Chapter 21 — Boarding
The entire deck fell into a chilling, almost surreal silence.
Every single person stood frozen, staring at Eiger in stunned disbelief.
Had this man actually just done that?
Even the sailors of the 315th Branch—his old comrades—looked at him with a mix of awe and horror.
They weren't part of Marine Headquarters, true, but they'd all heard the name of the man before them:
Zephyr, the "Black Arm," once one of the Navy's most legendary admirals—
the man who had trained an entire generation of elites.
And now, someone had just slapped him.
Twice.
Right across the face.
In front of everyone.
That wasn't just insolence. That was sacrilege.
Even Colonel Enchi and the others stood dumbstruck.
Just moments ago, they'd believed Eiger had some clever plan in mind to save their fallen mentor—
but this?
This was his plan? To walk up and hit him?!
Ain was the first to break.
The blue-haired woman's eyes flared with righteous fury, her voice trembling with rage.
"You bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Her twin short swords were already half-drawn when Colonel Enchi darted in front of her, blocking her path.
"Wait—wait, calm down, Ain!" he said hastily, sweating as he held out both hands.
"Let's… let's just watch for a second, okay? Maybe—just maybe—this is really part of his plan."
"Move, Colonel!" Ain snarled, tears welling in her furious eyes.
"You're as bad as he is! How can you stand by and watch someone humiliate Sensei like this?!"
She turned sharply. "Binz! Why are you still standing there?! Don't let him disrespect Zephyr-sensei any further!"
"I… I…" Binz blinked, still dazed, his mind struggling to process what had just happened.
Then, as though waking from a dream, his expression hardened.
"Y-you're right! Zephyr-sensei… I—yes!" He clenched his fists, glaring daggers at Eiger.
"You bastard! How dare you—"
But before he could even finish his sentence—
Eiger sighed, shaking his head with clear disappointment as he looked down at Zephyr's motionless figure.
"That look," he said quietly, his tone flat and cutting, "is that all you've got left?
What a disappointment. To think the so-called Black Arm, the pacifist admiral who trained heroes…
was nothing but a coward after all."
Gasps broke out.
He turned his back on Zephyr, his voice as calm as ever.
"Beaten once, and you crumble. No strength to rise again, no courage to face your enemy a second time.
You're a teacher who's fallen beneath even your students.
So stay here.
Rot here—
with the only two students you have left."
"You bastard!" Ain's voice cracked, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Do you have any idea what Sensei's been through?!"
But Eiger didn't even glance her way.
He simply turned toward the stunned marines from the 315th and barked,
"Prepare to withdraw."
"Sir—what about—"
"Follow orders, sailor!" Eiger's tone was like steel. "Anyone who wants to live—on the ship. Now!"
"…Yes, sir! Lieutenant!"
The marine saluted instinctively, then bolted for the gangway, shouting at the top of his lungs,
"Turn the ship around! Prepare to depart, immediately!"
In seconds, the 315th Branch marines snapped out of their shock and rushed into motion.
Orders echoed, boots pounded against the deck, and the warship's engines began to rumble to life.
Eiger didn't look back.
He didn't need to.
He'd done what he came to do.
If Zephyr still had a spark left in him—
that spark would ignite soon enough.
Eiger had no idea how Zephyr and the others would manage to retreat safely—but frankly, he didn't care.
He had no intention of dying alongside them out of sentimentality.
Back aboard the 315th Branch's warship, Eiger immediately began barking orders.
The crew, still reeling from what they'd witnessed, moved with renewed discipline under his command.
Within moments, the ship swung around and began to accelerate away, the engine's roar cutting through the still air.
Behind them, on the ruined deck of the shattered Marine vessel, Colonel Enchi could only stare blankly as the warship sailed farther and farther into the distance.
"…Wait."
His eye twitched.
He hadn't boarded yet.
"Oi, oi, oi! I'm not on the damn ship!" he shouted, pointing furiously at the retreating vessel.
Then, as if remembering something even more absurd, he muttered,
"Wasn't I supposed to be the commanding officer of the 315th Branch?!"
