CH 155

Volume 5 Chapter 155

Sagastar looked back at Guiadé, the navy surgeon who was standing behind him. Per Ed’s command, Guiadé was solely responsible for monitoring the admiral’s words and actions. This meant he was no longer allowed to interfere with anything else and had to remain silent even if he had something to say. When their eyes met, Guiadé nodded his head agreeably and Sagastar recalled the prior conversation he had with the doctor.

{ “It’s fortunate that the rate of blood loss was slowed down due to the seawater. But his survival can still be called a miracle, especially seeing his severe bleeding… He’ll suffer from terrible anaemia symptoms for the time being… However, it’s rather strange. Under normal circumstances, the Admiral would be very cautious about the state of his body, but this time he keeps straining himself for some reason. He has always taken better care of his health than anyone else because he’s a doctor… hm, so what’s different this time?” }

{ “That damned sword… Ahem! Is it such a big deal? No! Anyway, what are those symptoms of anaemia you mentioned?” }

{ “Typically, complaints of headaches or chest pain…” }

{ “Do you seriously think Sir Edgar is someone who’s going to complain about pain? Tell me symptoms I can recognize.” }

{ “Oh, alright. Well… First of all, he can look very pale in the face. He may feel tired or sleepy, and that can cause him to start talking deliriously. Of course, that won’t come as a big surprise as he’ll have a hard time using his brain. After all, blood is needed for the brain to properly function, right? And there’s a serious shortage of it. Even simply standing up can already be a struggle. If he forces himself to do that, his heart needs to take on that burden… It certainly doesn’t help that his lungs aren’t in great shape either… Of course, the Admiral is more than capable of self-diagnose, but I’m worried he’s acting unprecedentedly reckless. He can receive status updates right from his admiral office, so why does he feel the need to go out there himself? Don’t tell me he’s in such a hurry that he can’t stand the wait of a few seconds for the report to arrive? In any case, losing judgement in a situation where pain is involved is very dangerous. If you suspect him to be suppressing the pain, you must take him to his room immediately.” }

Sagastar swallowed his dried saliva. 

‘Anyone can see that the Admiral is in a fragile state right now, looking unmistakably ill. His sunken eyes look no less of those of a corpse, and the side of his head is drenched with sweat. His hand holding the steering wheel seems to be trying very hard to act as support, barely keeping him from falling… Even his uniform looks too heavy for a recovering patient to be wearing…’

“Sir Edgar.”

Ed ignored Sagastar’s persistent impatience. He also didn’t have the energy to intervene between the exchange of gestures and glances between Sagastar and Guiadé. After reading the report till the end, Ed opened his mouth.

“Tell them to return after checking the shipowner and captain’s descriptions…”

“..?”

Ed suddenly became dizzy and felt a sharp pain in his chest. His heartbeat became extremely irregular. However, instead of grabbing his chest, Ed tightened his grip on the steering wheel and blinked his eyes a few times as his vision blurred. He waited for his focus to return and kept staring at what he assumed was the back of his hand.

“…Tell them to return… after doing that.”

“You mean the Ashtoro?”

Instead of responding, Ed handed the report back to Sagastar in a way as if he were about to drop it. When he received the bundle of papers, Sagastar flicked his fingers and summoned the captain. Captain Long, accompanied by the recording officer, saluted while Ed tried to place his elbow on the steering wheel as naturally as possible. He then rummaged through his arms for the hematopoietic agent… However there was none. For a meticulous guy like Ed it was almost unbelievable to think that he had actually forgotten to take one with him. As he gasped in a panic, his lungs expanded against his chest, intensifying the pain. His breathing became erratic, and those disturbed breaths diverted his attention. In addition and despite his best efforts to fight against it, his eyelids began to droop against his will. Ed ordered quickly, fearing that he would be unable to speak later.

“…Terminate all scouting missions. They won’t be joining our Provisional Squadron, have them return to Marchand immediately…”

Sagastar intervened with raised eyebrows.

