Chapter 12
Chapter 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Must Survive...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hah!!"
Mazelan jolted awake, gasping for breath, his eyes flying wide open.
The familiar ceiling of his cabin came into view.
And the familiar scent of the sea.
Feeling a wave of relief at the realization, Mazelan wiped the sweat drenching his forehead.
'A dream…?'
A horrific nightmare that made him want to vomit just thinking about it.
Recalling the scene where his precious comrades were slaughtered by that vile noble, Mazelan shuddered violently.
His throat burned with thirst,
and his entire body still throbbed with pain.
Even so, relieved that the hellish scene had been just a dream, Mazelan slowly tried to sit up.
But…
"Huh?"
In that instant, a heavy pain in his shoulder.
The moment he registered it, Mazelan's face hardened.
"Wha… what… is this…?"
A wound wrapped in bloodstained bandages.
And it wasn't a bruise…
it was a gunshot wound.
Realizing what that meant,
and trembling with the thick unease rising in his heart…
Mazelan tumbled off the bed.
"No… no way… Ugh!"
Pushing through the dizzying vertigo, Mazelan forced himself forward.
He flung open the cabin door and scanned the deck, shouting in a sharp voice.
"Wh… where is everyone? Ev… everyone… where are you? Elkana! Mark! Davin!"
Mazelan called out his comrades' names with labored effort.
But no matter how much he screamed until his throat bled…
no matter how frantically he looked around like a madman…
No voices reached his ears.
No figures appeared.
"No… no way… th… that can't… that's impossible…"
Even as he desperately tried to deny it, the reality grew ever clearer.
In this terrifying silence, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the spot.
"H… how… how could this… i… is this… real? Did those bastards really… our… our Demanes family… all of… them…"
His body began to tremble at the cruel truth he couldn't accept.
The burning thirst grew even more agonizing.
His body, at its limit, could muster no more strength.
Then…
"!"
Something caught his eye as he sat there.
Bloodstains on the deck floor.
They looked fresh, not long spilled. The moment he spotted them, Mazelan followed the trail as if entranced.
He ended up at the stern, by the helm.
And what came into Mazelan's view then was…
"E… Elkana!"
His childhood friend, slumped against the broken rudder.
Staggering, Mazelan barely made his way to her.
"N… no… Elkana! Please… please wake up!"
He shook her roughly, trying desperately to rouse her.
Then.
"Cut it out… I'm gonna puke."
"Ah!"
A familiar voice laced with complaint.
But right now, it brought overwhelming relief and joy. Without thinking, Mazelan pulled her into a tight embrace.
"G… good… you're safe… really… really safe…!"
But…
"…Huh?"
A sudden damp sensation.
A fishy, familiar smell assaulting his nose.
"Wha… what is… this…"
"…Ha… ha…"
She gave an awkward laugh at Mazelan's question.
Only then did Mazelan notice the blood had drained completely from Elkana's face…
and that blood was still flowing from her chest.
"N… no…"
Red blood pouring out in dangerously large amounts.
Even as he tried desperately to staunch it, he failed. Seeing the evidence, Mazelan's relief turned to deeper despair.
"Sorry… things were so… chaotic… I messed up…"
"Wh… what are you saying? Why… why go this far? I told you! Abandon a nobody like me and run! The others too, and now you! Why won't anyone listen to your captain?!"
"Heh… heh… th… that's because… our captain doesn't lead by example… He always charges into danger first… What are the crew supposed to learn from that?"
"Ugh… st… stay still for a sec!"
Elkana smiled faintly on her pale face.
Mazelan frantically searched the surroundings for any way to treat her.
But all he saw was the endless ocean.
The stores in the hold were nearly depleted too.
They'd fled immediately after the expedition, leaving scarcely any food, let alone medicine.
In the end, after rummaging through the ship with great effort, Mazelan returned empty-handed.
Shadows darkened his face.
Seeing it, Elkana chuckled as if she'd expected as much.
"Heh… what now? Nothing left… Well… chin up, it's not all bad luck… A storm hit right as we set off… So we don't even know where we are now."
"You… joking even now…"
"Hee hee… sorry…"
Elkana, teasing Mazelan even as her life hung by a thread.
Seeing her with no trace of regret…
Mazelan's heart filled with thick remorse instead.
"I… I was the idiot… I never should've… taken that shitty job… never trusted that noble…"
"Don't… blame yourself. We were idiots too… for not stopping you…"
Elkana comforting him even now.
