Ever since Ahab tossed out an offer to board that sounded like she didn't mean it at all, the atmosphere had settled into a lull.
It was a time for everyone to sort out their thoughts and make things clear.
By now, they'd surely realized it. That that creepy human who acted like she knew everything had to cooperate with us.
Holding my throbbing head, I sorted out my own thoughts as well.
Assuming what Ishmael said was true, the odds of Ahab betraying us were extremely low.
I doubted many people had properly remembered it, but... anyway.
It had been more than three years since Ishmael's story, but from the way she talked, it didn't seem like the woman had changed much.
Which probably meant her ultimate goal was whale hunting.
As for the talk about saving the sailors... impossible to tell whether that was just to use them, or whether she meant it sincerely.
Still, we had no choice but to cooperate. The best course of action was probably to use her as much as we could, then discard her first.
Mm... for now, that was enough. There wasn't enough information to judge any further.
I stopped thinking and looked at the situation. How far had the conversation gone?
"—That is what you call fate! You ought to learn to seize it the moment it comes near. Every sailor here knows that much."
Fate? What fate, all of a sudden?
Damn it, had I gotten too wrapped up in my own head? I was having a little trouble understanding the context for that line.
There was something like fate in the City, sure, but...
"Your manner of speaking, as if you can see through everything, shows no sign of changing, does it? Don't get ahead of yourself. I have no intention of moving with you. Right now, I feel like chewing you up and spitting you out piece by piece."
"Hahaha! At last, you've learned to speak like a sailor with such a splendid expression, Ishmael!"
"I didn't think you'd remember my name."
"How could I not? Just before I was swallowed by this whale... you shouted my name at the top of your lungs from between the wreckage of the ship. Ha. It still rings in my ears as vividly as yesterday. I saw your eyes then, and even if only for an instant, I could tell everything in your heart. What it was you wanted so desperately."
I had no idea how the conversation had suddenly become so intense, but in the end, the situation had turned into Ishmael and Ahab locking eyes with each other in a fierce stare-down.
"So, I'll give you what you want."
"Hah. What nonsense are you going to spout now? What I want is..."
Just as Ishmael was about to mutter something threatening at Ahab, Ahab cut her off casually and barged in.
"You know, Ishmael. I'm the first—and only—person to witness the birth of your life's greatest wish. That one obsession that awakened inside you then was stabbing me without mercy, through a gaze and a shout soaked in malice. You've probably made it this far by clinging to that thought, haven't you? That golden rod they're looking for? You don't care about something like that at all. Of course you don't. To you, my heart is the Golden Bough, a treasure chest, a pile of gold coins. I knew it. You're still an excellent sailor, and a harpooner. From the very first time our eyes met, you were stabbing me with a gaze full of fervent hatred, never once looking away. You suit a harpooner best of all! If I were the whale, I'd have gladly offered you my heart myself."
"Your heart... you'd give it to me."
"You know better than anyone that those words aren't bluster, Ishmael! You know exactly where this bundled-up desire of mine is headed!"
Immediately after, Ahab made an offer Ishmael could never refuse.
"If I let you blow out this whale's heart...! Then I will gladly hand you my life. I don't care how you kill me. I'll accept it as is."
"Ha..."
When Ishmael made a look of contempt, Ahab took Ishmael's harpoon and brought it up to her own throat.
That insane bastard... Was she saying her own life meant nothing if it served her purpose?
"...!"
"Well? Don't you want to cut my artery open right now? If I achieve my goal, then like this! I can even kindly twist my neck so the artery shows itself nice and clearly. This sharply honed harpoon! You've probably spent every night grinding your teeth, thinking of ways to kill me in the most agonizing manner possible! It must have felt like your mission, your fate! Just like me!!! I understand you better than anyone! That desperate heart, those hateful days!"
"Yeah... I'm barely holding back from tearing you apart right this second."
"But you won't do it."
"..."
"Because you know it all too well. Even now, whether it's this blue blade or the harpoon scraping the fine hairs at my throat, this very moment! You're too weak to kill me. Poor thing, and clever too... you know your place far too well. I'm so glad you're not a fool who'd throw away a chance like this like some pathetic sailor. As long as I can kill the pale whale, as long as I can bring it to an end with my own hands... what happens to me after that doesn't matter. Pierce the heart that's rolled right into your hands, Ishmael. Everything about me will be complete then. What happens after that is of no concern."
"Ha... ha... hah...!"
Madness. It was madness. An obsession bordering on madness without end.
Inside the tightly hidden true feelings of the sly human called Ahab, one clear goal stood out.
