Chapter 58: The Unpredictable Idea
The moment their eyes met, Axel and Ain both froze.
His crimson eyes were steady, sharp, and strangely oppressive, like blood soaked gems lit from within. There was no anger in them, no mockery either, only a quiet resolve that made it hard to look away.
Ain instinctively wanted to avert her gaze.
But her pride flared up before she could.
She forced herself to hold his stare and answered in a stubborn voice, "What is a pirate? A pirate is a pirate. And the Marines' job is to arrest them. That's all."
That was the answer she had always been taught.
Pirates disturbed the peace of the seas. Marines existed to stop them. It was simple. Clean. Absolute.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be.
"Do you really believe that?" Axel asked.
Ain's breath hitched.
The question slipped past the words she had prepared and struck something much deeper. For a second, uncertainty flickered across her face. But just as quickly, she buried it.
Because this was the answer she had always known.
This was what her teachers said.
This was what the books said.
This was what a proper Marine should say.
"Yes," she said again. "That's what I think."
But this time, her voice came out weaker.
And before she realized it, her eyes had started to drift away.
Axel noticed.
He lifted a hand and lightly caught her chin, forcing her to face him again.
"Say it one more time," he said evenly. "This time, say what you actually think."
Ain's heart jolted.
Fear. Unease. Resistance. Confusion.
All of it churned together.
She struggled against his hand, but Axel did not let go. His grip was not rough, but it was firm, and worse, he was looking at her as if he could see straight through every word she tried to hide behind.
"What truth is left to say?" she snapped, trying to cover the tremor in her voice. "Didn't I already answer?"
"I'm not asking for a textbook answer," Axel said. "I'm asking for yours."
His tone was calm, but that only made it harder to escape.
Ain felt cornered.
Not by force, but by something much worse.
By herself.
In the end, under those unwavering red eyes, she could no longer keep lying.
Her struggle weakened. Her lips parted. When she finally spoke, the words came out small and uncertain.
"I... don't know."
The moment she said it, the tension inside her broke.
She had followed what she was taught for so long that she had never seriously stopped to ask herself what pirates were, or what it truly meant to arrest them. She had only believed she needed to keep moving forward and become a proper Marine.
That was enough. Or at least, she had thought it was.
Axel released her.
Ain immediately turned her face away, as though even one more second of eye contact would expose too much.
Then Axel said, "You really are stupid."
Her head snapped back around.
"You're the one who told me to tell the truth, idiot!"
Her face flushed bright red. Whether it was anger, embarrassment, or both, even she probably did not know. She spun on her heel and ran off before anyone could stop her.
Binz watched her go, then looked at Axel.
He had felt the questioning was a bit harsh, but he had trusted Axel enough not to interfere. Now that it was over, he finally said, "I think you pushed her a little too hard. You should apologize to her later."
"Was I?" Axel asked.
He honestly did not think so.
What Ain had said in the past, what she had been taught to believe, all of it reminded him too much of blind obedience. He did not want her becoming the kind of person who only followed orders without ever questioning them. Not in this world.
Not with what might be waiting for her down the road.
Instead of arguing, Axel shifted his gaze to Binz.
"What about you? What do you think pirates are?"
Binz fell quiet.
After a moment, he answered carefully, "I don't really know either. Not completely. But I trust your judgment. And if what the village chief said is true, then Todd isn't a bad person. If that's the case, I don't think there's any reason to arrest him just because of the label."
As he spoke, he directed the plants to loosen around Todd.
Then he added, "What about you? What do pirates mean to you?"
Axel gave his answer without hesitation.
"By nature, pirates are plunderers. That much is true. But not every pirate is the same. Some are scum. Some are just adventurers chasing freedom."
Binz stared at him.
It was not a complicated answer, but it was completely different from anything he had been taught before. For a while, he just stood there, stunned.
Then he slowly said, "Maybe... maybe you're right."
He looked toward Todd again and returned to the important matter.
"So. Has your captain done anything strange?"
Todd was still trying to process everything that had just happened.
He had long since accepted that once someone became a pirate, that was it. No turning back. No understanding. No one would care about what you did after that. But now this Marine boy was standing in front of him, not only letting him go, but recognizing that what he had done mattered.
Todd took a breath and answered.
"I don't know everything the captain's been doing. I've been stuck on lookout duty here. But I did hear something." He paused. "He said he'd be leaving for a while soon... then coming back."
"Where did you hear that?" Axel asked at once.
Christine immediately jumped in again.
"Are you doubting Uncle Todd?"
"It's not about trust," Axel said. "Even if he means well, I still need to verify information. That's how I do things."
Christine opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again.
She could not refute that.
Todd spoke up instead. "The other pirates don't fully trust the captain either. They keep an eye on him whenever they can. That kind of thing is normal among pirates. I'm new, but because I run errands a lot, I hear more than most."
"I see." Axel nodded. "Then can you tell me exactly where the pirates are hiding?"
"Of course."
Todd reached into his clothes and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
"I drew a map. I was worried I'd get lost on the island."
Axel took it, glanced at it once, and memorized the whole thing.
Then he handed it back.
"That's enough."
Todd blinked. "That's enough?"
"It means I memorized it."
Todd just stared at him.
The route on that page was full of bends, forks, and narrow mountain paths. Yet this boy had taken it all in with one look.
Axel only smiled faintly and said nothing more.
He did not move right away.
Instead, he waited.
After a short while, Ain came back.
She had not run far after storming off. She had only hidden behind a nearby wall until she managed to calm herself down. Even now, though, she refused to meet Axel's eyes directly.
As she approached, she muttered under her breath in a tone that was obviously meant to show her displeasure, but she did not leave.
That alone was answer enough.
Axel did not tease her.
He simply said, "Get ready. We're moving."
Ain and Binz both nodded.
At that moment, Lisila stepped forward, concern written across his worn face.
"You're really going?" he asked. He had seen Todd hand over the route map, and from the direction of the conversation, he had already guessed where they intended to go.
Axel looked at him and answered plainly.
"Of course."
Then his eyes turned toward the direction of the mountain.
"We're going to arrest the pirates."
.....
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