Chapter 94
94
*
How long had she slept?
Scarlett felt the commotion from the warehouse side and sat up.
Machine noise was coming from below. Just from the sound, she could tell it was malfunctioning. With no soundproofing at all, she could even hear the navy's voices.
"No, why is this happening......?"
"What did you touch?"
"I was just trying to clean up before Miss Scarlett wakes up......"
As Scarlett tried to get up, Victor pulled her back into his arms and said,
"From now on, they won't make noise while you're sleeping."
"I need to go down for a bit."
At her words, Victor covered his face with his hands and spat out a curse. Scarlett looked at him with wide eyes and then got up. Since she'd woken him from sleep, she felt sorry for the noisy air force guys who were surely about to get an earful.
She threw a robe over her pajamas, unlocked the bedroom door, and left the study. There was another door, which she opened before going down the stairs. She thought the security was really thorough.
As she came down to the first floor, the dozen or so gathered navy men froze and saluted.
"D-Did we wake you?"
"It's fine."
Scarlett said that, then rubbed her eyes hard with her palms as if still sleepy before walking over. When she reached for the ladder, the navy men rushed forward.
Scarlett pointed at the biplane as if speechless. The navy men placed the ladder there, and Scarlett grabbed a wrench from the toolbox and climbed up. As she tightened a bolt, the noise died down.
Scarlett came back down from the plane, shook the wrench, and said,
"Can't ten able-bodied men handle something this simple?"
At her words, all the navy men shut their mouths without a word.
How was she supposed to work with people this unhelpful?
As Scarlett sighed, a navy man came running into the warehouse.
"Th-they're here! The engineers!"
At his words, Scarlett's eyes widened.
She dashed out of the warehouse without thinking. She could see mechanical engineering students from the polytechnic university coming down the elevator from the cliff above. They were all trembling in fear of the height.
Scarlett visually counted the students on the elevator.
Six in total. Five students including Kirsten, Bill, and Pavel, plus Professor Gustav.
As Scarlett ran to the elevator, Kirsten, who had gotten off, ran to her first and burst into tears in her arms.
"I thought I was gonna die of fright! It was scary and exhausting! You should've told me we'd be coming to such a faraway place!"
Everyone's legs were so worn out from the hike that they could barely walk straight.
Scarlett laughed happily.
"Sorry. But thanks for coming anyway."
"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come when you asked?"
While Kirsten sobbed, the elevator went back up. Then two more people came down on it—Aisha and her brother Johnny.
The scrawny engineering students spotted the rough-looking Aisha and Johnny and backed away.
Aisha glanced at them and said to Scarlett,
"I heard you needed people for machine maintenance."
Scarlett nodded vigorously at her words.
"Yes. We need a lot."
"It's nice and warm here. Should we build a house first?"
"There's a place to stay."
"Do we get food too?"
"Yes."
"Johnny, looks like we came to the right place."
Johnny nodded enthusiastically as Aisha spoke cheerfully.
Watching them, the engineering students said,
"P-Pirates?"
"Not pirates, just Pirate Island residents."
At Scarlett's words, Johnny asked,
"Then we're not pirates?"
"Have you ever been on a ship, Johnny?"
"No. I've never done anything bad!"
"Then you're not."
At Scarlett's words, Johnny happily told Aisha,
"Aisha, did you hear? I'm not a pirate! I'm just a Pirate Island resident!"
"Really? Impressive."
"Aisha's not a pirate either, just a Pirate Island resident!"
"I'm not. I killed someone."
As Aisha showed the tattoo on her arm marking her as a killer, even the remaining engineering students hid behind Scarlett.
Aisha looked pitifully at the six, who were the smallest in build, hiding behind Scarlett and said,
"Just one person. One."
Then Johnny proudly added,
"It was our father."
"Shut up, Johnny."
"But I hated our father. He hit me so much it made me stupid."
"He was rotten from the start."
"No, he wasn't!"
While they bickered, Scarlett explained the situation.
After hearing her explanation, the students' faces grew even paler. Then Johnny, as if defending his sister, said,
"Pirates inherit it. The strongest child defeats their parents! If the navy hadn't taken the ship, Aisha would've become the pirate ship's captain, right?"
