IDHIT C5

Chapter 5

“Think it through. Escaping with us is the best option for you as well.”

“But why should I—”

“You were planning to escape anyway.”

Alexei spoke. The smile faded from Franz’s face.

“No matter how drunk they were, they wouldn’t send someone on an errand to a storage room holding hostages. And if they were drunk enough to overlook that, they wouldn’t have sent anyone to fetch food either.”

“So?”

“It’s not an order—it’s a proposal. I’ll double the reward.”

“……”

“If you can’t decide, we don’t have any other option.”

Franz glanced at the cloth Angelina was idly fidgeting with and nodded as if resigning himself.

“Fine. All right. They might not bother chasing a single hostage like me if I escaped, but if a separately confined hostage runs away, who knows how the pirates will react? It only increases the risk for me. But since you’re calling it a proposal…”

After a brief pause, Franz continued,

“I’ll accept.”

Finding somewhere to send his ransom money was easy enough. The real problem was the lifelong contract that would follow.

He couldn’t afford to be tied down to any one place.

To live quietly somewhere no one recognized him—that was the life Franz sought.

His troublesome talent was both a blessing and a curse. Whenever word spread and his name began to gain recognition, he would leave—crossing cities, crossing borders.

He might even end up stuck on this pirate ship before negotiating with a newspaper agency. Blaske, fascinated by his talent, had jokingly suggested he join the pirates. It might have been said in drunken jest, but once sober, it could easily turn into coercion.

He had to escape before that happened.

Now—while the crew were all dead drunk.

“Did you hear anything useful from the pirates?”

“Nothing but useless chatter. One thing’s certain—the ship is headed for the Tordi Empire.”

“They’re docking at the Tordi Empire?”

“I don’t know how long they’ll stay, but they’re definitely heading there.”

Alexei bit his lip hard.

They had to know about the hostility between the two nations. Then why choose that destination?

Even without Angelina, escape was inevitable.

“Let’s move.”

Franz, listening closely to the singing drifting from above, spoke quickly.

Escaping from a pirate ship in the middle of the open sea required a plan. The three of them huddled together and devised a scenario.

“I’ll keep watch. You drop the boats into the sea. If pirates come, I’ll set off a bomb to buy time. Then we board a boat and escape.”

“What’s the chance they notice from the Aurora side?”

“There’s no one guarding that side right now. I already cut all the ropes to prevent escape.”

Thinking of the passengers locked in the dining hall made Alexei’s heart heavier. But for now, they had to focus on the three of them.

“Ah, before that, gather the supplies we need. We don’t know how long we’ll drift at sea, and—”

“We’ll need weapons.”

Alexei cut in flatly.

“A toy knife like that won’t be enough to deal with pirates. You’ll need something like this.”

Franz lifted his vest slightly, revealing a hidden blade, and smiled.

“So you’re definitely not a pirate.”

“The world is full of dangers. You always need to be prepared—at least outside the imperial palace.”

“There’s meaning behind those words.”

“Exactly as you heard.”

“Where are you from?”

“Let’s save that conversation for after we escape.”

“Fine.”

While the two men locked eyes for a moment, Angelina shook out a sack leaning against the inner wall of the storage room. Vegetables tumbled across the floor.

Onions, potatoes, squash… we can’t eat these.

It has to be something we can eat without cooking.

She quickly rummaged through stacked crates. Watching her, Franz added,

“Take pots, cooking tools, and utensils too.”

“No, Angel. Extra baggage will only slow us down during the escape.”

“This isn’t an environment where we can always get what we need.”

The two men’s gazes clashed in midair.

“We’ll handle things here. Let’s each focus on our roles.”

“Very well.”

Franz smirked and stepped outside. Angelina lightly rebuked,

“What if Franz betrays us?”

“That won’t happen.”

“You always say that.”

Alexei quietly sat beside her as she busily gathered items.

“If he planned to escape, it means he had no choice. So what I’m saying is—”

“That Franz won’t betray us?”

“Yeah.”

“I know. I just said it out of frustration. You two were pointlessly sizing each other up.”

