187 – Pirate Turned Officer
Just then, a naval officer rushed into the warehouse.
“Oh, you’re here! Engineers!”
The officer announced with enthusiasm.
Upon hearing his words, Scarlett’s eyes widened. She dashed out of the warehouse in a frenzy. Mechanical engineering students were coming down from the cliff using an elevator. They all seemed frightened and were trembling with apprehension.
Scarlett visually counted the number of students on the elevator. A total of six people, including five students—Kirsten, Bill, Pavel, and Professor Gustaf.
As Scarlett ran towards the elevator, Kirsten was the first to jump off and sobbingly embraced Scarlett. “I thought I was going to die! It was scary and difficult! Being so far away, you should have told us in advance!”
Everyone seemed exhausted from hiking, and their legs were wobbly, making it hard for them to walk straight.
Scarlett smiled cheerfully. “I’m sorry. Thank you for coming, though.”
“If a friend calls you to come and you don’t, what would you do…”
While Kirsten was still crying, the elevator ascended again. It came back down with two more people on it. It was Aisha and Johnny, siblings who looked intimidating. The timid engineering students saw Aisha and Johnny’s fierce appearances and quickly stepped back.
Aisha glanced at them and then spoke to Scarlett. “I heard there’s a need for mechanical maintenance.”
Scarlett nodded vigorously at her words. “Yes, there’s a great need.”
“It’s warm here. Should we build a house from scratch?”
“I have a place to stay.”
“Will you provide food?”
“Yes.”
“Johnny, I think we made a good decision coming here.”
As Aisha spoke with enthusiasm, Johnny vigorously nodded.
Upon seeing the two, the engineering students murmured, “Pirates?”
“Not pirates, residents of the Pirate Island,” Scarlett replied.
Johnny asked, “So, we’re not pirates then?”
“Have you ever been on a ship, Johnny?”
“No. I haven’t done anything bad either!”
“Well then, you’re not.”
With a pleased expression, Johnny turned to Aisha. “Aisha, did you hear? I’m not a pirate! I’m just a resident of Pirate Island!”
“Yeah, yeah, quite impressive.”
“Aisha is also not a pirate, just a resident of the Pirate Island!”
“Not me. I killed a person.”
As Aisha showed the tattoo on her arm indicating she had killed someone, even the remaining engineering students hid behind Scarlett. Seeing all six of them huddled behind the smallest one, Scarlett felt sorry for them.
Looking at the six hiding behind Scarlett, Aisha said, “I killed one person, just one.”
Then Johnny proudly added, “It was my father.”
“So noisy, Johnny.”
“But I didn’t like my father. It’s too right that you turned out to be a bad apple.”
//’too right’ LOL
“I was bad from the start.”
“No!”
Amid their bickering, Scarlett explained the situation to them. As they listened to her explanation, the students’ faces grew even paler. In response, Johnny tried to defend his younger sister, saying, “Pirates inherit. Strong children surpass their parents! If the Navy hadn’t taken the ship, Aisha would have become the Captain of a pirate ship, right?”
Rather than serving as a defence, Johnny’s words only fueled more fear, leaving the students with haunted expressions. Worried that they had scared the students too much, Aisha and Johnny were concerned. However, one of the students, Pavel, bravely extended his hand for a handshake.
“Anyway, nice to meet you.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve always been curious about the ecology of the Pirate Island.”
“Ask away.”
As Aisha answered, the students began to approach and ask questions one by one. Seeing curiosity triumph over fear, Scarlett felt relieved. It seemed that they were going to get along fine.
As Scarlett turned around with a sense of relief, she spotted Evan standing at a distance with a proud expression several times larger than his usual. Smiling, Scarlett approached Evan and asked, “What’s with that expression, like a father sending his kid off to school for the first time?”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“Yes. Is it that kind of expression?”
At Scarlett’s words, Evan, who usually appeared nonchalant, adopted a dignified expression.
“Those kids are like sore spots. When they first appeared on their father’s ship with a white flag raised in front of the Rubied, they promised that when they arrived at the capital, they would ensure they could live like the people of Salantier. But that turned out to be impossible. Even if they claim innocence, in people’s eyes, they’re still residents of Pirate Island. Eventually, they had to enter Harold’s settlement to survive.”
“I see.”
“Seeing them so happy…”
Evan’s voice trailed off, then he chuckled and continued.
“It does feel like sending kids off to school, Miss Scarlett.”
He then tipped his hat and bowed slightly in greeting.
“Thank you for giving those kids a chance.”
I fell in love with this book when it was still ongoing and read it during COVID, anticipating each chapter’s release. I’ve been translating this book since 2020! I put a lot of time and effort over the years, hours on end manually translating and typing, and comparing with the original book so that my nuances are right, so that my translations are good (five years coming for TIDK).
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