CH 143

“…Commodore! You’re not supposed to go near… Please stop… Commodore!…”

“…”

“…You, you still came… Commodore!…”

Finally, Sagastar fell to his knees upon reaching Ed, the cause of his worries. As a result of his actions, the admiral, who was in a lying position, was hit by a wave of sand.

“What the hell happened? Huh? Guiadé!”

“…”

Guiadé, the navy doctor, was questioned mercilessly by a clearly startled voice. Sagastar’s reaction was understandable because at first glance, the body covered in all kinds of wounds such as bruises, abrasions and lacerations, looked terrible. While Guiadé was examining Ed, Sagastar couldn’t grab his collar, so he grabbed the soft sand instead.

“Ugh! Is this our Admiral?… No, what the hell is this?”

“…”

Captain Long arrived a little later and instantly covered his mouth with both hands when he saw the state their admiral was in, thereby dropping Sagastar’s hat which he had picked up along the way.

Unable to contain his rage, Sagastar clenched his fists. In the beginning, he only silently ground his fist into the sand next to the captain’s boots, but that quickly changed into hitting the sand harder and harder. Dozens of times. The soft sand hollowed easily. His broad shoulders shook, and soon enough, thick drops of water dripped from the corner of his eyes. When the officers in the surrounding area heard the babbling voice, they all turned out of curiosity and witnessed Sagastar crying without even thinking about saving face.

“This is so terrible!… Keuheup… Heuk! How did you end up like this… How… what am I supposed to do…”

– Huff! Huff! – 

Sagastar’s roaring noise persisted for some time. Even though only the navy doctor, Sagastar, and Captain Long were near Ed’s body, the wailing could be heard from far away. In response to Sagastar’s open display of sadness, the assembled officers began to sob too. One officer even took out his handkerchief. Gradually, the men lowered their hats and placed them on their chests. The doctor, however, seemed to be the only one embarrassed. He repeatedly missed the timing to speak up and was desperately searching for an opportunity to intervene.

“…He’s… He’s still alive…”

“…Uwaaaaa! Uwaaaa!…”

As more men began to cry out loud, the unfortunate navy doctor’s voice faded into the air. The wailing went on until Ed opened his eyes and tried to stop it. 

“How… noisy…”

Of course, Ed couldn’t silence them all at once.

‘First I need to silence Sagastar who’s crying all over and apparently about to lose his sanity… It appears that only Long is beginning to understand the situation…’

“Sagastar… too… loud.”

Then, the navy doctor, aiming for the gap, shouted with conviction.

“He’s still alive!”

“…?!”

Still shaking his shoulders, Sagastar opened his eyes, raised his head and gasped. With his moist eyes and soaked clothes, he resembled a drowned bear more than he did a commodore. In addition, his reddened complexion which had turned into the same colour as his hair made him look much more fiercer than usual. So, instead of the navy doctor who was startled by that look, Captain Long spoke calmly.

“Commodore, he’s alive and his eyes are even opening.”

“…”

Sagastar shifted his gaze to the side. The tears that had collected in the corners of his eyes continued to fall.

“Also, just now, he asked us to be quiet.”

Sagastar stopped crying upon meeting Ed’s eyes.

“How… How did you end up like this? Sir Edgar!”

The commodore burst into tears once again, but this time he shoved his fist into his mouth, making sure there was no more wailing. 

Ed closed his eyes in satisfaction… 

***

‘It seems like I slept for a long time as there’s no more hell or pain, only my peaceful unconsciousness…’

As time passed, his body felt lighter and his mind became clearer. Those were the signs that Ed’s deep sleep was gradually fading. Then a brightened consciousness flashed into his head as if he was rising above the surface of the water. Ed opened his eyes. His vision was much wider than before he closed his eyes again. 

‘My swollen eyelids have sunk quite a bit.’

He blinked and rolled his eyes, enjoying the sensation of moving his thinner eyelids over and over.

‘I’m also able to move my head.’

Ed looked around while still lying down. The white tent was lit in reddish light as if it was hit by a sunset. A vial containing some fluid was hung high and connected to a needle inserted into his hand. Judging by the slight pressure on his left hand, it seemed that the treatment was over. When he looked up, he took notice of the bandage tightly wrapped around his head.

