Chapter 32
The waiting room suddenly became chaotic.
The soldiers, who had been silently keeping watch, began preparing to leave for somewhere.
It was clear from their demeanor that they were gearing up for battle, weapons in hand.
Watching this scene unfold, Ambasha and Elkana, who had been quietly observing while suppressing their frustration, started paying closer attention to the atmosphere.
“Elkana… Don’t tell me…”
“…Hmm… It seems that ‘don’t tell me’ is correct this time…”
The pocket watch indicated that there were about 20 minutes remaining.
The timing aligned almost perfectly, making it easy for Ambasha and Elkana to deduce what the navy’s movements meant.
“Excuse me… Is something happening? Why the sudden commotion…?”
“Well…”
Feigning ignorance, Ambasha cautiously asked.
Just as the soldier holding an axe was about to respond…
“Hey.”
“Ah… Um… It’s nothing. We’re just rearranging our positions, so don’t worry about it and stay where you are.”
“Oh… Okay…”
After being interrupted by his colleague, the axe-wielding soldier awkwardly gave his response.
However, watching this exchange, Ambasha and Elkana gleaned far more information than was said.
Firstly, the soldiers’ openly wary behavior confirmed their suspicion: “Arcroyal really is…”
Secondly, judging from their reactions, it was clear that Franklin and Magellan had started to create a diversion outside.
‘It seems everything on their end is going smoothly.’
‘Now the question is, how should we move?’
With Magellan having drawn his sword and escalated the situation, it was now a race against time.
Already under significant suspicion, if it became known that Magellan was causing the commotion, they might face immediate imprisonment—if not summary execution.
Moreover, as intended, about half of the soldiers had already left the room.
With only half remaining, Elkana could handle them quickly with her skills.
Elkana, sensing it was time to act, began to subtly touch the dagger hidden in her pocket.
At that moment…
“…? What are you doing?”
Ambasha suddenly extended her hand to stop Elkana.
Then, in a small voice, she whispered something to her.
“…How about this?”
“Oh… That’s quite a clever idea. Let’s go with that.”
“Yes.”
After their brief conversation, the two women pretended to be idle, giving no indication of their plans.
To an outsider, it looked like two women casually gossiping, bored, and people-watching out of sheer disinterest.
***
“So? …Still no reaction?”
“No, sir. They’re chatting about something but seem bored now, just sitting there idly.”
“Tch… I see. Withdraw for now.”
Hearing the report, Arcroyal slightly furrowed her brow.
Despite showing an opening, they had not made any move.
Their lack of response annoyed her.
It wasn’t that she wanted them to cause trouble, but this stagnant situation was frustrating.
Of course, this wasn’t just because her tea time had been interrupted.
‘Could they really be here with no ulterior motives? No… That can’t be it. My instincts have never been wrong. They’re calm for now, but…’
Still, she couldn’t afford to act recklessly without solid evidence.
Besides, the ongoing fire in the warehouse was consuming her attention.
For now, Arcroyal decided to set aside her suspicions about them and focus on handling the warehouse situation.
“Then, send the first squad led by Grecale to eliminate the intruders immediately. Capture them alive if possible, but don’t hesitate to kill if necessary.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Second squad under Libeccio will prioritize preserving the munitions. Forget what’s already burning; stop the flames from spreading and salvage what can be saved.”
“We’ll carry out your orders, Admiral.”
“And the rest of you will stay with me to guard this place. Make sure not a single ant gets through.”
“Yes, Admiral!”
With that, Arcroyal dispatched two-thirds of her forces to the ongoing crisis.
Initially, 1,500 soldiers had been stationed to defend this area.
Now, only about 500 remained.
The defense strength had undoubtedly been weakened, but this was the best Arcroyal could do under the circumstances.
‘Honestly, I’d like to continue focusing on defending this place…’
Her instincts kept warning her.
They told her to focus more on the defense of this place rather than the warehouse district.
However, circumstances weren’t something that allowed her to move solely based on intuition.