“Are you sure, Sir? No then, what are you going to do with your sword?”

“Don’t bother…don’t…”

“..!”

Upon seeing Ed’s unusual complexion, Sagastar shut his mouth. 

Feeling he reached his limit, Ed leaned his forehead on his forearm resting on the steering wheel. Beads of sweat dripped from his damp bangs and fell on the tip of his shoes. Due to his bowing posture, his wheezing breath grew louder in his ears. 

Ed took a deep breath and spoke.

“The Ashtoro… where is it?”

“We just have to stay on course. But, Sir Edgar…”

Sagastar’s voice sounded urgent.

“Then, the Visha, just like now… advance…”

Ed, who could no longer afford to speak any further, pushed himself away from the steering wheel and struggled down the stern. 

As they weren’t allowed to stop him, Sagastar and Guiadé could only follow their admiral with trepidation. In the meantime, it became harder and harder for Ed to hold himself together. In moments like this, he considered it fortunate to be using a cane due to his leg injury. Otherwise, he would probably have already fallen down the stairs. 

After descending the last staircase, Ed made a turn and headed for the admiral’s office. From there on out it felt like the world had turned upside down. At some point, his vision became so distorted that the door to the admiral’s room he was approaching multiplied to three or even four. The excruciating headache made him grab his forehead. The inside of his head appeared to be hammered till it shattered. Nonetheless, Ed extended his arm and pushed the wooden door open. Relieved that he finally made it, he walked over to his desk. It wasn’t until the sound of glass falling to the hardwood floor hit his ear that he realised he was falling himself. The hand that had quickly tried to pick up the vial, missed its target completely and instead swept across the table. As a result, several glass bottles rolled on the floor with a loud noise. Ed then fumbled in the air with his hand which he thought was still holding the cane.

– Thud! – 

“Sir Edgar!”

“Admiral!”

“…”

“Guiadé! What is this?!”

“Sir, is it heart palpitations? …Admiral? Admiral!” 

“…”

“Sorry… Please get out of the way, Commodore!”

The footsteps that had been hesitating in front of the admiral’s office burst through the door upon the sound of disturbance. Ed listened to the alarmed voices of the two officers while trying to grab the hematopoietic agent that too had rolled on the floor, but unfortunately, he couldn’t feel the vial anywhere and due to the slanted floor, it instead rolled further away with a rattling sound. 

Eventually, darkness suppressed his vision that was staring at the dark red liquid…

***

The mainmast carried a large sail engraved with a naval crest. The red square flag hanging below it was a clear request for the Bell Rock to respond to the inspection. This was possible because the navy could request an inspection at any sea belonging to the emperor. The battleship opened all its gun gates from the stern all the way to the hull like a serpent puffing up its scales to look more intimidating. After some time, it lowered down a boat. The sailboat, seen only leisurely on the glowing water at noon, began to approach the Bell Rock.

‘The nearest naval base is Marchand, so there’s no reason for a single sloop to roam this far out. No other intelligence regarding this matter was heard either.’ 

In that moment, Lil witnessed a messenger pigeon flying from the deck of the battleship before its anchor dropped. 

‘There must be more vessels close by, maybe even a whole squadron…’

The heavy feeling of fatigue fell over her body. From the situation with Ed until her confrontation with Cesar, Lil was left with no fighting spirit at all. Even in Cesar’s cabin just a while ago, her soul was about to fly out the window. And now, the burden of dealing with the Navy was added to it.

Lil looked down at the deck where the complete Bell Rock crew was kneeling with their hands behind their heads. Their rugged blades glistened in the bright sunlight as each of them had dropped their armaments beside them. Her dry tongue pointlessly traced her lips. Frankly speaking, Lil wasn’t confident in her control of this mixed crew of hers. She would have fewer problems if it was just her original crew, but now, half of the sailors who boarded the Bell Rock belonged to either Jarles or Valtano. 

‘As soon as the Navy climbs the Bell Rock, any of the crewmen can pick up their weapon and strike an officer in the neck…’

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