Chapter 136: Searching for Tom
The room was simple, almost austere, but it carried a quiet authority.
Aside from a few essential furnishings, every available space was buried beneath stacks of documents. An elderly man with a long beard sat behind the desk, calmly reading through the papers before him.
Then the door flew open.
A Marine officer rushed inside, breathless.
"Judge! Judge!"
The old judge lifted his eyes from the documents. He closed them again for a moment, as if suppressing the urge to reprimand the man immediately.
Only after regaining his composure did he ask, "Why are you panicking aboard a judicial ship?"
The officer straightened quickly.
"Captain Axel, who came to report to the Marines, has gone missing."
"Missing?"
The judge murmured the word.
The judicial ship was currently sailing across open waters. If someone had disappeared here, then either they had left the ship deliberately… or they had fallen into the sea.
After a brief pause, the judge said, "He was never under our jurisdiction to begin with. His assignment is to oversee matters related to the Sea Train and Water 7's trade network. Since he has no further business with us, let him go."
The Marine officer hesitated.
"Yes, but… is it possible he accidentally fell into the sea?"
That was what worried him most.
The ship was surrounded on all sides by ocean. How could a child simply vanish from the vessel?
"Don't worry," the judge said calmly. "I have a decent eye for people."
The officer looked baffled.
The judge did not explain.
"Go. And do not panic like this next time."
"Yes, sir."
The Marine officer saluted and withdrew.
Once the room became quiet again, the judge lowered his gaze to the documents in front of him.
As one of the few people who knew the truth behind the recent incident, he naturally did not believe Axel had simply fallen into the sea.
At first, he had intended to reprimand that audacious young man.
But the moment he saw those eyes, he abandoned the idea.
Those red eyes possessed a strange, piercing force. The instant the judge looked into them, memories rose from the depths of his mind—cases from over the years, judgments he had made against his conscience, verdicts he had delivered even while knowing the truth was not on his side.
The old judge sighed softly.
"Perhaps…"
His voice faded into the quiet room.
"Perhaps I should consider retirement."
…
Blue Station.
It was a newly established Sea Train station, but it was already bustling with life.
Every day, countless people boarded from here to travel to nearby islands for trade, negotiations, and work. The convenience of the Sea Train drew in more and more passengers, and with every passing day, it pushed Water 7 further back toward prosperity.
The tracks running across the sea could almost be called the lifeline of Water 7.
Woo! Woo!
A whistle sounded.
The Sea Train slowly pulled into the station, steam rolling along the platform. Once it came to a stop, the doors opened, and a dense crowd of passengers poured out.
Among them, a particularly eye-catching figure leaped lightly down from the train.
White hair.
A wooden sword.
It was Axel.
The boy who should have been aboard the judicial ship had somehow appeared in Water 7 by Sea Train instead.
Axel stretched his limbs.
He did not fear transportation, nor did he get seasick, but sitting still for so long made him restless.
After entering the station, he saw a lively crowd moving in all directions. People carrying goods traveled between the train and the waterways. The cargo was loaded onto small boats pulled by creatures known locally as Yagara Bulls.
Water 7 was a city built on the sea.
In a way, it resembled Venice from his previous world. Here, Yagara Bulls were the most common means of transportation. They could take people almost anywhere in the city. Strong, steady, and reliable, they were even used for moving heavy loads. Naturally, the locals loved them.
Axel chose a direction and walked toward the rental area.
The man in charge of renting out Yagara Bulls spotted him approaching and smiled.
"Little brother, looking to rent a Yagara?"
Axel had bought a hat on the island where he landed earlier, using it to shade part of his face. He was worried about being mistaken for a girl again. Fortunately, his body had grown sturdier after training, and he was dressed in men's clothes, so the shopkeeper did not misunderstand.
"Yes," Axel said.
"We have Agara, Rabuka, and King Yagara Bulls here. How many people are riding?"
"One."
"Then I recommend an Agara. It's—huh?"
The shopkeeper paused and looked at him again.
"One person? Where's your family?"
Axel tilted his head.
"Is bringing family a requirement for renting a Yagara?"
"No, not exactly." The shopkeeper scratched his cheek. "But even though the Yagara have safety measures, it's still dangerous for a child to ride alone. I don't recommend it. Your parents would probably be worried too."
He looked Axel over.
The boy's clothing and fair skin made it obvious that he came from a well-off background. If something happened to a child like this, the shopkeeper did not want to be held responsible.
"I came alone," Axel said. "And on this island, I'll need a Yagara either way."
The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then sighed.
"That's true. Fine, but if anything happens, I'm not responsible. You'll need to sign a waiver first."
Axel did not refuse.
He wrote what the shopkeeper requested and handed it over.
"The rental fee is one thousand Berries," the shopkeeper said.
Axel took out a ten-thousand-Berry note and passed it to him.
Then he asked, "Where is Mr. Tom?"
"Mr. Tom?"
The shopkeeper's eyes brightened as he counted the change.
"You mean Mr. Tom of the Sea Train? He's a great man. Thanks to him, this city was able to recover. He's on Scrap Island right now. Many people in town want to welcome him back properly, but for some reason, he refuses to leave that place."
"Where is Scrap Island?"
The shopkeeper froze.
"You're not going there, are you? Scrap Island itself isn't too dangerous, but the waters around it are. Sea Kings appear there from time to time. You know what Sea Kings are, right? Monsters big enough to eat ships."
"I'm looking for Mr. Tom," Axel said.
The shopkeeper studied him for a moment, then helplessly pulled out a folded map.
"Well, if you insist, I suggest buying a map and entering Scrap Island from the inner route. It'll be safer that way. The map isn't expensive. I'll give you a discount—five hundred Berries."
Axel thought about it.
Having a map would indeed be more convenient.
"Okay."
The shopkeeper gave him his change and the map, then had an employee bring a small boat to a nearby bay. Soon after, a Yagara Bull surfaced and positioned itself to pull the craft.
Axel stepped onto the boat and sat down.
He opened the map, glanced over it once, memorized the route, then casually tossed it aside.
He had two purposes in coming to Water 7.
The first was to find Tom and fulfill the promise he had made to Theodore.
The second was work.
His assignment involved the Sea Train and the trade network between Water 7 and the connected islands. Before making any adjustments, he needed to understand the current market situation for himself.
That was his way of doing things.
If he was going to take responsibility for something, then he would do it properly.
Compared to going straight to the Marine base and listening to reports filled with omissions, errors, and local bias, seeing things with his own eyes was far more efficient.
His brain, after all, was no less capable than any machine now.
Guiding the Yagara, Axel traveled through Water 7.
His first destination was Scrap Island.
Rather than cutting through the city's inner waterways, he circled along the outer perimeter before finally reaching the place marked on the map.
This was the second junkyard Axel had ever visited.
The first had been the waste terminal in the Goa Kingdom.
But compared to that place, Scrap Island felt different.
There were no crowds of the desperate and abandoned clawing through garbage for survival. No sea of human misery piled on top of discarded waste.
Here, it seemed that only Tom and his crew lived among the refuse.
And most of the junk scattered around was related to ships.
Broken hulls.
Old anchors.
Rusted chains.
Discarded beams.
Half-rotted masts.
The air smelled of salt, iron, and old wood.
.....
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