whipping or torture so violent towards me?”

“Punishment for what you’ve done doesn’t even exist in the Bell Rock’s code, so I’ll deal with it at my own discretion.”

Ed looked at Lil like a beaten and grumpy child. Nevertheless, Lil gestured her chin to the white cloth that was lying on the floor. It was one of the things she brought with her earlier, along with the water bottle. She then ordered Ed to cover his navy-tattooed arm by putting on some clothes.

“…”

“I’m telling you to pick up the shirt and wear it. Why are you disobeying your Captain?”

“…”

“Wear the shirt even if it’s dirty.”

“It’s not silk.”

“What?”

“I can’t wear it unless it’s silk.”

“…”

“I can see that the Captain’s wearing silk, though.”

‘Why is he behaving like that?’

Lil wobbled aside to avoid Ed, who looked very envious of her shirt. And even if it wasn’t the case, she didn’t have her necklace, so she tried avoiding such glaring gazes anyway.

“Then, if you don’t want to wear the shirt, what about that tattoo? What are you going to do about it?”

“You have a point.”

It would be a bit suspicious if he sneaked around with a bare upper body and his left arm wrapped in cloth. He had no choice but to refrain from standing out for now. Ed reluctantly turned around and picked up the shirt. Meanwhile, Lil’s eyes inadvertently fixed themselves on Ed’s back and soon widened. Lil watched a back full of scars caused by gunshot wounds, burns, and cuts.

‘He said he was a medical doctor, but just by looking at his back, he looks more like an admiral who has gone through anything and everything immediately after birth.’

“You’re a doctor, so why do you have so many scars on your body?”

“Life wasn’t easy.”

‘What kind of ‘not easy’ life was it to have a body like that? Cesar had been in the fleet since he was eleven, but his back doesn’t even come close to this. This guy even has iron marks on his shoulders, which are clearly traces of torture.’

Even if she didn’t ask, it was certain that he had a lot of stories to tell, so Lil became curious. No one in Lil’s position would be able to help it.

“I was a surgeon positioned on the upper deck.”

Contrary to his explanation, there normally were no surgeons on the upper deck. It was common for ship doctors to perform surgery while waiting for patients in the operating room on the lowest deck. Still, Ed didn’t think he lied when he claimed to be a surgeon on the upper deck. He was always on the upper deck, and occasionally served as a doctor. Ed replied, after recalling some of the lives he had saved dealing with hand-to-hand combat.

“I gave first aid.”

“What?”

“I mean, the high-ranking officers were on the upper deck, so they commanded to have a doctor on the upper deck where they fought hand-to-hand as well. And you know, when the shelling breaks a limb or if the hull shards injure a body, dragging a patient all the way to the operating room could cause a fatal wound. Anyway, I mainly did first aid on the upper deck itself to prevent such a disaster.”

Ed finally put his arms through the sleeves, wearing it like a robe. In the meantime Lil regretted asking the question. After hearing that he saved a person’s life, she felt guilty about what she would do to him in the future. Lil felt it was a shame he was being used as a temporary spy for the navy, as she thought he could save a lot more people with those hands. In fact, many of the Bell Rock’s crew also owe Ed their lives. Lil tried to change the subject.

“It’s been quiet so far, the person who came here before must have come to do something else.”

“I agree.”

“Would the western pirates split the crew in two and rotate them in two shifts of four hours each?”

“Probably so. It would be better for us to start our escape from night to dawn.”

Lil nodded. It would be more convenient for them to use the escape boat at night when it was dark.

‘However, at night, the horizon is not visible, the constellations are useless, and the time is not suitable for sailing on a boat. In fact, killing this ship’s Captain and taking over the ship is the answer that transcends all of these, but there would be no legitimacy for the Captain’s position as Ed is from the navy…’

Lil glanced at him, who started to murmur after the sound of the anchor being raised was heard in the distance.

“…Looks like they’ve given up on the search…”

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