"Captain Ahab, was it? We..."
"Shall I take a guess? You came here of your own volition to find something swallowed by this pale whale. Which means you've found another way to become merfolk, one that doesn't require you to be one in the first place."
Damn it. I should've taken the lead in the negotiation. With that much of an information gap, even Otis would get dragged around by the nose.
"...Well, since we've come this far, there's no point hiding it."
"We're looking for some kind of... object. It looks like..."
"Wait, Don..."
"I know. You're looking for something like a golden rod, aren't you? Am I wrong?"
She knows? That?
At the sudden flood of information, my mind spun up fast.
It made no sense to say she'd simply noticed because the Bough had been swallowed recently. There was no way she could connect it to us that quickly.
There were two possibilities: either someone had fed her information related to it, or she was bluffing after seeing the Golden Bough get swallowed out of nowhere recently.
As for the first possibility... there were a few people who came to mind, but I didn't have any hard proof yet, so I set that aside.
And the bluff theory... normally I'd have hidden the information and tested her a few times to see if she caught on, but over there Gregor's mouth was hanging open like he'd just heard something unbelievable, so that was a no-go.
"Wh-what?"
"I know where it is. I could even take you there."
"Hmph. Could just be empty boasting."
"Exactly. Maybe she overheard what we were discussing among ourselves..."
"I can tell you the proof that I've seen it. That rod emits a golden radiance from far away. It's dazzling, yet warm enough not to blind the eye."
"...It seems she really does know about the Golden Bough. That exceeds the limits of what someone uninvolved could know."
Faust's words made it certain. Even taking that into account, bluffing without even seeing it was still a fairly low-probability move.
It would be disappointing if she were just some idiot who thought that alone would be enough to fool us.
"Hmm... even if that's true, I doubt you'll tell us where it is..."
"Why would I hide it? I have nothing to hide!"
At Otis's words, Ahab slammed the table and thrust her upper body forward.
In that posture, she grinned—a smug expression that said, I expected this.
Yeah, we're completely being dragged into her pace. It doesn't matter much for now, since we still fall within the category of people she can use.
"Let's be clear. The ones trying to hide things are you lot. That rod—did you say it was called the Golden Bough? Then this 'Golden Bough' lies at the very center of this damned whale. The place where the heartbeat can be heard. The source that keeps it alive. The heart. A vile heart that spews evil."
Ahab lowered her voice.
For some reason, the earlier guess felt like it was clicking into place perfectly. Naturally, that woman intended to use us to break that heart.
If that was true, then it was certainly a proposal that did us no harm either. At least, assuming she really would guide us to the heart.
"But... count yourselves fortunate. Our destination happens to be the same, and we were already close to departure for the hunt. Because the only way out of here is to blow that heart apart."
That was probably a lie. Puncturing the heart wouldn't make the whale split open and kindly open a path for us. If we tried to slip out through a hole while this thing was sinking, the size alone would dump us straight into the deep sea. There might be some way to escape from somewhere inside this whale, but well...
In any case, that part didn't matter to us. After all, we had people to rescue.
"How interesting. A coincidence, perhaps?"
At Hong Lu's languid remark, Sinclair asked in confusion, "What's interesting about it?"
"That after spending so much time preparing to reach the heart, we just happened to arrive."
"Isn't that what fate is sometimes? You could say my fate is moving me to pierce the heart of this pale whale. I've attempted more voyages here than all your teeth combined could count, traversed every corner, and remember it all. I've also made every attempt imaginable to pierce its hide from the lake. To save you the trouble in advance, even if you ram every weapon in the world into it, this thing's hide is like R Corp's fortress—harder and tougher than anything in the world."
That was probably figurative language... and there are two Color Fixers outside, so they'll be able to break through it.
And the claim that it's the hardest thing in the world is nonsense too. If it really were, R Corp would've joined hands with old L Corp and run the whole world as a dictatorship by now.
At this point, I was genuinely curious about that man's supposed escape route. There was no way a normal method could get them out.
"I've always driven mine in. My harpoon. It left wounds, but it couldn't pierce through."
"Well, if you don't believe me, you're welcome to try with the weapons you're carrying."
"It didn't even leave a scratch..."
When Don Quixote said that while avoiding my eyes, Rodion voiced her unease.
"If what that guy says is true, then even the Indigo Elder or the LCA team's efforts would all be useless... Which means no one can come rescue us even if time passes..."
Sorry, but that's a really stupid thing to say.
Even if you brought in a substantial amount of fairies from F Corp's Singularity, you could probably still break through the path.
And considering the backing Limbus Company has, with all the money they've been flaunting nonstop, if things go south they'd probably bring that in too.
"I know better than anyone. It's hard to endure this place in your right mind when no one comes to save you. Look at our poor sailors! Look at them desperately holding out as the white membrane threatens to cover their entire bodies at any moment!"
"Nothing here. Nothing at all."
"We endure by scooping up the ship's fragments flowing out from the stomach and chewing on the merfolk Queequeg has hunted."
"Soft. Fins."
After hearing about their current situation, Rodion looked horrified.
"...How are you even enduring that...?"
