Leave a comment

Bell Rock Translations is an affiliate, you can support them on:

“Second Lieutenant who?!”

“Commodore, please calm down!”

“Second Lieutenant Sagastar?!”

“Um… Commodore… Please calm down. Hey guys! A little help here…”

“…Aah!..”

“…Ugh…”

The non-commissioned officers that had clung to Sagastar’s waist and shoulders fell down. The large commodore swung his arm without even thinking about controlling his strength, as a result the defenceless Captain Long was pushed to the end of the drawing room and almost toppled to the floor. The captain, who isn’t easily scared, trembled like a man on the verge of death.

“Com… Commodore…”

An officer from the Southern Legardon fleet had been watching the disaster unfold and caught the stunned captain. Captain Long staggered and landed with his head on the shoulder of the officer who was just in time to support him. His eyelids fluttered in bewilderment.

“Um… Who are you?”

“I’m Sergeant Sorola, Sir.”

“Thank you…”

The captain stood in the arms of the officer who was a span shorter than himself, and trembled at the sight before him, in his eyes it looked like the world was about to end. Sagastar was enraged enough to beat the local Marchand navy with his bare fists. 

‘The reason for his rage is understandable. He missed the Admiral because those idiots from the Southern Navy didn’t conduct a proper background check. ‘Second Lieutenant Sagastar’, If only one person had suspected that strange title, we would’ve been facing the Admiral right now, who’d be stuck in jail for identity forgery and impersonation.’ 

“…Commodore! Calm down… ugh!..”

“…Victor Sa… ahhhh!..”

No matter how hard Captain Long tried, it was of no use. Sagastar’s physical strength was the strongest in the fleet. Currently, there are tons of people, including the captain, who were one by one thrown to the floor. Even if the admiral took off his rank and faced the commodore in a fair fight, it would be impossible to win with just pure strength. The captain groaned in confusion. 

‘One mad Admiral is enough for the fleet, but now even the Commodore is in a state of disarray. It’s amusing to have one, but if there are two, it’s a completely different story… The future is getting dark.’

Finally, Sagastar overcame his rage from the first ordeal, returned to his seat and sat down. His hair, which had been neatly tied at first, was messed up in a wretched look. The Captain beckoned a sergeant beside him to do something about the bird’s nest on the commodore’s head. The sergeant who received the order approached Sagastar with a comb, looking as if he was going to die. The western and southern navies gathered around the drawing room and were watching the pitiful figure. Fortunately, Sagastar returned to his senses and had his hair brushed without any fuss. Then, only after staring at the scene before him, did Lieutenant Eme start explaining in a flustered manner.

“We… we were able to decrypt the Mandus Officer code… it was the day after we found out he was an imposter.”

“Are you saying that was the best and fastest you could have done?”

“Oh no, Commodore…”

“So what else do you know?”

“The lieutenant… no, the fake *******… No, what should I call him? Do you know who the criminal is?”

“…”

At this point, Commodore Sagastar, who couldn’t reveal the admiral’s identity, stared only fiercely at the bewildered Lieutenant. His eyes lit up as if they were about to burst into flames. With his red hair and red eyes, Sagastar looked like an incarnation of the fires from hell. Lieutenant Eme quickly corrected the name after wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Anyway, he…”

“…”

“The imposter…There was an incident… He disappeared after he got caught up in a fight with some bums..”

“What did you say?!”

Sagastar, now hearing the second ordeal, slammed his fist on the desk. The Mondovi’s naval forces realised the gravity of the situation and began to move. Although there was no clear evidence that ‘second Lieutenant Sagastar’ was their admiral, they felt it in their gut. He had to be the Admiral. And his disappearance called for a response similar to their time at war. Out of Sorola’s arms, Captain Long quietly summoned his subordinates. On the other hand, the Legardon navy had no idea what was going on and were merely watching them with interest.

“A few days earlier, we received a report about a robbery case on an Erimyan farm. The witness report matched with the description of the criminals given by Sergeant Sorola. The purpose of the theft was either to prepare for a long voyage or to sell it on sea. As either option required a journey towards the ocean, we started with searching the local coasts. During the process of determining the missing person’s identity, it was discovered to be a fabrication.”

“I can’t believe you were so complacent!”

As Sagastar couldn’t stay seated any longer, he jumped up and walked around. Lieutenant Eme stopped talking because he was appalled at what he had possibly done wrong. In response, Sagastar turned around, pierced his cheek with his eyes and waved his hand to continue.