“That guy…”

“He has a way of talking that gets on your nerves.”

Angelina gathered the mouth of the sack and stood up.

“But he seemed childish. This is a crisis.”

“……”

“Let’s go. You said we need to hurry.”

Night had fallen, and everything was shrouded in darkness. The faint singing still drifted from above, but the surroundings were quiet.

The two tiptoed to another storage room—the armory.

“They’ve got everything here.”

As Angelina looked around wide-eyed, Alexei grabbed a sword and two guns. He also stuffed a lantern lying in the corner into the sack.

“What about mine?”

“It’s better not to carry a weapon you can’t use.”

She felt disappointed but had no argument. Without hesitation, Angelina turned away.

“Where to next?”

“The deck.”

They moved quietly upward. The only light in the darkness hung above them. As they climbed, the moon seemed closer. A cold wind swept through their hair.

“We’re going to drop those boats into the sea. All of them.”

“All of them?”

There were four longboats in total—two on each side.

“We have no choice if we want to avoid pursuit. We’ll cut the ropes for all but one.”

Angelina silently pushed one of the boats with all her strength. It barely budged until Alexei helped—then it slid forward and plunged into the sea.

Splash.

The sound echoed across the still night ocean.

They exchanged glances and pushed the remaining boats into the water one by one.

“I’ll cut the rope. You go down first, Angel.”

“……”

“Hurry.”

Angelina climbed over the side and stepped onto the first rung of the ladder. It wasn’t as frightening as she expected. She descended faster. Reassured, Alexei cut the rope.

Meanwhile, Franz, having gathered cannonballs and a lighter from the armory, headed straight up. The continued singing suggested the drunken party was still going strong.

He slipped into a dark cabin with beds on both sides. Grabbing a blanket sprawled across one bed, he quickly folded it.

The distant singing grew louder.

No way.

It rapidly approached. There was nowhere to hide. Franz hurriedly lay down and pulled the blanket over his head.

The door burst open, and a drunken voice rang out.

“Huh? There’s someone here?”

Just as the crewman checked the room number and stepped inside—

A signal.

The sound of the first boat dropping.

“What was that?”

As the crewman turned his head toward the door, Franz sprang up and struck him with the hilt of his blade.

No time to waste.

Franz vaulted over the unconscious man and ran to the deck. He placed a cannonball at the top of the final stairs, laid out a rope, and sprinkled gunpowder along it. One after another, the boats crashed into the sea.

Thud. Thud.

This time, it was the sound of pirates rushing in.

“That painter definitely did something.”

“We should’ve thrown him overboard earlier.”

Franz lit the rope. The flame raced along the trail of gunpowder as he ran in the opposite direction.

Boom—

The explosion rocked the ship violently.

“Hurry!”

Angelina, already seated in position, shouted.

Alexei landed in the boat, and Franz began descending the ladder. Just as he reached halfway, the crew appeared above.

“Grab him!”

At the captain’s terrifying command, the crew seized the ladder and shook it violently.

What do we do?

At this rate, all three of us will be caught.

Some of the crew tried to pull up the boat’s rope. Alexei stopped hesitating and cut it clean.

“What about Franz?”

It was better to get away from the pirate ship as fast as possible—but a promise was a promise.

Alexei waved his arm downward. After a brief hesitation, Franz let go just as the crew began pulling up the ladder.

Swallowed by the sea, Franz resurfaced moments later. Alexei stretched out his arm and tossed him an oar. Clinging to it, Franz made his way toward the boat.

Phew.

Just as Alexei let out a sigh of relief—

A bullet grazed his shoulder and struck the bow of the boat, ricocheting away.

Blaske stood aiming through a scope. Alexei frantically reached for his waist.

The pistol was gone.

It had definitely been there earlier—where did he lose it?

His vision darkened.

The gun aimed at him suddenly shifted sideways. Instinctively realizing who stood at its end, Alexei turned and shouted,

“Angel, it’s danger—”

Bang—

The gunshot shattered the silence of the night sea.