That even if she died, she would kill the pale whale with her own hands.
At that transparent sight, so utterly free of any visible lie, Ishmael did not unleash the venomous abuse she'd been hurling at us, nor any cold, rational criticism.
She only met Ahab's eyes with those eerie dead eyes of hers, mouth stretched wide in a grin.
I saw it there... Ahab.
Endless, and yet distinct and transparent. The obsession to kill, with her own hands, the target she desired even if she had to sacrifice her life.
Ishmael's gaze... resembled the gaze of the one she hated most of all.
"Good. Good eyes. I can already see your answer. I can hear it in your head already."
"Yes... I hope you enjoy your final voyage, Ahab... And survive with everything you have until your heart bursts...! I'll be delighted to beat you to death once you've been completed like that."
"Ahaha! Ahaahahaha!!! Yes, that's the look a sailor with a goal should have! You don't disappoint, Ishmael. You'll become a heart beating hot enough to spit lava-blood, worth piercing through."
"Ha, hahahahahaha!!!"
The two of them's terrifying laughter echoed through the office.
...I got swept up in it. If I was going to step in once already, I should have stopped it sooner.
No, the chance of Ishmael accepting cooperation with Ahab was slim anyway, so maybe this was a necessary process.
If I'd managed to catch the first flow of the conversation well, I might have found some way to intervene, but there was no room for that now. I'd lost the thread myself.
Ishmael, the one who had created that uncomfortable atmosphere that froze the prisoners and the other sailors alike, was the first to break it herself and head outside.
...Let's follow. There's nothing left for me to do here anyway.
One by one, the prisoners came outside, and a little time passed.
I'd hoped some productive conversation might come out of it, but the heavy atmosphere from before was suppressing the conversation itself.
What little talk there was amounted to shallow jokes meant to ease the discomfort. Tch. I should've mediated earlier.
As I scratched my cheek and watched them, it was Starbuck who broke the awkward silence.
"You said... you'd join the... voyage to the heart? That's... reassuring. To have such lively... people without any white patches joining us. Ah... now that I think about it, how are you... all still fine? How can you not be affected at all by this... pale whale's... influence?"
"That! Um...?"
"...There's a reason. Let's just say we got lucky."
Gregor, nice defense.
Why was that mad mare Don Quixote so eager to leap out again?
In a relationship this awkward, the best move would be to hide as much information as possible and handle things carefully... but there was no way that crazy justice freak would do that. Best not to hope for the impossible.
Starbuck kept asking a few more questions after that. Mostly things she was curious about regarding us. A few were about Ishmael.
Though Ishmael herself either refused to answer or only responded with roundabout sarcasm.
While we were spending time like that, I heard the sound of a harpoon striking the floor, and Ahab walked over.
For a moment I wondered what was going on, but Ahab quickly got to the point.
It was about how to strike at the whale's heart. About what we needed to do.
"There are things that absolutely must be completed in order to reach the heart. And to get to the heart, two ships must each take one of two paths at the same time. Our Pequod will pass through the pancreas."
"Question."
"Ask."
"Why are you the ones going through the pancreas?"
"The pancreas is vast beyond sight, and its acidic fluid is fierce. One must know better than anyone else where and when it comes out. That's why the fools who know nothing of this place are less suitable than those who have already rolled around here to their heart's content."
Unexpected.
All of it.
It was surprising enough that Ryoshu had asked a genuinely useful question, and surprising enough that Ahab answered so thoroughly.
They were both seriously trying to resolve this situation, huh.
"Also, the pancreas is the area where the merfolk are most densely packed. For our sailors, who have spent their lives hunting merfolk and whales, it's the more favorable route. It's not as though there are any especially troublesome, powerful merfolk there, but... pushing through by sheer numbers is the way to go. We will cut the thickest vein at the end of the pancreas. Then the left atrium will open to replenish blood from the heart."
"Then the place we need to go is..."
"This way. The right atrium of the heart connected to the lungs. The path is narrow there, so a small ship will be enough."
So we're being sent where only a small number should operate.
A narrow place, one where it would be hard for all forty-plus sailors of the Pequod to go together.
It was clear she really had spent a long time preparing to catch this whale.
"More importantly, something other than whales and merfolk has drifted into the route you'll be taking. The numbers looked small, but it may not be an easy fight."
Considering she'd already identified the Abnormalities swallowed along with the Golden Bough recently, I suppose so.
Haa... yeah, that thing wasn't in the Lobotomy Corporation branch inside U Corp, was it...
The story that had only been a hypothesis was becoming reality, and the world in front of me went dark.
Did I have enough medicine...?
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