Chapter 56: The Covered-Up Facts
Creak.
The old wooden door slowly opened, giving off a dry, grating groan.
An old man stepped out.
He wore ragged clothes, and his body was so thin it looked as though a strong wind might knock him over. His skin had the lifeless gray of someone who had gone too long without proper food, his cheeks were hollow, and even the way he stood seemed drained of strength.
The moment Axel saw him, the thought that he might be a pirate vanished.
A man in that condition did not look like someone who had taken over a village by force.
Even so, Axel did not lower his guard. He gave no signal for Ain and Binz to come out. The two of them remained hidden in the dark, ready to move at any moment.
After stepping outside, the old man looked around, clearly searching for the person who had spoken. It did not take him long to notice Axel.
He studied him for a few moments, then the tension in his face eased, replaced by relief.
Axel was wearing a Marine uniform. Even on a remote island like this one, that symbol still meant something. More importantly, Axel did not look like a vicious pirate. He was far too young, and whatever else could be said about that pale face and those red eyes, cruelty was not the first thing they suggested.
Just then, the door behind the old man burst open with a bang.
A young girl rushed out, shouting as she ran.
"What are you going to do to Grandpa Lisila?!"
She looked to be about Axel's age. Her skin was sun-browned, healthy in color despite the hardship here. A few freckles dotted her face. Her looks were ordinary, but the fire in her eyes was not. She clutched a wood-chopping knife with both hands, holding it like it was the only thing standing between them and disaster.
But her trembling arms and tightly shut eyes exposed the truth.
She was terrified.
"Don't be afraid, Christine. I'm fine," the old man said gently. "He doesn't seem like a bad person."
He slowly lowered the knife in her hand. Letting a child stand there with a blade was too cruel, and he clearly did not want her carrying that burden any longer.
Christine reluctantly obeyed. After putting the knife down, she retreated behind his legs and peeked out at Axel.
White hair.
Pale skin.
Red eyes that looked like they should belong to some demon king in a story.
And yet... she did not find him frightening. If anything, there was something strangely eye-catching about him. He looked about her age, maybe a little older.
After staring for a while, she cautiously asked, "What's your name, big sister?"
"...I'm a boy," Axel said through clenched teeth.
Hidden nearby, Ain heard that and nearly laughed. Binz, on the other hand, thought it was perfectly understandable. He had made the same mistake before.
Christine blinked, then puffed out her cheeks instead of apologizing.
"That's so unfair," she muttered. "You look like that on purpose."
Then she hid completely behind Lisila again.
Unfortunately, the old man was so thin that his legs could not cover her properly. Her little face still peeked out from behind him every few moments.
Lisila patted her on the head before turning back to Axel.
"Sorry. She wasn't like this before."
"It's fine," Axel said.
He had no interest in arguing with a child. Since the old man had apologized, he let it go.
The old man gave a small nod and finally introduced himself.
"My name is Lisila. I'm the village chief here. And you are...?"
"My name is Axel." He paused, then added, "I'm... with the Marines, I guess."
That was the easiest way to calm the old man. In most people's eyes, the Marines still represented justice.
"The Marines?" Lisila's tone changed at once. "Then... then there are Marines nearby? You didn't come here alone, did you?"
The urgency in his voice was impossible to miss.
Though he was only the chief of a small village, he clearly was not foolish. Axel's clothes were neat, his condition far too clean for someone who had washed ashore by accident. It was obvious he had come here with a warship.
"Yes," Axel said.
Strictly speaking, they had come for training. But knowing Zephyr, if civilians were involved, they would not simply pretend not to see it.
Hearing that answer, Lisila visibly relaxed.
"Forgive me for being so hasty," he said. "But the food in the cellar is almost gone, and the pirates may come back at any time, so..."
He trailed off, but Axel's eyes had already narrowed.
Something about that did not add up.
"The food is almost gone?" Axel asked. "Then why did I find bread and flour in one of the houses?"
If what Lisila said was true, then every bit of food should have been treated like treasure. No one would leave bread lying around, much less flour that had not even been processed yet. Leaving those things in plain sight was no different from telling others that someone was still living here.
"I took them out."
Christine answered before Lisila could.
Her little face was tense, but her voice was strangely firm.
"After I noticed the movement outside, I didn't have time to put them away."
Axel caught the key word immediately.
"Noticed the movement?"
"Yes," Christine said, lifting her chin. "I noticed it."
From the forest, Ain and Binz both caught the problem at once.
Axel had erased all sound when he entered the village. Ordinary people should not have noticed anything at all.
Was the girl a Devil Fruit user?
Did she possess Observation Haki?
Or was there something else strange about her?
Axel did not believe any of those possibilities.
From the way she had spoken earlier, it was obvious she knew very little about the outside world. Nothing about her suggested someone special enough to have awakened Haki. As for a Devil Fruit, that was even less likely.
Which meant there was only one explanation left.
She was lying.
Still, Axel did not expose her directly. He simply kept pressing.
"How did you notice it?"
Christine answered without hesitation.
"I heard it, of course."
Now even Ain and Binz were certain something was wrong.
Axel remained quiet for a moment, piecing things together.
From their reactions, from their clothes, from the state of the village, he could tell these people really were villagers. So why were they lying?
His gaze flicked back toward the house where he had found food.
Only one house had signs of recent use.
If that house belonged to someone different from the others, then the reason became obvious.
Someone was hiding here.
Someone the villagers did not want the Marines to find.
And if they were this desperate to cover for that person, then it was very likely that person was a pirate.
To villagers, pirates and Marines were two entirely different worlds. If the Marines discovered a pirate hiding among them, they would arrest him without question. And yet the villagers were still protecting him.
Which meant that pirate had probably helped them somehow.
"Young man."
Lisila's voice cut into Axel's thoughts.
"Can you contact your warship as soon as possible? We need help. Urgently."
The anxiety in his tone was real. Axel could hear that much.
"Alright," Axel said. "I'll head back to the shore and inform them right away. For now, stay in the cellar and don't come out."
Lisila let out a breath, as though a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
"Thank you."
He took Christine by the hand, led her back inside, and slowly shut the door.
.....
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