North x Northwest

As Lil started to run towards the boy, she turned her head to see where Courant had aimed his cannon’s muzzle.
Her chin raised up endlessly.
It didn’t stop till her gaze reached the highest deck on the Visha’s stern… where someone was sitting behind the wheel…

‘Admiral.’ 

Lil could only think of that one title.

‘This crazy bastard is trying to kill the Admiral!’

Lil rushed to the boy despite her aching legs.
In that same instant, her eyes met Alain’s, who was climbing the mast, while aiming for one of Julio’s right hand men.
As Alain was much closer to Courant than she was, Lil called out to him.

“Alain!”

When Alain noticed Courant, he threw himself as fast as he could.
As the old man’s body flew through the air, Lil lowered her eyes.
It was too late.
The flame had burned out, leaving only a single sound.
Due to Courant being pushed away by Alain, the cannon had changed course slightly, but the shell fired nonetheless…

 – Bang! –

“No…!”

Lil twisted her body following the trail of the smoke, only to find that the shell, which was much faster than her line of sight, had already struck the Visha…

***

The shell barely missed the steering wheel and dug into the railing of the stern.
The damage was minor, however, since the projectile was a filled shell, acrid smoke started to spread. 

Ed pushed off the escorting officer who had covered him.

“Admiral! Are you okay?”

The surprised officer made a fuss as soon as he saw blood flow from Ed’s stiff face. 

“Admiral! He’s bleeding!”

Hearing that, Guiadé, who managed to take cover, crawled out hurriedly.
Examining the wound, he told Ed that it opened again when he hit his forehead on the floor.
He was about to threaten it while complaining that the officer gave him extra work for no reason.
However, Ed struck the approaching hand of the doctor with the back of his hand.

As if possessed, Ed growled as he looked down at the enemy’s ship.

“Which bastard did that?”

“What?”

“It can’t be Liloa.”

“Pardon?”

“Was there a mutiny?”

“..?”

‘That’s a possibility, right? But who? Julio? Was it that new kid? If Liloa’s currently in command of the Bell Rock, there’s no way she would fire at the Navy like that…’ 

Ed recalled the order he had given to Sagastar.
He told his commodore to only capture the captain alive.

“Fuck!”

Ed stood up by pushing Guiadé on the shoulder and fumbled with his cane to stand upright.
Without delay, he ordered the officers who stayed behind with him.

“Fire only the cannons on the upper deck and aim for the mast! They’re holding hostages.
Damn it! Tell them to only aim at their mast!”

Guiadé groaned and asked where Ed was going.
But instead of answering, his admiral continued to limp down the stern stairs.

– Kung, Kung! – 

The Visha’s upper cannons were put into position…

***

Lil snatched the scruff of Alain’s neck, who had almost become one with Courant.
Her pulling force was weak, so Alain had to crawl on all fours to come along with her.
They eventually managed to drag each other behind a pile of boxes and lowered their heads.

– Boom! Boom! Boom! –

The Bell Rock was shaken by a series of heavy artillery attacks. 

Lil and Alain ducked down and covered their ears more tightly.
But because something suddenly seemed off, Lil squinted her eyes.
The moment she concluded that the floor of the upper deck was still intact, thick black smoke fell over the top of her head.

Lil instinctively raised her eyes. 

– Crrrrrkkk – 

The main mast broke with a cracking sound.
The centre of the pillar was torn open and fell completely apart.
The watchtower, descending in a semi-circular orbit, rushed toward her.
Screaming in surprise, Lil rolled over and nearly escaped. 

– Bam! –

The watchtower, which had rushed in at a high speed, smashed the boxes.

“…Aaaaahhh!..”

Lil looked at the navies coming down the crossing in a wave.
Seeing the sailors on deck drawing their swords, Lil had no time to celebrate her survival.
She turned to the stern at once.
At that moment, Julio jumped off the railing and rushed forward. 

Lil shouted in reflex.

“No! stop him!”

– – – – –

Footnote:

Cannonball or shell: we initially thought that cannonball and shell could be used interchangeably.
Now we know that a cannon can fire different projectiles (see picture below).
Cannonballs and shells are just one of many.
The traditional cannonball is a ball made of iron, whereas a shell has more the shape of a large bullet.
Those bullets were hollow and could contain an explosive, incendiary or chemical filling.