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LOS 89
The man, who had been listening to her in silence, spoke.
“The young lady's story is unfortunate, but once you've boarded this ship, there is no way out. Had you avoided boarding, perhaps. Now, all that remains for everyone here is to wait for death. Including you and that lady.”
“It is too early to give up.”
“What on earth are you thinking? Look at the people gathered here! They are all prisoners with chains on their wrists. Moreover, how do you plan to get us out of the cells?”
“Even if we get out of the cells, it'll all be for nothing!”
Someone shouted.
“You know nothing. You poor soul. Do you truly believe this ship will settle somewhere?”
“Is this not a transport ship heading for the frozen wasteland prison?”
“Everyone but you probably knows... where this ship is actually heading...”
Giles tried to ask her something. However, before he could open his mouth, the sound of footsteps echoed from behind. They had likely already noticed that something unusual was happening.
Giles pushed Anna into the shadows behind a pillar. Anna, sensing the danger, curled her body and hid within the blind spot. But there was nowhere that could hide the large frame of Giles.
Giles stood up. He did this to draw all attention to himself and hide Anna's presence.
He couldn't let Anna be discovered here.
A man who appeared to be the captain shone a flashlight on his face. Giles frowned as he faced the intense light head-on.
“Who is this guest? Did you board the wrong ship?”
The captain asked after looking at Giles's attire.
“Are you a prisoner?”
Giles did not answer hastily. The flashlight beam scanned his entire body up and down.
“It's unlikely you escaped from those iron bars.”
“It's Giles Hessen.”
Someone shouted, revealing his identity.
“He said his name is Giles Hessen.”
“Hessen? That traitor?”
The captain stepped a few paces closer. He adjusted his grip on the flashlight and shone it more brightly on Giles's face.
Soon, shock and surprise crossed the captain's face in succession.
“Why is Giles Hessen on this ship?”
“....”
“There must have been some mistake. Follow me. It would be best not to resist needlessly. There's nothing to be gained from it.”
He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Giles's head. There was no choice. Giles raised his hands and walked where the captain led.
They slowly ascended toward the light outside. As soon as they reached the deck, men who appeared to be crew members rushed toward him. It was clear they had noticed the commotion inside.
After confirming Giles's face, the crew members looked at the captain with wide eyes.
“Captain, this man is...”
“I don't know how or why this happened either. Restrain him first and move him to the cabin. We cannot leave him on this ship.”
The crew members forced him to his knees in an instant and bound Giles's hands tightly with thick rope. He was dragged to a small, makeshift cabin. Perhaps anxious because of his reputation, the crew sat him in a chair and bound his body to the chair once more.
Now that he was in the light, he could see the captain's face clearly. He was a man too young to hold the rank of captain. Had he been in the navy? He didn't look like it. Now that he looked closer, the man wasn't even wearing a proper uniform.
The captain asked with a look of confusion.
“There were certainly no instructions regarding you. Why did you board this ship? Did someone put you on arbitrarily?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Ha. Well, it doesn't matter. There's no benefit in talking at length with someone like you. It's frustrating that this ship has no communication device.”
A hint of contempt could be felt in the way he looked at Giles. It wasn't something to be offended by. It would be stranger if a person of Beldam showed him kindness.
The captain instructed a crew member standing by the door.
“When I give the signal later, restrain him securely and take him out. Put him in the lifeboat. Manage him well so he doesn't cause trouble. We can't let him sink with the ship.”
“Understood.”
“What did you just say?”
However, no one listened to his question. Giles asked again, addressing the captain who was trying to ignore him.
“I asked what you just said.”
“I might just kill you if you don't tell me,” he sneered.
Now, it was Giles who was confused. He wondered if he had misheard. Had that man just used the expression 'sink with the ship'?
Giles raised his voice.
“Please tell me!”
“Don't get excited. This is a warning.”
“Where is this ship settling?”
After staring at him for a moment, the captain merely shrugged and left the cabin with the crew member. Left alone, Giles twisted his body in frustration, but it was not enough to break the restraints.
A worn and rusted hull. A crew that was strangely short-handed.
Something was going wrong. He felt as though he was missing something important.
Giles looked out the window. The ship they were on was now far from land. The pier they had just fled from was barely visible.
The sun was about to set. A part of the sky was gradually being dyed in warm colors. Strangely, the slowly changing sky only fueled Giles's anxiety.
Was there any way to break the restraints?
But there was nothing in the cabin. Only old, dilapidated furniture lay abandoned.
Eventually, Giles let out a curse in a powerless voice.
There was nothing he could do.
-
After confirming that the unwelcome guest had taken Giles away, I cautiously peeked toward where the noise had stopped. The footsteps of the strange men were no longer audible.
