Chapter 89
89
Viktor opened his mouth.
"Tell them to take me to Count Crimson."
"...Okay."
Scarlett answered obediently, perhaps exhausted, and sat down on a chair. Her face was still pale.
Three days had passed, but she had been unconscious the whole time, so it was no different from being kidnapped until just now.
Her slender shoulders trembled as she sat on the sofa.
Viktor knelt beside the sofa, and Scarlett looked at him, startled.
Viktor spoke.
"Shall I kill them?"
"......"
"All the pirates."
At his words, Scarlett looked at Viktor. He continued.
"Shall I kill them all?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"You laughed, last time too. When I beat up Evil Crimson."
"......"
"If I kill those bastards, will you laugh?"
Doubt and embarrassment mixed in Scarlett's clear eyes.
There was no hint of a smile in Viktor's words. Viktor waited for an answer, and Scarlett reluctantly opened her mouth.
"No, no..."
"You don't want me to?"
"Yeah. Not all the pirates agreed to kidnap me."
"Then."
"A man named Sean, and about three other guys of similar age."
"Did they wear eye patches?"
"Yeah. They were all wearing them. I don't care about anyone else besides them. Some of them seemed like good people."
"There are good people everywhere."
Viktor nodded.
A moment later, he came out of the room and said to Palin.
"Bring Sean Wastrand and the three who were involved. Do the rest as negotiated."
"Just those three?"
"Yes."
"Will you spare the rest?"
"If Scarlett doesn't want me to, there's nothing I can do."
"Yes, I understand."
Palin answered, but his face still held a hint of doubt. He went down to the first floor lobby and woke up Evan, who was sprawled out asleep.
"Let's go."
"What did he say to do?"
"He said to bring only Sean Wastrand and the three who were involved?"
"......Why?"
Evan frowned at Viktor's uncharacteristic words.
Viktor Dumpelt and the pirates were in a relationship of hatred, yet they understood each other the best. Viktor had never been lenient with pirates. The pirates were always defeated by him and were on the defensive.
Evan had seen Viktor Dumpelt's anger towards pirates grow as he fought naval battles, even though he was usually rational. When he opened a pirate ship, there were always more terrible things inside than he expected.
Now, all the pirates who were called vicious had been executed, leaving only their families. The Royal Family said that they should also be executed, but ironically, the Navy opposed it. When you hear about them from afar, they are the worst villains, but when you see them right next to you, they are just human beings after all.
The Navy had more anger towards the pirates than anyone in Salantie, but at the same time, they also had sympathy for those who had fled to the island of Salantie because Bestina had occupied their homes. The Navy's opinion was that the villains should be executed, but their families should be spared, even if they were a threat, and that opinion was accepted.
And now, that Navy's suggestion had led to Scarlett Crimson, the wife of Viktor Dumpelt, the head of the Navy, being kidnapped.
Evan, who thought it wouldn't be strange if he ordered all the pirates to be wiped out immediately, was amazed by the unexpected leniency and moved to capture the four pirates.
Palin, who arrived at the factory where Scarlett had been taken, said.
"They must have run far away by now, right?"
"I wonder."
Evan shrugged.
As the Navy entered the factory, the pirates avoided them warily.
Evan said.
"Where is Sean Wastrand?"
Then Harold stepped forward and said.
"What did the Captain say?"
"He said to catch only those four."
"......Is that so."
Harold bowed his head.
"Thank you."
Then, with a gesture, Sean Wastrand and the other three young pirates were dragged out. Evan was dumbfounded to see that they had been holding them captive, rather than hiding them.
"Wow, I'm embarrassed that you're being so cooperative."
"You can take them. This will never happen again."
"That's reassuring."
At Evan's words, Harold gave a faint smile and asked him.
"But why did the Captain say to catch only four people?"
"Scarlett told him to do so."
"Is that so..."
Harold nodded.
He put his trembling hand in his pocket and handed Evan a potion.
"If you use this, the symptoms of the mechanic girl will be alleviated a little."
"Antidote?"
"Yes. I know the Captain said he didn't need it, but we owe that girl a lot, so I saved it just in case."
"I'll pass it on."
Evan said and took the antidote.
In any case, Harold had a sense of duty to take care of those who came from the pirate island. Harold was looking at the young men who were trembling with betrayal and looking back at him. One of them was Harold's son. But he no longer looked back and closed the warehouse door.
