Chapter 73
"Romelia!"
When I looked at Mary-san, our eyes met. With a smile playing at her lips, Mary-san placed the sword in her hand against her neck. She meant to say that she would take my head. In response, I shook my head.
"Are you saying I can't? What a lame taunt! Fine, I'll capture you in no time!"
Mary-san pointed her sword at me. At that, about ten masked sailors climbed the stairs at the stern and advanced toward us.
"R-Romelia-sama! The enemy!"
Paula-san clung to my left arm. Zeze and Jini, along with Borel and Gatt, faced the approaching enemies. Though the four were new recruits, they had experienced plenty of actual combat. Their level of proficiency was on par with that of veteran soldiers. However, that was on solid ground.
The four swung their swords at the oncoming enemies, but their blades cut only air.
"Damn, it's rocking..."
Gatt clicked his tongue after his swing missed.
Gatt and the others had experienced countless training exercises and battles, but they had never fought aboard a rocking ship. To make matters worse, these were the rough waters surrounding the archipelago. Gatt and the others could not bring out their full strength. Their opponents, on the other hand, were islanders accustomed to ships. They moved freely even on the rocking deck.
"Stay calm! Don't let the enemy get near Romelia-sama!"
Borel swung his sword in quick, short strokes. Rather than trying to land a hit, he focused on keeping the enemy at bay. Zeze, Jini, and Gatt followed his example, thrusting their swords with short movements.
The masked sailors could not approach Borel and the others as they devoted themselves to defense. But one person came forward without the slightest fear. The masked enemy aimed for Zeze and charged with a slash.
Zeze countered with his sword, but at that moment, the ship rocked and his sword's trajectory veered off course. The blade merely grazed the enemy's mask. The mask was torn away, revealing the enemy's face. Zeze gasped when he saw it.
"You! You're the one from back then..."
The face revealed beneath the mask belonged to Ann, the girl with burn scars on her face.
I narrowed my eyes when I realized who Silverwing's crew really were.
"...No way, they're all children!"
Zeze's face stiffened as he looked at the masked sailors fighting.
Mary-san had gathered war orphans and made them her underlings. Zeze had not noticed, but I had expected it from the beginning. Still, seeing a child's face right in front of me was painful.
Ann tore off her ripped mask. Her scarred face, framed by disheveled hair, was lit by eyes glittering with murderous intent and hatred. Ann was not the only one. The other children, too, glared out from beneath their masks with hatred in their eyes.
"No..."
Zeze went pale and took a step back. Seeing him falter, Ann held her sword horizontally and thrust. Zeze tried to counter the attack, but when he saw Ann's face, his body stiffened and he couldn't move.
The blade drew near Zeze. But at that moment, a sword thrust in from the side and knocked Ann's thrust aside.
"Get a grip, Zeze!"
It was Jini who protected Zeze. He shouted at him while swinging his sword.
"B-but they're children!"
"They're enemies all the same! If you don't fight, you'll die!"
Jini shouted, but Zeze's eyes continued to waver. The tips of Borel's and Gatt's swords were wavering as well.
As I thought, they can't do it...
I clenched my teeth. Zeze and the others, as well as the Romelia Squad, had hardly ever fought people. With their opponents being children, they simply could not bring themselves to fight. The same was true of Captain Maurice's men. The movements of the Lazybones' sailors were clearly lacking their usual sharpness. It was not merely because they had been wounded by arrows. It was because they knew their opponents were children. And the children attacking them were war orphans. To the sailors, they were not merely fellow islanders; they were the children of comrades they had fought alongside.
Even though they were enemies, the sailors could not fight them with all their strength. Captain Maurice was no different. Though he swung his sword, he did not cut the children. He dealt with them using punches and kicks instead. No one wanted to cut down a child.
I clenched my right hand tightly.
Zeze and the others were not prepared to cut down children. But I was the one who lacked resolve most of all.
If I gave the order to cut them down, Zeze couldn't do it, but Borel, Gatt, and Jini could. But...
My clenched hand was trembling. I glared at my own pathetic hand.
On a battlefield, a commander orders soldiers to risk their lives and fight. Yet the commander issuing that order does not take up a weapon and fight. Fighting is not the commander's duty. The commander's duty is to steel themselves, issue the order, and take responsibility for it.
A commander's duty is to issue orders!
I clenched my trembling fist, forcing it to stop shaking. Then I looked ahead.
Just as I was about to issue an order, a war cry tore through the battlefield.
The voice that shook the air came from Al, his red hair standing on end. Al swung his sword, his fighting spirit blazing like a flame.
With a piercing battle cry, he brought his sword down, shattering the masked sailor's blade. The one whose sword had been broken stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
"Even if you're a bunch of brats! As long as you come at me armed, I won't show you any mercy!"
The children held their breath at Al's ferocity.