Chapter 33
The tense atmosphere dissolved in an instant.
Indeed, their mission was to ensure that the woman named Elkana and the girl named Ambasha could not leave the area.
Considering the orders allowed for forced suppression if necessary, it was clear that Arcroyal viewed these two individuals as potential threats.
However, regardless of that, they were officially “guests of Admiral Arcroyal.”
They hadn’t committed any discernible crimes, and one of them was just a young girl.
It would have been perfectly reasonable to allow such a child to use the restroom…
Unfortunately, the one she approached happened to be Abruzzi, whose temperament was far from good and had been increasingly irritable lately.
As a result, the incident spiraled out of control, culminating in Abruzzi, unable to control his foul temper, raising his voice and striking Elkana.
True, Elkana had spoken harshly, but punching someone so hard they fell to the ground and shouting about Arcroyal’s orders was a clear overstep.
Then, there was the crying Ambasha.
Unable to hold it in any longer, the little girl’s situation brought a wave of guilt to the soldiers in the room.
“Hey, kid! Stop crying! You’re giving me a headache… Guh!”
Abruzzi, still ranting, was hit on the back of the head by another navy soldier.
The one who intervened was Aquila,
And after silencing his infuriating colleague, he approached Elkana, who was clutching her face in pain, and Ambasha, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
Bowing his head deeply, he spoke as respectfully as possible.
“I sincerely apologize. My colleague acted without decorum and has committed an unforgivable offense. Please, I beg for your forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness?… You’re trying to end this with just an apology? Do you understand what’s happening right now? Ambasha and I came here trusting Arcroyal, and now we’re being treated like criminals! Why?!”
“For that, I deeply apologize… Admiral Arcroyal has been under a lot of stress lately…”
“Stress? Is that an excuse to treat her friends like this? Call Arcroyal here immediately! This matter must be resolved properly!”
“W-Well… the Admiral is currently preoccupied…”
“She has time to suspect us but can’t come to address the issue? Have we attacked anyone? Stolen anything? Tell me, what exactly did we do wrong? If we can’t participate in the auction, just say so! But instead, the Admiral promises help and then stabs us in the back?! Is this how a navy admiral should behave?”
“…”
Elkana’s words, filled with genuine anger and resentment, left the soldiers in the room speechless, their heads hung low.
This entire situation was based solely on Arcroyal’s “intuition.”
There wasn’t a shred of evidence to suggest that the two individuals before them were here with malicious intent.
Moreover, with chaos raging outside, even summoning Arcroyal wasn’t a viable option.
As Aquila and the other soldiers stood in awkward silence, unsure of what to do, Ambasha tugged at Elkana’s sleeve with teary eyes.
“S-Sis… I… I really need the restroom…”
“!… Ugh…”
Suppressing her anger, Elkana turned to the soldiers and spoke in a cold voice.
“We’re going. To the restroom. And you, take off your jacket. We need it to cover her.”
“A-All right…”
“W-We’ll go with you…”
Aquila hesitated, trying to follow Elkana out of the room.
“Why? So you can peek at a little girl changing her clothes? Adding sexual harassment to violence? Are all Bennessa navy men just violent perverts who prey on children?”
“N-No, that’s not what I—”
“Go ahead, try it! I’ll make sure to report this to Arcroyal along with Abruzzi’s stunt!”
“…Ugh…”
Faced with Elkana’s sharp retort, Aquila could only shut his mouth.
Thanks to Abruzzi’s earlier blunder, the mood and leverage had completely shifted in Elkana’s favor.
Any misstep in dealing with her now could lead to catastrophic repercussions.
In the tense silence, Elkana draped the jacket over Ambasha,
And the two left the room with icy glares, leaving the soldiers to sit in awkward silence.
***
Having successfully turned the tables and shaken off their overseers, the two quickly navigated the now-empty corridors toward the auction hall.
“You were amazing, Elkana.”
“It’s thanks to your well-thought-out plan, senior. We also got lucky that the hot-tempered jerk exploded as predicted.”
Abruzzi, in some ways, had been their biggest help.
With his sour expression and tense demeanor, it was easy to predict that he’d blow up at the slightest provocation.
Of course, it was also thanks to Elkana’s intentional goading that things played out so smoothly.
“By the way… was that really pee?”
“No, it was tea I drank earlier. Still, it feels gross, so I’ll change later.”