He turned around and said to the pirates who remained in the warehouse.
"Now, this must never, ever happen again. If it happens again, I'll kill you with my own hands."
The warehouse became silent.
Harold walked in, and Aisha slid down on a machine and said to him.
"Harold, I have a question."
"Don't ask."
"I'm just curious. Why did you sell that medicine to the Royal Police when you're so afraid of Viktor Dumpelt?"
"......"
Harold glared at Aisha.
"What are you talking about?"
"You sold it, the medicine about memories. To the Royal Police."
"How did you know?"
"The girl Sean brought ate that medicine. Why did you do that?"
"I saved my son's life by selling that medicine to the Royal Police, even if he lost an eye."
"......"
"Yeah, my son was the problem. But there won't be a second time. Whether the Navy kills him or saves him, it's not my concern anymore."
Harold said and moved on.
Aisha ran up to Harold again, blocked him, and asked.
"Do I have to go back to the island if I want to know more about that medicine?"
"Why do you want to know about it?"
"The girl wants to know."
"Don't talk about that medicine anymore. And don't even think about going near that mechanic girl again."
"I don't want to."
"......Are you doing this because that girl saved your brother?"
"Yes. That's right."
Aisha said honestly, and Harold frowned once and disappeared quickly as if telling her not to talk to him anymore.
Even as he left, Harold couldn't shake the feeling that he had made a complete mistake. He could ignore anyone else, but not Aisha.
'Because she's the type to kill her own father if things go wrong.'
Harold thought and moved even faster.
*
After that day, Scarlett couldn't escape her fear for a while.
Scarlett had strengthened her security, but the mental shock was too strong. The fact that she was suddenly dragged away from her own home, of all places, was terrible. Every time she heard a sound from the window, she was so scared that her body flinched.
She was huddled on the sofa on the first floor, covered in a blanket over a long skirt that reached her ankles.
Andrei couldn't stand it and said something.
"Please go out. It's hard to see you like this here."
Then Scarlett frowned and glared at Andrei.
"I'm not feeling well. Show some empathy. Don't you have any emotions, Andrei?"
"We don't use people with fluctuating emotions as spies."
"......That's true."
Scarlett replied and leaned her head against the back of the sofa. Then she got up weakly and said.
"I have to work."
As she was about to go to the second floor, Andrei blocked her way.
"Stop working."
"You told me to work before?"
"You have to work in moderation. You haven't slept since that day and you've only been working."
"I like working."
"It's also psychologically problematic for someone who's been kidnapped to keep working."
"Still... if I'm not working, I keep thinking about that time."
At her words, Andrei said as if he had a headache.
"If that's the case, why don't you go play with Count Crimson?"
"Isaac is busy too."
Scarlett said that and buried her face in her knees again and said.
"It's disappointing. Why is he so busy?"
"Oh, I guess you forgot. The Count is busy reclaiming the Crimson Family that the President likes so much. And it's a family that Evil Crimson almost ruined beyond repair."
"......I know. I know. I could see him if I went to see him, but now I can't even see him if I go. And it's not like Isaac comes to see me every day. It's disappointing, so disappointing."
Andrei was dumbfounded and laughed in disbelief at Scarlett's complaining.
As far as he knew, Scarlett Crimson was the only important thing in Isaac Crimson's world. It was so serious that it was a problem, but she didn't know anything and was saying she was disappointed.
Andrei was dumbfounded, but he decided to leave it alone. She was still not free from fear, and he didn't want to add to her burden by saying that it didn't seem normal for Isaac to only think about his sister to such an extent.
Andrei hesitated, unlike his usual self, and opened his mouth.
"Anyway. I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"The picture of the President in the newspaper. It was taken because I let the Royal Police in here. So the pirates saw it and..."
"They used the newspaper, didn't they?"
"Yes."
At those words, Scarlett, who had been sitting the whole time, got up from the sofa.
Then Andrei said as if he had given up.
"You can kill me in this spot and I won't sue you."
"How can you sue if you're dead?"
"That's how sorry I am."
"Two years. Unpaid."
"That's too much. Just kill me instead."
Scarlett glared at Andrei, who was serious, and said as she grabbed her coat.
"I have a plan after hearing that."
"What plan?"
"Unpaid employees don't need to know. I'll be back."
"Ah, two years..."
Scarlett glanced back at Andrei, who was in pain, and then left the store.