It was a relief for Lil to see that her crew was escaping to the lower deck. Her next concern was Julio. Lil acknowledges Julio’s anger. She knew and understood how much he wanted to tear the empire apart. 

‘But that’s also his weakness, his blindness to the situation and his surroundings, caused by wounds far too large. And because of that, he doesn’t know the weight a captain has to carry. How cowardly it is for him to drag innocent sailors into his personal vendetta… To make matters worse, any act committed against the Navy will be regarded as a confrontation committed by the League, so a war is doomed to break out.’

Lil was determined to subdue Julio before such an irreversible catastrophe could occur. To do that, she first had to make sure that the gundeck, where Marenzio ruled, remained under her control. 

‘Fortunately, it still is and as long as I convey the message well, Marenzio will follow.’

Lil drew her gun and approached the stairs, pretending to take a fighting position while waiting quietly. Then, when a big, muscled man wandered between herself and the stern she jumped down.  Lil, who landed lightly in the middle of the stairs, looked around the tension-ridden and heat-collecting deck. Several men were seen evacuating according to her instructions. 

Marenzio watched his former captain fall from the ceiling and gave her a chewy expression.

“Did you come to tell me not to open fire?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

“Listen up. Annunzio may declare war on the Empire sooner or later. Or it could be the other way around for all I know. But I’m sure of one thing about the current situation… The League isn’t ready yet. If we start this now, there’s no turning back. However, this isn’t me telling you to surrender to the Empire. Do you understand?”

Marenzio chewed on his lip while looking back at the trembling sailors carrying around cannonballs and sticks. Their eyes were filled with the fear of dying.

Marenzio murmured while pouting.

“…I can’t help it then…”

Lil nodded her head and instructed.

“Put down the munition and close the gun doors. When the time comes, you need to keep your hands behind your head, just like when we were being interrogated. And one last thing, shells might start flying, so stay off the port side.”

After snorting, Marenzio asked.

“And as for the new Captain?”

“Julio…”

Lil’s words were cut off by a loud warning coming from the Visha.

“…The vessel that refused to be inspected, disarm!..”

Despite the order, there was no sound of dropping weapons coming from the Bell Rock’s upper deck.

“…I repeat, the vessel that refused to be inspected, disarm!…”

***

Ed looked down at the distant and hazy deck. 

‘I intentionally delayed our movements to appease the frightened sailors.’ 

He then turned his head and ordered Sagastar.

“They will soon surrender anyway. Make sure to capture the Captain alive.”

Ed wanted to go down himself, but he wasn’t confident with his movements. As a result, he decided to savour the virtue of waiting by sitting comfortably in his chair. The succeeding officers, led by Sagastar, lined up and proceeded to head down the stern stairs. Around Ed remained only a group of guards and their navy doctor.

Suddenly, there was a sound that shouldn’t be heard.

– Bang! –

Although the sound of cannon fire died down immediately, it left behind a reverberation. Startled birds squealed somewhere in the sky…

***

Lil gasped for breath. Following her, the rest of the sailors seemed to have stopped breathing in unison.

The Bell Rock and the Visha. For a moment, both sides remained completely still.

“…Who opened fire?…”

“…Who fired first?…”

The gundeck buzzed. Lil was certain that when she came down, the Visha’s and the Bell Rock’s cannons were only pulled out for show. But as soon as she tried to gauge which side triggered the first shot, countless gunshots covered the deck above her. Bullets flew everywhere and some even penetrated the ceiling of the deck.

Lil clasped her head in contemplation. After the first round of fire died down, Lil quickly climbed to the main deck.

“…Aaaaaaahh! Die, you Navy bastards!..”

Hooked ropes flew through the air as the crossing was about to be laid between the two ships. 

The moment Lil poked her head out onto the deck, she saw Courant. The sight of him nailed her to the spot. It never occurred to her that Courant could be on deck. 

‘After all, he’s a gunner… A gunner who was assigned to the cannons on the upper deck… The only cannons outside my and Marenzio’s control…’

After putting another shell* in, Courant aimed and lay down. As Lil started to run towards the boy, she turned her head to see where Courant had aimed his cannon’s muzzle. Her chin raised up endlessly. It didn’t stop till her gaze reached the highest deck on the Visha’s stern… where someone was sitting behind the wheel…

‘Admiral.’ 