I looked down at the object in my right hand. Giles had secretly pressed it into my hand when he pushed me behind the pillar. It was none other than a pitch-black pistol.
I had to finish the work that Giles couldn't complete here. I turned my gaze forward. In the darkness, numerous people were looking at me. Feeling a sudden chill run down my spine, I swallowed hard.
“Giles Hessen is one thing, but why are you here?”
Someone asked. I replied with a bitter smile.
“I wish I knew the answer to that myself.”
“I heard you're Hessen's lover.”
“That's right. It's true.”
“Then did you truly love Hessen?”
I saw someone shake their head. People could not believe that a heinous criminal had a lover. The Giles the public knew was a murderer without blood or tears. There was no way he could have been loved by anyone.
But I answered without hesitation.
“I love Giles. He saved my life several times. He volunteered to board this ship just to save me.”
“Then why did you board?”
“I...”
Where should I begin explaining? Would I even be able to convince all these people? My head felt like it was starting to ache, but I had to say something.
“I think the state tried to kill me. Probably to frame him. Or perhaps to eliminate a witness.”
“Beldam tried to kill you?”
“Because I was the only person by Giles's side, and I knew too much.”
As I spoke, I rolled up my sleeve to show the deep blue bruises.
“Do you see this? I was beaten by soldiers. Beldam soldiers. They locked me in a room with Giles and beat me nearly to death. I tell you clearly, I committed no wrong. But those people dragged me away and beat me with clubs as if I had killed someone. And they did it right in front of Giles.”
A brief silence followed.
“...When were you beaten?”
“Continuously, starting a few days before the trial.”
“I know why you boarded this ship,” a woman said.
“If what you say is true, then Beldam likely did want you dead. Most of the people here were tortured just like you. Those who died went to their graves. Only those who survived and endured were destined to board this ship and disappear without a trace.”
The woman who spoke seemed far removed from being a criminal. Of course, who is born with a 'criminal's face,' but it was the same when looking at the others. They looked far too ordinary to have committed crimes heinous enough to be dragged to the land of death.
“What is your name?”
“Gertrude.”
“Were you... beaten like me?”
Gertrude snorted and showed the burn marks on her leg. Those were absolutely not scars from an accident. Someone had intentionally branded her.
“This isn't all of it.”
“Why did you suffer such things?”
“Because I colluded with an enemy spy who sneaked into Beldam during the war. Or so I heard. They said I conspired with a spy. I don't even know when I ever did such a thing. So I told them I didn't know. That I didn't remember. That's how I got this scar. They said it was the price for telling a despicable lie.”
I could roughly guess what had happened.
“Is it the same for the others?”
“I don't know everyone's circumstances, but I know there are many cases like mine. As you may know, Miss, Beldam is in a precarious position. Of course, there might actually be spies. I might have spoken with one of them without knowing. But I felt it. Whether it was true or not, I had been marked as someone to be killed from the start.”
“It's one of the ways to control society.”
The one who spoke this time was the pediatrician who had checked my condition.
“Beldam recklessly started a war and was defeated conspicuously. As a result, most people had their lives stripped away. Now, Beldam has become afraid of its own citizens. Because they know the responsibility lies with them. So, they try to crush them with fear before anyone can rise up. This is only the beginning, but it will only get worse.”
“Who could harbor grievances in a place where people simply evaporate?”
So, some of these people had been captured for crimes they never committed.
Ironically, I was able to find hope instead.
“It's the same for Giles! Beldam fabricated fake news about him. Most of the facts you know are sensational distortions by Beldam. They used Giles as a target to take the stoning that the state should have endured. I am not lying. I have watched Giles's every move since Ipswin. Please believe me.”
I sat with my knees pulled up and pleaded with the people.
“Please, help us. Think about it, it's too unfair to die like this. We must get out of here somehow before we arrive.”
“‘Arrive’...”
Gertrude let out a hollow laugh as if she had heard a joke that wasn't funny.
“To begin with, this ship isn't arriving anywhere.”
“What does that...”
“We are all going to be scuttled just like this. Didn't the soldiers tell you? You are gravely mistaken, Miss. This ship will be our grave. Not anywhere else.”
“But surely...”
“That woman is telling the truth,” the doctor said.
“There are separate prisoners going to the frozen wasteland. But at least we aren't them. You should rather be grateful for that fact. It's better than dying while doing hard labor. By now, the crew above might be preparing to abandon the ship and return.”
It was then. An alarm sounded repeatedly. It was a sound that evoked an ominous feeling. However, no one except Anna was shaken.
The doctor added helplessly.
“It seems the ship is scheduled to sink shortly.”
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