CH 141

Sagastar nervously chewed the cigarette that hung from his lips.

“Captain, what the hell is this?”

Captain Long, who was right in front of the Commodore, grunted and groaned. Although the captain had already expressed his ignorance multiple times, Sagastar still seemed to be waiting for an answer. The prolonging silence between them eventually swayed the restless and stuttering Captain to come up with an answer.

“Ugh… Umm… That’s… the Mandus’ Officer’s code… Upon decryption, it looks like coordinates.”

“Did I ask you to do that?”

“No…”

“Then why?”

“Uhh, well… Because the pigeon…”

Sagastar glared at the captain as if he were the most pathetic human being in the world, causing him to shrink unconsciously. 

‘At times like this, it’s best not to come over too strongly or whine for that matter. I’ll be apprehended the moment I say something useless, even if I’m correct…’

“That’s right. The answer I’m looking for is how the hell did Sir Edgar’s pigeon return with a message written in Mandus’ code.”

“But how can I…”

“How! I’m asking you how?!”

“How can I…”

“Huh? The handwriting is different too! What the hell! Who’s the bastard that dares to imitate the Admiral? Is he trying to blackmail us?!”

After chewing on his cigarette for what felt like an eternity, Sagastar eventually lit it. With the progress of their current conversation, the captain was also in desperate need of a cigarette, so he couldn’t help but salivate a little as he knew he hadn’t the privilege to act on it. When the fragrant smoke entered his nostrils, he twitched his nose and lowered his eyes to the coordinates carried by the pigeon. Next to it lay several maps of their operation. His unfocused gaze wandered around the Hangyang Islands. But a moment later, his expression changed dramatically.

“…Huh?..”

The captain pushed some other maps aside while producing the sound that Sagastar hated the most.

“…”

“Huh? This, this…”

“So noisy!”

“Commodore!”

“First, give me another.”

“Oh, no problem… But, Commodore, this appears to be very close to our fleet…”

With his gaze remaining fixed on the Hangyang Islands, the captain rummaged through his pockets for a pack of cigarettes. He tilted his head for a moment, then took out his now empty hand and began measuring the distance. Sagastar, who was smoking another cigarette and staring out the window, rolled his eyes at him.

“Captain Long! Right now! What do you think you’re doing with that corrupted message?!”

“Commodore. It’s the ocean.”

“What!?”

“It’s in the middle of the ocean. Of course, I know that we shouldn’t believe anything that comes from an unidentified sender, but…”

“One more time and I’ll…!”

“…It’s a letter from the man who stole the Admiral’s pigeon…”

“I said one more time…!”

“…At this point, it’s clear that something has happened to the Admiral. Besides, it’s an unprecedented catastrophe to have our communication system intercepted…”

“You’re still going on about it?!”

Startled by Sagastar’s uproar, the captain scratched the back of his head. He furrowed his brows with a confused expression, deciding to still express his doubt.

“But it was sent in the Mandus’ officer code… What if he knows something…”

“…”

“He would only send a message in Mandus if he knew we could decipher it. He probably knew the Commodore would be the recipient and that we wouldn’t take it seriously if it was just a regular letter. Whoever he is, this… impostor, has now revealed a part of his identity to some extent. In addition, I think he knows about your personality – the fact that you can be meticulously suspicious about everything – and used it to his advantage. That can be why he sent a message he wrote himself. If he was a pirate who tried to order the Admiral to use Nicola’s tears but failed, don’t you think he would’ve tried to clumsily imitate Sir Edgar? Instead, he wrote it in the officer’s code. Why do you think that is?

“So, you’re saying the sender knows me? If so, why didn’t he reveal his name and affiliation?”

“Well, there can be several reasons why he didn’t. Maybe he’s the one who abducted the Admiral or maybe he’s a former officer who couldn’t risk getting caught. If so, is the sender merely a witness?”

“If that were the case, I think he would have revealed himself.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t have one or two skeletons in their closet? Maybe he was afraid of getting those revealed?”

“…”

“What do you think?”

With his mouth tightly shut, Sagastar approached the captain with a cigarette between his fingers and looked down at Hangyang Islands.

“So, according to the message… the entry point… is in the middle of the open sea…”

“Yes. Based on our charts, there aren’t any inhabited islands nearby… But, since it’s the South, there must be some smaller deserted islands in the vicinity… However, that’s only my guess. If the Commodore’s words are correct, and the coordinates represent the location where the Admiral went overboard, he must be drifting or floating somewhere… I think we need to hurry.”

“…”

The captain bent down again and made some new calculations. Sagastar, on the other hand, kept himself busy with his cigarette in order to stop the ominous thoughts from coming.

“Assuming that the pigeon flew from there to our location today… given the distance and the wind… it was close to midnight yesterday… by now, twelve hours have already passed…”

“Damn it, are you crazy? Are you suggesting we move the fleet because of some unidentified bastard?”

“Then give me a sloop and I will go by myself instead. Even if it’s a trap or trickery, when we run into them, we can either catch them or get rid of them. It will be fine either way.”

“This is insane. Long… No, Julbert. Aren’t you aware that you’re basing your whole theory on circumstantial evidence and your own imagination?”

“I’m indeed aware of that.”

Sagastar stroked his chin and stared down on him.

“…Aren’t you just trying to run away from the Visha?”

“Commodore, that’s too much!”

When Sagastar shot him with silence, the captain, who knew exactly what that stare meant, closed his mouth. The Commodore pulled the map of the Hangyang islands in front of him, but suddenly looked the captain in the eyes again.

“Wait… Did you say midnight?”

“Yes.”

“It’s night. You didn’t mean night near dawn, but just… midnight?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re getting off a ship, why the hell would you choose that time to escape?”

“…”

Silence befell them. Midnight in the deep dark sea. There was no idiot in the navy who didn’t know what kind of hellhole the sea was at night. At that moment, the authenticity of the correspondence became irrelevant. 

Upon comprehending the possibility that Ed could’ve jumped into the sea at night, the two immediately displayed distorted facial expressions and soon they spat out the same curses. 

Sagastar started shouting as Captain Long grabbed the table bell.

“Damn it, raise the signal!”

The bell in the captain’s hand rang loudly, causing a young aspirant to jump in with a surprised expression. Before the captain could even open his mouth, Sagastar already yelled his orders.

“Move the sloops! Make a full course change!”

“..?”

“Damn it, what are you waiting for? Get out of here!”

The rash remarks made the young cadet tremble, however, the boy didn’t turn around and countered with a rather reasonable question.

“Um… To which direction should we turn?”

When Sagastar glared at the captain as if he was going to kill him, Captain Long quickly snatched the map from the big pile of files on the table, tearing it in the process. He then nervously read the direction while holding the half-ripped pieces of paper together.

“Northeast… Northeast, Commodore!”

“Northeast! Go and change our course!”