Far from being an excuse, his words only heightened their fear, and the students' ashen faces didn't recover. Worried they'd scared them too much, Aisha and Johnny fretted, but Pavel, one of the braver students, stepped forward and offered a handshake.
"Anyway, nice to meet you."
"Yeah."
"I've always been curious about the ecosystem of Pirate Island."
"Ask away."
As Aisha answered, the students gradually approached and started asking questions.
Seeing curiosity overcome fear, Scarlett felt relieved. It looked like they'd get along fine.
As she turned away with a weight off her mind, Scarlett spotted Evan far off, wearing an expression several times prouder than hers. Smiling, she approached him and asked,
"What's with that look, like a father sending his kid to school for the first time?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes. That's exactly the face."
At Scarlett's words, the usually unflappable Evan looked embarrassed.
"Those kids are a bit of a sore spot. When they first showed up on their father's ship flying a white flag in front of the Rubid, I promised that if they came to the capital, I'd let them live like other Salantier citizens, but that was impossible. Even if they were innocent, in people's eyes, they're still Pirate Island residents. In the end, they ended up living with Harold's group."
"......I see."
"Seeing them so happy......"
Evan trailed off, then chuckled and continued,
"You're right. It feels like sending my own kids to school, Miss Scarlett."
He then took off his hat and bowed to her.
"Thank you. For giving those kids a chance."
Scarlett waved it off at his bow, embarrassed. Changing the subject with a grin, Evan said,
"Anyway, maintenance seems sorted, so now we need to bolster our numbers too."
"How?"
Scarlett asked, and Evan replied,
"I'm thinking of bringing in my seniors."
"Seniors?"
"Yes."
Evan grinned and said,
"As you know, the Rubid is the ship crewed by the best elites, including me."
"Yes, I know."
"So even before Captain took command, the Rubid had many elites aboard. And the Captain rose to command by achieving the impossible. Of course, his bloodline helped, but his skills were just that good."
"So?"
As Scarlett asked with curious eyes, Evan continued,
"That's why the Captain reached command ten years faster than his peers. As a result...... all the naval academy seniors aboard the ship got off. They were capable, but they didn't want to serve under a much younger captain."
"Then...... what happened to them?"
"Well, they all returned to their families. Three of them are even senators now."
"I see......"
She hadn't known that.
Evan went on,
"They may have left the Rubid due to age, but they're soldiers to the bone. They're not the type to lounge at home in the face of war threats. Of course, they won't take orders from the Captain, but wartime is different."
"Right. Wartime......"
Scarlett nodded.
The gorge with Lüse Falls was so peaceful it was hard to believe it might one day be in danger.
*
After the new people arrived at the Air Force Base, accidents happened daily. When a small explosion occurred in the warehouse, the people doing maintenance rushed out frantically.
"Whoa, we almost died for real."
Pavel said, catching his breath.
The students had been voicing their opinions freely from the start, and trying everything led to big and small accidents.
Aisha said,
"Ah, whatever. Let's rest."
No one had dared suggest resting until Aisha spoke up, and the students immediately fled to their rooms in the warehouse. Exhausted Scarlett headed to her room too, but Aisha followed her up the stairs and spoke.
"Scarlett. I was going to give you this, but you've been working nonstop so I couldn't."
"What is it?"
As she asked, Aisha pulled a small piece of wood from her pocket.
"Not sure if it'll work, but...... the memory drug is from the chrysanthemum family. Chew this, and you can tell if you've ingested any recently."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. Within the last six months, though."
"What?"
Scarlett looked disappointed.
"Six months...... that's a long time ago."
"Is it?"
"Yeah. Still, thanks."
"Try chewing it. Even a faint trace might show."
At Aisha's words, Scarlett looked at the wood piece briefly before putting it in her mouth. As she chewed, she asked,
"What kind of trace?"
"Your whole mouth turns blaaack."
Aisha's shocked expression made Scarlett check the mirror and freak out, covering her face with both hands. Then she lowered her hands and looked again.
Her entire mouth had turned pitch black.