The man's face darkened.
"Damn that bastard—didn't he say he was retired?! Since when does a retiree commandeer my ship!?"
He cursed a few more times, then turned—
and froze.
At some point, Zephyr had stood up.
Though the older man's face was still pale, his eyes clouded with sorrow and exhaustion,
he was standing tall again—his massive frame steady despite the missing arm.
Enchi's breath caught in his throat, emotion flooding his face as he rushed forward.
"Z–Zephyr-sensei!"
"Sensei!"
"Sensei!"
Ain and Binz hurried to his side as well.
But Zephyr shook his head, his deep voice hoarse yet commanding.
"I'm not so old that I need anyone's arm to lean on."
He tore a strip from his tattered uniform, wrapping it around the stump of his severed arm,
and looked at his three students with quiet disappointment.
"You're all still young," he said softly. "You shouldn't be throwing your lives away for an old fool like me."
"Sensei…" the three murmured at once, guilt weighing on their words.
Yet even as despair lingered in his gaze, a faint spark flickered to life.
"That brat was right," Zephyr suddenly muttered, eyes narrowing toward the distant warship.
His posture straightened, his presence hardening like iron.
Then, to everyone's surprise, he laughed—a deep, booming laugh that shook away the last of his hopelessness.
"My students aren't safe yet," he declared. "How could I wallow in self-pity while they still need me?"
"Sensei…" Enchi's voice cracked with relief.
He clenched his fists, a wide grin spreading across his face. "I'll get them to turn back right now! Don't worry—so long as this colonel's here, they won't dare sail off without us!"
Without waiting for permission, he sprinted to the ship's edge and began shouting at the top of his lungs,
"HEY! COME BACK! COME BACK, DAMN IT! ZEHPYR-SENSEI'S READY TO GO! TURN AROUND!"
He cupped his hands to his mouth, bellowing until his voice broke.
"COME BACK, YOU IDIOTS! WE'RE NOT ON THE SHIP YET!"
But no matter how loud he screamed, the warship kept moving forward.
Its sails caught the wind, its bow cutting through the waves, growing smaller and smaller on the horizon.
Enchi stood frozen, then let out a strangled yell.
"They're… they're really leaving without us?! My ship! My crew! You bastards, your commanding officer's still back here!"
"Colonel Enchi," Binz said hesitantly, pointing toward the wreckage's side.
"I think… I think I see a small boat. Over there."
The three of them turned.
Sure enough, tied to the side was a small lifeboat—clean, sturdy, and stocked with oars.
"…"
Silence.
The three exchanged deadpan stares.
"That bastard," Enchi muttered darkly, a vein bulging on his forehead.
"He definitely left that on purpose."
Zephyr, however, burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! To think the West Blue could produce such an interesting Marine."
The old man's voice carried both mirth and melancholy.
He glanced once more at the receding warship, then exhaled deeply.
"Perhaps that boy was right after all… I truly had become a coward."
He smiled faintly. "Enough standing around. Let's go. If we don't move soon, we'll really be left behind."
---
Meanwhile, aboard the 315th Branch warship—
"Lieutenant Eiger, Colonel Enchi's calling for us to turn back!"
"Ignore him," Eiger said flatly. "Keep going."
"…Understood, Lieutenant Eiger."
The helmsman hesitated a moment longer, then added,
"They… they seem to be rowing after us in a small boat, sir."
"Let them." Eiger waved dismissively.
Then, after a pause, he added quietly, "Slow the speed a little."
"Yes, sir!"
Relief flashed across the sailor's face—perhaps they wouldn't be completely abandoned after all.
Just then, another marine came sprinting across the deck, pale-faced and breathless.
"Lieutenant! Pirates ahead—enemy ship blocking our course!"
"I see it." Eiger's eyes flicked up, a sharp glint flashing through them as the wind whipped across the deck.
His tone was calm, almost bored, as he gave his next order:
"Don't stop.
Don't swerve.
Run them straight through."
"YES, SIR!"