But before his comrade, dying to save him without a single complaint, Mazelan could do nothing.
A pitch-black situation with no light.
Despairing at this reality…
Mazelan, wanting to do something—anything—draped his jacket over her cooling body.
"…Smells… Got anything clean?"
"Uh… no… this is all I have right now…"
"Tch… You buy whores sparkling dresses with jewels… and for my last moments, this? Honestly… worst childhood friend ever."
"…Sorry…"
"…Ah… um… w… was that too much? Th… thanks… I'm not really mad…"
"N… next time… next time, I'll get you one for sure… so… so…"
"!?"
Mazelan grabbed Elkana's hand.
Clutching the ice-cold hand tightly, he begged through tears.
"Don't… die… please… please survive… If you… if even you leave me too… I… I…"
"…"
Mazelan pleading in a voice on the verge of breaking.
Seeing her childhood friend's vulnerability for the first time… Elkana could only stay silent for a moment.
She wanted to tell him.
That she wouldn't die…
That she'd stay by his side, as she always had, just as he wanted.
But…
Elkana couldn't bring herself to say it.
She knew better than anyone.
That her life… was nearly over.
That empty promises here would only hurt him more.
"El… Elkana?"
She cautiously reached out, caressing his cheek.
Unlike her own cold hand, his face was still warm.
Thinking he, unlike her, could somehow survive…
Elkana forced a smile and said,
"…Sorry… Mazelan… I…"
-Boom!!
"!!"
A sharp sound whistled past their ears.
And a rough spray of water erupted right in front of them.
Both whipped their heads around.
"Wha… what is that?"
"That's…"
A medium-sized warship entered their view.
Finding another ship in the vast ocean could have been hope.
But the flag on that warship…
brought despair to their hearts.
"That's… Ocle…ang's…"
"How the hell did those bastards get here?"
The duke's men, who had slaughtered his comrades and now tracked them here.
Considering Franz Kingdom's feeble navy, it was hard to believe, but the enemies before them were undeniable reality.
"Damn it!"
"! Ma… Mazel…?!"
Mazelan hurriedly hoisted Elkana onto his back and headed for the lifeboat.
Elkana squeezed out her remaining strength to stop him.
"St… stop… I… I'm already…"
"Shut up! Don't talk about dying now! We live together or die together!"
Elkana fell silent at Mazelan's shout.
He headed straight for the lifeboat below.
A ship without combat or sailing capability was just a big target.
In this situation, using it as bait and rowing away in a small boat was the only way to slightly boost survival odds.
But…
-Boom!!!!
"Urk!"
"…"
A shell landed right before them.
Luckily, they narrowly avoided a direct hit, but it sent Mazelan and Elkana tumbling to the deck.
"E… Elkana!"
"…"
Elkana's body hung limp, showing no movement.
To save her somehow, Mazelan struggled to hoist her up again and head for the lifeboat.
Then…
"Sorry…"
"! E… Elkana! Th… thank god, you're oka…"
"You must… survive… Mazelan…"
"!"
With those words,
Elkana shoved Mazelan away with all her might.
Her body fell onto the collapsing deck.
And…
"N… no…"
-Boom!!!
A shell struck exactly where Elkana lay.
In the sudden blaze and smoke, Mazelan froze in stunned horror.
"…No…"
The moment his last hope extinguished before his eyes.
Mazelan, standing dazed, collapsed as his legs gave out.
Even his sole remaining comrade's death stole away his last will to fight.
He couldn't care about anything anymore.
Not the shells raining down.
Not the bullets whizzing by.
Not the trumpet blasts from somewhere.
The overwhelming despair of reality…
The bitter frustration that his foolish mistake had ended everything stripped away even his sense of danger.
All he could do was hang his head, curse his foolish incompetence, and shed tears…
"What are you spacing out for?"
"…Huh? Eh?"
A sudden voice in his ear.
Not entirely familiar,
but one he could never forget.
Mazelan slowly raised his head.
Then…
"Eep!"
A familiar sensation plunged into his arms.
At the same time, a spark of life returned to his despairing face.
"E… Elkana?"
"Take good care of her. I don't plan on babysitting someone else's property."
With that, the man slowly turned to face the enemy warship.
Clad in golden uniform, radiating immense mana that sent chills even in this peril.
Seeing him, Mazelan mumbled dazedly without thinking.
"Pirate… King… H… how…?"