Chapter 84
Ann's blade slashed Zeze's abdomen open.
"Zeze!"
I cried out before I could stop myself. Zeze fell backward and clutched his wounded abdomen. Blood seeped between his fingers, staining his clothes red.
I clenched my right hand tightly. This was all my fault.
Even if they were children, as long as they took up a weapon and stood in our way, I should have ordered my men to cut them down. My hesitation to make that decision had led to one of my subordinates being injured.
It was entirely the result of my lack of resolve.
"...! This girl..."
"Please wait!"
Just as I was about to order that Ann be cut down, a powerful voice stopped me. It was Jini, holding a long piece of lumber.
"Please hold that order."
Jini let out a long sigh as he looked at Zeze clutching his abdomen and Ann holding a bloodstained sword. Then he dropped the lumber in his hand and walked toward Ann.
I thought he was going to do the same thing Zeze had, but I was wrong. Jini stopped partway there. A sword dropped by one of Silverwing's sailors lay at his feet. He hooked the blade with the top of his foot, kicked it up, and caught the hilt in midair. After giving it two or three practice swings, he held the sword in his right hand and advanced on Ann.
"Jini... No. Don't kill that girl."
Even as he grimaced in pain, Zeze pleaded with his childhood friend from his hometown.
"Don't worry, Zeze. From now on, no one will die."
With his sword hanging loosely at his side, Jini fixed his gaze on Ann and Mary-san behind her and advanced straight toward them. His approach was so casual that he entered Ann's range as if he were walking across an empty field.
Ann raised her sword and attacked Jini.
Jini's chest was slashed open, and fresh blood spattered the deck of Silverwing.
Everyone held their breath. But Jini did not fall. At the instant he was attacked, he took half a step back and avoided a fatal wound. Even after being cut, Jini held his ground, stepped forward, and thrust out his sword. He stopped it just before Ann's throat.
With a sword pointed at her, Ann hurriedly stepped backward.
Though blood poured from his chest, the wounded Jini continued walking toward Ann and Mary-san. His arm hung at his side, and he made no attempt to take a stance, leaving himself completely defenseless.
Faced with Jini's inexplicable behavior, Ann involuntarily stepped back as well. But Mary-san, whom she had to protect, was behind her. If she kept retreating, Jini would reach Mary-san. The only way to drive him back was to attack.
Ann attacked again. Though Jini was cut, he avoided a fatal wound, then stepped forward and pointed his sword at her, forcing her back.
This exchange was repeated about five times. Jini was slashed again and again until his entire body was covered in blood. But he did not fall.
"Miss, this is..."
Captain Maurice came over to me and muttered as he watched the exchange between Ann and Jini.
Jini could have cut Ann at any time if he chose. But he did not. He had no intention of cutting her.
"Yes, please don't interfere."
I clenched my fist and watched Jini. Borel and Gatt also understood what he was trying to do, so they did not intervene.
"What the hell! What are you trying to do!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Ann shouted while gasping for breath. Even Ann herself had realized that Jini could have cut her if he had truly intended to.
"I don't want to cut you."
Jini, covered in blood, spoke. Though he had been avoiding the blows by the narrowest margin, he had lost a great deal of blood, and his face had turned pale. But his eyes remained full of strength, fixed firmly on Ann.
"But I don't want to let you cut me, either. So this is the only way."
"Don't screw with me!"
Ann shouted, but her voice lacked force. Unlike the blood-covered Jini, Ann had not suffered a single wound. Even so, she looked as though she might collapse at any moment.
A missed swing in actual combat saps more stamina than one might expect. Unlike a practice swing, an attack made with the intent of cutting an opponent uses the strength of the entire body. Even trained soldiers become exhausted if they continue missing in actual combat. For a girl who had not yet physically matured, it was even worse.
Jini's aim was to make Ann miss and exhaust her stamina. But this method came at a heavy price.
A great deal of blood streamed from Jini's body.
Within the Romelia unit, Jini had an especially keen eye for reading attacks. But to bait Ann into missing, he had to step so deeply into her range that she would be certain her attack would hit. He could not evade the attacks completely, and the blade grazed his body.
Jini's actions were literally risking his life.