I Won’t Let the Execution Battalion Die, ~Even If the Empire Falls, We Want to Survive~ - Chapter 32: A Dangerous Woman ⑤

Admiral Telzen’s seamen had gathered on the beach with pale faces.

“Is it true that a boat was found at the eastern rocks!?”

“Yeah, nobody was in it but it was moored. The guy from the watch post found it by chance when he took a detour on his way back from changing shifts.”

Being moored meant people had been aboard.

“There’s no way any of us were using it for night fishing, right?”

“How the hell would we know something like that?”

Then a veteran NCO shouted angrily:

“If you can’t confirm that, then move assuming there were intruders! Hey you, report to the Admiral! Everyone else, take your guns and go on high alert! Don’t forget the lanterns!”

“Yes sir!”

Since everyone understood this was a secret base, their response was swift.

Fearing infiltration from the sea, fires were lit one after another on the beach’s beacon stands.

But the anomaly started here.

“The Admiral isn’t here!”

When the seaman who’d run to the officers’ quarters returned in panic, the NCO shouted:

“The Admiral should be at the workshop or officers’ quarters!”

“He apparently gave some orders at the workshop then returned to quarters, but the sentry at the entrance says he didn’t see him leave!”

“Then he must be somewhere in the quarters! Split up and search!”

The NCO shouted, then continued:

“Report to the ship of the line’s captain too! Have him take temporary command if necessary!”

There were several officers on this island. Only two held command authority: the Admiral and the ship of the line’s captain. The rest were adjutants and staff officers without troop command authority.

Another seaman came running up.

“Terrible news! There’s a traitor among the seamen! Everyone’s talking about it!”

“That can’t be, you fool!”

The NCO roared.

“That’s enemy disinformation! Stick to squad-level operations!”

It seemed certain that enemies had infiltrated.

The seamen stationed here should be trustworthy, but there were still several newcomers. When asked if everyone could be completely trusted, even the NCO lacked confidence.

“More importantly, hasn’t the Admiral been found yet!?”

Someone shouted from beyond the beacon fire.

“The bandits took the blueprints and escaped to sea! Get them back!”

*****

“What complete chaos.”

We were hiding on the mountain slope overlooking the bay, carefully observing the seamen’s movements.

The seamen were moving in squad units, but they all carried multiple lanterns. This made their movements clearly visible even to night vision.

Second Lieutenant Crimine muttered:

“They’re searching the bay.”

“I shouted earlier. The officers know about the shell blueprints, so they’ll definitely assign people to that too.”

I opened the fan and fluttered it. This was the fan I’d given to Admiral Telzen, but since we’d eliminated him, the fan had returned to my hands. Meaning the shell blueprints had also disappeared.

“The seamen who have to search for the Admiral, blueprints, and intruders—three things—are pitiful. They also have to watch the rocks where we moored our boat.”

The seamen on this island numbered somewhere between a hundred and two hundred. Most were crew from the ship of the line.

If they deployed seamen for a large-scale search, the ship of the line couldn’t move.

But they couldn’t leave the ship of the line empty either. Since enemies had infiltrated from outside, the ship of the line was the key to defense. There was also the possibility of setting sail and conducting artillery battles on the open sea.

Captain Yugi sighed lightly:

“Because they were greedy for this and that, they’ve spread personnel thin and wide. The surveillance net has quite large gaps.”

“So we can go for boat recovery too?”

Second Lieutenant Crimine asked happily, but Captain Yugi shook her head:

“If boat recovery takes time, there’s danger of being surrounded at the rocks. And if the boat has been confiscated or destroyed, it would be a wasted effort.”

“That’s true too…”

Right. Since the boat might not still be there, heading to the rocks would be a gamble.

But we’d already repeated quite dangerous gambles up to this point, so I didn’t want to make any more bets. We should be able to manage with the chips we’d earned from previous gambles.

Second Lieutenant Crimine raised her hand:

“While the enemy’s attention is focused on the bay, how about setting fire to the buildings? Then people would gather on the land side again, making it easier to steal boats.”

Fitting her codename ‘Baker,’ she was proposing an operation using fire.

I smiled at Second Lieutenant Crimine:

“Good idea, but wouldn’t you rather burn something more spectacular?”

“Huh?”

******

The ship of the line “Sarakadeen,” belonging to the Southern Fleet.

This ship, bearing the name of a southern sea monster, had originally been an armed merchant vessel. Therefore it had the functions of a trading ship and was fast with high cargo capacity. In exchange, defensive capability against artillery was sacrificed.

It had also been Admiral Telzen’s prohibited drug smuggling ship.

Sarakadeen’s captain was now at his wit’s end.

“They said it was the Admiral’s message, so I met with them, but it’s just a foreign girl. Wait, were there two brought here?”

The captain hadn’t moved from Sarakadeen, so he didn’t know tonight’s details.

Regardless, a beauty in Shao-style dress was rattling off something in fluent Shao.

“Wushenma? Hanyun, qiliang. Maofanliwei!”

“Hey, what’s this one saying? You were a Shao slave, right?”

Standing nearby was a girl who looked Imperial.

However, the girl shook her head:

“I don’t understand. This girl’s accent is too strong.”

“Shao has accents too?”

“Of course it does.”

The girl answered with a straight face. Despite supposedly seeking protection, she seemed somewhat arrogant. Quite difficult to deal with.

The captain stroked his beard and sighed:

“Well, fine. So where is the Admiral? Everyone’s making a big fuss because he’s nowhere to be seen.”

The girl looked troubled:

“The Admiral just suddenly told us to go to the warship, so I don’t understand the situation at all. After that, we acted separately from the Admiral.”

“That makes sense. There’s no way he’d give important messages to you who just arrived today. He wouldn’t tell you his whereabouts either…”

The captain was conversely convinced by getting no information and nodded lightly.

“Well, it’s fine. I don’t mind putting you on the ship, but you’re not carrying weapons, right? Non-crew members are forbidden from being armed.”

“As you can see.”

“Yeah, well… that’s right.”

The Shao-style dress emphasized body lines and didn’t look like it could hide weapons anywhere. The girl was also wearing only a blouse without a jacket, with trousers on the bottom.

“That girl there, just check her boots and pockets. The rest… well, fine.”

The captain decided to settle for a simple body search. He was afraid of touching the Admiral’s woman too much and being reprimanded later.

“Guide these women to the hold… no, that would be bad. Show them to an empty cabin. Lock it, just in case.”

Then the girl pleaded:

“Excuse me, could I have a glass of water?”

“Understood, understood. I’ll have some brought later.”

He waved them away and left it to the seamen.

Meanwhile, there seemed to be movement outside. Several boats had gone out into the bay, illuminating the water surface with torches and lanterns. They appeared to be searching for something.

“Hey, don’t let those guys near the ship. The lights reflecting off the water are so bright I can’t see anything.”

Then a messenger came running:

“There’s information that intruders escaped into the bay, and cooperation is requested from this ship.”

“A request? So it’s not the Admiral but a staff officer or adjutant?”

“Yes, the staff officer is acting in command.”

The staff officers and adjutants who were the Admiral’s aides had no command authority. But if the Admiral was in hiding, they should cooperate here or it would be problematic. If reported as doing nothing, he might be dismissed.

“No choice. Move the ship to the bay entrance and blockade it. But tell them if anything happens, they’ll take responsibility. Hey, call back the crew members nearby! Once we have minimum numbers, weigh anchor!”

With two female passengers aboard, the ship of the line Sarakadeen swelled its sails and slowly began to move.