Night lay deep, casting the great ship's shadow over the sea, while beneath the waves the endless Abyss churned. The cannon fire chasing the sailboat under the night sky was like the roar of abyssal beasts hunting beneath the sea. Then sea and sky suddenly flipped, and two figures, tangled together, toppled over the low gunwale and plunged toward the endless deep!
At that moment, the native sailor said nothing, only held Scholar Martim in a death grip. Just before leaping into the sea, he suddenly raised a Carib face and looked deeply toward a certain spot on the ship. He murmured something softly, then vanished behind the gunwale. Scholar Martim, meanwhile, let out a terrified, shrill scream as he fell, shaking the entire great ship!
"No!!"
"Ah!..."
Shushu, aboard the ship, widened his eyes and huddled behind the Sailors, while his heart screamed madly. He knew that the glance A-Yue had cast before jumping into the sea had been at him!
The complicated farewell in that look was like a moth throwing itself into flame, so sudden, yet so full of yearning for freedom, so full of fearless resolve! That astonishing leap—long decided on, afraid of nothing, seizing the moment completely—seemed to take away all of Shushu's waiting, and the freedom he longed for just as much. In an instant, his whole body went weak, both stirred with excitement and utterly lost...
"A-Yue... you... you left me behind... and went on your own!... You... you have to survive..."
"Lord! Martim!..."
Captain Bruno roared, clutching the sword in his hand as he rushed to the side of the ship. The gunwale of the Caravel was not high; not counting the part below the waterline, it was only about three meters.
Bruno could clearly see that damned native sailor tightly gripping