Putting The Pieces Together

The next day.

Today, the murderer didn't attack.

"Do you think they stopped for good?"

"Maybe."

"Do you think they're preparing for another attack right now?"

"Maybe."

"Do you-"

"Stop, Allen, this master carpenter is a broken machine, I tell you."

Again, Lanner, Allen, and Syllian sat in the food hall.

Everyone around them ate with distaste scribbled over their faces, knowing that someone was sitting in the stoves used to cook their food was nauseating.

Tragically, that same stove was now cleaned and used for cooking again.

"Should I ask you instead?"

"Never mind, continue asking the broken machine."

Allen and Lanner shook hands across the table.

"Do you think-"

"Seriously, stop..."

Syllian was getting beyond annoyed by their antics.

First, he was double-teamed by a little girl and an older male.

Now he was getting double-teamed by two identical-looking kids.

"Tell me what you think then, Lanner already said he thinks the Captain dealt with it, so what about you?"

"I think you should eat your food first."

Allen flinched, glimpsed at the abysmal food, then pushed the remainder to Syllian.

"Ah... No thank you..."

Syllian raised an eyebrow at his action, "You sure?"

"100."

"What about you, Lanner?"

Lanner quietly passed his tray over to Syllian, not even bothering to hide his disgust for both the food and Syllian.

"Thanks!"

-----

Walking around beneath the storm, as usual, Syllian brought together the pieces in his mind.

And the pieces...

'This is a mess.'

He couldn't fit it into one seamless painting.

Knowledge of the slum shits was one thing and knowledge of the crew of a ship he knew the absolute minimum about was something entirely separate.

So many things could go wrong and Syllian had no fix for the issues.

His lack of knowledge was kicking him from behind again.

"Knowledge. God damn knowledge."

First, it was the lack of knowledge about the functions of a ship, lack of capabilities to lead others, and lack of strength.

Now it was the lack of information on the people of the ship.

He was lacking in all regards.

He knew who hung out with whom, he knew who worked the cafeteria, who was tasked with cleaning duties regularly, who was tasked with repairs, and who was tasked with draining the constant flooding rainwater.

But it was all superficial knowledge.

He didn't know them as real people.

Not enough to shift the situation to his advantage.

Nor enough to manipulate them...

Laying his back on the stern of the ship, he stared at the helm, where the Captain had been standing just 2 days ago.

Syllian raised his left arm and looked at the slight protrusion hidden beneath his sleeve.

'But, just like how I lack knowledge-'

So did they.

This day was proof.

Killing that centipede wasn't a mindless gamble.

If they were connected to it and could see through it, then he was busted either way.

However, by testing the weakness of the thing, he would have a fighting chance if it attacked him right after.

But it didn't.

Meaning one of two things.

Either it knew who he was, and was biding its time for the perfect assault.

'...Or it doesn't, and is being extremely cautious by not allowing any more of those plague-spreading centipedes to roam around.'

If it didn't, it meant it had to be wary of everyone on the ship and meticulously lure out and eliminate the threat.

It definitely knew that it wasn't the Captain though, that was guaranteed.

'Because the Captain would have obliterated it by now.'

Oh, that was the thing.

Syllian completely eliminated the Captain from the list of infected enemies.

Because if he was infected, then it was doomed no matter what he tried.

"So now what..."

"Now what?"

A voice came from behind him.

"AH-!" Twisting around, the eyes of Helen stood just centimetres away from his face.

"S-since when were you there?!"

"From the beginning, you bumbling, stick-like, idiot."

Lying down slightly above him, she hid in an obsolete corner. It was almost impossible to see her even when lightning struck.

"Why are you here anyway?" Calming his jumping heart, he made himself sound as casual as possible.

"Am I not allowed?"

"I just wanted to know why?" Shrugging her sharp comment off, he didn't let her avoid his question.

"Because I like it." Completing the habitual clicking of her teeth, Helen lowered her legs and slipped off the little ledge she was sitting on.

Patting down her wet clothing like a royal disdaining even a speck of dust, Helen crossed her arms and looked up at him.

"Acting cool when you're wearing the clothes of a peasant?" Pointing at her warm-looking coat that wrapped around her body like a robe, he purposefully aimed for the little gap that revealed the tattered dress beneath.

"At least I'm not an actual peasant, unlike a certain idiotic stick."

Sighing, Syllian couldn't even bother continuing the conversation, it was getting old.

'I thought I was petty, then there's her. How did the Captain fail at raising his daughter so badly?'

Taking a look at her drenched body, he also wondered how she didn't have a cold by now.

But, to be fair, everyone here seemed to have a built-in titanium immune system.

Even odder were his lungs, he usually had a terrible cough, but it had practically disappeared over the past 2 days.

Unless it was a gift of the Net of Ruin, then this place must have a lot more to it than could be seen by the naked eye.

The rain?

The food?

The clean water?

Maybe it was some magic used by the Captain?