“The… The witness is here… Sergeant Sorola?”

Puzzledly, Captain Long looked down at the young navy next to him. Although the sergeant eagerly looked for help, the captain merely shook his head, patted his back and pushed him toward Sagastar. The young sergeant clenched his hat on his chest as if it were his lifeline. He opened his mouth and moistened his lips to prepare for his narration.

“The second lieutenant, I mean the fake lieutenant, was accompanied by a small merchant who looked wealthy due to his fancy clothes and accessories. They had six opponents, and from what’s been investigated so far, they weren’t from the Southern League of Pirates. Anyway, I… I saw the gang following the two of them into an alleyway, so I ran into the alley to warn the second lieutenant, but the second lieutenant threw an apple at me and it took me out…”

Sergeant Sorola closed his eyes in shame. Some of the Southern Navy officers chuckled at the content and some even burst into laughter. When giggles were heard from all over the place, Sagastar lashed out with a roar.

“Who laughed?!”

“…”

The spacious drawing room became quiet as if it had been splashed with water. Sagastar growled like a wild beast.

“Come forward!”

“…”

No one came forward.

“If you don’t come out, I will punish everyone gathered here.”

Only then did about ten men step out from the crowd. Sagastar dangerously cleared his throat and the officers immediately straightened their postures. With their chin up, legs spread and hands behind their backs.

“You have had the insolence to make a mockery out of your colleague, yet you evaded accountability. Did you let out a laugh that you couldn’t even take responsibility for? I’ve never seen such a cowardly Imperial Navy in my life. How dare you commit such an act in front of the Vice Admiral of the Empire, who commands the fleet under His Majesty’s command?! In addition, refusing to acknowledge it, is disrespectful to me and seriously undermines the dignity of the Imperial Navy. I will rule this felony with ten lashes. Lock them up immediately and execute their punishment at noon tomorrow.”

Lieutenant Eme, overwhelmed by Sagastar’s intimidation, shouted to have them drag out immediately. Meanwhile, Sagastar looked at Sorola with an unabashed face.

“Continue.”

“What? … Ahh, yes! When… When I opened my eyes, the fake lieutenant was already down. I was too far away to confirm if he was dead or alive.”

“..!”

The sound of the possible death led to whispers everywhere. The irritated Sagastar frowned and raised his hand as a signal to shut them up.

“I couldn’t check it. But his companion tried to deal with their remaining opponents.”

Sergeant Sorola kept silent about the fact that he’d fled in a daze while yelling to the others to do the same. It was a cowardly act punishable by a minimum of a hundred whips. Nervously, he swallowed his dried saliva, fearing that his lie would be discovered.

“How did you escape from that chasm? If that lieutenant collapsed during the battle, it’s clear that they weren’t some ordinary thugs.”

“I… I…”

“If you fought against them, chances are you would’ve been kidnapped, too. Did you run away from a fallen comrade?”

“W…Well, I decided I should ask for help.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I dashed there with backup troops, but there was nothing left. Fortunately, I remembered where he fell down, but there were no bloodstains there. If the imposter had won, the bodies of those 6 thugs would’ve been left in that alley, but they weren’t. Assuming that the lieutenant was captured alive, we began the search.”

Only then did Sagastar, feeling a little relieved, slowly rubbed his brows. Captain Long quickly approached him and whispered something in his ear.

“…A message for departure has been sent to the Visha. The rest of the fleet waiting in the Amiaeng will soon be in the region…”

The agonised Sagastar nodded his head without looking back to his captain. Captain Long turned to Lieutenant Eme instead of Sorola.

“Lieutenant, have you searched inside Marchand?”

“Yes, however the search ended on the third day. So, we put the ships that departed within those three days from the incident on the suspect list and searched the coast. For security reasons, Marchand’s pilots record the appearance and characteristics of the ships going into and out of the port in detail. I note that over a hundred sailing ships left Marchand in those three days, but if we analyse it more closely…”

“That’s enough. We’ll read those details in the report.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Sagastar, who had been listening quietly, abruptly crossed the drawing room and approached the window. All eyes in the room followed him. Sagastar came to a halt in front of the recording officer, who was meticulously recording the situation from his desk by the window. Startled by the shadow cast on the paper, the recording officer stood up. Sagastar took a new piece of paper out of the stack on the corner of the desk and handed it to him.

“Write this down.”

“Yes, Commodore.”