Ed checked his condition further by exploring each of his senses in turn.

‘I assume that the navy doctor has called all the other doctors and had them all work together on my treatment… but it’s necessary to confirm it for myself.’

He slowly closed and opened his eyes after carefully completing the procedure.

‘Damn. I can’t help but laugh. Sagastar, that idiot. I knew he wouldn’t listen and rush after me, but I can’t believe I’ve been lucky enough that he actually found me… He must’ve randomly searched all the islands…. Really, where does he get that never ending energy from?’

Ed eventually burst out laughing. Noticing how smoothly his throat produced the laughing sound made him feel good. Furthermore, he no longer had a terrible thirst.

“…Admiral, are you awake?…”

“…”

The voice came from outside, probably hearing the laughter. Even though Ed didn’t answer, the tent’s entrance was pushed aside and a high-ranked Visha’s officer popped his face in. After checking the bed, the man relayed a message to someone behind him. It must’ve been an aspirant who delivered the news to Sagastar. Soon enough, the captain muttered his excuse and entered the tent.

“Sir Guiadé said you were expected to remain asleep for three to four days…”

“…How long?”

“A little over two days.”

“Call him.”

“Sir Viktor?”

“..?”

“Ah, Sir Guiadé. Yes. I see.”

“…”

Guiadé arrived a little later and expressed great concern for Ed’s brain. So did Ed. He was most afraid about the possibility that his brain might’ve rotted away due to the long period of poor blood circulation. Unfortunately, even if a part of it died, he would never know. For now, only time would tell and they had to keep an eye on the progress, including possible infections. Ed pondered Guiadé’s diagnosis before calling the captain who was waiting outside.

“Yes, Admiral.”

“Clothes.”

“Yes, I knew you’d ask for them, so I already went through your closet. Well, I brought a variety of thick gowns; which one would you like?”

Ed was helped up by the captain. After only raising his upper body, Ed was already out of breath. With an arrogant expression, he tried to muffle his groan.

“My… medicine box…”

“Oh, I brought that too. I broke out in sweat while trying not to damage it.”

The captain ran quickly and opened the lid of the medicine box. Despite not knowing where the captain suddenly got it from, Ed spoke without even looking at the box being held before him.

“1, 7, 5.”

“Haha, are they coded too? Let’s see…”

“…”

It was only then that Ed remembered that Captain Long was talkative. He normally paid it no mind, but now it made him feel bad as he had to hear the captain laugh while he was the one suffering alone.

“Here it is.”

Ed irritatingly snatched the bottle the captain was holding out. The captain, delighted with the fact that he was helping the admiral, smiled and lifted several gowns. This time too, Ed spoke without looking at him.

“The thickest one.”

Even while putting on the gown, the captain continued to run his mouth.

“You must be feeling a lot lighter now.”

“…”

“We had a lot of trouble getting the salt out. Normally, only the medical trainees are allowed to help with that, but you had so many wounds that our officers assisted them.”

“…”

“Wow, just how did you handle it all?”

“…”

“Seeing how the grains of sand were deeply embedded in your wounds, I had to show off some craftsmanship myself.”

“…”

‘That must’ve happened immediately after reaching the island when I rolled around the sand in order to raise my body temperature. My body was exhausted from swimming to the island, but I could still clearly hear the wind-shaking palm trees and leaves, as well as the flock of birds that soared and howled. I reasoned that if birds could live here, there had to be fresh water, but I couldn’t move my body any longer… I was the only thing that was withering away in that scene filled with the vividness of life. Even though I stepped on such clear land, I was still dying. I shivered from the cold despite laying on the warm sand, I starved despite having deliciously ripe fruit just out of reach and I suffered from thirst despite knowing there was fresh spring water somewhere…’

Ed clenched his jaw as he remembered the agony of that time. The grains of sand that had been pushed into his open wounds, scraped his unhealed flesh. They eventually became so hot that it felt like he was burning in the sun. At times, the pain was intense enough that even the barely hanging on Ed would wake up from his unconscious state.

“I threatened Sir Guiadé that I wouldn’t leave him alone if you got tetanus; every single grain should be removed; of course, I helped out, so I told him…”

“You’re too noisy…”