“Got it. For now, here.”
Before entering the auction hall, Elkana used a navy jacket to cover the wet stains.
Thanks to their earlier observations during their escort, they knew the layout well enough to avoid getting lost.
But—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“!!”
As they rounded a corner, a sharp voice stopped them in their tracks.
“Damn it…”
“She’s relentless…” Elkana muttered under her breath.
Standing before them was Arcroyal,
Flanked by ten soldiers, guarding the entrance to the auction hall.
“I distinctly told you to wait quietly, didn’t I? Coming all the way here must mean you have some urgent business.”
Despite the commotion outside, the guards were maintaining an impenetrable defense, as though they were aware that the distraction was a diversion to draw attention away.
Though there was no concrete evidence, it seemed they were relying purely on intuition.
Watching this, Elkana clicked her tongue and muttered softly.
“I’ve always suspected it, but… her instincts are truly terrifying, aren’t they?”
“And her acting skills aren’t ordinary either… To think she’d go this far…”
Ambasha shivered at the thought of how the woman who smiled so kindly yesterday could now harbor suspicions and bury them under a facade.
“Still, she didn’t used to set such dirty traps. She’s gotten a lot more insidious since becoming a naval officer.”
“Franklin was completely right about her…”
In the face of yet another obstacle, the two recalled the words of wisdom from someone they deeply respected, reminding them of the age-old lesson: always listen to your elders.
For now, they began to rack their brains on how to overcome this crisis.
***
Just as her instincts had predicted, Elkana and Ambasha appeared at the scene.
Arcroyal gazed at them with a cold smile.
“As I thought… I was right. You might have managed to evade my subordinates, but the places you’d go were obvious.”
Although their caution had delayed things, it ultimately confirmed Arcroyal’s victory.
With that thought, she prepared to issue orders to ensure the culprits behind the disturbance could not escape.
But then—
“Well, isn’t this convenient! You, the ‘busy one,’ are lounging around here?”
“Huh?”
Contrary to expectations, instead of fleeing, Elkana approached with a bold stride, exuding an air of anger rather than fear or confusion.
Unarmed, she walked right up to them, leaving not only Arcroyal but also the soldiers visibly taken aback.
Then—
-Slap!!
“!!!”
“What the—!”
The next moment, Elkana delivered a furious slap to Arcroyal’s cheek.
It was an attack, yet not quite an attack, leaving Arcroyal momentarily stunned.
“What are you doing, you fool!”
“What kind of behavior is this!”
The soldiers immediately restrained Elkana, forcing her to the ground.
However, Arcroyal, instead of the satisfaction she expected, felt only confusion at Elkana’s unexpected behavior.
“What… what is this?”
“What do you think?! You had us under surveillance because you thought we were criminals, didn’t you? That subordinate of yours, Abruzzi or whatever his name is, told me all about it while punching me in the face!”
Pointing to the bruises on her face, Elkana began her tirade, her voice filled with fury.
She recounted the events leading up to the moment, detailing how they had been treated as criminals.
Behind her, Ambasha stood teary-eyed, with her clothes still visibly soaked.
Arcroyal, now understanding the unintended consequences of Abruzzi’s actions, was momentarily at a loss for words.
“How could you do this to me, Arcroyal? I thought we were friends. Does our friendship mean so little to you? Was it ever real in the first place?”
“I… I didn’t…”
“Sniff… sniff…”
With tears flowing, Elkana accused her with fervent passion, while Ambasha’s quiet sobs added to the heavy atmosphere.
Instincts were just that—instincts.
Acting on them without evidence was always a gamble, one that carried risks akin to a bet.
And now, Arcroyal began to realize that her gamble had ended in an absolute failure.
The stakes? Her friendship with Elkana.
And the trust of a young girl who had genuinely liked her.
All of it lost to her poor judgment, leaving Arcroyal with nothing but the bitter realization of her mistake.
In such a situation, there was only one thing she could do.
To admit her fault cleanly and offer a sincere apology.
“Well… I… I’m sorr—”
At that moment—
-BOOM!!!!
“!!”
“Ahh!”
A deafening explosion and powerful tremor shook the central hall, knocking everyone off their feet.
As Elkana fell to the ground, her tear-filled performance abruptly ended as she remembered something crucial.
“Damn… time’s already…”
—
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