Book 13: Chapter 20
Lucia panted as she looked at the corpses lying next to her. She leaned on Nier’s back with her dagger in her grip. In a loud voice, she exclaimed, “What are these things?!”
Nier watched her surroundings vigilantly. The two of them were standing on the tilted ship. Next to them were wet corpses. Specifically, they were the dead people washed up to the boat. Fortunately, they were no different to human beings and were no match for Lucia and Nier. However, they dealt a big mental blow to Lucia, because she worried His Highness would be among them; hence, she didn’t dare to strike them down. Nier was initially afraid of causing accidental injuries, but the two of them were soon pushed to the edge. As a consequence, they had no choice, but to cut their attackers down.
Their initial thought was, “His Highness wouldn’t attack us even if he turned into one of them.” Alas, they ended up cutting down dozens of people. The fortunate part was that, while the ship had been flipped into the water, it hadn’t completely sunk. The two of them lived on the tilted ship the last few days, albeit it being a struggle. There was still a fair bit of food remaining on the ship. At night, they slept holding each other in order to keep each other safe as well as keeping warm.
Lucia’s combat skills were very poor late at night. She, therefore, had to rely on Nier to protect her. Their roles were reversed during the day, with Nier resting and Lucia taking responsibility for keeping them safe. The two girls in a relationship akin to fire and water demonstrated impressive chemistry and unity when they were faced with the perilous predicament. Although they never spoke much, the two of them displayed close friendship and unspoken understanding.
Nier lowered her sword and replied, “We don’t need to concern ourselves with what they are. That said, I’m getting sick of them raiding us every night. They’re definitely not from the surface. It might be an issue with the ocean water. They only turned after they drowned.”
“Don’t blame it on the ocean water! Did you forget that we swam in the water?!”
“Okay, okay, it’s not the water,” responded Nier, as she scratched her head. “That means they turned into this state after they drowned. Lucia, we’ve killed a good number, haven’t we? Have you seen His Majesty?”
“No. His Highness’s clothes shouldn’t change. I haven’t seen anybody who resembles him among the ones I’ve killed, either. I’ve always been by His Highness’s side, so I’m familiar with every part of his body. It’s impossible for me to misjudge.”
“Same with me. In other words, His Majesty is all right; he’s definitely still alive despite whatever happened to him,” stated Nier, sheathing her sword. “His Majesty is still alive; that’s good news. We just need to wait for the rescue fleet to arrive, and then search for him. My concern is how much he is suffering right now. He must be alone on some desolate island or floating on a plank somewhere, starving and freezing…”