She was Admiral Arcroyal Warspite, tasked with safeguarding all of Bennessa.
Her duty as a soldier to protect the nation, the political factors that could hold her accountable in the future,
And the moral obligation to save those who were dying even now—
All of these burdens made it impossible for her to ignore the issue at hand, even if her instincts screamed otherwise.
“Then, we’ll rearrange the remaining troops accordingly.”
With a heavy heart, Arcroyal tried to ignore the unease within her and focus on the tasks at hand.
***
Lieutenant Abruzzi of Bennessa’s navy.
Under Arcroyal’s orders, he was tasked with ‘monitoring’ in the waiting room, which made him feel rather uneasy.
‘Seriously… What the hell is this all about…’
Chaos was raging outside due to the enemy’s attack.
Yet here he was, tasked with calmly sitting and keeping an eye on a kid with barely any blood in her veins and a flat-chested woman who seemed utterly unimpressive in every way.
From the start, this assignment didn’t sit well with him.
What made it worse was the fact that, even as half of the troops in the room left to respond to the chaos outside, he was ordered to stay behind.
This left Abruzzi with an unpleasant, nagging feeling.
‘Sure, it’s the Admiral’s orders, but… Could this be a way to slight me on purpose? My performance hasn’t been great these past few weeks… Is this her way of putting me in my place…’
Though it was likely not true, Abruzzi couldn’t shake the discomfort and frustration that arose from the perception of being slighted or treated unfairly.
Feeling increasingly restless, Abruzzi paced around the waiting room in agitation.
That’s when—
“Huh?”
Something lightly tapped Abruzzi’s arm.
Turning his gaze, he saw the blonde girl—one of the targets he was supposed to monitor—looking up at him.
“…What is it?”
“Um… I need to go to the restroom… May I?”
“What?”
The girl’s unexpected request caused Abruzzi, already irritated, to frown even more.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Didn’t you hear me earlier? Sit tight here until the auction items are brought out. Just hold it.”
“B-But… I really can’t hold it anymore… I’ve been holding it in for a while now…”
“If you’ve held it this long, you can hold it longer! Shut up and stay quiet!”
Abruzzi’s irritation boiled over at the girl’s whining.
At that moment—
“Hey, you! How can you speak to her like that?”
The flat-chested woman suddenly stood up and shouted in anger.
Having kept quiet until now, she rose from her seat and approached Abruzzi.
“What now? Don’t make a fuss. Sit down and stay put.”
“What’s your problem? The kid just asked to go to the restroom! And honestly, what’s with the attitude? Do we look like criminals to you? Sure, we might be here thanks to some connections, but we’re still guests, aren’t we? Does Bennessa deny its guests the right to use the restroom?”
“I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Didn’t mean it like that, huh? Look at this guy treating us like fools just because we’ve been sitting quietly! For your information, I used to have meals with Admiral Arcroyal! We even bathed together and—uh… Anyway, we were close! And you dare talk to me like this when you’re just a grunt?”
“G-Grunt? You little—”
“What? Are you going to hit me? Go ahead, try it! I’ll make sure the Admiral hears about this and has your head on a plate!”
The woman raised her voice, furiously snapping back at him.
Already at his breaking point, Abruzzi’s temper finally exploded.
And then—
-Whack!
“Urk!”
“!”
Abruzzi, unable to control his emotions, punched her.
The impulsive punch was hard enough to send her rolling onto the floor.
“You fools still don’t understand the situation? You’re under surveillance! You’re nothing but potential criminals! How dare you—”
“Hey, Abruzzi!”
“What are you doing?! Stop causing unnecessary trouble!”
Abruzzi’s colleagues tried to restrain him as he continued shouting in anger.
At that moment—
“Sniff… Sniff…”
“Huh…?”
The sound of sobbing reached their ears.
“Waaaaah!!!”
They turned to see the blonde girl, tears streaming down her face, her lower clothes soaked.
—
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