'Bah, whatever.'

He wasn't here to have a vacation, he was here to survive the Trial of Ruin.

No point in thinking too hard.

"You fucking pervert, where are you staring at?!" A pissed voice woke him up.

'Huh, staring...?'

Oh...

Shit.

He started daydreaming again, and his eyes were dazedly staring at the wrong location.

"Wait, I wasn't looking at anything, don't accuse me like that! I'm not a weirdo!"

Stepping away from the angered girl, Syllian staggered so far back that his spine rested on the fence of the stern.

But the girl was seriously pissed, understandably so.

Syllian had plenty of bad habits, combined with his non-existent tact for others; his condescending tone, and his hypocrisy...

And you could envision many similar scenarios that had actually occurred in the past.

Hence his extreme isolation.

However...

The attack he was expecting to face never arrived.

At some point, the girl disappeared.

'Huh?'

"Gone? Just like that?"

Syllian's emotions went through multiple upheavals just for nothing to happen.

"...My lucky day?"

Apparently gloating brought Syllian misfortune.

Thud.

A terribly dense footstep came from the stairs leading up to the stern.

Thud.

With a cloth tied around his eye, and a red, long coat covering him that was complemented by his blood-drenched pants.

The Captain.

He stepped past Syllian sternly, grasped the helm of the ship, opened his mouth, sucked in one deep breath...

"MEN! Lower the sails!"

Falling water droplets rippled from the echo, and the men on the main deck, and those below were all stunned for a few seconds.

"Roger!"

A harmonious bellow reverberated from every corner of The Adler.

Syllian, who stood the closest to the Captain felt his eardrums ring violently, throwing his world upside down for a solid 10 seconds before the life returned to his eyes.

'Damn!'

Clutching his head, he felt the Captain's eyes land on him for a second.

"What are you doing, go!"

Nodding with one hand still on his head, Syllian stumbled down in a bumbling mess.

Life sprung up from the main deck, a multitude of men running about with fervent gazes. They were prepared to follow the Captain's order to death if need be.

At some point, Allen ran up beside Syllian and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Come on! Let's go!"

Allen had to shout to get his message across as the entire deck was flooded with noise at the moment.

Syllian decided to follow Allen for now and was led to one of the lines connected to the sails.

Right now Syllian just had one question on his mind.

'Why lower the sails all of a sudden?'

There had to be an important reason, but just what was it for the Captain to be so urgent with his order?

At some point Syllian already reached the point where one of the lines was anchored, all they had to was unfurl it.

Raising the thing had been such a struggle, and now they were about to undo the entire struggle in one brief movement.

Fwoosh!

The sails dropped down, fluttering like crazy in the tempest winds but stable enough not to topple the ship.

Standing back, the men looked to their Captain, awaiting their next order.

This order, though, they would not need.

Crackle...

BOOM!

A thunderbolt clapped down from the skies, not just one though, a dozen, then fifty...

Hundred...

Thousands.

Repeatedly shattering the night sky with their bold and graceful bodies.

Beneath this sight was the source of the Captain's worry.

Limitless volumes of dark water rushed in neverending tides of mania. Each section of water crashed, merged, shattered, and then collided again.

In one.

Vast.

Endless.

Whirlpool.

Swirling at the centre of the ocean, pulling everything into its irresistible eye.

The Captain opened his mouth, prepared to shout his next order.

But everyone had already moved, grabbing onto anything they could find, ready to hold on for dear life.

"BRACE!"

Syllian, on the other hand, watched them in a stupid daze.

'W-what?! What do you mean brace?!'

Syllian turned to Allen who was holding onto the barrier near them with a grave look in his eye, "Allen! Shouldn't we go in?!"

Allen didn't glance back but responded with:

"Sure! But if we go in! Who takes care of The Adler?!"

Syllian hated it, but he was right. Just like the night when he arrived, the crew were necessary to keep the ship alive and functioning.

If they hid like turtles, then they would die like turtles.

'Turtles, I've never seen one.'

"So what do we do!"

Allen grimaced as he shouted, "Just fucking brace!"

Syllian bit his lips, watching as the boat approached the whirlpool with lightning continuously striking down on the waters.

The scene looked straight from a fairy tale.

And they were heading into the heart of this fairy tale.

Right before The Adler entered the range of the whirlpool, the Captain pulled the helm to the limit, turning the ship with brutal force.

Everyone on the port-side slammed into the barriers, their guts practically imploding from the force of the ship.

"Agh!" Syllian's eyes strained from the intense pain, but his wound remained shut.

Some members on the other side lost their grip, slipping across the deck directly towards the rest of them.

"Hold steady Finch!" Allen noticed the issue just as quickly as Syllian did.

Narrowing his eyes, Syllian cursed this retched Trial a thousand times over.

'At least the pieces are somewhat aligned now.'

Even amidst the madness, Syllian didn't stop searching for a way through the Trials.

And finally.

He found it.