"Only one thing. The belief that if we just follow the captain's words... one day we'll get out of here. We endure with that..."
In the quiet atmosphere, Ishmael alone let out a dark, heavy air.
This... someone's about to cause trouble. Maybe not, but probably.
Meanwhile, Ahab spread her arms grandly and addressed us.
"So this is my proposal. A proposal from me, Ahab—the captain of the Pequod and leader of Pequod Town—who bears the duty of rescuing all these sailors. I will blow this thing's heart apart. I've been preparing for a very long time, and now all that remains is execution. Our destination is the same, but our spoils are different. Help me with my plan, and you'll take the Golden Bough, while we hunt this whale and make our way outside."
"...Let us speak privately for a moment."
"By all means."
Hmm... just hearing it, it sounds very convincing. I would've been fooled too if Ishmael hadn't been here.
After all, the old woman's conduct up to now had been that of a rather exemplary leader.
The problem was that the person who fled from under that leader's command had said something that flatly denied all of it.
Setting that aside, we still had to discuss the proposal, so the prisoners gathered in a corner of the office and shared their opinions one by one.
The first was Meursault.
"The ship we arrived on cannot be repaired. And to leave this place, we need a ship again. Furthermore, to investigate the interior, we must travel across that bodily fluid. A ship will be necessary then as well."
"Hmph. If necessary, we could always seize those people's ship..."
"Please don't say that so loudly..."
"That's unrealistic. If it's the same kind of ship, the other side will be far more experienced. Can we really shake them off?"
"...Tch."
"The good news is that they can't recklessly turn hostile either. If we fought them, at the very least it would end in mutual destruction."
At my words, Otis fell into thought.
The others weren't reacting much. Up until the fight earlier, I'd definitely felt like we were being kept in check, though.
Still, maybe that didn't matter. If we could get through this easily, that was best.
The important part was Otis's side. After a moment of deliberation, the solution she came up with was...
"...How long would it take to start from a raft?"
"With no materials at all, and if we need to make it from a material that can withstand acidic fluid, the estimated time would probably be..."
"You all do understand that we are not in a situation where we have time to spare, yes?"
"Tch..."
What's with that disappointed look, you insane woman? Do you want to die?
Faust probably cut her off in the middle anyway... Otis really is the kind of person whose pride eats her skill alive.
Ugh, I'm tired. The medicine's going to wear off soon anyway, and I already feel like I'm starting to hurt...
While one person looked at them from a relatively neutral standpoint, there was also someone openly hostile. Well, who else would it be?
"Ha. A proposal, huh... That's bullshit, just as I expected. That woman is always the same. She kills people with plausible bullshit. This time won't be any different."
"I also... get the feeling that she's someone suspicious. As for what we can do among ourselves..."
"The longer the tongue, the more careful you should be."
Sinclair and Heathcliff were a little wary.
Though there wasn't anything we could do just because we didn't trust them right now.
"Those people seem to have spent a lot of time preparing to blow out the heart and leave... but can we solve this right away? I'm not even sure how long we can keep holding out."
"Yes... there doesn't seem to be anyone who knows this place as thoroughly as that captain..."
"Then... are we going to end up either killing each other, or being trapped here forever... one of the two?"
"There's no way the Red Gaze would abandon us...! Hwaaang..."
Hong Lu, Rodion, Gregor... no, this guy knows better than anyone, so why is he saying something that stupid?
Don Quixote was always like that, so I let it slide.
...The conversation among the prisoners gradually devolved into nothing but useless noise and half-baked information.
Ah, seriously, please. Why are people who know better than anyone only spouting nonsense?
My headache was steadily building. The smart ones... didn't seem inclined to step in either. What a damn pain.
Unable to stand hearing any more stupid talk, I spoke up first.
"Let's establish one thing first. We have a six-hour time limit. We do not have the time to figure out this whale's structure ourselves, fight through the merfolk while searching, and recover the Golden Bough. We have no ship, no map, no information, nothing."
"......"
"And this shell will be pierced. Are you people really more willing to trust that man than the one who captured one of the Five Calamities? Have you all gone insane? Even if this thing's outer layer really is at the level of R Corp's fortress, there are more than enough ways to open it if you have enough money. R Corp's Singularity isn't defense, after all. Faust, am I wrong?"
"There is no contradiction in your logic."
"One thing is certain: the only course of action available to us now, whether we like it or not, is to take their hand. However, we have our own argument as well. If their claims are true, then considering how thoroughly they've prepared after understanding every part of this thing, if we cause any casualties, their plan to kill this whale and escape will also be ruined. Up to this point, am I wrong about anything?"
I looked Ahab straight in the eye. She met my unremarkable, unflinching gaze and answered with a hearty laugh.
"That's right! Now there's someone who speaks sense! You're rude, but there's nothing wrong with what you said. Do you have any interest in becoming my sailor?"
"I'll decline in advance."
"How cold."
Her expression looked a long way from disappointment, though.
I'd blurted that out without thinking, with my stress level rising in real time, but what came after was regret.
Damn it, why did I speak up? Now I'm the only one being looked at differently...
"Hmm..."
Don't look at me with that interested expression, you insane old woman.