Lil could only think of that one title.

‘This crazy bastard is trying to kill the Admiral!’

Lil rushed to the boy despite her aching legs. In that same instant, her eyes met Alain’s, who was climbing the mast, while aiming for one of Julio’s right hand men. As Alain was much closer to Courant than she was, Lil called out to him.

“Alain!”

When Alain noticed Courant, he threw himself as fast as he could. As the old man’s body flew through the air, Lil lowered her eyes. It was too late. The flame had burned out, leaving only a single sound. Due to Courant being pushed away by Alain, the cannon had changed course slightly, but the shell fired nonetheless…

– Bang! –

“No…!”

Lil twisted her body following the trail of the smoke, only to find that the shell, which was much faster than her line of sight, had already struck the Visha…

***

The shell barely missed the steering wheel and dug into the railing of the stern. The damage was minor, however, since the projectile was a filled shell, acrid smoke started to spread. 

Ed pushed off the escorting officer who had covered him.

“Admiral! Are you okay?”

The surprised officer made a fuss as soon as he saw blood flow from Ed’s stiff face. 

“Admiral! He’s bleeding!”

Hearing that, Guiadé, who managed to take cover, crawled out hurriedly. Examining the wound, he told Ed that it opened again when he hit his forehead on the floor. He was about to threaten it while complaining that the officer gave him extra work for no reason. However, Ed struck the approaching hand of the doctor with the back of his hand.

As if possessed, Ed growled as he looked down at the enemy’s ship.

“Which bastard did that?”

“What?”

“It can’t be Liloa.”

“Pardon?”

“Was there a mutiny?”

“..?”

‘That’s a possibility, right? But who? Julio? Was it that new kid? If Liloa’s currently in command of the Bell Rock, there’s no way she would fire at the Navy like that…’ 

Ed recalled the order he had given to Sagastar. He told his commodore to only capture the captain alive.

“Fuck!”

Ed stood up by pushing Guiadé on the shoulder and fumbled with his cane to stand upright. Without delay, he ordered the officers who stayed behind with him.

“Fire only the cannons on the upper deck and aim for the mast! They’re holding hostages. Damn it! Tell them to only aim at their mast!”

Guiadé groaned and asked where Ed was going. But instead of answering, his admiral continued to limp down the stern stairs.

– Kung, Kung! – 

The Visha’s upper cannons were put into position…

***

Lil snatched the scruff of Alain’s neck, who had almost become one with Courant. Her pulling force was weak, so Alain had to crawl on all fours to come along with her. They eventually managed to drag each other behind a pile of boxes and lowered their heads.

– Boom! Boom! Boom! –

The Bell Rock was shaken by a series of heavy artillery attacks. 

Lil and Alain ducked down and covered their ears more tightly. But because something suddenly seemed off, Lil squinted her eyes. The moment she concluded that the floor of the upper deck was still intact, thick black smoke fell over the top of her head.

Lil instinctively raised her eyes. 

– Crrrrrkkk – 

The main mast broke with a cracking sound. The centre of the pillar was torn open and fell completely apart. The watchtower, descending in a semi-circular orbit, rushed toward her. Screaming in surprise, Lil rolled over and nearly escaped. 

– Bam! –

The watchtower, which had rushed in at a high speed, smashed the boxes.

“…Aaaaahhh!..”

Lil looked at the navies coming down the crossing in a wave. Seeing the sailors on deck drawing their swords, Lil had no time to celebrate her survival. She turned to the stern at once. At that moment, Julio jumped off the railing and rushed forward. 

Lil shouted in reflex.

“No! stop him!”

– – – – –

Footnote:

Cannonball or shell: we initially thought that cannonball and shell could be used interchangeably. Now we know that a cannon can fire different projectiles (see picture below). Cannonballs and shells are just one of many. The traditional cannonball is a ball made of iron, whereas a shell has more the shape of a large bullet. Those bullets were hollow and could contain an explosive, incendiary or chemical filling.